African Entrepreneurship Record

Constantine and Maximilian I chatted for a long time. In short, whether they wanted money or not, they could talk about anything but money.

Facing the shameless Prince Constantine, East Africa's first naval commander could only return without success. Not only did he not get support, but he had to invest a lot of resources himself.

And Ernst, who Constantine said was short of money recently, was conducting an inspection in the Ruhr area of ​​Prussia.

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Thick smoke filled the sky, and dark clouds pressed over the sky.

This is what Ernst saw in the cities of the Ruhr area, which was rich in coal resources but lacking in iron ore.

Fortunately, the transportation here is extremely convenient. The Rhine, Ruhr, and Lippe rivers converge, the river network is dense, and river transportation is developed. At the same time, Prussia has built many railways, and with the help of the Customs Union, it can basically cover the entire German region.

"The environment is really nice!" Ernst said sincerely.

"Your Highness, I think the environment here is far worse than in Berlin. The air in Berlin is not so polluted." said the accompanying manager of the Hechingen Bank.

"I'm talking about the industrial environment, not the natural environment. Remember we are not here for tourism, but to inspect local industrial equipment and factories."

"By the way, how's your local research going?" Ernst asked.

"Your Highness, we have visited two-thirds of local companies and factories. Many companies and factories are currently expanding. The German market has been booming in recent years, so they are also busy producing and expanding production capacity.

Many machinery and equipment are sold out by related companies and factories as soon as they leave the factory, and the prices of machinery are also very high.

However, there are also advantages. In order to improve production efficiency, some large enterprises and small workshops are stepping up their efforts to eliminate old machines and equipment. Although these equipment are a bit outdated, they are also cheap and have large quantities. If your highness does not have requirements for mechanical equipment, If the price is high, our suggestion is to purchase these second-hand equipment. "

"My requirements are not too high, but you can't take it lightly. If you buy a pile of scrap metal, I will be really angry!" Ernst said.

On this trip, Ernst was nominally here for inspection, but in fact he was here to collect rags. This can be regarded as an old tradition of the Hechingen Consortium.

At first, we collected second-hand military uniforms and weapons from the Prussian Army, and now we purchase second-hand industrial equipment from Prussia.

These obsolete industrial equipment really have no good place to go in Prussia, but putting them in East Africa is definitely a powerful tool to increase East Africa's production capacity.

The poor city of Mbeya still uses a large number of "laborers", using simple tools such as hoes and shovels, to produce coal for East Africa by carrying it on their shoulders.

"Labor" is also a resource. If they can be liberated from coal mines, East Africa can devote more manpower to other projects.

"Your Highness, don't worry. We have hired a group of professionals this time to conduct professional inspections of the equipment in advance to assess whether it has the conditions for continued use.

At the same time, we will actively cooperate with large companies such as Krupp. The equipment they have eliminated should be of more reliable quality. "

Picking up rags also requires professionals, otherwise Ernst would just cry if he actually bought a pile of scrap metal.

Even if it is tattered, the value will not be low, because Ernst's purchase this time is very large, otherwise he would not have the manager of the Hechingen Bank accompany him.

According to political and economic standards, East Africa is a properly feudal agricultural country, but feudalism and agriculture do not mean that there is no industry.

Now that even the Qing government and Japan are engaged in industrial construction, East Africa cannot naturally lag behind others.

However, the two countries in the Far East have too strong foundations. Japan, for example, has a relatively long history and a very dense population. It has everything it needs, but it is just lagging behind the times. East Africa is just a larger territory than Japan, and the rest is like There are really no advantages. There are a lot of minerals, but they have to be developed first.

Moreover, Japan's current reform is not too difficult. After all, the Japanese have a way of enduring humiliation and bearing heavy burdens. As long as they are willing to give the green light to Britain and the United States, Britain and the United States are also willing to support Japan.

Japan has also done this in history. Just to build the railways from Tokyo to Osaka, Yokohama and Hyogo, the Meiji government issued 1 million pounds of bonds in the UK using all Japan's customs taxes as collateral.

Moreover, supporting Japan can control the Far East and Tsarist Russia. Strategically, Britain and the United States also need a stronger Japan.

East Africa does not have this condition. Now East Africa has not introduced foreign investment, and it cannot do so, not to mention the United Kingdom and the United States, even Prussia and Austria.

That is not to introduce foreign investment, but to kill the Hechingen royal family. After all, East Africa has basically no value for cooperation and utilization by various countries.

On the contrary, it is a potential competitor. After all, there is no greedy Tsarist Russia next to East Africa. East Africa itself is the "African Tsarist Russia".

Therefore, all trade in East Africa is run only through the Hechingen Consortium. The data is in its own hands and will not be published to avoid attracting the attention of other countries.

The disadvantage is that there is a huge funding gap, and the construction of East Africa is completely dependent on the Hechingen Consortium. This is why Ernst chose agriculture as a foothold in East Africa.

The investment in agriculture is small, and the speed of withdrawing funds is not too slow. It is not very profitable, but the people are retained.

"This time we will focus on mining and iron-making equipment and strive to build a primary industrial city in East Africa." Ernst said.

Ernst is talking about the city of Mbeya, which is located deep in the hinterland of East Africa. It has good resource conditions, including coal and iron resources, and the climate is suitable for industry. However, the transportation conditions are not very good. However, the industrial products in East Africa must be for self-use and digested internally. That’s it, no need to export.

"Your Highness, it is not difficult to provide the corresponding mechanical equipment, but the problem of mechanical equipment without professional workers is not easy to solve."

"Don't worry about this. I will naturally have a solution when the time comes, so you don't have to worry."

The solution Ernst said was to "pay to work." Ernst planned to dispatch a group of immigrants from the Far East to "intern" in the Ruhr area. He would pay the wages himself and let them enter the factories in the Ruhr area to gain experience for a period of time. , and then sent directly to East Africa.

Ernst can still afford this amount of money. To be honest, how much salary are you going to pay to immigrants from the Far East? It is enough to maintain food and clothing, and Ernst will not pay for a cent more.

And German factory owners have no reason to refuse. If someone offers to work for you "for free" for a period of time, just tell them whether you want to use it or not!

This solves the problem of the most basic industrial workers. The low-end ones are those who do heavy and tiring work without technical content, and they are "laborers". The high-end ones are recruited from Europe with heavy sums of money, and they do not need too high-end, average level workers. Just technicians, that is, they can inspect the second-hand machines at any time to ensure the normal operation of the equipment.

This trash collection event caused quite a sensation. The entire Ruhr area was the target of the Hechingen Consortium, because the industrial equipment here is the most complete and the city is dense, so it will not be everywhere in Germany.

Moreover, once the equipment is obtained, it can be dismantled into parts and transported directly to the North German Federal Port for shipment to East Africa via river transportation and railways, which is very convenient.