At least the world's largest gold reserves? Yi Zhengxing and Zhao Liewen couldn't help but look at each other, the Qing Dynasty was the silver standard, and there was little gold, although some of them had been stored over the years, it was not enough to even implement the gold standard, and it was difficult to reach the world's first gold reserves!

Seeing the expressions of the two people, Yi Zhixiang smiled and said: "It is not difficult to have the world's largest gold reserves, and it is possible to achieve ....... with a super-large gold mine." ”

A mega gold mine? Zhao Liewen's heart jumped, "The gold mine of the Transvaal? ”

"The reserves of the Transvaal gold mine are far beyond our imagination." Yi Zhizu said slowly: "Of course, increasing gold reserves cannot only rely on gold mining, foreign trade is also an important means. ”

Foreign trade? Zhao Liewen glanced at him and said with some doubts: "Big shopkeeper, almost all of our foreign trade has been a loss in recent years, and in recent years, we have only had a slight surplus, how to earn gold?" ”

"One time, another time." "For a long time, the import and export trade of the Qing Dynasty has been in a state of trade deficit, because a large number of imported steel for large-scale railway construction, a large number of imported machinery and equipment to quickly build factories and mines, and a large number of imported grain to cope with large-scale and continuous immigration.

In fact, China's export trade volume has been very large, tea, raw silk, rubber, cotton, spices are bulk export commodities, watches, bicycles, sewing machines, batteries, flashlights and other industrial products sales are also rising year by year, once the import is controlled, there will be a huge trade surplus immediately! ”

Is this day over? Zhao Liewen said cautiously: "Once a huge trade surplus is formed, Western countries are afraid that it will be difficult to bear ...... ”

"If it's unbearable, you have to pinch your nose and endure it!" Yi Zhizhi said in a deep voice: "China has always maintained a trade deficit for a long time, which is not only the need for domestic development, but also forced to be helpless, the national strength is weak, and the industrial strength and naval strength are difficult to compete with the European powers, and dare not form a large trade surplus."

Nowadays, China's industrial strength and naval strength are enough to protect itself, there is no need to have many scruples, taking advantage of the fact that Western countries still follow the trade model of free competition, you can unscrupulously absorb the gold of Western countries through foreign trade! ”

"A daughter-in-law has become a mother-in-law for many years!" Zhao Liewen said with a smile: "The big shopkeeper is preparing to establish a prestige in South Africa?" ”

Yi Zhengxing had already guessed one thing before, and immediately tentatively said: "A breakthrough in torpedo technology?" ”

"Not bad." Yi Zhifen said with a smile: "Otherwise, where does you have the confidence to provoke England, the 'maritime hegemon', in South Africa?" ”

Qingdao, 426 (torpedo) research institute, near the sea.

A waterline galloped straight towards a target ship on the sea, and the torpedo trail was clearly visible, and after a short time, the observation ship along the way fed back the information, "accurately hitting the target, with a speed of 18 knots and a range of 450 meters." ”

"Good!" Guo Zhongmu excitedly patted Huang Fusheng, the director of the 426 Research Institute next to him, on the shoulder, "When did you drum it up, you actually concealed it so tightly!" ”

Huang Fusheng glanced at Director Guan Youling beside him, and said with a smile: "It's not that I deliberately concealed it, it was just successfully developed, and it was still Director Guan's guidance." ”

"Don't put gold on my face." Guan Youling said with a smile: "I just said casually, let you try the gyroscope, it is your credit to be able to develop it." ”

"Director Guan doesn't take credit, we don't dare to forget our roots." Huang Fusheng said with a smile, for the study of torpedoes, there has always been an insurmountable bottleneck, that is, the direction of travel of torpedoes cannot be controlled, this problem cannot be solved, torpedoes have no practical value, can not accurately hit the target, no matter how powerful and fast, there is no practical and use value.

However, although the problem of torpedo direction control could not be solved, Yi Zhishu was still very interested in torpedoes, and repeatedly instructed the study of torpedoes to be subdivided, and the control course, depth, power propulsion, fuse, etc. were studied separately.

Therefore, as soon as the problem of course control of torpedoes is solved, the research of torpedoes has met a big explosion, and there are as many as three kinds of power propulsion alone, air compression, mechanical power, electric propulsion, and one that uses the engine as the power is under development.

