African Entrepreneurship Record

Chapter 492: Chapter 170: The Empire of Cattle and Horses

Early 1878.

Central Province, Kidatu Village Agricultural Cooperative.

The village chief of Kidatu Village, Luo Weisi, addressed the villagers about the new policy: ”Alright, please quiet down. I have good news to bring you. The government’s new policy has been conveyed. According to the kingdom’s directive, our country will address the issue of slavery within the next thirty years. In line with changes in the international community, we should currently promote the substitution of large livestock such as cattle and horses for slaves. According to the township government’s documents, our Kidatu Village has been allocated 236 head of cattle to replace the farming slaves.”

Lemi: ”Chief, what kind of good news is this? Isn’t it just replacing slaves with livestock? Besides, slaves can also do some rough work apart from farming, which is much better than livestock!”

”Lemi, what do you know? No matter how useful slaves are, they are not a long-term solution. Our East African national circumstances are special, so we have had to temporarily use slaves as a tool to enhance East Africa’s productivity. However, slavery is not permitted by the international community, and it will inevitably be phased out. Moreover, no matter how industrious slaves can be, they cannot match the efficiency of large livestock, and there is also a risk of rebellions.”

Lemi muttered: ”I think Black people are very useful, and can’t we suppress small Blacks?”

”Haha, that’s what America thought back then. Now the issue is that America’s Black slaves have been freed, and in the future, Black people will undoubtedly have a significant impact on American society—for better or worse, it’s uncertain. But we cannot let the situation in America happen in East Africa. The Mamluks of Egypt are slaves who turned their status around, and I don’t want our future kingdom to encounter such historical circumstances. So, don’t always think about exploiting others and living idly; true happiness is ultimately created by oneself. Relying on exploitation is unsustainable.”

Luo Weisi’s ability to speak in such a manner clearly sets him apart from ordinary East Africans, and in fact, he was part of the early group educated by Heixinggen, possessing a high level of basic cultural literacy. Otherwise, how could he be the village chief!

The replacement of slaves does indeed have an impact on East African production. After all, compared to livestock, humans are currently the highest form of productivity; they can accomplish many complex tasks that animals cannot understand in a lifetime.

”Chief, these plowing cattle seem to correspond to our village’s workforce. Does that mean each person gets one?”

”What are you dreaming about? Do you know how to raise cattle? In other words, have you ever dealt with plowing cattle before? What if you raise them to death?”

Luo Weisi’s words are quite objective. Ordinary people in East Africa have indeed not been in much contact with plowing cattle, whether they are Western or Eastern immigrants.

The immigrants who came to East Africa from the Far East truly belong to the extremely poor class. If they actually had a cow, they wouldn’t have come to East Africa to make a living. Never mind plowing cattle; even pulling together a farming tool is a problem. And the Europeans don’t have a recognized understanding of cattle either, as cattle plowing wasn’t popular in Europe before. In white countries, the widespread use of plowing cattle occurred primarily in America, where cattle mainly served as a means of transportation and a source of dairy products and beef.

Moreover, raising cattle is a technical task, and the cost of raising cattle is currently beyond what ordinary East Africans can afford on their meager wages.

Luo Weisi: ”The plowing cattle will be collectively provided by the cooperative and raised by specialized personnel. Just like before with the slaves, only those who apply will be allowed to use them. According to the kingdom’s regulations, separate pastures and facilities will be assigned.”

The tropical savanna climate is a natural large pasture. It’s just that East Africa is not following the path of Argentina, so much of the land is used for farming. In fact, the cost of animal husbandry is lower since it doesn’t require tilling or transforming the soil, nor does it need the construction of large-scale intensive irrigation facilities.

East African agriculture claims to be smallholder agriculture, but in reality, it’s fundamentally different from smallholder agriculture, as it involves strong division of labor and collaboration, possessing traits of capitalist agriculture. In fact, it resembles the Soviet Union more, though there is no Soviet Union now, and the world has no communist country model to reference. Therefore, East Africa’s agricultural model finds its closest comparison in the European serfdom model, where production resources are concentrated in the hands of the serf masters. However, East Africa differs in having only one serf master, Ernst, who doesn’t expect East African agriculture to create enormous economic value. The farmers enjoy relatively more freedom, yet East Africa does have slaves in the truest sense: the Black farming slaves.

