Chapter 216 The future is promising

"Hmph! These Germans are so careless in their work! They don't even say hello, they really don't take our Kingdom of Portugal seriously!" Yaris said to his men indignantly.

"President, what are you going to do?"

"Do it? What to do? We are just a chamber of commerce, and the other party is the army! Are you going to fight against the odds?"

"Should we contact the government and ask them to deal with the Germans?"

"Do you expect those drunkards at the rear? Today's young people in Portugal have long lost the spirit of the Portuguese Kingdom! If they hadn't been timid, they should have kept the Germans out at the cost of offending the Sultanate of Zanzibar. Now the Germans It has 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 been developing in Africa for hundreds of years, and the Germans only arrived in East Africa three years ago."

"Bah! Remember this, you guys. When looking at problems in the future, you must grasp the key points and don't look at problems with old eyes." Yaris educated: "Let me ask you, why have we in Portugal given up expanding inland over the years? "

"this?"

"It's not just because of the lack of ability, not only the colonies, but also the kingdom itself. I'll put this here. East Africa can now have an organized army in the interior, but we can't do it."

"President, this shouldn't be difficult!"

"Of course it's not difficult, but don't look at the level of Mozambique's garrison. In recent years, it has been difficult to even defeat the natives. The Germans have even produced cavalry now. They must have more troops in East Africa. They are worthy of being Prussian barbarians. , I am scared when I think about their mobilization ability. The number of people is not large, 50,000 Germans are enough to drink a pot of all the kingdom's colonies in Africa."

After careful consideration, the Kazembe Chamber of Commerce chose to be patient, but still sent a letter to the Mozambican government behind the scenes explaining the situation.

…

Time waits for no one. After the cavalry battalion set off, other East African troops also began to pour into the areas planned by the "Pocket".

The East African arsenal is also speeding up the process of 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 indigenous people are extinct, there are not so many guns available, so most of them have been recovered, and a few can be left to the security forces to deal with wild beasts.

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

At the same time, the telegraph line extending from Mbeya to East Katanga District also began to be constructed to ensure smooth communication. While the Kazembe Chamber of Commerce was still conveying news to Mozambique through letters, East Africa had already used telegraphs to send news back to the first place. town.

…

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

This time the statistics will be aggregated to Prince Constantine and Ernst at the same time.

This year, the immigrant population in East Africa has reached 2.453 million, of which the number of newborns is very impressive, 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, which is about 300,000 to 400,000 square kilometers. There is also an ongoing advance into the Southwest. If completed At least more than 600,000 square kilometers of new land will be added next year. In addition, the north has been encroaching on the land in the Omo River Basin. That is to say, the territory of East Africa may exceed 3 million square kilometers by April next year.

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

In terms of agricultural statistics as of November 30, 1869, the development was quite satisfactory. The development of cultivated land reached more than 25.5 million acres. It was mainly to expand the scope of the original cultivated land. However, due to the influence of the advance into the southwest, there should be good growth next year. score.

The newly developed land this year is mainly for rice and other food crops. There is little change in wheat, but the output of corn, soybeans, potatoes and other crops has increased significantly.

The total grain output exceeds 2.5 billion kilograms, which is about 1.25 million tons.

In terms of per capita output, it is about twice that of Italy. However, in addition to food crops, East Africa also has large-scale cash crops. At the same time, it is necessary to eliminate the large areas of cassava grown to provide rations for the indigenous people. This product has a very high yield and is not a staple food for East Africans. , so it is not included in the statistics, which Italy does not have.

The population of East Africa, after excluding the indigenous people, is close to one-tenth that of Italy, which has a population of about 25 million.

Although East Africa is close to or even surpasses Italy in some areas, Italy has accumulated thousands of years of experience, so relying solely 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, Ernst will introduce some immigrants from poor areas of Italy to replace this gap starting next year.

Sicily is an important source. Although Sicilian people, like southerners in the Far Southeast, prefer to form associations, when it comes to East Africa, everything will be diluted and it will be enough not to allow them to gather together.

Nowadays, East African villages can be said to have become very complete. There are no so-called ethnic gathering places. According to the template, everyone’s living locations are scattered. In other words, your neighbors may be immigrants from any other area, but they are not from the same area. of immigration.

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

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

The above data shows that East Africa already has a national foundation. If it develops smoothly, from the next year onwards, with the help of transportation, mining and agricultural production, East Africa will become an agricultural and mineral exporting country.

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

It was very important to Ernst to use the mineral and agricultural resources of East Africa to accelerate the development of the Austrian region. It was dangerous to regard Prussia as the big brother. Austria did not have this hidden danger because Hungary was holding it back.

After all, it is impossible for Austria to eat the size of East Africa. One Hungary is enough torture. Is it possible to build a triarchal empire?

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

As for Ernst's concession of profits to Austria, Prussia's wording was ready-made no matter what it thought. Austria was the closest to East Africa, and the Suez Canal directly opened up the trade route between the two countries. We are all German countries and should help each other.

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

All aspects have been taken care of, so there is naturally no objection. As for other countries, only Britain, the United States and Tsarist Russia are left. The relationship between East Africa and Tsarist Russia is not bad, and there are no interest disputes.

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 French popularization. As for France, its attitude is actually not important. It should be a new government at this time next year. Ernst, who is familiar with historical answers, only needs to pay attention to the new French government in advance. The government can just make a bet, and since East Africa is a remote country, France may not necessarily intervene in East Africa.