Guan Changling asked casually, "What's the next test?" Electric torpedoes? ”

"Yes." Huang Fusheng nodded, and before the words fell, he saw a torpedo shot into the water, shooting straight at the target ship, he quickly explained: "The electric torpedo has no wake and is difficult to observe in the water, so it is taken to travel on the surface of the water." ”

Obviously, the speed of this torpedo was slower than the previous one, and soon the information was returned, "accurately hitting the target, 12 knots per hour, and a range of 450 meters." ”

"The range of electric torpedoes can be farther, up to a thousand meters." Huang Fusheng said: "The disadvantage is that the speed is slow, and the advantage is that it is hidden enough. ”

Zai Zhao nodded and said, "This torpedo is suitable for submarines." ”

"Yes." Huang Fusheng said: "It is indeed more suitable for submarines. ”

Guo Zhongmu said with a smile: "With torpedoes, submarines can also be put into actual combat, but it is a pity that the depth and range of submarine sneaking are somewhat insufficient." ”

"There's a way to make up for it." Guan Changling smiled and said: "A transport ship loaded with submarines is being built, which can go directly to the sea from the cabin and release the submarine at close range when the war starts." ”

"Huh?" Zaizhao and Guo Zhongmu were overjoyed, "This is really a wonderful idea!" In this way, we can completely crush the British naval fleet! ”

"This is the idea put forward by the big treasurer." Guan Changling said slowly: "This is just an expedient measure, the development potential of submarines is huge, and the depth and range of stealth have great potential to be tapped, and they will inevitably become an indispensable type of ship for the navies of major countries in the future." ”

A stopgap measure? Zai Zhao's heart moved, it seemed that this was specially prepared for the outbreak of war with the British Navy in South Africa, this battle could not be missed, just thinking about it, Huang Fusheng said: "The next is a torpedo propelled by mechanical power." ”

Zaizhao was a little surprised and said, "Mechanical power? ”

Huang Fusheng explained: "Similar to the clockwork of a clock, we call it a flywheel-powered torpedo. ”

Winding? Guo Zhongmu couldn't help but be dumbfounded, how big is the torpedo, hundreds of pounds at every turn, winding? Isn't this a joke? "Lao Huang, are you too whimsical? Wound up, how far can a torpedo run? ”

"How dare you play with weapons?" Huang Fusheng said with a smile: "The flywheel-powered torpedo uses a steam engine to drive the winch to accelerate the flywheel inside the torpedo to thousands of revolutions per minute, which is not inferior to the first two torpedoes in terms of speed and range. As he spoke, he pointed to the target ship, and the group realized that the target ship had begun to move forward.

The target ship moved to a mile or so before stopping, first tested an electric torpedo, sure enough, although the electric torpedo speed is a little slow, the range is not short, still accurately hit the target ship, Huang Fusheng explained: "At present, the power provided by the battery is too low, otherwise the speed and range can be farther." ”

As soon as the words fell, a torpedo rushed into the sea at a speed that was obviously much faster, and everyone's attention was immediately shifted, and soon, the observer on the target ship waved the flag and reported back information, "Accurately hit the target, with a speed of 25 knots per hour and a range of 1,000 meters." ”

Guan Changling nodded approvingly, "Prepare, the last two torpedoes will be tested tomorrow." ”

In the afternoon of the next day, Yi Zhifen, who was far away in Shanghai, received a call from Guan Changling from Qingdao, and learned that the live-fire test was very successful. ”

"Yes. Subordinates understand. ”

Putting down the phone, Yi Zhishu suddenly felt a lot more relaxed, although the naval heritage and industrial strength are not as good as the British, but with torpedoes and submarines, it is enough to crush the British Navy in all directions, for the Transvaal gold mine, he is bound to win!

South Africa, Transvaal City, Pretoria, Presidential Palace.

In the office, little Pretorius paced back and forth in the room in annoyance, saying that the form was good, but somehow the news suddenly leaked that the Qing people had discovered large-scale gold mines in the territory and encircled a large area of land at a high price spread far and wide, and the news spread all over the city.

Countless people flocked to the land purchased by the Qing people to pan for gold, making the city of Pretoria deserted, which was not what made him the most anxious, what made him most anxious and depressed was that the news had reached the Kimberley, and a large number of British, French, Dutch, Portuguese, and Germans who had no hope of mining diamonds also flocked to that place.

