Chapter 318 Zhuba Town

March is the dry season in South Sudan, and the hot weather is baking the land of Juba Town (Juba, the capital of South Sudan in its former life, which is distinguished from Juba Province in the Somali region).

Juba Town is a small village on the west bank of the White Nile. It is also the most "prosperous" area in South Sudan. It was once a stronghold used by the Ottoman Empire for missionary work and slave hunting. Later, the Ottoman Empire became a rebel because of Egypt. After withdrawing, the local area gradually became the residence of the indigenous people. The good life of the indigenous people had not lived for a few days, and then the East Africans came.

At this time, Andre, the mayor of Zhuba Town, was hiding in the shade of a tree and shaking his fan desperately, trying to cool himself down.

Andre said to Levins, the military commander of Zhuba Town: "This is not far from the North Great Lakes Province. I didn't expect the weather to be so hot. It's almost fatal!"

Levins: "Don't worry, there's still more than a month left, the rainy season here will come, and it will be cooler by then."

Although he said this, Levins knew in his heart that this was just a word of comfort. Even in the rainy season, the temperature in South Sudan would not improve much.

If South Sudan's climate is compared with that of North Sudan next door, it is simply great. Although it is close to the Sahara Desert, more than 95% of South Sudan's land is in humid and semi-humid areas, but because of its higher altitude The reason for the low temperature is that it is much hotter than the East African Plateau, and much hotter than the East African coast. At the hottest time, the daytime temperature can often exceed 40 degrees, and it is sultry, in sharp contrast to the dry heat of the Sahara Desert.

Levins continued: "Now that we are lying here, we have no work every day, that is, directing the black slaves to work. What else are you dissatisfied with? This is much better than being an ordinary villager in the North Great Lakes Province. ”

Andre: "I am the mayor who fought for it myself. Besides, there is probably no mayor in East Africa who is worse off than me. In our town, if you get rid of the top soldier No. 100 under you, I am afraid that even the mayor will be in trouble. Not even a single village in the east has enough people.”

Levins: "Haha, don't be dissatisfied. You may have seen an immigration team passing by here a few days ago. Their group only has more than forty people in total, which is even fewer than us here. If nothing else happens, If so, I will have to accept your leadership in the end!"

The immigrants Levins mentioned were destined for an area about 40 kilometers west of Zhuba Town. Unlike Zhuba Town, a legacy stronghold of the Ottoman Empire, it was simply an indigenous village, so there was a high probability that a village would be built.

Andre: "It's forty or fifty kilometers away, and it takes at least two or three days to deliver the news, so they'd better ask for their own luck."

While the two were chatting, the black natives had already cleared out another batch of vegetation at the gunpoint of the East African soldiers, which were basically trees and weeds chopped down with stone tools.

Due to this inefficient productivity, the development work of Zhuba Town has been completed very slowly. So far, it is still in the land consolidation stage. It relies on more than 2,000 slaves captured from the local area to clear the vegetation on the land bit by bit. and picking up rocks from the fields.

Thanks to the day and night work of successive slaves, the scale of arable land in Zhuba Town is now more than six times larger than when East Africa first took over the land. The same indigenous people also changed several batches to achieve today's results.

The slaves put the stones aside, and the trees and weeds were cleared and piled together. Then after two or three days of exposure to the sun, the East Africans lit a fire. After the thick smoke, a large amount of plant ash was left, and the East African immigrants returned. Sprinkle plant ashes into the fields.

While the indigenous people are developing the land, they can also drive away the animals living here, especially snakes, in advance to clear obstacles for the subsequent agricultural production of East African immigrants and ensure the safety of East Africans.

South Sudan's land reclamation reveals a strong primitive style and is a true "slash-and-burn cultivation". Because there are not enough iron tools, South Sudan's land reclamation can only rely on slaves. The local slaves are almost unlimited. Every once in a while When the time comes, the East African Army will go out for a period of time and follow the Nile River to capture a group of new slaves to replenish losses.

Only immigrants from East Africa can work with iron tools. The supply of iron tools currently gives priority to the Zambia and Zimbabwe regions in southern East Africa, so the Neggos in South Sudan have to suffer first.

Andre: "We have to open up another 700 acres of land before the rainy season. Otherwise, it will be difficult when the rain comes. So in the next month, we still have to work overtime to complete the project."

Just as Andre was planning the next work tasks in Zhuba Town, a black man who had been working for five hours under the scorching sun of more than 30 degrees suddenly lost his eyesight and fell to the field.

The East African soldiers stepped forward and checked. He was still breathing. He probably had heatstroke. Then he dragged him to a puddle on the side to cool him down. The East African soldiers were not surprised by such a scene.

Abundant rainfall and water from the Great Lake (Lake Victoria) have created large swamps and forests in the upper reaches of the White Nile.

It is obvious that South Sudan’s climate and abundant water resources are most suitable for rice cultivation and meet all the conditions for rice cultivation.

Of course, the prerequisite is to develop the land, and this step is also the most difficult. If South Sudan was placed in East Asia, it might have been developed long ago.

But this is Africa. For thousands of years, the local indigenous people have not developed a farming civilization. Instead, the Sudan and Egypt in the Sahara Desert next door, and the Abyssinians on the plateau have pointed out the technological tree of farming.

South Sudan's agricultural conditions are obviously the best in these places, but the locals are only nomadic, wasting water, heat and land resources.

Especially in the previous life, South Sudan's fruits and vegetables had to be imported. This was simply a shame for African countries. Even if the efficiency of growing food crops was not good, it was simply appalling that fruits and vegetables had to be imported.

Nowadays, South Sudan’s forests are full of all kinds of wild fruits, and we can’t eat them all. Instead, they need to be imported in the 21st century.

The inefficient agricultural development model was destined to fail to develop in South Sudan in the previous life. In other words, the indifference to work and the love for leisure made South Sudan waste its treasures. Various armed groups fought for the oil fields, and then they could just sit back and collect money from foreigners. .

However, this money was directly used to purchase food, weapons and luxury goods. South Sudan's water, electricity, infrastructure, and roads have not improved at all. South Sudan, an oil-producing country, is among the worst in poor African countries. South Sudan is not only rich in oil, but also rich in other resources.

To be honest, when South Sudan did not break away from Sudan, it complained every day. It was said that the oppression of the Arabs in the north caused South Sudan to fail to develop. As a result, after independence, it was busy fighting almost every day. It was more chaotic than the Sudan next door. Ordinary people The standard of living is not as good as before independence.

The only country in Africa that can compare with South Sudan is Somalia, where warlords are fighting. Now it is basically certain that these two countries, which were judged as failed countries by the international community in their previous lives, will no longer exist. This can be regarded as a good thing for East Africa.