During this period, free trade was the mainstream of the world.

The so-called free trade means that the state does not intervene in the economy, allows the economy to develop freely, and promotes social progress.

In 1936, John Maynard Keynes published the book "General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money", which founded modern macroeconomics as "Keynesianism".

Prior to Keynes's publication of Employment, Britain was in the midst of a period of transition from a laissez-faire system of private enterprise to a private monopoly, and Britain during this period was definitely exemplary in terms of laissez-faire, and some of the behaviors of some Britons at that time were called "British disease".

The so-called British disease is, to put it simply, a self-destructive national skeptical pessimism.

At that time, some members of the British elite thought that they knew what was the best choice of society, and they always liked to belittle their own country and praise others; belittle the achievements of one's own people and envy the achievements of others; contempt for one's own state system and praise for the system of other peoples; By the way, he also ridiculed every national figure in his country.

Doesn't that sound familiar?

Yes, it is indeed quite similar to some public knowledge, which is also in the same vein.

The opposite of free trade was Roosevelt's New Deal.

An important measure in Roosevelt's New Deal was the "cash-for-work" initiative, which vigorously built public works to alleviate social crises and class contradictions, and to increase employment and stimulate consumption and production.

It's a lot like Johannesburg after the war.

Even after the end of the war, some of Alfred Milner's policies were similar to Roosevelt's New Deal, except that Alfred Milner's "New Deal" did not bring prosperity and stability to the Transvaal, and after Alfred Milner's departure, his "New Deal" was abandoned by his successor, Louis Botha, and the New Deal came to an abrupt end.

Roque could not explain to Philip Matilda what "Roosevelt's New Deal" was, let alone "Keynesianism", so he could only start from the facts of Johannesburg and hope that Philip would support Roque in building the reservoir.

"I'm sorry Sir Locke, but I'm afraid the city won't be able to help you financially." Philippe Matilda knew that Roque had a point, but there was nothing he could do.

It's not that Lord Philip deliberately targeted Roque, it's that the Johannesburg City Council really doesn't have the money.

Johannesburg was still under military rule, and the city government did not even have administrative powers, and now it can barely function, relying on direct funding from London.

This is also the reason why the pressure on London is increasing, the war did not end as quickly as imagined, before London was only responsible for the military expenses of the expeditionary force, and now it is necessary to add the operating expenses of the Transvaal and Orange governments, which can survive in a short period of time, but the end of the war is far away, and it seems that this is a bottomless pit.

Of course, Philip Matilda is not at all unhelpful, and cannot provide financial support, so other aspects will not put obstacles in the way of Roque, such as the use of land for the reservoir, such as the coordination of trains transporting building materials and related equipment, and for example, because of the construction of the reservoir to hire workers-

Filipe Matilda can help with this.

Roque knew the predicament of the Johannesburg City Council, so Roque didn't talk nonsense, and when he left the mayor's residence, Roque threw Owen a certificate of shares worth 100,000 pounds, and then went directly to Pretoria.

"How much does the project cost?" Alfred Milner also did not commit directly, but first understood the situation.

"About 1 million pounds, so much money, no one can afford it independently, so in addition to government support, there will also be social fundraising, the initiative is initiated by the Johannesburg Mining Alliance, the mining alliance decided to set up a company called 'Crocodile Bay' to carry out commercial operation of the hydropower station, in Johannesburg, Crocodile Bay has raised 900,000 pounds, but this is not enough, if the funds are insufficient, then the Crocodile Bay company will send people to Cape Town to continue to raise funds." Roque wants to bring more people on board, so the more shareholders the better, and it is better to bring in all the powerful big companies in the Transvaal.

In this way, the future Crocodile Bay Company will become a supergiant like the South African Company, and no matter who it is, if you want to deal with the Crocodile Bay Company, then you must first weigh yourself.

In fact, this crocodile bay company was also prepared by Roque for the future Boers, the number of Boers is too large, to suppress the Boers, it is necessary to integrate the forces in the Transvaal as much as possible, whether it is British or Chinese, it is possible to form an absolute suppression of the Boers when united.

