The Empress Dowager Cixi specially sent some things as a personal gift to William III, who had not been on the throne for a long time, William III was an ambitious monarch, probably because of the birth disability of the arm, so under this ambition, there were some paranoid emotions in it, so he was in the First World War because Britain decided to declare war on Germany, so he jumped like thunder, thinking that the closest country had betrayed him, so he lost his mind, so when the Empress Dowager Cixi came to Berlin, she took a special look at William III, This time, Zeng Jize was asked to bring gifts, and he was also repeatedly told that he should be very thoughtful in etiquette, and he could not easily offend people who should not be offended because of meaningless little things. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info

The two men, accompanied by the German Foreign Minister, left the Frankfurt Room together and headed to the largest "Hall of Glory and Victory" for today's semi-ceremonial and semi-procedural opening session.

The strict Germans wanted to count on them to arrange a grand welcome ceremony or an opening ceremony, which could not have been dreamed of, so they did nothing but meetings and discussions. However, there will be a dance party held in the evening, which can make everyone relax a little after the war of words, the largest glory and victory hall has been lined up with oval tables, after all, it is the first time that Germany has held such a very important global conference, as the minister of foreign affairs, it is impossible to accompany the Chinese all the time, obviously for this secret negotiation in advance, the Chinese were arranged to come over very early, there are three or three waiters in the venue, and the representatives of any country did not arrive in advance, Li Willy left in a hurry, and said a word before leaving, "By the way, there will be other guests present this time." ”

I don't know what this means, Zeng Jize is not very interested in this matter, his position is in front, and An Lan's position is on his right hand, behind him is a bunch of clerks and recorders, Zeng Jize stared at the table made of white curtains in front of him, there was a delicate silver inlaid enamel teapot on the table, the servant hurriedly came over and asked if he needed any drink, Zeng Jize chose black tea, and after the servant left, leaving the steaming black tea, Zeng Jize turned his head and whispered to An Lan, " Do the Germans really care so much about the Boer region? ”

"Probably yes," An Lan nodded, "Germany's current economic situation is not good, the mark has been depreciating, if you can't use a lot of gold to support the national bank, there is indeed a possibility of an economic crisis, and the domestic heavy industry must also find a way out for the overproduction of steel and guns, etc., so Boer is a place that has to be fought for, and the main topic of this meeting is also because Germany supports another country that Britain does not support, Belgium, so in order to solve the problem of the Congo River basin, This conference was convened, and basically, in Africa, Germany had two points in conflict with Britain. ”

Zeng Jize nodded, one point is the Boer region, Zeng Jize does not know that the second Boer War in history has been advanced, and the first Boer War is seamlessly connected, the Boers have been fighting, this is the focus of contradictions, and the other is the problem to be solved on the surface of this meeting, that is, the ownership of the Congo River Basin.

France and Belgium are in conflict over the Congo River Valley, and King Leopold II of Belgium is a man with strong ambitions for foreign expansion. He claimed natural sovereignty over the Congo River basin, but the French arrived earlier than the Belgians, had just completed their expedition across equatorial Africa from east to west, discovered the main channel and estuary of the Congo River, and thus set off an enduring "Congo fever" in Europe. The Belgian expeditionary force and the French colonial army faced off across the Congo River, and the situation was very critical.

When the two countries were in a quarrel, suddenly, the Portuguese also came out to protest against Stanley's occupation of the mouth of the Congo River, and the Portuguese government claimed that it had rights to this land since the 15th century, because the Pope ruled that the two teeth divided the world equally, and Africa was within the sphere of influence of Portugal.

But in fact, this is really not a joke, and the book "Through the Dark Continent" written by the American explorer Stanley has become a bestseller in Europe and the United States. His propaganda about the construction of railways and the exploitation of the rich gold resources of the Congo attracted great attention from European princes and wealthy merchants. Seeing the profitability of the Congo River Valley, Britain took advantage of the Anglo-Portuguese alliance and concluded a treaty with Portugal: Britain recognized Portuguese sovereignty over the Congo River Banks, and Portugal guaranteed Britain the same commercial and shipping rights in the area as its own.

In addition to the shameless promise of the British, it is impossible for the rest of the countries to admit that the French government protested against the signing of the Anglo-Portuguese treaty, and that Germany, which was already at odds with Britain in the Boer region, immediately publicly supported France's protest note, even if Germany and France were feuding, after all, we could unite against Britain for the time being.

And the United States, which has been playing soy sauce, would rather control this rich region in the hands of the weaker Belgium than let France continue to sit on the throne, although the two countries had a honeymoon period during the American Revolutionary War, and the statue of Liberty now standing in New York was given by the French. France, Germany, and the United States basically agree on the attitude of the Congo issue, that is, it is impossible for the Portuguese to occupy the Congo River, and as for whom it will be given, we cannot negotiate with each other. However, this unanimous attitude forced Britain to renounce the Anglo-Portuguese Treaty, but the British side proposed that an international conference should be convened to finally settle the Congolese question.

Germany, which is anxious to expand its voice in international affairs, has taken over the task of this international conference, and Bismarck presided over the preparatory stage at the beginning, but he has already left the German political arena, so the agenda of the next meeting may change due to the shock of this matter.

But one thing is true and certain: in the Congo River Valley, Britain and France are on opposite sides.

The rest of the small countries have different positions, and now it is finally time to see what the positions of each country are, and whether there are more countries supporting Britain or Germany.

"These two conflicts, in my opinion, are good times for us to make a big difference in them." (To be continued.) )