Reborn South Africa as a police officer

Chapter 212

In fact, the dinner was very rich. Although the British government realized that the cost of the Boer War was too huge, but the war was so serious that even if they lost their underwear, they had to persevere to the end. Therefore, Cape’s supplies were still sufficient. The markets of the four colonies are extremely prosperous.

Of course, the prosperity of this period is only a temporary illusion. Although Johannesburg has abundant supplies, most of them have nothing to do with Johannesburg. Now in Johannesburg, the Boer farms have basically been confiscated, and a few Zulu farms It is difficult to walk, it is difficult to maintain its own operation, and there is no spare capacity to supply Johannesburg.

Looking at it now, the Chinese farms are the most promising. However, most Chinese farms have just started operation. I am afraid that within a year or two, there will be no spare capacity to supply Johannesburg. Therefore, Johannesburg has to rely on external supplies in the past two years.

As far as the current situation is concerned, when the war is over and the expeditionary force gradually withdraws from Cape Town, the market in Cape Town will return to normal. At that time, I am afraid that the bleak market will last for a long time.

In fact, there are some signs now. Johannesburg has a clear rainy season and a dry season. The rainy season is from October to February of the next year. In the rainy season last year, the precipitation in Johannesburg was obviously less, so the drought in the dry season this year is a bit serious. If This year's rainy season is still insufficient precipitation, so next year, Johannesburg will inevitably face a very serious drought.

This is actually a problem of the Johannesburg City Government, but given the current situation of the Johannesburg City Government, it is unreliable to expect Philip Matilda to take the initiative to alleviate the drought. Most of the farms around Johannesburg are run by Chinese, so this problem is Became Rock's problem.

In fact, the natural conditions in Johannesburg are still very good. The famous "Crocodile River", also known as the Limpopo River, originated in Johannesburg.

The Crocodile River got its name from the large number of Nile crocodiles in the Crocodile River. This is the ruler of African rivers and lakes. Anyone who wants to develop water resources must face the attack of Nile crocodiles.

Because of the climate, the Crocodile River in Johannesburg is a seasonal river. Every summer, the Crocodile River floods from the north of Johannesburg, to the Bechuana Reserve, then to the northeast, and then to Rhodesia. East, and then into Portuguese East Africa.

Therefore, the Crocodile River is the natural dividing line between the Transvaal and Bechuanaland and Rhodesia.

Every winter, the Crocodile River dries up into small ponds. It is winter in Johannesburg now, and before the rainy season arrives, Rock often organizes workers who have no task to go down the well to dredge the river, and hunt and kill those in the Crocodile River. Crocodile.

Before Rock, in the concept of Johannesburgers, there was no such thing as dredging the river.

Even if the people of Johannesburg want to dig something from the ground, what they want to dig is gold, so the Chinese who dredge the river have become the idiots of the miners.

Is it a fool, Rock doesn't argue, if there is not enough precipitation in the rainy season this year, then next year we will know who is a fool.

Now the farms around Johannesburg are almost all owned by Rock. Those Zulus happily returned to Zululand with the money from selling the farms. Leaving the Transvaal at the fastest speed, going to Lorenzo Marques under Portuguese control, or German Southwest Africa under German control.

The British made it clear that they wanted to eliminate the Boers. In Johannesburg, where there were no guerrilla activities, a guerrilla could fall from the sky and attack the transport team of the Royal Canadian Regiment. If they didn't leave, they would die.

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The atmosphere of the dinner was warm. Rock and senior officials of the Johannesburg city government sang the British national anthem before the banquet to congratulate the newly enthroned King Edward VII.

It seems a bit ambiguous, right? In fact, the British government has very strict regulations on this aspect.

In the camp of the expeditionary army, all the soldiers of the expeditionary army will "three cheers" before going to bed at night.

