African Entrepreneurship Records

  Chapter 216 The future can be expected

   "Hmph! These Germans are too careless! They don't say hello, they really don't care about our Kingdom of Portugal!" Yaris said to his subordinates indignantly.

   "President, what are you going to do?"

   "Do? What to do? We are just a chamber of commerce, and the other side is the army! Are you going to hit the rocks?"

   "Do you want to contact the government and let them settle the Germans?"

"Do you count on those wine bags and rice bags in the rear? Today's Portuguese young people have long lost the vigor of the Portuguese Kingdom! If they hadn't been timid, they should have offended the Sultanate of Zanzibar and kept the Germans out. Now the Germans It has already become a trend in Africa, and I am afraid that the whole of Mozambique is no match for the Germans."

   "President, don't be so pessimistic! We have developed in Africa for hundreds of years, and the Germans only came to East Africa three years ago."

"Bah! Remember it for me, when looking at problems in the future, you must grasp the key points and don't look at problems with old eyes." Yaris taught: "I ask you, why did Portugal give up expanding inland these years? "

"this?"

   "It's not because of incapacity. Not only the colonies are not good, but even the kingdom itself is not good. I will put this sentence here. East Africa can now have a well-organized army in the interior, but we can't do it."

   "President, this shouldn't be difficult!"

"Of course it's not difficult, but you don't even look at the level of Mozambique's garrison. It's difficult to fight even a native in these years. The Germans have even produced cavalry now. They must have more troops in East Africa. They are indeed Prussian barbarians. , When I think of their mobilization ability, I am afraid, the number should not be large, 50,000 Germans are enough to drink a pot for all the kingdom's African colonies."

  After careful consideration, the Kazenbe Chamber of Commerce chose to forbear, but still sent a letter to the Mozambique government to explain the situation.

  …

  Time waits for no one. After the cavalry battalion set off, other troops from East Africa also began to pour into the area of ​​the "pocket" plan.

  The arsenal in East Africa is also speeding up its progress, refurbishing second-hand ordnance, and distributing weapons to newly landed immigrants.

  After several sweeps in East Africa, now in the hinterland of East Africa, because the aborigines are extinct, there are not so many guns, so most of them are taken back, and a few are left for the security team to deal with wild animals.

  A steady stream of armed immigrants will go all the way to Zambia, creating conditions for East Africa to completely occupy the "pocket" area.

At the same time, the construction of the telegraph line extending from Mbeya to East Katanga has also begun to ensure smooth communication. When the Kazenmbe Chamber of Commerce was still sending messages to Mozambique by letter, East Africa had already used telegrams to send the news back to the first town.

  …

   In a blink of an eye, 1869 came to the end of the year again.

  The statistical data this time will be collected in the hands of Prince Constantine and Ernst at the same time.

  The immigrant population in East Africa this year reached 2.453 million, among which the newborn group achieved outstanding results, reaching more than 200,000.

In terms of territorial expansion, it is mainly in the west, mainly the Mitumba Mountains, the area between Lake Solon and the Lualaba River, about 300,000 to 400,000 square kilometers, and there is an ongoing advance into the Great Southwest. If it is completed At least 600,000 square kilometers of new land will be added next year. In addition, the land in the Omo River Basin has been eroded in the north, which means that the territory of East Africa may exceed 3 million square kilometers by April next year.

  In the field of industry, the East African Railway Company and a large number of mines that have introduced equipment will drive the development of the mining industry in East Africa. In addition to Mbeya, minerals near the Great Lakes can also be developed.

In terms of agriculture, as of November 30, 1869, the statistical data shows that the development is quite satisfactory. The cultivated land development has reached more than 25.5 million mu, mainly based on the expansion of the original cultivated land. score.

  This year, the newly developed land is mainly rice and other food crops, wheat has little change, and the output of corn, soybeans, and potatoes has increased significantly.

  The total grain output exceeds 2.5 billion catties, or about 1.25 million tons.

The per capita output is about twice that of Italy, but in addition to food crops, East Africa also has large-scale commercial crops. At the same time, it has to remove the large area of ​​cassava planted for the indigenous people to solve the rations. This thing has a very high yield and is not the staple food of East Africans. , so it is not included in the statistics, which Italy does not have.

  East Africa's population is close to one-tenth of Italy's population after removing the indigenous population. Italy's population is about 25 million.

  Although East Africa is close to or even surpasses Italy in some fields, Italy has accumulated for thousands of years, so only relying on agricultural and population data, East Africa cannot reach one-tenth of Italy's national strength.

  As the Paraguay War is coming to an end, next year Ernst will introduce some immigrants from impoverished areas of Italy to replace this part of the gap.

  Sicily is an important source. Although Sicily, like people in the far southeast, prefers to form associations, but in East Africa, all of them will be diluted, and it is enough to prevent them from gathering together.

Now East African villages can be said to have become very complete. There is no so-called ethnic gathering place. According to the template, the living places of all people are scattered. That is to say, your neighbors may be immigrants from any other area, except that they are not from the same area. immigrants.

   Neighbors are forced to communicate and integrate with each other, and the common language is German, and finally a new German-speaking nation will be produced.

  In addition to the newly occupied land, the road construction in East Africa is basically completed, and the main arterial road can connect all cities and villages. The next step for "labor" will be transferred to the construction of mines, railways and large-scale water conservancy projects.

  The above data show that East Africa already has a national foundation. If it develops smoothly, East Africa will become an agricultural and mining exporter with the help of transportation, mining, and agricultural production in the year after next.

  Now that the Suez Canal has been opened, Ernst intends to strengthen cooperation with the Austrian royal family, focusing on Austria, not the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Strengthening Austria's right to speak is equivalent to strengthening Germany's right to speak, which is equivalent to strengthening East Africa's right to speak.

  East Africa’s mineral and agricultural resources to accelerate the development of the Austrian region are very important to Ernst. It is dangerous to regard Prussia as the big brother, and Austria has no such hidden danger when Hungary is holding back.

   After all, with the size of East Africa, it is impossible for Austria to eat it. A Hungary is enough to torture. It is difficult to build a three-dimensional empire.

  At the same time, East Africa will establish an independent country next year, which must be recognized by the world powers, so it is very important for the Austrian royal family to take the lead. It is basically stable when it is fiddled with by Prussia, Romania and a bunch of German states.

  As for Ernst's transfer of profits to Austria, what Prussia thinks, the wording is ready-made. Austria is the closest to East Africa, and the Suez Canal directly opened up the trade route between the two countries. Everyone is a German country and should help each other.

   Moreover, the Prussian royal family is also the Hohenzollern family. Hechingen's development in East Africa is a good thing for the Hohenzollern family, and it is also convenient for the Prussian government to take back some of the rights of the former Prince of Hechingen (Europe).

  Every aspect has been taken care of, so naturally there is no opposition. As for other countries, there are only Britain, the United States and Tsarist Russia. The relationship between East Africa and Tsarist Russia is not bad, and there are no conflicts of interest.

The United States is currently busy fighting with the United Kingdom and Spain, and the United Kingdom should also pay attention to the situation of popularizing the law. As for France, his attitude is actually not important. By this time next year, there should be a new government. The government can make a bet, and since East Africa is poor and remote, France may not intervene in East Africa.

  (end of this chapter)