The phrase "the gathering of the large fleet" sounded very imposing, but when Wei Kun saw it with his own eyes, he felt that it was not as good as the reputation. There were a few lonely warships on the sea. In addition to the blue sky, white clouds, and seawater, there were only seabirds that could occasionally be seen. When the fleet began to move in formation, it became even more ordinary. The warships kept a fixed distance from each other as they moved forward.
"So boring." Wei Kun complained to Wang Mingshan.
Wang Mingshan looked at Wei Kun and said in a sarcastic tone, "The expert knows the ropes, while the layman just enjoys the show. But ordinary people often don't realize that their level is not even that of a layman. They are just a simple white-neck. "
Although Wei Kun was used to Wang Mingshan's criticism and education, he felt that Wang Mingshan was right after listening to this. Wei Kun knew nothing about the navy. But it was really not easy to admit that he was a white-neck, not to mention that Wei Kun was also at a considerable level in his professional field.
With great difficulty, Wei Kun reluctantly resolved his unhappy mood. He took out the deduction file that Wang Mingshan had made before and asked for advice on the questions he didn't understand. He didn't have the time in Nanzhan City, but now he finally had the time to ask. To Wei Kun's surprise, Wang Mingshan didn't directly tell Wei Kun about the specific knowledge. Instead, he told Wei Kun about the basic organizational principles and organizational structure. At first, Wei Kun felt that it was very boring. When Wang Mingshan finished talking about this aspect and turned to the part of combining theory with practice, the content of the derivation of East Africa suddenly became lively. It was some of the theories and experience that the Restoration Party had accumulated countless knowledge. These things were not something that Wei Kun could imagine just by relying on his cleverness.
On the fifth day of learning, according to the rules, everyone had to rest for a day. After class, Wei Kun said to Wang Mingshan, who looked a little tired, "Secretary Wang, I really want to fly back to Sudan and use everything I've learned."
Wang Mingshan drank some water to moisten his parched throat. He said, "You don't have to be so anxious. Things are accumulated over time. Don't tell me that you youngsters don't need to accumulate this knowledge after learning it? If that's not the case, you still have to accumulate. Back then, we didn't have so many things to sum up, so we could actually work slower. We can't go fast even if we wanted to. Not only do you have to learn fast, but you also have to work fast enough to accumulate experience as fast as possible. Our expectations of you are higher than when we were young. "
Wei Kun really wanted to understand what Wang Mingshan was talking about, but he found that he really couldn't find the corresponding direction to imagine the content of the discussion. These things based on age and experience were really beyond his imagination.
However, Wei Kun didn't have time to think about this, because before he could rest, the fleet arrived at its destination, the British Sea. This was the second time that the China Grand Fleet had arrived in the North Atlantic, and Wang Mingshan was very emotional about it. The last time the Grand Fleet arrived in Europe, it caused a sensation. At that time, Wang Mingshan also went to Europe to negotiate with the Europeans. At that time, he met Grace, who was the widow of the late Marquis. Now that the China Grand Fleet had arrived in the North Atlantic again, China's strength had far exceeded its previous level.
Unlike last time, probably because many countries were still unaware of the situation, there were not many European warships that came to watch the Chinese warships. Instead, the British Grand Fleet sent a large number of warships to meet them. When dozens of warships, large and small, appeared on the sea, Wei Kun began to be able to distinguish the differences between the different warships.
The European warships had too many 'auxiliary parts', and the various turrets on the hull looked like hedgehogs. Compared to them, the British warships were more similar to the Chinese warships, but compared to the very simple British warships, the Chinese warships were more refined. Although there were only four turrets, the size of the turrets and the thickness of the barrels were better than the British warships.
Wei Kun carefully distinguished through the binoculars. He could determine that the size of the China turrets was larger, but the China turrets looked smaller than the British ones. He couldn't distinguish this strange problem, so he could only give up.
Under the gaze of the various warships, Wei Kun and the others transferred from the battleship to the cruise ship. The cruise ship did not follow the battleship fleet around the Cape of Good Hope, but went directly to the Suez Canal, which was closer, through the Mediterranean Sea to the British Sea. This route was not only close, but the sea conditions were also much smoother than the Atlantic Ocean with high winds and high waves. It was not only the cruise ship that Wang Mingshan and Wei Kun were on, but also the four tankers that supplied fuel to the fleet.
The China fleet did not continue in the direction of the United Kingdom, and the next escort task was handed over to the British Fleet. From the behemoth to the exquisite and beautiful pure white cruise ship, the environment and living conditions were much better. However, this cruise ship with a small number of passengers was far inferior to the battleship in both size and height. From looking down at the other warships, to looking up at the other warships. This difference in perspective made Wei Kun feel as if he had sensed something.
The British Royal Highness returned to the country earlier than Wei Kun. The official letter from the Min dynasty to the United Kingdom informed, 'Wang Mingshan, the military governor of the East Africa Administrative Region, and Wei Kun, the governor of the three counties of Sudan, have come to visit the United Kingdom.' So it was the British Department of Colonization who welcomed them. Of course, the British Royal Highness came along with the Department of Colonization. After nearly a month, the British Royal Highness seemed to be very happy to see Wei Kun again.
