Zhennan Palace, Lotus Garden.

After entering the summer, the lotus leaves in the lotus pond quickly flourish, and the large and green lotus leaves cover the entire pond surface, which is very pleasing to the eye at a glance.

The sun is setting, the sunset is full of sky, listening to the terrace of the rain building, Yi Zhicontent, Zhao Liewen sat under the parasol and sipped tea, listening to music, and the gramophone came out of the melodious and smooth guzheng song "Falling Geese and Pingsha".

The gramophone was not invented by Yuan Qi, it was invented by the American inventor Edison the year before his death, and Yi Zhizu has always kept close attention to this famous inventor, so after the advent of the gramophone, Yuan Qi quickly bought the patent.

The phonograph that had just come out was completely different from what he remembered, and the record was also a wax cylinder, but he believed that it would soon be greatly improved.

Raising his eyes to catch a glimpse of Yi Zhengxing and Li Hongzhang coming slowly, Yi Zhizu raised his hand to signal that the gramophone was turned off, and the two of them stepped forward to salute, and he greeted with a smile on his face: "Don't be formal, sit." As he spoke, he turned his head and ordered, "Serve tea." ”

After the two of them sat down, he smiled and said: "This trip to South Africa, do you feel a little disappointed?" ”

Yi Zhengxing said: "There has been a five-year drought in the north, and troops have been sent to South Africa one after another, so we should have a quick solution. ”

"The thunder is loud and the rain is small, I'm afraid that many people are not satisfied." Yi Zhixiang turned his head as he spoke, "President Transvaal is here to ask for money?" ”

Li Hongzhang took the initiative to speak: "In this battle, the European coalition forces adopted the scorched earth tactics of clearing the wilderness, and the Transvaal suffered extremely heavy losses, and a large amount of funds were needed for post-war reconstruction. ”

Yi Zhizu asked directly: "They want to share the war reparations?" ”

"The attitude is quite vague, saying that we hope that our country can provide a large amount of money for post-war reconstruction." Li Hongzhang said cautiously: "The students secretly believe that if the Transvaal continues to maintain its independence, it will not be conducive to our country's control of the South African gold mines. ”

Yi Zhi's attitude towards the Transvaal has been a little wavering, originally did not intend to annex the Transvaal, after the five European countries jointly sent troops to invade, he was a little shaken, hoping to take the opportunity to seriously weaken the strength of the Boers, forcing the Boers to take the initiative to merge the Transvaal into the territory of the Qing Dynasty, and then merge Maputo to establish a special zone in South Africa, so that it is enough to firmly control the gold mines in South Africa.

There was no problem with the plan itself, but the Boers were not stupid, and directly adopted guerrilla tactics to preserve strength, in this case, forcing the Qing army to fight a quick battle and quickly end the war, after all, the domestic economic situation did not allow this war to be fought for a long time.

He glanced at Yi Zhengxing and said, "How do you see it?" ”

"The Boers moved north because they were dissatisfied with the British rule, and the Boers were already very poor, and they would not give in easily even if we did not provide funds." Yi Zhengxing said slowly: "Furthermore, under the current circumstances, if my country forcibly annexes the Transvaal, it may cause a lot of unnecessary trouble, and I think it is better to maintain the status quo." ”

Zhao Liewen interjected: "For the black South Africans, the Boers are also foreign invaders, and if the black South Africans can be liberated and supported, the Boers can be expelled." ”

Yi Zhizu waved his hand, "The liberation and support of black South Africans can only stimulate the national liberation movement of black people in advance, which is not conducive to my country's long-term control of South African gold mines."

The reason why Bechuana and Natal were distributed to Germany, Austria and Italy this time was not only to curb the continuous expansion of England in South Africa, but also to prevent the unification of the black South African country.

For our country, South Africa is in the current divided situation, which is more conducive to China's long-term control of South Africa's gold mines, and tens of thousands of tons of gold reserves will not be mined in a hundred years.

We don't expect to be able to control South Africa's gold mines for such a long time, but we must try to keep the world's largest gold mine in our hands until the gold standard collapses. ”

Yi Zhengxing said in surprise: "Will the gold standard collapse?" ”

"Not strange." Yi Zhishu nodded, "Since the silver standard will be replaced by the gold standard, the gold standard will collapse sooner or later and will be replaced, and because of the rapid development of the world economy, the gold standard cannot exist for as long as the silver standard." ”

As he spoke, he pulled the topic back again, "In the current situation, the Transvaal is still good to maintain the status quo, only our country can maintain a strong military advantage and strength, and no country dares to provoke again."

