“…… The warriors were dark-skinned and wore khaki uniforms...... These people can walk through the deserts of southern Africa for three days in a row, sleeping only four hours a day. The general's personal guards all carried a ghost head knife (the word "ghost head" is the Chinese pronunciation), and they marched slowly during the battle, shooting as they marched. When he charged, he began to run wildly at an astonishing speed under the bombardment of British artillery, and displayed amazing bravery in hand-to-hand combat......"

Foreign Minister Li Xin was happy after reading the contents of the Times submitted to him by the British ambassador, but it was impossible for the foreign minister to show a smile on his face. So Li Xin pretended to be surprised and said, "May I ask what is the purpose of showing me this?" ”

In the summer of June, the air conditioner was not turned on in the house, and the electric fan shook its head from side to side, and the wind felt very comfortable on the body. Perhaps for this reason, even if the British ambassador was furious in his heart, he did not explode to the extent of an outburst. He leaned back on the fabric sofa covered with bamboo mats and said, "Your Excellency, we don't understand why China sells weapons to the Zulus. ”

"They traded us diamonds, why should we refuse this kind of sale?" Chinese Foreign Minister Li Xin asked rhetorically. Looking at the British ambassador's surprised expression, Li Xin continued: "If Britain also buys rifles and artillery from us with diamonds, we will also agree to your request. ”

The British ambassador was not angry, and this reason was well within his acceptable circumstances. Even if the Zulu army was conquering one black village chief after another and began to rebuild the Zulu army and state system, this would not be a reason to deny the legitimacy of the diamond exchange for arms.

"We hope that your country will be able to put an end to this type of trade." The British ambassador put forward the British point of view.

"We hope the UK will protect our gold mine ownership in the Transvaal." Li Xin also did not hesitate to give China's attitude. Zulus or Boers, these forces mean nothing to China. As long as he can stabilize the gold mines in southern Africa and allow China to obtain a steady stream of gold, Li Xin can be regarded as having completed the task assigned to him by the central government.

The diplomatic discussion now gets into the meat part, and like China, Britain doesn't really care about the Zulus and Boers, but cares about the diamond and gold mines of southern Africa. Britain is one step ahead in diamond mines, and the Chinese are better in gold mines. When China's gold mining equipment arrived in the Rand mines by shipping and rail, the British knew something was wrong. Diamond mining is a manual job that requires human sifting. This is not the case with gold mining, where experienced miners identify the veins and the mining machinery chisels them all the way down in the direction of the veins. In order to be able to obtain more funds, the Transvaal Republic allocated a large number of mining areas to the Chinese. According to Chinese estimates, the British side believes that the gold production of Chinese mining areas is about ten times that of British-controlled mining areas.

"It would be best for both of us to form a mining company together." The British ambassador put forward their proposal.

Li Xin sneered in his heart, the gold mine is a zero-sum game. The joint formation of a mining company means that the United Kingdom, which has less than a tenth of China's share, wants to get a piece of the pie from China. How can there be such a good thing in the world?

"Now it's just the two of us who are mining the Rand gold mine, so why did we get to this point? I think it's good that the two of us are okay. Li Xin put forward China's point of view. The reserves of the Rand gold mine are larger than the Chinese ministries imagined, with an average gold content of about 15 grams per tonne of gold ore. China is now mining hard, and can dig up 5 million tons of gold a year. The annual gold production is around 75 tonnes. With the hostility between the Transvaal Republic and the British, China would get a larger share as long as it kept its distance from the British. Unless there are huge other interests in exchange, there is no reason for China to let the British make a profit in the middle.

"China's support for other forces is not conducive to peace on the ground." Seeing that Li Xin had no intention of making concessions, the British ambassador turned the topic back to the original content.

Is it not good for the peace of your Britain? Li Xin sneered in his heart. Zulus or Boers. Both of the biggest enemies are Britain and not China. In order to confront the British, they naturally chose to cooperate with China in friendship. China can also take this opportunity to continue to expand its mining share in the Rand gold mine. With the existence of these two forces, Britain will not be able to successfully get its hands on the Rand gold mines. If the British use force to solve these two forces, they will force these two forces to continue to expand their cooperation with China, so that China can get more share of the gold mines.

"If Britain can respect the human rights of the Boers and Zulus, and recognize their legitimate rights. I am confident that this will contribute to regional peace. Li Xin responded in a high-profile manner to the British ambassador's views.

