Eating fresh and delicious roast mutton, salted duck eggs with oil in the egg yolk, and drinking sweet and sour wine, Ade truly tasted the joy of the harvest.

This was probably the best time of Chamberlain's life, and there were three barons sitting in his dining room, one from the baron, one from Pretoria, three commissioners from Johannesburg, and Professor Douglas, who had arrived on a temporary basis.

Everyone else doesn't care, the farmers can't even tell who is higher in rank between the baron and the baron, knowing that Roque eats on Chamberlain's farm, and from the evening, the surrounding farmers began to send things to Chamberlain's house, all kinds of fish, meat, poultry and eggs are indispensable, fresh fruits are sent for dozens of catties, and all kinds of game, even steamed buns and pancakes just out of the pot, the farmers don't know what Roque likes, they don't want to please Roque, just to express their gratitude.

"How is this good, I can't finish eating, I really can't finish eating, the lord is on my farm, and I can still make the lord hungry-" Chamberlain looked at the various ingredients piled up in the kitchen, these things were all in Chamberlain's farm, and they really didn't need it.

"What you have is yours, what does it have to do with me, you don't need to do it, I'll do it myself, just let the lord taste it, the hare I just hunted in the afternoon, it was still alive just now, just let the lord taste a fresh-" The farmer who sent the rabbit insisted, if you don't want to, you can't: "-If you can't be busy, I'll do it myself, at your level, it's also a waste to hand over such a fat hare to you——"

"Nonsense, Lao Tzu's technique is very good—" Chamberlain raised the bar by the neck.

"Okay, how much does this rabbit cost?" Don appeared just in time, and his door-panel-like figure was intimidating.

"What kind of money do you want, I caught it myself, it's not worth it-" The farmer who brought the rabbit blushed, as if to raise the money was an insult to him.

"Don't talk nonsense, this rabbit is really fat, count you a pound, the lord never let our masters suffer, don't just take the rabbit back." Don doesn't talk nonsense, all the things sent by the farmer, Don has to pay.

"How is this good, not appropriate-" The farmer who took the money was still shirking, and the hand that took the money was still honest.

——

In the restaurant, Ade tasted a freshly picked navel orange and nodded with satisfaction.

"Can all the farms in Johannesburg reach this level?" Ade is very satisfied today, this is his ideal Transvaal, peaceful, prosperous, and living and working in peace and contentment.

"Almost, some farms are better than this, now the largest farm has nearly 100 cows, in the past when the Transvaal Republic, to raise so many cows needed a 5,000-acre farm, now only need to plant 10 acres of alfalfa to do it, the Chinese are unmatched in terms of diligence, we at the Royal Agricultural College of Gloucester have analysis reports from Canada, Australia, India, and the locals, whether it is efficiency or working hours, Chinese farmers are outstanding." Douglas had a say in this, and the Royal Agricultural College of Gloucester was probably the most authoritative institution in Britain in agriculture, more detailed than the Committee of Agriculture.

Yes, Britain doesn't pay so much attention to agriculture that it doesn't even have a dedicated department, only an agricultural committee.

The analysis report can reflect many things, the Chinese who work more efficiently than the whites and Indians work longer than them, and it is really unreasonable for the Chinese not to get rich.

"Does the municipal government have any policy support for farms?" Ade wanted to know more, and the Johannesburg city government had taken a lot of money from Pretoria during this time under the guise of supporting farms.

"Absolutely!" Philip Matilda is categorical, this must be there, otherwise the flow of funds will not be explained clearly: "But our support for the farm is not a simple financial support, at least since the second half of last year, the city government began to increase investment in water conservancy, build aqueducts, dig wells, and organize seedling cultivation, provide high-quality seedlings for the farm, the city government and the Royal Agricultural College of Gloucester cooperated, according to the climate of Johannesburg, to improve the crops, the oranges we eat now, It is produced on a local farm in Johannesburg. ”

Philippe Matilda has also done his homework, and the city has indeed cooperated with the Royal Agricultural College of Gloucester, but the cooperation has only just begun this year.

