African Entrepreneurship Record

Chapter 80: Chapter 76: The Promised Land

Karavel Kingdom.

One of the eight kingdoms west of the Great Lakes Region.

It is a country established by indigenous people on the west bank of the Great Lakes Region, bordering the Buganda Kingdom to the north, and the Ijara Kingdom and Burundi Kingdom to the west.

Its territory is primarily located within present-day Tanzania.

Between the Great (Victoria) Lake and Frederick (Albert) Lake and Soron (Tanganyika) Lake, the land area is only about 150,000 square kilometers.

Yet there are a full eight indigenous countries distributed here, making it the area where Black people are most powerful in East Africa. Among them, the Buganda Kingdom is the most powerful Black nation established in East Africa (Abyssinia is not purely a Black nation, heavily influenced by Arab culture).

The names of these eight indigenous countries are: Gitarra Kingdom, Tu Rou Kingdom, Enkole Kingdom, Buganda Kingdom, Karavel Kingdom, Ijara Kingdom, Rwanda Kingdom, Burundi Kingdom.

Among them, the Buganda Kingdom, Ijara Kingdom, and Burundi Kingdom border the East African colonies.

With the launch of the East African colonies’ ”purge” movement, those native tribes fleeing to the northwest poured into these three countries one after another.

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Karavel Kingdom border.

As a slave kingdom, the Karavel Kingdom lacked defenses in the east, as the eastern part was originally occupied by native tribes and posed no threat to the Karavel Kingdom.

And the Eight Northwestern Countries, although they have formed countries, remain at a rather primitive stage; their rule is actually similar to that of colonies.

They establish colonies through military campaigns against native tribes within their territories, much like how Huaxia during the Shang Dynasty made local states submit and pay tribute through military conquest.

Thus, it is impossible for them to withstand the refugee tide unleashed by the East African colonies with their inefficient state structures.

Today, another group entered the Karavel Kingdom from here.

They are the tribe, originally a large native tribe living in the East African colonies’ grassland region, with a total population of close to two thousand.

The chieftain Aud Biao can be considered a heroic leader of the tribe. Since taking over, he used warfare to annex surrounding tribes and seize populations to become a tribal overlord in the grassland region.

The good times didn’t last long; after the East African colonies’ ”purge” movement, the Tabola city government in the grassland region mobilized an armed force of over five hundred people to try to eliminate this native tribe entrenched in the grassland.

No matter how formidable Aud Biao was, he could not withstand the modern weapons of the East African colonies.

Soon after the fighting began, his tribe was defeated.

Aud Biao led the remnants on a difficult journey of escape.

While the colonial government could drive them northwest, after a trek of over two hundred kilometers, Aud Biao’s group finally arrived at the Karavel Kingdom border today.

After several days of fleeing, Aud Biao now has only more than a thousand tribesmen by his side; the warfare and escape journey caused his tribe to lose nearly half its people.

Aud Biao was surprised to find that the devils using magical artifacts were no longer pursuing them, almost as if they didn’t want to advance even a step further.

In fact, the East African colonies government had already achieved its mission; the Karavel Kingdom lay ahead, and their aim was to drive these natives within its borders.

The naive Aud Biao thought there might be deities residing in the northwest, hence these devils dared not advance.

Already serving as the tribe’s high priest, Aud Biao was invigorated by the thought.

He picked up his shaman’s staff and began to dance a bizarre dance in front of his people.

He stood on his toes and spun quickly on the ground as if his feet were on a scorching furnace instead of soil.

He started murmuring some words, none of which anyone could understand—not even his tribe members. Despite being unclear, it seemed very impressive and powerful.

With the charm and dance in effect, Aud Biao began to tremble all over, his eyes rolled back.

The staff in his hand slowly tilted towards the northwest, eventually pointing directly in that direction.

Soil, Aud Biao let out a loud roar.

”Shakalaka... ”

The whole person ”fainted” onto the ground, while his subordinates were too frightened to approach and help.

After all, their leader’s actions seemed to exhibit signs of ”possession”, and since Aud Biao was the tribe’s only high priest and couldn’t handle it, the extremely superstitious tribe members were very wary of acting.

Some even knelt and began to pray for protection from the tribe’s deity, which is a lion; they had lion head tattoos accordingly.

A hundred meters away, the East African colonial soldiers responsible for keeping these natives from running back watched their strange behavior curiously.

”What are this group of savages up to?”

”Looks like those shamans back in the village doing their ceremonial dances!”

”Is that leader the one who rolled his eyes while jumping around? Our village’s spirit medium can do that too.”

”You can see him rolling his eyes from this far?”

”Of course, I can’t see it, but what he’s doing resembles what our village spirit medium does, so I just guessed he rolled his eyes.”

”These natives believe in gods and spirits too, what a rare thing! Do you think there really are deities, King Yama... in this world?”

”Well... maybe in the Great Qing, but we’re not in the Great Qing now, are we? All those gods and immortals don’t reach us anymore; according to what the Germans say, this land is under the protection of the Christian God, which is the Western Jade Emperor in heaven.”

In the midst of the immigrant soldiers’ gossip.

Aud Biao secretly narrowed his eyes into a slit, satisfied with the panic amongst his tribesmen—this was the kind of effect he wanted.

Aud Biao had been quite unlucky these days, encountering the fierce blow of the East African colonies government, enduring the defeat and the miserable escape, which caused speculation among his tribesmen.

Today, he suddenly realized that the East African colonial soldiers had ceased their pursuit; Aud Biao, worthy of being a heroic leader of the tribe, promptly devised a plan to reinforce his standing among his people.

He sat up abruptly, crossed his legs, shook his body, and instantly ”came to” when the tribe looked at him in amazement.

Aud Biao spoke: ”Warriors of the tribe, just now I received divine guidance: we should head northwest; that is the promised land for our people.”

”Gods reside there, causing these devils to not dare advance; look back and see if those devils dare come forward!”

His tribesmen followed his hint, looking back, and indeed the East African colonial soldiers remained in place with no intention of pursuing further.

Seeing the natives turn around en masse, the East African colonial soldiers suddenly felt as if confronted by a formidable enemy, mistakenly thinking these natives planned a final stand and tightened their grip on their guns.

Witnessing the sudden tension among the East African colonial soldiers, the tribe became even more convinced of Aud Biao’s statement; if not fearing gods, why would they be nervous?

Believing they were under divine protection, the tribe cheered, chanting ”Aud Biao is divine messenger,” dancing awkwardly around him.

Aud Biao was satisfied with the scene before him; he raised his hands into the air and lowered them slowly, signaling silence.

”Warriors, let us continue northwest; the gods will protect us.”

Thus, Aud Biao, having reestablished his authority, led his invigorated tribesmen toward the Karavel Kingdom.

The East African colonial soldiers were left feeling bewildered.