He Became Napoleon’S Genius Son [EN]: Chapter 544

Extracurricular (22) Joubert Conquers the Cape of Good Hope with the Diamond Riot

In the early 19th century, an adventurer who had crossed one continent was now traversing another.

“It’s so hot and full of flies here. Yikes!”

Joubert wiped sweat from his brow, flinching from the heat and the persistent insects.

This place was far south of the equator.

So, with the Northern Hemisphere in winter, this land was even hotter.

The flies, which Joubert would have found merely annoying in Europe, were particularly bothersome here.

A farmer guiding the way clicked his tongue.

“Be careful, monsieur [French sir]. If those flies bite you, you’ll die in your sleep.”

“I’ve heard of them. Tsetse flies, right? I’m not going to die of sleeping sickness!”

“Anyway, why did you come all the way here?”

Joubert whistled at the farmer’s question.

“For the diamonds, of course.”

The farmer looked dumbfounded.

Diamonds, the hardest stones in the world.

Until the 18th century, they weren’t actually the most expensive jewels.

They were only found in India, and in Europe, rubies and sapphires were considered more precious, while jade was more expensive in the East.

However, the situation changed with the development of cutting techniques.

That’s when the infamous cursed diamond, soon to be known as the Hope Diamond, entered the French court.

Of course, now it’s owned by the Bonaparte family, not the Bourbons.

New sources of diamonds were discovered in India, and more broadly, in Brazil from the 18th century.

Southern Africa.

It was just a rumor among adventurers, but some claimed to have seen diamonds.

The farmer, who had never actually seen a diamond, clicked his tongue.

“You’d risk your life for such shiny stones?”

“What’s so strange about that? Hendrick, wasn’t it? Your ancestors came all the way from the Netherlands to this distant southern tip of Africa to earn gold and silver?”

“They came for pepper. Not lumps of metal. Well, now I farm here.”

The farmer, Hendrick, replied nonchalantly, pushing through the forest.

“Anyway, you probably won’t find the stones you want, monsieur.”

This place is inland, even for South Africa.

The first Europeans to explore South Africa were the Portuguese.

But as Portugal declined, the Dutch took their place.

In particular, many people who were nominally Dutch but actually French Huguenots [French Protestants] immigrated.

So, going back, Hendrick, who is of Dutch descent, might also be of French origin.

But why would the Dutch, a maritime people, come inland to farm?

Because of the great maritime shift during the Revolution.

At that time, England took advantage of the chaos of the French Revolution.

Under the pretext of helping the Dutch Stadtholder [Head of State], who was under attack by France, they seized Dutch colonies everywhere.

That’s when they took over the important sea routes to the Indian Ocean, including South Africa.

Hendrick and other Dutch immigrants were among those who moved inland at that time.

Having settled in South Africa for nearly a century, it was difficult to return to Europe.

So now they live as farmers, relying on the good soil of South Africa.

Occasionally fighting with African tribes.

“That’s for me to decide. Wait.”

Joubert stopped at the riverbank where the forest disappeared and grassland appeared.

A little boy was playing.

He seemed to be Dutch, judging by his white skin.

But what he was holding was unusual.

Joubert approached the boy and asked in Dutch.

“Little boy, what are you playing with?”

“Uh, I won’t give it to you. It’s mine!”

“No, just show it to me. And then…”

Joubert held out a gold coin.

“I’ll give you this.”

A gold coin with the face of Emperor Eugene.

Even if this place is far from Europe, it’s the same everywhere there is civilization.

Gold is valuable.

The boy instinctively exclaimed.

“Wow, it’s shiny!”

“Good heavens! What are you giving the child? That’s a gold coin!”

“If it’s the stone I think it is, gold is not the issue. Hendrick Kruger! Here, boy! I’ll give you ten gold coins!”

Joubert tossed the coins, and the boy happily caught them, shouting.

“I’ll give it to you! I like shiny lumps of metal!”

In any case, gold coins are naturally more valuable than shiny stones.

But what Joubert wants to confirm is something else.

If this is really that stone, then that stone is buried nearby.

Hendrick Kruger swallowed hard, realizing what was happening.

“Could it really be?”

“You’re looking at it.”

“No, I mean, if that’s a diamond.”

Joubert put on his monocle and looked at the stone, grinning.

“A diamond rush is about to begin in this land. Monsieur Kruger! Congratulations, you’re going to be in the diamond mine business!”

Kruger was congratulated by Joubert, but then tilted his head.

“Me, me, me?”

“Of course. Do you know who makes money when mining gold or silver?”

“The mine owner, right? You should go buy it right away. But, isn’t the ruling tribe in this area the Zulu?”

But Joubert firmly denied it.

“No! It’s the people who sell the miners food, lodging, and clothes. Like you. Hahaha!”

Of course, the mine owner makes the most money.

But like gold mines, there’s no guarantee that diamond mines will produce ore forever.

Furthermore, minerals don’t just come out anywhere.

On the other hand, the business of supporting miners is endless.

Kruger realized this and shouted with joy.

“Now we’re going to get rich with diamonds!”

The free people of the Orange River who fled from the British.

New hope has arisen for the Orange people.