"The Doge's Palace can be invested - fifty thousand pounds." Alfred Milner hesitated, didn't take it all in, and didn't stay out of it.

In fact, as long as you participate, you can do as much as you want, even if Alfred Milner can't get a penny, Roque will give Alfred Milner a share of at least 100,000 pounds.

Of course, it is better for the Governor to be willing to invest, and with the investment of the Governor's Palace, the "credibility" of the Crocodile Bay Company can be guaranteed, and it does not matter how much money is invested, the key is this attitude.

"Thanks, Lord Alfred, I'll make this happen as soon as possible." Roque is satisfied, and the next thing to see is the reply from the United States.

"Well, uh, by the way, Sir Locke, the Chinese workers of the Kimberley can enter Johannesburg, but you have to make sure that under no circumstances can the Chinese miners be a problem." Alfred Milner gave Roque a surprise, which is called coming and going, and the governor is not a god, and he has to eat and drink Lazar.

"Of course, I can guarantee it." Roque has a lot of work, and the construction of hydropower plants requires a lot of labor, and it is not enough to rely on miners in shifts.

The construction period of hydropower stations is generally several years, even if it is not a super hydropower station, it will take at least one or two years, and a project of this scale will definitely not rely on temporary workers, in addition to professional technicians, excellent construction personnel are also needed, the Zulu people are likely not to be able to complete this task, and the Boers are even more not, and Roque does not want to hire Boers at all.

Therefore, the Chinese are Roque's only choice.

Even if Alfred Milner doesn't open the hole, Roque will have to find a way to put pressure on Alfred Milner through Cecil Rhodes Jr.

As a result, in the evening, Cecil Rhodes Jr. gave Roque a better demonstration.

"How much worse? I'll make up for the shortcomings. "Cecil Rhodes Jr. is also wealthy, in fact, even if the hydropower station is all funded by Cecil Rhodes Jr., Cecil Rhodes Jr. can afford it.

Compared with Roque, South African companies have a big business, so Cecil Rhodes Jr. is very confident, people are in Rhodesia, even the government can be formed, this little thing does not need to be reported to anyone at all, if you want to repair the reservoir, just go directly to repair it.

"That's pretty much enough." Roque doesn't need much money, he needs it, and he can make up for it himself.

"You're all from the baron, or you're too timid." Cecil Rhodes Jr. pouted.

"I'm not as good as you-" Roque admits that he is not as good as Cecil Rhodes Jr., and that he has a good father, if Roque has a monster like a South African company-

Not to mention Johannesburg, there are no Boers or Zulus in the whole of South Africa.

"I was in Cape Town some time ago and didn't care about it, but I told Aiden to do whatever you do, let him cooperate as much as he can—" Cecil Rhodes Jr. was in Cape Town to lobby the Cape Town City Council to continue to subsidize "newcomers."

The members of the Cape Town City Council are not stupid, the immigration bureau pays for the immigrants, and is actually subsidizing a big rat like Cecil Rhodes Jr., and the Cape Town Council does not know Roque's role in this matter, and if it does, it is estimated that the Cape Town City Council will hold Roque responsible.

As a government official, he colluded with businessmen to defraud the immigration bureau of funds, which would not sound good if it was spread.

"That's almost enough, Rock Gold and De Beers Unified Mining Company each have 20 percent, the city government has 10 percent, and the Governor's House has 5 percent—" Roque did not give Cecil Rhodes Jr. a chance to invest more.

"The city government and the governor's palace have money?" Cecil Rhodes Jr. was skeptical.

Roque glared directly, everyone knew it in their hearts whether they were rich or not.

"Hmph, it's really easier for them to make money than us." Cecil Rhodes Jr. was dumbfounded.

"Come on, how much we invest now, we can double it back when the time comes." Roque was not surprised, the world was as black as a crow, and Roque had already been mentally prepared.

Back in Johannesburg, Roque set out to prepare to go to the Kimberley to pick up the Chinese miners.

Johannesburg is only more than 400 kilometers from the Kimberley, if you take the train, you can get there in a day and a night, but now it is not possible, the Kimberley is located in the Cape, the hardest hit by the guerrilla attacks, the railway has long been destroyed, and the only way to get people back is by ox carts.

