African Nationhood

On February 1908, 2, Shi Jintang was playing the "Monopoly" game with his youngest son Shi Yang. Shi Ming came in to report that Prime Minister Ouyang Geng had arrived.

"Invite him in."

Not long after, Ouyang Geng came in, holding a telegram in his hand.

The well-behaved and sensible Shi Yang put down the dice in his hand, bowed to Ouyang Geng and saluted, "Hello, Uncle Ouyang."

Ouyang Geng was very happy to see that this boy was so polite. He touched Shi Yang's head and smiled at Shi Jintang: "I see, this boy is the most well-behaved in your family.

It's a pity that I don't have such a young daughter, otherwise I would definitely take this guy as my son-in-law. "

The children of Ouyang Geng's family are of different ages, and not many of them are a good match for Shi Jintang's children. At that time, Shi Jintang even joked that he and Ouyang Geng would be his in-laws.

Now that it has not been realized, Shi Jintang is a little embarrassed.

"How about you take another concubine and have more children."

Ouyang Geng shook his head, "Let's not talk about this matter."

But Shi Jintang became serious, "How about this, point your Keying to my second child?"

Ouyang Keying is Ouyang Geng's only daughter. She is 15 years old and has a somewhat European appearance.

His third son, Shi Zhao, looks more like Kelly. He has blond hair and blue eyes, but his facial contour and nose bridge are just like Shi Jintang.

Now she is attending college in the United States and will graduate next year, exactly 20 years old, and Ouyang Keying will become an adult at the age of 16.

Ouyang Geng listened to Shi Jintang's suggestion and was tempted.

Before Shi Hao got married, he had toyed with the idea of ​​letting Shi Hao take his daughter as a concubine, but he was a little reluctant to let her go.

Now that Boss Shi has given him another choice, Shi Zhao is the daughter of the main wife anyway.

Moreover, the Smith family still has a large industry such as Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceuticals to inherit, so it is not unfair to their daughter.

"Then it's up to you."

After the two discussed their children's marriage, Shi Yang took the initiative to leave.

Shi Jintang appreciated this move very much, and Ouyang Geng couldn't help but admire Shi Yang's general knowledge.

……

"What brings you here?"

"This is a request for help from the United Kingdom. They ask us to go to the Congo Free State to protect a British journalist."

"Reporter, what reporter?"

"Didn't the British set up the 'Congo Reform Association' before? This association exposed a lot of Leopold II's reign of terror in the Congo, which caused Leopold II's reputation in Europe to be discredited.

The Belgian Parliament also passed a resolution on March 3 last year to wrest the management of the Congo Free State from the hands of the king.

But Leopold II was reluctant to let go, so British reporters planned to come here again to shoot news and expose Leopold II. "

Shi Jintang nodded, remembering that this "Chop Master" should completely lose the rule of the Congo Free State in the second half of this year, when the Belgian government will take over Congo.

The British are so enthusiastic about the Congo Free State mainly because they covet Congo's resources.

The most important resource in the Congo Free State is rubber. There are a large number of wild rubber trees in this tropical jungle. Now the world is extremely hungry for rubber, and there are many rich minerals in the Congo Free State.

However, Shi Jintang has very complicated feelings about the Congo Free State. At present, this land is not worth sending troops to occupy.

The first is the harsh natural environment. In the absence of artemisinin, developing inland tropical areas will require human lives to fill it.

The Lunda Administrative Office in South China has not carried out administrative subdivision for a long time because the diseases in the tropical jungle are too serious and there is no need to waste the immigrants he worked so hard to transport. Secondly, the population base of the indigenous people in Central Africa is too large and it is difficult to clean them up.

The Congo Free State has a population of 2000 million. With such a large population base, it is simply impossible to consume it all using the old methods.

The "Chop Master" has only used up less than half of it after so many years of hard consumption. No matter how courageous he is, he doesn't dare to clear it all.

Besides, although these indigenous people are stupid, they are not pigs. They are all very good at hiding. Once they run into the dense forest to hide, how will his soldiers chase them and clean them up?

There are many Madonnas in Europe today, and once the natives fled, the notoriety of the South China genocide was revealed.

How does Nanhua gain a foothold in the world?

It is also impossible to conduct trade with European countries.

Nowadays, Nanhua really cannot afford such a reputation, and he is really powerless towards this land.

……

"Where is that reporter?"

“It’s unclear, it’s said to be in the Manono area on the west bank of the Luvua River (today’s Manono City, Katanga Province, DRC).

Manono is a mining area, and the indigenous people there are exploited quite miserably. The British reporter is nearby. "

"Since the British have requested it, let the Northern Military Region send a company to protect and support them."

Ouyang Geng nodded, "One more thing. The Congolese government introduced thousands of Chinese workers from the Qing Dynasty to build the railway.

Because the conditions were too difficult, the Chinese suffered heavy casualties. A Chinese worker ran to our Lunda office and begged us to rescue them. "

……

Leopold II massacred the natives too much in the Congo Free State, resulting in a shortage of labor and the natives were too stupid.

He turned his attention to the Qing Dynasty, thousands of miles away, hoping to recruit a large number of Chinese workers to work in the country.

In accordance with the king's order, the Belgian minister to China began to submit relevant notes to the Prime Minister's Office of the Qing Dynasty starting from the 1887th year of Guangxu's reign (). However, the Qing Dynasty flatly refused on the grounds that the Congo Free State had no treaty relationship with the Qing Dynasty.

Although Belgium is also one of the Western powers, its strength is far inferior to that of Britain, France, the United States and other countries. It knows that it cannot force the Qing court to submit through war or force.

To this end, starting from the 1892th year of Guangxu (), Leopold II colluded with Portuguese labor traffickers in Macau through the Belgian Legation and entrusted them to recruit laborers in China.

At the same time, Leopold II appointed Count Yushel as the plenipotentiary representative of the Congo Free State, and took the trouble to negotiate with the Qing government on the recruitment of Chinese workers.

After six years of hard and soft tactics, Leopold II finally got what he wanted.

On May 1898, 5, Li Hongzhang signed the "Qing Gang Tianjin Special Seal" with Yu Shier on behalf of the Qing government. This was the only unequal treaty signed between the Qing Dynasty and a black country.

The "Qing Gang Tianjin Special Chapter" contains only two articles. In addition to granting "most favored nation status" to the Congo Free State and the privilege of the Congo Free State government to freely recruit Chinese workers in the Qing Dynasty, all the various privileges enjoyed by other powers in the Qing Dynasty, Congo Free State States can also "share the benefits".

Leopold II was a greedy guy. Shortly after the signing of the "Qing Gang Tianjin Special Chapter", he instructed Yu Shier to make a very absurd suggestion to Li Hongzhang.

It calls for sending a black army belonging to the Congo Free State to be stationed in China in order to safeguard the "country's" interests in China and protect the safety of expatriates.

If the Qing Dynasty had not implemented the "Hundred Days Reform" and the "Boxer Rebellion" suddenly broke out, causing Leopold II's plan to fail, otherwise there would have been a "great power army" composed of black people on the Qing Dynasty's land.

……

Hearing this, Shi Jintang immediately paid attention, "This matter must be done as soon as possible. Where are those Chinese workers?"

"There are coal mines in the Kamina area, and the Chinese workers there suffered severe humiliation."

Shi Jintang couldn't sit still immediately and said angrily: "This TND Leopold II is a bit brave. I will issue an order to the Army Headquarters and ask them to send troops to occupy this area immediately!" (End of Chapter)