Everyone is a thousand-year-old fox, so naturally there is no need to play anything and talk about fasting. The British ambassador confirmed that China could not back down, and he had nothing else to say except to express "regret." If you want to snatch food from the mouths of a great power, you must first break off the fangs of a great power. Just as the gradual expansion of China's influence into the Indian Ocean coincided with the process of the British Grand Fleet being driven out of the Indian Ocean.

Seeing the British ambassador leave the office, Li Xin suddenly said in his heart, "The season of storms has arrived." China's refusal to give up the Rand gold mine is not about the pensions of tens of thousands of old brothers. The purchasing power of 75 tonnes of gold is more than enough to cover this expenditure. It is not this kind of spending that China values, but the important role of large amounts of gold in China's world trading system.

Gold plays an extremely important role in the policies being pursued by the Bank of China. With radio, trade settlements became extremely fast. What's more, the center of trade settlement can already be any city on the planet. China's gold stockpiles have now become a powerful tool. Trade with "currency" as a trading object can finally be implemented.

For example, if China wants to buy the currency of a gold standard country, it can set a redemption date and then "transfer" the gold in the underground vaults of the transactions in Nanjing or Shanghai to the exclusive treasury of the foreign bank that lent the money. No need for long-distance transportation, no laborious handling. Just change the sign at the door of these vaults.

When the redemption date comes, China repays the sterling or franc notes to the bank that lent the money according to the contract, and the single currency transaction is terminated. The gold never left China's vaults, not even in its place. As long as this Chinese gold exists, foreign currencies can be bought and sold in China's financial centers.

Of course, there are many questions, such as why do foreigners trust China to keep its promises? But the problem that precedes these deeper problems is that you have to convince foreigners that China really has so much gold. Li Xin now feels that the far-reaching nature of Wei Zedudu's work is simply outrageous. A large amount of land was purchased from Russia and England in gold, and it was a very good deal now. 350 tonnes of gold bought more than 13 million square kilometers of land, which also proved to the world that China has huge gold reserves.

The same is true for the current Rand gold mine, as long as China can prove that it earns hundreds of tons of gold every year, there will be a basis for such monetary transactions. This gold will not only allow China to act as collateral for the buying and selling of its own currency, but will also allow Chinese banks to offer financial services to Europe by "lending" gold. Of course, if European countries want to "borrow" China's gold, they need to come up with collateral, either land or commercial interests. However, the actual value of any collateral naturally far exceeds the value of the gold they "borrowed".

When Governor Wei Zedu proposed this financial system to the Politburo, many comrades did not understand it at all. Li Xin belonged to those comrades who understood, and then Li Xin had no other emotions except admiration. As long as China can become the founder and defender of the international financial order, China will be able to firmly grasp this lucrative industry.

Knowing China's policy to be adopted, Li Xin naturally understood what the British, who are making a lot of money from the world's financial services, will think. The struggle between China and Britain for world financial hegemony is bound to enter a brutal phase, and the relationship between the participants in the zero-sum game is very, very simple. The only thing that surprised Li Xin was his own emotions, even if he could already predict the cruelty of the struggle, Li Xin found that he had no hatred for the British at all, not even hostility. This is not a contradiction driven by feelings, no matter how many people died in the struggle and how much blood was shed, Li Xin only felt heaviness, but no hatred.

The British ambassador did not have any resentment when he left the Chinese Foreign Ministry, and the biggest negative emotion was probably frustration. China's firm attitude and clear position are indeed beyond the imagination of the British ambassador. Such an attitude leaves no room for any little tricks. The only choice for Britain now is to accept the status quo or change it. In fact, when I came to the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs to communicate, Britain had already made a decision that since China was unwilling to let Britain monopolize the Rand gold mine, then Britain could only rely on strength to monopolize the Rand gold mine. The British Parliament passed the resolution with great speed, and the war against southern Africa had begun.

Before getting into the car, the British ambassador turned his head to look at the Chinese Foreign Ministry. China cannot sit idly by and ignore Britain's actions, and will shed too much blood in the future. But China was a country that Britain could not penetrate, and if possible, the British ambassador really hoped to be able to kill the Chinese emperor Weescher. The emperor has not yet been identified as an heir, and if he dies, a fierce struggle for internal power will surely break out within China, and even a civil war will break out. If China were to find themselves in such a situation, Britain would be able to easily free up its hands to clean up southern Africa. Completely seize the Rand Gold Mine.

Sighing, the British ambassador got into the car. It must be made clear that even if he wanted to kill Weser, the British ambassador himself was full of respect for Weeser. This desire has nothing to do with personal relationships. Business is business.