In 1917, Britain had lost its status as the "world's factory", and its main industrial indicators were successively surpassed by the United States and Germany, and only in the shipbuilding industry still maintained its leading position.

At the end of the World War, Britain still accounted for 62 percent of the world's shipbuilding, and the ships sailing in the world's oceans were still dominated by British-flagged ships.

After the outbreak of the World War, the British imposed a blockade on Germany, and German ships were seized whenever they entered British ports, and as the World War progressed, those German ships were requisitioned, and some were even sunk by German submarines because of flying the British flag.

Without the intervention of Southern Africa, the number of American merchant ships should have surpassed that of British merchant ships, but the United States in this time and space is different from the United States in another time and space, and did not get too many orders from the Entente countries during the world war, so in terms of the total number of merchant ships, Britain is still the first in the world.

During the World War, Japan was not affected by the war, but made a fortune through trade with Europe, and Japan's ocean transportation also made great progress, and Japanese merchant ships passed through the outer port of Berbera every day.

Roque's main target was these Japanese-flagged merchant ships.

There is no way, Roque, as the marquis of the British Empire, should be lighter on his own people, and if he charges too much tolls, it will cause dissatisfaction among British shipowners, and he will be embarrassed to be ruthless to France, after all, Britain and France have fought side by side during the world war, so they can only collect money from Japanese merchant ships, otherwise, it is far away to drive the Somaliland rebels out of Somaliland.

That's right, to drive out of Somaliland, not to exterminate it.

If the Somaliland rebels are eliminated, Roque will not be able to persuade the British government to mobilize more than 200,000 troops unless Roque has the courage to persuade the British government to mobilize more than 200,000 troops, and if the troops are too small, it will be impossible to seal the Somaliland border, in which case the rebels will flee to Italian Somalia through the border.

Roque's goal is to drive the rebels out of Somaliland, and Roque doesn't care where the rebels go.

With Roque's order, the 1917 version of the "Somali Pirates" was freshly produced, and at noon on the day the order was given, the destroyer "Alligator", of which Patton was the captain, intercepted a Japanese freighter in the outer harbor of Berbera.

The merchant ship, Tosa Maru, was loaded with silk, tea, porcelain, silk, and pig hair and was destined for Southampton, captained by an Englishman named Terry.

Seeing the sailors with rifles on their backs boarding the "Tosa Maru", Terry greeted the sailors very warmly, he still didn't know the purpose of the sailors boarding the ship, and thought it was just a temporary inspection, so when he knew that he had to pay the money, Terry was surprised.

"Big brother, make it clear, you don't have the right to collect taxes here, and the 'Tosa Maru' is just passing through you, and there are no plans to stop at Berbera." Terry is responsible for his employer, and the lead officer asks for too much money, and Terry is afraid to call the shots.

"Then you can dock in Berbera, add some coal and some water or whatever—oh, your ship burns oil, so add some oil—" Ensign Benjamin, who led the group on board, was French, and it was the first time he dared to do such a thing, so he was really unskilled in business, and his cheeks were not thick enough.

"We don't have to refuel, we'll dock at Port Said, we won't need to dock at Berbera—" Terry wished Benjamin held his hand high and shoved a roll of pounds into his hand as he spoke.

Although Terry is British, he still understands the truth of breaking the fortune and avoiding disasters, and there are many such things on ocean voyages in these years, which is in Berbera, and it is replaced by other places -

There are so many long-distance ships that have accidents every year, is it really a natural disaster?

It's hard to say.

Benjamin really didn't take black money, he started counting it in front of Terry.

Terry's face was as black as the bottom of the pot.

"This money is too little, not enough!" Benjamin was getting on the road, and for fifty pounds he wanted to buy an upright officer, who to stumble.

"Less, £1,500 is too much, and we won't be able to make so much money on this cargo, and we'll have to pay taxes when we go to Southampton—" Terry pleaded with a bitter face, so that the owner would not only lose money, but also lose money.

"The cargo on your ship did not match the waybill, so your ship was detained." Benjamin was ruthless, first detaining the boat, and then talking about the rest slowly.

"Whatever, but I want to warn you that this ship is cargo from the Croydon Trading Company, you have to think clearly." Terry doesn't care, he's just a boatman, he can dredge it if he can, and he can't be responsible.

Benjamin didn't know the background of Croydon Trading, but seeing that Terry was so confident, he should be very powerful.

No matter how powerful Benjamin is, he is not worried, he is a second lieutenant who executes orders, and there is a tall man on top of him when the sky falls, and it has nothing to do with Benjamin.

So the Tosa Maru became the first merchant ship to be seized by Berbera.

A day later, the number of merchant ships seized increased to five.

To Roque's surprise, Roque's old friend Colonel McMahon rushed to Berbera the next day, and the Croydon Trading Company did have a background, and the big boss behind the scenes was the Duke of Belfast, and it was said that there were also shares in the royal family.

