Alfred Milner was a qualified colonial official, he was capable and stubborn, pragmatic and efficient.
When the Boers were arrogant and ignorant, Alfred Milner used war to maintain the supreme authority of the British Empire.
After the war, Alfred Milner led the negotiations with the Boers and signed the "Peace of Vereeniging" with Boer representatives, personally ending the war he started.
Later, Alfred Milner also played a key role in the post-war economic recovery. He encouraged economic development, especially gold mining, hoping to attract British residents to permanently settle in the Transvaal.
This gave him a demographic advantage over the Boers; at the same time, he also carried out educational reforms and taught all classes in English in an attempt to eliminate the Boers culturally.
Milner's plan was not smooth sailing. Although the Boers were resettled, they strongly opposed educational reform. During the long post-war depression, British residents left one after another, and there were very few new immigrants.
By then, reality will naturally force Alfred Milner to make a choice.
So Rock is really not in a hurry now. Britain's fatal flaw is its serious shortage of human resources and too many overseas colonies. If Alfred Milner wants to develop the Transvaal, he will have to rely on the outside population. By then, Alfred
Fred Milner would find that the Chinese were the most suitable for the Transvaal.
Back at the police station, Rock called Buck and Sam.
"From now on, publicize the benefits of buying farms among miners. Buck, your Guangdong and Guangxi Guildhall will expand its scale and prepare to lend money to miners who want to buy farms but have insufficient funds." Roque wants to speed up the pace. After the peace negotiations are signed,
, the Boers will return to the Transvaal in large numbers, and Rock must increase the base of homesteaders and farmers as much as possible before the Boers return.
Buck and Sam have become accustomed to Rock's way of doing things, so they don't even ask why, they just go back and implement it resolutely.
"Director Henry—" Sam was still a little worried.
After the Rock Gold Mine began mining, Rock was no longer involved in the management of the Matilda Gold Mine.
Sam still sends the accounts of the Matilda Gold Mine to Rock for review every week, but Rock has expressed less and less opinions. On some routine issues, Rock will also ask Sam to report to Henry. p>
Sam knew very well that Rock was trying to avoid suspicion. For the Matilda gold mine, Rock almost forced Arnold away. If Rock shows his dictatorship again now, not to mention Henry, the mayor will definitely treat Rock
Anyone with opinions.
"Don't worry, I'll explain it to Henry - another thing you should pay attention to is that regarding taxes, you must never evade taxes. Even if you are avoiding taxes, you must do it legally and reasonably, and don't let others take advantage of you, Sam, especially you.
Over there, don't cause trouble for the Baron." Rock reminded again that the Internal Affairs Office had already given enough face to the Rock Gold Mine and Matilda Gold Mine when confirming the output. It would be too much if they still want to evade taxes.
I don’t know what is good or bad.
Regarding the Locke Gold Mine, Locke is not very worried. After all, the output of the Locke Gold Mine is only a small amount, and it is not much to pay the full tax.
Instead, it was the Matilda Gold Mine that worried Rock even more.
Although Sam is a smarter person and will not cause trouble for the mayor at this juncture.
But when faced with the temptation of gold, few people can control themselves. Mr. Mayor and Henry are also human beings, not to mention troublemakers like Arnold. If one day a tax evasion scandal breaks out in the Matilda Gold Mine, Luo
Not surprised at all.
It would have been easy to say that in the past, even if the Matilda Gold Mine evaded taxes, the tax department in Johannesburg would have turned a blind eye.
Now even the Government House is beginning to pay attention to this issue. Rock believes that Alfred Milner will definitely keep an eye on the gold mines in Johannesburg during this period. As long as someone comes to the door, Alfred Milner will definitely kill the chicken.
Monkey watch.
"Yes, I know." Sam still knew the importance. During the Transvaal Republic, the mine owners in Johannesburg could blatantly evade taxes. The Transvaal Republic was limited by its capabilities and had no way at all.
The British are different from the Boers. The British government spent hundreds of millions of pounds and deployed hundreds of thousands of regular troops just for the gold mines in Johannesburg. If anyone dares to evade taxes again, the Governor-General will definitely kill him.
——
After arriving in Johannesburg, Holly and Connie settled down at Locke Gold Mine.
Rock kept his promise and let Holly learn to manage the gold mine from Buck, while Connie lived in the gold mine and raised her baby comfortably.
Only then did Holly know how much his annual salary was.
An annual salary of 700 pounds is considered a high salary in Britain in this era.
Take the British Treasury in London as an example. The annual salary of 700 pounds is similar to the annual salary of the Deputy Director of the Treasury and higher than all the directors. Philip Matilda, as a baronet, serves as the director of the Department of Colonial Affairs.
