African Entrepreneurship Record

Chapter 321: Chapter 4 Assistance to Africa

These weapons production cannot all be placed in Mbeya alone, otherwise, compared to other cities in East Africa, Mbeya would have too much industry, and the concentration of industries would inevitably lead to the birth of a large city.

As a transportation hub city that connects Soron Lake (Lake Tanganyika) and Lake Malawi, Tanganyika, and Zambia, the development potential of Mbeya city is already high. The local resources are abundant, especially in terms of mineral resources. Even if we assume that Mbeya city itself has no resources, it can still integrate the resources of the Lake Malawi area and Zambia through its convenient transportation, plus the livable climate, giving it the natural foundation of a large city.

It is undeniable that large cities have many advantages, especially in terms of industrial collaboration, but Ernst himself does not like large cities.

In fact, cities with an excessive population are not livable, while a population that is too small would lead to insufficient utilization of resources or might not be enough to support the development of some industries.

In his previous life, Ernst defined a world-class large city as having a population of over five million in the city area. Currently, the entire East African population has not yet reached five million, so some concerns might seem unwarranted.

However, the population growth rate in East Africa is very fast. Even at the normal growth rate of Africa in the previous life, by the 21st century, the eastern plateau region alone could exceed one hundred million. In the future, East Africa will have the capability of producing cities with a population of five million.

Therefore, Ernst’s plan for Mbeya city is to coordinate with surrounding regions to develop collectively. Mbeya city should fully play its role as a transportation hub city, not only undertaking the overall transportation hub function of East African countries but also extending the transportation benefits to the entire South Salzburg Province, the western region of the Sea Lake Province.

Fully mobilize the development of the industrial area around Lake Malawi, rather than letting one city dominate. In straightforward terms, it is to promote the cluster development of small and medium-sized cities in the Lake Malawi industrial area.

This way, the future population and industry in the region will not be entirely concentrated in Mbeya city while simultaneously facilitating industrial collaboration. Of course, the premise is to do a good job in local transportation construction.

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Far East.

For the old empire of the Far East, it was indeed a rare event today. Richard, the ambassador of the East African Kingdom to the Far East, requested to learn the ”advanced” medical skills of the Far East from the Qing Government and hoped for medical personnel from the Qing Government to ”assist” the East African Kingdom.

Inside the Forbidden City.

Yixin: ”Reporting to Your Majesty, yesterday the ambassador Richard from the East African Kingdom in Africa asked our Celestial Dynasty for medical assistance. He mentioned that the creatures in Africa are in distress, wild beasts are rampant, and there are endless disasters like droughts and floods, leading to rampant plagues and famines everywhere. There is a threat of creatures’ extinction and the country’s subversion, so he requests celestial doctors to go to East Africa to resist the plague and also wants to send officials and students to China to learn our Celestial Dynasty’s medicine to avoid the threat of national extinction.”

Yixin is one of the three ministers of the Prime Minister’s Office, which was the ”foreign ministry” established during the Late Qing. Therefore, Richard’s conveyance of the East African government’s political will to the Far East government is generally first accepted by Yixin.

Tongzhi showed interest upon hearing this, never having heard of Western Barbarians admiring the Celestial Dynasty. The high levels of the Far East empire had long since been submissive under the British and French, and the two countries’ actions have always been overbearing, naturally never giving the East any good face, let alone Eastern culture.

Tongzhi: ”Is this East Africa the new state that came to the court to establish an embassy last year?”

Yixin: ”Indeed.”

Tongzhi: ”The Western countries have always been arrogant, disdainful of education, not respecting the Saint, and suddenly being humble in asking for advice, could there be some conspiracy?”

Yixin: ”Your Majesty should be aware that this East African Kingdom differs somewhat from the Western countries. Its country is located to the west of the Little Western Ocean (Indian Ocean), replacing former Muscat (Somali) and Manbasah (Kenya), and establishing a nation. This place was reached by the former Dynasty’s Zheng He’s Fleet and is not the authentic location of Western countries. Its monarch is a Western Prussian Prince who traveled across the ocean to establish a nation.”