He wondered what the Governor of Cape Town would have reacted to when he learned of this. There is no disputing that the gold was discovered in the Transvaal, but the Qing people occupied all the gold mines, and the Europeans were afraid that they would not rest on their laurels.

Once the situation is not well controlled and there are casualties, he is worried that the British governor of Cape Town will use this as an excuse to provoke a war, but if he does not drive away, after the arrival of the Qing army, he will inevitably be driven away, and a war may also break out if it is not good.

At present, the Qing army has landed in Maputo in a big way, and has sent 5,000 troops across the Les Bombo Mountains to Pretoria, and it is estimated that it will arrive in five or six days.

After thinking about it for a long time, he made up his mind, even if he didn't drive it out, he had to post a notice to declare that it was the land of the owner, and he was not allowed to explore and mine gold privately without permission, and at the same time, he must call back all the Boers, and he could not care about the Westerners, but the people of his country must be called back, otherwise he would not be able to face the Qing people.

Lang Lacht Farm, the first farm bought by the Qing people, and the surrounding area has been filled with all kinds of simple tents, gold prospectors from all over the country have come to dig the ground in droves, but no gold or diamonds have been found, just when everyone is frustrated and discouraged, someone accidentally discovers that the farm stones hide gold sand.

The news spread, the whole mining area was crazy, however, the gold diggers soon discovered that there was indeed gold in the stone, but the stone must be crushed before the gold sand can be extracted, which is completely different from the previous gold panning, and the stone is not easy to crush, unless there is a handy tool, of course, the machine is better, the machine naturally does not, but the hammer is there, for a while, the hammer has become a hot commodity.

It was at this time that the declaration notice of the Transvaal Mansion was posted, and countless notices of all sizes were erected, but the gold diggers, who only had gold in their eyes, paid no attention to the notice, saying that the Europeans, even the Boers, ignored the notice.

In this regard, little Pretorius must be tricky, he must not send troops to drive away, if he really wants to send troops to drive away, he must not only drive away the Boers, one Boer and the Europeans are mixed, it is difficult to distinguish them, and the other is easy to cause disgust.

Seeing that his own gold mine was being mined in a disorderly manner, Jiang Qinghao, who was left behind by Yuanqi to guard Lang Lacht Farm, was also anxious, and the Transvaal Mansion was just setting up a notice board and posting notices without pain, he knew that he couldn't count on it, so he simply took people to the northeast to wait, out of sight was clean, so as not to be upset.

Jiang Qinghao's luck was also good, he only waited for a day and met the advance team of the Marine Corps led by the battalion commander Wu Yuankui, the strength of a whole reinforced battalion - 800 people, hearing that the gold mines occupied by the circle were wantonly mined, but the Transvaal Mansion was not restrained at all, Wu Yuankui's expression was cold, and he ordered in a deep voice: "Set up camp on the spot, let the horses rest!" ”

Camp in place? Jiang Qinghao was suddenly a little anxious, and said: "There are thousands of people mining gold mines, and if you drive them away for a day, you will lose one less day, and it will be our gold!" ”

Wu Yuankui glanced at him and said with a smile: "What are you anxious about?" Let them mine it, and tomorrow let them obediently hand over all the gold! ”

So powerful? Jiang Qinghao was a little suspicious, a battalion of troops, it would be good to drive away the thousands of gold diggers, and let them obediently hand over the gold? He hesitated, "The army will arrive tomorrow?" ”

"The big army will be here the day after tomorrow."

Arrived the day after tomorrow? Jiang Qinghao hurriedly reminded: "Many of those gold diggers have guns in their hands. ”

"Don't worry." Wu Yuankui said indifferently: "Don't say thousands of people, tens of thousands of people also obediently hand over the gold, how can Yuanqi's gold be so easy to take?" ”

Early the next morning, after breakfast, Wu Yuankui sent his troops out to surround the entire mining area, and did not drive them away, surrounded but did not fight, and the mining area was allowed to enter and exit, and it was okay to go out if he wanted to, and all the gold on his body was handed over.

The mining area was surrounded by soldiers in blue uniforms, yellow faces, yellow skin, black eyes, and loaded guns, and the news quickly spread in the mining area, and all the gold diggers reacted at this time, and also remembered the notice posted two days ago, and they all knew that the owner of the gold mine was coming.