Seeing Yi Zhizhi didn't care, Zhao Liewen hesitated before saying: "The Son of Heaven chooses a concubine, according to the rule, it is a concubine and two concubines, it is reported that Chongqi's eldest daughter Alut clan and the daughter of Fengxiu, the outsider, have the greatest chance of establishing a future, this Chongqi was originally the Mongolian Eight Banners, and Fengxiu is the Zhenghuang Banner." ”

It has been some years since the abolition of the Eight Banners system, but Zhao Liewen deliberately pointed out the flag of the second daughter, Yi Zhifen understood what the other party meant, and simply asked: "Does Huifu want to make the Han girl the queen?" ”

Seeing that he said it, Zhao Liewen also said bluntly: "The big shopkeeper advocates ethnic equality and national integration, and the Son of Heaven should be an example, how can the selection of concubines still be limited to the original banner family?" Furthermore, the establishment of a Han woman as the queen also helps to consolidate the throne, doesn't it? ”

"Huifu is thoughtful." Yi Zhizhi said with a smile, he had no intention of interfering in Qi Xiang's choice of concubine, because he knew that this Qi Xiang was a short-lived son of heaven, and he was less than twenty years old, and he didn't know whether he died of smallpox or syphilis, in his opinion, it was more likely to die of smallpox, after all, he was the son of heaven, even if he went in and out of Fireworks Willow Lane, he would not be contaminated with ordinary smoke and dust.

After a pause, he said slowly: "Promoting ethnic equality and promoting ethnic integration is not something that can be achieved overnight. ”

In his opinion, at this time, interfering in Qixiang's selection of concubines and forcing the Han woman to be the queen is easy to arouse the disgust of the royal family, and it is very likely that the royalists will make a fuss about it.

Hearing this, Zhao Liewen couldn't help but hesitate, but when the words came to his mouth, he couldn't open his mouth after all, seeing that he looked like he wanted to say goodbye, Yi couldn't help but smile contentedly: "There is something to say, but it doesn't hurt to say it." ”

"Then the student will be bold and outspoken." Zhao Liewen's heart was crossed, and he said straightly: "The student secretly thinks that the big shopkeeper might as well marry the royal family." ”

After glancing at him, Yi Zhizhi said, "Did someone ask Huifu to test his tone?" ”

"It's King Gong calling." Zhao Liewen said softly: "The student feels ........" ”

"There's no need." Yi Zhishu refused without thinking about it, "My attitude towards my children, Huifu should be very clear, and he will not use them for political marriage." ”

Seeing that his attitude was so resolute, Zhao Liewen hesitated and said: "Thinking about the students, I am afraid that this is the intention of the Empress Dowager Ci'an, who intends to stabilize the throne through marriage, if you refuse directly, I am afraid that it will cause uneasiness ......." ”

"Then it's a little more tactful to refuse." Yi Zhizhi said: "Let's just say that my two unmarried daughters have received Western education since childhood, and their minds are full of new ideas ...... freedom of love, freedom of marriage, and monogamy. ”

"It's a chore." Zhao Liewen said with a bitter face.

At this moment, Lin Meilian reported in the foreign office: "The big shopkeeper, the director of the Department of Commerce, Guan Changhai, asked to see him. ”

After Xie Xiuyuan became the minister of Duzhi, the Ministry of Commerce was taken over by Guan Changhai, but without provoking criticism, Yi Zhizhi had changed the Ministry of Commerce to the Department of Commerce, and he casually ordered: "Let him in." ”

After Guan Changhai came in to greet him, he said: "The big shopkeeper, Jiang Qinghao from Kimberley, South Africa, is back. ”

Jiang Qinghao returned? Yi Zhizhi was overjoyed, and hurriedly said, "Please let him in." "Jiang Qinghao has been in South Africa for two years, and he knows very well that he will never come back without good news.

Soon, Jiang Qinghao, who was in his early thirties, walked into the room quickly, bowed down a little restrainedly, and said, "My subordinate Jiang Qinghao has seen the big shopkeeper. Then he turned to Zhao Liewen and said, "I've seen Mr. Zhao." ”

"Sit, no formality." Yi Zhishu greeted with a smile, and when he saw the other party's tanned face, he said kindly: "I have worked hard for you in Africa for the past two years. ”

Jiang Qinghao has been busy exploring gold mines in South Africa for the past two years, sleeping in the open air, and facing all kinds of dangers at any time, the hardships are really unimaginable to outsiders, listening to this sentence, I can't help but feel hot in my heart, and my nose is a little sour, but he immediately controlled the emotions of the funds, puffed up his chest and said: "Xie Da is considerate." ”

After a pause, he continued: "As early as 1852, gold had been found in the area of White Water Ridge at the western end of the Transvaal, but the amount was very small, and only about six or seven hundred pounds of gold was mined and no gold was found.

It is true that there is no gold in the rivers and banks in that area, but it is true that as the great treasurer said, a stone containing gold was found, and when the stone was broken, sand gold could be found.

Men explored along the White Water Ridge and found the golden sand stone in south-central Transvaal, south of Pretoria. ”

After hesitating, Guan Changhai still couldn't hold back, "No gold was found in the rivers and river beaches?" ”

"Very little." Jiang Qinghao said: "It will take a few days to find a little." ”

Yi Zhizhi smiled: "Gold doesn't have to be in the water or on the beach. As he spoke, he asked, "Is there any record of the place where the sand gold stones were found?" ”

"Yes." Jiang Qinghao hurriedly took out a map, "The place marked with the blue mark is." ”

"There will be gold in the stone?" Zhao Liewen asked with a puzzled face, no wonder he asked, for thousands of years, human beings have been looking for gold in the riverbed, and panning for gold is to pan for gold in the river sand, of course, there is also gold in the riverbank, and there is no river in some places where gold is found, but it is also an ancient riverbed.

