African Nationhood

Chapter 27 Busy
  In the next few days, Shi Jintang was dragged by Governor Freire to attend banquets and meet various business tycoons.

Most of these people actually control one or two industries in the Cape Colony, and each of them is very wealthy.

The most famous of these people is Cecil John Rhodes, the boss of De Beers Consolidated Mining Company.

This boss is Shi Jintang’s idol. He knew how to use external funds to help him when he was just starting out at the age of 18, and gradually controlled Kimberley’s diamond mining industry through mergers, acquisitions, joint ventures and other economic methods.

It has also joined forces with diamond sellers in London to form an upstream and downstream diamond production and marketing trust to control diamond prices around the world.

As well as mining diamonds, he also controlled Cape Town's fruit growing industry and export rights, and was an Oxford graduate.

This man is controlling Kimberley's business wars while studying for an Oxford degree. He is only 26 years old this year, a real talent!
  In the original time and space, this was the MP who ran for the Cape Colony Parliament in 1881;
  In 1890, he was elected governor of the Cape Colony government, but later resigned because of a pig teammate.

It was also because of this pig mate that eventually led to the Second Boer War between the British and the Boers.

After becoming governor-general, he also occupied the three colonies of Southern Rhodesia (Zimbabwe), Northern Rhodesia (Zambia), and Nyasaland (Lake Malawi District) through the Royal South Africa Company.

It was a pity that his health was not very good and he died of illness in 1902.

Rhodes was a typical chauvinist and the instigator of apartheid in South Africa. Although he died, his spirit influenced generations after generations.

Shi Jintang is very happy to be able to communicate with his idol face to face.

Cecil Rhodes was thin, his skin was very white, and he felt like he was not alive.

But his eyes are very bright, and they seem to set you on fire when he looks at you.

The tone of his speech is also very distinctive, very contagious, and he has a sense of instant presence as if he is possessed by a mustache.

He is a genius who is very good at public speaking, very open-minded about things, and has a very precise perspective on problems.

The two talked very speculatively for a while, and Rhodes generously stated that he would occupy 40% of the shares of the future United Mining Company and become the same major shareholder as Shi Jintang.

Shi Jintang expressed envy of his wealth and suggested that he serve as the general manager of United Mining in the future and be responsible for the daily management of the gold mine.

Rhodes readily accepted, and the two of them had a great time chatting about the planning and business policies of United Mining Company.

After confirming the matter of the United Mining Company, Shi Jintang took the time to go to the Patent Office of the Cape Colony Government to check in.

He met with several of his subordinates and explained the details of the patent review.

Small problems are all solved by these four employees. If they are undecided about big problems, they are left to wait for him to decide. The usual commuting and holidays are all decided by themselves.

The four white civil servants all said that the director was wise.

Finally, he calmed down and wrote a letter to Kelly Smith and Dr. Smith in the United States.

The content of the letter to Kelly Smith was to describe his whereabouts after leaving the United States and to ask her to help deliver a letter.

The recipient of the transfer was Ouyang Geng. Since he left without saying goodbye, this friend must have been worried about his safety.

This letter to Ouyang Geng was a showdown, informing this brother of his judgment on the Qing Dynasty and analysis of the international situation. Rather than spending his youth in the Qing Dynasty, it would be better to start anew elsewhere and find a place to found a country.

I hope this classmate and friend can come to Africa to help me and build a foundation together, and so on.

After painting the pie, let’s move on to the practical side. In his letter, he described in detail the process of his coming to Africa to colonize, as well as the details of how he discovered the gold mines in the territory.

Finally, he requested that if Ouyang Geng did not intend to follow him, then please keep his whereabouts secret because of past friendship.

In addition, he was also asked to come forward and contact his cousin Ouyang Ming, the Qing Consul General in New York, to recommend Chinese people in the United States to come to Southwest Africa to pan for gold.    This letter is a test for Ouyang Geng. It would be great if he wavers and decides to vote.
  If he hadn't wavered and he had made a bet on his past friendship, he probably wouldn't have betrayed him.

Shi Jintang is very confident when it comes to reading people, and besides, he has historical experience as an assistant. Ouyang Geng is not the kind of person who is two-faced.

As for what was given to Dr. Smith, it was very simple. In addition to informing him that he had established a foothold in Southwest Africa, it was to inform him about the discovery of gold mines.

In addition, Dr. Smith is asked to expedite the delivery of medicines such as quinine to Southwest Africa.

As British merchants periodically transported immigrants, his next focus was to develop colonies in the interior of southern Africa. During the development process, medicines had to keep up.

France has developed so many colonies in tropical areas around the world. This is why the French military attaches great importance to quinine pharmaceuticals and purchases large quantities of quinine pharmaceuticals every year to supply the troops.

In addition, with the development of Southwest Africa, he hoped that Dr. Smith could help him purchase a group of cattle, sheep and horses in the United States.

Small industrial equipment such as canneries and garment factories were also sent to Southwest Africa. He wanted to develop aquaculture and primary industry in Southwest Africa.

After the German colonists came to Southwest Africa in the original time and space, they brought purple sheep from Europe to serve as economic pasture.

It happened that purple fur was very popular in Europe, and the colonists in Southwest Africa made a lot of money.

There is also the issue of horses that need to be prepared in advance. It is absolutely impossible to develop inland colonies without war horses.

Moreover, the traffic situation in Southwest Africa is terrible, and a large number of horses are urgently needed to serve as means of transportation.

There is basically no agricultural production in Southwest Africa. If you want to achieve food self-sufficiency, you need to clear a large area of ​​land, and clearing land also requires a lot of animal power.

The fishery resources of Walvis Bay are very rich, and it is too wasteful to rely solely on the population consumption of Walvis Bay.

It would be better to open a canning factory in Walvis Bay and push the catch from Walvis Bay to other areas, such as the Boers inland.

After these industries have basically taken shape, they are looking for ways to expand production.

While he was busy and exhausted, he received news from someone sent by Qu Sangqian.

Thomas Spahn unfortunately fell into the water and "died in the line of duty" when he was on his way to take office in Southwest Africa.

After this news was conveyed to Governor Freire, the latter immediately reported it to the Colonial Office in Whitehall and applied for pension, and the Colonial Office readily agreed.

In addition to writing letters to acquaintances, Shi Jintang also responded to a telegram to Henry Gambel Bannerman in London.

Even though he was so far away, this guy actually smelled the news about gold mines in Southwest Africa.

He also wanted shares in United Mining Company. Shi Jintang did not give it away for free this time. He directly offered to give him 1% of the shares at an asking price of 15 pounds.

Bannerman thought about it for two days and agreed. He would deposit the money directly into Nanhua Company's account and would send someone to Walvis Bay as soon as possible to attend the United Mining Company's shareholders' meeting and sign the stock subscription agreement.

After these trivial matters were dealt with, Shi Jintang found Governor Freire again. First, he asked the Governor to coordinate a passenger ship. He needed to transport the immigrants from the dock to Walvis Bay Port.

The second is to inform us of the requirements for transporting immigrants. We must transport more adult men and women, as well as young children of both sexes, and not all girls.

Governor Freire naturally had no problem and agreed wholeheartedly. He also informed Shi Jintang that starting from next month, Cape Town will launch a short-distance passenger ferry service to Walvis Bay Port.

Shi Jintang had expected this and nodded to praise the governor for his wisdom.

　Thank you to book friend 20210704032546649 for your monthly ticket support!
  　　
  　
  (End of this chapter)