Among the princes, especially the construction of the Duke of Wright's domain is the most outstanding, a Zhonghai City with a population of 270,000 is unveiled, and its performance in all aspects has thrown off the other princes, which can be called outstanding.

In second place is the construction of the Seventh Prince's Duke of Hawaii's Domain, Li Sixuan (excluding Pearl Harbor on Oahu), and now the population of the main island of Hawaii is close to 200,000.

Li Siyuan knows;

The queen mother has always felt guilty about this seventh brother, and she did not give less money in private, and the original good foundation and abundant financial support are indispensable key factors for Hawaii Island to have the current situation.

There is nothing to say about the other princes, the main cities in the dukedom have a large population of more than 100,000, and a small population of 40,000 or 50,000, which is obviously a big difference compared to Zhonghai City.

A city must have its own advantageous core industries in order to retain people, Zhonghai City has handed over the model homework, others just follow the cat and the tiger, the key is to see the heart is not careful.

The princes did not say much about the matter of the domain, so as not to cause unnecessary right and wrong.

Among the fiefs of the princes, the tenth brother of the Duke of Cebu Li Sixi has the strongest territory, the Duke of Cebu Li Sixi has just turned 18 this year and is studying engineering at the Imperial University, and he and several young princes are still a few years away from becoming a vassal.

His territory, Cebu Island, was first landed by the Spaniards more than 300 years ago, with a long history of development, with a large number of Spanish castles, churches and estates, with a total population of more than 770,000 people, the most important Cebu City has a population of more than 300,000, and is famous for its world-class beautiful beaches.

If developed, the future potential is much greater than that of other dukedoms.

It can be seen from here that the current saint's preference for Lao Shi is far better than that of other princes.

Of course, this does not include Li Siyuan, the Duke of Shangri-La, whose territory has a population of more than 4.3 million people, covering an area of 880,000 square kilometers, and its population, territory and economic strength far surpass that of the Kingdom and the Kingdom of the Ryukyus.

After the inspection

Li Siyuan was very interested in the West Asian region, and specially asked about the relevant situation, and Viscount Humen gave a detailed introduction to it.

Today, the situation in West Asia and North Africa is complicated, with the Ottoman Empire having the largest power and covering the widest area, but this decaying empire has long since declined, and the territory is infiltrated by Britain, Germany, Russia, France and other powerful countries like a sieve, and ethnic contradictions are prominent.

The most fierce competition among the great powers was the Kingdom of Iran, with Britain, Germany, and Tsarist Russia supporting their respective proxies, and the Turkic, Arab, and Persian ethnic groups in the Middle East were a complex mess.

It is precisely this chaotic situation that has nurtured rich soil for armed smuggling in Somalia.

With the influence of Viscount Humen and the Somali state, it is already the extreme to be able to reach the current situation, and it is difficult to go further.

Therefore, he strongly demanded that the imperial side could devote some resources to West Asia and exert important influence.

Regarding Li Yong's appeal on behalf of Somali Prefecture, Li Siyuan did not make any further clear statement.

This involves the foreign policy and strategic layout of the empire, not to be able to participate in the competition with money and guns, the British interests in the Middle East are very wide, and their tentacles extend to all aspects, because the important geographical location of the Middle East is determined by the important geographical location and is an important part of the global strategy.

The Middle East region is located at the intersection of Asia, Europe and Africa, connecting the Atlantic Ocean and the Indian Ocean, and has been a transportation hub between the East and the West since ancient times.

Now that the Ottoman Empire is in decline, the region has many ethnic groups, and its historical, religious, and cultural traditions are extremely different, so it can be said that they are incompatible with each other, coupled with the intervention of foreign political and military forces, the situation has been turbulent for many years.

In order to open the southern outlet to the sea in the Black Sea, Tsarist Russia took advantage of the decline of the Ottoman Empire to expand strongly into the territory of the Ottoman Empire, Iraq and Iran, and signed a number of unequal treaties through imposed wars and threats, which cannot be ignored.

The region was also a traditional British sphere of influence, which not only controlled the British Egyptian colony, but also penetrated its influence into Jordan, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Palestine and other regions belonging to the Ottoman Empire, and also had significant influence on Yemen, Oman and the Kingdom of Iran.

If you want to do anything here, you have to ask the British if they agree.

