African Entrepreneurship Records

Chapter 549 Bicycle Industry

 The key content of East African history courses can be roughly divided into two categories, one is the history of the Far East, and the other is the history of Rome and the Holy Roman Empire.

This is not intentional. In the final analysis, the ancient history of the world is mainly the history of Eurasia, plus North Africa. East Africa will certainly not deliberately promote the history of the Arab region. As for the history of India, just listen to it as myth.

The Germans have very little history, and they can indeed be related to the ancient Germans. However, the ancient Germans were pure barbarians to Rome, and after all, Britain, France, Germany, and Austria and other countries are all related to the ancient Germans. After all, the West The fall of the Roman Empire was caused by the ancient Germans, so it is better to directly graft the history of the Roman Empire and the history of the Holy Roman Empire.

But these have nothing to do with East Africa. East Africa just needs the experiences and lessons behind history to prevent the prevalence of historical nihilism or pseudo-historical theory in the future.

 Learning from history, this is not difficult for people from the Far East in the past. They can occasionally learn from it when they encounter problems in life, but it is very difficult for many countries that lack history.

Of course, there are also some countries that deliberately conceal their history and cover up their national crimes. Then they will still follow the same path at some point in the future, because their descendants have not accepted the correct historical values, and repeating the same mistakes is inevitable.

This is also the reason why Ernst will not deny the colonial history of East Africa in the future. A merit is a merit and a fault is a fault. Anyway, it only serves to give enough warning to future generations of East Africans.

Just like the modern history of humiliation of the Far Eastern Empire, it is also an important reason why the Far Eastern Empire can shine in the 21st century. At least let them know that if they fall behind, they will be beaten.

The development path of East Africa is too smooth, and it has not encountered any major setbacks. It may also cause misunderstandings for East African citizens in the future, so it is good to learn from the historical moments of others.

For example, the Soviet Union, in Ernst’s view, developed too smoothly in the early stage, but if it did not meet expectations later, the entire country collapsed.

When the Soviet Union collapsed, there were almost no shortcomings. No matter how poor the economy was, it was much stronger than most countries at the same time. However, it was abandoned by all its citizens. But the Far East was different. The economy of the Far Eastern Empire at the same time was so poor that it was not even as good as some African countries survived the most turbulent 1990s.

 …

“Your Royal Highness, this is a bicycle equipped with the latest hollow rubber tires. After using hollow tires, the weight of the bicycle is greatly reduced, and the difficulty of riding is greatly reduced. It is also lighter to use, and most importantly, it is more comfortable.”

The biggest improvement that hollow rubber tires have on bicycles is comfort. The previous solid tires were fine when riding on the hardened flat roads in East Africa. However, after going out of First Town and Soga City, the road conditions became complicated. According to the road conditions in East Africa , the original bicycle can knock out kidney stones.

Amid the surprised expressions of everyone, Ernst rode on this large-bar bicycle made in East Africa and rode twice around the fountain.

“It feels good. The performance can indeed meet the basic needs, although it is still very bulky.”

Ernst said it was bulky, but in fact the side description said that it was made of real materials. With the solidity of the frame, it was easy to pull hundreds of kilograms of cargo.

 In previous history, the Scotsman Jeroba only invented the pneumatic hollow tire in 1889, while research on hollow tires in East Africa had begun as early as 1876.

 Nowadays, the rubber industry in East Africa is booming and has replaced Brazil as the world's largest rubber producer. Therefore, a lot of research has been done in the application field of rubber.

Ball bearings, saddles, pedals, handlebars, and even bicycle rear seats and other important components have been improved and applied under Ernst's guidance. The hollow tires have made up for the last shortcoming, and bicycles can be fully promoted in the future. .

“The bicycle industry has a great future in East Africa, is also very important to the world, and has a wide range of applications, so I plan to vigorously support this industry.” Ernst said. In fact, Hechingen Daily Necessities Company, a subsidiary of the Hechingen Consortium, is itself the largest bicycle manufacturer in the world. However, in the past, bicycles could only be enjoyed by the rich, and the market was very narrow. Now that they have been completely improved, bicycles can be enjoyed regardless of gender, age, or wealth disparity. All can be promoted. Of course, if you are too poor, you will definitely not be able to afford it, but most working-class people in Europe should be able to buy one if they save money.

As for East Africans who save enough money, they can also own one, and some groups can directly receive allocations, such as Soga City, a new city in East Africa.

Of course, this scenario is talking about the completion of the industrial chain, which may take several years.

So Ernst said: "Mbeya, Harare, Bulawayo, Nairobi, Mombasa, Dar es Salaam and Bagamoyo can build factories in advance. These inland cities mainly supply East Africa. Domestic and port cities will take into account export needs in the future.”

Exports are naturally aimed at industrially backward countries such as the Arab region and the Far Eastern Empire. As for Europe, the Hechingen Consortium's bicycle factory in Germany can be expanded.

Ernst is indeed making a big move this time. The seven cities are the previous seven bicycle factories, and the production of bicycle parts is related to many related industries, such as chains, hollow steel pipes, tires, etc., which all require investment and design. This has A large number of factories and enterprises need to be built.

You must know that in the previous Far Eastern Empire, there were only more than 60 bicycle manufacturing companies in the 1980s. Of course, these manufacturing companies must be large-scale, and East Africa naturally wants to follow the path of large manufacturers.

The bicycle industry is still mainly produced by small workshops. Most of this kind of thing with little demand is done by hand, and many parts are made by ourselves. This is why Hechingen Daily Necessities Company has become the world's largest bicycle manufacturer. .

 The investment is huge, but once the construction is completed, East Africa will be able to make money back in the future thanks to its production cost advantage and market acceptance. In Ernst’s impression, bicycles have always been a hot-selling product.

“The military can also order a batch at that time. I think bicycles also have great application scenarios in the military.”

 Applications in the military field? Could it be delivering letters, pulling supplies, conducting reconnaissance, etc.?

 People of this era did not know how the army used bicycles. Both of the above guesses are of course possible, but horses were perfectly capable of doing the job in East Africa.

Ernst mainly believes that bicycles can be used to build a quick reaction force, especially in areas with complex terrain, such as Southeast Asia.

The most famous bicycle unit is the Yinlun unit of the Little Japanese during World War II. Because of the rainforest climate in Southeast Asia, muddy roads, tanks, and vehicles are not easy to travel, so the Japanese army equipped some offensive troops with bicycles to pursue the retreating Allied forces. Bicycles were used in attacking horses. It played a very good role when it came to the peninsula, and was even nicknamed the "Blitzkrieg of the East."

East Africa is a tropical country and has Nanyang island territory such as Lanfang Overseas Province, so Ernst feels that the bicycle unit can play a great role in tropical rainforest areas like Nanyang. This is in line with the East African army's emphasis on fighting in tropical rainforest and other tropical climate areas. The training objectives are consistent.

“The military may have some special needs for bicycles. This aspect can also be studied, such as folding bicycles or tricycles with cargo boxes. Not only the military, but also civilians may have such needs.”

Ernst suddenly thought of a three-wheeled bicycle, or even a reverse-riding donkey (a tricycle with the carriage in the front), which could be used to facilitate pulling goods.

Although two-wheeled bicycles like Oudebiao can pull a lot of cargo, tricycles are more widely used. Even in the 21st century, this kind of street transportation is very common in the Far East, but many electric tricycles are used. wheel replaced.

 (End of this chapter)