African Entrepreneurship Record

1870 Far East.

"Mr. Richard!"

"What's wrong, King?"

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

"Hahaha, to tell you the truth, I will no longer work here." Richard said with a proud face.

"Ah! Mr. Richard, are you going back to Europa?" Wang Enke asked slightly worriedly. Richard is usually very talkative. Will it be difficult for his successor to communicate!

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

"That's really congratulations to you." Wang Enke raised his hands in congratulations.

"Same joy, same joy!"

"I wonder where you can get high, sir?"

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

"The Kingdom of East Africa? Then won't we be the same as Great Britain and France in the future?"

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

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

…

"Mr. Lee Fuss, there is a person outside who claims to represent the German Prussian Princely Kingdom of Hechingen asking to see him."

"Heisingen? I'll go take a look!"

The Prussian Minister to the Far East, Lee Voss, walked out of the courtyard and saw Richard coming from Jiaozhou.

"I wonder who you are?"

"Mr. Lifus, I am Richard, the former head of the Far East Commercial Liaison Office in Hechingen."

"Oh, I know that, but I don't know why you are looking for me."

"I have here a personal letter from Prince Constantine." Richard took out a letter from his pocket.

"Letter from Prince Constantine?"

Lee Fus hurriedly took the letter, opened it and read it.

After a while.

"Well, Mr. Richard, Prince Constantine's request makes me very embarrassed! Without the confirmation of the Prussian government, I dare not make any arbitrary claims."

"Mr. Lives, you are worrying too much! In fact, the establishment of the East African Kingdom was approved by the Prussian royal family and government, but at this time, the news from Europe has not yet arrived."

"Then how did you get the news?"

"When our East African Kingdom was established, we naturally made preparations in advance. In fact, I received the authorization half a month ago, but the Kingdom had not yet been established at that time, so I did not come."

"Prince Constantine considered it was Zhou Xiang, but why didn't he ask the Prussian government to send us the news in advance? We should have prepared in advance, isn't it just to embarrass me now?"

"Mr. Lives, in fact, you only need to be responsible for the introduction in this matter. You can use personal relationships as an excuse 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 East Government for you in a private capacity."

In the blink of an eye, the two of them arrived at a mansion in the capital.

"Mr. Li Fusi! I wonder what the purpose of today's visit is?" Chonghou, a minister of the Qing government, said in surprise.

"Your Excellency Chonghou, this is the envoy of the Kingdom of East Africa. He comes to the capital this time to establish diplomatic relations with your country, so I will introduce him on your behalf."

"The Kingdom of East Africa? I don't know where it is? Is it also the country of the West?"

"Let this Mr. Richard talk to you! He knows better than me."

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

Listening to the Mandarin words with a Shandong flavor, Chonghou asked: "Hello, Sir Richard, I wonder where your East African kingdom comes from? Why have I never heard of it? And your language is quite Shandong." The charm of this place, have you ever stayed in Shandong?"

"Hahaha, Your Excellency Chonghou, you are indeed smart. I am indeed from Jiaozhou, where I used to be responsible for the Heixinggen Consortium's trade with your country!"

"Heixinggen! I know, it's the place where Jiaozhou Customs was newly established! I heard that Heixingen is also a company in your German region? I wonder what it has to do with the East African Kingdom?" Chonghou asked Li Fusi in confusion. asked.

Hearing that Richard was from the Hechingen Consortium, Chonghou instantly grasped the key. Didn't Heizingen come from Germany? Isn't it the same as Prussia? Lee Fuss often said that Prussia was the leader of Germany, so wouldn't Hechingen be the vest of the Prussian government?

"I used to be an employee of the Hechingen Company, but now I represent the Kingdom of East Africa. Although the Hechingen Consortium is from Germany, it is a large company that spans Germany, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and the Kingdom of East Africa. At the same time, it is in various European countries. and trade with all parts of the world.”

"That's it! I also know a little bit about Germany and the Austro-Hungarian Empire. I have never heard of the East African Kingdom. Forgive me for being ignorant."

"Your Excellency, this is actually not your fault. In fact, the East African Kingdom is a new country."

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

"Of course, but the East African Kingdom is special. It is a new country established in eastern Africa by our German Prince Constantine." Lifus said at the side.

"Eastern Africa?"

"That's right. Its monarch is our Prince Constantine of Prussia, who is now also the king of the East African Kingdom."

…

The reason why Richard asked Lee Fuss for help was because the Austro-Hungarian Empire had not yet established diplomatic relations with the Qing government in the Far East, while Prussia had established diplomatic relations with the Qing government as early as 1861.

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

Finally, after serious protests from the Qing government in accordance with international law, Lee Fus returned the ship and paid US$1,500 in compensation. This is also a rare diplomatic achievement of the Qing government.

On May 13, the day when the East African Kingdom was established, Emperor Tongzhi met with Richard, the representative of the East African Kingdom, under the recommendation of Chonghou.

May 15, 1870.

Richard, the ambassador of the East African Kingdom, signed a treaty with Chonghou, the representative of the Qing government. Historically known as the Treaty of Two Easts, it refers to East Africa and the Far East.

The Treaty of Two Easts was signed, and East Asia officially established diplomatic relations with the Far Eastern Empire.

The treaty between East and West contains fifty-seven articles. The main contents are as follows:

(1) The East African Kingdom can send envoys to the capital and travel to various parts of the Far East; (2) Each trading port in the Far East allows the East African Kingdom to set up consuls, allowing citizens of the East African Kingdom to trade, live, rent land for construction, employ Chinese, and buy and sell various books. commodities; (3) the East African Kingdom's commercial taxes in China are in accordance with the usual rules and are equal to those of the great powers; (4) the Qing Dynasty is responsible for protecting the property and creditor's rights of East African citizens in China; (5) the East African Kingdom enjoys consular jurisdiction and comprehensive most-favored-nation treatment. (6) The East African Kingdom could recruit Chinese workers from all over the Far East, and the Qing government could not stop it. Along with this treaty, the "Charter of Trade and Customs Tariffs" was signed.

Generally speaking, it was an equal treaty. The problem lay in Article 6. However, the Qing government raised no objections, so it was passed.

According to the content of the treaty, in addition to the establishment of the East African Kingdom's embassy in the Far East in the capital, it also established five consulates in Jiaozhou, Shanghai, Xiangshan County (Zhuhai), Xuzhou, and Kaifeng.

Chonghou, a minister of the Qing government, was not surprised by the first two places. What was quite surprising was that this Western country actually knew about Xuzhou and Kaifeng, and even the small place Xiangshan itself didn't know about it. How did the East Africans know about it?

Richard's explanation is that these three places had commercial trade with the East African Kingdom. In fact, these were the nodes on the route of immigrants from North China 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 facilitates the development of East African immigrants. Zhuhai and Jiaozhou were the first cities established by the Heixingen Consortium in the Far East. trading station, as for Shanghai, it is a place that almost all countries attach importance to.