On December 7, 1898, on the shores of Lake Abbard in the interior of the Congo region of Africa, a British army of 300 troops, led by Colonel Kitchener, explored south along the Nile River to enter the local native-controlled city of Gisanja, but they were unexpectedly attacked by the French army of more than 400 troops under the command of Colonel Marchand, who had arrived a month earlier.

Colonel Kitchener's British army was originally an expedition to open up the railway line from Cairo to Cape Town throughout Africa, and for the British Empire, the area around the Nile was the traditional British sphere of influence, and the French went here to occupy the local indigenous territories, and even put up the French flag, which was absolutely intolerable.

Soon after, Colonel Marchand received a letter from Kitchener demanding that the French leave the city of Gisanja immediately, otherwise it would be regarded as a provocation against the British Empire and the Egyptian government...... Naturally, this argument was completely thrown into the trash by the equally arrogant French, Colonel Marchand set up a Maxim machine gun on the city wall, and the British, not to be outdone, immediately set up field artillery on the small ground outside the city, and the battle was on the verge of breaking out!

The reason why the French went deep into the Nile Basin is naturally because France also hopes to open up the railway network of the coastline of East and West Africa, and the Nile Basin is the inevitable staggered area of the long railway network between the two sides, and this is also the area that the two sides cannot give up! In the days that followed, the two sides occupied favorable terrain and even held small demonstrations of fire, but neither side would make a statement of retreat.

and so on for the news to reach Europe. It was already the tenth day after the contact of the forces of the two sides. Both Britain and France immediately realized the magnitude of the crisis. French Prime Minister Charles? On the morning of December 18, Dupiy summoned the British Minister Marina, a leftist Republican who had always been enthusiastic about the Anglo-French colonial rivalry in Africa, and who had been very cautious in giving the British a warning to the British......

"The French colonization process of Africa is in full compliance with the provisions of the Berlin Treaty, and the French Republic will never give up the lands it has occupied. Unless the British government can come up with a sufficiently sincere exchange! ”

In this regard, the British minister Merina was not to be outdone, saying, "The Nile Valley was originally a colony of the British Empire, and the entry of the French army has violated the provisions of the Berlin Treaty, if France cannot face this point, Britain will not hesitate to fight to protect the rights and interests of the Nile Basin!" ”

It was clear that the scheduled negotiations of the day were a complete assertion of sovereignty, and at this very moment, Kaiser Wilhelm II once again showed his astonishingly high-mouthed talent. On December 24, Britain and France threatened each other for the interests of the Nile Basin. The Free German newspaper suddenly published Wilhelm II's judgment on the Anglo-French crisis in Guisanja.

"France is enjoying colonial benefits in Africa that are more than they can do, and with the overseas military power of France, they simply do not deserve such astonishing profits from their colonies!"

After the news came out, the whole of Europe was in an uproar, and Wang Li, the Chinese minister who had just visited Prime Minister Hornlore a few days earlier, was also very surprised, you know, the German Prime Minister Hornlore personally told him a day earlier that Germany was considering not intervening in the colonial competition in Africa, and even cautiously revealed to him that Germany would no longer continue to accept orders from the Boers after completing the current arms orders in the Transvaal.

The Germans' attitude towards the Boer issue changed dramatically, and Wang Li soon heard the news, and it was obvious that the British had thrown an olive branch to Germany to gain the support of the Germans in exchange for Middle East interests, which made Wang Li, who originally hoped that the Germans would intervene in the Boer War and make the rich men in Europe burn money, also slightly disappointed.

However, given the inextricable national feud between Germany and France, it is clear that Kaiser Wilhelm II's big mouth was motivated by this...... However, Wang Li was still very cautious to inquire about the German government's position again through some secret channels, and a little later, the surprise visit of German Foreign Minister Schleier brought some news that surprised him as well.

Although Schleier did not directly state that Germany and Britain were engaged in secret negotiations, he still revealed some fragmentary information, and after obtaining the news from the Chancellery's office with Wang Li, he immediately realized that the British must have begun to make secret transactions with the Germans, and Schleier's intention to come was beyond his expectations, and he obviously did not approve of Kaiser Wilhelm II's approach.