It's just a merchant ship, it's not worth Colonel McMahon to intercede with Roque, the key is that this kind of behavior is relatively bad, and the background behind the entry into the ocean trade industry is all hands and eyes, today Roque dares to detain the "Tosa Maru", and tomorrow Roque dares to detain the "Queen Elizabeth", how can it go on like this.

"What if you don't deduct it? The Prime Minister asked me to quell the rebellion in Somaliland, but how can I put it down if I don't give soldiers or money? Roque and McMahon did not discuss whether the seizure of "Tosa Maru" was correct, it was certainly incorrect, but Roque had a good reason.

"That doesn't mean that you can't just arrest merchant ships, it's going to affect our canal business—" McMahon didn't say anything, getting to the heart of the matter.

The core of the problem is that McMahon is also a stakeholder, and if the Japanese freighter is seized in Berbera, then it will affect the business of the Suez Canal, and the Egyptian colonial government can point to collecting tolls in the Suez Canal to get by, and Berbera is also in an awkward position, and ships must pass through Berbera if they want to pass through the Suez Canal.

"It's okay, if the Japanese ships don't go through the Suez Canal, they can bypass Africa-" Roque is not in a hurry, if the Japanese ships don't pass through the Suez Canal, they will have to bypass southern Africa, so that Port Edward, Cape Town, Walvis Bay-

It wasn't too pretty.

"Locke, don't do this, I understand you're in trouble, but you can't solve the problem this way." McMahon was devastated, and if the Japanese ships were to go around Africa, they would not be able to escape Roque's hands, but then there would be nothing to do with the Egyptian colonial government.

"Then what do you say is the way to solve it?" The old god of Roque is here, anyway, the ship is in the hands of Lao Tzu, and no one wants to drive away without picking up the skin.

"You can get more grants—" McMahon said nonsense, if he could get the money, what else could Roque do with it?

A world war, the British government has lost all its money, 17 years ago the second Boer War was enough to make the British government feel pain, as a result, the world war caused more than 100 times the loss to the British government than the second Boer War, guess what the British royal relatives are in now!

Roque can now understand why Neville will implement the infamous "appeasement policy" in another twenty years, it is not that Neville does not want to be tough, but he really can't be tough, the First World War cost France a generation, and at the same time it also drained the backbone of Britain, Winston is now living with his neck tight, asking for money and death.

"Don't talk nonsense, you can take the goods of the Croydon Trading Company, you can find the ship yourself, and you have to pay the taxes that should be paid-" Roque is not trying to kill everything, but to be a man and leave a line, so that he can meet in the future.

"Where's the ship?" McMahon was surprised, the goods of the Croydon Trading Company did not run to Berbera with long legs, and they could take the goods away, but the ship would not let them go, what kind of operation was this?

"No ship, the ship has been sold by me-" Roque killed chickens and eggs, the goods were the Grand Duke's goods, and the ship was not the Grand Duke's ship.

In fact, the shipping company to which the "Tosa Maru" belongs, is also controlled by several Japanese nobles behind it, but Roque does not know those Japanese nobles, and has no interest in inquiring, after the "Tosa Maru" docks, all the crew members are required to leave the ship and are placed in a hotel owned by the port authority.

At your own expense.

"I'll just-" McMahon finally collapsed, the duke's goods could be taken away, and the ship was sold directly, this is the rhythm of rushing to kill, and if it goes on like this, the Egyptian colonial government will drink the northwest wind.

"What are you anxious about? No matter who I sell the ship to, as long as it passes through the Suez Canal, won't you still be able to sit on the ground and collect money? Roque didn't understand why McMahon was angry, as it seemed that McMahon had no Japanese ancestry.

That's right, too!

McMahon calmed down immediately, as long as the domestic bigwigs were not angry and the income of the Egyptian colonial government was not reduced, Roque would not care if he wanted to go to heaven McMahon would help with the ladder.

"Who did you sell it to, do you want me to help you find a way?" Sure enough, McMahon began to escalate the ladder.

"No, there are a lot of ocean-going trading companies waiting in line in southern Africa." Roque didn't need McMahon to help "sell the stolen goods", a new ship worth 15,000 pounds, after depreciation, 8,000 pounds can be sailed away, isn't this price fragrant?

"How much did it sell?" McMahon gossip.

"It's none of your business." Roque is vigilant, no one can take the money when it comes to Roque.

McMahon didn't want to share the money, and in addition to coordinating, he also had the meaning of deepening his relationship with Roque, although the Sultanate of Najd had been recognized as an independent country by the Entente, but everyone knew what this "independence" was.

So if McMahon wants to live comfortably in the position of Egyptian commissioner, he must have a good relationship with Roque.