The involvement of Chinese interests in Panama has largely taken full advantage of the backward production status quo in Colombia, which has a tropical rainforest climate, mostly mountainous, and when the Chinese Freemasons intervened in the local economy five years ago, the only economic output in the local area came from agricultural products such as coffee, cocoa and a small amount of rice.

Colombia's early agreement to the French in the development of the Panama Canal was largely due to the barren and almost negligible output of the province of Panama, so it pinned its hopes on the cooperation of the French in the development of the Panama Canal...... However, after nearly 10 years of canal development, this hope has now become an unpredictable dream.

In just three years, the Chinese Reclamation Group has brought amazing development to the local area, and after quickly and efficiently monopolizing local agricultural production, instead of making the local natives lose their jobs, those who originally had low production capacity began to export their labor in the local joint farms and obtained far more benefits than before.

Apparently very adept at dealing with several local tribes in Panama, the Chinese Freemasons soon joined forces with local dignitaries, and in May 1896 the province finally had its first Chinese-funded copper mine, followed by a coal mine, an iron ore plant, and an 80-kilometer railroad linking Panama City with the Capilla mines.

Naturally, the local natives did not fully agree with the Chinese businessmen's involvement in the overall situation, and there were even small-scale protests, but they were stimulated by the rapid growth of the economic interests of the local mining industry. In addition, Cai Sheng, the leader of the Chinese Panamanian Liberal Party, has invested a lot of money in politics. Panama Governor Guerrero has fully recognized the business rights and interests of the local Chinese.

Of course. On the issue of the participation of the Panamanian Liberal Party, which is dominated by local Chinese and overseas Chinese, this politician from the state of Turvac, Colombia, has no intention of making concessions, and for a while, he even considered using the police force in his hands to plunder more benefits from the Chinese industry, however. After Shen Shouchang, the minister of the four South American countries, visited with the fleet, he completely let go of this consideration.

Early in the morning of December 5, when the local Chinese Freemasons were secretly planning a confrontation with the French Canal Company, Cai Sheng, the leader of the Panamanian Liberal Party, suddenly appeared at the Panamanian governor's residence......

At this time, the dispute over the Panama Canal Company has caused Guerrero a lot of headaches, and the canal accident has caused hundreds of deaths, although only a small part of them are Chinese. But lately, the locals have been so enraged by this incident that even he has heard rumors about the death of thousands of locals in their early years by the French and their harsh construction conditions.

These rumors. For Guerrero, who has served in the province of Panama for nearly 10 years, it is naturally not a secret, the entire Panama region is in the mountainous landscape, coupled with the climate of the tropical rainforest, under this condition into the jungle construction, just those inexplicable and deadly miasma and poisonous insects, is enough to cause all kinds of inexplicable death, not to mention, the excavation of the entire canal, to go deep into the eternal and uninhabited Lake Gatun, the French took more than 5 years to complete the most basic development of the periphery, and then to go deeper, God knows how many more such clashes there will be.

Cai Sheng came to visit the governor, naturally he came prepared, and as soon as they met, he immediately complained, "Dear Guerrero, I heard news that I can't believe it, you have given up your fair position on the dispute between the Chinese workers in the Canal Company, and you want to settle the matter for the French?" ”

If it weren't for the fact that the Chinese on the other side brought 7,000 pounds of campaign funds for himself during the gubernatorial election a year ago, and the few ironclad ships that the Chinese had more access to the port of Panama, Guerrero would definitely have completely brushed this matter away, but as a slick politician, he naturally understood that he was in the right position!

Guerrero immediately smiled and got up to lead the guests into the living room next to him, and after ordering someone to bring Chinese tea, he showed a look of embarrassment, "Mr. Cai, I naturally hope that the Chinese workers in the canal company incident will be resolved fairly...... However, there is also a lot of pressure on the Bogotá side and I have to make some decisions and the French want to do everything possible to solve the effects of this incident and thus get the canal project on the right track......"

"On the right track!" Cai Sheng obviously came to find fault today, and interrupted the governor's words very unceremoniously, "Dear Guerrero, do you still think that with the power of the state government, it is enough for the French to continue their hopeless project?" This time it was hundreds of natives who died, and what about the next time? How many manpower is there in the province of Panama...... If there is no participation of our Chinese workers, I think this canal will have to be built for at least a few decades! ”

was interrupted by cai sheng, guerrero was obviously very unhappy, but he obviously saw some clues, but he couldn't understand for a while, could it be ...... This Chinese, who often gives himself a lot of gifts on weekdays, actually came to trouble himself today? And the other party revealed the intention of the canal industry, which he had long expected, the Chinese investment in Panama manpower and capital is obviously not to help the Panamanian natives get rich! In fact, a great deal of money has helped me get rich!

But when Cai Sheng made this point very bluntly, Guerrero was still very shocked, and what he urgently needed to know now was ...... How big of a hole card the Chinese really have! "Mr. Cai, I'm afraid you don't know yet, the U.S. government has already submitted a request to Bogotá to build the Panama Railway, and it is negotiating with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs!"

