African Entrepreneurship Record

Chapter 370: Chapter 49: Since You’re Here, Don’t Leave!

While Zimbabwe was busily preparing for war, the kingdom’s Central Government received the Far East aid group, and Constantine personally met with its members.

Li Ge: ”... Under the Emperor’s directive, the Far East government has dispatched emissaries Li Ge and Ande as chief and deputy envoy, respectively, to respectfully greet His Majesty the King of your esteemed country.”

After listening to their introductions for quite a while, Constantine realized that Li Ge and Ande were not doctors, but officials of the Far East Empire; the one hundred and three people behind them were the actual doctors from the Far East.

Immediately, Constantine came up with a plan: ”Your country has a heart for developing medical ventures in East Africa, which is a good thing. Since this is the case, we cannot but make some gesture in response. Although your country and ours have diplomatic relations, there has never been an embassy in our country, which is inequitable internationally. You two might as well be permanent Qing Country emissaries in East Africa, responsible for liaison in diplomatic matters between the two countries.”

Constantine’s words frightened Li Ge and Ande. This ”barbarian king” Constantine was essentially demanding their lives!

Originally, Li Ge and Ande’s mission to East Africa was despised by some as: ”If unable to serve people, how can one serve ghosts? Why go to the land of fathers?” This was the general attitude of Far East bureaucrats; otherwise, they would not have sent Li Ge and Ande, two mere scholars not even considered formal officials, to East Africa. Historically, it was not until the first year of Guangxu (1875) that the Qing Government officially dispatched diplomatic envoys to Western countries.

Li Ge and Ande, low in rank and light in words, naturally could not defy higher opinions. But from the moment they set foot in East Africa, their career paths were entirely severed.

Now that Constantine directly appointed them as permanent ambassadors of the Far East in East Africa, should this news reach back home, Li Ge and Ande foresaw themselves being labeled as traitors.

Not to mention this matter, the mere fact that Constantine, a foreign monarch, bypassed the Qing Government to appoint them as Far East ambassadors—would the Emperor and the entire imperial court let them off!

Li Ge and Ande hurriedly begged: ”Your Majesty King Constantine, this matter must not be!”

Constantine: ”Oh! Why?”

Li Ge, with a tearful face, said: ”We are both officials of the Far East, having superiors. The Far East places utmost importance on ethics and morals. There is a saying about having an unjust ruler, ministers turn to other nations. If we serve as officials in East Africa, where shall we place our Celestial Dynasty and serve the Emperor’s heavenly visage? We fear being unable to face our hometown elders. We must demonstrate our resolve through death, refusing to take office.”

Li Ge spoke in a verbose manner, which the East African translators spent a lot of time studying to grasp the general meaning.

It was then that Constantine understood he was somewhat mistaken; these Far East scholars were prevalently rooted in Confucian thought, quite different from the mindset of Western people.

Constantine said: ”You two need not do so; my intention is to negotiate with your country’s emperor to agree to dispatch diplomatic personnel to East Africa. If your emperor agrees, there’s a high likelihood you both can undertake this task. If your emperor disagrees, then let’s pretend I never said anything.”

Never mind that when the East Africa Kingdom was founded, they did things quite formally in Europe. Up till now, no country has established an embassy in East Africa. In the eyes of Britain and France, the so-called East Africa Kingdom was merely a colonial piece managed by a member of the Prussian royal family (German aristocracy)—just a trivial trick of the Hohenzollern family. Who would send diplomatic personnel to establish an embassy in a colony!

Especially when the East Africa Kingdom was established, Prussia was just a small kingdom. The so-called East Africa Kingdom had a pitiful image in outsiders’ eyes, its status not even being on par with neighboring Portugal’s Mozambique colony. Mozambique has a history of several hundred years, while the East Africa Kingdom has not even existed for a year (excluding colonial times); it didn’t appear to be a legitimate country in any way, merely exploiting African natives without hot weapons.

It’s not just Britain and France; even Austria and Prussia, which have the best relations with East Africa, don’t regard East Africa seriously. Others may look down upon the East Africa Kingdom, but they might still give some face to East Africa, owing to their regard for Prussia and Austria. Yet, the Austrian and Prussian governments genuinely don’t view the East Africa Kingdom highly.

Even Constantine Heixinggen’s princely title is more valuable than the so-called title of King of the East Africa Kingdom. Though the principality may be small, it’s a proper European Vassal State recognized by European nobility. The East Africa Kingdom is akin to the future British king’s title of Emperor of India—a mere token. If one mentions the British king, Europeans would revere him; mentioning the Emperor of India prompts laughter.

For instance, when Ferdinand the Grand Duke was serving as the Navy Commander of East Africa, he remains a laughingstock within Austria, only that everyone refrains from mentioning it out of respect for His Majesty the Emperor. While Franz is greatly embarrassed, it’s still better for his brother to retire in East Africa than in that wretched place Mexico.

