If history had not changed, on November 15, 1884, German Chancellor Bismarck presided over the conference of the great powers to divide Africa in the capital Berlin, known as the "Berlin Conference".

The meeting was nominally aimed at resolving the question of the ownership of the Congo River basin, but in fact it was more about the general principle of the division of Africa among the great powers, including France, Russia, Austria-Hungary, the United States, Italy, Spain, Portugal, the Ottoman Empire, the Netherlands, Belgium, Sweden, Denmark, and Norway.

The Berlin Conference was a symbolic historical event, marking a new starting point in the frenzied struggle between the European and American powers for Africa.

After the Berlin Conference, the pace of the European powers to carve up Africa was greatly accelerated.

In 1876, the European powers held only 10.8 per cent of Africa's land, and by 1885 this figure had increased to 25 per cent, showing an astonishingly steep upward curve.

Fifteen years after the Berlin Conference, in 1900, that figure soared to 90.4 percent. By 1912, the continent had been completely divided, leaving only Ethiopia and Liberia to maintain their apparent independence.

In the fierce battle for Africa, the European powers had their own ambitious colonial plans, which were gradually taking shape.

Compared with the British and French colonial powers, the European powers preferred the weak Belgium to have the Congo region, and Leopold II used excellent diplomatic skills at the conference, and eventually became the biggest beneficiary of the conference, obtaining the "Congo Free State", a private territory with an area of more than 2 million square kilometers.

The spheres of influence of the great powers in Africa were initially confirmed, providing legitimacy for the complete partition of Africa by the imperialist powers in the future.

Today's accidental topic aroused a lot of thoughts in Li Fushou's heart, and made him devote his eyes to the African continent thousands of miles away for the first time, and carefully weigh the pros and cons of it.

At this point in time, it is like the athletes are gathering at the starting line before the race, just waiting for the starting gun to sound, and then they are like tigers out of the cage to pounce on the vast and rich Africa.

As a powerful force in the South Pacific region, every move can already affect the situation in the entire South Pacific, including South Asia, and Li Fushou must consider the problem from the perspective of the overall situation and comprehensively lay out the development strategy.

Today's topic woke him up to not just focus on the South Pacific region.

The world is vast, and there is a lot to be done.

On the surface, it may seem that the situation in Africa has nothing to do with Australia, but it is not.

As the world's first industrialized economy, the British Empire pursued a policy of trade liberalization and open doors out of self-interest, and made this policy the core of its economic policy.

The logic is very simple, because the British Empire, benefiting from the allocation and industrialization of global resources, has the lowest cost of industrial products, the largest output, the most competitive, and the greatest benefit from the liberalization of global trade.

As a newly industrialized economy, Queensland's interests overlap with those of the British Empire in this area.

meanwhile

Among Queensland's three important trade routes, the two trade routes with the United States and Far Southeast Asia are safe, but the most important ones are very fragile with Europe and may be cut off at any time, which is related to its own economic security.

Britain, France, Germany, and the Ottoman Empire all have such capabilities, needless to say, the British Empire needless to say, the French colonial power is all over the Indochina Peninsula, has a strong expeditionary fleet in Hanoi, Vietnam, and firmly controls the Suez Canal, is a major shareholder with important decision-making power, and can easily cut off Queensland's ocean trade routes to Europe.

German power deep into Persia and allied with Austria-Hungary and Italy, and the Ottoman Empire, at the crossroads of West Asia and Europe, could do substantial damage to Queensland's European trade routes.

Pinning security on the goodwill of other countries is the most unreliable method.

So far, Queensland has a certain strength to fight for its own interests in the international arena, including the upcoming African gluttonous feast, why not get a piece of the pie?

If a foothold is gained in the Horn of East Africa, the fleet can escort the route from the Suez Canal to the Red Sea and then all the way to the Indian Ocean, which is strategically important.

"My dear Earl, you have wandered again." Nicole held Li Fushou's arms with her coquettish hands, and her firm breasts were pressed up tightly, with a refreshing girlish body fragrance.

"Oh...... I just thought about something else, hehehe......" Li Fushou came back to his senses to hide a smile, and stretched out his hand to pat Nicole's white jade hand dotingly.

"Don't you digress from the subject, aren't you satisfied with my answer?"

"Satisfied, very satisfied."

"And what about your reward?"

"Huh...... Of course it counts. Li Fushou's face straightened and he commanded; Ang Lee, after returning to the Red Fort after the vacation, immediately arranged for someone to clean up the Wind Lotus Courtyard for Nicole to move in, and in the future, this courtyard will be under the name of the ninth aunt, and it should be supplied in the same way as the third aunt, uh...... If Aunt Jiu is too dissatisfied with the current name of Fengheyuan, she can change it as she wishes, and report it to the General Affairs Office. ”

"Do as the master commands." The chief butler Li An quietly flashed out from behind, and replied with a thousand hands.

Compared with the treatment of the third aunt, the maids, the maids and the moon are a level higher than the aunts who have not yet given birth, showing how popular and favored the ninth aunt is now.