Britain had a first-class administrative system in Europe, so the British did not use Wei Kun as the object of negotiation, but Wang Mingshan. The British Department of Colonization and the two leaders of the East Africa Administrative Region began negotiations on distant South Africa. The cornerstone of the negotiations had already been determined. The British decided to give up the Rand gold mine to keep the Kimberley diamond mine. So the content of this negotiation was about what to do with the Boers and the Zulus. It was just a meeting to discuss the Boers and the Zulus. The two parties involved were not the Boers and the Zulus, and the representatives of the Boers and the Zulus were not able to attend the meeting. The two parties did not even know that a meeting was taking place in faraway London that would decide their fate.
"Southern Africa is only left with the East Africa Administrative Region, the Cape Town Colony, and the Zulu Kingdom. We think this is good. "Wang Mingshan's attitude was very clear.
The British looked unperturbed. They still demanded a Boer country between the Cape Town colony and the Zulu Kingdom. "From the map, the East Africa Administrative Region and the Boer Kingdom do not have a common border. The Zulu Kingdom is in the middle. Why do you have to destroy the Boers? " The British representative spoke righteously, as if it was not the British Empire's army that tried to completely destroy the Boers a few months ago. In order to destroy the Boers, the British sent more than 300,000 expeditionary troops all the way to Southern Africa.
The British played this hand, but Wang Mingshan was not moved. The reason why this negotiation did not involve the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was that the nature of the East Africa Administrative Region was too abrupt to use the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the diplomatic language of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was not very suitable for this kind of naked negotiation. Wang Mingshan's status was very suitable for this kind of negotiation, so Wang Mingshan said bluntly, "If the British completely annexed the Boers, we can still believe in the British side's control. If there is a Boer country alone, I think you will probably instigate the Boers to attack the Zulu Kingdom. At this time, I'm afraid we won't be able to find the person responsible. Do you really want us to come forward and destroy the Boer country? "
Wei Kun listened carefully and remembered carefully. Such a negotiation needed to be able to grasp the other party's attitude. Anyway, the Min dynasty meant that if the British really played the strategy of stirring up shit with the Min dynasty, then the Min dynasty would probably only wait until they had time to completely destroy the Cape Town Colony. What Wei Kun had to do now was to come up with evidence to prove whether the British were trustworthy or not. A war might start casually, but it would never end casually. Deciding whether to go to war or to make peace with a big country like the British was a very serious issue.
Opposite Wei Kun, the British Royal Highness was also present. But Wei Kun looked at this guy several times and saw that he was listless, or listening to some seemingly interesting conversation as if it was something new. Wei Kun was busy, so he had no time to look at this guy. Wei Kun felt that those conversations that sounded interesting were actually some witty words deliberately said by both sides when they were trying to ease the situation. It was the conversations that were lengthy and had a lot of definitions that made people feel very bored that showed everyone's goal and bottom line. And these conversations could not arouse the interest of His Royal Highness.
The connoisseur knows the artistry, while the layman just enjoys the show. But ordinary people often didn't realize that their level was not even that of a layman. They were just a simple whiteneck. Recalling Wang Mingshan's words, Wei Kun felt that he had been fully confirmed. Recalling that he had previously criticized the Navy's seemingly simple and boring operation, Wei Kun felt that he was too inexperienced. During Wang Mingshan's voyage, Wei Kun also accepted some explanations from the Navy. After listening to the explanation, he understood that it was very difficult to quickly form a formation with simple and clear commands on the rough sea. This represented whether an army was well-trained or not. To be able to regard well-trained training as boring, Wei Kun had a full understanding of the horror of whitenecks.
It's just that when he arrived in the UK, it was inevitable to meet the British upper class. Wei Kun found that he really couldn't communicate with the British upper class, especially the ball. A kind of upper-class people who were immaculately dressed and danced gracefully in gorgeous clothes. This did give people a sense of nobility. But Wei Kun wanted to return to Sudan as soon as possible. There were also some dances of the local black people in Sudan. Under the bonfire, these black brothers danced a dance full of black characteristics. Although the dance was full of barbaric style, the black brothers really used the bonfire, sweets, alcoholic drinks, and dance to have fun. Wei Kun couldn't find any feeling in such a ball.
Looking at Wang Mingshan, the provincial governor first talked calmly with the European noble women. When the music started, Wang Mingshan took the arm of the beautiful woman and joined the dance with the others. Wei Kun suddenly understood how Wang Mingshan got the beautiful Italian Marquise. At least from the black-and-white photos, the Marquise looked elegant and dignified, and the smile on her face was warm and sincere, which made people have a good impression.
"Your Royal Highness, don't you know how to dance?" The British Royal Highness suddenly appeared next to Wang Mingshan with a drink.
"No!" In fact, Wei Kun also learned to dance, but he didn't like it. So it was very straightforward to say that he didn't know how to dance.
"Then how about I invite someone to dance with you?" His Royal Highness didn't plan to let Wei Kun go.
"No!" Wei Kun answered firmly, "I am a person who cares about face. If I leave so many people with the impression that I am bad at dancing, I might as well let them see me standing and drinking."