In reality, ever since they learned that their Emperor was not dead, the Mexican royalists went to Austria to plead with Ferdinand to come out again, or at the very least set up a government-in-exile so they could earn some subsidies in Austria. Naturally, Franz would not agree. They chose the lesser of two evils, and since Ferdinand was quite comfortable in East Africa, having the occasional opportunity to return home via the Suez Canal, it wasn’t a bad idea to let him stay in East Africa. As for Ferdinand establishing a career in East Africa, everyone just watched for amusement.

Ferdinand: Don’t underestimate a midlife crisis!

The development of the East African navy was still quite fast. It was a pity they didn’t have ironclad ships, but this year, two newly constructed steam-powered warships from Bajamojo Shipyard would enter service. Along with the two refitted warships from the Sultanate of Zanzibar, by next year Ferdinand would have eight steam-powered sailing warships under his command.

Overall, East Africa was currently a diplomatic wasteland. Although there were quite a few embassies set unilaterally, they weren’t of much use, and sometimes Heixinggen Bank was more effective.

Of course, this had something to do with the short time since the establishment of the Kingdom of East Africa, but it wasn’t as if no country intended to set up an embassy in East Africa.

This country was Paraguay, which was severely exploited by Ernst. After the baptism of war, Paraguay was reduced to ruins, with a massive population loss making even government stability difficult to maintain. Paraguay shared a border with Argentina, making the Paraguayan government even more worried. Paraguay and Argentina both originated from the Spanish La Plata colony, sharing the same roots. Brazil just wanted to beat them, but Argentina really had the potential to annex them.

So Paraguay urgently needed to find a backer on the international stage. Combined with Paraguayans being caught in East Africa, under East Africa’s mediation, Paraguay set its sights on the Austria-Hungary Empire behind East Africa.

Though the Kingdom of East Africa couldn’t do much in this regard, it served as a contact point. Therefore, the Paraguayan government was intent on setting up an embassy in East Africa. However, the Paraguayan embassy had not yet been constructed mainly because the Paraguayan government had not selected its diplomatic personnel.

As for which of Paraguay or the Far East would set up the first embassy in East Africa, it depended on who acted more proactively. Diplomacy is such that the Kingdom of East Africa wasn’t in a hurry at present. Nobody paying attention to East Africa was a good thing. If a country really started paying attention, it would likely lead to ulterior motives, like ”the weasel paying New Year’s greetings to the chicken”.

There was indeed one country eager to set up an embassy in East Africa, but East Africa didn’t agree—that was the Sultanate of Zanzibar. Didn’t they know their place? From East Africa’s perspective, allowing the establishment of a legation in Stone City (the capital of the Sultanate of Zanzibar) was already a gesture of goodwill. The Sultanate of Zanzibar to the Kingdom of East Africa was like Japan to America in their past life; doing business with them was safe. If not, they would have long since blown up.

Upon hearing Constantine’s arrangements, Li Ge and Ande finally felt a slight release of their tension, yet they were still filled with bitterness inside. Constantine and the government of the Far East would surely bring them up. Even if the Far East ambassador role fell to them, the future looked bleak. Hence, they considered it would be better to commit to East Africa and bring their families over from the Far East, fearing their families might suffer from gossip behind their backs in the Far East.

Li Ge and Ande originally came from poor backgrounds with little family, and passing the imperial exams felt like a stroke of luck. But before they could enjoy their success, they were dispatched to this barbaric land of East Africa.

Constantine was unaware that his casual decision had made the two as anxious as sitting on pins and needles. In reality, Constantine merely wanted to separate Li Ge and Ande from those Far East doctors. Those two were official representatives from the Far East, and naturally, they would oversee those doctors, which was unacceptable. The doctors belonged to East Africa.

So Constantine said, ”Let’s decide on this then. I’ll personally write a letter to your monarch, praising both of you to a great extent. Ah, the Far East truly deserves its reputation as a civilization with a long history, with subjects so loyal to their sovereigns. I think such loyalty should be widely promoted in East Africa.”

This was Constantine’s genuine sentiment. In Europe, with so many small countries, a discontented subject would readily defect to an opposing camp. Just look at how the subjects of Eastern monarchs, even to the point of sacrificing themselves, protect the dignity of their monarchs. The Kingdom of East Africa, as an autocratic monarchy, naturally desired such ”loyal to the king and patriot” individuals.

In fact, Europe’s civilization had simply existed for too short a time. During the Spring and Autumn Annals in the Far East, talents often wandered between states, embodying the idea that if someone didn’t stay in one place, another opportunity awaited them elsewhere, much like ”Jin uses talent from Chu.”

Constantine continued, ”The Ministry of Health should prepare the reception. You must draw up a plan so that these Far East doctors feel at home in East Africa, facilitating the advancement of medical care in East Africa.”

The Minister of Health, Belrade, understood clearly and replied, ”Yes, Your Majesty, we are currently lacking many directors who can take charge independently. We can arrange for these doctors to take those positions.”

The Far East doctors couldn’t understand the conversation between the two and didn’t realize that they were already considered part of East Africa. What voluntary medical service? Nonexistent! They were now East African doctors and would continuously contribute to East Africa’s healthcare sector.

As for their families back in the Far East, that wouldn’t be an issue. Arrangements would naturally be made for them to reunite in East Africa. Once arriving on this land of East Africa, leaving wouldn’t be an option.