It is in this historical context

It became an inevitable choice for Britain to make a relatively large compromise on the African issue so as not to form an anti-Anglo-French alliance with the United States and harm vital European interests.

Lord Gulliver, the Minister of the Colonies, sensitively perceived a loophole, that is, as an overseas colony, Queensland proved itself by winning the East Indies War and had a certain ability to expand.

Therefore, he envisaged that by implicitly supporting Queensland's expansion, with Britain backing him, he could also achieve the strategic concept of gaining more territory and more benefits in Africa.

This can be used as a supplement to the 2C plan, anyway, I am lucky, I lose my life, and I don't need the British Empire to pay anything, probably this is what Qi means.

“……

Therefore, after communication and discussion with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, we agreed to support the occupation of Queensland in the Somali region, and the relevant interests will be guaranteed at the Berlin conference, which is also a reflection of the "first come, first served" principle of this meeting, after all, no country has previously claimed the interests of the Somali region.

As for Guinea, no one cares about the bits and pieces of chicken feet, and that's not a problem.

In return

We hope that Queensland will be able to make substantial moves in Madagascar, including, but not limited to, the establishment of forward settlements and the gradual expansion of its presence in the region, and it would be nice if the island could be fully occupied.

The need for cheap labor from the Kingdom of Madagascar in the colony of Mauritius is essential for us to develop the region, and the presence in Madagascar will greatly curb the spread of French influence in Reunion, which we would like to see.

I know that His Excellency the Earl has a great interest in Africa and would like to have an open and honest discussion on this issue. ”

Lord Gulliver got straight to the point, and there is no need to hide anything, it is something that everyone knows.

Li Fushou didn't answer immediately, he was silent for a while, and asked after careful consideration; "As far as I know, the French are fighting a war of conquest in Madagascar."

"That's right, but there's nothing to worry about, the arrogant Gallic rooster has been defeated in two years, following the defeat of the Qing and French wars, and hit the fortress of the Kingdom of Madagascar, the landing of 4,700 French troops lost soldiers, more than 900 dead and wounded, and finally had to withdraw in disgrace, temporarily hiding in Fort Ivan to lick his wounds, it is estimated that this time the war of conquest will end in vain, hehehe......"

Lord Gulliver did not at all be as close as he had when he met with Deputy Prime Minister Jean-José, but instead laughed and gloated, fully enacting the Anglo-French plastic brotherhood.

"With the strong strength of the French army, it is not yet possible, it seems that the fighting power of the Kingdom of Madagascar is not weak!" Li Fushou said with a solemn expression.

"It's okay, the firearms of the Kingdom of Madagascar are all breech-loading rifles eliminated in the British arsenal, and the youngest is more than 40 years old, and it is estimated that almost half of them were scrapped after this war, and the remaining black powder is not enough."

This question was answered by Sir Blair, the British, after years of infiltration, knew all about the arsenal reserves of Madagascar; "The black powder on the island is all provided by us, and the supply will not exceed 100 barrels each time, and we can only get the next batch when we are almost exhausted, and it is estimated that there are now twenty or thirty barrels left to reach the sky, which is only enough to fight a small war of small scale."

The British and the French are like a hill, and when dealing with them, the local natives will not suffer from them.

Well, Li Fushou is not a messenger of justice, let alone hiding the intentions in his heart, what he needs now is stronger support.

"Lord Lord, with the strength of Queensland today, it is impossible to attack Madagascar overnight, we need to formulate a practical implementation plan, gradually expand our power in 2~3 years, step by step."

"Watt...... That's a long time, and we hope to see results within a year. ”

"Your Excellency, now Queensland is in the post-war period of recuperation and recovery, in October this year, more than 7,000 experienced veterans who participated in the war were retired, and they got their own meritorious fields to be a happy farmer, and the strength of each division has shrunk by a quarter.

"Anyway, there is still an experienced officer corps, so you can immediately recruit sergeants and train the troops, as long as the capital investment can keep up, I don't think it will take long."

"The training of the army will take 6 months at the earliest, and it will be the end of next year when the action is taken, and the larger the scale, the longer it will take to prepare, to be honest, I don't think that in 18 85 it will be possible to take action, maybe 1~2 settlements can be tentatively established, depending on the strength of London's support."

"Uh...... Don't count on money, the 1885 budget didn't have it, the army was very difficult to co-ordinate, and the cost of keeping their troops in Afghanistan and Burma at the present time was so great that it would be difficult to squeeze a little blood out of them. It's more about diplomatic recognition, and if Madagascar can gain a stable foothold, it can be transferred to Queensland, which is fine. Lord Gulliver looked at Li Fushou's embarrassed expression, thought for a moment and said;" I've been talking to the Royal Navy recently that they're interested in selling a batch of old ironclad warships, and if there's a demand from Queensland, I can get a half-buy, half-get free. ”

"Thank you, Lord Lord, there is no such demand on the Queensland side, and we cannot afford more expensive warships, but we still want to sincerely thank you for your kindness." Li Fushou refused.