The French had significant influence in Syria, Lebanon, Morocco, Tunisia and other regions, Italy infiltrated Libya, Citigroup controlled Liberia, and the Ottoman Empire and its surrounding vast territory were infiltrated like a sieve by the foreign powers.

As a new force rising in the Western Pacific, the core interests of the Ocean Empire are still in Australia and the Western Pacific region, and the most important task at present is to develop the economy and enhance national strength, and the potential biggest adversary is the winner of the Russo-Japanese War, rather than participating in the power game in West Asia.

"Sir Lee, the appeal you made on behalf of the Somali region can be put forward to the cabinet through legitimate channels, but I don't think there will be any response, and the biggest task of the Somali region is to develop the economy, not to expand externally." Li Siyuan thought for a moment and continued;

"The situation in the Middle East is complicated, maybe belonging to some Arab tribe of the Ottoman Empire, with the support of the British or the Italians, maybe the Germans or whatever.

This kind of chaos is actually not convenient for blind mixing, so as not to cause a commotion without eating mutton.

Meals should be eaten in one bite, and it is also a truth to do things.

Somalia is located in the middle of the hustle and bustle of the Horn of Africa, and after years of development, the empire's Chinese population has gained a firm foothold, and the next step is to thoroughly digest the territory and firmly control it.

The next step in the Empire's African strategy was to digest the island of Madagascar.

As far as I know;

The Imperial Foreign Service was secretly negotiating with the French to include the colony of French Madagascar in an exchange of interests or by buying land.

If the plan can be realized, then in the next 10~15 years, the Empire's African policy will focus on the complete digestion of the island of Madagascar, and there will be no energy to take care of anything else.

In addition, you have in mind that the French want Mogadishu and the surrounding area of Somalia, which covers an area of about 300,000 square kilometers, in order to realize the French plan to colonize Africa.

This matter is under negotiation, and it is expected that there will be an eyebrow soon. ”

Mogadishu and surrounds?

Viscount Li Yong nodded thoughtfully, don't look at the fact that he has been operating in Somali for more than 20 years, but he has only been to Mogadishu twice, so he doesn't know much.

It is an oasis larger than Djibouti, with valuable freshwater rivers that have given birth to hundreds of thousands of black indigenous nomadic tribes.

After being included in the Somali region, after a series of changes and repressions over the years, the local black indigenous population was drastically reduced to less than 50,000 and driven to remote arid areas.

Most of the farmland and pastures cultivated in the fertile areas near the river belong to the immigrant Chinese population, totaling about 200,000 people, more than 70% of whom live in the surrounding towns and cities of Mogadishu.

These Chinese immigrants owned large tracts of land, both planting and grazing enough to make a living, relatively wealthy, each family started with hundreds of sheep and dozens of cattle, and made a fortune in the just-concluded South African war.

Except for the oases through which rivers pass, Mogadishu is a vast desert, barren mountains and the Gobi Desert, which has neither minerals nor an environment suitable for human survival.

The only good thing is that it's big enough, and the endless desert is desperately large.

Compared to the island of Madagascar, which is rich in flora and fauna and has an excellent natural environment, this desert area of Somalia is not half a star.

Why should the French value this barren land in the Somali region, centered on Mogadishu?

This has to mention the African strategy of the British and French, the "two C's strategy" of the British colonization of Africa, is to establish a colonial region from Egypt in the north to South Africa in the south, and run through the entire African continent from south to north.

If the African colonial strategy of Britain and France is compared to a "ten", the British are the "1" vertical from north to south, and the French are the "one" horizontal above the "ten".

The French were fond of North Africa, and their African colonies started from Algeria, divided their surrounding Tunisia, Libya and other places into spheres of influence, and turned Morocco into their vassal states, then extended to Central and East Africa, and finally reached the Horn of East Africa region led by Mogadishu.

The Somali state in the hands of the ocean empire occupies the entire Horn of East Africa, presenting a clear "7" shape around the Ethiopian plateau, and the idea of the French is to get a vertical under the "7" shape, that is, the Horn of East Africa region led by Mogadishu, so as to complete the African colonial strategic dream.

The total area of the vertical area under the "7" in Somali is about 500,000 square kilometers, and the French want 3/5 of it, about 300,000 square kilometers.

The essence of the entire Somali region is in the north, which is a horizontal section of the "7" shape, starting from Xi'an City in the Djibuti region and extending northward, including the central and western sections of Eritrea, with a total area of about 24 million square kilometers.

