A bespectacled gentleman with a bushy beard greeted the group as they stepped off the wagon. He wore a light green coat that was not fully buttoned and drops of sweat were beading off his head.
"Gentlemen, it's a pleasure to see you," He smirked, stretching out a hand.
"Pleasure to see you too," Pretorius coolly matched his gesture and confidently shook his hand. Buttoned up in formal Victorian attire, the two men studied each other's appearances. A French Missionary who did not look like a missionary. And a trekker who traversed these dangerous lands full of hostile tribes was now decked out in the wear of a proper upper-class Victorian man.
The two men with appearances not befitting their daily lives made small talk and headed off to a separate room.
"I hope the malaria's been kind."
"Cinchona supplies have been low, but I have ordered additional supplies from Peru."
Casalis bit his lip, " The Peruvians just had to block their exports, jacking up the prices for everyone."
They discussed confusing matters that Jan could not comprehend as he followed behind them, following the Boer entourage who left their guns in the wagon. This was foreign soil, especially in the Kingdom of Lesotho. They could not keep their customs here. The men distracted themselves by eyeballing the various inhabitants, especially beautiful elves, but Jan tried to remember all he knew of the Xhosa.
There was little that went around. But the Xhosa Kingdom is splintered into various tribes under the ruling AmaXhosa. Due to the 6th Frontier Wars, the Kingdom is now fractured due to the loss. The ruling Queen Sarhili was struggling to assert her right to power and began a war with another Xhosa state, the Theumbu. Unfortunately, she lost and had to lick her wounds on the way out. Thus, she had little power remaining.
In the oncoming negotiations, it was obvious who had the higher position in the negotiation. There were many things the Boers could use to leverage the Xhosa on their side, but that is only if the other party is reasonable.
The moment they stepped into the room. An older-looking elf looked at the group and glared at every one of the humans individually. She barked off some words, and the missionary stammered to translate the words.
"She wished that I relay her words in her entirety, so I apologize for any rudeness," The missionary scratched the back of his head before gathering the courage to continue speaking, " Why the fuck did I come here just to see the killers of my people!"
Jan sighed, and the rest of the men acted as if they knew this was going to happen. They took their seats, and the elf barked out more words to an assistant who held a spear. But a missionary came in between them and urged her to soothe her anger.
As tensions were about to hit the boiling point, another elf stoically strolled into the room with an entourage of her men. She calmly sat in between the two groups, letting her eye lay on each of their faces, before letting her staff rest against her seat.
Saying some words in her language, Casalis translated her words," Her majesty wishes both groups to have a fruitful discussion."
The Xhosa Elf was about to retort to her words but stayed her mouth at the last second.
Casalis awkwardly looked toward the Boer group, and the Boer group could only awkwardly look at him. Both didn't want to look at the overly hostile Xhosa group. It was not because of the many elves wielding spears keeping the distance behind the matriarchs. The Boers felt naked without their guns and meekly smiled at them.
For all her show of hostility, the Xhosa Matriarch was calm to explain her grievances towards the Boers. Before the sixth frontier wars, a group of Boer Commandoes slaughtered a Xhosa chieftess. Such an action calling for escalation led to the war in the first place.
Praetorius rebutted that it was because they launched cattle raids on those Boers seeking to live a peaceful life.
To that, the matriarch replied that those men were doing so on land belonging to them.
The short story was about the end of the war, a group of Boers settled the new lands gained by that war. And they were well-armed, for they had guns as well as men on horseback enjoying the fruits of Xhosa labour.
"What am I supposed to do about that? That's none of my jurisdiction. Those are another group of trekkers, and they even have British backing. There's nothing I can do," Praetorius shook his shoulders.
The translator sighed and futilely shook their head side to side as he carefully uttered her following words, "Then the raids on men passing by Xhosa land continue."
"This and that is different. These men and women are seeking for land to settle. They have no intentions to settle in Xhosa land, so why open fire on these men?"
"Without the reminder that their lives could be forfeited at any time, they will eventually settle in our lands. For example, remember the group of Boers that settled in these lands belonging to her majesty?" The Xhosa matriarch looked towards the Lesotho Queen who nodded at her words.
