African Entrepreneurship Record

Chapter 403: Chapter 80: Persuasion to Leave

The fall of Pretoria also signifies that the Transvaal Republic has essentially been destroyed. Young Pillotolius and the Transvaal Republic’s government officials have fled to the Orange Free State. The only uncertainty now is where the main Boer forces fighting the Zulu Kingdom are located?

This reminded Ernst of King Wu’s Expedition Against King Zhou. The fall of the Shang Dynasty was also due to the main Shang forces campaigning against the Eastern Yi and unable to return in time. The hastily assembled slave army turned against them in battle, leaving the King of Shang helpless, forced to set himself on fire.

Therefore, it is very important to ensure the presence of a military force loyal to the monarchy in the capital to respond to sudden crises, which was the original intent of forming the 101st Guard Division.

Of course, the Transvaal’s slave forces were generally competent; even after collapsing, they did not take advantage of the chaos to settle accounts with the Boers but fled in all directions instead.

After occupying Pretoria, the East African army gathered Pretoria’s citizens in the Transvaal Republic’s parliament to announce to the Boers in Pretoria the decisions regarding the Transvaal Republic.

”The East African Kingdom is a monarchic and absolutist state that aspires for order and justice. Any individuals or forces that oppose monarchy, do not uphold East African national policies, or hold unfriendly attitudes towards the East African Kingdom are not welcome. All ethnicities within the East African Kingdom are equal under the law, with no special privileges. The land of East Africa is state-owned...” Sivert continued speaking, but the Boers below had already erupted into chaos.

The absolutism of monarchy was still acceptable, but the abolition of slavery was a big problem for the Boers. Without slaves, would they have to work their farms themselves? Of course, it was possible, but the nationalization of East African land was a complete loss of livelihood!

Someone shouted from below: ”The Transvaal Republic does not welcome you invaders, get off our land!”

This made Ernst, who was listening in, appreciate his courage greatly. He stood up from his chair and said to the Boers: ”Who just shouted? Pretending to be a hero! If you can stand up instead of hiding in the crowd, ranting ineffectually, then I would respect you as a man.”

After waiting for a moment without anyone stepping forward to admit it, Ernst said: ”From today, the Transvaal Republic no longer exists in the world as a country. This is the territory of the East African Kingdom.

As for those dissatisfied with the East African Kingdom, you can choose to leave. We will not make it difficult for those who choose to leave voluntarily. You can take your assets and family business out of East Africa. If you want revenge, you are welcome anytime. In fact, East Africa had no conflicts with the former Transvaal Republic and even had a good relationship.

The consequences were caused by your president. Supporting the Debelle people’s rebellion was never the right thing to do, just as supporting your enemies like the Zulu Kingdom or slave revolts was not right. Therefore, this war by East Africa is legal, justified, and righteous, and your losses should entirely be blamed on your elected president’s misconduct.”

Although Ernst’s words might seem fallacious, regardless of whether the Boers supported the Debelle people, the result was the same. However, the excuse for war was indeed delivered by young Pillotolius himself.

Some Boers without independent thinking thought it was their president’s responsibility because Ernst’s example was spot-on.

The Zulu people were the Boers’ greatest nemesis before East Africa attacked the Transvaal Republic. If any force indeed supported the Zulu people, the Boers certainly wouldn’t agree from their perspective.

Of course, most Boers were clear that this was merely the East African Kingdom trying to deflect the contradictions, and now the greatest enemy was the East African Kingdom, not the Zulu people.

”May I ask, who are you?” a Boer asked persistently.

”I am the Crown Prince of the East African Kingdom, Ernst.”

”Your Highness Ernst, supporting the Debelle people was entirely President Pillotolius’ fault, and had nothing to do with us...”

Ernst: ”Since young Pillotolius was the president you elected, his actions naturally represent the Transvaal Republic, and young Pillotolius tried to gain an advantage but ended up losing to East Africa. The loser naturally has to pay the price.”

For the losers, at best, it’s ceding territory and paying reparations; at worst, it’s the destruction of the nation and people. This was the main theme of the era. Don’t assume that just because both came from the European continent, they could be exempt from these trends. In West Africa, the colonial powers in various traditional colonies are already fighting fiercely.

East Africa, allowing the Boers to take their properties and leave East African territory, is only slightly less ruthless than the British in Cape Town, but that’s not because the British have better hearts. It’s because there are more Boers in British Cape Town and they must make some compromises. East Africa doesn’t need to be so hypocritical. With military power, these Boers can’t create any trouble.

Ernst said: ”Alright, there is no value in negotiating this issue. We welcome residents who wish to stay in the East African Kingdom according to the East African way of life. Those who do not wish to stay, please leave. But I must warn you, do not cause trouble, otherwise, the East African army is not to be trifled with. Also, let me tell you that we used more than fifty thousand troops to invade Transvaal, so I hope some individuals will not ignore good advice and insist on going their own way.”

Ernst’s words indeed had an effect. The Boers in Pretoria already understood that there was no point in resistance. The mere number of East African troops was an insurmountable mountain. Even if the Transvaal Republic gathered all its men, it would barely match that number. Moreover, after excluding the elderly and children, how many were left? They simply could not resist the East African Kingdom.

Some large Boer farm owners had already fled with young Pillotolius, and the remaining farm owners were planning to go to the Orange.

Transvaal and Orange implement a large land ownership system. Just a few families can own land the size of a town. Upon entering new areas, Boer farm owners’ first action is to fence off and demarcate territories, naming the natural landmarks like streams, woods, or hills where boundaries fall.

The Boer parliament then issues certificates of land ownership. Due to the vastness of the fenced-off land, some parcels remain untouched for decades, left to go wild.

The number of Boer farm owners was not large because fencing off land required strength. Ordinary people didn’t have the capacity to develop such land and also had to face threats from Zulu people and other indigenous people. Many Boers had to band together to form militias, concentrating the Boer population in Transvaal and Orange, saving the East African army considerable effort. If they were scattered, it would be much busier.

After East African Kingdom’s cordial persuasion, nearly all Boers chose to leave, with those deciding to stay being negligible, and those who chose to remain and join East Africa were basically some landless Germans.

The term Boer is merely flexible. They call themselves Africans, but immigrants from the Netherlands, Britain, France, and various German states are included. After British colonization of Cape Town, some British immigrants separated from the Boers and returned to the British embrace. Similarly, the Germans who joined East Africa were a similar case. These Germans had already been purified, so there would be no trouble for East Africa in the future.