Chapter 19 Hechingen Military Academy

In just a few months, the Hechingen Military Academy completed the construction of a grassroots team, and the teachers recruited by Ernst had not yet begun teaching.

Because the five-hundred-year-olds recruited from the Far East were too weak and needed to rest for a period of time, most of them were sallow, thin, and malnourished.

For the teenagers who had just arrived in Europe across the sea, Ernst did not dare to let them eat too much. They were already weak and had been wandering on the sea for such a long time. Normal people could not bear the bumps on the ship, let alone these children. .

Moreover, they had been in a state of hunger for a long time in the past, not to mention the state of their intestines and stomach, and if they rashly made too much oil and water, I'm afraid there wouldn't be enough toilet for them to waste the next day.

So after they landed, Ernst only prepared some vegetables, bread and potatoes to give them a buffer. Each portion was not much, fearing that they would gobble them up and increase their physical burden. Even so, their eyes were full of light, that was Food cravings.

For children in the East in this era, they were very happy to have food every day. Some even ate tree bark and mud. The food prepared by Ernst was simply a delicacy for those who were not picky eaters.

For these poor children, Ernst could still ensure that they had enough to eat, and was even willing to spend his own money to add some meat to them.

In recent years, affected by the war, the already decadent Qing government has intensified its exploitation of the bottom class. The indemnities paid by the great powers and the war funds to suppress the rebellion in the south were all withheld from the bottom class. As for the frequent natural disasters in the north, countless The Qing government turned a blind eye to the refugees.

From this, we can also know how difficult it is for the people of the ancient Eastern countries to survive. For these farmers who have no land, in addition to paying their own blood and sweat in vain, they not only receive no reward, but may also be burdened with huge debts.

The landowners just talk, and the taxes assessed by the court will be doubled to get back from the tenant farmers. Whenever there is a natural or man-made disaster, countless families will go bankrupt. The lucky ones will beg all the way and go to other places, and the unlucky ones will have their bodies exposed on the road. wilderness.

Therefore, the recruitment of Ernst's Far East Commercial Liaison Office in the Qing Dynasty was extremely smooth. For these people who had lost hope of survival, whoever could enjoy the food was their reborn parents. This is why it is not difficult to explain why some people traveled across the ocean to go to the United States. Build railroads.

It is also true that the Chinese in later generations can endure hardship the most. You can hardly imagine their poverty a few decades ago. As long as you give them hope, they will be the best workers in the world.

As for a country like India, the entire class is habitually ruined. They learned this thousands of years ago. In Ernst's eyes, they are not even comparable to the native Africans.

Although the indigenous people in Africa do not do good things, they have a positive attitude towards life, while Indians tend to be somewhere between passive coping and "realism".

This "realism" is not a good word, but a vague expression of Indian worldview and values. After all, Indians have developed civilization and have a national character that does not match it.

This was also the reason why Ernst dared to appoint Chinese people. Although there were some emotional tendencies, it was actually driven by interests. To maximize interests, Ernst naturally needed a disciplined and obedient workforce.

In today's era, Europeans are the best labor force in the world, because European education is at the forefront of the world, especially in the German region. Compulsory education allows civilians to get rid of illiteracy and better adapt to industrialized society.

Even in the Prussian army, ordinary soldiers had a primary school education and were able to enforce orders and prohibitions. Therefore, universal education is the general trend of the times.

Ernst wanted to develop East Africa, and of course he wanted to use such high-quality labor force, but the enlightened German people are not stupid. One is the American continent where opportunities are everywhere, the standard of living is high, and the level of modernization is high. The other is the continent where wild beasts and poisonous insects are everywhere. In Africa, where there are no decent roads, everyone knows where to make a living.

If you don't spend money, who is willing to work hard to open up land in East Africa for Ernst? Since you can't choose the best, you will use the second best, and the Chinese are the inevitable choice.

First of all, various dynasties in the history of East Asia were best at mobilizing people's power, organizing people through lower-level officials to dig roads, canals, or carry out large-scale projects, so they were generally obedient and easy to manage.

Secondly, the Chinese people in modern times have lived through enough hardships, and the entire society has been extremely involution. It is okay to say that they are the best in the world in terms of hard-working spirit. This is something that Europeans who have experienced the sharp decline in population due to the Black Death cannot feel. In addition, Due to the long-term serfdom in Europe, the European people and lords have reached a certain degree of balance. After all, serfs are the assets of the lords. If overuse leads to accidental death, wouldn't it be a loss? After all, the human cost has been affected by the Black Death. Taller.

Not only that, the Black Death also made people throughout Europe panic. It was like drawing lots. Maybe one day there would be no more people. Therefore, European nobles indulged in enjoyment, which in turn promoted the development of culture and art. The nobles above concentrated on enjoying and tossing. If there is less, the people below will live a better life.

Therefore, it is difficult for Europeans to understand the current attitude of Chinese people working hard. Without adequate wages and sufficient rest time, they will rebel.

Finally, Ernst does not need a high-end labor force at all, at least not yet. Ernst is a man who has a strong desire for control. As a Chinese without education and without European vision, his pursuits are not high. In other words, it is easier to be satisfied and easier to manage than Europeans.

Ernst is currently only opening up wasteland in East Africa, and what is needed is people who can farm. Ernst believes that it is impossible for any region to skip agricultural modernization and directly realize industrialization. Now Ernst wants to organize Chinese farmers in the form of companies. Get up and farm in Africa.

The people hired from the Far East were meant to make a living, so their wages were naturally gone. Large-scale collaborative production did not require them to do high-intensity physical labor, and they could also use local indigenous people to farm the fields.

That's right, Ernst is just a profit-driven nobleman, not a holy mother. Ernst not only wants to expropriate the land of those tribesmen, but also wants to seize the land that is not needed by the Zanzibar Sultanate. The slaves took advantage of it temporarily.

The Sultanate of Zanzibar has been selling slaves to various parts of Arabia since the days of the Oman Empire, and they have no need for the physically unqualified natives.

At present, Ernst does not have the ability or energy to transport these indigenous people to other countries and regions, so he can only use them as production tools to open up wasteland.

Originally, most of these indigenous people relied on hunting and gathering for a living. It was very difficult to get them to farm, and farmers also needed experience.

So Ernst only planned to let these natives do simple heavy manual work such as pulling plows and digging canals.

After all, there are no tractors and excavators now, and even Ernst cannot afford them. The entire land reclamation in East Africa can only be completed by manpower.

As Ernst's last bit of conscience, if these indigenous people live long enough and survive Ernst's dependence on human power, Ernst will find a way to transport them to other countries and regions.

The group of teenagers in front of him are the reserve talents who will assist Ernst in managing the Chinese people in East Africa in the future. It is impossible to provide translators for all the Chinese people. I am afraid that there are not many people in Germany who can speak Chinese.

As for the future, if Ernst popularized German in East Africa, there would be no need to do this. The problem is that it would take a long time, at least until the next generation of Chinese.

As an out-and-out German in this life, Ernst would not do anything to destroy his own foundation. Therefore, East Africa must be a German-speaking world in the future. In the early stage, Germans must be the ruling class, and in the later stage, the focus will be on using mixed blood until the national integration. It's over, and there won't be any trace of Ernst's troubles left.