"They didn't leave even when her majesty allowed them to rest on her lands for the time being. But did they respect her majesty's words? No. They spat on her face by even constructing a proper settlement. Without intervention by another group of Boers, would they have even bothered to move? Better not give them a chance to lust after our lands!"
"Most of these men aren't interested in fighting. It's already dangerous traversing from the Cape to the Elfrican interior. Land that is difficult to obtain such as Xhosa land is undesirable to these people."
The two bickered about the same things using the missionaries speaking on their behalf. It felt very strange to argue with one another even if they were brothers serving the same cause, especially for the missionaries who looked away from each other gazes as they translated their words.
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
The two groups decided to take a short break from one another. Praetorius could only sigh as he took a sip of water from his canteen, knowing what the outcome was to be. But Jan did not give up, and he struck up a chat with Praetorius.
"I don't think it's going to work. Those Xhosa aren't going to listen to reason," Praetorius shook his head, anticipating Jan's words.
"How about giving them firearms?" Jan smirked.
"Firearms? What's going to stop them from using them against us? Do you know how many people go on the trek? Are you going to make their lives harder?"
"It's not as if they don't respect an agreement. Just as that elf said, they accept that they lost their land away in the Frontier wars. I'm sure they will respect an agreement. Their main grief is with the Cape Colony. I doubt they will be looking for trouble with the Republic considering how they want their land back."
"I hate this idea," Praetorius scowled, before continuing, "Don't think I don't know that you supplied weapons to the Zulu. They can't be trusted. Give them too many weapons and nothing is stopping them from using them against you."
"Their main problem isn't us. It's the Empire to their North. The Gaza Empire was ruled by those who fled during Shaka's conquest. I'm sure they would be looking for their revenge."
"But to the Gaza Empire's North is the Portuguese. So, the weapons are most likely going to be used against us."
"Come on, Praetorius. Those guns we are giving to the Xhosa are going to shaft over the British! Don't you like screwing them over? Especially since they refused to hand over Port Natal no matter how many times you go to negotiate with them."
Praetorius frowned and took some time to think before retorting, "Those guns are going to be turned onto fellow Boers first. There is no shafting of the British here."
"So what, those men are effectively working for British interests. Besides, those guns are never going to be turned towards us. Their main target is Cape Colony. Plus…" Jan leaned in to whisper.
"I don't think they will be able to put up much of a fight." Jan leaned back and watched Praetorius' still sceptical expression.
"We shall see how open they are to the idea. But let this be known, every human who knows who supplied them the guns will want you dead because I will not be giving them myself."
"Fine by me."
Jan laughed internally. They were a bunch of slaveowners and here they acted as if being an arms dealer was the biggest taboo in the world. Just as Jan had first thought up back in the Volksraad, wasn't now the best to become an arms dealer especially since the various groups in Elfrica had so many grievances with one another? Building up a domestic arms industry would be the best idea, he couldn't rely on the cultivator's artisan method of production. He needed a proper factory with Ford's assembly line of production to maximize output.
So, the two carried on into the second round of discussions. Which was more bickering back and forth about how my ancestor or distant relative is dead because of you.
The other side would go with a 'You dare' as seen in the generic Cultivation novels. Praetorius threw in the towel and did not want the discussion to be a waste of time. It was not days they took to come here; it was weeks!
"Are you interested in firearms?" Praetorius looked towards Jan, and he joined him by his side.
The Xhosa Matriarch seemed disinterested.
Praetorius stuck out his index finger and thumb and pointed it to her, declaring, "Bang Bang?"
She leaned forward, clasping her hands together.
Jan saw this as his cue to speak so he went into his sales pitch, "I understand that most of the firearms you have been stolen from the various raids you've conducted. But how about a steady supply?"
The matriarch spoke up and Jan read her expression as a simple, "Why?". Why are you offering them the firearms?
"See this as an exchange of trust. We have no interest in harming you or your fellow people. All we want is for our people to be safe and sound during their trek. We don't mind if you open fire on those who dared to settle your lands. We even encourage it, none of them should dare to settle on your lands. You know the power of firearms. You understand how you were outmatched by them completely. How your spears could not even reach them and the next thing you know, the comrade next to you is dead. That's the kind of power firearms bring. And we don't mind if you have it."
