Chapter 966 Visiting Mbeya

Mbeya Station is a big station, so the stop time is longer. At Tirpitz's strong request, after the station called the application, the East African government allowed him to observe the development of Mbeya City around the station.

Looking at the East African security personnel who were guarding against him like thieves, Tirpitz said helplessly: "I heard that East Africa is relatively closed before, and now it seems to be true. It's just that I think there are so many restrictions when walking around this East African city."

East African receptionist Aaron naturally couldn't let Tirpitz "slander" his country at will, and explained: "Your Excellency the Count, East Africa is actually a relatively free country, but we are indeed much stricter in the screening and examination of foreign personnel. After all, East Africa has a short history. In order to maintain regional stability, we need to organize third-party forces to threaten the national security of East Africa, but these have little impact on ordinary people in East Africa."

"Well! Do you think I look like a spy? Or someone who is plotting against East Africa?" Tirpitz said sarcastically. No one would feel good about being treated like this, so Tirpitz deliberately said so.

"Haha, Your Excellency the Count is naturally not an outsider. We are brothers in East Africa and Germany, but East Africa adheres to the principle of rule of law, so this is inevitable in terms of procedures. You must know that the population of East Africa is not indigenous, so we must guard against some people who have had grudges with East Africa using indigenous people to impact the social order of East Africa."

Aaron's words are well-founded. As for the countries that have had grudges with East Africa, there is no doubt that in the eyes of outsiders, there are only Britain and Portugal.

Tirpitz, the old fox, naturally did not believe Aaron's words. After all, East Africa was more closed before the South African War. At that time, East Africa even had only two open cities, Dar es Salaam and Mombasa, which was exactly the same as the Far East Empire before the Opium War. The Far East Empire once had only Guangzhou as a legally open port.

Of course, there are many speculations about the implementation of the closed-door policy in East Africa, but it is not overly concerned. After all, the African continent is not a hot spot. Except for the South African War, it was hardly reported by Europe. After the end of the South African War, although the situation has improved a little, it is better than nothing.

Tirpitz was too lazy to care about so much. Now he was only interested in Mbeya, a large city in the interior of East Africa.

It was already past three o'clock in the afternoon, but the streets of Mbeya were very prosperous, with people and cars coming and going, and the large chimneys of the factories in the industrial zone were emitting exhaust gas into the sky.

There were many buildings and structures in Mbeya, the roads were clean and tidy, and the street lights were all electric lights, which showed that East Africa had spared no effort in the development of electricity.

Tirpitz also passed through many cities along the way. Those East African cities also had factories and power facilities, which was in line with the national conditions of East Africa as a major exporter of power equipment and products in the international market.

"What is the population of Mbeya?" Tirpitz asked Aaron.

"I don't know the specific number, but there should be 500,000 people. After all, it is one of the few large cities in East Africa." Aaron answered honestly.

At present, the actual total population of Mbeya is more than 500,000, ranking fourth among East African cities.

"In this case, this city is indeed not to be underestimated. At first glance, I knew that this city is more prosperous than Dodoma City. It might be ranked in the top five in Germany." Tirpitz said.

If we only look at the population, only Berlin, Hamburg, and Cologne in Germany are stable over Mbeya City. Munich is equivalent to Mbeya City, with more than 500,000 people, so the population of Mbeya City can also be ranked in the top five in Germany.

"Mbeya City is the earliest heavy industrial base in East Africa, so it has a first-mover advantage. The early military industry and heavy industry in East Africa were concentrated in Mbeya City, and with the construction of the Central Railway, Mbeya City has maintained its huge advantages." Aaron said.

The support of the Central Railway and East African countries in terms of policy is an important reason why Mbeya City can always maintain rapid development.

In the past, Mbeya City ranked sixth to eighth among Tanzanian cities, fluctuating up and down, and now Mbeya City can be ranked in the top five in East Africa, which is naturally closely related to the attention paid by the East African government to Mbeya City.

"So East Africa has attached great importance to industrial development many years ago, and it is located in the hinterland of the country. No wonder East Africa was able to fight against the two great powers of Britain and Portugal at the same time during the South African War without losing the upper hand. If Portugal had invested the same amount in its colonies as you did, it would not have been driven back to its homeland by you." Tirpitz said.

The biggest difference between conventional colonists and East Africa is that they take more than they build. In the past, Portugal's two colonies only focused on developing the coastal areas, and the inland areas were completely free-range. Under such circumstances, how could it compete with the hardworking East Africa?

Tirpitz continued. "The city planning, construction level and industrial development of Mbeya are all qualified. Although I can only see the tip of the iceberg, I can assert that if other East African cities are like Mbeya, then East Africa will be the next United States in the future."

"I originally thought that East Africa only developed the coast effectively, but what I saw and heard along the way made me understand that the development of East Africa is far from what the outside world shows. I am afraid it is difficult for Europeans to imagine that in the hinterland of the African continent, which is nearly a thousand kilometers away from the coastline, there is also a city that is not inferior to the big European cities."

"Before, I also thought so, but after seeing the city of Mbeya, I found that my previous cognition was a bit ridiculous."

What was Tirpitz's original idea? The answer is that like many uncivilized areas, especially South America, there is almost no civilization in the interior. There are groups of lions and other wild animals on the East African savannah, and only sparse colonial outposts are scattered in the interior of East Africa.

However, the towns and villages along the Central Railway, the large tracts of farmland and plantations, all tell the history of East African pioneers. Like the American westward movement, they are madly heading deep into the African continent, constantly expanding their own land, and transforming the occupied land into a continuous livable area.

And cities such as Mbeya, Dodoma, and Iringa have proved that East Africa is not only developing agriculture in the interior, but they are also capable of building cities that are no less than European. If the more than 10 million square kilometers of land in East Africa in the future are like the scene along the Central Railway, it would be terrible!

You have to know that although the giant country like Tsarist Russia has a strong sense of oppression, there are many big countries around it, such as the Far Eastern Empire, Iran, the Ottoman Empire, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and even Germany itself, which can contain Tsarist Russia. The United States is isolated overseas, and Brazil and Australia are uncivilized places with sparse populations.

Although the population of East Africa is not large relative to the land area, Tirpitz thinks that there are probably 40 to 50 million, which is comparable to Germany, but Germany has a small land area and can enjoy far less per capita resources than East Africa.

"Mr. Count, thank you for your compliment, but there is still a big gap between East Africa and Germany. Although we have several large cities, most of them are built up by population. As you can see, East Africa is actually a mixed country with German culture as the main culture, and Chinese immigrants have played a huge role in the construction of East Africa, especially in the early development of East Africa."

"As the world's most populous country, the Far Eastern Empire has almost unlimited population resources. As a naval officer, I think you also know about the coastal cities of the Far Eastern Empire. Although the Far Eastern Empire is relatively poor and backward as a whole, their coastal cities are quite well developed. Several large cities in East Africa should be in a similar situation."