A few days later

A group of more than a dozen horse-drawn carriages, loaded with precious perfumes, wines, treasures, antiques and paintings by famous French artists purchased in Paris, drove out of the mansion on the Champs-Élysées and headed for the port of Calais.

There, the Golden Years fast cruise ship is quietly moored in the harbor and waiting.

This is a medium-sized cruise ship with a displacement of more than 4,000 tons, and this time it will return to Australia across the ocean, and the ship will bring back more than 400 students who have returned to Europe after completing their studies and returning staff.

There are staff of major companies in Europe, banks and import and export companies, who have been in Europe for several years, their vision and ability have been greatly improved, and after returning to Queensland, they will enter the middle and senior management to further improve the advanced management level in line with international standards.

Running water does not rot, and the same is true for Queensland.

The Berlin Conference was successfully convened at the end of 1884, and the German Imperial Chancellor Bismarck presided over the conference as the convener, bringing together 15 European and American countries, including France, Germany, the United States, and Theobiholland, to discuss the plan of colonizing Africa.

After the meeting

The participating countries have proposed their existing spheres of influence in Africa and informed other countries in order to fix the existing colonial boundaries and obtain international recognition and avoid international disputes in the future.

As for the areas that have not yet been colonized, it is natural that the eight immortals have crossed the sea, each showing its ability.

The Somali area occupied by Queensland, proposed by the British representative and adopted without controversy at the Berlin Conference, is an undisputed area, and no other European or American country has proposed and de facto occupied the area, so it is directly included in the Queensland territory of the British Commonwealth.

Guinea is a bilateral deal between Lisbon and Queensland, and after the approval of the Portuguese delegation, there is no doubt that this small piece of West African land bordering the Atlantic Ocean will be included in the Queensland Territory without any dispute.

From now on

Queensland had its own territory on the east coast of the Atlantic, where it built a trading port and transit base, and eventually developed into a thriving port city for Europe and the United States.

This is a later story, so I won't mention it for the time being.

In view of the fact that Britain and France were attacked by representatives of various countries at the Berlin Conference, demanding that they spit out some of their interests in Africa, the British diplomatic delegation played a small trick to divide Somalia according to the Queensland Territory, which belongs to the British Commonwealth.

In other words, the Somali region is not owned by the British, but by the younger brother of the United Kingdom.

Queensland has separate legislative and executive powers, is a Dominion one level lower than the state, and occupies territory that does not care about me.

In the name of French Libya, France has greatly expanded the territory around Libya in North Africa, including all 310,000 square kilometers of land in the surrounding area, arguing that this is the right of French Libya and France has no right to interfere.

As a matter of fact

The real power in French Libya is the white immigrants from France, nicknamed the "black feet", who control the economic lifeblood of North African Libya, from the cities, railways, ports, estates to mines, and the local natives who believe in *** can only work as coolies for whites.

Well, true absolute fairness never exists.

The promises made in the "café talks" are being fulfilled little by little, and the rest is up to the Queensland side to respond with concrete actions.

It was at this time that things went wrong again.

The "Golden Years" fast cruise ship was detained in the Suez Canal, and a British officer rushed to the ship with his men, and after a careful search, he was disappointed to find that the Earl of Queensland and Madame Nicole "Rose of France" were not on board, and pounced.

But the surprise attack had already been done, and there was no turning back from the bow.

After the news came

Li Fushou was furious, he had long prevented His Royal Highness Edward's gang from playing yin, this group of people really has no moral bottom line, for their own selfish desires, they can't be hard, and the overlord is hard to bow at every turn, what promise can he be expected to keep? What tacit understanding is maintained?

So on the trip back to Australia, Plan B has been launched.

Li Fushou, Nicole and a few dignitaries accompanying them had already boarded a cargo ship to Australia in advance and entered Xi'an Town in Somalia to wait for the arrival of the "Golden Years".

After all, there is still a long voyage of more than 10,000 kilometers from Somalia to Australia's Red River Valley, and the speed of the freighter is slow, the living environment is poor, and it takes nearly 40 days to arrive at sea.

The "Golden Years" fast cruise ship only takes half the time, has a luxurious cabin that can supply hot water at any time, and can even play a game of snooker billiards to kill time in your spare time, which is far from being comparable to ordinary freighters.

On top of that, the Golden Years Express has an oversized coal-fired bunker and an impressive range of air, allowing it to travel directly to Queensland without any supplies, a huge advantage that no other freighter can match.

There was a crisp "bang".

The blue and white twined vase from the Manchu Qing Dynasty was shattered, Li Fushou's face was swollen with anger, and he couldn't hold back the anger in his heart and threw something, and scolded; "It's just a villain with poor character, it's so shameless!"

