African Nationhood

The South China Army's notification made the Congo Free State and Leopold II very angry, but they quickly compromised. After all, the South China Army had not yet made serious moves with the Congo Free State.

If the South China Army really takes action, the 14000 black troops of the Congo Free State will not be able to stop the powerful South China Army.

So the Governor-General of the Congo Free State, Gillan Payate, urgently contacted the South China Cabinet and asked the two sides to hold negotiations.

The South China Cabinet directly notified the Belgians to ensure the personal safety of the British journalists. If there was a problem with the British journalists, the South China Army would directly attack the Congo Free State.

The Governor of the Congo Free State immediately called and expressed his absolute guarantee of the reporter’s personal safety.

As for the safety of the remaining 2400 Chinese workers, they promised that they would be sent to the Kamina area on time.

Next came the negotiation between the two parties. The two parties agreed on the location of the negotiation via telegram, which was located in Luanda, the capital of Portuguese West Africa.

Enrique Michel de Paiva Cabral Cuseiro, the governor of Angola in Portuguese West Africa, acted as the intermediary in the negotiations.

The cabinet dispatched Vice Premier Shi Jinyong to Luanda for negotiations on the battleship "Shu King". The negotiation location was a private estate on the outskirts of Luanda.

Gillan Payat, the governor of the Congo Free State, is a middle-aged white man with a round face and a thick beard.

He came here early, and he was very familiar with the Portuguese governor, because the sudden rise of South China made the two colonial leaders have a common language.

After learning that Vice Premier Shi Jinyong from South China had arrived, Gilan Payat and Governor Kusero went out to greet him.

Shi Jinyong shook hands with the two white men, exchanged casual greetings for a few words, and then stopped talking with a sullen face.

The two white men still wanted to talk to liven up the atmosphere, but Shi Jinyong ignored them at all, and they made a boring scene on their own.

After both parties entered the prepared conference hall, they took their seats.

Governor Kusero played his role as a host and took the lead in speaking.

“Good morning, Your Excellency, Vice Premier Shi, and Your Excellency, Governor Payate, we are consulting today on the mistreatment of citizens in South China and the Congo Free State.

Regardless of the outcome, I hope that both South China and Congo can negotiate and live in peace. "

Shi Jinyong nodded, "Thank you Governor Kusero for providing us with the venue for negotiation and acting as the intermediary for this meeting. We in Nanhua will remember your friendship. If you need us in Nanhua in the future, please don't be polite."

After speaking, Shi Jinyong turned to Governor Payat, "Your country's mistreatment of our citizens shows contempt for the South China Dominion.

Ignoring their demands for a healthy life and reasonable working hours is a violation of human rights.

In addition, due to your country's cruel exploitation and neglect, 567 Chinese citizens lost their lives. Your country must compensate our citizens. "

Gillan Payate nodded, apologetically, "This matter is indeed caused by our country's negligence. Our country is willing to compensate. I wonder if you have any intended figures?"

Shi Jinyong took out a document from his entourage and handed it to the other party, "This is the file of 567 citizens. They never received a penny of wages while working in your country, and they died in pain because they had no medicine. This is all expensive." country’s responsibility.

We discussed a compensation list based on this. Each person still has family members to support and children to support. The family members will have decades to live until their death. We calculate the calculation based on 40 years.

Our country stipulates that children reach adulthood at the age of 16. In total, one person needs to be compensated 1 pounds. 567 people are equal to 567 million pounds.

In addition, 3500 Chinese workers were tortured and imprisoned..."

"What, so many?"

After hearing Shi Jinyong's claim figures, Governor Payat's face was extremely shocked. These Chinese must be too greedy.

"These are just the compensation payments for the deceased Chinese workers. The remaining 3500 Chinese workers need to be compensated 1000 pounds each, which is 350 million pounds.

Governor Payat, do you want me to add up the total for you? I hear you white people are not very good at math. "

Payate's face was pale. He thought that the Chinese would kill him with a knife, but he didn't expect that the Chinese would be so cruel.

His Majesty the King has occupied the Congo Free State for 24 years. It is estimated that the money extracted from this land is not enough to pay the compensation claimed by these Chinese.

