Shanghai, Zhennan Wangfu, Changle Book House.

Cao Gensheng walked into the room briskly with a telegram, and said with a smile: "Big treasurer, the navy is good, yesterday morning, the navy sank nine British ironclad ships in the Mozambique Strait, including three main warships, and none of the twelve warships of our army participated in the battle sank, but they were damaged to varying degrees, and there was no major problem........ ”

After reading the telegram, Yi Zhizhi handed over the telegram to Zhao Liewen, and said in a relaxed tone: "Fortunately, the fight is not ruthless, and it can even be said that it is a little lighter......." ”

"The total number of large and small ironclad ships built by England over the years is only more than 50, and 9 ironclad ships were sunk in the first war, and three are the main warships, not to mention that the vitality is greatly damaged, at least it is also a nerve." Zhao Liewen chuckled and said: "The land battle was defeated, the naval battle was defeated again, and in the style of England, the Minister in China, Wei Tuma, should come to the door to ask for peace talks." ”

"There's no need to be polite to the British this time." Yi Zhizu said slowly: "We have no intention of carrying out large-scale colonial expansion in South Africa, nor do we intend to forcibly seize the British colony in South Africa, but we must give England a guarantee that the Transvaal and Orange will not be invaded again."

In this war, the Qing and Britain did not openly declare war after all, and it was not suitable to ask for war reparations, but if the British had to withdraw from the Persian Gulf, they must take this opportunity to completely take the entire Persian Gulf and turn the Persian Gulf into an inland sea of our country.

It was expected that it would be in the next two days that Withoma would come to the door, and Hui Fu would draw up two treaties according to this meaning, and let the lion open his mouth first, so that they could bargain slowly. ”

Just let the British withdraw from the Persian Gulf? Wouldn't this be too cheap for the British? Or is the prescribe too low? In the Franco-Prussian War, the war reparations claimed by Germany were more than 700 million silver, and after hesitating, Zhao Liewen said: "Is there really oil in the Persian Gulf?" And is oil really worth as much as gold? ”

It's no wonder that Zhao Liewen asked, the Qing Dynasty has been firmly established in the Persian Gulf for two years, but Yuanqi has not carried out oil exploration, and the most refined from oil is still kerosene, and although kerosene is sold in large quantities, the price is not high, and gold is simply incomparable.

lit a cigarette, Yi Zhizhi said slowly: "The Persian Gulf contains oil, there is no doubt about this, the reason why it has not been explored, is worried about arousing the vigilance of the British, as for the value of oil, with the popularization of the internal combustion engine can gradually be highlighted, it is foreseeable that after thirty or forty years, oil will become the most important industrial raw material, and its value will be far above gold."

The importance of gold is only reflected in the present, in the era of the gold standard, gold is the currency is purchasing power, once the gold standard is abolished, the value of gold will be greatly reduced, oil is different, with the development of industry, the importance of oil will become more and more important, will become indispensable to all countries, must actively compete for the most important strategic resources. ”

Speaking of this, he paused, and continued: "The Persian Gulf, Central Asia, and Siberia, Alaska, and other places that were purchased with money should be rich in mineral resources and oil and gas resources.

However, future wars will revolve around the competition for resources, and whether or not these territories and resources can be kept is still a question, so desolate places such as Central Asia, Siberia, and Alaska should not be explored and exploited for the time being, which can be regarded as a valuable wealth for future generations. ”

Zhao Liewen really can't imagine how important oil is, for the popularization of the internal combustion engine, he is also puzzled, the current steam engine has been popularized, but as the most important fuel for the steam engine - the price of coal is not high, and there is no shortage, the popularization of the internal combustion engine will be greater than the steam engine?

However, Yi Zhi's attention to the Petroleum Research Institute was very clear, and he groaned slightly, and he confirmed: "The big treasurer intends to use the oil of the Persian Gulf to promote monetary hegemony?" ”

"There are two steps to promote monetary hegemony." Yi Zhizu said slowly: "At this stage is the era of the gold standard, to establish the international credit of Huayuan, we must increase our gold reserves through various channels, and only when China's gold reserves reach or exceed half of the world's total gold, can we replace the position of the pound." And after the abolition of the gold standard, in order to maintain the hegemony of the Chinese Yuan, it is necessary to link the Chinese Yuan to ....... oil.