"Lord Yuanding, please put out the wrath of the thunder for the time being, this kind of behavior can only show their stupidity." Tian Shan, the deputy director of the secretariat who accompanied him, twitched his eyelids fiercely and persuaded softly.

"It is simply wanton and lawless to immediately send personnel to negotiate with the Canal Management Committee and the British Command in the Suez Canal, ordering it to immediately release people and ships, punish those responsible, and prevent such things from happening again in the future."

"Obey, I'll do it immediately."

"It seems necessary to put further pressure on London, to send a telegram to the Red River Valley at once, that there is a possibility of a small fire at the shipyard, and that the construction of the Majestic-class battleships will be postponed indefinitely until I have a satisfactory answer."

"Uh...... Lord Yuan Ding, did you react too violently to this move? Tian Shan walked to the door and stopped, hesitated, and still said what was in his heart; If you take action, it may be interpreted as a threat by unfriendly people in London, so it would be safer to see the situation of the negotiations before making a decision. ”

"Okay, just do as you say."

Li Fushou waved his hand impatiently, watching Tian Shan leave in a hurry, barely suppressing the evil spirit in his heart and sitting on the chair, he was only wearing a wide and wide fine linen long-sleeved shirt, and his forehead was still sweating.

Somalia is the hot pole of the earth, and the weather still reaches nearly 30 degrees Celsius in December, but Djibouti is close to the sea, and in the evening, the cool breeze blows from the sea, which is the most pleasant time of the day.

Two years ago

In May 1882, the British took advantage of the French troops to suppress the Tunisian rebellion, and the warships gathered in Alexandria and landed in a large way, firmly occupying a large territory in the Canal Zone, and taking Egypt in one fell swoop, taking control of the Suez Canal, which was crucial to the fate of the empire.

At its peak, Britain stationed nearly 80,000 troops in the Suez Canal area, facing the French army from a distance, and jointly mastered this choke point between the two oceans.

Calm down and judge;

With the ability of His Royal Highness Edward, it is impossible to instruct the governor of Egypt and the garrison to do unsightly things for himself, his hand has not been stretched out so long, at most he can influence a few officers who are close to the minor nobles, relying on the support of His Highness to seize the "Golden Years".

In this way, the negotiation may lead to the desired result.

The seized Golden Years" and a group of crew and passengers were unconditionally released, and it is impossible to apologize, and it is impossible to hold accountable.

No one in this world has yet been able to hold His Highness Edward accountable.

Li Fushou shook his fan irritably, looking through the window at the oasis and the ripe fields of wheat seedlings in the distance.

Months passed

With the arrival of Chinese immigrants, the population of Xi'an has further increased, from more than 3,000 to more than 5,600, and a migrant ship of more than 1,000 people will arrive in the near future, bringing a steady stream of labor and construction troops to the town.

By the end of this year, the population of Xi'an is expected to exceed 7,000.

This trip to Europe really stimulated Li Fushou's sensitive nerves, and he had already made an important decision;

A huge sum of not less than £350,000 will be earmarked for the construction of the outpost of Great Hanish Island and the town of Xi'an, with the aim of making the town of Xi'an a stable base in Africa by the end of 1885, with the aim of making it a stable base for Queensland in Africa, an important transit point and logistical supply depot connecting the Mediterranean, the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean routes.

Due to the sensitivity of the area, all Xi'an immigrants will be trained in militia military training, a small cement factory, and a well-developed fort defense will be invested in gradually building Xi'an into a fortress city.

Whenever an enemy attacks, you must first break a gum.

The construction of the Guinea port will also be carried out as soon as possible, and the small cement plant will also be supported, and the development will gradually be carried out into a fortress town.

As for the perception of Britain, France and other countries, Li Fushou is already a little unconcerned.

It doesn't matter if you're happy or not, I'll just do it, what's the love!

It cannot be said that such a decision is not prudent, but men always have to be a little bloody, and presumably London will also take these situations into account.

Djibouti's drought and lack of rainfall meant that the town of Xi'an did not have sewerage, but the main streets were paved with granite pavement, which is a rare infrastructure in Africa.

With the exception of Egypt, South Africa and French Libya, it is rare to see streets of such high standard, neat and clean.

There are many shops along the street, and there is an endless stream of bustling merchants and residents.

There was melodious music in the distance, and when I listened carefully, it turned out to be an authentic erhu song, which made Li Fushou's mood greatly soothed, and he took a big sip of the herbal tea on the table, feeling much better.

Thousands of miles away in Africa, it is not a pleasure to be able to hear the local music and folk songs!