African Entrepreneurship Records

  Chapter 256 Reception of Italian "Refugees"

   "Dong dong dong..." There was a knock on the door.

   "Come in!" A voice came from the study.

Tom walked into the room with two telegrams. Ernst was dealing with documents in East Africa. As the crown prince of East Africa, he naturally couldn't let his elderly father suffer, so many affairs were completely handled by Ernst before Constance Ding implemented it directly, so that Ernst could also discuss with Constantine about some undecided matters.

   "Your Highness, the two branches in Hamburg and Trieste have just sent telegrams, and all the idle ships under the Hechingen Ocean Fleet have been vacated, but such a small number of ships may not be able to complete the task you assigned."

   "I know this too, how many ships have they prepared?"

   "There are sixty-four ships in total, and the rest are responsible for other businesses, such as the recent export of food and commodities to Marseilles, so this call of ships has actually affected the overall operation of the company."

"Well, you should contact our old friends first. Those Dutch shipowners and immigrants from the North German region will let them take care of it temporarily. They are not unfamiliar with the route. Austrian and Italian immigrants should contact other places in Trieste. They should also be able to share some of the fleet. After the opening of the Suez Canal, it is not too difficult for these ships in the Mediterranean to go to East Africa. Italians! If it’s not enough, then find a way from other countries, Greece and Spain are fine!”

  There is a shortage of ships. If it is the Far East, it is still possible. There are a lot of so-called maritime powers in Europe around the Mediterranean and Northern Europe, especially Italy and Greece. The freight is cheap and the quantity is sufficient.

In the past, the Suez Canal was not opened, and the countries engaged in ocean-going trade were mainly concentrated on the Atlantic coast, mainly Britain, Holland, Spain, and France. Ernst chose to cooperate with the Dutch. Among these countries, only the Dutch have the least political attributes, and the money is in place. There are few, and its farthest is Japan, and North Korea also has trade activities, which is consistent with Ernst's immigration route.

  After the opening of the Suez Canal, Ernst had more choices. Both merchant ships and warships of the Austro-Hungarian Empire could directly enter the Indian Ocean through Suez.

  As far as Ernst knew, the military weapons that Franz smuggled to Rome were completed by hired Italian ships.

  As for why Ernst knew, it was because of curiosity. Ernst also wanted to know how the Austro-Hungarian Empire sent the weapons and equipment of the entire army to Rome.

   After all, Rome can be located on the west coast of Italy, surrounded by the current Kingdom of Italy. The Austro-Hungarian Empire must have its own channels to transport weapons.

As the instigator of this incident, Ernst asked Franz directly, and Franz did not hide anything. The solution was very simple and unpretentious, that is, he negotiated the price with an Italian merchant ship, and left the rest to the Italians themselves. settle.

Ernst said he had learned it, and at the same time analyzed East Africa to avoid such loopholes. However, East Africa in the "closed country" state does not seem to have this problem. The closed country is a one-way valve, which only flows in but not out. Although there are two The free trade port exists, but it is a place for ships from various countries to stop. It is to prevent false pretenses. The British at sea often touch porcelain everywhere under the banner of free trade, so Mombasa and Dar es Salaam are left behind. free port.

   Now that the Suez Canal is open, basically all European ships are queuing up in the Red Sea. In the eyes of Europeans, the coast of East Africa, which "lacks markets and resources", has declined, and only East Africans and Arabs are still wandering in this sea area.

  …

  Under the eyes of the Kingdom of Italy, the Austro-Hungarian Empire’s troops and weapons to support the Papal State are all ready, just waiting for Italy to take the bait.

  So starting in August, the ships of Hechingen began to vacate to prepare for the "possible" large-scale Italian immigration, or war refugees.

In fact, in June, the Hechingen fleet had been quietly preparing for the German region. With the declaration of war in France, the German-French border, and even the residents of Alsace and Lorraine in France also took the East African immigrants to East Africa. migration.

Alsace and Lorraine, as the former homeland of Shenluo, most of its residents are essentially Germans under French rule, speaking High German (actually speaking the dialect of South Germany), and it happens that the royal family of Hexingen is the same, like Prussia and the northern states of the North German Confederation belong to Low German.

At the same time, South Germany, Alsace, Lorraine, and the Austro-Hungarian Empire are still Catholic areas, so the cultural differences between North and South Germany are still somewhat large, which is why South Germany naturally tends to Austria (Austrian German evolved from the Bavarian dialect) s reason.

From the East African colony to the East African Kingdom, in the past three years, the surplus population in the original South German region has been almost absorbed by East Africa. In addition to this war, the population of Baden and Württemberg in the south may usher in a negative growth. The specific situation in Bavaria Hard to say, probably about the same.

  Southern German immigrants and Austro-Hungarian immigrants have the dominant position in the pure German population, and the Hechingen royal family itself comes from the South German region, so the overall cultural attributes of East Africa are more inclined to South Germany.

  That's fine, the half-dead Austro-Hungarian Empire has limited ability to intervene overseas and has no willingness to do so. Prussia is too strong, so it is more reassuring to choose the Austro-Hungarian Empire for cooperation.

   East Africa is only separated from the Austro-Hungarian Empire by Egypt, which is nearly 3 million square kilometers apart from the Mediterranean Sea. Therefore, in theory, the Austro-Hungarian Empire can take care of the little brother of East Africa. It is not far or near, and the location is just right.

   Ernst has already prepared a location for Italian immigrants, and a large amount of land in Zambia needs to be filled with people. There is no need to pick too many places, and directly build new towns in places where indigenous people live together.

  The places where settlements are formed, the environment will not be too bad, and the local "labor force" can be fully utilized to develop new land.

  Italian immigrants will be scattered in various provinces in Zambia together with Far East immigrants and German immigrants. At the same time, some residents will be relocated from the east to guide their agricultural production and labor.

East Africa is a typical tropical highland agriculture. Its experience and climate are different from those of the Far East and Europe. The early development of East Africa’s agriculture on the one hand absorbed the experience of indigenous agriculture, and on the other hand sought the guidance of “professionals” from South America and Mexico. It took three years of exploration to achieve this. Today's East African model, so these new immigrants also need the help and guidance of old immigrants.

  Zambia has the same climate conditions as the East African Plateau, even the precipitation and latitude are the same (although Zambia is inland), so there is no problem in developing according to the East African Plateau model.

  …

"Tom, there is one more thing. Marseilles is a little cleaner. We are only responsible for the input of raw materials and commodity production. Other things can be done by the Medina family. In non-German regions, our purpose is to make money together. , don’t directly meddle in politics, just let our allies do it.”

   "Yes, Your Highness, I will check carefully, and there will be absolutely no mistakes."

For the friendly forces of the Hechingen royal family such as the Medina family, they naturally need support. This Franco-Prussian war is an opportunity. Ernst knew that France was going to lose, but he did not lose completely. At least the French people did not surrender, and the Medina family With the help of this war, he can accumulate his own reputation in the south of France. Anyway, Prussia can fight as far as Paris at most. Count Medina can unscrupulously express his "patriotic" feelings in the rear and win the favor of the French people.

  (end of this chapter)