Nicole looked at her sister Fiona in surprise, then stood up and bowed in front of Li Fushou; "Nicole, thank you for the generous reward."

"No courtesy." Li Fushou waved his hand and said with a warm smile on his face; "Nicole, you are a wise and knowledgeable person, and it is especially rare that you are very interested in the international and domestic situation, and in the future you can read more books, read newspapers, and make a difference like Madame Pompidou."

"Nicole understands, she must do what the master says." Nicole replied decently.

The rules of the Earl's Court are strict, and these rules in the inner house are all set by Mrs. Gu Liuyan, there are certain rules for behaving up and lying down, and there are certain rules for dining and rewarding, and Nicole really doesn't have the courage to violate them.

"Well, sit down." Li Fushou beckoned, looking at the women on the left and right sides who were like flowers, especially this smart Nicole was very satisfied, if it weren't for this charming Aunt Jiu who was too awake, he would really ignore the important "Berlin Conference".

It's early March, eight months before the meeting, and the relevant information has already been reported through the European press.

If you plan it, this feast in Africa is indispensable to Queensland.

According to the French newspaper Le Figaro;

The political convergence in Europe, and the fact that France, Germany, and the United States had reached a basically unanimous attitude on the Congo issue, turned Britain into an isolator and had to renounce the Anglo-Portuguese Treaty.

However, Britain proposed that an international conference should be convened to finally settle the Congo question, and the other major European powers agreed to it, and German Prime Minister Bismarck, a veteran politician with long sleeves and good at dancing, immediately proposed that the conference be held in Berlin, scheduled for November 15, 1884.

Preparing for such a major international conference is not a trivial matter, and the topic of the conference is to discuss the current hot African issues, so it has aroused wide repercussions in the international community, and many countries have expressed their willingness to participate.

Queensland is not an independent country, and it is not possible to participate in international conferences hosted by independent national entities, which does not mean that it is impossible.

Li Fushou waved his hand, and the melodious guzheng song came to an abrupt end.

He walked to the corridor outside the nine-story tower, stood on a high place and looked into the distance, taking in the beautiful scenery of more than ten miles away, and immediately felt broad-minded and even more ambitious.

Whether to be a petrel fighting the wind and waves, or to be a family boy who lives a stable life, the answer is self-evident.

In the impression;

In this feast of partitioning the African colonies, small regional conflicts among the European powers were constantly occurring, but large-scale wars were almost non-existent.

Many of the tacit understandings stemming from the international consensus formed by the Berlin Conference, the most important of which are the four words "effective occupation".

What is "effective occupation"?

In the case of Shangri-La Island, the Earl of Queensland was effectively occupied, and the rights asserted by the Spaniards and the Dutch could not be recognized by mainstream international public opinion.

At the Berlin Conference, European countries reached a consensus on the "effective occupation issue" in order to avoid a big fight in Africa;

For example, when countries occupy land off the coast of Africa, they must be notified separately to other countries in order to avoid unnecessary disputes.

It was incumbent upon the colonial powers to ensure that they established a governing power sufficient to protect the existing rights and interests and to uphold the consensus of the Berlin Conference.

The core meaning is "whoever gets it first", but you have to inform the others.

The vast African continent is like a landlord, whoever moves quickly will grab it first, and all countries are eyeing the coastal areas of Africa, and most of them lack interest in the inland areas.

Sadly, not a single African country participated in this heavyweight international conference on the partition of Africa.

Today's African continent has hundreds of indigenous countries and more indigenous tribes, but there are no clear national boundaries, no national consciousness, and no national division in later generations, all of which are in a relatively primitive state.

In the face of malice from Europe, it is almost completely defenseless.

Fiona in the tower saw that the Earl was walking out and enjoying the scenery with a happy heart, so she stood up and prepared to go out, but her arm was grabbed by her sister Nicole just two steps forward.

"Huh?" Fiona looked back in confusion.

"Dear sister, Lord Earl is worried about things now, let's not bother."

"What's the matter?"

"Uh......" Nicole was really speechless to her sister Fiona, emotional intelligence is really a shortcoming, you don't want to think about it yourself, is it what the Earl is thinking about that we can guess?

Fiona is not really stupid, she just doesn't want to use her brain, after saying this, she saw her sister Nicole's expression, her big eyes flickered and she quickly understood, and she couldn't help but stretch out her hand to cover her mouth and laugh.

Nicole ignored her, turned her head and said politely; "Excuse me, big butler, let them remove the table!"

"Aunt Jiu is too commanding, dare not obey her orders."

The chief butler Li An arched his hand, and a realization flashed in his eyes that had experienced the world, and finally knew why the Earl loved Aunt Jiu so much, not only was she very beautiful, but she also had a delicate heart.

He didn't say much, and with a wave of his hand, he asked the maids and servants to withdraw from the table, and brought all the melons, fruits, tea trays, etc., and moved them cleanly in a blink of an eye.