African Entrepreneurship Record

Chapter 348: Chapter 27: American Fellow Countryman

Pushing East African cuisine can’t be rushed now; Ernst has to handle it himself. However, since he’s still in Europe, it will have to wait for now until he arrives in East Africa to make plans.

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July 12, 1871.

America, New York.

Post-Civil War America was unprecedentedly prosperous, as observed by Jonathan, the North American General Manager of Heixinggen Bank, over the past three years.

Heixinggen Bank landed in North America three years ago. In reality, there had been a North American commercial liaison office earlier, but at that time, there was no Heixinggen Bank—it was when Ernst was just starting in Berlin. It wasn’t until Heixinggen Bank was established and expanded that it officially landed on this fertile ground.

”Another immigrant ship?” Jonathan said while walking by the seaside with his wife.

His wife, Angina: ”Probably Italians. Recently, there have been many Italians coming to America. Lately, nearly every day, Italians have been landing in New York. It seems that the situation in the Kingdom of Italy isn’t very good.”

Jonathan: ”Hehehe, serves them right. Provoking us Germans, how could they have a good ending?”

Being a German, Jonathan autonomously viewed the Austro-Hungarian Empire as the homeland of Germans. Now he has a second choice—Germany, but previously, overseas, most still bore the banner of Austria, as at that time, the Austrian Empire was a top-tier power.

Angina: ”Jonathan, it’s fine to say these things at home, but don’t say them outside. If someone with ill intentions hears you, it could cause trouble.”

Jonathan: ”I know, dear. But, since it’s just the two of us here, I dared to say it.”

Angina was mainly worried that Jonathan’s words might cause unnecessary trouble if overheard by the Italian immigrant community. The Italian immigrant community in America is quite famous, with Revolutionary Party and mafia members mingling. Recently, a significant number of ”patriots” had been expelled by the Kingdom of Italy under the pressure of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, so the Italian immigrants in America were quite vigorous.

New York, as the first stop for many arriving Italian immigrants, has many Italian groups meeting the ships here and pulling people along. Therefore, it’s wise to be cautious on the streets, as there might be formidable individuals within the crowd. Currently, the most famous gangs in America are almost all controlled by Italians.

Before the rise of Italian gangs, the major gang groups in America were predominantly Irish. Between 1845 and 1850, when the Great Famine hit Ireland, millions of Irish refugees flooded into America. Those who escaped not only got American citizenship, but the American government also arranged jobs for them.

During that time, which was the early stage of American democracy, the separation of powers had just been established, allowing any new immigrants the right to vote. Thus, these Irish became the primary targets for American politicians to court. Initially, politicians bribed these Irish through job offerings, nationality arrangements, and other favorable conditions. But as competition intensified, corrupt politicians also plotted against their rivals, first leveraging methods like kidnapping, extortion, and intimidation. These Irish henchmen cultivated by politicians became the earliest American gangs.

But now the Irish are out of date. Compared to the low-tier Irish gangs, most Italian gangs are battle-hardened veterans with strict discipline and organizational structure, making them more favored by employers.

Under Ernst’s instigation, the business development of Italian gangs in America gained momentum.

Paraguay, being a small country, could not cater to many Italian immigrants, most of whom were Venetians. Although countries like Argentina in South America welcomed Italian immigrants, ultimately more Italians went to America mainly because of the large Italian immigrant base in the U.S., where calling friends could always have some effect.

Italian refugees contacted their relatives in America to inquire about the situation, then sold their belongings back home and came to America.

Penniless Italian refugees, after arriving in America, were met not with paradise but the ”love” of their fellow countrymen.

...

The dock was crowded. The immigrant ship finally docked, and many Italians, dizzy from seasickness, some even having gone a long time without food, were weak and feeble. But the shipowner was already impatiently urging people off the ship.

”Hey, you paupers! You’ve reached America. Freedom is here; paradise is here; so hurry off my ship.”

”Don’t dawdle! Are you still half-asleep? Grab your luggage and get off quickly!”

”Hey, hey, don’t die on my ship. If you die, at least do it in the sea. Sailors, drag him off for me.”

Finally, after an hour, the shipowner had driven everyone off the ship.

”Captain Mony! Here is some shipping money pooled by our trade association. Thank you for your kindness in saving so many Italian people.”

”Hahaha, Mr. Babur, you’re too kind! It’s what I should do!”

The stern Mony from earlier seemed to have changed his face in front of Babur, beaming with smiles, completely devoid of any impatience shown earlier towards the Italians, since these were the ones bringing money to him.

Babur was one of the representatives of Italians in New York. He paid the shipowners like Mony because they had received a shocking incident three months ago.

Some unscrupulous shipowners, in order to make more money, threw Italians heading to America into the open sea, gave them a few small boats, then hurried to pick up the next batch.

As a result, survivors were rescued by passing merchant ships, and the incident made the newspapers. Seeing their compatriots suffer such hardship, Italian patriots in America thought of a solution: they pooled money to pay the shipowners, thus giving them an extra income for each batch of Italians they brought to America.

The requirement was that they had to be all live Italians, and the ship had to be full for them to get the money. Under financial temptation, such incidents were finally curtailed.

Of course, the patriots did not have such funds because they also needed to support the Italian unification cause, which was costly; therefore, the sponsors were mainly Italian gangs.

And since the Italian gangs were expanding business in America and needed manpower, the Italians who had just disembarked once again felt the ”warmth” from their fellow countrymen.

”Hey, brother, you’re starving, right? I just happen to have some bread and water here.”

”Really... Thank you so much, sir!”

”Eat slowly, don’t choke. Here’s some water!”

Moments later.

”Where are you from in Italy?”

”Lombardy!”

”That’s a great place. I used to be in Sicily and heard Lombardy is the best place in Italy.”

”Sadly, it’s not anymore. The war destroyed it.”

”Don’t be sad, brother. Now that you’re in America, everything will get better!”

”I hope so!”

”Brother, are you here in America to join relatives?”

”My family in Italy has passed away.”

”My condolences!”

”It’s okay; over these days, I’ve come to terms with it, especially on the ship. I almost felt like dying, but when I stepped onto land, I still felt that being alive is good!”

”Alone in America, do you have a place to stay or a job? How will you make a living?”

”This...”

”Ah, as expected, just like the ones before, you rushed to America recklessly without understanding the situation or preparing!”

”So what should I do?”

”Haha, thankfully you met me. Our company is currently hiring. The boss is also Italian. Are you interested in joining us?”

”Really?”

”Of course, look at this suit of mine. You couldn’t imagine I was just a refugee from one of the poorest areas in Italy before! In America, as long as you dare to think and fight, there’s plenty of opportunities to get rich!”

Seeing him still hesitant, the man continued, ”Don’t worry, fellow countrymen don’t cheat each other. I’m helping you because we’re both Italians.”