It was obvious that His Royal Highness understood Wei Kun's attitude. He nodded, "In that case, I will introduce some friends to you."
Wei Kun couldn't refuse this request, and he himself felt that it was necessary to get to know some European locals when he was in Europe. So he followed His Royal Highness to the direction of the young people. After this introduction, Wei Kun was stunned. Among these people were members of the German royal family, members of the Austro-Hungarian royal family, members of the Spanish, Norwegian, Swedish, Dutch, and Belgian royal families.
Going abroad just to dance, Wei Kun couldn't imagine such a thing at first. But thinking about the map of Europe, the distance between the capital of these countries and London was smaller than the distance between Nanjing and Beijing in China. And the distance between Xinxiang City, which was now the administrative center of North America, and Beijing was ten thousand miles, almost half a circle around the earth. Considering the difficulty of China going abroad, Europe was really not suitable.
It was obvious that the European nobles were full of interest to be able to meet a real China 'royal' in person. The boys looked at Wei Kun with curiosity and vigilance, as if they were looking at an opponent they could fight against. They were more reserved when they spoke. The curiosity of the female members of the royal family seemed to have completely taken over. In addition to looking at him curiously, they couldn't help but pinch Wei Kun's clothes to see if there was any difference between this fabric and European fabric. It was obvious that if it weren't for the fact that these women felt that they should have at least some modesty, they might have touched Wei Kun's face to see if there was any difference between Wei Kun's skin and that of Europeans. Like most Chinese people, Wei Kun's skin was not thick with hair, especially on his face. Only when he got very close could a faint layer of hair be seen. Compared with the Europeans who were covered in hair from head to toe, the skin of Chinese people was very different.
The way to satisfy curiosity was not only touching, but also verbal communication. "How should you pronounce your name?" "How many brothers and sisters do you have in your family?" "How far is your China from here?" These questions were asked one after another.
When they learned that Wei Kun was now the county governor of Sudan's three counties, the European royal families thought that Wei Kun had a territory. When they learned that Wei Kun was an administrative official, the European royal families were surprised and full of envy. In Europe, members of the royal family like Wei Kun rarely came out to directly do administrative work, and the administrative work itself gave Wei Kun great freedom.
"Your Royal Highness, will you become the governor of the East African administrative region in the future?" A woman asked curiously.
"This is probably my current goal." Wei Kun smiled.
"If you succeed, will you be conferred the title of king by the emperor of China?" The woman was even more curious.
Wei Kun immediately shook his head. "Our country only has administrative positions, there is no title. So I am just an official in the administrative system. "
This question sounded boring, so the next question appeared. "I heard that China can marry many wives at the same time."
Wei Kun hated this kind of question very much. He immediately said seriously, "After the establishment of the Min dynasty, a strict monogamy system was implemented. There is no problem of marrying many wives at the same time. If someone dares to do so, it will be the crime of bigamy. "
Seeing that Wei Kun was anxious, an Italian royal couldn't help but laugh. "Then, won't Lord Wang Mingshan be investigated?"
Wei Kun rolled his eyes at this guy who spoke without thinking. He really touched a sore spot. Although Wang Mingshan's close girlfriend was Italian, it was not the Italian royal family's turn to ridicule Wang Mingshan. Therefore, Wei Kun avoided answering this time.
After playing the role of a rare animal for a while, a royal girl asked Wei Kun to dance. Wei Kun refused again, but the girl was unexpectedly persistent. In the end, she dragged Wei Kun to the edge of the dance floor. Looking at the royal girl who was about 168 cm tall and 175 cm tall in high heels, Wei Kun suddenly remembered something. His height of 175 cm was definitely not considered short in Europe. Of course, those Nordic guys were really tall. Even the Danish royal girl was about 168 cm tall. But compared to the guys from England, Spain, Italy, and even Germany and Austria-Hungary, which were very close to Nordic blood, Wei Kun was not at a disadvantage in terms of height. It seemed that there were only a few countries that were tall. Wei Kun made such a judgment.
Just when he was suddenly interested in her height, the music started. Wei Kun could only hug the girl's firm waist and spin her around according to the rhythm of the song.
This social activity lasted for three days. During the day, Wang Mingshan and Wei Kun negotiated with the British Colonial Department. At night, it was Wang Mingshan and Wei Kun eating, drinking, and playing with a group of British and European elites.
On the fourth day, the negotiations entered the final stage. The British also made it clear that they had negotiated with the Boers, hoping that the Boers would accept the proposal of annexing the Cape Town Colony. However, the Boers refused. The British originally wanted to annex the Boers for the Rand Gold Mine. Now that the Rand Gold Mine had no chance, the British forcibly annexing the Boers would become a complete loss. In addition to these reasons, the British also came to a conclusion. "We will not be stationed in those meaningless places, so regardless of whether the negotiations are successful or not, we will leave those areas. This is not because we have any hostility towards you, but we really can't waste so much energy. "
"If that's how you see it, I would like to ask, how will you react if the Zulu Kingdom takes those areas?" Wang Mingshan did not insist with the British this time. Instead, he proposed China's solution.
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