1870 Far East.

"Mr. Richard!"

"What's the matter, King?"

"It's only been less than a few months, why did you change the plaque again?"

"Hahaha, I'll tell you the truth, I won't be here in the future." Richard said with a smug face.

"Ahh Mr. Richard, are you going back to Europa? Wang Enke asked with a little worry, Richard is usually very talkative, will his successor be difficult to communicate!

"No, no, in your Far Eastern dialect, it's called promotion."

"That's congratulations." Wang Enke congratulated.

"Rejoice, rejoice!"

"I don't know where Mr. is?"

"This time, I will establish diplomatic relations with your country on behalf of the East African Kingdom, and in the future, I will serve as the ambassador of the East African Kingdom to the Far East in your country's capital."

"The Kingdom of East Africa? Won't they be like Great Britain and France? ”

"Almost, almost." Richard said with a slight emptiness.

This is simply too much to exalt East Africa, comparing the world's maritime hegemon and the world's second most powerful country with East Africa.

……

"Mr. Lifors, there is a man outside who claims to represent the pro-kingdom of Heshingen in German Prussia and asks to see you."

"Heixingen? I'll check it out! ”

Prussian Minister to the Far East, Lifoss walked out of the courtyard and saw Richard from Jiaozhou.

"I don't know who Your Excellency is?"

"Mr. Lifus, I'm Richard, the former head of the Heixingen Far East Business Liaison Office."

"Oh, I know that, but I don't know what your lordship is looking for me."

"I have here a letter from Prince Konstantin." Richard pulled a letter out of his pocket.

"A letter from Prince Konstantin?"

Li Fusi hurriedly took the letter, opened it and read it.

After a while.

"Well, Mr. Richard, Prince Constantine's request makes it hard for me! Without confirmation from the Prussian government, I dare not make a claim. ”

"Mr. Liforths, you're too worried! In fact, the establishment of the Kingdom of East Africa was agreed by the Prussian royal family and government, but at this point in time, news from Europe had not yet arrived. ”

"And how did you get the news?"

"Our East African Kingdom was established, so naturally we were prepared in advance, in fact, I was authorized half a month ago, but the kingdom had not yet been established at that time, so I didn't come over."

"Prince Konstantin considered that it was Zhou Xiang, but why didn't he ask the Prussian government to send us a message in advance? Let's prepare early, isn't it just for me now? ”

"Mr. Lifoss, in fact, you only need to be responsible for the referral in this matter, and you can use personal relations as a reason and do not need to represent the Prussian government."

Li Fusi's eyes lit up, and he said: "This is indeed a solution, then I will contact the Far Eastern government for you in my personal name." ”

In the blink of an eye, the two came to a mansion in Jingshi.

"Mr. Liforth! I don't know what I am doing today? The minister of the Qing government was a little surprised.

"Your Excellency, this is an envoy of the East African Kingdom, and I came to Beijing this time to establish diplomatic relations with your country, so I will introduce you on my behalf."

"The Kingdom of East Africa? I don't know why? Is it also the land of Tessie? ”

"Let this Mr. Richard tell you! He knows a little better than I do. ”

"Hello, Your Excellency, I am Richard, the representative of the Kingdom of East Africa."

Listening to the words with a Shandong flavor of Chinese, Chonghou asked: "Hello, Your Excellency Richard, I don't know where your country, the East African kingdom, comes from?" Why have I never heard of it, and your language has the charm of Shandong, so you have not been in Shandong? ”

"Hahaha, Your Excellency Chonghou, I am really smart, I did come from Jiaozhou, where I was in charge of the trade between the Heixingen Consortium and your country!"

"Heixingen! I know that it is the place where the new Jiaozhou Customs was established! I heard that this Heixingen is also your company in Germany? I don't know what it has to do with the Kingdom of East Africa? Sublime asked Li Fus.

Hearing that Richard was from the Hexingen consortium, Chonghou instantly grasped the key, isn't this Heixingen from Germany, isn't that the same way as Prussia! Lifos often said that Prussia was the leader of Germany, so this Heixingen would not be the vest of the Prussian government, right?

