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In the restaurant on the second floor of the branch of the Singapore Ji World Bank, seven or eight people sat down headed by Sir Zhu and Bonham, drinking tea and talking about things, and waiting for the banquet to open for dinner. The purpose of Sir Bonham's visit to Sir Zhu today was to discuss the "Lanfang issue" with him.

In addition to the two of them, there is also Robert. Churchill, Will. Hemming, Andrew. Jones and several other British "big names" were present, and Liu Peng and Luo Xiangju, the fourth lady of the Lan Fangluo family, were also accompanied. Since the topic is talking about Lanfang, then it is natural to mention the "Grand Duchy of Lanfang" under British protection, including Sir Bonham, all those who have stayed in Nanyang for a period of time are shaking their heads.

"Speaking of Lanfang Company, if it was decades earlier, when Luo Fangbo was here, it would still be like a country." Sir Bonham frowned and said, "But now, Lan Fang is not even a political entity, and it is probably impossible for her to become a country." ”

"Jason, the Department of Army and Colonial Affairs has asked Sir Bonham to submit a report on the situation in Borneo." Qiu Fatzi sipped his tea and said slowly, "They want to evaluate whether Zuihou will bring the Grand Duchy of Lanfang under the protection of the British Empire based on this report." But now, Lanfang is not like a country at all, there is no government, no army, and no real citizens. Speaking of this, he glanced at Luo Xiangju, who was sitting on the seat with a stunned look, before he continued: "If Sir Bonham submits the report truthfully, then the British Empire will withdraw its support for Lan Fang. ”

They speak English now, and there are Western teachers in Lan Fangluo's school, so Luo Xiangju can understand English and Dutch, and when she hears the words of Wen Xian and Qiu Fatzi, she really has a feeling of falling into a fog. What does this "Grand Duchy of Lanfang" mean? The British want to turn Lanfang into a protectorate? Who did this? Liu Qianxing? Didn't he take refuge in the Netherlands and secretly send an envoy to the Qing Dynasty to claim vassalism? How did you get in touch with the British Empire again......

Although her head was full of questions, Miss Luo Si also knew that she had no part to speak now, so she could only prick up her ears and listen carefully.

"This ...... Sir Bonham, bringing West Borneo and North Borneo under the protection of the British Empire, was Prince Albert's meaning. Zhu Jishi gently turned the teacup in his hand and pondered, "Northwest Borneo is located on the choke point of India-China trade, and piracy in the nearby waters is extremely frequent, and most of these pirates are based in Northwest Borneo. ”

Zhu Jishi knew that what Wen Xian said was true, but he still didn't want to give up Lan Fang, so he took out the banner of Prince Albert.

"His Royal Highness does not know the situation in the South Seas," Bonham said disapprehantly, "If His Royal Highness thinks that it is necessary to bring Northwest Borneo under the jurisdiction of the British Empire, he can directly mobilize the troops of the East India Company and send two regiments to achieve his goal in a few months." ”

Is this to unleash a war of aggression? Zhu Jishi frowned and gave Robert. Churchill gave a look. Qiu Fatzi gently put down the teacup in his hand and smiled: "Sir, of course, it is no problem to occupy Northwest Borneo, but it is extremely troublesome to rule those two territories. Moreover, the land of Northwest Borneo is barren, not abundant, and unsuitable for us white people, and the value of long-term occupation is not high. I think we can give Lanfang Company a while, and if they can establish a country there, the British Empire might as well shelter one or two. ”

Well, it turns out that it is not so easy to be a semi-colony of the British Empire these years, and the current Lanfang company is not qualified enough!

"Or three years?" Zhu Jishi said tentatively.

"I'm afraid it won't work for three years." Bonham shook his head, "I can't afford to delay my report to the Department of Army and Colonial Affairs for that long...... In this case, I will spend six months conducting an in-depth and thorough investigation of West Borneo, and in six months I will draft a report in which I will recommend that the British Empire shelter the Grand Duchy of Lanfang, as long as the Lanfang Company has the slightest bit of a national appearance. He paused for a moment and said, "When the time comes, the Grand Duchy of Lanfang must at least have its own government, police, army, and of course, a relatively definite border. ”

In other words, Zhu Jishi has 6 months to help a group of underworld elements build a country that belongs to them!

"And what about the Dutch?" Zhu Jishi looked at Wen Xian.

