African Entrepreneurship Record

Chapter 42: Chapter 38: Reclamation

While Prussia and Austria were fiercely battling, the Marine District of the East African colony had already expelled all the indigenous people. Aside from those sold to the slave traders of Zanzibar, some were kept for heavy labor, and the rest were released after being reissued their own weapons.

The exiled indigenous people were certainly not let go out of kindness by the East African colony. They had been terrified by the military power of the Marine District and naturally did not dare to return. They could only head west or north. Inevitably, they would encounter other indigenous tribes, and armed but without land or food, would naturally conflict with other tribes. At that time, while they fight each other, the East African colony would act as the mantis stalks the cicada, obtaining new land.

Moreover, whether the dispossessed indigenous people could survive was uncertain. In short, it was about reducing the number of indigenous people.

It’s impossible to plant crops on all the new land, but the areas around the new outposts could be developed first.

These are mostly areas with abundant water sources, which can provide stable water supply for production and living. Although the Marine District’s rainfall is relatively abundant, the current East African colony has a low population and little cultivated land. They just need to find a river and don’t have to rely on rainfall.

As the easternmost district, the Marine District features a hot and humid climate due to its proximity to the Indian Ocean, making it very suitable for rice cultivation.

On these newly developed lands, rice is naturally favored as the staple crop. Wheat yields decrease at high temperatures, making it more suitable for planting in the western highland regions.

Furthermore, the western part of the East African colony receives relatively less rainfall, suitable for the growth of drought-resistant crops like wheat and millet.

Sisal is currently the colony’s biggest cash crop, and East Africa is well-suited for growing many tropical economic crops such as cotton, bananas, rubber, and coffee...

However, sisal thrives best here and has a better market, as other economic crops face more competition.

Additionally, cloves are an important crop for the colony. The Sultanate of Zanzibar is famous for producing cloves, so the Marine District near the Sultanate didn’t miss out on clove cultivation either.

Cloves have a relatively low yield, so sales are not an issue. Each time, they can be directly transported back to Europe for sale with the help of Dutch fleets.

Nowadays, the East African colony has begun to use horses and oxen for plowing. With the increase of new horses, matching plowing facilities are being arranged as well.

Now, communications in the colony have also started utilizing horses. Previously, messages between various outposts would take one or two months to return; now, they can be relayed back in one or two weeks.

The East African colony has also leveraged horses to begin exploring further afield, including gathering intelligence from regions like Kenya and Zimbabwe.

In Europe, plowing with horses is prevalent, unlike ancient East Asia where warhorses were scarce. Horse plowing makes horses a necessary production tool, and the populace is eager to raise horses voluntarily.

This practice also makes cattle less important in Europe, turning them into common food items, as Europeans enjoy eating beef and drinking milk.

This is also related to Europeans not knowing how to handle ingredients. For example, Europeans don’t castrate boars, resulting in a strong smell in pork, which they can only mask with strong spices.

Of course, Europeans don’t eat much pork now, with more consumed in the German regions. With future German unification, consumption will further increase.

Beef, on the other hand, requires simple processing, tastes good, and is naturally favored by Europeans. A piece of butter with a little salt can make a simple and delicious steak.

In the East African colony, Ernst naturally chose horse plowing, with cattle primarily being raised for meat. The Maasai people in later generations are the nomadic people of the East African region who sustain their livelihood by herding cattle.

Mandatory horse plowing will inevitably increase the demand for horses. As an important means of transport, horses can improve the transportation capacity of the East African colony.

After all, the basic infrastructure of the East African colony is almost nonexistent, still stuck at the pedestrian stage, with only a few Germans equipped with military horses for transit.

Coupled with East Africa’s flat and open terrain, it’s very suitable for horse galloping. In short, the more horses, the better.

In Manda, the northernmost part of the Marine District, cooking smoke is now visible as immigrants begin to light fires and cook.

Nearby fields are almost cultivated, using waterwheels to pump river water into the rice paddies, with the entire landscape intersected by fields and plots.

The scale of these rice paddies is relatively large, turned by horse plowing, though some rely on indigenous labor for power.

Some plots have already been planted with seedlings, while others need time. To the east is a hilly area used for sisal cultivation.

Rows of sisal plants cover the hills, resembling tea gardens in East Asia, circling the low hills in impressive fashion.

Recently, the climate conditions in the Marine District have also been favorable, with rainfall arriving at more stable intervals and rarely being untimely.

This can be considered a benefit of the Indian Ocean. As is well-known, the Pacific region’s El Niño and La Niña phenomena are significant, exacerbating climate fluctuations in East Asia.

Though the Indian Ocean is affected, it is not pronounced. In East Africa, the climate is primarily influenced by the equator and highlands, and most significantly by the shifting trade wind belt. Each year, the movement of the trade wind belt south or north brings some rain to East Africa.

This results in two rainy seasons each year in East Africa, while the East African coast is also affected by ocean currents, most notably in the Marine District.

Without the Somali Current, rainfall along the East African coast would definitely increase, creating a terrain rain effect similar to that of northeastern India.

The stability of the East African colony’s climate has also facilitated orderly agricultural production. A relatively mature agricultural calendar has been established in the colony to guide new immigrants involved in agricultural production.

Currently, due to turmoil in East Asia, the number of immigrants coming to develop in the East African colony is rapidly increasing, especially from the north.

Influenced by the period of Eastern Expansion, residents from the north now have two choices: develop overseas or go to the northeast.

For those going overseas, East Africa is the optimal choice because of Ernst’s early arrangements. Since the northern region does not engage with the outside world as much as the south, the immigrant network laid out by Ernst in the north is larger and more mature.

In contrast, the southern region, especially the southeastern coast, offers multiple channels. Some choose to develop in Nanyang, with the Americas as a second option. Due to extensive networks, many go overseas together as clan and local groups.

Thus, southern immigrants tend to stick together overseas, but also engage in considerable infighting, as they gather together overseas and form Chinatown-like outposts. Factional strife is characteristic of southern clans, making overlapping interests overseas even more significant. If you eat a little more, the others will have less, resulting in more conflicts than back home.

This is also one reason Ernst is reluctant to choose southern immigrants. Only by honestly farming, without causing trouble, can group formation be prevented. Currently, although the number of Chinese immigrants in the East African colony is highest, there is no leader, thus creating a loose group formation. Ernst is very satisfied.

While Prussia and Austria were fiercely battling in the German regions of Europe, the East African colony remained peaceful, with everyone contributing to the development effort.

Building houses, developing farmlands, constructing canals, building roads, and raising livestock, a colony centered on agriculture is rapidly being constructed in East Africa.