Speaking of this, he knocked on the ashes of his cigarette, "It's still too early to talk about Huayuan's hegemony, hoard gold first." ”

The war correspondent sent back by the major newspapers in the north and south of the Qing Dynasty sent back a war correspondent to South Africa half a day later than the navy's good news, and it arrived belatedly in the afternoon; although it was already afternoon, the major newspapers still pushed out the issue at the fastest speed for such a major war situation, and for a time, the news of the navy's defeat of the British army in the Mozambique Strait in South Africa was boiling, and the government and the opposition were full of joy and heated discussions.

The telephone ringing of Changle Book House has not been interrupted since the afternoon, up to the prime minister of the cabinet, down to the provincial governors and governors rushing to congratulate, the provincial business giants are not far behind, one after another, Zhao Liewen answered the phone softly, Cao Gensheng was dazzled when he read the telegram, and many people who were not qualified to call sent congratulatory messages directly.

Early the next morning, all the newspapers of the Qing Dynasty were overwhelmed with reports on the naval battle in Mozambique, and the titles of the articles of the war correspondents could be described as varied, such as "Maputo Field Diary", "Naval Battles in Mozambique", "The Myth of the Undefeated Mighty Division", "Naval Weapons - Torpedoes", "The Death of the English Ironclad Fleet", .......

Changle Bookstore, Yi Zhishu looked at the newspapers with great interest, compared with the dry war reports, the readability of the articles written by these war correspondents was naturally high.

Zhao Liewen walked in slowly and said with a smile: "The door of the stock exchange is about to be stepped on, and all the stocks will be directly sealed on the price limit as soon as they open...... ”

Listening to this, Yi Zhizhi couldn't help but smile, the naval battle was a great victory, and the stock soared This is expected, because of the fear that Qing Ying would start a war in South Africa a year ago, to be precise, it was worried that the Qing Dynasty was defeated in South Africa and the stock market fell sharply, coupled with the run, which led to a repeated decline in the stock market, and Yuan Qi was able to stabilize the stock market with a large amount of money.

Now that the run has been resolved, the navy has won a great victory in South Africa, and it is an absolute overwhelming advantage to win this war, it is strange that the stock can not skyrocket, besides, the victory of the war means that the Qing Dynasty has control over the situation in South Africa, and it means that Yuanqi's gold mining in South Africa has been hindered five times, which is an unparalleled major benefit, how can the stock market not rise wildly?

Putting down the newspaper and taking a sip of tea, he said slowly: "Call Huo Qizheng to come here."

Let Huo Qizheng come over at this time? Zhao Liewen said with some uncertainty: "Won't the big shopkeeper sell the stocks in his hand again?" ”

Yi Zhishu glanced at him and said, "If Huifu has a stock in his hand, he can make a move after this wave of rises." ”

Zhao Liewen does have stocks in his hands, following Yi Zhizhi over the years, his net worth has long been expensive, almost all of them are in the stock market, after hesitating, he said: "Now the Qing Dynasty is powerful, it can be said that there is no enemy, South Africa has huge gold reserves, according to the big treasurer, there should be a big bull market ......." ”

"Normally, that's true, but when there's an economic crisis, it's hard to say." Yi Zhizu said slowly: "Besides, we shouldn't hold all the chips in our hands." ”

After his reminder, Zhao Liewen remembered that the other party did mention some time ago that there might be another economic crisis of a large scale in European countries, and immediately smiled: "The big shopkeeper didn't remind me, and I almost forgot about this stubble." ”

Seeing him get up, Yi Zhizu pointed to the newspaper and said: "This great victory in naval warfare is really because of the advantages of weapons, but it is science and technology at all, if military strength is shadow power, then science and technology is soft power, and the science and technology of a country determines the military strength of a country. ”

Zhao Liewen nodded, at present, the government and the opposition are hotly discussing the great victory of the British naval battle, and it is indeed a good opportunity to write an article to emphasize the importance of science and technology at this time.

Prime Minister's Office, 10 Downing Street, London, United Kingdom.

Foreign Secretary Granville walked into the Prime Minister's office with a heavy heart, saying that if the defeat of the Army in Pretoria was bearable, the defeat of the Navy's ironclad fleet in the Channel of Mozambique was a fact that all Britons could hardly accept.