”Replacing slaves with livestock is an unstoppable trend, not just for our village. In the coming years, the entire East Africa will be implementing it, with the Central Province now serving as a pilot area,” Luo Weisi said to the villagers.

Of course, the current implementation of livestock going to rural areas in East Africa is not meant for immediate widespread adoption. It’s mainly being promoted in crop farming areas, while economic crop plantations will still retain a certain number of slaves.

The primary driving forces for livestock ruralization in East Africa are the two major pastures, developed over ten years, cultivating a significant number of livestock, especially in the northern and highland pastoral regions. The livestock population in these areas has now reached ten million, providing East Africa with a foundation to transform the lagging productivity in rural areas.

A population of ten million isn’t actually a large number for East Africa, considering that a single Texas in America has over fifty million cattle, and that’s just one state in the western U.S. With East Africa counting both cattle and horses, there’s still a long way to go compared to those livestock powerhouses.

”Chief, since livestock is to replace slaves, what will become of these slaves? Will they be sold off?”

Luo Weisi said: ”Who knows! The kingdom will naturally find a way to deal with it, so we don’t have to worry about it!”

Selling them is impossible, as there isn’t currently a slave market large enough to absorb such a mass of slaves. Take the Ottoman Empire, for example—their previous purchasing volume has decreased since they’re busy fighting with the Russian Empire, and their funding isn’t very ample.

For this reason, East Africa has specifically lowered prices to organize promotional activities, subsidizing Zanzibari Arab merchants. A shipload of slaves sent out earns a subsidy. As for where they are sent, East Africa doesn’t care. That way, the Ottoman Empire quickly acquired a large number of black slaves to contend with the Russian gray slaves, and black slaves also need to eat, revitalizing East Africa’s grain trade. After all, the Ottomans had stopped purchasing grain from the Russians, freeing up that market.

Therefore, in the Tenth Russo-Turkish War, the Ottomans fared poorly in the Balkans, yet the Asian region didn’t suffer as much as it historically did, notably in the Caucasus. The Ottoman Empire even formed a Black Corps to fight against the Russian Empire.

This is also related to the Ottoman Empire’s population trade with East Africa. The Caucasian white ethnic group, especially women, were bought in significant numbers by East Africa. Naturally, forcing these populations to relocate to East Africa wasn’t a smooth process, and the locals resisted, playing right into the Ottoman Empire’s hands. Consequently, they took drastic measures against other local ethnic groups, freeing up lands that fell into the hands of Ottoman nobles. And to develop these lands, the Ottoman nobility needed labor, making black slaves the ideal workforce. Moreover, the Ottoman Empire had methods of controlling black slaves, so they were not concerned about the slaves overtaking them.

Therefore, in just over ten years, the black population in the Caucasus region increased to over 300,000, working for the Ottoman nobles. As soon as war broke out, the Ottoman lords incorporated these black slaves into the army, employing human wave tactics against the Russian Empire. Thus, the Tenth Russo-Turkish War was unlikely to end as easily as it historically did. As long as all the Blacks didn’t perish, the Ottomans could continue the fight. Of course, the replenishment speed of the Blacks couldn’t be as fast, posing logistical challenges for the Ottoman Empire.

The Ottoman Empire was keen to keep fighting, without needing intervention from Britain and other countries. As for the chaotic situation in the Balkans, it was unavoidable. The Balkan Peninsula was filled with rebels, making it impossible for the Ottomans to exert their forces locally. For instance, Romania, under the control of Sigmaringen, could already be considered an independent country, but still hung under the Ottoman Empire in name, similar to the current situation with Egypt. Taking advantage of the Tenth Russo-Turkish War, Romania seized the opportunity to gain complete independence from the Ottoman Empire.