Seeing the two people with a look of disbelief, Yi Zhizhi smiled contentedly: "The annual output of twenty tons refers to just one mine, according to the calculation of five mines, it should be about one hundred tons, of course, it may not reach this output in the early stage, but it will definitely be able to exceed this output after three or five years." ”

The annual output of twenty tons has already made Zhao Liewen and the three of them stunned, but they didn't expect that this is actually just a gold mine, a hundred tons! Three ,200,000 taels of gold! How much is that equivalent to silver dollars? 50 or 60 million silver dollars?

The three of them were shocked by this huge number and gasped, and when they came back to their senses, Guan Changhai said excitedly: "If you really want to have such a large annual output, even if it is to fight for the whole country!" ”

Zhao Liewen was a little skeptical, "Based on these samples alone, the big shopkeeper can conclude that the Transvaal gold mine has such a large reserve and such a large annual output?" ”

South Africa's gold reserves account for half of the world's gold reserves, with reserves as high as tens of thousands of tons, and the highest production in history has reached an eye-popping 1,000 tons. ”

What does this have to do with the Bible? Zhao Liewen and the three of them were a little inexplicable, looking at him in a daze, Yi Zhizhi did not sell it, and said slowly: "Gold in Africa has always been famous in history, after the Arabs controlled the trade between North Africa and the Indian Ocean, the gold of West Africa and South Africa has always entered Europe through the Arabs.

Historically, the Kingdom of Mali in West Africa was rich in gold, and the king of Mali, Mansa Musa, went to Mecca for the Hajj, passing through Egypt, and distributing gold at will, which greatly depressed the gold price in Egypt and had an impact for decades.

European countries have plundered the gold of West Africa since the fifteenth century, but the gold of South Africa has not been found, according to the records of the Old Testament, there is a place in South Africa called Aofei, which pays a large amount of gold and precious stones to Solomon every three years, and the Europeans have not found this place rich in gold and precious stones.

After the news of the discovery of diamonds in Orange, I speculated that the area might be the place called Aofei recorded in the Bible, and the discovery of gold undoubtedly confirmed this suspicion.

The reason why there is only a small amount of sand gold on the riverbed and beach in the White Water Ridge area is, in my guess, it should have been mined on a large scale before, combined with historical legends and biblical records, as well as the considerable concentration of diamond mines in the Kimberley and the Transvaal gold mines, it is completely certain that the area around Orange and the Transvaal is the historical Aufei. ”

Speaking of this, he said confidently: "It is not surprising that there must be a huge gold mine in the Transvaal area on a scale beyond imagination!" ”

Listening to what he said was reasonable, Guan Changhai was so excited that he even breathed a little rougher, what is the concept of the output of more than three million taels of gold a year, just thinking about it makes people's hearts flutter, Jiang Qinghao is even more ecstatic, if this is the case, it is definitely an opportunity for him to soar! The suffering in Africa in the past few years is definitely worth it!

Zhao Liewen was very surprised, he didn't expect Yi Zhishu to actually read the Christian Old Testament, which shows that he attaches great importance to the gold mines in South Africa, he calmed down, groaned slightly, and said: "The big shopkeeper can deduce from the clues that there is a big gold mine in the Transvaal, will the British and Portuguese also judge it?"

Furthermore, even if they can't judge at the moment, Yuan Qi's big move can't be hidden from them, in the face of such a huge gold mine, will they fight with the country? ”

"There's no need to look ahead!" Yi Zhizhi said in a deep voice: "If the Qing Dynasty wants to implement the gold standard, there must be a huge gold mine as the backing, and the South African gold mine is bound to win!" ”

Seeing that he was resolute, Zhao Liewen no longer persuaded him, and said: "Since this is the case, you must plan carefully." ”

"That's nature." Yi Zhizhi said: "Send someone to call Yan Yangtian." ”

South African gold mines, Yi Zhizhi has long known, but has not dared to reach out, the main reason is worried about the British, although over the years Yuan Qi has frequently expanded, and has succeeded again and again, but he clearly knows that he can not touch the bottom line of the British, and cannot break out a large-scale war with the British, after all, the Nanyang Navy is not the opponent of the British Navy, and it is okay to expand in Asia, but to reach out to South Africa, there will definitely be no good fruit to eat.

However, the situation has changed considerably, with the opening of the Suez Canal, the value of the Cape of Good Hope route in South Africa has dropped significantly, and after the probing of the Persian Gulf, it can be determined that the British are also trying to avoid a large-scale war in the East.

With the end of the Franco-Prussian War, the unification of Germany and the replacement of France as the new European hegemon already posed a threat to Britain, and more importantly, the Qing Dynasty was now capable of posing a real threat to British India, in which case war with the British could be avoided as long as it was not excessive!

After the news of the discovery of diamonds in Orange spread, he knew that he could not wait, even if there was a risk, but for the sake of this gold mine, which accounts for more than half of the world's gold reserves, it is worth taking a risk.