"This matter is of great importance. I cannot make the decision alone. Please allow me to report it to His Majesty the King of our country."

Shi Jinyong nodded, "Okay, I'll come to hear your reply at this time tomorrow."...

After saying that, Shi Jinyong stood up and left, leaving the two white governors alone looking at each other.

"These disgusting yellow-skinned monkeys, they are so greedy!"

Cursing can't solve the problem, you still have to find a way to solve the problem.

Gillan Payat contacted Leopold II in Brussels via telegram.

When Leopold II learned that Nanhua was demanding compensation of 917 million pounds, his mentality collapsed on the spot.

He didn't make so much money in 24 years of colonization, these shameless Chinese!

It is really difficult for him to deal with the South China Army. He does have some connections with British and American capitalists, but these connections cannot influence the South China Autonomous Dominion, the first power in southern Africa.

As a constitutional king, he had no ability to resist the South China Dominion. In desperation, he chose to lie down.

He sent a message to Gillan Payat, asking him to contact the Belgian cabinet directly. He ignored the matter and left it directly to the cabinet for discussion.

After Gillan Payat received the order, he had no choice but to contact Cabinet Prime Minister Frans Scholath.

Prime Minister Shorat just came to power in January this year and was about to flex his muscles when he happened to encounter the negotiations in the South China Autonomous Territory.

His first reaction was to thank the South Chinese Army, which forced the king to give up his right to rule the Congo Free State.

But soon, he was amazed by the powerful strength of the Nanhua army and the shameless greed of the Nanhua people.

Do you want to give this money?
The new prime minister is entangled, but the entangled problems must be solved.

Therefore, the new prime minister first called Gillan Payat and asked him to stabilize Nanhua's deputy prime minister until the cabinet dispatched new negotiators.

Then the new prime minister gathered a group of officials and went to the palace to find Leopold II. They forced the king to sign the document transferring the rule of the Congo Free State on the spot.

Leopold II also wanted to ask the new prime minister how to resolve the dispute with South China.

The new prime minister and his officials ignored the king's questions and just kept urging him to sign the document.

Leopold II had no choice but to sign the document reluctantly.

……

After the documents were obtained, Prime Minister Shorat took the documents to the parliament, informed the members of the situation of the Congo Free State, and sought the opinions of the parliament.

The congressmen were filled with indignation. They not only condemned King Leopold II, but also denounced the shamelessness of the South China Dominion, calling on the congressmen to unite and formulate countermeasures against the South China Dominion.

The first countermeasure is to seize the Herstal Arsenal controlled by the South China Dominion!
The domestic media in Belgium are also frantically setting the pace, inciting the public to target South China and the Chinese.

Trudeau, the general manager of the Herstal Arsenal, had already received domestic notification, so while contacting the customers of the arsenal, he said that the Herstal Arsenal had been targeted by Belgian domestic politicians and was unable to complete orders in time.

If you want the arsenal to complete orders on time, you must exert influence on the Belgian government.

On the other side, Trudeau gathered all the workers of the Herstal Arsenal for a meeting and told them that some unscrupulous politicians controlled the parliament and intended to close the Herstal Arsenal and cut off everyone's work.

How can workers be willing to accept that they are working well and suddenly become unemployed?
Therefore, more than 8000 workers of the Herstal Arsenal held a demonstration and went to Liège Province to petition, asking the government not to close the arsenal.

The Belgian government immediately received notes from governments of various countries asking them why they wanted to close the Herstal Arsenal.

If the arsenal is closed, what will happen to their arms orders?
British Foreign Secretary Sir Edward Gray also sent a note to the Belgian government, asking why they maliciously targeted British-owned enterprises.
Prime Minister Shorat suddenly had a headache. These Chinese were so shameless that they launched an all-round siege.

He originally thought that inciting the MPs to target the Herstal Arsenal would make Nanhua worry about it and soften their attitude.

Unexpectedly, these Chinese didn't care at all, and instead put pressure on the Belgian government through other channels.

This negotiation is really difficult! (End of chapter)