In Roque's assumption, there is no part of the Chinese ethnic group.

It's not that Roque didn't consider the interests of the Chinese, but Roque hoped that before the Chinese had the ability to protect themselves, the British could attract as much firepower from the Boers as possible, leaving more time for the Chinese to work hard, and if the British couldn't hold on in the future, it would not be too late for the Chinese to take over.

So, looking back, Roque still led the miners to dredge the river in preparation for the upcoming rainy season, or next year's drought.

Now it seems that drought is inevitable, although it is the dry season, but the dry season does not rain a single drop, but compared to the rainy season, the dry season has less precipitation.

But this year, since the beginning of May, there has not been a drop of rain.

Johannesburg's economy is anchored by gold mines, so the Johannesburg City Council can ignore the situation.

Roque is now the largest landowner in Johannesburg, so Roque can't count on the city government, and this trouble has to be solved by Roque himself after all.

"It's not difficult to dredge the river, it's even very simple, this is the crocodile river, there are so many crocodiles in the river, we sell the crocodile skins to the merchants in Johannesburg, and then use the money to pay for the cost of dredging the river, and we have a little surplus, and if the work is not progressing enough, we can also hire Zulus." Buck is optimistic, and Iron Hook leads the security guards in shifts all over the world looking for crocodiles, and I heard that everyone makes a lot of money.

Roque wouldn't be greedy for the money now, not even the crocodile skin, and if he wanted the security guards who could have rested to take the initiative to come out and work, then give them enough benefits.

Crocodile skins are still very valuable, and there are merchants in Johannesburg who specialize in this business, they buy crocodile skins from Johannesburg and ship them to London and Paris to sell them to leather manufacturers at high prices.

These leather goods manufacturers are the famous luxury families of the future, most of them are still small workshops, and they have nothing to do with luxury goods but already have the prototype of a family brand.

In fact, if Roque is willing, Roque can also get involved in the luxury jewelry industry now.

But Roque is not necessary, Roque now has a gold mine and a farm, which is enough for Roque to toss, and he always has to save food for others, and the money in this world is inexhaustible.

So Roque doesn't care about the crocodile skins, what Roque cares about is what kind of income the crocodile river can bring to the farms around Johannesburg in the future.

To be honest, Roque wasn't much happy that the project was going well, and vaguely, Roque felt as if he had overlooked something.

"I had a casual conversation with Professor Douglas yesterday, and Professor Douglas said that if we want the Alligator River to be fully functional for the surrounding farms, then we should build a reservoir, because during the dry season, the Alligator River will break down and degenerate into small ponds that will not provide enough water for the surrounding farms, and if we build a reservoir, there will be no problem with that-" Buck muttered, and Roark woke up to his dream.

That's right, it's a reservoir!

The role of reservoirs in agriculture does not need to be emphasized, especially in areas like Johannesburg, where there is a clear rainy and dry season, and building a reservoir can store water when the river floods during the rainy season, and then ensure that the farm has enough water during the dry season.

Moreover, the reservoir can be upgraded to a hydroelectric power station, which can provide a stable supply of electricity to Johannesburg and even Pretoria once the hydropower station is completed.

At that time, if anyone offends Roque, Roque will pull the power cut, and the power of the electric tiger is not blown blindly.

That's a good idea!

Roque said just do it, and immediately went to Douglas.

"Yes, there is a possibility of building a reservoir in the upper reaches of the Crocodile River, and as for the hydropower station - there are no hydropower stations in Europe now, the Americans seem to have built a hydropower station, but the specific situation is not clear - " Douglas agreed to build a reservoir, but for the hydropower station, Douglas did not understand the situation in this regard, so he would not rashly make a proposal, which is a scientific and cautious attitude.

Douglas didn't know about hydroelectric power plants, but Roque did.

Although Roque also does not understand the technology of hydropower plants, at least Roque is well aware of the prospects of hydropower plants.

The U.S. hydropower station Douglas is referring to should be the Niagara Hydropower Station built by Nikola Tesla, which is the world's first large-scale hydropower plant and will supply a quarter of the total electricity demand of New York State and Ontario, Canada.

