April is autumn in South Africa, and it is also the most beautiful season of the year, but the port of Cape Town, the capital of the British Empire's colony in Cape Town, South Africa, is in chaos at this time, the city is overcrowded, all the inns, pubs, teahouses, and cafes are crowded with all kinds of people with different accents.

Because of the war, a large number of merchants and miners who came to South Africa to pan for gold and diamond were stranded in Cape Town, and a large number of sailors and sailors of a large transport fleet were also gathered in Cape Town, as well as tens of thousands of troops who were withdrawn from the interior of South Africa and tens of thousands of navies who returned to Cape Town.

Cape Town itself is not big, because the opening of the Suez Canal has been deserted for a while, but now the sudden influx of more than 100,000 people is extremely chaotic, whether in the city or in the harbor, whether it is day or night, you can see drunk drunkards everywhere, many of them officers and soldiers in army or navy uniforms.

To the west of the city, the commander of the Transvaal Expeditionary Force, Lieutenant General Robert Napier, who was in his early sixties, was alone in his tent drinking alcohol.

In his opinion, it was not his responsibility to lose the first battle of Pretoria, the Qing army not only had heavy artillery capable of continuous and rapid shelling, but also heavy machine guns with amazing lethality, in addition, semi-automatic rifles were more than a step better than their rear-loading guns, and it can be said that the gap between the two sides in terms of weapons has reached the point of irreparation.

To this day, when he recalls the rain of bullets that seemed to fall from the sky, he still has palpitations, that kind of fully automatic heavy machine gun not only has a fast rate of fire but also has an astonishing high lethality, which is absolutely a nightmare for the infantry, and at least seventy or eighty percent of the casualties in this battle are caused by that kind of heavy machine gun.

Sensing the dimming of the light, he glanced up and saw that it was George. White came in, he didn't even bother to lift up and point to the chair opposite, White was also listless, after sitting down, he took a cup and poured half a glass of wine very casually, and took a few sips before he spoke: "I heard that London has sent people to Cape Town to negotiate with the Qing people, this war should be over, right.......?" ”

"This war should never have been waged in the first place." Pinel said in a muffled voice: "There is a saying in the East, know each other and know your friends, and win all battles." We did not know anything about the situation of the Qing army, so we rashly launched this war, and the Qing navy and army all had an absolute advantage in weapons, and if we did not end this war, we would only lose more ugly. ”

It's not just an ugly loss! White took a shallow sip of wine, he didn't know much about the battle of the Mozambique Channel, but he knew very well in the battle of Pretoria, the Qing army was merciful, and did not take advantage of the victory to chase and kill, and in the process of their retreat, the sentry also found that thousands of Qing troops were marching unhurriedly in front of their side, obviously deliberately conniving at their evacuation, if they continued to fight, the Qing army would definitely not still have this attitude.

There was silence for a while before he spoke: "I think the Qing army seems to be deliberately trying to let us consume the strength of the Boers....... ”

"It's obvious." Pinel said: "Do you really think that the Qing people will sincerely help the Boers? Sooner or later, the Transvaal and Orange will become colonies of the Qing Kingdom, and pity those fools, who do not know whether to live or die for long-distance harassment. ”

The frequent harassment of the Boer cavalry not only caused them a lot of casualties, but also greatly delayed their marching speed, but the Boers also paid a lot of price for this, now it seems that it is really the Qing army intentionally, White shook his head with emotion, if it were not for this, they were afraid that they would lose this battle more completely!

Report ——。

"Come in!" Pinel sat up straight unconsciously, and a communications officer walked in quickly and reported: "General, the War Office is calling——。 He handed over a telegram.

After reading the telegram, Pinel's face was a little ugly, and he muttered softly: "A bunch of stupid pigs! ”

George. White read the telegram but was silent for a while, saying that negotiations with the Qing might not be possible, and that they were ready to continue the war.

