Both Rock and Yang Smuts were preparing for the democratic representative system in a few years.
The premise of the democratic representative system is election. Only when the people elect a parliament can the democratic representative system be implemented by the parliament.
Roque tried every means to increase the Chinese base in order to prepare for future elections. This year's elections are different from future elections. Not all adults have the right to vote. In the previous Cape, only those who paid fixed taxes
Only adult white males have the right to vote; women and people of color do not have the right to vote.
Because the Transvaal has not yet formed a parliament, it uses Cape law. According to regulations, the Chinese do not have the right to vote in the Transvaal.
Rock is not worried about this issue. When the Transvaal is going to implement a democratic representative system, this regulation will definitely have to be revised. After all, the farmers in Johannesburg are basically all Chinese, and the Transvaal government cannot ignore this part.
strength.
Roque also did not allow the interests of the Chinese to be ignored.
If what Rock is operating now is the economic base, then what Jan Smuts and Louis Botta are working hard to build is the superstructure.
After all, there are 600,000 Boers in the four Cape colonies combined. The Boers are also white, so the Boers are born with the right to vote. This allows Yang Smuts and Louis Botha to focus all their energy on party building.
superior.
"Do we also need to form a political party?" Henry suddenly suggested.
"Don't be impulsive. Yang Smuts and Louis Botha probably want us to do this. Otherwise, why do you think Yang Smuts would mention this tonight?" Rock was not fooled and dealt with these old foxes.
If you don't pay attention, you will fall into a trap.
If it were Roque half a month ago, he might have already ambitiously set up a political party to confront Yang Smozi's so-called People's Party.
But in this way, Roque was deceived by Yang Smuts. Although Yang Smuts was full of confidence now, in fact, the "People's Party" founded by Yang Smuts and Louis Botha was not
Legality is two different things. Once Roque and Henry also create a political party, the question will change from "whether the party is legal" to "which party can win". At that time, the problem will become complicated.
Roque and Henry were nobles. If even the nobles were involved in party struggles, then the nobles would lose their transcendent status. This is exactly what the ordinary British people, including the Boers, wanted to see.
In the current British cabinet system, the actual highest organs of power are the House of Lords and the House of Commons. The House of Lords is the traditional territory of the British aristocracy. In theory, only aristocrats can enter the House of Lords.
The House of Commons is a puppet of the House of Lords, and its members are elected. Until now, only nobles who could not enter the House of Lords, or nephews of nobles in the House of Lords, could enter the House of Commons.
Of course, there are elected members in the House of Commons, but the number of such members is very small. British political parties and ordinary people have always hoped to break the aristocracy's monopoly on the House of Lords, but unfortunately they have not been able to do so.
The transcendent status of the aristocracy is reflected in the fact that the aristocracy never joins a political party, but sits high and watches the Conservative Party and the Liberal Party fight. No matter who wins in the end, they must obtain the consent of the aristocracy before they can truly take over power.
Roque still doesn't know what kind of election campaign method the Transvaal will implement in the future. If it is the same as that in the British mainland, then Roque and Henry will not be able to form a political party and will at most act as the backing of a certain party.
"Damn it, are they really that insidious?" Henry muttered to himself, obviously not yet realizing the cunningness of these old foxes.
"What do you think, well, let's go to Pretoria together tomorrow." Rock finally remembered Ade's teachings. At this time, he should let the old fox deal with the old fox.
Early the next morning, Rock and Henry took the train to Pretoria. The meeting with Yang Smuts was handed over to Joe Russell. As for whether Yang Smuts was happy?
Who cares about him!
Ade was very satisfied with Roark this time. It was already noon after listening to Roark's report, so Ade simply left Roark and Henry to have lunch in the Palace of Justice.
"The democratic representative system is impossible. Even if it is implemented one day, it is only if we are ready." Ade is indeed deceiving the Boers and has no intention of implementing the democratic representative system.
After hearing what Ade said, Henry nodded frequently, and Rock could only smile bitterly. The plan could not keep up with the changes. Ade, an old fox, had finally lost to reality. No matter what, Ade never imagined that the situation would collapse so quickly.
