African Entrepreneurship Record

Chapter 119: Chapter 114: After Christmas

On Christmas Day 1867, if one were to ask which country was the happiest, it would surely be Prussia. Throughout the year 1867, the economy of the North German Federation, led by Prussia, embraced a significant upturn in the latter half.

The establishment of the North German Federation unified the northern regions of Germany, connecting the most crucial industrial zone in the west of Prussia with the political center in the east via railways.

Within the federation, unified transportation and tariffs significantly reduced the costs of transporting goods and raw materials within North German territories.

Any factory or enterprise of considerable size benefited from this wave of unification.

Ernst’s Heixinggen Consortium naturally flourished among them, not only forming the locomotive of Germany with Siemens and other companies in the new economic fields but also thriving in traditional sectors.

In conventional economic fields, the Heixinggen Consortium made headway by leveraging innovation and invention. For instance, in daily life products, Heixinggen’s items captured fifteen percent of the German (including Austria-Hungary) market.

That is, those steel, coal, machine tools, and other heavy industries were firmly in the hands of Germany’s traditional industrial giants.

In the financial domain, Heixinggen Bank, backed by numerous enterprises under the Heixinggen Consortium and tapping into Ernst’s prior life memories to invest in nascent industries of the second industrial revolution, gradually surpassed several traditional commercial banks.

Currently ranking third in the German region, geographically Heixinggen is in Southern German, politically belonging to the North German Federation, while closely related to the Austrian and Hungarian imperial families. Coupled with the support from nobles everywhere, growth and expansion seem inevitable.

Thus, Heixinggen Bank’s operations across the German region are highly smooth, with banks of all sizes spread throughout Germany, stretching from the Baltic Sea coastline down to Trieste along the Adriatic Sea.

Simultaneously, Heixinggen Bank cited ease in repaying funds obtained through the sale of Alaska by Tsarist Russia, initiating banking operations in major cities like Saint Petersburg, Moscow, and Kyiv.

Russia represents a vast market; although Russians welcome investments from other European firms, Ernst nonetheless opts for stability.

Business points are opened only in a few key cities, as urban investment environments tend to be far superior to those in regional locales, especially given the unreliable credit of local Tsarist Russian bureaucrats.

If it were within the German region, Ernst’s identity as part of the Hohenzollern family might garner recognition and support from the German nobles.

Yet within Russia, aside from a few noble families (with cooperative ties), who recognizes Heixinggen, a small country’s lord?

Apart from Tsarist Russia, Heixinggen Bank expanded into other countries such as England, France, America, Holland, and mature market rule nations in Northern Europe.

In the economic realm, Prussia and Ernst achieved admirable results. Likewise, they thrived in other fields.

For instance, in the military domain, after consecutive victories over Denmark and Austria, coupled with the successes earned by Prussia before Ernst’s awakening, the Prussian army’s confidence soared.

Especially in the latter half of this year (1867), the ”Constitution of the North German Federation” took effect, representing the federation as a new political entity.

Its territorial area covered two-fifths of the entire German region, boasting 340,000 square kilometers.

The population constituted two-thirds of the entire population of Germany, swelling to over 24 million.

Comparatively, metropolitan France only had an area of 550,000 square kilometers, with a population of just over 36 million. Considering the industrialization levels of both nations, Prussia already possessed the capacity to rival France.

Plus, with weapon and equipment innovations, industrial production advantages, the application of railways and telegraph inventions in military fields, and the advancement of Prussian military reform (especially the reserve forces and General Staff system).

The essence of the North German Federation had surpassed the threshold of European powers, becoming a new European powerhouse, ranking only below England, France, Russia, and Austria, yet considering the previous combat effectiveness of Prussia and Austria, determining who ranks fourth remains uncertain.

Naturally, Ernst already placed the North German Federation in the world’s fourth position, given the fragmented nature of Austria-Hungary made it challenging to instill confidence in Ernst, despite its ostensibly imposing scale.

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Regardless, the North German Federation (Prussia) had a prosperous year from top to bottom.

Meanwhile, the Southern German region experienced much discontent, as the impact of poor harvests was significant, fortunately, the East African colony offered these individuals a lifeline.

However, as the saying goes, if not forced into a corner, who would willingly leave their homeland?

In this wave, regarding migration destinations for the Southern German region, the East African colony has already triumphed over America, with the vast majority of migrants choosing to head to East Africa.

This isn’t because America’s conditions are poor, but rather because German migrants are unwilling to bear risks. Upon arriving in North America, everything remains unknown.

Yet, upon reaching East Africa, it’s apparent they still work for the noble masters, as Southern German farmers are unfamiliar with American capitalists, but still have faith in the German region’s noble lords.

Especially since Ernst himself hails from the local nobility of Southern German, venturing to East Africa wouldn’t be worse than conditions in Southern German, while in America, who knows what treatment they’d receive.

After Christmas, migration from Southern German to East Africa reached a small peak, with many young individuals heading to East Africa bidding farewell to their parents and brothers, boarding carriages hired by Heixinggen Consortium.

Throughout Southern German, many villages witnessed temporary carriages hired by Heixinggen Consortium, the colonial promise included covering all transportation costs to East Africa.

These migrants were gathered locally and transported to the nearest train station, dispatched to port cities as per prior arrangements.

Currently, German migrants have two routes: one is traveling north along the railway, boarding Heixinggen’s ships or hired Dutch vessels at ports in the Baltic and North Seas to head to East Africa.

The other route is via centralized transfer in Bavaria, heading south along the railway, directly reaching Trieste within Austria-Hungary, then boarding Heixinggen’s own vessels along with Austria-Hungary migrants to head to East Africa.

Both routes carry their own pros and cons, though the distance difference isn’t significant, yet both require encircling a large loop along Africa’s west coast.

For this wave of migration, Heixinggen Consortium spent a significant sum on transportation fees, yet to replenish the German population in East Africa, spending a bit more is negligible.

Anyway, once these migrants arrive in East Africa, they continue to create value for Ernst; the return on investment may be slightly delayed, but Ernst never loses in any calculation.

While monitoring migration tasks, Ernst didn’t idle either; currently, many employees in Berlin were given a few days off, with company executives watching over them, leaving no major issues.

Meanwhile, Ernst happened to be in Heixinggen, taking the opportunity to check on the students at Heixinggen Military Academy and Cultural School.

These students, being orphans without roots or connections, regard Ernst as their sole guardian, prompting Ernst to instruct his staff to prepare gifts, preparing to visit the two schools for inspection.