Oh...... Cai Sheng obviously didn't expect that Guerrero would reveal such important information to himself, and this news was obviously quite different from what he had learned...... The French Canal Company has a deep government background, and even has a lot of interests in the top echelons of the French Cabinet, which has been confirmed by the Intelligence Department!

However, Colombia has always been wary of US involvement in South American affairs. Even hostility. At the beginning, I gave up capital intervention from North America. And to choose a French company, this was originally the original intention of not wanting the Americans to intervene...... However, the U.S. government never stopped thinking about getting the Panama Canal......

Now, they are trying to take advantage of the situation to intervene in the operation of the canal, and the Americans obviously have the same idea! This made him hesitate a little...... Compared with the distance in the Far East, the ability of the Americans to intervene in Panama obviously has a great advantage because it is only two or three thousand kilometers away from the west coast. Once a dispute is provoked according to the plan, will the Yankees be allowed to pick peaches when the time comes?

Cai Sheng's hesitation was only for a moment, but it made Guerrero seem to see the possibility of controlling the situation...... However, this was obviously his delusion, and Wei Heng on the side obviously also saw Cai Sheng's hesitation in making decisions, as a soldier who had participated in the war in the Philippines and Sumatra, he obviously had more courage.

He immediately picked up his teacup and smiled slightly, "Governor Guerrero." I listened to President Cai Sheng's introduction, in recent years. Our cooperation with you in Panama is very pleasant, everyone takes what they need, so ...... I've recently come here looking for new business opportunities...... However, if the Americans want to intervene, I am afraid that there will be an unpredictable conflict here! ”

Guerrero just listened to Cai Sheng briefly introduce Wei Heng, this young and shrewd Chinese, is said to be the representative of a well-capitalized sugar company in the Kingdom of Hawaii, in this era, the white sugar industry is a profiteering industry that everyone understands, but due to the capacity and processing of white sugar raw materials, the sugar industry in Brazil and Hawaii almost monopolized the entire Eurasian market.

He was obviously more concerned about the new industries that might add value to his pocket than about the Panama Canal, and he immediately picked up the topic, "Mr. Wei, I don't think you have to worry too much about this, Panama is the land of the Republic of Colombia, and no matter how much the U.S. government wants to intervene in the canal, it is impossible for the U.S. government to intervene militarily!" ”

Wei Heng heard Guerrero's assurance, and immediately gave his middle finger to this incompetence in his heart, these Colombian natives can really blow, six years ago, the American army and 300 marines landed in Panama, forcing the Colombian government to recognize the United States' ownership of the Panama Railway, presumably Guerrero has long forgotten about this matter!

However, he immediately reversed his words, "Then I can rest assured, as long as you can restore order to Panama Province, we will be willing to build a large frosting factory here, and once the canal is opened, we can transfer white sugar to Europe and the West Coast of the United States through Guò, which will be a very profitable industry!" ”

Wei Heng's painting of the pie immediately attracted Guerrero's attention - a large frosting factory, which was far more profitable than the current joint venture mining companies, and he immediately nodded and promised to provide Wei Heng with a piece of low-cost land close to the port of Panama, and his request was clearly stated as a profit share of the frosting factory.

Cai Sheng on the side heard that Wei Heng took the lead in throwing out the bait, and immediately realized his small mistake, according to the prior agreement, he should make full use of the dual identity of the Freemasonry and the Liberal Party to guide or mislead Guerrero to make some radical moves to aggravate the situation in Panama Province, but the news that the Americans were going to intervene just now obviously surprised him a lot, so much so that he was considering whether to continue to advance the plan at this juncture!

But Wei Heng threw out the original plan to tie Guerrero to the Chinese chariot in the later stage, which made him realize his problem even more, now is not the time to discuss whether to advance the plan, but the moment to implement it without hesitation!

"Dear Guerrero, in the midst of friendly relations with you, we have held internal consultations with the Freemasons on the issue of Chinese laborers, and we consider suspending the confrontation with the Canal Company on the issue of Chinese laborers, and we hope that more moderate measures will be taken, and we hope that the state government will intervene to mediate...... Of course, we can also appropriately reduce the compensation requirements of Chinese workers! ”

Oh...... Guerrero was obviously surprised by the news, he was in a very difficult situation, because of the sudden change in the attitude of the Chinese Freemasons, he had to deal with, no longer including the Chinese laborers who might cause diplomatic disputes, but only some of the indigenous workers!

His attitude immediately showed a very obvious excitement, and by the time Cai Sheng and Wei Heng walked out of the governor's mansion an hour later, the whole of Panama had already been quickly driven...... After Wei Heng boarded the carriage, he immediately urged the intelligence officer on duty loudly, "Immediately rush back to the intelligence station and prepare to report to Beijing - the wildfire plan has been launched!" ”

[Brothers, I'm sorry, I broke more strictly a while ago, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm going to resume normal updates from now on] (to be continued............)