As for the oranges being eaten, that's the grades of Douglas and his students.

Johannesburg is a savannah climate, very suitable for growing fruits, soon after coming to Johannesburg, Douglas and his students began to improve Johannesburg's local navel oranges, citrus, and apples, and now the initial results have been achieved, this year the agricultural association successfully sold Johannesburg's navel oranges to Cape Town, the market response is still very good, the quality of navel oranges is significantly better than Cape Town's local navel oranges.

"The Chinese are indeed very talented in agriculture, just now I think we should have all seen it, this farm is planted around the fruit trees, there are professional orchards near the farm, I just took a cursory look, there are about two acres as much, now the yield of the orchard has not come up, so there is no need to worry, wait another two years may have a bumper harvest, then the city government will help the farmer to sell, or set up a canning factory, the fruit can be canned for sale." Philippe Matilda had previously worked in the Colonial Office, and as long as he wanted to, he still had some ability.

In 1862, the French biologist Pasteur published a paper stating that food spoilage is caused by bacteria, so the canning factory used steam sterilization technology to make the canned food meet the standard of absolute sterility.

Relatively speaking, because of the high labor costs, the price of canned food in Europe is still relatively high.

There is basically no labor cost in Johannesburg, because the production of fruit is very high, and the price will definitely be quite low, so if it is canned and sold, it will definitely be competitive.

"To invest more in farms, Locke reminded me today that agriculture could also become the backbone of Johannesburg's economy, which I didn't believe at the time, and now it seems that your work is working better than I thought." Ade began to praise, and all the officials stood straight, which was a rare honor.

After dinner, Ade and Henry returned directly to Pretoria, and Roque and Philip Matilda returned to Johannesburg together.

Before returning to Pretoria, Ade still encouraged Roque: "Youth is the greatest asset, if you want to know the right or wrong of one thing, then be brave and try." ”

On the way back to Johannesburg, Roque kept thinking about what Ade meant, and after returning to the police station, Roque finally understood that Ade was encouraging Roque to face Jan Smotz, and since Jan Smoltz and Louis Botha founded the People's Party to prepare for the democratic representative system in the future, then the Transvaal side should also prepare now.

After thinking about it, Roque still went to find Xiao Si.

"Locke, don't be funny, I'm still a member of the Progressive Party." Cecil Rhodes is the former leader of the Progressive Party, and Roque now wants to let S. Si stand on his own, which seems a bit of a big rebellion.

"The Progressive Party is finished, and even if they can win the next election, they won't win the next time." Roque is not optimistic about the prospects of the Progressive Party.

During Cecil Rhodes' tenure as party leader, the Progressive Party gained momentum and monopolized the position of Cape Prime Minister for a time.

Dr. Starr Jameson decided to represent the Progressive Party in the 1904 Cape Prime Minister's election, but Dr. Starr Jameson did not have the same prestige as Cecil Rhodes, so Dr. Starr Jameson had to face more difficulties than Cecil Rhodes.

In the Cape, where there are about thousands of people who have been disenfranchised because of their wartime association with the Boer Republic, most of them are Boer Cape, this is an opportunity for the Progressive Party, because no Boer party has ever contested before, and now that the People's Party formed by Jan Smoltz and Louis Botha, and the Orange Unionist Party formed by Herzog and DeWitt have decided to run, then the Boer votes in the Cape are very important.

Roque was not optimistic about the predominantly British-American Progressive Party, which was why there had been no Boer party in the past, so the Boers in the Cape had to vote for the British-formed party.

Now it is different, after the Boer party participates in the election, the Boers in the Cape have more choices, and they will definitely vote for the party formed by the Boers, even if this time because many Boers lost their right to vote and the Progressive Party wins, then in the future, the Progressive Party will definitely lose power in the Boer-majority Cape.