This is not a joke, it is really three cheers, before going to bed every night, the officer on duty will order everyone to "applause the great Edward VII" after the lights are turned off, and then the officer on duty will lead the soldiers to cheer "Hooray".

Really three "Hoorays" in a row.

By the way, the same goes for the Johannesburg Police Department.

It's just that Rock has never done such a secondary school thing, so it is Joe Russell who leads the police to "cheer" every time.

After the national anthem is sung, officials can walk around and chat at will. This is the advantage of the luncheon meeting. There is no seat limit, and everyone can wander around casually and chat with people they are interested in.

Roque was without a doubt the centerpiece of the dinner party, always surrounded by a crowd.

"In the long run, the prospect of Johannesburg is actually not good. The underground gold mines will be dug one day. By then, Johannesburg will slowly fall into silence like those cities that are prosperous because of gold mines. Therefore, Johannesburg must find The second economic pillar besides gold mines, farms are a good choice. If there are enough farms in Johannesburg, then we can develop animal husbandry, and then the textile industry. Compared with gold mines, the textile industry has more prospects , The point is, we don't have to worry about the sheep disappearing one day—" Rock's words caused the surrounding officials to burst into laughter.

Laughing all the time, whether anyone can get some inspiration from it is what Rock cares most about.

Anyway, Rock has now bought almost all the farms around Johannesburg. Even if the officials at the scene discovered this, they would not be able to buy the farms.

It can’t be said that you can’t buy it. There are many farms around Pretoria.

But there are not many left. Henry made sure a long time ago that he will do what Rock does, so when Rock was buying farms around Johannesburg, Henry was also buying farms around Pretoria.

Henry is not the only one who wants to make a fortune following Rock, Cecil Rhodes Jr. also follows Rock, so Cecil Rhodes Jr. is competing with Henry for farms around Pretoria, in Johannesburg, Neither Henry nor Cecil Rhodes Jr. stood a chance.

Rock is the king of Johannesburg.

"This decision is correct. Even in our lifetime, the gold mines underground in Johannesburg are inexhaustible. We must also consider the future. In this regard, Sir Locke has set a good example for all of us. ’” Inland Revenue Commissioner Marcus Beaufort fully endorsed Roque’s proposal.

As Commissioner of Revenue, Marcus Beaufort only cares about whether he can receive more taxes. As for who is paying the taxes, Marcus Beaufort doesn't care.

Although there are a lot of gold mines around Johannesburg, there is no shortage of tax sources, but who would think there is too much money? The more economic pillars in Johannesburg, the more tax sources, and the more taxes the tax bureau receives. Taken together, It was the exploits of Marcus Beaufort.

Who said the achievements of imperialist countries are not important?

The Transvaal is still a colony, and there is no such thing as elections at all. Most officials are directly appointed by London, so officials in the Transvaal need political achievements very much.

That's why Marcus Beaufort stood up for Rock in the morning meeting.

Henry Alsop is the head of the Department of Internal Affairs, and he doesn't need to consider tax sources, so he can stand and talk without back pain.

Marcus Beaufort can't, the increase of population means the increase of tax sources, which is closely related to Marcus Beaufort's work, so Marcus Beaufort has no other choice but to choose to support Rock.

Of course, Marcus Beaufort probably didn't expect that his unintentional words just now really revealed the truth about the Johannesburg gold mines. The gold mines in Johannesburg would indeed not be exhausted in their lifetimes.

But the people present, except Roque, did not know this.

"After the war, many Boers who left Johannesburg due to the war will choose to move back. At that time, these Boers will be troublesome again. Therefore, we must do everything possible to increase the population and reduce the proportion of Boers, so that Johannesburg will become the capital of the British Empire. Johannesburg." Blake Nelson was worried, and as a colonist, Blake Nelson didn't need to hide.

Those returning Boers will be troublemakers in the next few years, and Blake Nelson is well aware of this, but there is nothing he can do to change the status quo.

