African Nationhood

Prince Leopold came alone, accompanied by a female doctor from Nanhua Company.

Thanks to Boss Shi's foresight and medical knowledge, the prince who should have died young is still alive and well.

"Hello, Your Highness the Prince!"

After Prince Leopold got off the "Crown" car, he shook hands with Shi Jintang warmly, and the group followed Shi Jintang into the Meilin Palace.

Kelly stood at the gate to salute His Highness the Prince, and then welcomed the people who followed His Highness to the side hall for reception.

Prince Leopold and Shi Jintang went to the drawing room and sat down.

Not long after, a beautiful maid brought black tea, and Prince Leopold looked at the poorly decorated living room.

"Henry, your residence is too simple."

Shi Jintang shrugged, "Because my Nanhua company has not yet gotten rid of losses, I can't make my residence too luxurious. That will make my subordinates rush to imitate me, and then they will not be interested in working hard."

Prince Leopold smiled and made it clear that he did not agree with Shi Jintang's point of view.

"You should be clear about the purpose of my visit this time. This is a personal letter from the Marquis of Salisbury."

Shi Jintang took the letter, opened it and looked at it carefully.

The Prime Minister expressed very tactfully in his letter that the lack of communication channels between the two parties made simple things complicated.

He hoped that through the mediation of Prince Leopold, the two parties could sit down and communicate patiently, and they could negotiate any conditions.

……

The reason why the British were willing to lower their profile was because the British government discovered that Kaiser Wilhelm II wanted to use the Boers to fight a proxy war with Britain on the land of southern Africa.

Previously, the British Prime Minister felt that the Boers were vulnerable. After the British Empire taught the Boers a lesson, the South China Company could be frightened.

But when the Germans took action, the British Prime Minister had to treat it with caution.

After all, the Germans could support the Boers, and they could also support the South China Company.

If the British Empire army was fighting fiercely with the Boers, the Chinese Legion also rushed forward to fight the British army.

This would be a huge geopolitical trap for the British Empire.

Now the British Egyptian army has fallen into a quagmire, and the "Senussi Order" in Cyrenaica (now eastern Libya) is very difficult to deal with.

Their whereabouts were elusive in the desert, and they appeared near the British military camp from time to time. After the sneak attack, they ran away, and there was no way to wipe them out.

……

Cecil Rhodes has not gained nothing in these years. He has still collected some information about Nanhua Company.

Through that information, the Marquis of Salisbury had some fears about the Nanhua Company.

Because Nanhua Company also has new rifles that are as good as those of the British Army, and the arsenal owned by Nanhua Company also holds the patent for the Maxim heavy machine gun.

There has been a large number of immigrants from the Qing Dynasty in recent years. Although the specific population figures are unclear, the strength and combat power of this Chinese group cannot be underestimated.

……

Minister Chamberlain, who was continuously slapped in the face by Shi Jintang, also repeatedly suggested that the area controlled by Nanhua Company blocked the passage from the British Cape Colony to Egypt.

If this Chinese force turns to Germany or France, it will be a huge geopolitical loss for Britain.

This sentence touched the sensitive nerves of the British Prime Minister. The British Prime Minister made up his mind to deal with the Boers first, freeing up his hands to deal with the South China Company.

……

Now that the policy has been set, the only thing to do now is to stabilize the Nanhua Company, so Prince Leopold received a request from the British Prime Minister.

His Highness the Prince was also curious about the truth of the matter, so he set off to come.

"After reading the letter, you can tell me anything you want to say, and I will convey it to you for the Prime Minister to consider."

Shi Jintang took a cigar from the table and asked, "Do you mind?"

His Highness the Prince shook his head, "It's not easy for you to change your smoking habit."

Shi Jintang smiled bitterly and shook his head, "I will have troubles when I have more children."

His Royal Highness smiled and nodded, "Children are elves when they are young, but they will be disasters when they grow up."

Shi Jintang wished he could shake hands with His Royal Highness and say "a confidant" to each other. Only after raising children himself can he truly understand how difficult it is to handle adolescent children.

……

"I'm curious now, how did you and Mr. Rhodes get involved in the cabinet?"

Shi Jintang blew out the smoke and carefully recounted the contents of Philip Clark's confession, and how Cecil Rhodes told Philip Clark how seriously the Prime Minister behind him attached importance to this matter.

Hearing Shi Jintang's narration, Prince Leopold felt that Shi Jintang had overreacted. Isn't it normal for the superiors to be suspicious? It would be abnormal not to suspect you.

But Shi Jintang's timing of looking for trouble was very clever, and it happened to be the most critical point in the conflict between the British and the Boers.

After the "Jameson Raid" in 1895, the British government was determined to teach the Boers a lesson.

It's just that at that time, the British were in the wrong and couldn't take action directly. Now they just found an opportunity.

Unexpectedly, Shi Jintang jumped out first and refused to accept mediation, which made the British government very passive.

……

At this time, the Boers were stubborn and refused to give in. If the Boers, like the Nanhua Company, gave up most of their interests and listened to the British, the British might let the Boers go and teach the Nanhua Company a lesson.

After all, they prefer profits to knives, but when their interests are threatened, the British do not mind using knives to defend their interests. …

"Sir Henry, although you are from the Qing Dynasty, you have been very cooperative since you became a British citizen.

