African Entrepreneurship Record

Chapter 1253: Chapter 262: Sharing the Risks Equally

Although the mutiny in the city of Vinnytsia was large in scale, the Russian government, holding significant military power, suppressed it in just one day.

Since World War I, there have been many mutinies on the Russian front, some involving the direct participation of the Russian military, others as a result of propaganda from the Allies, and still others showing traces of the Revolutionary Party. However, mutinies like the one in Vinnytsia are still rare in Russia at the moment.

On July 28, 1916, the Russian government announced that Ilya and twenty-six others responsible for planning the mutiny were guilty of treason and collaboration with the enemy and were sentenced to be shot.

Internally, Nicholas II was also furious, demanding a thorough investigation into issues like corruption within the military and government departments. Of course, the effect was more thunderous than substantial, although the supplies on the Southern Bug River front did significantly increase.

Regarding this military mutiny in Russia, the East African Government was quite concerned, or rather, Ernst himself was quite concerned.

Ernst said to Friedrich, ”No matter how powerful a nation is, a fondness for war will lead to its downfall; though the world may be at peace, ignoring the risk of war will bring danger. The current situation in Russia vividly demonstrates the former point.”

Friedrich replied, ”Father, isn’t this a bit exaggerated? It’s just a small military mutiny and shouldn’t pose too great a threat to Russia. After all, such situations are not uncommon within the two major camps; even Germany has deserters.”

Ernst replied, ”It is indeed different. Internally, Russia is like a powder keg, and its entire system is still loading gunpowder. As for Germany, unless there is a huge problem with material supply, Germany will generally not face significant issues, at least not until the war ends.”

”The war has not only failed to resolve Russia’s social conflicts but has exacerbated them. At this point, if the Tsar opts for peace, there might still be room for maneuver. If they continue the war, it will be a case where neither side is pleased.”

”The Russian Revolutionary Party and the masses will actively push to topple this decaying empire into the abyss, while in the face of an unfavorable military situation, even capitalists are lurking with predatory intent.”

This is Ernst’s interpretation of the current situation in Russia from a God’s eye view. In the past, Russia had a situation where two political parties coexisted, but ultimately, the Revolutionary Party held more cards, as they could both meet public demand to withdraw from the war and initially showed genuine willingness to change the country’s condition.

The capitalist group did not view the issue in the same way; they didn’t empathize with front-line soldiers. Instead, they only cared about the interests within the war, causing them to ultimately fall short and lose to the Revolutionary Party.

Of course, this had little to do with Ernst. What Ernst was most concerned about was the fate of the Russian royal family.

Ernst always felt that Russia was heading down the same path as in his past life, and it was very likely to happen earlier this time, given that Russia’s situation now is much worse than before.

”Friedrich, invite members of the Russian royal family to East Africa in the name of our royal family!”

Ernst still hoped to have more cards in his hand, because if Soviet Russia emerged, it would not be a good sign for monarchs worldwide.

”Invite whom?” Friedrich asked.

”The Crown Prince Aleksey, or any of Nicholas II’s princesses could come. After all, they serve no real purpose in this war. I believe Nicholas II should have no reason to refuse.”

”Won’t this cause a misunderstanding with Germany and Austria?”

”No need to worry about that. After all, Aleksey is only twelve years old. What could he do? He’s also a victim of hemophilia. Queen Victoria truly spread her malady throughout European royalty. Otherwise, we might have considered an alliance with the Tsarist royal family.”

As for Victoria, the ”old witch,” Ernst held no fondness for her. During her reign, the relationship between East Africa and the United Kingdom was at its worst, even resulting in a war, which was the only time East Africa had direct conflict with another major power. At that time, East Africa was not yet considered a major power.

To his father’s words, Friedrich offered no rebuttal. Instead, he said, ”I’ll make arrangements at once.”

However, Ernst suddenly stopped him, saying, ”Let’s wait until the end of the year!”

The sudden change of heart came from a new thought Ernst had; even if they managed to invite someone from Russia, they likely wouldn’t remain in East Africa for long. Therefore, undergoing the effort would have little effect, so it was better to delay.

”Let’s not talk about this topic for now. How are things in East Kalimantan?” Ernst asked.

Friedrich replied, ”The large-scale unrest has basically ended, and we have already begun development and immigration measures for East Kalimantan.”

The operations in East Kalimantan included ethnic cleansing, an act East Africa dared to undertake due to the timing of World War I.

Friedrich continued, ”The biggest issue for East Kalimantan currently is population. It’s relatively easy to find Chinese immigrants, and European ones are barely adequate. So far, we have settled nearly thirty thousand Caucasians in East Kalimantan.”

”Most of them are war refugees, but how many will stay in the end is uncertain.”

With the development of East Africa’s domestic economy, few domestic immigrants wish to move to the colonies, so efforts must be made to attract war refugees.

However, these war refugees are just a reluctant choice. When the war ends, they might return to Europe, provided they can afford the fare.

Ernst said, ”The construction of the various overseas colonies needs to be accelerated, especially addressing the population issue as a priority. With Russia’s chaotic situation now, we can think more creatively.”

Russian citizens have always been considered high-quality immigrants, as they have made up a significant portion of the original stock of white immigrants in East Africa.

Although the environments of East Africa’s various colonies aren’t ideal, they’re still far better than Siberia, Russia.

”East Kalimantan has good conditions: it has resources and land, capable of supporting industrial and agricultural development.”

If the environment were truly bad, Indonesia wouldn’t have considered relocating its capital to the East Kalimantan region in the past life.

”My plan for East Kalimantan in the future is to have your brother inherit it. This way, we can support a Hohenzollern Kingdom in the South Sea Region, working in tandem with the current Lanfang Overseas Province to stabilize our position and consolidate the royal family’s role at home.”

In the future, the East African colonies will eventually have to transform, either becoming part of the homeland or transitioning into normal countries. Due to their distance, these places can easily become fragmented.

Friedrich had no objections to this, as he himself was set to inherit the Rhein Empire, the greatest asset, and having his siblings establish themselves overseas would benefit the royal family’s standing in the empire.

This is similar to how the British royal family served as a link for Commonwealth countries. Of course, East Africa intends to go a step further. By establishing new kingdoms, these nations are still nominally part of the Rhein Empire, akin to the various principalities under the Holy Roman Empire.

Ernst had three sons to appoint to overseas roles, and now with the third generation starting to emerge, establishing a Hohenzollern family empire would help solidify the family’s international standing in the future.

Much like European nobles calling on relatives for support in a fight, going it alone inevitably means suffering losses.

Especially in such a time when monarchies are increasingly in decline, if a situation similar to Russia’s past happened, with everything seized in one fell swoop, Ernst wouldn’t be able to laugh it off.

Ernst stated, ”In the historical, deeply entrenched and internally complex Far East Empire, the history of the Zhou Empire shows us that although the enfeoffment system has risks, it is most conducive to the continuation of entities like ours from the old era. Modern European history demonstrates this point, so eggs should not all be placed in one basket. This is also one of the escape routes for the family.”