"Can this battle continue?" George. White muttered as if to himself, "What does London think?" After a moment's hesitation, he said, "Do you want to report the actual situation to London?" ”

"It should be that the conditions proposed by Qing Guo are too harsh." Pinel said slowly, "Let's see what the situation is." After a pause, he continued: "The order is that all departments will cancel their vacations, and all officers and soldiers who go out must return to the team before dark, and the training will begin tomorrow." ”

Soon, the atmosphere in Cape Town became tense again when the officers and men of the army and navy who were wandering in and out of Cape Town, drinking in taverns, having fun in brothels, and spending time in teahouses and cafes rushed back to their barracks.

Five days later, the English Foreign Secretary, Granville George Levison-Gower, hurried to Cape Town, and Granville's personal arrival in Cape Town was enough to show that England attached great importance to this negotiation, because this negotiation was not only related to England's interests in South Africa, but also to England's interests in the Middle East, and Gladstone's cabinet could not ignore it.

Shanghai, Zhennan Wangfu, Changle Book House.

Seeing Yi Zhicontent, he put down the telegram, and Zhao Liewen said tentatively: "Is it inappropriate for English Foreign Secretary Granville to go to Cape Town in person and give way?" ”

Yi Zhizhi waved his hand disappreciatively, "Although Xingzhi has no official position, he is a real prince of the vassal king, equivalent to the vassal king, according to the grade, this is a super product, there is nothing inappropriate." ”

Zhao Liewen smiled and said, "The British may not know the situation of our title in the Qing Dynasty, so it is better to let Xingzhi hang a false title in the Ministry .......of Foreign Affairs." ”

"That's just a matter of words." Yi Zhixiang smiled: "Give Yi Yi a call." ”

Three days later, Yi Zhengxing arrived in Cape Town as the plenipotentiary of the Qingying negotiations, and a Qingying negotiation that was of great concern to both the East and the West began.

In the Franco-Prussian War, France lost 5 billion francs in ore and ceded two provinces rich in industrial resources, in the South African War, England was defeated, and how much will England pay in compensation? Will South Africa's colonies be ceded?

Although with the opening of the Suez Canal, the strategic geographical value of South Africa has been much less than before, but with the discovery of diamond and gold mines in South Africa, European countries have turned their eyes to Africa, after all, this continent has now become the last continent that has not been divided and is very rich, far away in the East Qing has extended its hand to Africa, how can European countries be indifferent?

The Qing Cape Town negotiations with Britain will determine the ownership of South Africa, which cannot but be concerned about the European countries that intend to carve up Africa, even the United States and Russia, if the Qing State occupies South Africa, the countries with close relations with the Qing State will choose the other side adjacent to South Africa as a colony.

In addition, Germany, Austria-Hungary, Italy, and other countries that were in a hidden military confrontation with Britain, as well as the United States and Russia, which had close relations with the Qing state, all hoped that the Qing country would be as ruthless as Germany would knock Britain down, and the complete deterioration of relations between the Qing and Britain was undoubtedly excellent news for all countries.

It is precisely because of the great attention paid by countries around the world to the Cape Town negotiations that reporters from major newspapers from various countries have gathered in Cape Town to get the news of the negotiations between the Qing and Britain as soon as possible.

"Before you know it, we have become a powerful country in the world, and every move can attract the attention of all countries." Zhao Liewen handed a copy of the "Shanghai Daily" to Yi Zhicontent, and said with a smile: "The big shopkeeper didn't expect the Cape Town negotiations to attract so much attention, right?" ”

The newspaper carried a news report from Cape Town, reporting on the grand occasion of reporters from all over the world gathering in Cape Town, Yi Zhixiang quickly glanced at it and said with a smile: "It's really a bit unexpected." After a pause, he continued: "It seems that because of this war, a wave of carving up Africa will be set off in advance. ”

Zhao Liewen glanced at him and said: "Africa is rich and has many resources, with the military strength and status of the Qing Dynasty today, it is fully qualified to participate in the carvement of Africa, and the big boss really has no intention of opening up colonies in Africa?" ”

"I can't chew too much, and besides, I'm not interested in colonies." Yi Zhizu waved his hand, "At present, China's foreign expansion can be said to have basically ended, and the top priority is to digest the territory expanded over the years, and strive to assimilate and integrate the new annexed land as soon as possible within thirty or forty years, and there is no need to waste energy in Africa."