Nikola Tesla should be on a bad luck now, his laboratory was destroyed by a bizarre fire, and he himself was threatened by some unknown forces and had to give up the "patent right for alternating current".

This is a good thing for Roque, which means that Roque does not have to pay royalties for alternating current.

At this time, the patent fee was so expensive that no one could imagine, the patent fee for an alternating current was one dollar, so if Nikola Tesla did not give up the "patent right of alternating current", then it would only take a few months for Nikola Tesla to become the richest man in the world.

Although Roque knew that this was immoral, he still had to thank Edison for suppressing Nikola Tesla, which allowed Roque to invest in a hydroelectric power plant at minimal cost.

In fact, it is not only the investment, but the power of the patent fee lies in the fact that if Nikola Tesla does not give up the patent right of alternating current, then for a certain period of time, as long as the hydropower station continues to operate, then Roque will continue to pay the patent fee until the expiration of the patent protection period.

Well, it seems that the patent rights of this period can still be renewed for a fee.

"Sir Locke, this is an infrastructure project, you can apply for government support." Douglas kindly reminded Roque.

"I'll go for it, you contact the U.S. side now." Roque will certainly not miss the opportunity to apply for financial support, but if the Johannesburg City Government or the Governor's Office do not support it, Roque does not care.

It's true that a hydropower plant is an infrastructure project, but in the case of the Transvaal, no one has to say that the infrastructure must be undertaken by the government.

Not only the Transvaal, but all the projects in this period were actually privately invested, such as railways, which were even completely privately invested, and the government also wanted to invest, but there was no money, so for the sake of economic development, the government even had to provide ancillary conditions to attract private investment.

The purpose of capital is to make a profit, so the pricing money of privately invested basic transportation facilities is not in the government, and people want to use those privately invested basic transportation facilities, and how much they have to pay is the final word of capital.

Therefore, the tycoons in the United States during this period were basically related to railways and shipping.

It's the same in Johannesburg, even if the governments of Johannesburg and Pretoria don't care, Roque will fund the construction of the hydropower plant on his own, and at most sell more gold.

But if the two levels of government do not care, then the two levels of government will not have the power to price electricity, when the hydropower station is put into operation, the power supply will certainly not be free, the city government and the governor's palace do not use electricity, if it is used, then no one can control how much money Roque will charge.

The key is that the hydropower station has a strong exclusivity, if Roque builds a hydropower station in the upper reaches of the crocodile river, then the entire upper reaches of the crocodile river, there is no living space for a second hydropower station, even if it is repaired, it is useless, and if the upstream does not open the sluice, the downstream reservoir can be thirsty to death.

So can Roque do such a thing?

The answer is yes!

That's right, Roque can do it, and it will go more than that.

Therefore, because of the importance of the hydropower station, it is impossible for Roque to swallow this piece of fat alone.

If Roque builds a hydropower station as a sole proprietorship, it will be cool to collect electricity bills in the future, but it will also cause Roque to become a public enemy of the whole people.

At that time, those who pay high electricity prices and enjoy the convenient services brought by electricity will not think about who built the hydropower station, they will only envy and envy all kinds of hatred, and wish that Roque could provide free electricity like Nikola Tesla.

Therefore, Roque has to find enough people with weight to carry this pot together.

In Johannesburg, there are a lot of people in the Mining Alliance, so the first thing that comes to Roque's mind is the Mining Alliance.

"Reservoir? We're mining, we don't need that, and building a reservoir seems to affect the water table, so we need to be cautious about this. At a special meeting of the mining alliance that Roque requested, Roque threw out the proposal, and some people immediately jumped out to oppose it.

The guy who jumped out on his own initiative is called Adam Stephen, who is said to be the white glove of a local nobleman, and the gold mine managed by Adam Stephen is larger than the Rock Gold Mine, but the output approved by the city government is lower than that of the Rock Gold Mine, which seems to verify the authenticity of the "supposedly".