"Of course the Boers will try their best to strive for a situation that is favorable to them. The worst situation may also happen. We still have to be as prepared as possible." Ade continued, Henry looked confused, and Rock was thoughtful.
"Locke, what did you think of?" Ade asked by name.
"Some immature ideas" Rock didn't dare to say.
What Rock was thinking was, if the Boers demanded autonomy, could Rock go along with the situation?
From a long-term perspective, Rock also hopes that the Transvaal can be autonomous. Of course, the autonomy here is not the kind of autonomy tied to Orange. Orange is now obviously a burden, and whoever suffers from it will be unlucky.
What Rock wanted was for the Transvaal and Orange to have separate autonomy, with the Boers in Orange playing theirs and the Chinese in the Transvaal playing their own, without interfering with each other.
Such thoughts must not be told to Ade. If Ade knew about it, Ade probably would not let Rock walk out of the Palace of Justice.
"Tell me about it?" Ade's attitude towards Rock was encouraging.
"After meeting with Yang Smuts last night, Henry proposed that we could form a political party of our own to fight against the People's Party and the Orange Unionist Party established by the Boers. I felt inappropriate at the time, but now that I think about it, it seems that we can try it.
Give it a try." Rock really wants to try it. If it doesn't succeed, there will be no loss, but if it succeeds,
"It is not impossible to establish a political party. The Cape currently implements a democratic representative system. In the long run, the Transvaal and Orange will definitely implement democratic representative systems, so it is okay to prepare in advance. The key question is, are you prepared?
What to do? If a democratic representative system is implemented in the Transvaal, are you sure of defeating the Boers?" This is what Ade means by "be prepared". Even if a democratic representative system is implemented, the Boers cannot be in power.
At the very least, the Boers cannot be allowed to take power in the Transvaal.
The same unavoidable reason is that Britain launched the war for the gold in Johannesburg. Britain needed to use this gold to control world finance, so the gold in Transvaal was Britain's bottom line. In another time and space, although South Africa eventually gained autonomous status
, but gold from Johannesburg has been continuously shipped to London, which has strongly supported London to strengthen its position as the world's financial center.
"If the farmers in Johannesburg had the right to vote, then we could easily defeat the Boers." Rock showed his trump card.
"Chinese?" Ade's expression was complicated.
"Yes, Chinese." Roque answered honestly. He didn't mean to threaten him at all at this moment. The situation is just like this. Let's figure it out.
The farmers in Johannesburg today are not the same as the farmers in the Transvaal Republic.
During the Transvaal Republic, Boer farmers had large farms, usually several thousand acres in size.
Relatively speaking, the farms of Chinese farmers are much smaller. Normally, the farms of Chinese farmers are about 1,000 acres, and the small ones are only a few hundred acres, or even about a hundred acres. In this way, the land in Johannesburg
There has been no increase, in fact the number of farms has increased compared to the period of the Transvaal Republic.
The increase in farms means an increase in taxpayers, which also means an increase in voters. As long as Adelaide agrees to give the Chinese the right to vote, Rock really doesn't pay attention to the Boers in the Transvaal.
.
"You used to transport Chinese people to Johannesburg just for this day." Ade said lightly, looking at Roque with an unwavering gaze.
The calmer it gets, the weirder it becomes, and a warning signal rises in Rock's heart.
"No, when I arrived in Johannesburg, there were already Chinese workers in Johannesburg." Roque must be trying to shirk responsibility. Xiaosi can only bear the blame: "The living environment of the Chinese workers at that time was very harsh. They are my tribe. I
I definitely couldn't sit idly by. Later I learned that someone was selling Chinese labor to Johannesburg on a large scale. He was an American named Herbert Hoover. This American worked in the Kailuan Coal Mine of the Qing Dynasty. Most of the Chinese laborers were killed by Herbert Hoover.