Are you kidding?

The Royal Navy's old ironclads with sails still in their sails are a pile of rags, and they are looking for a big boss to take over!

I heard that the three South American countries (Brazil, Chile, Argentina) have intentions, the Ottoman Empire sent people to see it, and there are even little devils of Fuso who were stimulated by the two giant ships of Dingyuan and Zhenyuan, drooling around the ironclad battleships that are about to be decommissioned, and wandering around for a long time, and finally I don't know who the flowers are?

The actual service life of these ironclad battleships is not long, but with the rapid development of science and technology in the steam age, they have fallen behind the times and are about to be eliminated.

No matter who wants it anyway, Queensland doesn't want it anyway, these sail ironclads that still use old horizontal steam engines are two times away from today's latest steam engines, with low power consumption and high pollution, and they are simply mobile black smoke makers, and the data on paper is very bluffing, with a displacement of six or seven thousand tons at every turn, but it is just a bunch of.

Seeing that Li Fushou shrewdly did not take the bait, Lord Gulliver smiled and did not take it to heart, this was originally an addition to the two strokes with dates and without dates.

In order to let Queensland go, it must be supported by practical actions, and Lord Gulliver glanced at Sir Glyre and motioned to come up with an alternative to discuss.

"Ahem......"

Sir Glare coughed dryly twice and cleared his throat, attracting Li Fushou's gaze, and then said with a sincere look on his face;

"London has London's dilemma and may not be able to give it much money support, and even if the Treasury has a special budget, it will not exceed £200,000, which is a drop in the bucket for a war.

But the support can be compensated for by other aspects, we know that the island of Madagascar is not rich in resources, but across the strait, the Zambezi Valley of Portuguese East Africa is rich in gold and ivory, and there are large herds of bison, which is a good place with rich resources. ”

"So what?" Li Fushou asked.

"As long as the Queensland side sends a colonial army of more than 10,000 people, according to our tacit understanding with the Foreign Office, and launches an operation within the current cabinet term, we can withstand the pressure of the small countries of Western Europe to unite with Germany and the French, recognize Queensland's interests in the region, and carve out a large territory from Portuguese East Africa, which is our greatest sincerity."

Sir Glaire closed his mouth tightly as he finished speaking, and a confident smile appeared on his face, he was sure that the young earl in front of him would take the bait, and there was no reason not to take a bite of the fat.

The reason is simple;

Somalia and Guinea are remote places that can arouse the keen interest of the Earl of Queensland, and there is no reason why the resource-rich Portuguese East Africa should not be tempted.

Even the old colonial powers such as Britain, France and the Netherlands coveted this place, and they challenged Portugal's colonial rule in the region several times, but they were returned by a tough counterattack and did not succeed.

Since the 15th century, the Portuguese have gradually encroached on Mozambique in East Africa, and the Portuguese occupation of Mozambique has been constantly challenged by Western European powers.

In the 17th century, the Dutch fleet repeatedly besieged the island of Mozambique, but failed to capture it.

In the sixties of the 19th century, gold and diamonds were discovered in the Cape colony near Mozambique, and the competition for Mozambique by the Western European powers intensified.

In 1869, the British attempted to take possession of the Delagua Bend.

At the forthcoming Berlin Conference, Portugal tried to get its sphere of influence in East Africa recognized by France and Germany, but Britain completely rejected it.

It can be seen from this that the British are still hostile to the region.

If you can let Queenslanders test it again, why not?

Li Fushou had to sigh that the water of the British was too deep, and it was a routine!

But I like it, I really like it.

He was worried that there was no reason to intervene in Mozambique, and in front of him, these two important figures of the colonial department who thought they had a plan handed over the painting cake, so what reason did he not accept it?

The British could indeed bully Portugal, and even if Portugal was the closest ally to follow in Britain's footsteps, London would not mind cutting a large piece of meat on him and instigating European public opinion to recognize Queensland's occupation in Mozambique.

There is nothing wrong with the occupation of Queensland being equal to the occupation of London.

The premise is that Queensland does not have the idea of non-division, does not become independent, does not depart from the glory of the wise and wise Her Majesty, and the arrogant British never thought that Queensland would become independent of such a stupid question, how is this possible?

In the small café called Dawn on Whitehall Street, the three men involved in the secret conversation privately divided more than a million square kilometers of land in Africa, including more than half of the island of Madagascar and Mozambique, and established the approximate territory of what would become a new empire, and the impact was far-reaching.

Eighty years later, on the African continent, where national consciousness is generally awakened, the newly formed African Union has to accept the emerging empire as one of its member states, and occupy a decisive voice with great power, influencing most of Africa's countries.

At this time, the emerging empire shouted the slogan "Africans call the shots", which evolved into a ridiculous African version of Monroe policy, dominated by lighter-skinned Orientals, widely regarded as a white country in Europe.

India is also a white country, and that's fine.