African Nationhood

Chapter 474: Working together (I wish everyone a happy Lantern Festival!)

May 5th, Nanhua office outside London.

The British Foreign Secretary Sir Edward Gray and the German Minister in London, Count Metternich, came to visit.

Ouyang Geng was at the entrance of the manor, welcoming guests.

Ouyang Geng has been in London for more than half a month. The 27th of last month was the opening day of the London Olympics.

Ouyang Geng attended the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games on behalf of South China. He has not returned to China since then. He stayed in London waiting for negotiations with Belgium.

He did not expect that the Belgians did not come, but the British and Germans came first.

……

Arriving at the reception room, the guests and hosts took their seats.

As the host, Ouyang Geng was the first to speak, "Sir Grey, you are here with Count Metternich. What do you want?"

"This area is claimed by Buganda Company. I hope you can contact the soldiers in Nanhua and ask them to occupy this area as soon as possible."

The area of ​​this land should be more than 3 square kilometers.

The area requested by the Germans was larger than that of the British, covering almost 5 square kilometers.

"Prime Minister Ouyang, I am here also hoping that your soldiers can help us occupy an area between Lake Tanganyika and Lake Kivu (the location of Rwanda and Burundi in the future)."

"Is this what Ambassador Metternich is here for?"

Ouyang Geng chuckled, "Oh, where is the specific location?"

"There are still large vacancies in Lake Edward and Lake Kivu between the two countries. How about adding this one as well, with half of your family?"

According to Ouyang Geng, if the two families can add another 1 to 2 square kilometers of land, they are naturally willing to do so and have no objections.

There are two aristocratic princes in this Liberal Party cabinet. In addition to Edward Gray, the other one is Winston Churchill.

Ouyang Geng took out his cigarette and lit it slowly. After taking a puff of the cigarette, he slowly exhaled the smoke.

Once this has been agreed upon, it’s time to discuss compensation terms.

Nanhua's efforts can't be in vain, right?

Edward Gray is a middle-aged gentleman. He is from a noble family, but he is a capable member of the Liberal Party cabinet.

Sir Edward Gray chuckled and said, "This matter is very simple. Britain and Germany have some problems on the border of the Congo Free State. We hope that you will add these terms during the negotiation process with them and pass them at once."

Ouyang Geng looked at the map in his hand and couldn't help but hesitate.

Count Metternich is an old Junker nobleman from the Principality of Württemberg. He is 50 years old this year. He has a thick beard on his chin, a bright forehead, and his yellowish front teeth are exposed when he smiles.

Ouyang Geng took the map and looked at it for a while, then looked at the German ambassador.

"What exactly is it?"

Edward Gray took out a map from his briefcase and drew a patch between Lake Albert and Lake Edward at the border between British Buganda (today's Uganda and Kenya) and the Congo Free State.

There is a hollow in the middle of the land on both sides, which is not conducive to negotiations. The Belgians knew at a glance that it was land wanted by Britain and Germany.

"The main reason we came here is to agree on some things before you negotiate with the Belgians."

Ouyang Geng said nothing, waiting for the two of them to take the initiative to bring up the topic.

The British and Germans stopped talking after getting an advantage and just looked at Ouyang Geng quietly.

……

First and second class, the British and Germans just don't talk.

Ouyang Geng smoked several cigarettes and couldn't help cursing in his heart. Finally, he couldn't hold it in anymore and couldn't help asking, "We fought hard to help you get the land for free. What compensation will you give us?"

Sir Gray chuckled: "I can coordinate the cabinet and help build some industrial enterprises for your Dominion."

The British have tasted the sweetness from the previous aid and construction process. Moreover, the economic growth rate in Europe and the United States has not been good in recent years, and signs of economic crisis have already emerged.

Business owners in the UK have lobbied the cabinet one after another, hoping that the cabinet can cooperate more with the colonies below, continue to export aid-building industries, and boost the economy.

The Liberal Party cabinet has also discovered that the previous assistance to Nanhua enterprises has boosted economic growth in disguise, so they are thinking about how to continue to boost the economy.

……

Ouyang Geng nodded. In the past few years, Nanhua has almost all the industry categories, but there is a problem of too many but not strong.

Since the British are willing to give, it would be great to take over, support one more enterprise, and increase Nanhua's industrial heritage.

"Okay, we will discuss the specific enterprises to be built after I communicate with the country. Where are you, Count Metternich?"

