African Entrepreneurship Record

Chapter 113: Chapter 108 Christmas Day

After visiting the East African school at the First Town, Maximiliano I and his companion were deeply touched.

As top-tier grand nobles, both received royal court education since childhood, making it difficult for them to sink down and engage with such grassroots education models like the one in East Africa.

Moreover, as a colony, East Africa had no need to hide anything from them; what they witnessed was the most authentic daily life of East African schools.

The courses in East African schools were few, with only German and mathematics as the main subjects, followed by history and physical education.

The content was extremely simple, with a large amount of repetition across grade levels; students would, at most, master German reading and writing and simple arithmetic upon graduation.

The entire East African education system’s knowledge content was even less than a third of Ernst’s primary school level from a previous life (third-grade standard).

This decision was made to adapt to the weak faculty strength of the East African colony, which, at present, can only manage such basic education.

Of course, there is an upward channel in this education system in East Africa. After passing the graduation exam, the most outstanding students could earn the opportunity to study in the German region.

In terms of difficulty, it was very simple for someone with an average primary school graduation standard from a previous life to pass the exam and obtain a study-abroad quota, but immigrants in East Africa might not necessarily realize the importance of education.

This meant that only families who valued education had a greater chance for their children to study in Germany; families that did not value education, even if their children graduated with good grades, might end up staying in East Africa to farm since going to Germany required parental consent.

Ernst was also too lazy to correct this situation, after all, he only needed to nurture a sufficient number of talents; having an excess of talent could sometimes be a disaster.

Compared to those positions requiring high academic qualifications, the most needed occupation in East Africa at present was farmers, to develop the land. While in industrial countries of Europe, workers were in high demand.

Given the current level of industrialization, only England had thoroughly completed industrialization (with urbanization reaching more than fifty percent), and other countries were lower, leaving much room for improvement.

The cultural level requirements for workers in these industrial nations weren’t high, especially considering that East Africa was still primarily centered around agricultural development.

The reason for establishing compulsory education in East Africa was for assimilation, and nurturing talent needed for the future was necessary for stable governance; it wasn’t truly aimed at changing these people’s destinies (though it objectively did).

Just like Prussia established compulsory education to enhance the combat power of its army, the motive for East Africa’s compulsory education was not purely altruistic.

If one were to ask how much Ernst valued the education sector, it wasn’t particularly significant, even though Ernst had received a full nine-year compulsory and higher education in a past life.

But in this life, Ernst was a noble, and what he was doing looked grandiose (building a kingdom), but it was based on maintaining the interests of the Heixinggen royal family and ensuring future prosperity.

Past experiences in countries like India taught Ernst that as long as the scale was large and the population abundant, even a country with a low-quality populace could accumulate a wealth-laden upper echelon.

Therefore, the nobles represented by Ernst essentially did not need many highly educated people but needed a populace capable of creating wealth and being obedient.

This is similar to why ancient rulers liked ignorant people and why Western societies tended to be anti-intellectual; it’s essentially the same old trick.

East African education stood in between, with an ambivalent attitude towards education, neither teaching too much nor too little, deliberately lowering standards.

Except for placing emphasis on issues of nationality and cultural identity (Germanization), it was not enthusiastic about changing ordinary people’s other qualities and perspectives.

As long as one behaved well as a German, nothing else mattered; who cared if your morals were noble or if you were kind! ... This part of education was left to the family to complete.

The seemingly frugal and yet flawed East African education system was, in actuality, full of political wisdom behind the scenes.

Of course, Maximiliano I couldn’t see through this, so after touring East Africa’s education, he couldn’t help but make suggestions to the nearby East African government staff, as he believed that this simplistic and crude education had a lot of potential for improvement.

However, the staff listened with one ear and let it out through the other, agreeing verbally but promising nothing in reality.

The entire management staff of the East African government and army, apart from the Heixinggen consortium employees (mostly with an education above middle school), were all at an elementary school level, including students from the intimidatingly named Heixinggen Military Academy.

To the employees and mercenaries, it was just a job, and to the students at the Heixinggen Military Academy, it was a way to repay the principal’s kindness.

They would only follow the planned route outlined by Ernst meticulously and didn’t concern themselves with East Africa’s development.

It was only out of respect for Maximiliano I’s status that they humored him, while Maximiliano I continued to drone on incessantly.

A living European intellectual critiquing East African policy truly confirmed the saying that ”one who holds no office has no official burdens.”

Had he been as vigorous when serving as Emperor of Mexico as he was today, even Ernst would genuinely admire Maximiliano I.

...

December 25, 1867.

It was yet another Christmas.

This year, Ernst and Prince Constantine, who had been traveling all year, returned to Heixinggen ahead of the holiday.

Ernst strolled through the castle holding a small Rottweiler, bought from a farm in Berlin by Ernst Village. Named ”Nawei,” it held no significant meaning, merely commemorating a mongrel dog he once owned in a past life; the dog was named Nawei, whom young Ernst had raised, and its death due to old age caused Ernst long-term grief.

The castle was adorned with holiday decorations, and a fir tree from the forests of southern Germany was placed in the hall as a Christmas tree.

Unlike previous years, the hall was illuminated with electric lights this year, replacing candles and other lighting tools, casting light throughout the castle and even on the road outside thanks to the Heixinggen consortium’s lighting system.

Other European royal families and major cities also enjoyed the convenience of electric lights, although some traditionalists may still use candles to enhance the religious atmosphere of Christmas.

The vast castle seemed a bit deserted since, due to Christmas, many servants were sent home by Prince Constantine to accompany their families, leaving few people in the castle.

This year, the weather was a bit colder. The whole of Heixinggen and Germany were covered with snowfall, and through the windows, one could see the vast white snow blanketing the earth, while in the forests surrounding the castle, the snow-laden branches of the pines and firs revealed dark green foliage underneath.

While Germany was still enveloped in the snowy chill of winter, far in the south, the land of East Africa remained akin to spring, and the East African government also organized its residents to start Christmas celebrations.

And 1867 was about to come to an end in a few days. It was an unforgettable year, as East Africa had completely controlled the entirety of Tanzania and Kenya, with immigration numbers reaching half a million, preliminarily forming a nation’s scale, allowing East Africa to be considered a political entity capable of participating in international affairs.