African Entrepreneurship Record

Chapter 23: Chapter 19 Heixinggen Military Academy

In just a few months, Heixinggen Military Academy had completed its initial setup, and the teachers recruited by Ernst had not yet begun their teaching.

Because the physique of the five hundred or so youths recruited from the Far East was too weak, they needed a period of recuperation. Most of them were emaciated and malnourished.

For the youths who had just arrived in Europe after crossing the sea, Ernst was cautious about letting them eat too much. Already frail, they had endured a long journey at sea, with its rolling motions unbearable even for a normal person, let alone these children.

Moreover, they had previously been in a state of famine for an extended period. The condition of their stomachs needs no further explanation; suddenly giving them too much rich food might lead to an overworked toilet situation the next day.

So, after they landed, Ernst only prepared some vegetables, bread, and potatoes to help them buffer the transition, with limited portions each time, fearing they would wolf it down and burden themselves. Even so, their eyes were filled with light—that was the longing for food.

For the children from the East in this era, being able to eat every day was already a great blessing. Some had even eaten tree bark and mud, so what Ernst prepared seemed like gourmet delicacies to them, who were not picky at all.

For these poor children, Ernst was still able to ensure they were fed and even willing to pay out of his own pocket to provide them with some meat.

In recent years, affected by war, the already decaying Qing Government intensified its exploitation of the lower classes. Reparations to the great powers and funds to suppress southern rebellions were all taken from the hands of the lower classes. As for the frequent natural disasters in the north, with countless displaced people, the Qing Government turned a blind eye.

From this, one can see how difficult survival was for the people of this ancient eastern country. For farmers with no land, besides giving their blood and sweat for nothing, they received no return and possibly ended up with huge debts.

The landlords, with just a word, could demand double the taxes imposed by the government from tenant farmers. In case of natural disasters or man-made calamities, countless families went bankrupt. The lucky ones begged their way far away; the unfortunate were left exposed in the wilderness.

Thus, Ernst’s recruitment efforts in the Qing Country went extremely smoothly. For those who had lost hope of survival, anyone who could offer them a bite to eat was like a parent giving them a new life. This also explained why some would travel across the ocean to build railways in America.

It is why the Chinese in later generations became known for enduring hardships. You cannot imagine the poverty they experienced decades ago. As long as you offer them hope, they become the best workers in the world.

As for countries like India, the entire social class habitually collapses. They learned this several thousand years ago. In Ernst’s eyes, they couldn’t even compare to African natives.

Although the African natives weren’t good at tasks, they still maintained a positive attitude towards life. Indians tended to oscillate between passive coping and a so-called ”realism.”

This ”realism” is not a good word; rather, it is a vague expression of the Indian world view and values. After all, the Indians developed civilizations and have a national character that does not match this.

This is also why Ernst dared to hire Chinese workers. Although there was an emotional tendency, it was actually driven by interests. Ernst had to maximize interests and naturally needed a labor force with discipline and obedience.

In today’s era, Europeans are the best labor force in the world because European education is at the forefront of the world, especially in the German region. Compulsory education allowed the populace to escape illiteracy and better adapt to an industrialized society.

Even in the Prussian army, ordinary soldiers had an elementary education and could follow orders to the letter, thus making educational popularization an inevitable trend of the times.

Ernst wanted to develop East Africa, and of course, he wanted to use such an excellent labor force. However, the enlightened German populace was not foolish. One place had opportunities everywhere, a high standard of living, and a high level of modernization—the Americas; the other was teeming with beasts and poisonous insects, without even a decent road—Africa. Everyone knew where to go to make a living.

Without spending money, who would be willing to go to East Africa and risk their lives for Ernst? Since the best couldn’t be chosen, the second best—Chinese workers—became the inevitable choice.

Firstly, throughout history, East Asian dynasties have been adept at mobilizing the populace, organizing people through lower-tier officialdom to build roads, canals, or engage in large projects, which generally resulted in obedience and easy management.

Secondly, in modern times, the Chinese have experienced enough hardship, and the entire society is exceedingly competitive. The spirit of hard work and endurance could easily be said to be the best in the world, something that European people, having faced the population cut caused by the Black Death, could not feel. Furthermore, the lingering influence of the lengthy European peasant slave system led to a certain balance being struck between European people and lords. After all, peasant slaves were assets to the lords, and excessive use leading to accidents and deaths would mean a loss, especially as the Black Death raised manpower costs.

Moreover, the fear instilled by the Black Death made all of Europe anxious, almost like drawing lots—someone could be gone any day. So European nobility indulged in enjoyment, thus encouraging the development of culture and art. The nobles concentrated on pleasure and thus caused less turmoil, which ironically allowed the lower populace to lead somewhat better lives.

So Europeans found it difficult to understand the current Chinese attitude of working themselves to death. Without adequate wages and rest, they would revolt.

Finally, Ernst didn’t need too high-end labor, at least not for now. Ernst was a person with a strong desire for control. The Chinese, lacking the European perspective due to the lack of education, had lower aspirations and were thus easier to satisfy and manage.

Ernst was currently only clearing land in East Africa and needed people who knew how to farm. Ernst believed that no region could skip modernizing agriculture directly to industrialization. Now, Ernst wanted to organize Chinese farmers in the form of a company to farm in Africa.

The people hired from the Far East were initially trying to earn a meal, so there was naturally no talk of salary. Large-scale cooperative production wouldn’t require their high-intensity labor, and they could also use local natives for plowing fields.

Indeed, Ernst was just a profit-driven noble, not any kind of saint. He wanted to not only expropriate the land of the natives in the tribes but also temporarily use the slaves unwanted by the Zanzibar Sultanate.

The Zanzibar Sultanate had been selling slaves to the Arab regions since the Oman Empire era, and they didn’t want natives of inadequate physique.

Currently, Ernst didn’t have the capacity or energy to transport these natives to other countries and regions. So, they could only be used as production tools for clearing land.

Originally, most of these natives relied on hunting and gathering to survive. Making them farm was difficult, as farming also requires experience.

So Ernst only planned to use these natives for simple, heavy labor like plowing and digging canals.

After all, there are currently no tractors or excavators, and even if there were, Ernst couldn’t afford them. The entire clearing of land in East Africa could only rely on human power to complete.

Ernst’s last bit of conscience was that as long as these natives lived long enough, once Ernst passed the phase of relying on manpower, he would find ways to send them to other countries and regions.

And this group of youths in front of him was the reserve talent for assisting Ernst in managing the Chinese in East Africa. It was impossible to assign every Chinese individual a translator, and there were probably only a few who spoke Chinese in the entire German region.

In the future, once Ernst popularized German in East Africa, there would be no need to do so, but that required a long time, at least until the next generation of Chinese.

In this lifetime, as a thorough German, Ernst would not do anything to destroy his foundation. Thus, the future of East Africa must be dominated by the German language. The German descent would inevitably be the ruling class in the early stages, and later mixed-race individuals would be the focus until national integration was complete. Ernst wouldn’t leave any potential trouble.