***

But hope is always trampled by power.

-Clank, bang!

Redcoats, soldiers in red uniforms, were lined up.

They were only supposed to be seen in Cape Town on the coast.

The inland was said to be dangerous due to epidemics and teeming with African natives, so they didn’t even come close.

But suddenly, they pushed all the way to the Orange River area.

A black-clad minister stood in front of the Redcoats and shouted.

“This entire diamond mine area of the Orange River belongs to our Great British Empire!”

This was unbelievable to the Orange people.

First of all, Britain had never extended its dominion to the Orange River area.

Above all, isn’t this the land that the Orange people pioneered themselves?

“What nonsense! Who are you!”

“I, John Bailey, have been commissioned by His Majesty the King of England to govern the Cape Colony. Furthermore, this inland area also belongs to our Cape Colony!”

“We, the free citizens of the Orange, do not follow the King of England!”

Then a breech-loading rifle [an early type of rifle that could be loaded from the rear] was aimed at the protester.

-Bang!

The first to resist dies first.

This is the fate that those who resist the empire must face.

The farmers, who had only lived by the Orange River, were terrified.

The minister, John Bailey, sternly shouted.

“Then you have no choice but to die! By the will of God!”

In front of the soldiers, in fact, in front of the guns, the Orange free people could not resist.

-Bang! Bang! Bang!

A village swept through by Redcoat soldiers.

The farmers knelt down, weeping.

In fact, what was taken away was the diamond ore and minerals that did not originally exist.

But people are inherently attached to what they once had.

At that time, the adventurer Joubert appeared in Orange Town.

“Hmm, are you alright? Monsieur Kruger?”

“It’s unfair! We were robbed of the diamonds we worked so hard to mine, and even the gold!”

“Africa is truly a blessed land. Finding gold mines so easily.”

Joubert grinned at Kruger, the leader of Orange Town.

“Then, we have to get back what was taken, right?”

Kruger looked at Joubert with a dumbfounded expression.

Hadn’t he just seen it?

That those who resist are all killed.

“How on earth?”

“By fighting.”

“But the other side is the soldiers of the Great British Empire. We can’t possibly stand up to them.”

In the original history, diamonds were discovered in the 1860s.

Instead, the guns that the Orange free people would have to face would not be breech-loading rifles, but machine guns.

In any case, it is a difficult opponent for the free people who have lived peacefully, in fact, violently only against the African natives.

But Joubert grinned and snapped his fingers.

“Okay, everyone, bring them out!”

Behind Joubert, this time men in blue uniforms appeared.

-Ppoo-oong!

Along with steam cars.

While the Orange free people blinked, the men placed boxes loaded on the steam cars on the ground.

The moment the box opened, Kruger was startled.

Guns.

Joubert took off his hat and waved it, looking at the residents of Orange Town.

“I’m late with my introduction. Barthelemy Joubert, the foremost adventurer in France, with the title of Count of Irkutsk [a city in Russia near Siberia].”

Kruger doesn’t know where Irkutsk is.

But he knows the name Joubert.

Because he is the foremost adventurer of the time.

“The Trans-Siberian? You?”

“Unfortunately, I’ve never been to my territory in Siberia. I’ve been to Alaska, though.”

“Good heavens, the man who crossed the globe from east to west has come all the way here?”

The man who successfully completed the unprecedented east-west crossing from Quebec to Alaska, across the Bering Strait to Siberia, and then to Europe.

A writer who wrote a bestseller about his adventures, even immigrants who are unfamiliar with European news have heard of him.

Europe’s greatest adventurer, Joubert, laughed and asked.

“I was thinking of trying a north-south crossing too. So, how about it? Would you like to go on a new adventure with me?”

If he were just a simple explorer, it would be useless to join hands.

But the Orange free people now realized who was behind Joubert.

It is the French Empire.

“If it’s an adventure to drive out the invaders, I’m in!”

Now it’s time for the Orange free people to fight back.

***

Cape Town rains often.

-Pitter-patter!

A fortress in rainy Cape Town.

Drunk Redcoat soldiers were having a party.

In the middle of the banquet hall, there were many shining things.

Diamonds and gold.

“All of this is ours!”

“Good. Diamonds, gold, and they say there’s coal here too?”

“Southern Africa is the best! Wahaha!”

At that moment, something broke through the window and entered.

-Swoosh, bang!

Instantly, smoke filled the banquet hall.

“Ugh!”

“What is it, a grenade!”

“How did something that only exists in Europe get here!”

The latest gunpowder weapon, a grenade, had exploded.

Even the British garrison in Cape Town had not been supplied with such items.

Suddenly, a voice shouting in French was heard from outside the window.

“Orange free people, rise up! Drive out the invading British!”

Soon after, farmers with rifles rushed in.

-Waaaa!

The grenades exploded, and immediately a bayonet charge was launched.

A tactic already abandoned in Europe.

But it is still valid here in Africa.

The agitator Joubert watched from behind, grinning.

“Now then. Shall we go get the diamonds!”

Cape Town, a colony that guards the British sea route.

It was the day the French imperial flag was hung there.

Of course, diamonds were the most important income.