Besides, the Transvaal gold mine is Africa's greatest wealth, so why should we bother to make enemies on all sides? Forgetting the war will be dangerous, and the belligerent will surely perish, and having established the status of the world's military power, we do not need to show too much edge, and immersing our heads in development is the king, and we should now devote our energy to economic construction. ”

Before the words fell, Cao Gensheng hurriedly came in and reported: "Big shopkeeper, call ....... from New York." ”

The telegram was sent by Yuanqi's New York branch to report that the stock prices of the railroad companies had fallen, and that they had generally fallen, after they had sold off a large number of shares of the railroad companies they had sold.

After reading the telegram, Yi Zhishu casually forwarded the telegram to Zhao Liewen, and then instructed: "Call back, they will report in detail on the number of shares of each railway company sold and the proportion of the total share capital, and in addition, investigate the reasons for the decline in the stock price of each railway company." ”

Zhao Liewen hesitated and said, "The number of shares of various railway companies held by the New York branch is not too large, right?" ”

"It's not too big." Yi Zhizhi said: "Although the New York branch is the largest branch of Yuanqi in overseas funds, the funds invested in the stock market cannot be too large, and their sell-off is likely to be the last straw that breaks the camel's back, so I asked to investigate the decline of stocks, maybe this is a signal." ”

Zhao Liewen said tentatively: "A signal of an economic crisis? Could this economic crisis start in the United States? ”

"It's not impossible." Yi Zhizu said slowly: "In recent years, if you talk about railway construction, China should be the first to be promoted, followed by the United States. The United States has a vast territory and great potential for railroad construction.

The end of the Civil War expanded the demand for industrial goods from the south to the north, and the gold rush in the west prompted the United States to accelerate the pace of westward expansion, thus prompting the United States to set off a new wave of railroad construction.

As in our country, almost half of the funds for the construction of railroads in the United States are raised from England, and once the shares of the railroad companies fall, the British will inevitably rush to withdraw the funds for the sake of financial safety, which will accelerate the decline of the stocks, trigger market panic, and cause the stock market to plummet or even collapse. ”

Listening to this analysis, Zhao Liewen said worriedly: "Will the decline in American railroad stocks affect my country's stock market?" ”

"It will definitely affect." Yi Zhicontent said without thinking: "China's stock market is not isolated, and has a close relationship with the world's major stock markets. What's more, the construction of railways in our country has many similarities with the situation in the United States, which naturally makes people think of it. ”

Speaking of this, he smiled, "Huifu still has railway stocks in his hand?" ”

Zhao Liewen nodded, "The stock of the railway company is the stock that has risen the best in recent years, so I naturally bought some, thinking that the rise was good during this time, and I haven't been reluctant to do it." Saying that, he smiled, "It seems that I can't cover it anymore, let Shopkeeper Huo dispose of it immediately." ”

As Yi Zhi's most trusted staff, Zhao Liewen strictly abides by the duties and rules of the staff, and he basically stays at home, and entrusts Huo Qizheng with the purchase and sale of stocks, and he naturally does not dare to find a brokerage for fear of leaking the news.

As his most trusted staff, Zhao Liewen's information is far from being comparable to ordinary people, and there are too many ways to make money, so he naturally would rather make money in the stock market.

However, in five days, the New York branch called again, and the shares of the railway companies on the Wall Street stock market did not improve, and still fell slowly, according to the survey, the reason for this is the high cost of railway construction and the decline in expected returns, which led to the growth rate of railway lines began to slow down, and the orders for locomotives and rails began to decrease.

Yi Zhishu vaguely remembers that the 'epicenter' of the economic crisis in 1873 was the United States, which is also the place where this economic crisis is different from the previous economic crises.

The general decline in the stock of the American Railroad Company may seem normal to others, after all, the stock of the American Railroad Company has been bullish in recent years, and it is very normal for the stock of the railroad company to have a correction, and this time period is still early before the economic crisis of the decade, and no one will associate this situation with the economic crisis.

But in the eyes of Yi Zhicontent, this is undoubtedly a very obvious signal! A large-scale, massive, prolonged economic crisis is coming!