In fact, at present, the colonization of Africa by European countries is still limited to the coastal areas, and has not yet begun to penetrate inland, so it can be said that it has not yet begun to set off a wave of carving up Africa, but with the mining of the Transvaal gold mines, the day of the great powers to carve up Africa is not far off.

Yan Yangtian hurried to Changle Book House on a bicycle, and at a glance he caught a glimpse of Kong Jian'an walking into the courtyard gate, and he couldn't help but wonder if there was something big going on, and even Kong Jian'an rushed over, and after parking the bicycle at the door, he chased after it quickly.

"The big shopkeeper, the shopkeeper Kong and Chief of Staff Yan are here." Lin Meilian reported softly at the door.

Kong Jian'an is also here? Yi Zhixiang was a little surprised, and then he realized that it should be Lin Haoran who reported to him about raising the gold and silver exchange ratio and implementing the gold standard, and estimated that he was here to fight in the ring, so he immediately ordered: "Please invite the two of them in." ”

The two of them came in one after the other, and after the salute, Kong Jian'an said directly: "The big shopkeeper, rashly increasing the gold and silver exchange ratio will have a great impact on our country....... ”

Yi Zhizu waved his hand to interrupt him and said, "Sit down." After a pause, he continued: "Three years at the earliest, five years at the latest, our country must implement the gold standard, time waits for no one, we must increase the gold and silver exchange ratio as soon as possible, and exchange silver for gold as much as possible." ”

Hearing this, Kong Jian'an suddenly became anxious, "Big treasurer, the amount of silver in circulation in my country is huge, even if we want to implement the gold standard, we can't be in a hurry, and besides, in terms of the current gold reserves, it is not possible to support the gold standard, and this matter is still good gradually." ”

Yi Zhizhi smiled and said, "If there are three or four million taels of gold coming in every year, do you still need to do it gradually?" ”

Three or four million taels of gold come in every year? Kong Jian'an couldn't help but be stunned, if this is the case, then there is no need to follow the steps, after all, Yuan Qi has also accumulated considerable gold reserves over the years, and if there is still a large amount of gold coming in every year, it is enough to stabilize people's hearts.

After glancing at the two of them, Yi Zhizhi said slowly: "The discovery of a large gold mine in South Africa is very important for our country to implement the gold standard, the bank must prepare sufficient funds for land purchase, mining and even the construction of railways, and the General Staff must make a plan to send troops to South Africa." ”

Governor's Palace of Macau.

An attendant walked briskly into the Governor's Palace, Antonio. Sergiod. Su Sha's office reported: "Your Excellency, the King of Zhennan in Shanghai has called, and the King of Zhennan has invited you to Shanghai for a meeting, and a speedboat will be sent to pick you up tomorrow morning." ”

Easy to know content to see him? Su Sha was very surprised, took the telegram and glanced at it, and said, "Is there any contradiction or conflict with the Qing State recently?" ”

"Back to Your Excellency, there is no contradiction, and there is no conflict."

Putting down the telegram, Su Sha immediately frowned, Yi Zhizhi wanted to see him, and he was so urgent, intuitively, he felt that it would not be a good thing, after the Tianjin teaching case, he was faintly worried, worried that the Qing State would directly take back Macau or cancel all Portuguese privileges in Macau.

However, it is not okay not to go, today's Qing country is no longer the Qing country of thirty or forty years ago, but directly dare to argue with England, last year the Qing country expanded to the Persian Gulf, directly provoking England, and England actually tolerated it, which made European countries surprised.

He wanted to call to inquire about England, but after thinking about it, he felt that it was inappropriate, and he was silent for a while before he ordered, "Get ready." ”

Shanghai, Yuanqi Wharf, Guan Changhai and Jiang Qinghao with more than 30 entourages boarded two clippers, South African gold mine is of great importance, as the director of the Department of Commerce Guan Changhai personally rushed to South Africa to negotiate with the Transvaal.

Nanyang, the provincial capital of Java, Gropa.

A beautiful four-wheeled carriage stopped in front of the gate of a rather magnificent courtyard, as soon as the door opened, Xiao Mingliang, who was wearing a suit and a top hat, got out of the car, and the guard walked quickly to the door to hand over a post, and soon, Huang Dianyuan, who was wearing a long robe, walked out quickly, and said with a smile on his face: "General Xiao is coming, and the old man is not far away." ”

Xiao Mingliang returned the salute, "I take the liberty to come to the door to disturb, and I hope that President Huang will not be blamed." ”

"General Xiao, why should you be polite." Huang Dianyuan said and stretched out his hand to give courtesy, "General Xiao, please——。 ”

"President Huang, please ——。" The two of them politely entered the courtyard, all the way through the corridor, Xiao Mingliang looked at it secretly, he had long heard that Nanhua would be generous, and it was really worthy of the name, and he didn't know how much it would cost to just this courtyard.

Huang Dianyuan led him to the cross-courtyard study, the two of them sat down, and after serving fragrant tea, he smiled and said, "General Xiao is here for the port of Maputo?" ”