In addition, China's strong support for Germany this time will also promote the break between Britain and France and Germany and Austria, and it is very difficult for the five countries to join forces to invade the Transvaal. ”

Speaking of this, he paused, and then continued: "Strong military strength is the most important thing, otherwise, even if the Transvaal is incorporated into our territory, it will not be able to be preserved!" ”

Hearing this, Li Hongzhang said: "Big shopkeeper, selling torpedo submarines to Germany can guarantee that Germany will not fight back?" ”

"It's not a guarantee that Germany won't fight back." Yi Zhizhi said with a smile: "But it can ensure that we have enough strength to clamp and counter torpedoes and submarines." Remember, never pin your hopes on others, there is hardly any friendship between countries, there are only interests. ”

Taking a sip of tea, he glanced at the few people present, and finally stopped his gaze on Zhao Liewen, "Silver and gold coins are popular in the Transvaal, even after the implementation of the gold standard, the promotion of Huayuan in the Transvaal is not ideal.

This time, the Transvaal is in dire need of a large amount of money for post-war reconstruction, and it is a rare opportunity for us to seize this opportunity to make the Chinese dollar the only currency in circulation in the Transvaal.

Huifu first talked to them that the Transvaal itself is a gold source, and gold can be freely convertible with the Chinese dollar, and the interest rate of the loan is according to the lowest interest rate of the national bond in China, and the mining tax is used as a guarantee. ”

Zhao Liewen smiled and nodded, "In this way, it is equivalent to reducing the pressure of domestic inflation." ”

Yi Zhengxing said: "Father wants to control the Transvaal through finance? ”

"Yes!" Yi Zhi said: "Compared with military control, financial control is more reliable and easier, of course, financial control is based on strong military strength and financial and economic strength, this point cannot be ignored, do not put the cart before the horse."

In this era, it is a military struggle for hegemony. In order to maintain strong military strength, we need strong soft and hard power such as finance, economy, industry, and science and technology.

The ultimate goal of military hegemony is to establish hegemony, military hegemony, economic hegemony, and financial hegemony! In essence, financial hegemony is an extension of military hegemony and economic hegemony, and conversely, military hegemony and economic hegemony are the basis of financial hegemony, and financial hegemony cannot be talked about without strong military and economic strength. ”

Listening to these words, Li Hongzhang couldn't help but sigh with emotion, before the rise of Yuanqi, the Qing Dynasty had never paid attention to finance, and it could even be said that there was no idea of finance, from the emperor to the government at all levels to the local gentry and businessmen all opened pawnshops and usury, who would have thought that finance was the foundation of a rich country and a strong army!

"From the very beginning of Yuanqi's establishment, our goal was to establish financial hegemony on a global scale!" "The establishment of a financial system, the development of industry, the cultivation of a new navy and army, the control of the Transvaal gold mines, the recovery of Central Asia, the annexation of the Persian Gulf, the implementation of the gold standard, etc., are all to lay the foundation for the establishment of financial hegemony!" ”

The next morning, at eight o'clock, Pretorius and Kryuger rushed to the palace of the king of Zhennan, and handed over the post to visit according to the rules.

Although he is the president of a country, he is not worth mentioning at all in the eyes of the huge Qing Empire, and besides, although Yi Zhizhi is the real ruler of the Qing Dynasty, on the surface, he is an empty prince who has not held any official position, and it is not easy to enforce any rules here.

Outside the gate of the Changle Book House, Yi Zhishu came slowly, and Zhao Liewen, who had been waiting for a long time, hurriedly greeted him, and said after bowing: "Big treasurer, although the Transvaal is small, it is an independent and sovereign country after all, and it seems that it is a little inappropriate for Pretorius to be the president of a country, and it seems that it is a little inappropriate for the students to come forward to receive ......." ”

Yi Zhiren said nonchalantly: "I'm not a court here, how can there be so many rules and etiquette?" ”

"That being said, after all, the big shopkeeper still has the identity of the king of the south of the Great Qing Dynasty." Zhao Liewen said with a smile: "The student is just a white body, and the other party is also the first time to come, and he doesn't understand the situation........" ”

"Okay, I'll see them in person." Yi Zhishu said and turned around, "Give a copy of the information of the two of them and lead them to the Lotus Garden." ”

Little Pretorius put his posture very low, it is really not low, not only is it difficult to ask for others, but also the identities of the two are not equal, after all, this is a world where strength is respected.