"Yes, the reservoir affects the water table—"

"It's going to increase the cost of our mining—"

"This kind of thing should be done by the government—"

Adam Stephen was still a little influential, and as soon as his words fell, the conference room immediately burst into discussion.

The Mining Alliance's office is temporarily located in Olympuspo, and the official office is under construction, right next to the city hall.

"De Beers Unified Mining Company agrees to contribute 100,000 pounds—" Aiden spoke suddenly, unequivocally in support of Roque.

"Russell Gold Mine agrees to contribute 10,000 pounds—" Joe Russell also came forward in person this time.

"Matilda Gold Mine agreed to pay fifty thousand pounds—" Sam was not reconciled.

The tide was reversed.

Adam Stephen's face turned pale.

Pin drop can be heard in the conference room.

According to the news from the United States, referring to the cost of the Niagara Hydropower Station, the construction cost of the Crocodile Bay Hydropower Station is about 1 million pounds, which is also the main reason for Adam Stephen's opposition.

"The Rock Gold Mine has an initial investment of 100,000 pounds, and if the funds raised in the end are insufficient, it can be added at that time." Roque has the confidence that this money is actually paid in installments, and it can also be paid in gold, so Roque can afford it.

"The 100,000 pounds of the De Beers Unified Mining Company is also the first phase, and if the funds are insufficient, no matter how much is missing, the De Beers Unified Mining Company can directly make up for it." Aiden is angry, this face is too big, and Roque must find Cecil Rhodes Jr. to thank him in person.

The atmosphere in the conference room began to liven up, although most people did not understand what the hydropower station meant, and even did not know what the hydropower station would bring to Johannesburg, but it must be right to follow in the footsteps of the big guys, is Roque a fool?

Is De Beers Unified Mining a fool?

I'm afraid whoever thinks so is stupid!

"Gresham Gold Mine agrees to contribute 10,000 pounds—" Someone finally responded.

"The Wadsworth Gold Mine agreed to invest five thousand-"

"Jim Clayton Gold Mine agreed to pay 10,000-"

The gold mine owners still had a lot of money on hand, and someone took the lead, and soon the 1 million pounds of share capital was subscribed by the mine owners for 600,000 pounds.

There was still room for it, so Roque added another £100,000.

De Beers Unified Mining Company is really wealthy, Aiden wanted to cover all the rest, but Roque refused, Roque only gave Aiden an additional 100,000 pounds, and the rest of the part, Roque is still useful.

In fact, simply to build a hydropower station, 800,000 pounds is enough, and the rest of the part, Roque has to use it to run the relationship.

The hydropower station is located in Johannesburg, and it makes sense and reason to set aside a part of it for the city government, so that after the hydropower station is completed in the future, the city government will not interfere with the price of electricity.

For the same reason, the Governor's Palace cannot be ignored, twenty-four bows are bowed, and this trembling is not bad, regardless of whether Alfred Milner and Philippe Matilda support it or not, there should be no less filial piety, otherwise, don't complain if you are stuck in the neck when the time comes.

Of course, there is no need for Roque to take this part to the meeting and say that people who have mines at home understand what is going on, and those who don't understand it are not qualified to sit in this room.

No matter when, people who are too ugly to eat, usually have no big profits, do a small business, to take into account the interests of employees, to do a big business, to take into account the interests of allies, blindly eat more and occupy more, and finally can only be mixed into a lonely person, this kind of person often does not know to reflect on himself, only complains that he has no chance, the society is unfair, the environment is not good, as everyone knows, the road is their own end.

After the meeting of the Mining Alliance, Roque went out to find Philip Matilda.

"Reservoir? Why build a reservoir, Johannesburg doesn't need a reservoir. The baron's first reaction was to object.

"Reservoirs and hydropower stations are linked, the gold mines in Johannesburg need electricity, the surrounding farms need reservoirs, and building a reservoir is good for everybody." Roque is right, a large project like a hydropower station, after it starts, is actually beneficial to everyone, including the city government.

To build a hydropower station, you need building materials, related equipment, transportation, and a lot of labor, and these laborers need to eat, drink, and lazar, which is all money.