The translator struggled to translate some of Jan's words, but the matriarch seemed to get the message.
One simple reply was translated back, "Price?"
Jan's lips curled up. He got her hook, line and sinker.
"What do you have?"
It took some time for the reply to come back.
"Cattle, maize, sheep."
Jan's mouth dropped.
He gets plenty of these already from the Zulu, why would he need anymore? He thought maybe they would have secret gold reserves or something, but they were only willing to offer what every other tribe offered.
He caressed his forehead, before silently chiding himself for not following proper decorum. He tapped his fingers on the table, thinking of a good reply. Jan looked towards Praetorius, who grinned as if already knew how their interaction would go.
No matter how one thought about it, exchanging firearms for cattle and maize was not worth it. They were precious commodities in these parts since conflicts are common. Still, more of such goods could not hurt. To transition to an industrialized economy, cheap sources of food will have to be sourced. Oversupplying the markets with cheap food with help, although those subsistence farmers would probably lynch him once they knew of his ideas. That still didn't change it was a horrible deal no matter how much he thought of it.
On that thought, industrialized economies needed tons of labour to feed the factories. Boers were a minority on these lands, so he could only rely on the natives.
"We can discuss trade later. But I will only be interested if a one-way migration treaty is signed between both parties. My people do not have the right to migrate to your lands. You can chase them out if you wish, but your people should be free to settle in my lands if they wish."
Jan waited for the missionaries to finish their translations of his words and let confusion set in the matriarch's face. She mouthed out words to the missionary who took some time to ponder her words before replying. What was once confusion returned to coolness as the missionary translated, "Deal."
In one word, a simple one-way migration treaty was signed. As Jan held the papers in his hand, he could feel the oncoming headaches this single paper would cause. A Xhosa criminal fleeing in our lands? Should we do something? We didn't sign an extradition treaty though, so sorry.
Dumping the work on trade on Russell and his bureaucrats, he convened with Pretorius who discussed the day's events.
"You think you might be getting a good deal, but think again," Pretorius put a hand on Jan's shoulder before elaborating, "She's not some big shot. That elf was only a councillor on the Xhosa's Kingdom throne. She might have much influence or none. I think it's the latter, cause why would such a person participate in such talks?"
"It's true that every deal made here might be meaningless. But those firearms aren't going into the void. She's not going to be some random nobody on the Queen's Councillor anymore if she equips an entire brigade of men with firearms."
Pretorius slanted his eyes.
"You barely know a thing about her. For all you know, from the behaviour she displayed in this meeting, I don't think I want to equip such a person with firearms."
Pretorius walked off, letting Jan alone in his thoughts.
"All these possible deals, yet we lack all the resources. We need mines, iron mines! All the food we get from exporting these firearms would depress the incomes of the subsistence farmers. They'll need jobs!" Russell ranted his complaints about the situation.
"We lack men with expertise. We need land surveyors. Elfrica is a land with rich natural resources, and our farms are barely scratching the surface. Perhaps a foreign company would be interested in looking in the land."
Russell paused to think before adding on.
"I don't think mining should be done in our lands. Port Mpande is limited, and further land grabs would lead to conflicts with the other Commandoes. I don't think worsening our relationship with Pretorius is wise after all."
"What do you propose?"
"It's obvious. We should survey Zulu lands. If possible, mining spots are located, and we can obtain precious minerals to fund our arms industries. Plus, the Zulu will have more goods to offer us instead of cattle and maize or leopard skin. I'm not a fan of the leopard skin, and there are few buyers among the populace. It's likely popular in foreign markets."
Jan nodded his head.
"I doubt anyone has that kind of expertise. Although more arms will be needed to please the Zulu Princess, we could work something out. But we will need a mining company. There's a dime of dozen new companies in the Cape. They're cheap, but the quality of labour is questionable. A foreign company would be the best but they would take a big cut of potential earnings… No."
Jan scratched his chin, before elaborating.
"What if we found a motherload of minerals? They could ask their home countries for military assistance to possess it. No. Look into the mining companies by the Cape and find a company with some experience finding mining spots."
Russell nodded and wrote down some notes for himself.