So I hope you won't be so sensitive. You know there are many people in London now clamoring in the Prime Minister's ears to get tougher.

They say that they want you to feel the power of the British Empire just like your mother country, so that you will become more obedient and honest. "

Hearing what the prince said, Shi Jintang exhaled the smoke in his mouth and chuckled.

"This is a good suggestion. Your Excellency, the Marquis, might as well let them come over. I will personally receive them and see if their mouths are as hard as the gun in my hand!"

Prince Leopold shook his head, "Henry, you have a bright future. You don't need to be like those shallow and arrogant people. I hope you can recognize the reality. This will be good for all of us!"

His Royal Highness's tone became firmer, and it could be seen that he was a little angry at Shi Jintang's toughness.

After all, people who are used to being masters don't want their servants to disobey them.

"Your Highness, thank you for your honesty and patience. I no longer want to be an obedient slave.

I need to gain the respect of the British Empire, so you need to show enough sincerity, after all, I now represent more than just myself.

Behind me are millions of Chinese compatriots, who support me and bravely say no to you and the British Empire behind you! "

Prince Leopold was shocked to hear Shi Jintang be so straightforward.

"Are you crazy?

Your mother country has far more land than you occupy, and its population far exceeds the population under your rule, but they are so cowardly and weak when facing the giant ships and cannons of the British Empire.

Now it is even more so that Japan, a backward and weak island country, has been defeated and paid compensation. Do you really want to challenge the authority of the British Empire? "

Shi Jintang looked at the serious-looking Prince and burst into laughter.

“You think I’m crazy, that’s normal.

Because there are always people in this world who feel that the British Empire is not as powerful as it seems.

For example, His Majesty William II of Germany sent people to ask me to defect to Germany, and then united with the Boers to eat up the Cape-Natal colony.

Do you think I should promise His Majesty the Kaiser? "

Upon hearing this, Prince Leopold changed his expression and said anxiously: "How can you believe the Germans? They just want your Chinese Legion and Boers to consume the military power of the British Empire.

If the British Empire attacks with all its strength, can your Nanhua Company really be able to stop it? "

Shi Jintang put away his smile and nodded bitterly, "It's for this reason that I can't make up my mind.

But His Majesty the Kaiser promised to grant me the title of Margrave and promised to allow me to establish an autonomous dominion on my own. I was very excited about such generous conditions. "

Prince Leopold was secretly happy to hear Shi Jintang's "confession" and subconsciously began to analyze Shi Jintang's psychology.

After all, this Chinese is still afraid of the powerful force of the British Empire, but he is unwilling to gain nothing.

That's why he deliberately confessed in front of himself, just because he wanted the British Empire to give him some benefits.

Prince Leopold, who thought he had seen through Shi Jintang, said calmly: "Since you are willing to confess the Germans' favorable conditions in front of me, it means that you have made your decision, right?"

Shi Jintang nodded simply, "Your Highness, I am not willing to be treated like this by the cabinet, so I want to gain the respect of the cabinet. Can you understand what I mean?"

Prince Leopold nodded with a half-smile, "Understood, I understand very much. Tell me, what do you want?"

Now that His Highness the Prince has asked him to make conditions, Shi Jintang no longer hides it.

“I purchased the sovereignty of the Sulu Sultanate from the Spanish.

The Sultan over there told me that the King of Brunei had handed over the sovereignty of Sabah to the Sultanate of Sulu, but the East India Company snatched Sabah from him.

Now that I have become the suzerain of the Sulu Sultanate, it is not difficult to get back the land in Sabah that belongs to the Sulu Sultanate, right? "

Hearing such a simple condition, Prince Leopold felt relaxed. He smiled and nodded, "I will convey your request to the Prime Minister."

Then the two chatted some more about the oil company, and His Royal Highness left.

A few days later, Prince Leopold informed Shi Jintang that the cabinet agreed in principle to his request.

But what was given to him was not Sabah, but the territory promised by the King of Brunei.

In addition to part of Sabah, this part of the territory is also located in the area occupied by the Dutch, and the old territory of the Sulu Sultanate is the area where oil is distributed.

Shi Jintang took a look at the map and immediately understood the British intention.

This was obviously an old habit. They deliberately buried the trap in the hope that Nanhua Company would conflict with the Dutch.

Little did he know that this was exactly what Shi Jintang wanted, he wanted to get the benefits first before talking about anything else.

Therefore, Shi Jintang directly sent Ouyang Geng to Sabah to sign a territory delivery agreement with representatives of the British East India Company.

After receiving Ouyang Geng's confirmation telegram, Shi Jintang issued an announcement that the previous open letter incident was a misunderstanding, and there was no longer any barrier between Nanhua Company and the British government.

……

At the same time, on October 1899, 10, the Transvaal government issued an ultimatum to Britain.

They demanded that the UK stop sending more troops to southern Africa, withdraw all troops that arrived in southern Africa after June 6, submit all disputes to diplomatic arbitration, and gave them 1 hours to respond.

On October 10, Joseph Chamberlain, the colonial secretary of the British cabinet, ordered Governor Milner to reject the conditions proposed by the Transvaal Republic.

At five o'clock in the afternoon on October 1899, 10, the Transvaal Republic, the Neway Republic and the Orange Free State Federal Parliament declared war on Britain.

The Second Boer War breaks out! (End of chapter)