Tongzhi: ”Oh! So this East African Kingdom is a country established by a Prussian Prince overseas?”

Yixin: ”Precisely, Prussia is a Western military power and has resident envoys in the Celestial Dynasty.”

In fact, Yixin found this somewhat embarrassing. He himself was also a Man Qing Prince, a position comparable to Constantine. This Prussian Prince establishing a nation overseas seemed to put him on the spot.

Tongzhi, unaware of Yixin’s thoughts, said, ”Prussia, I know, is a small country to the east of France. It is heard that their people are good at fighting and ruthless, all citizens are soldiers, and naturally, this Prussian Prince is also proficient in martial power, not surprising at all.”

Interestingly, the news of Prussia defeating France and the unification of Germany had not yet reached the Far East at this time, so the Tongzhi ruler and ministers still thought Prussia was a small state on the verge of extinction near France. After all, the fame of Napoleon they had heard of.

Tongzhi further asked, ”Why would this East African Kingdom seek help from us instead of Prussia? What does this mean?”

Yixin: ”As previously mentioned, Prussia is militaristic, maintaining a large army with the strength of a small country, naturally leading to economic depression and people’s lives in straits, hence unable to support an overseas territory.”

Tongzhi: ”It makes sense, but this East Africa must have inherited some true knowledge from Prussia. It can’t be doing that poorly!”

What Yixin just said was too terrifying, with wild beasts, droughts, floods, and plagues. East Africa is doomed!

Yixin explained, ”The land of the East African Kingdom was originally a barren land with little civilization. Its monarch was originally a mere warrior and surely doesn’t know how to govern a country, thus admiring the cultural prosperity of the Celestial Dynasty, unlike the Western Barbarians such as the British and French.”

In other words, East Africa was originally a barren land, culturally and traditionally undeveloped, and with Constantine as a warrior ruling, it’s no wonder they are not good at governance. East Africa is not authentically Western, so seeking our learning is understandable.

Yixin had some insights, frankly speaking, even Europeans might not be this knowledgeable about East Africa.

His summary was quite accurate, although with some prejudice, it objectively described the situation before the establishment of the East African Kingdom. However, admiration for the Celestial Dynasty is exaggerated; Ernst is here to seek benefits, so he specifically instructed Richard to humble themselves a bit.

Richard was originally a businessman and learned to speak appropriately for different audiences. He really acted like the African continent is about to perish and sincerely begged the Man Qing people to help them.

Tongzhi was overjoyed to hear this. The current Far East empire really felt quite oppressed. Ten years ago, the British and French Allies reached the capital, and Xianfeng fled to Rehe, shattering Man Qing’s last vanity, leading to the smooth start of the Self-Strengthening Movement.

At this time, any country that would flatter them would allow the ruler of the ”Celestial Dynasty,” who had lost dignity, to regain some sense of superiority.

This East African Kingdom, although not authentically Western, is at least half Western. If the East African Kingdom learns from them, it is equivalent to Western countries learning from them.

Tongzhi: ”Since the East African Kingdom has sought assistance from the Celestial Dynasty, we cannot lose our Celestial demeanor. Allow the East African Kingdom to send officials and students (exchange students) to study at the Imperial Hospital and recruit a hundred civilian medical personnel to save the suffering East African land and spread the Celestial Dynasty’s great kindness.”

Tongzhi acted generously, initiating medical aid to East Africa without any plan for interest benefits. With the Qing Government’s official endorsement, the East African Kingdom was not shy. While cooperating with the Far East officials, it extensively absorbed medical experience from the Far East folk level and recruited folk medical talents.

Although the Far East’s medical system was not well-developed at the time, it was roughly comparable to the rest of the world. Especially with such a large population in the Far East, there were always medical personnel unsatisfied with their fate. Under Ernst’s instructions, the East African embassy first recruited medical talents from civilians, then requested the Man Qing government to screen these doctors to prevent any charlatans from deceiving in East Africa.

This aid to Africa was undoubtedly a diplomatic face-saving project for the Qing Government, so they dared not be negligent. Bringing quacks to Africa could result in loss of lives, and if East Africa publicized this, how could the Great Qing still mix in the international community?