The Royal Navy of the British Empire, which has dominated the seas for hundreds of years, was unexpectedly defeated by the Qing Navy, which had only established a modern navy for 30 years, in the Mozambique Channel of South Africa, on its own territory, and it was a disparity in disparity.

Seeing him come in, Prime Minister William Yurt Gladstone said very directly: "The new torpedo developed by the Qing army has a fast speed, long range, and great power, and one torpedo is enough to blow up and sink a capital battleship, and there is no need for this war to continue." We need to negotiate as soon as possible to end this war that is destined to be lost. ”

After a pause, he continued: "The Qing army has taken advantage of the situation to capture the port of Durban, and the next target is likely to be Cape Town, and negotiations must be made as soon as possible to stop the further actions of the Qing army, and the empire cannot lose its colony in South Africa." ”

After a slight sigh, Granville said: "The Qing State has the military advantage, and at this time the negotiation may put forward very harsh conditions....... ”

"Stop this war first, and then talk slowly." Gladstone said in an accentuated tone: "Now we must let the Qing army end the war as soon as possible, once the Qing army captures Cape Town, we will be more passive!" ”

For this point, Granville naturally knew that once the Qing army captured Cape Town, it would be difficult to get it back, and even if it could be recovered, it would be a heavy price, so he immediately nodded and said, "I'll send a report to Wittoma immediately." ”

Granville withdrew from the office, Gladstone couldn't help but sigh lightly, he didn't know if the Qing State would agree to end the war through negotiations, and he had a faint regret in his heart.

Although the invasion of South Africa was not simply for the gold mines of the Transvaal, but to curb the rapid rise of the Qing state, in order to delay the implementation of the gold standard by the Qing state, in order to prevent the Qing country from joining forces with Russia to build that damn trans-Eurasian railway, and in order to ensure the long-term interests of the British Empire in the Far East.

But in the eyes of the public, it was an unwise move by the machine to provoke such a powerful enemy for the sake of the Transvaal's gold mines, and if he lost the colony of South Africa as a result, he had no choice but to resign.

South Africa was defeated, the rise of the Qing State has been unstoppable, and the situation of the British Empire's domination of the sea has also changed, damn torpedoes, we must follow the example of the Qing as soon as possible, establish special research institutions, and develop efficient and practical torpedoes as soon as possible, the British Empire can not easily give up the position of the hegemon of the sea!

Shanghai, British Consulate in Shanghai.

Putting down the telegram, Wei Tuma commanded softly: "Prepare the car and go to the Zhennan Palace." ”

As early as when he saw the report of the Qing army's victory in the Mozambique naval battle, he knew that the country would definitely end the war through negotiations, and he did not just come to Shanghai, after the Qing army's ironclad fleet made its public appearance in Shanghai, he rushed to Shanghai and stayed in Shanghai.

He knew very well that the war between Britain and Qing in South Africa was not destined to last too long, and to put it bluntly, it was just a war for the sake of competing for interests in South Africa, and once the winner was decided, that is, when the war ended, the two countries were very tacitly not openly declared war, which was enough to explain the attitude of the two countries.

As soon as he got off the carriage, he walked forward with a smile on his face, stretched out his hand and said with a smile: "Congratulations to your country for winning the war in South Africa." ”

His attitude surprised Yi Zhicontent, and while shaking hands politely, he smiled and said, "Your Excellency is the most open-minded diplomat I have ever met. ”

Wei Tuma is not only familiar with Chinese culture, but also has a lot of effort to study Yi Zhicontent, and immediately said politely: "It is really an honor to be praised by His Royal Highness." After a pause, he continued: "Your two countries in South Africa are nothing more than a gentleman's dispute, and even if we are defeated, our country will not lose its proper gentlemanly demeanor. ”

Is this to make the Qing Dynasty also show the gentlemanly demeanor it should have after victory? Yi Zhishu secretly laughed, this guy deserved to be an excellent diplomat, he stretched out his hand and smiled while being polite: "My country has been a country of etiquette since ancient times, and we pay attention to coming and not being rude. ”

Come and don't be rude, the meaning of this sentence, as a Chinese expert, Wei Tuma naturally understands it, and his heart can't help sinking, the war in South Africa was provoked by Britain in advance, what does the other party mean? Are you going to stop? Or do you want to take British territory in South Africa?