Wen Xian laughed, waved his hand and said, "Don't worry about the Dutch, the territory that the British Empire fancies, they don't dare to jump out openly to fight!" However, there will still be some covert means. ”

……

"Miss Xiangju, do you know English?"

Seeing off Sir Bonham, who came to visit, Zhu Jishi invited Miss Luo Si into his study again.

Miss Luo Si nodded, opened her cherry mouth, and took a while to speak. Zhu ...... Sir, what Sir Bonham said just now is true! ”

"Nature is true!" Zhu Jishi looked at the little girl in front of him and was in a good mood. A female generation can understand English, and it seems that Nanyang Chinese know more about Western studies than they originally thought. He looked at Luo Xiangju and said with a smile: "Miss Xiangju, tell me your opinion?" ”

Luo Xiangju was silent.

There was a dead silence in the room, and I don't know how long it took before Luo Xiangju took a deep breath, looked at Zhu Jishi, and said, "Sir Zhu, what do you want?" ”

This girl really has a bit of insight, Zhu Jishi thought to himself, there is never a free lunch in this world! She should have realized that she was an important figure in the process of Lan Fang's founding of the country. But how should I answer her?

Zhu Jishi thought for a while and asked rhetorically, "Has Miss Xiangju heard of Lu Buwei?" ”

Luo Xiangju nodded lightly, of course Lu Buwei knew that there were storytellers here in West Borneo. "Sir is Lu Buwei, so who is the son of Chu?"

"Who wants to be the son of Chu?" Zhu Jishi also asked rhetorically.

Luo Xiangju sighed lightly and said, "If the ancestor is still there, this question will be easy to answer." But now, in West Borneo, there is more than one strange thing that is qualified to be the son of Chu! ”

"Who are they?" Sir Zhu asked with interest.

"First of all, Liu Qianxing, the first wife of Lanfang Company, is the father of Liu Aliang who offended you, Dongfang Law and Pontianak Port, where the headquarters of Lanfang Company is located, are the territory of the Liu family. The Dutch are the backers of the Liu family, but the Liu family is not completely loyal to the Netherlands, their real thoughts are the same as their ancestors, they all want to turn Lanfang into a vassal of the Qing Dynasty, so the name of the Liu family is called Fuqingtang. ”

Lanfang's Liu family is actually focused on the Qing Dynasty! Zhu Jishi frowned and looked at Luo Xiangju, "Miss Xiangju, is Sixiutang also facing the Great Qing Dynasty?" ”

Luo Xiangju smiled bitterly, "It's not that we are heading towards the Qing Dynasty, but that this Qing Dynasty is the only backer we Nanyang Chinese can count on, if we don't rely on the Qing Dynasty, who else can we rely on?" ”

Zhu Jishi was speechless for a while, relying on the British Empire? Although the British thighs are very thick, they are very difficult to hold, and their abacus is fine!

Luo Xiangju sighed, and then said: "Actually, we also know that the Qing Dynasty is unreliable, and we can still count on it when Qianlong is in charge, but now the Qing Dynasty is difficult to protect itself, who knows when it will be the second in India?" So the Liu family is now attached to the Netherlands again, and when Liu Qianxing's father Liu Taier was the eldest brother, Lanfang Company was a vassal of the Dutch. It's a pity that the Dutch are not satisfied with the superficial attachment of Lanfang, and if they are replaced by the British, I am afraid it will be ......."

"Apart from the Liu family, who else can be the Grand Duke of Lanfang?" Zhu Jishi lightly interrupted Luo Xiangju's words. If Lan Fang wants to survive, she can't always count on her thighs and backstage, her own strength is the main thing.

Luo Xiangju nodded, and said eloquently: "Shili, which can be ranked with the Lanfang Company controlled by the Liu family in West Borneo, and the Heshun Company led by Zheng Hong, Wang Dehu, and Zhao Daheng, the leaders of the Little Knife Society, has some force, and the battles with Brooke (Sarawak Kingdom) and the Sultan of Wanna have the upper hand, but they have no backing to rely on, so they have never been able to dominate West Borneo. In addition, under the main hall of Lanfang Company, there are branches controlled by the Luo family, the Chen family, the Jiang family, the Xie family, the Gu family and other Ying Jia families, each family can still unite when it comes to the outside world, but the internal struggle has been very fierce, among which the Jiang, Xie and Gu families have formed an alliance against Liu Qianxing, and our Luo family and the Chen family are more neutral. ”