The annual salary is only 1,200 pounds.
At the beginning of the 20th century, the total population of the UK was about 37.5 million, and only about 150,000 people could get an annual salary of 700 pounds. So Holly is now a middle class with a higher income. Even counting Connie and little Annie, the Holly family
The average income is also well into the middle class.
The "150,000" here refers to the British mainland. In the Transvaal, there are even fewer people who can get an annual salary of 700 pounds. Rock's annual salary as police chief is only about 700 pounds. p>
In addition to the salary and position, the farm and employees promised by Rock were also in place. Christian sent 20 Zulu people to Holly as employees on the farm, and two Boer women to Holly as servants in Holly's family.
Servant.
Holly felt flattered. He had never thought that he, a Chinese, would one day be able to manipulate white people.
Connie quickly got into the role. As a white person, she had no mental barriers to hiring servants.
"The boss helped us buy a 500-acre farm, not far from the gold mine. If anything happens on the farm, once the gun is fired, the mine security will arrive in five minutes at most, and the house will be built immediately, including the foundation and walls.
The materials used are all marble. After the house is built, you and Annie will move to the farm. Your boss bought us ten cows and fifty sheep. The milk you and Annie drink these days is from the farm.
——" Holly will be at home with Connie whenever she has time.
Holly and Connie live in a dormitory on the second floor of the office building. Each dormitory here has a spacious balcony. Apart from anything else, Connie's safety is guaranteed when she lives here.
"How much did it cost in total?" Connie's English was also broken.
It's amazing, a Chinese and a Dutch, two people formed a family in the Transvaal, but they can only communicate in English.
This is the generation of Holly and Connie. After establishing a relationship with Connie, Holly will teach little Annie to learn Chinese whenever he has time. Little Annie's Chinese level is already pretty good now. Although she can't read and write, she can already communicate with Holly.
Communicate in Chinese.
"I don't know. I didn't say anything, and I didn't ask." Holly wouldn't ask how much it was. The money can be repaid, but the friendship will never be repaid in this life.
"Thank God for giving you a good boss——" Connie clasped her hands——
No, it's not the Buddhist clasping of hands, but the fingers of both hands are interlaced on the chest, and the hands are clasped, more like clasping hands.
"God will not give me a job to help us buy a farm." Holly is not a Christian.
"It's God who allows you to meet your boss." Connie is a fanatical believer.
"Everything you say is right." Holly didn't dwell on this issue. Connie had the biggest child in her belly.
"How's the farm going?" Connie can't help now, but she still cares when she should.
"Mr. Douglas is on the farm, don't worry." Holly doesn't care about the farm's income, or in other words, Holly hasn't realized the value of the farm yet.
Douglas is a professor at the Royal Agricultural College of Gloucester, which was founded in 1845. The royal family owns shares in the college, so it is called the "Royal Agricultural College".
In order to invite Douglas to Johannesburg, Rock offered an annual salary of 400 pounds, plus a position on the Johannesburg Agriculture Committee.
Putting aside the position, the annual salary of 400 pounds was double Douglas's salary at the Royal Agricultural College, so Douglas immediately gave up his job at the Royal Agricultural College and came to Johannesburg with his two students.
So now Douglas is not only an agricultural expert, but also a Transvaal official.
Does it look familiar?
Yes, same as Nelson Holt.
With Douglas's guidance, Holly's farm is making rapid progress. Rock bought horses, farm tools, seeds, and - fertilizers for Holly's farm!
Unexpectedly, in 1901, there were already synthetic fertilizers in the world.
Although the only chemical fertilizers in this era are urea and phosphate fertilizers, which are not the common compound fertilizers in the 21st century, chemical fertilizers are definitely a huge progress for agriculture. The same wheat, without the use of chemical fertilizers, can produce only two to three hundred kilograms per mu.
, this is still under the premise of intensive cultivation.
With chemical fertilizers, the wheat yield per mu can easily reach 700 to 800 kilograms, which means that the same land area can easily feed twice the population after using chemical fertilizers.
Entering the 20th century, the population began to grow explosively, and chemical fertilizers played a major role.
With enough land, enough horses and fertilizers, and advanced technology, the future of the Transvaal will have more possibilities.
"When the child is born, I will live on the farm. You have to work hard for the boss. I will pray for you and the boss." Although Connie didn't know why Rock valued the farm so much, it was enough as long as Rock valued the farm.
.
"You don't have to say -" Holly laughed. Connie didn't need to remind her of this. When Connie gave birth to the child, Holly would be worthy of his ancestors and would have no regrets in this life. Holly will spend his whole life repaying the debt he owes Rock.