As one of the more cautious members of the German government, the foreign secretary was very suspicious of the British promises of German interests in the Middle East, and he did not directly tell Wang Li, but he did give a hint on a large extent, and Wang Li soon realized that Schleier was in fact trying to fine-tune Germany's attitude in this series of European power rivalries through Guò himself.

Qin Kai received news from Europe and Africa only half a day later than Wang Li, and he was not surprised by the conflict of interests between Britain and France in Africa. The fierce conflict between the two countries has erupted as the original historical trajectory.

Of course, there were too many inducing factors, such as Britain was preparing for war to solve the Boer problem at that time, and France's colonization in Africa had exceeded the bottom line that Britain could afford.

The situation now before them is exactly the same as that historical event, but the attitude of Britain and France is slightly different, Britain obviously took advantage of the opportunity to prepare for South Africa, and very clearly demanded that the French back down, and the French obviously did not recognize the position of Britain in Africa, and they also had an urgent pursuit of the interests of the Nile Basin, and on the Boer question, the French were not to be left behind, and vigorously attacked the British for their deliberate attack on the white countries in Africa.

After careful consideration, Qin Kai immediately summoned the British Minister to China, Bauer, who was recently negotiating trade and commerce in the Far East, Qin Kai had set up as many as 37 free ports in Nanyang and overseas provinces, but it was becoming more and more difficult for British goods to open sales in these free ports, and there was actually only one reason, that is, because after ten years of accumulation, China's domestic goods have reached an unprecedented abundance, and a large number of domestic goods have relied on local advantages and price advantages. The sales space for British goods is being significantly reduced.

So at first, Bauer thought that Qin Kai might be willing to provide more trading ports to Britain or reduce customs tariffs on the mainland of China, but this hope was obviously disappointed all of a sudden, but he still got the good news of surprise...... Qin Kai made it very clear to him that China was willing to seek mediation in the dispute between the two countries.

Although it is very surprising that China, which is thousands of miles away, is willing to intervene in the affairs of Europe, but after a little consideration, Bauer was relieved, this Premier Qin also intervened in the Spanish-American War before, which is farther than Europe...... However, he immediately expressed the attitude of the British, "Premier Qin, as far as I know, the British Empire has absolutely no possibility of concessions in this matter......

Qin Kai smiled, he naturally knew very well what Bauer said, the British didn't plan to bow to the French this time, and the next step was to compare whose fist was bigger...... This result is no different from the course of history! I proposed to participate in mediation, that is, to send someone over to fight soy sauce, and the two countries fought, and I had nothing to do with myself, if I couldn't fight, then let the British see the soft power of Greater China!

The two hit it off, and when the German minister Brück visited Qin Kai that afternoon, Qin Kai immediately sent a secret telegram to Wang Lipai, who was far away in Berlin, and at the same time informed the Chinese government of the intention of the French minister to China. Two days later, after meeting with Schleier, Wang Li was immediately received by the German Prime Minister, Prince Hohenlohr.

"Your Excellency, Prime Minister, we have received shocking news, Premier Qin has asked me to convey his ideas to your country immediately!" As soon as Wang Li opened his mouth, the German side was highly nervous! "In the conflict at Gisanja, Premier Qin believed that under no circumstances could Britain be allowed to reach an agreement with France, which would set a precedent for Anglo-French consultations that would not benefit the German Empire!"

Although Wang Li's explanation is only in three words, Prime Minister Hornlore, who is a senior politician, obviously doesn't need anyone to make further explanations to understand the deep meaning! The hostile situation between Britain and France, in this era, completely surpassed the contradictions between Britain and Germany, and France since the Franco-Prussian War, has created a feud between the two countries, which cannot be resolved at all, if Britain and France face conflict, France in addition to considering whether it can defeat the powerful Royal Navy, the most important thing to consider is whether Germany will take advantage of the fire to rob.

The loud mouth of Wilhelm II before him undoubtedly made the French even more uneasy, and it is inferred that unless the French can have the strength to single out Germany and France, it will not be possible to solve the aforementioned contradictions by force......

In that case, there can only be one outcome, and that is that after the confrontation, the French finally choose to back down...... Or, the French and the British make an exchange that is acceptable to both parties...... And this is absolutely an unacceptable situation for the German Reich, two opponents because they have become collaborators in a sense!

"This must not be allowed to happen!" Prime Minister Hornlore took the case and just frowned! (To be continued......)