When the French government was in deep crisis, the American captain Rekmund was also deeply helpless, and the ironclad ship Monaldnock, which had thought that it could completely control the situation, was now in great trouble...... On the east coast of Panama, an important port, the port of Colón, a small fortress has magically appeared.

The fortress is indeed small, but it occupies a strategic point that Americans can only stare at dryly - on a 550-meter-high peak to the left of the port, the Colombians actually built this small fortress with four guns.

The key problem is that with the 8-degree pitch of the 10-inch and 35-diameter main guns of the Monadnock ironclad, it is impossible to attack the Colombian battery almost close to the harbor, and although the opponent's artillery is not large, that is, 120-150mm guns, but the shooting from a high altitude can easily break through the bare deck of a low-freeboard battleship like the Monaldnok.

Captain Rykmund arrived at the port of Colón on the 30th, and was about to negotiate with the Colombian natives with a cannon barrel, when he saw that the fort was almost blinded, but fortunately, he was also quite a city figure, so he immediately put down his initial strategy, met with the local Panamanian officials, and expressed to them his concern about the Panamanian railway that began at the port of Colón.

The natives obviously attached great importance to the appearance of the Americans and their warships, but seeing that the battery seemed to be working, these Colombian officials immediately got a little carried away, and in addition to expressing their concern for the Panama Railway, they directly treated Captain Rekmund as air.

For the difficulties that arose, the American captain from Texas. Apparently not willing to be held hostage to the clumsy Colombian natives. January 2nd. After the disembarkation investigation, Captain Rykmund sent an extremely important telegram to New York, and this telegram became a key node in the transformation of the whole Central America.

In his telegram, he exaggerated the attitude of Colombian officials, and the report received by the Panama Railroad Company that day confirmed the disregard of the Colombian local government for the rights and interests of the United States in the country...... The Panama Railway, due to the destruction of the local indigenous people, has been carried out in the past four months. In total, it was in operation for less than 40 days, with most of the rest spent repairing the railway through the vast forest.

The entry of the American warship into the port of Colón apparently immediately irritated the Colombian government, and on January 3, President Tania immediately invited Shen Shouchang, the Chinese minister to the four South American countries who was still staying in Bogotá, and he expressed the Colombian government's concern about armaments very directly.

An important reason for this is the port battery that China helped build earlier in Cologne, and now this small battery is clearly of absolute value, at least because of the existence of this battery for American warships. The muzzle was not pointed at Cologne!

"President Tania, we are very willing to work with your country in all aspects. This of course also includes military and armament aspects...... However, I think you should also understand that military equipment consumes a lot of money, especially naval armament, and the low price of 2 armored cruisers and 4 torpedo boats sold to your country the year before last is mainly due to the friendly agreement with the scale! Shen Shouchang smiled and began to lure the Colombians step by step, if you want to get benefits from yourself, you don't have to do some blood!

President Tania obviously understands the high cost of this military Chinese sold to Colombia two obsolete British armored ships and four unprotected torpedo boats for a fixed price of 400,000 pounds the year before last...... Therefore, Shen Shouchang kindly reminded the other party that you want to build armaments to fight the Yankees...... That's unrealistic!

And this cold reality obviously made Colombians extremely depressed, and the poor state of the Colombian coastline had to contend with the threat from the United States on the east and west coasts respectively, and such a threat was just around the corner...... Shen Shouchang naturally did not let go of today's great opportunity, and he immediately threw out a military agreement that Qin Kai had planned for a long time - the "Sino-Colombian National Security Agreement".

The terms of the agreement are actually very simple and clear: the Colombian authorities will provide the Chinese government with overseas military ports, and the Chinese navy will provide military protection at sea for Colombia, which is desperately lacking in maritime power, and of course, as an additional supplement, the Colombian military can also buy army weapons from China, and the Chinese government has also promised to build a large arsenal with the Colombian government.

Behind a series of favorable conditions, there is naturally an accompanying price...... At the same time, Shen Shouchang also put forward a key requirement for intervening in Colombia's defense -- the Panama Canal must be completed as much as possible, otherwise even the most powerful Chinese navy will not be able to fully take care of Colombia's eastern and western coastlines.

President Tania naturally understands the value of the Panama Canal, and the reason why Colombia rejected the American company that owns the benefits of the Panama Railway, and finally chose the French Canal Company, one is because of France's achievements in the construction of the Suez Canal, the second is naturally because the Americans also have a great desire for the Panama Canal, and the third is because of the huge amount of money for the canal construction.

Far from Central America, China in the Far East is also clearly a very good partner in President Tania's eyes, especially in the friendly diplomatic atmosphere of the previous years, and now China is willing to help Colombia fight the threat from the north, but ...... The crux of the matter is that the sudden riots in the province of Panama against the Canal Company have completely disrupted the relations between Colombia and France.

