Moments after Juan Prim turned away, British Prime Minister William Gladstone leaned in.

"Your Excellency the Governor, Mr. Special Envoy, thank you for your hospitality, China, as a world power, not only dominates East Asia, but also has a large number of colonies in Black Africa, even the Empress of our country is envious!" Lin Hao and Tang Tingshu glanced at each other, and they understood that William Gladstone was hinting that China was big enough, and Panama could let go appropriately so as not to cause unnecessary trouble.

"Mr. Prime Minister, now that the Franco-Prussian War has entered a critical juncture, why do you have the leisure to come here if you don't care about the European continent?" Lin Hao's words are very simple to remind Britain that Britain's center of gravity has always been on the European continent, and now that the Franco-Prussian War has reached the most critical moment (soon the French Emperor Napoleon III will be defeated and captured), Britain should put its focus back on the European continent, not in this troubled waters.

"Gentlemen, I'll just say it! We hope that your country will return the right to operate the Panama Canal to Colombia or, like the Suez Canal, be controlled by the great powers. "William Gladstone may really be in the middle of the situation, so he is not willing to make a false deal with Lin Hao.

"Mr. Prime Minister, we will never be able to return the rights and interests, and as for the latter," Lin Hao drank with his glass of wine, "China believes that at present only the British Empire among the great powers is qualified to share the power of the Panama Canal with us. ”

"Thank you for your recognition, and my country also believes that the Chinese Empire is an undoubted and powerful empire." Anyone can carry a sedan chair, and William Gladstone also boasted, "I don't know what conditions your country has?" "As prime minister, of course, I know that China's interest in ceding the canal must be conditional, and the conditions may not be small.

"The Empire does not have many demands, first of all, in order to ensure the security of the Panama Canal, our country hopes to obtain your colony in the Pacific Ocean, the Pitcairn Islands, which are Polynesian islands, located at 25°04'S latitude and 130°06'W, between New Zealand and Panama. Secondly, we hope that the British Empire will renew the expired Sino-British Trade Agreement (a treaty that is beneficial to China in that it allows Chinese merchants and capital to enter Britain and its colonies freely), for which we are willing to pay a 30% stake in the Panama Canal. Lin Hao said.

"I don't think there's any problem with the trade deal, but the Pitcairn Islands could provoke domestic opposition." William Gladstone, a free-trader, was very supportive of the trade deal, but had concerns about the colonial and domestic reactions, although he preferred to trade the desert islands for Panama's canal benefits.

Seeing that William Gladstone had been hesitating, Tang Tingshu struck while the iron was hot and said: "Considering the unnecessary opposition in your country, we can complete the exchange in the form of a colonial exchange, and our colony in Zulu can exchange your country's Pitcairn Islands." And the empire promised not to provide any kind of aid to Zulu again. ”

William Gladstone was really moved at this time, although China's colony in Zulu was almost the size of Macau with only a few strongholds, but as long as the Chinese left Zulu, Britain could annex Zulu without scruples, and the annexation of Zulu's British colonies in South Africa could be connected together, and they could concentrate on dealing with the Boers in the north of South Africa (Note: China has been secretly assisting the indigenous people of Zulu in weapons to fight against the British colonial government of South Africa).

"Gentlemen, your conditions are very sincere, I fully agree to the above conditions, and I hope that your country's garrison in the Panama Canal Zone can be reduced a little, after all, the Colombian army is now only a little more than your country's garrison (nearly 50,000 for the three Chinese divisions, and a little more than 80,000 for the Colombian army), and the Colombian government does not want such a strong army to be stationed in his country."

"No problem, Mr. Prime Minister, I can promise to reduce the Panamanian garrison to about one division, and to assure your country that our garrison will not leave the Canal Zone and enter Colombian territory without cause. But Mr. Prime Minister, I think that the benefits of the Panama Canal only require the participation of our two countries, and any more Panama is too small. For example, the United States, an Atlantic country, is completely unnecessary, sir, what do you think? ”

"Very right, Your Excellency the Governor! Then I wish the two countries a happy cooperation! ”

"Happy working together!" ――

In the conference room, Lin Hao cleared his throat and said first: "Everyone, after arguing for a few days, our opinions cannot be unanimous, so the empire has decided to deal with the Panama Canal like the Suez Canal. ”

Hearing that the Chinese delegates were finally relieved, Milton Fish was overjoyed and said, "Then Sir does not know how your country should distribute the shares of the canal?" ”

"Our country has decided to give Colombia a 10% stake in the canal." Milton Fish didn't care much about the shares obtained by Colombia, after all, the canal is in Colombia, and it is also appropriate to get shares.

"In addition, giving a 30% stake in the canal to the UK, of course, would need to be subscribed. I believe that the British side is also okay. William Gladstone sat down and nodded.

Seeing Lin Hao sit back after speaking, Milton Fish had an ominous premonition, and he immediately stood up and said, "What about my country's shares, sir?" ”

"Mr. Secretary, my proposal is clear, this is my country's final decision and will not be changed."

"Nope! No! Mr. Special Envoy, your decision is very, very unreasonable, why does the United States not have a stake, you must know that the United States, as a large country in North America, should have a stake in Panama, and that we and Colombia have a number of agreements before. ”

"That's your American business, and this result is the result of our joint deliberations, and I believe your country will not question the fairness of this meeting, right?"

"This" is obvious, Milton Fish understands that he has been yin, he has been cheated by the British, he has known that this is the case, and he will not pull the British in, and now he has lost his wife and broken his army.

On April 10, 1870, China, Britain, the United States, Colombia and other South American countries signed the San Francisco Agreement on the Panama Canal. Article 1 of the agreement clearly states that the permanent right to operate and sovereignty over the Panama Canal and the Panama Canal Zone shall be vested in the Chinese Empire; Article IV provides for the Panama Canal Company's shareholding plan, and as a consolation, Article 11 guarantees the United States' right to operate the Panama Canal Railroad and some insignificant privileges, and Article 13 reduces the cost of passage of American merchant ships through the Panama Canal.

Generally speaking, China still has the lion's share in the redistribution of benefits to the Panama Canal, and has paid some benefits, while the United States can only be regarded as a little oil and water, and Colombia is basically slaughtered.

But after all, the United States is an important country in North America, even if it loses the land on the west coast, his strength is still not to be underestimated, in order to make up for the conflict between China and the United States because of the Panama Canal, the imperial cabinet also deliberately threw out the Pacific Railroad plan, in order to ease Sino-US relations, the Americans just felt humiliated, but the other side saw a big cake, Milton Fish also felt that he had the face to return to China to explain, of course, everyone sat together with a smile and ate cake.

On May 20, 1870, China and the United States signed the Opinion of the Chinese Empire and the United States of America on the Construction of the Pacific Railroad as a supplementary treaty to the San Francisco Agreement