Eritrea is divided into the eastern, central and western sections, with a total length of 1,200 kilometers along the Red Sea coast, and about 360 kilometers along the coastline in the east, with three major cities lined up along the Red Sea coast, namely Humen, Ede and Assab, all of which are regional hubs in the region.

The central part of Eritrea is about 400 kilometers long from Humen Pass, and is dotted with many new towns, which are the new territory of Somali after Italy's defeat in the Ethiopian war.

Located on the coast of the Red Sea, it has a pleasant climate suitable for the development of agriculture and animal husbandry, and is an emerging economic growth zone in Somali Oblast.

This prosperous area is densely populated and economically developed, whether it is the British, the French, the Italians or the Germans, but it is a pity that a moat fortress on the island of Great Hanish in the Red Sea has interrupted their dreams and soberly returned to reality.

If you don't have the ability to lay down the Trench Fortress, it's better to be honest.

"Your Highness, do you really want to exchange Mogadishu for the colony of French Madagascar? After all, there are more than 200,000 Chinese immigrants there, and it may not be appropriate to change suddenly! Viscount Li Yong said worriedly.

Li Siyuan nodded when he heard this, and seemed to agree with this statement; "It's just a negotiated plan, and no one knows what kind of agreement will be reached until the final result is out.

But one thing is for sure, the French are not stupid and do not have enough benefits that they would rather not change.

However, it is a well-known fact that we have not many bargaining chips in Africa, and we are rather deadlocked on the issue of the Indochina Peninsula.

During the negotiations, the French wanted the Kaohsiung area, which was also one of the options discussed by the two sides.

In any case, it is necessary to come up with heavyweight bargaining chips that will appeal to the hearts of the French, and perhaps it will be more beneficial to wait for the current Russo-Japanese War to be decided.

As for Chinese immigrants, don't worry, there will definitely be proper arrangements.

In Mogadishu, there is no doubt that the Chinese are absolutely dominant, and even if the French come, it is impossible to change the local social and demographic structure.

Everything is under discussion, and no final conclusion has yet been reached, and there will definitely be appropriate arrangements at the top of the government, so there is no need to worry about it. ”

"Thank you, Your Highness, for your doubts, and Weichen is grateful." Li Yong arched his hand.

"Sir Lee, you are a legendary figure who has left a mark on the history of the development of the Somali state, and there is no need to be too humble." Li Siyuan responded with a pleasant expression, he stood up, walked out, and said as he walked;

"I came here to take a look, and the results are very satisfactory, and the work of the Somali company is of positive significance, and it is commendable for its courage to play an exemplary role in the construction of the Royal Navy.

Tsarist Russia has already mobilized for the 7th war, and millions of soldiers are on their way to the Far East, carrying only enough rations for the road, and relying on you for more food.

Fuso has lodged several strong protests against this......"

Speaking of which

Li Siyuan stopped, a contemptuous smile appeared at the corner of his lips, and he said helplessly with a wave of his hands; "For these little devils who are afraid of power and have no virtue, we can only express our regrets, rest assured and bold to do what you should do, you are professional in this regard, aren't you?"

"Indeed, Your Highness, we are businessmen who regard credibility as our life." Viscount Li Yong replied knowingly.

Now that you have the confidence, you can let it go.

As long as these old Tsarist Russian men have a stutter, they are not picky about food, and the flour delivered by the Somali company is much stronger than the black bread mixed with bran and wood chips.

Somali companies buy large quantities of old grain from the Imperial Reserve, the cheaper the better, and process it into flour and send it to the north, where it doubles the price of the best grain and makes huge profits.

It's true that food is not valuable, but freight is expensive!

As the only and most important supplier of materials for the Tsarist Far East War, Li Yong has now begun to plan a price increase, the price increase is at least forty percent, and he has to earn back the money for the three destroyers donated to the empire, and the wool is out of the sheep.

If he wants to set an example in the future, it is also possible to donate two more destroyers, and this money will definitely not be paid by himself, so it will naturally fall on Lao Maozi.

Even if the war is over, as long as the Trans-Siberian Railway is not opened for a day, the large number of troops accumulated by the Tsarist Empire in the Far East will depend on the supply of materials from Somali companies, and this lucrative business will still have years to do.