African Entrepreneurship Record

Chapter 1318: Chapter 327: Bestowal of Titles and Rewards

This is also why the Yev and Irene couple intentionally want Elva to inherit their business. If it were to become a sailor, it would require careful consideration.

In this era, being a sailor means facing life-and-death situations, extremely dangerous, as anything could happen at sea, natural disasters, and human calamities alike.

While speaking, all the cargo on the ship had been completely unloaded. After berthing the ship at a fixed location, the Yev and Irene couple started looking for a place to eat onshore.

With East Africa opening up its free market, the culinary industry in East Africa has truly boomed, and this is vividly reflected in Kampala city.

All kinds of restaurants are everywhere in Kampala, with Eastern cuisine becoming even more diverse in East Africa.

In the past, the East African culinary industry was hindered by a planned economy, so even though there were many Far East immigrants in East Africa, their dishes only accounted for a small portion.

Now, anyone with basic culinary skills can open a small restaurant, greatly promoting the development of East African cuisine.

After all, East Africa itself is a nation of immigrants, with cooking styles from the Far East Empire, German, Italy, Slavic regions, etc., all found in East Africa.

Among them, the culinary presence of the Far East Empire and Germany is the most widespread, combined with East Africa’s unique environmental conditions, providing a basis for the further fusion and development of these cuisines in East Africa.

The cuisine unique to the Great Lakes Region is naturally ”fish”. The Great Lake has abundant fish resources, and using advanced cooking techniques, East Africans are particularly particular about eating fish.

In East Africa, fish comes mainly from two sources: freshwater fish and sea fish. Clearly, East Africans consume a higher proportion of freshwater fish than Europeans do.

This is due to the shorter development of the East African maritime fishing industry and the many lakes in East Africa, among which the freshwater fish in the Great Lake, Soron Lake (Tanganyika Lake), and Malawi Lake are quite famous.

For this, the East African government even issued decrees to prevent species invasion from disrupting the original fish habitat growth.

This naturally addresses the negative impact of the previous existence of the Nile perch, as in the past, Lake Victoria introduced the Nile perch leading to the extinction of many native fish species.

However, the Yev and Irene couple are clearly indifferent to eating fish, as they almost live on the Great Lake where fish is the most common food on the ship, and their reason for coming ashore is naturally to try something different.

After disembarking at Kampala port, walking approximately a kilometer northwest of the dock leads to a street primarily dedicated to dining called Senhail Street.

This street is notably different from many parts of Kampala city, appearing rather disorganized, as it predominantly houses dock workers.

Kampala Port is a large inland port in the Great Lakes Region, so there are many dock workers, with Senhail Street’s businesses primarily relying on them to thrive.

Moreover, dock worker wages are not considered high, and with convenient material transportation here, the local prices are relatively low.

The Yev and Irene couple arrived at a restaurant on Senhail Street called Li’s Farmhouse Cuisine.

Yev familiarly addressed the restaurant owner: ”Madam, one serving of stir-fried sausage, one serving of onion beef, and one serving of spicy tofu skin.”

”One stir-fried sausage...” the lady boss called toward the kitchen.

Apparently, East Africa’s culinary industry, especially the low-end sector, has almost been led astray by Far East immigrants, practically monopolizing the market, which also makes the current East African dining service almost indistinguishable from the former Far East Empire.

Even the ubiquitous tipping in Europe is non-existent in East Africa, which is understandable considering East Africa’s immigrant inception almost exclusively chose the poorest demographics from each country.

Tipping culture originated in European high society, but the upper class in East Africa primarily comes from the lower classes, military, or military academies, unlike the direct influx of wealthy U.S. immigrants or the declining aristocracy into the United States.

The differences have affected habits, as East Africa’s upper social strata don’t customarily tip, and the lower classes naturally don’t emulate it, even though the people’s living standards have improved greatly.

This also relates to most culinary workers in East Africa inheriting from the Far East Empire.

No doubt, the culinary techniques mastered by Far East immigrants are far more advanced than those of other immigrant groups. The influence of German cuisine and food in East Africa is somewhat due to previous policies of cultural integration.

If the policy had allowed unrestricted competition between the two, other cuisines would generally not contend with the Far East Empire’s cuisine.

...

February 24, 1918.

Rhein City.

Ernst was conducting a commendation ceremony for the National Defense Security Bureau. As time progressed, Kazan’s treasury gold was safely brought back to East Africa by the National Defense Security Bureau.

The journey was both thrilling and safe, with the most dangerous part being the route through Persia, as Persia was heavily influenced by the British, with British troops even stationed inside its territory.

If the information leaked, no one would remain unmoved regarding Kazan’s treasury gold, thus requiring caution against both the British and the Persians.

Ultimately, the gold became entirely secure once the National Defense Security Bureau transferred the wealth onto a warship in the Persian Gulf.

”Mr. Bruegel, due to your significant contribution to the Empire, I hereby bestow upon you the title of Viscount of the Empire, along with a reward of one million Rhine Shield,” Ernst said, pinning the Iron Cross Medal on Bruegel’s chest.

The Iron Cross Medal in East Africa represents a high honor, and it has so far only been awarded to thirteen individuals who have made significant contributions to East Africa.

And if you take a closer look at Bruegel’s face, you’ll find that he is indeed the missing leader of the Kazan Army from Russia, General ”Beliazovka”.

In terms of rewards, East Africa tends to be somewhat frugal. Given ”Beliazovka’s” contributions, a viscount title obviously isn’t enough, but currently, the East African government can’t afford to grant him a higher rank.

After all, Bruegel’s activities in Russia were not entirely honorable, especially as the Kazan Army he formed became a new warlord force within Russia; thus, offering only a viscount title to Bruegel serves as protection for him.

The material reward is rather practical—a million Rhine Shield is no small sum. Although the Rhine Shield isn’t as valuable as the British Pound, it’s still a currency directly pegged to gold.

And one million Rhine Shield is enough to elevate Bruegel into the ranks of the newly affluent class in East Africa, attributable to the country’s political and policy environment.

It’s noteworthy that East Africa has only opened up for just eight years, so its wealthy populace isn’t on par with traditional great powers like England and France with their centuries of accumulated wealth, which East African commoners cannot possibly match in a few years.

Moreover, while Bruegel played a crucial role in the Kazan treasury heist operation, there were as many as two thousand personnel from the National Defense Security Bureau involved in the heist, which naturally spread the credit for this ”achievement”.

And as one of the most outstanding, Bruegel’s reward is evidently fair. Of course, the East African government and monarchy benefit more, as their over two hundred tons of gold would merit bestowing even a ducal title to Bruegel.

However, the titles of Duke, Marquis, and Count in East Africa are limited in number and notably conspicuous, thus elevating Bruegel to Count could obviously draw unwanted attention, despite the risk being minimal.

During Bruegel’s time with the Kazan Army, most members had seen his true appearance, especially the over ten thousand he personally commanded.

Ernst understandably wishes to keep East Africa’s act of seizing Russian wealth under wraps, so he’s doing his best to obscure Bruegel’s identity.