The core of the problem is that, compared to its huge territory, the population of the UK is too small, and fewer British people are willing to immigrate to the Cape. Although the UK has colonized the Cape for a hundred years, the four Among the colonies, only the Cape Colony has the same population of British and Boers. In the three regions of Transvaal, Orange, and Natal, the population of British is far lower than that of Boers. people.

If you zoom in on the whole of South Africa, the total population of the British population and the Boers is far lower than that of the Zulus, so the officials who realized this were panicked.

Of course, what Blake Nelson meant was definitely not to immigrate from the Qing Dynasty or India, the two most populous countries, but to emigrate from the British mainland, but the crux of the problem is that the British are unwilling to come.

So it's a dead end.

"No, this problem will basically not happen. By then, those Boers will find that their farms have changed owners, and Zulus have replaced their jobs in the mines. At least in Johannesburg, the Boers cannot Survive." It's not that Rock is not worried about this issue, but even if he is worried, Rock must show full confidence.

After the establishment of the Johannesburg Mining Alliance, as a member of the alliance, Rock Gold Mine can also make suggestions.

Rock has instructed Buck to propose at the Mining Union meeting that the wages of white miners should be greatly increased, so that the wages of white miners will reach more than ten times that of Zulus.

This seems to be a good thing for the Boers who are also white, but it is actually a pit.

If this proposal can be passed smoothly, it will lead to a very serious consequence-in order to save money, when the mine owners hire ordinary miners, they will choose the Zulus with cheaper salaries instead of the Boers whose salaries have been greatly increased .

Of course, this is only for ordinary miners. For the management, there is no need to worry about this part. In Johannesburg, Zulus cannot hold technical jobs, and it is even less likely to enter the management team. Therefore, this suggestion will not increase much cost for mine owners. .

But the result is very serious. If this proposal is passed, then the Boers will be surprised to find that although the mines set a high salary for the Boers, they cannot get it, and their farms have been destroyed. The Chinese occupied, and the Zulus robbed them of their job opportunities. If they wanted to make a living, those Boers could only choose to leave Johannesburg.

This is considered an overt conspiracy, forcing the Boers to leave Johannesburg openly, and it will not arouse criticism from the Boers. After all, who would not want to get a high salary?

Of course, the mining field does not mean that no Boers will be hired, and they must be hired. It is enough to hire three or five Boers in a mine, and the Boers who cannot find a job will have nothing to do. They will not be happy with the resolution, but those Boers who are getting paid high salaries will be very supportive.

Well, the proposal is very British.

"Hahahaha, Chief Locke, you are such a cunning fellow." Marcus Beaufort laughed out loud. He was also very cunning. When "accusing" Rock, he no longer used the title "Sir Locke", but It's "Director Locke", so there is no such thing as insufficient respect for nobles.

"What should I do otherwise? If there are many idlers who can't find a job in Johannesburg, it will cause serious security problems. This is what I, the police chief, should do." Rock was serious, and this was really not aimed at the Boers. But for the security of Johannesburg.

According to Rock's vision, Johannesburg should not have too many people who can't find a job. Everyone is busy with business, so they don't have the mind to think about things, so there will be no social problems.

"Idlers? All those lazy people should be thrown into the mines to mine. Johannesburg can't raise lazy people, everyone has to work." Blake Nelson was murderous, and lazy people can't create tax revenue. Only with work can there be income.

Not bad, Blake Nelson didn't say shoot all the slackers, or exile them all.

In fact, shooting and exile are the norm. Don’t think that the UK attaches great importance to the Boers. They don’t exist at all. The current approach in the UK is to wipe out all the Boers. It’s just that they can’t do this. That’s why the British government has to work with them Boers negotiate.

If it can be eliminated, the British will not talk nonsense with the Boers. At this stage, human rights in the UK cannot be guaranteed, let alone Johannesburg. If you want to protect human rights, you will have to wait half a century later.

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(End of this chapter)