Roque mobilized 150 commandos, 120 detectives, and 200 police officers from Rhodesia, all of whom rode to the Kimberley.

The leader of the Rhodesia police is actually Aiden, and Roque only learned at this time that Aiden is actually the senior superintendent of the Rhodesia Police Department, which is higher than Roque's level in terms of rank.

If you think about it, you can understand that Rhodesia is the jurisdiction of South African companies, and South African companies have the right to form a government and police force in Rhodesia, in other words, who should be the senior superintendent is a matter for Cecil Rhodes Jr., and London has no control.

This private company is much more flexible than a government agency.

It's not just the flexibility, the South African company is still rich, Cecil Rhodes has been operating in Rhodesia and the Kimberley for so many years, and it is not only the relationship that crowns South Africa, but also the Rhodesian police are better equipped than the Johannesburg police.

Roque always thought that the Johannesburg Police Department was already well equipped, but compared to the Rhodesian police, Roque found that he had become a frog at the bottom of a well.

Don't say anything else, just talk about horses, the Johannesburg Police Department is now equipped with mixed horses, the Rhodesian police are mixed horses and thoroughbreds, basically to the sheriff level, the Rhodesia side rides thoroughbreds, Johannesburg, only Roque has thoroughbreds.

Even in terms of armament, Rhodesia is superior.

The Johannesburg Police Department also commonly uses Webley revolvers, but Rhodesia is equipped with Mauser 96s, but looking at Aiden's appearance, it seems that he doesn't like Mauser 96 very much, but prefers Webley used by Roque.

"The German man-made gun has good performance and more bullets, but it looks too ugly, and the recoil is too great, it is very inconvenient to use, or Webley is better, the structure is simple, the operation is reliable, if it is jammed, it can be troubleshot by pulling the trigger again - " Aiden looked a little funny in his police uniform, his stomach was too big, and it was very corrupt at first sight.

"That's if you don't use it, one more bullet on the battlefield, one more chance, the Mauser pistol is still very good." Roque couldn't help but say a fair thing, the Mauser 96 is the legendary "barge gun", and the current Mauser 96 can only hold ten bullets, and when the Mauser modification with 20 rounds appears, it will be a proper submachine gun when it is loaded with a wooden box.

"Do you like it? There are many more in the Salisbury police station, and our policemen don't like to use them, and would rather pay for Webley themselves than like the guns of the Germans, and I will have them sent to you and sell them to you at a discount. Aiden doesn't care, the so-called discount is a joke, and the actual price in the end is probably about the same as half selling and half giving away.

"Okay, you don't want me, you can tell you how much money you want." You're welcome Roque, although these Mauser 96s are not expected to be used by the Johannesburg Police Department, but the gold mine guards will definitely be able to use them.

The two men talked and laughed, and before they knew it, they left the Transvaal and entered the Cape.

Roque also began to be vigilant at this time, Yaya did not need Roque's orders, and led the detectives to disperse and go out to investigate, Roque and Aiden led the brigade slowly, less than 20 kilometers into the Cape, and some detectives came back to report that about five kilometers ahead, there were guerrillas besieging the patrol of the regular army.

Well, Roque and they went to the Kimberley on a temporary basis, not to mention the guerrillas in advance, the Kimberley Police Department didn't know, so this guerrilla team should have gone out and didn't look at the yellow calendar, and it happened that they were bumped into by Roque when they launched an attack.

"Check your equipment and get ready for battle!" Roque will not let go of this opportunity to make meritorious contributions.

"Sir Locke, be careful, this is Cape, not Johannesburg." Aiden was a little hesitant, not because the guerrillas were notorious, but mainly because he, the senior superintendent of Rhodesia, was recognized by no one outside Rhodesia.

It's amazing that as a country in the actual sense, in reality, the vast majority of countries in the world do not recognize Rhodesia, and it was not until Rhodesia broke away from the South African Company and the Commonwealth and split into Zimbabwe and Zambia that it was generally recognized by the international community.

Well, it's complicated.