Burt Hoover sold to De Beers Consolidated Mining Company. Well, Henry and I bought a gold mine at that time. It was a bit of a coincidence. We also needed workers in the gold mine, so "
If necessary, Rock can also bring out Nelson Holt and Kevin Trevicorn, but that is not necessary. With Stoudemire and Henry taking the blame together, this amount is enough.
After hearing this, Ade looked back at Roark and Henry with a look of hatred.
Rock and Henry are very honest now, both of them have honest faces.
"Look what you have done!" Ade was very angry, but also helpless. Everyone knew that the gold mines in Johannesburg were full of fat. Even the princes and nobles came to take a bite. Of course, the local officials in Johannesburg were no exception.
.
"You two are so short of money? One baron and one baron, such a large fief is not enough." Adelaide banged the dining table, and the tableware on the table jingled and jumped.
"I don't have a fief," Roque muttered in a low voice. A baron doesn't have a fief.
"What are you talking about?" Ade asked.
"Nothing" Rock pretends to be a chick.
"There is no land yet. What are the farms around Johannesburg? A land as big as Nyasaland is not enough? The Duke's land is not as much as yours." Ade kept talking, not noticing that he seemed to have gone off topic: "Also
You, your cement factory has been put into operation, right? The city government went to your factory to buy cement, but you dare not sell it. Where is the cement?"
Ade turned around and sprayed wildly at Henry.
"Locke took all the cement away." Henry immediately sold Rocke.
"I didn't know the city government wanted to buy it." Roque was really wrong. If Roque knew, he would definitely leave some money for the Pretoria City Council.
Cement is quite useful. Rich people use marble and granite to build their houses. Poor people cannot afford it, so they can only use wood.
In fact, wood is not cheap either. The cheapest material is cement. A piece of wood that takes decades to grow must cost more than a bag of almost costless cement. When cement was first produced, Henry pulled several carts there.
The Pretoria Police Station has hardened the playground inside the police station.
This was originally just to verify the performance of cement, but after inspecting the playground of the police station, Pretoria Mayor Mars Yates expressed his hope on the spot that all the ground in the church square would be hardened. As a result, Henry's answer was
The production is insufficient to provide enough cement.
Henry was a nobleman, and although Mars Yates was the mayor, there was nothing he could do against Henry. However, Mars Yates could sue, so Henry was in trouble.
"A baron, a baron, and two police chiefs, Pretoria and Johannesburg have become a mess for you." Ade continued, and Roque and Henry were dejected after being scolded.
Ten minutes later, Ade finally took a breath, and Rock immediately poured water.
Ade drank it all in one gulp, and then his expression was really complicated. He still knew how to pour water after being scolded for a long time. This is really disgusting.
"The farm was actually an accident. I know that the Chinese have a strong attachment to the land, so they use the farm as salary to the miners. The effect is very good. The farms in Johannesburg are developing rapidly. Those farmers have brought their families to Johannesburg. In Johannesburg
Even if they do not have the right to vote, they can generate taxes and enrich the agricultural product market in Johannesburg. Recently, Professor Douglas and I are trying to set up a textile factory. If it succeeds, then the textile industry may become another economic pillar of Johannesburg in the future.
." Roque didn't show any urgency, sometimes he would just fight if he didn't fight.
"Is the farm ready to produce wool?" Ade did not expect that the farm would develop so quickly. You must know that a few weeks ago, officials in Johannesburg were still seeking loans and subsidies for farms in Johannesburg.
"It was enough a few months ago. The Johannesburg farm raises Merino sheep, the latest breed bred by the Royal Agricultural College of Gloucester. It not only produces a lot of wool, but also has good quality. In the past, we sold the wool directly to the local market at a good price.
Not bad, but the money is very little, and with the freight, there is almost no profit, so Professor Douglas and I both believe that it is necessary to set up a textile factory in Johannesburg." Rock wants to rely on the economic card to impress Ade, and the address of the textile factory is actually
It has been chosen, it is on Scarlett's farm, there are enough workers there, and it is remote enough that it will not pollute Ziwei Town and Johannesburg.
