African Nationhood

Chapter 273 Cecil Rhodes’ Colonial Ambition ()

January 1890, 1, is a day worthy of being recorded in the history of Nanhua Company.

Fu Tong, director of the Immigration Bureau, personally went to the Anhai Town Arsenal to find Shi Jintang, who was busy renovating radio communication equipment.

"Mr. Shi, I have good news for you. The company's total population has reached 103.78 million."

After digesting the news for a while, Shi Jintang's numb mind finally came to his senses. He laughed and patted Fu Tong on the shoulder: "Not bad, not bad, you did a great job!"

After saying that, he reacted and said, "Tell Commissioner Ouyang to let him go according to the established celebration plan."

Futong left with a smile, and Shi Jintang went to discuss with Tesla how to improve radio equipment.

When he saw Hertz, he looked very haggard. Tesla also looked haggard, but his eyes still shone with excitement.

Hertz exchanged positions with Shi Jintang and discussed with Tesla in relay.

Shi Jintang had just rested for two days when Cecil Rhodes came. This time, Cecil Rhodes' title became Governor of the Natal Colony, which surprised Shi Jintang.

Through conversation, Shi Jintang learned about part of Cecil Rhodes' plan, which was quite ambitious.

The colonial pioneering team sent by Cecil Rhodes to the Great Lakes region failed not far after reaching Lake Tanganyika. His colonial team suffered heavy losses.

It turns out that there is a very powerful fly in East Africa - the tsetse fly.

This kind of fly is very vicious. It not only sucks human blood, cattle and sheep blood, but also injects the parasites it carries into the blood-sucking host.

After being infected by this parasite, the host will suffer from narcolepsy without exception. The scary thing about this kind of flies is that there is no specific medicine to kill them.

Until Shi Jintang crossed over, this kind of fly was still a serious natural disaster. 6000 million people on the African continent were poisoned by this kind of fly every year.

When the British colonized Uganda, they calculated that 25 people died from the poison of this fly every year.

In the Tanganyika colony occupied by the Germans, the reason why there were only 100 million indigenous people in such a large area was that the flies were so harmful that the population could not grow at all.

However, the area of ​​the Mata Kingdom occupied by Nanhua Company is only one-third of Tanganyika, but its population is three times that of Tanganyika. This comparison is already very illustrative.

Cecil Rhodes had no choice but to turn around and head towards the Lake Malawi area, and in this way he achieved some results.
  In just two years, he occupied a large area east of Lake Malawi to the outskirts of the Dutch-occupied colony.

In other words, the area occupied by Cecil Rhodes is not much larger than the area of ​​Nyasaland in the original time and space.

Although the British Empire's colonial activities in both the east and south directions of Lake Victoria suffered failures, the Prime Minister of the Cabinet, the Marquess of Salisbury, expressed appreciation for Cecil Rhodes' achievements in another direction.

Therefore, under his lobbying, the cabinet agreed in principle to his plan to take the lead in merging the two colonies of Cape and Natal.

So he was able to first serve as the governor of the Natal Colony, and then he would be elected as the governor of the Cape Colony. During his term, he would promote the merger of the two colonies.

His political attempts were successful, and he also had attempts to open up colonies for the British Empire.

Because of the emergence of the Nanhua Company, his plans for Northern and Southern Rhodesia could not be realized, and he set his sights on the Portuguese East African colonies.

At the Berlin Conference in 1885, the European powers agreed on the principle of "effective occupation", but in the past few years the Portuguese East African colonial government did not realize this requirement.

In the original time and space, in 1891, in order to alleviate this embarrassing situation, the Portuguese East African colonial government launched the chartered company reform, handing over 80% of the land in the East African colonies to three chartered companies for operation, and by the way realizing colonial rule at the grassroots level. Now it seems that the Portuguese have no chance.

Cecil Rhodes, who was an imperialist, saw an opportunity and planned to join forces with the South China Company to take over the Portuguese East African colonies.

The specific plan is to use Hanga, the chief of the Barue tribe, an indigenous tribe in the middle and lower reaches of the Zambezi River, to have this indigenous person drive away the Portuguese. Then he and the Nanhua Company will work together to eliminate the resistance forces and occupy the colony.

Hanga, the indigenous chief, hated the Portuguese very much. In the original time and space, he led the "Zambezi Uprising" against Portuguese rule.

Cecil Rhodes' colonial team entered the lower reaches of the Zambezi River and encountered the Hanga tribe. The chief asked the British for help, hoping that the British could drive away the Portuguese.

He believed that although the British colonists invaded the indigenous lands, the colonists brought modern civilization to the indigenous kingdoms.

Therefore, he would rather surrender to the British, as long as the British promised to give him and his tribe independence after they drove away the Portuguese.

After Cecil Rhodes received such news, he was overjoyed. He was just about to occupy more land, when the indigenous people came to his door.

Before he went to London to lobby the cabinet, he had already formulated a comprehensive plan. He intended to turn the entire southern African region into a colony of the British Empire.

After hearing Cecil Rhodes' plan, Shi Jintang naturally agreed.

But the reason why he believed that Cecil Rhodes' plan was only part of the plan was to conquer the two Boer republics.

This is the biggest reason why Cecil Rhodes can get the support of the cabinet.

The previous battle between the Neway Republic and the colonial government of Natal made the cabinet realize that the two colonial governments in southern Africa were too weak in force and could not deal with the powerful Boers.

Moreover, important minerals such as the Rand Gold Mine were discovered on the land of the Boers, and these lands and gold must be controlled by the British.

The Nanhua Company has been very obedient since its establishment. Most of the gold mines in the territory have been handed over to British subjects. Even when the colonial company was on the verge of bankruptcy, it did not approach the cabinet for support. This spirit is very valuable.

The cabinet also has a tacit understanding not to interfere in the internal affairs of Nanhua Company. This is based on the bottom line and foundation of the tacit understanding between the two parties.

……

Another reason why Cecil Rhodes worked so hard is that he also wanted to obtain a title conferred by the royal family like Shi Jintang.

Shi Jintang, a native of the Qing Dynasty, first received the Order of Knighthood, and later obtained the title of Baron with the help of Prince Leopold. This was the limit for a civilian to obtain a title.

He was rich and powerful, but his social status was far from satisfactory.

In the original time and space, he never received a title from the royal family throughout his life. It must be said that this was the biggest regret in his life.

It's hard to say whether he can obtain this time and space. Anyway, Shi Jintang decided to support his plan and attack the Portuguese first.

The matter of supporting the indigenous Han Jia was left to Rhodes' people, and Shi Jintang also wanted to participate in the company's celebrations. In addition, he also wanted to relax for some time.

During the busy days with Tesla, the company's government affairs have accumulated a lot, and he must take advantage of the days before the Spring Festival to sort them out.

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  (End of this chapter)