"Locke, what does this have to do with me—" Xiao Si was a little sad, the Progressive Party was Cecil Rhodes' brainchild.

"There must be a relationship, even if the Cape has nothing to do with you, the Transvaal must have something to do with you, think about it, if a few years later, the four regions of the Cape have implemented a democratic representative system, and even obtained autonomous status, then what will Rhodesia do then?" Roque asked a very pointed question, London now has signs of action against Rhodesia, otherwise Cecil Rhodes would not have given Nyasaland to Roque.

Xiao Si does not have the same ambition as Cecil Rhodes, so if it is maintained like this, can Xiao Si keep Rhodesia?

The answer is obvious, it can't be saved.

"Autonomy? It can't be—" Xiao Si, like most people nowadays, did not think that London would allow the four Cape districts to be autonomous.

At the very least, London will not allow the Transvaal to be autonomous because of the Transvaal's gold.

"Don't say it's impossible, anything can happen, and when the Boers faced the war, they abandoned the Cape and came to the Transvaal and Orange, and who knew that the Transvaal would find gold? When the war broke out, everyone thought that the Transvaal Republic and the Orange Free State would be conquered in three months, and no one expected that the war would take 27 months, so none of us can be sure of what will happen in the future, we can only be prepared for any eventuality. "Roque knows for sure what the future holds, but Roque can't say.

"Well, what should we do?" Xiao Si was immediately persuaded by Roque, not because of how reasonable Roque said, but because of what Cecil Rhodes had said to Xiao Si.

"You take the lead, set up a political party, we find a way to get more people to join in, no matter what happens to the Cape and Orange and Natal, we can at least ensure the stability of the Transvaal, Rhodesia and the Transvaal border, as long as the Transvaal remains stable, then it will not affect Rhodesia, and even in the future, if London wants to change the status quo in Rhodesia, then we can merge the Transvaal and Rhodesia." Roque thought far ahead, if the Transvaal and Rhodesia merged, then there would be no reason for London to break up Rhodesia.

"Hehe, Locke, in that case, did the Transvaal annex Rhodesia, or did Rhodesia annex the Transvaal?" Xiao Si's expression couldn't show joy and anger, but if he could say such a thing, Xiao Si's mood must be very bad.

This is indeed a very important issue, and in general, if the Transvaal and Rhodesia merge, then there must be a question of dominance, and then the control of Rhodesia will be in the hands of the new government, and there will be no need for South African companies to exist.

However, will Roque pit Xiao Si?

Definitely not, so Roque is far more treacherous than Xiao Si imagined.

"Cecil, who annexes whom is not the main problem, even if Rhodesia and Transvaal merge, then the new government must be a federal country, so that the problem will be solved very well, the federal government gives you enough benefits, then the federation can be maintained, if you don't approve of it, then there is no need for the federation to exist, so on this issue, the federal government will definitely compromise." Roque really doesn't think it's a problem, local governments in federal countries have a lot of power, and if you look at the United States, sometimes the power of the state government is even greater than the power of Washington.

"Are you playing politics as a game?" Xiao Si was stupid by Roque's words, in Xiao Si's understanding, Roque's words just now meant: The federal government gives me benefits, I stay in the federal government, and if the federal government doesn't give me benefits, then I will be independent.

What kind of words is this!

"Hehe-" Roque smiled and didn't speak, pointing to the map behind him for Xiao Si to look at for himself.

Behind Roque is a map of Africa, on which different countries are divided by different colors, the Cape, Orange, Transvaal, Natal, Rhodesia, and Nyasaland are now all one color.

"What do you want me to see?" Xiao Si looked confused.

"Look at the border, see clearly, this is a game, a game between European countries." Roque was not angry, many of the borders on the map were horizontal and vertical, as if they were measured with a ruler.

This border line was determined at the Berlin Conference, and it seems, indeed, is like a game, and the border line of a normal country cannot be like this.