Zhao Liewen, who listened to it, knew that the person standing at the gate of the courtyard to greet him was Yi Zhicontent, he hurriedly quickened his pace, and while taking off his hat, his face was full of the most sincere smile, and he stretched out his hand a few steps away, "It's a great honor to meet Your Highness." ”

The reason why Yi Zhizu didn't want to see him at first was because he had an opinion about him, after the discovery of the gold mine or the fact that the Transvaal was rich, the high-level of the Transvaal rushed to Europe, but no one came to the Qing Dynasty, and it seemed that the Qing Dynasty was the protector of the Transvaal.

The interpreter who listened to him shook hands briefly, then let go and said with a light smile: "Welcome to Daqing, welcome to Shanghai." After shaking hands with Kryuger, he held out his hand and said, "Please——。 ”

There was nothing to say all the way, and when he entered the hall of the Listening Rain Building, he was content to give up his seat, Pretorius did not rush to take his seat, but bowed very solemnly, and only then did he say: "Without your country's timely military assistance, our country has been divided among the five European countries, please allow me to express my most sincere thanks to His Highness on behalf of all my subjects." ”

"Your Excellency, you need not be polite." Yi Zhicontent said very directly: "Sending troops to your country is also to safeguard the interests of our country. ”

After taking his seat, Pretorius motioned for Kryuger to take out the photograph and present it, "This is the ........ of the photograph taken by our military correspondents." ”

Looking at the stack of photos, Yi Zhi's expression was always very calm, he himself had led the army many times, and he had seen a lot of cruelty and blood on the battlefield, these photos naturally did not move him, but seeing these photos, he felt that it was necessary to add additional photographers with the army.

Putting down the photo, he said slowly: "I deeply sympathize with the huge losses suffered by your country in this war. ”

Pretorius waited for this sentence, and even said: "Fortunately, the war ended quickly, and what is needed now is to quickly heal the wounds caused by the war. ”

Securing funding for post-war reconstruction? This was said very vaguely, and Zhao Liewen was the first to speak: "The seven northern provinces of my country have suffered a rare drought for five consecutive years, and the dispatch of troops to South Africa has cost a huge amount of war military expenditure, and there is no ability to support your country in post-war reconstruction at the moment. ”

Yi Zhizhi said: "This is the truth, I believe Your Excellency can understand it." ”

Hearing this, Kryugel couldn't help but say: "But the five European countries compensated more than 100 million pounds ....... ”

As soon as this sentence was translated, the atmosphere suddenly cooled down, and Yi Zhixin said coldly: "Does your country want to use war reparations for post-war reconstruction?" ”

"Nope! Don't get me wrong, Your Highness. Pretorius hurriedly waved his hand and said, since the other party did not let them share the idea of war reparations, he could only resolutely deny it, "The victory of the war was decided by the naval battle of Maputo Bay, and the huge war reparations of the five European countries also have a lot to do with the South African colonies."

In addition, your army suffered more than 10,000 casualties in Sanderton, and it cost a huge amount of military money to reinforce our country, and our country has no idea about war reparations. ”

After a pause, he continued: "Our country has suffered too much in this war, and we urgently need to rebuild after the war, which requires a huge amount of money, and we hope to get a large low-interest loan from your country, which our country can use as collateral for mining taxes. ”

Yi Zhi's face softened, "The five-year-long drought in northern China has affected more than 100 million people, not counting losses, and the disaster relief alone has cost billions of yuan, and funds are indeed very tight." ”

Pretorius Uston's face was full of bitterness, and he hesitated before he said, "Then can our country seek a loan from Europe?" ”

This is not a solicitation of opinions, but a threat! Yi Zhixiang was silent for a while before he said: "I want my country to provide a large amount of low-interest loans, but the Chinese dollar must become the only legal currency in your country, of course, the Chinese yuan can be freely exchanged with gold." ”

Listening to this, Pretorius couldn't help but hesitate, the currency of the Transvaal is very chaotic, mainly gold and silver coins and pounds, Chinese dollars, in the Transvaal Chinese dollars are not as popular as gold and silver coins and not as popular as the pound sterling, as whites, the Boers are naturally inclined to Europe.

Hua Yuan became the only legal currency, which is equivalent to the currency in the hands of Yuan Qi, although he is not familiar with finance, but also knows that this is very dangerous, however, Hua Yuan can be freely exchanged with gold, and he is a little moved, now that the Qing State is strong, has surpassed England, what is the difference between Hua Yuan and the pound?