African Nationhood

Chapter 330 A surge in authority
  January 1896, 1, London, England.

On the day the news was received, the Prime Minister, the Marquess of Salisbury, personally went to Buckingham Palace to apologize to the Queen.

While the Prime Minister apologized, he did not forget to whitewash the cabinet in the domestic media and put all the blame on Cecil Rhodes, the Governor of the Cape Colony.

Colonial Secretary Joseph Chamberlain publicly stated that he would investigate the matter carefully and announce the truth to the public. In the end, he did not forget to apologize to the royal family and the people.

……

January 1896, 1, Berlin, Germany.

Kaiser Wilhelm II convened a meeting of his closest ministers, at which he proposed the idea that Germany should declare itself a protectorate of the Transvaal and then send troops there.

Prime Minister Sir Hohenloe immediately objected after hearing this: "Your Majesty, if you do this, it will be equivalent to declaring war with Britain."

Kaiser Wilhelm II smiled calmly and replied bluntly: "Yes, but this is only fighting on land."

Prime Minister Sir Hohenloe still disagreed with the Kaiser's adventurous move, and someone soon proposed a slightly more conciliatory approach.

He suggested that His Majesty the Emperor might as well send a congratulatory message to President Kruger of the Transvaal in South Africa, but the words in the message were not only meant to offend the British, but also to deny British suzerainty over the Transvaal.

Therefore, Kaiser Wilhelm II issued: “I would like to express my most sincere congratulations to you and your people for repelling the invading armed elements who undermined the peace on your own without the help of any friendly forces.

You have maintained the country's peace and defended its independence. "

……

Unfortunately, the Germans underestimated the British's ability. Before the telegram reached the Transvaal, the British intercepted it through the submarine cable they controlled.

They believed that the so-called "friendly forces" in William II's telegram were undoubtedly demonstrating towards Britain and showing favor to the Transvaal, which meant that the latter could receive German assistance if necessary.

This made the British feel that their sphere of influence had been violated, and they were extremely angry.

"The Times" published an article saying, "England will never back down in the face of threats, and will never yield to insults!"

A strong anti-German sentiment immediately arose in the UK. The windows of German shops in London were smashed, and German sailors were frequently attacked in British ports...

Unable to resist, William II had to write to Queen Victoria to defend himself: "I never intended to use this telegram against Britain or your government."

……

The whole of Europe was shocked. In the Governor's Palace in Cape Town, Cecil Rhodes looked at every corner of the Governor's Palace with a lonely expression.

He knew that London had abandoned him and his replacement was on his way to Cape Town.

……

On January 1, an investigation team from London came to Cape Town. The investigation team, headed by Colonial Secretary Joseph Chamberlain, made arrangements for the charges against Cecil Rhodes.

On January 1, Cecil Rhodes held a public speech and admitted that he had made a huge mistake. In order to apologize, he would resign as Governor of Cape Natal.

……

On January 1, Summer Robinson took office as governor again. This time, his scope of authority was expanded compared with five years ago, but he was not happy with his new position.

Today's Boer Republic does not welcome him, and the Boers also hate the British.

The white gold mining industry in the Rand Basin suffered heavy losses. All the white gold mine owners who had participated in the conspiracy were arrested by the Boers.

Originally, these guys were not exposed, and the Boers were not willing to fully oppose the British.

Who would have thought that when they saw the Boers fighting with the Jameson Raiders, they couldn't sit still and launched a riot directly.

The Rand Gold Mine Riots lasted for nearly ten days. The Rand Basin gold mining area became a hell, with whites and blacks dying tragically everywhere. Tens of thousands of black slaves died, as did hundreds of whites. The Boers were well prepared and these guys ended up being prisoners.

This battle caused the British white mining industry in the Rand Basin to suddenly fall to the bottom.

The Transvaal Republic declared the British persona non grata and the Rand Basin was strictly off limits to the British.

……

For the sake of the face of the British Empire, and to maintain the gold standard system of the British Empire.

Therefore, Minister Joseph Chamberlain instructed the South China Company to first take over the gold mines of white gold mine owners to maintain production.

He led his team to continue negotiations with the Transvaal Republic:
  The first was to ask the Boer government to release the captured Jameson and his party, and the second was to ask the Boer government to release the ban on the British in the Rand Basin.

After more than a month of negotiations, Jameson and his party were released, but he had to be taken back to London for trial.

He was later sentenced to 15 months in prison, but that's all for later.

The captured white gold mine owners were also deported back to Britain and could no longer enter the Boer territory for life.

In the future, if the British want to continue mining gold in the Rand Basin, they must abide by the laws of the Transvaal Republic and respect the customs of the Boers.

……

In addition to filling the shortage of black slaves in the Rand Basin, Nanhua Company also took over the vacated gold mines and mined for more than a month, harvesting more than 1 ounces of gold.

Naturally, all this gold became Nanhua Company's hard-earned money. Minister Chamberlain did not say anything more and returned directly to London.

……

After Cecil Rhodes left Cape Town sadly, he returned to the town of Kimberley, the hometown of De Beers mining.

Shi Jintang notified other shareholders of the Rhodesia Company and held a shareholders' meeting in Kimberley Town.

At the meeting, Boss Shi directly proposed to remove Rhodes from his position as chairman because the mistakes he made while serving as chairman of the company and Jameson as general manager had a negative impact on Rhodesia Company.

As the company's largest shareholder, Mr. Shi initiated the impeachment of Cecil Rhodes, and it was completely reasonable for him to step down as chairman.

Cecil Rhodes had nothing to say and could only accept the opinions of shareholders.

As for who will continue to serve as chairman, there is no need to choose. Boss Shi was directly elected. After all, he has the largest equity.

However, the other three shareholders are not allowed to be Chinese as general manager.

Therefore, David Bell, the white deputy general manager of the cement factory in Mafeking (now Mefogen Town, South Africa) was finally chosen.

This white employee was once an employee of Boss Shi in the Cape Colony Government Patent Office.

Later, Mafunjing Cement Factory was established and he was sent to Mafunjing Cement Factory as deputy general manager.

Although the production capacity of Mafunjing Cement Plant has been increased, its development achievements have been limited.

Being the general manager of the Rhodesia Company is different. This is a very important position that will directly control the fate of millions of people and a vast land.

David Bell expressed his heartfelt thanks to Boss Shi for his support. He said that he would definitely follow the chairman's instructions and manage Rhodesia Company well.

In this way, Boss Shi's power was directly extended to the east bank of the Zambezi River.

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  (End of this chapter)