The German chuckled and said, "We can provide you with a low-interest loan."

Hearing what the other party said, Ouyang Geng became interested. Chairman Shi had said before that he wanted to harvest more German people's wool.

When the opportunity came, of course he couldn't let it go.

"Oh, how much loan can you provide?" "5 million German marks."

Hearing the 5 million German mark, Ouyang Geng sighed, "It's a bit small, less than 2000 million pounds, maybe 10 billion. Where's the interest?"

Count Metternich nodded upon hearing this, "Yes, the annual interest rate is 3%."

Ouyang Geng was very satisfied when he heard this interest rate. The international practice is 4% to 6%.

"What about the deadline?"

"5-year period."

Ouyang Geng shook his head, "This period is too short, let's say 10 years."

Count Metternich nodded in agreement, "Okay."

Ten days later, all parties confirmed that the military occupation had been successfully completed, and then the three parties signed a secret agreement.

The British Cabinet promised to assist the South China Dominion in building a steel plant worth 100 million pounds.

The German Bank of Berlin granted the South China Autonomous Territory a low-interest loan of 10 billion German marks, with an annual interest rate of 3% and a term of ten years.

In this agreement, Ouyang Geng specifically requested a one-time repayment after maturity. Although the Germans were curious about this, they still agreed.

In this way, everyone is happy, and it can be regarded as a collusion, and only the Belgian is injured.

……

On May 5, Belgian Prime Minister Schorat came to London and stayed at the Belgian Embassy in London.

On May 5, Prime Minister Schorat arrived at Trafalgar Square. In addition to being the seat of Whitehall in London, England, this square is also surrounded by the offices of colonies or autonomous territories such as South China, Australia, and Canada.

Today's negotiations were held at the Nanhua Office in the north of the square.

Prime Minister Shorat first shook hands with Prime Minister Ouyang Geng and exchanged greetings for a while, and then came to the special office.

This is a two-story building, not large in area, but it is old enough.

Ouyang Geng brought the Belgian Prime Minister to the conference room. Along the way, Ouyang Geng introduced the history of Nanhua and Chairman Shi's photos to the Belgians, and then took the Prime Minister to his seat.

After the staff had served black tea and coffee, only the negotiators from both sides were left in the entire conference room.

……

"First of all, I want to apologize for the military conflict between our two sides. I am also very grateful to you for sitting down and conducting peace negotiations with our country."

Ouyang Geng nodded, "Well, since peace is the common aspiration of both of us, we should reach a peaceful situation as soon as possible to avoid further bloodshed."

Prime Minister Shorat nodded in agreement, "We think so too, so what are your conditions?"

Ouyang Geng took out the prepared peace treaty and handed it to the other party, "These are the final conditions we have agreed on. If your country agrees, we can sign the final contract."

Prime Minister Shorat did not respond to Ouyang Geng's words. He needed to see the other party's conditions first before speaking.

Nanhua's conditional compensation was increased to 1000 million pounds, saying that it was acceptable due to the increase in battle losses.

In addition to compensation, additional territorial demands were made, which was expected by Prime Minister Shorat.

It's just that the territory Nanhua wants is fertile land between lakes in addition to mountains. These add up to nearly 200,000 square kilometers.

This condition is a bit painful, but there is nothing we can do about it. Who makes Belgium too weak?

Even if the people wanted to hate him, they could only hate the Chinese in Nanhua, but they could not hate him, a Prime Minister who was willing to compromise.

"The British cabinet has no objection to these conditions?"

Ouyang Geng nodded, "No, they have nothing to do with our affairs."

When Prime Minister Shorat heard this, he couldn't help but secretly pouted. The British really shot themselves in the foot and raised a second United States.

"Well, I have no problem with this agreement. We can sign a treaty at any time."

Ouyang Geng stood up and shook hands with the Belgian Prime Minister, and the cooperation was concluded.

However, in order to take care of Belgium's domestic sentiment, the agreement was finally signed in mid-June.

Belgian domestic newspapers have one special report every day. Each special report is about how the Prime Minister argued with the South Chinese people and finally signed the agreement.

When Prime Minister Schorat returned to Brussels, people gathered to welcome their Prime Minister back.

……

Ouyang Geng returned to China and brought a large pile of documents.

Before he could take a breath, he turned back to his intense work.

The state council meeting on mid-term construction was about to be held, and he still had many things to be busy with.

(End of this chapter)