"I used to be an employee of the Heshingen Company, but now I represent the East African Kingdom, and although the Hexingen Foundation is from Germany, it is a large company that straddles Germany, Austria-Hungary, the Kingdom of East Africa, and at the same time has trade contacts in various European countries and all over the world."

"I see! I also know a little about Germany, Austria-Hungary, and the kingdom of East Africa, with all due respect, have not heard of it. ”

"Your Excellency, in fact, I don't blame you, in fact, the Kingdom of East Africa is a new country."

"A new country? Is it also a German state? ”

"Of course, but the Kingdom of East Africa is special, and it is an emerging country in East Africa founded by our Prince Constantine of Germany." Li Fuss said from the side.

"The eastern part of Africa?"

"There's nothing wrong with that. Its monarch is our Prince Konstantin of Prussia, who is now also the king of the Kingdom of East Africa. ”

……

Richard asked Liforth for help because Austria-Hungary had not yet established diplomatic relations with the Qing government in the Far East, and Prussia had established diplomatic relations with the Qing government as early as 1861.

Even in 1864, during the Second Schleswig War, the Prussian minister Lifos deliberately clashed with Danish ships in the Bohai Sea, and secretly captured three Danish ships as trophies at the mouth of Dagu.

In the end, after serious protests from the Qing government in accordance with international law, Li Fusi returned the ship and paid $1,500 in compensation. This is also a rare diplomatic achievement of the Qing government.

On May 13, the day of the establishment of the East African Kingdom, under the recommendation of Chonghou, the Tongzhi Emperor received Richard, the representative of the East African Kingdom.

May 15, 1870.

Richard, the ambassador of the Kingdom of East Africa, signed a treaty with the Qing government's representative minister, Chonghou. Historically known as the Treaty of the Two Easts, it is both East Africa and the Far East.

The Treaty between East and East China was signed, and East Africa established diplomatic relations with the Far East Empire.

The content of the treaty between the two East is 57 articles. The main contents are as follows:

(1) The Kingdom of East Africa may send envoys to Beijing and to and from various places in the Far East; (2) Consuls of the Kingdom of East Africa shall be appointed as consuls in the treaty ports of the Far East, who shall be responsible for the trade, residence, lease of land for construction, employment of Chinese, and trading of various books and commodities for citizens of the Kingdom of East Africa; (3) The East African Kingdom has a general tax rate in China and is equal to that of the Great Powers; (4) The Qing side is responsible for protecting the property and creditor's rights of East African citizens in China; (5) The Kingdom of East Africa enjoys consular jurisdiction and one-sided most-favored-nation treatment. (6) The Kingdom of East Africa could recruit Chinese laborers from all over the Far East, and the Qing government was not allowed to prevent it. This treaty was accompanied by the signing of the Statute of Commerce and the Customs Tariff.

On the whole, it was a treaty of equality, and the issue was in Article 6, but the Qing government did not raise any objections, so it was passed.

According to the content of the treaty, in addition to the embassy of the Kingdom of East Africa in the Far East in Beijing, consulates were also set up in Jiaozhou, Shanghai, Xiangshan County (Zhuhai), Xuzhou, and Kaifeng.

The minister of the Qing government, Chonghou, did not feel strange about the first two locations, but was quite surprised that this Western country actually knew Xuzhou and Kaifeng, as well as the small place of Xiangshan, which he did not know, where did the East Africans know about it?

Richard's explanation is that these three places had the commercial trade of the East African Kingdom, and in fact this was the node of the route of North Chinese immigrants to East Africa.

Kaifeng and Xuzhou are important transportation nodes in North China, Kaifeng can gather immigrants from Henan and the northwest, and Xuzhou is located at the intersection of four provinces, which is convenient for East African immigration work, Zhuhai is and Jiaozhou is the earliest trade site established by the Heixingen consortium in the Far East, as for Shanghai, it is almost a place that all countries attach importance to.

(End of chapter)