Gold is also produced in the cave, but it is also related to water, and people believe that gold is in the water, mixed with sand, and if you want to find gold, you have to find such a place, and now Yi Zhizhi actually said that there is gold in the stone, no wonder he is suspicious.

"Of course." Yi Zhishu said as he unfolded the map: "Where did the gold in the river sand come from? It is the gold contained in the stone, which is washed out by the river after the stone has been crushed. ”

Hearing this, Zhao Liewen and Guan Changhai's eyes lit up, and both of them reacted at this time, is this the discovery of a gold mine?

Unfolding the map, Yi Zhishu saw that there were as many as twenty or thirty red and blue circles marked on it, and he couldn't help frowning, what do you mean, there are gold mines everywhere?

Jiang Qinghao hurriedly stepped forward and pointed: "Big shopkeeper, this is ....... afraid of being searched for the map." As he spoke, he pointed, "At present, five places have been found rich in golden sand stones. ”

Yi Zhi's contented gaze lingered for a long time on the small blue circle south of Pretoria, and it is not surprising that this place is the world's largest gold mine - Teresa Gold Mine!

Seeing that he was silent, Jiang Qinghao pondered and said: "The year before last, a large diamond from Orange was valued at 620,000 francs in Europe, which triggered an unprecedented diamond frenzy, and countless Europeans flocked to the banks of the Orange River and the Val River to mine diamonds, and the Kimberley has now gathered about 20,000 people. News of the discovery of gold in Whitewater could spark an even bigger gold rush. ”

"Don't be afraid." Yi Zhizhi said with a smile: "The gold contained in the stone is not obtained by traditional gold panning methods, and the ore must be crushed by a machine. As he spoke, he stood up and paced to his desk and pulled out a map of South Africa, and Zhao Liewen hurriedly followed over to hang up the map.

Yi Zhizu pointed to the south end and said: "This is the territory of the British, and the gold mined cannot be shipped out of the British territory. As he spoke, he slid his finger to the port of Maputo on the east coast and said, "This port is the closest to the gold mines, and it is better to send troops to take this port ........" ”

Troops again? Zhao Liewen was shocked, "Is this the territory of the Boers or the territory of the indigenous Africans?" ”

"Neither." Yi Zhizu said slowly: "It's the territory of the Portuguese. ”

Portuguese? Zhao Liewen frowned, "Because of Macau, the relationship between Portugal and our country has always been very good, and this place is adjacent to the British sphere of influence, so we have expanded strongly to the Persian Gulf, and now we are robbing the port of Maputo, which will inevitably cause the British to be highly vigilant."

Because of the two provinces of Nanyang, we have already offended Spain and the Netherlands, and the Franco-Prussian War supported France, which indirectly offended Germany, and now offending Portugal seems to be a bit ....... public anger.

The Franco-Prussian War has ended, and the British already have a grudge against us for forcibly inserting into the Persian Gulf, and if we use this as an excuse to provoke a war, I am afraid that the gains outweigh the losses. The students thought that Portugal might as well negotiate with Portugal to lease the port of Maputo or simply borrow the port, and Portugal would not refuse to have a relationship with Macau. ”

"You can talk to Portugal, they are naturally more interesting." Yi Zhizu said slowly: "However, the British may try their best to prevent our country from entering Africa, and we still have to be ready for war. ”

Hearing this, it was still necessary to prepare for war, Guan Changhai's heart moved, looked at Jiang Qinghao and said, "How big are the gold reserves in the Transvaal?" ”

After hesitating, Jiang Qinghao said: "My subordinates have carefully explored, and the veins of the five gold mines are not small, especially the gold veins south of Pretoria are the largest, and they should belong to large gold mines. ”

"Such a dense gold belt is undoubtedly a large or super-large gold mine, and may even be the world's largest gold mine," Yi Zhizhi said in a deep voice: "If China wants to implement the gold standard, there must be a large gold mine to provide gold continuously. ”

The world's largest gold mine! Guan Changhai's eyes lit up, if this is the case, even if it is worth fighting a war of a small scale, Zhao Liewen then asked: "Even if it is a large-scale gold mine, how much gold can it produce in a year?" ”

Yi Zhizhi glanced at Jiang Qinghao and deliberately asked, "Is the content of gold ore high?" ”

"It should be high." Jiang Qinghao hesitated, and as he spoke, he glanced out the door, "My subordinates brought a few samples to ......" ”

It seemed that the guards in the courtyard were not allowed to bring him in, and Yi Zhishu immediately ordered: "Huifu and he will go and bring the sample." ”

Soon, five gold ore samples were placed on the desk, and the cut section was inlaid with dots of sand gold, obviously, the samples brought by Jiang Qinghao were the best rich ores, Yi Zhishu gently tapped the table with his fingers, "Generally, large mines are rich ores, this is a rare rich ore, using large-scale machine excavation and crushing, and then using the most advanced amalgam method to refine, conservatively estimated, a year of twenty tons of output is available." ”

Twenty tons? 640,000 taels of gold a year? Zhao Liewen and Jiang Qinghao couldn't help but be dumbfounded.