The French consulate even sent a clear message that Colombia must be held accountable for the incident...... And the entire operation of the canal, at least for now, is in the hands of the French canal company, which wants to make the Colombian government break the contract and offend the French here...... It seems to be a bit of a trick.

"Ambassador Shen Shouchang, the Colombian government is very grateful for the assistance of the Chinese government, but ...... We must properly deal with the French Canal Company before we can discuss further cooperation with you......" Soon, the head of parliament, Urtado, who was on the side, discussed it with President Tania, and tactfully raised their difficulties with Shen Shouchang.

Shen Shouchang smiled slightly. Questions about the Canal Company. Naturally, this is not for him to deal with. The latest developments on the French side have been forwarded to him through the Guò Intelligence Department, and now the French Canal Company is so close to bankruptcy, he immediately smiled and said: "Honorable President Tania, Speaker Hurtado, I understand your country's position very well, and here I can clearly assure you of one thing - if the canal is handed over to the Chinese company to operate, the Colombian government will be able to share the profits, not just pay the loan!" Of course. We can wait for further communication between your country and the canal company! ”

This construction, which was completely beyond the imagination of Colombians, immediately made the two most powerful figures in Bogotá be circled without resistance, which was absolutely unimaginable before, you know, Colombia's choice of France, the French Republic has a strong financial ability, is undoubtedly an important factor.

But the French lent money to Colombia, apparently on very harsh terms, and each franc meant that Colombia had to repay five or even six francs after the canal was put into operation, of course. These francs will be deducted in the future from the income obtained from the operation of the Guò Canal, which also means. For many years after the canal was put into operation, the Colombian government did not receive a dime at all, but only a nominal interest.

And if this project is transferred to Chinese, the investment of funds is obviously still necessary, but Shen Shouchang is very clever in giving feedback, borrowing us 1 yuan from China, I am afraid that I will have to pay back the principal with interest at that time, but ...... Among them, we repay on time every year, and we will also give you some cash feedback by the way.

Now, the only obstacle that prevents the Colombian government from completely abandoning the French canal company is obviously the previous agreement with the French government! But the turnaround came in the blink of an eye!

On January 10, the news that the French Canal Company was deeply involved in bribery and black gold scandal had become the last weight to crush the company, which made the Canal Company unable to raise funds to re-invest in the operation of the canal, even with the background of the French government.

The stingy French, who did not forget to pit Colombia at the last moment, meant that the Colombian government was not only unable to get back the large amount of money invested earlier from the French before dealing with the mess left by the Canal Company, but also had to provide a large amount of compensation for the labor incident of the Canal Company!

When the news came, President Tania immediately made an appointment with Shen Shouchang on the 11th to start consultations, and only two days later, Shen Shouchang's diplomatic strides in Bogotá for more than a month finally achieved this great result, which was called the "military strategy of the century" by later generations.

China has pledged to finance the construction of the French Canal Company in the domestic financial market, and will raise no less than 50 million yuan (about 10 million pounds) of construction funds to fully accept the construction of the Panama Canal, while Colombia will repay the Chinese Canal Company in exchange for 40 years of operation rights after the canal is fully completed.

"Prime Minister, what's going on with Shen Shouchang? How is there only a 40-year agreement? It's going to take 100 years! Not according to estimates, the cost of the entire canal may exceed 200 million yuan, God knows if the money can be paid back at that time, and the management of the canal is no longer in our hands! In Beijing's Prime Minister's Office, Tang Shaoyi, the Minister of Finance, immediately raised objections when he saw the large amount of financing figures, like a cat with its tail stepped on.

"100 years...... It's not impossible! For the Minister of Finance, who now regards money as his life, Qin Kai has long been accustomed to it, and if he wants a hundred and eighty thousand, he can come up with a bunch of reasons to refuse to pay, not to mention the first 50 million yuan this time, but he is naturally confident in this matter, "Shaochuan, if you want to talk about 100 years, I think it will take at least a few months to negotiate, so let's take a step to pick the peaches first...... This is my decision! ”

After secretly giving the middle finger to the money-throwing master, Tang Shaoyi thought about his increasingly deflated money bag, and could only shake his head helplessly, of course, he immediately added, "Prime Minister, don't there are a large number of construction prisoners in Tangnu Wulianghai, Siberia, and Nanyang provinces, can you send some to transport them over, this should save a lot!" ”

Qin Kai almost wanted to fly up and kick this guy away, but the money bag is really in charge of it, so he will dissipate his anger and be the wind in his ears first, those construction corps are naturally good laborers, but now that the domestic infrastructure construction is in full swing, of course, it is the priority of the country, and the 50,000 kilometers of railways in the first five-year plan in his mind and the maritime trade network throughout South Asia all require a large amount of money and almost countless labor!

Just as he was about to continue to deploy on the operation of the Panama Canal, he saw Hong Hai, the chief of the guard outside the door, hurrying in with a telegram! (To be continued......)