Chapter 199 Payment

"Mr. M'siri, this is the payment from our East African government. You can count it," said Merk.

"Yeah." M'siri glanced at the two black men beside him.

For M'siri, no courtesy was more important than profit, so he immediately ordered people to start counting the arms provided by East Africa.

The two native officials began to count the boxes carefully. It was rare for the Yeke Kingdom, where the average person dropped out of prenatal education, to have two people who knew a little bit of math.

Not long.

"Your Majesty, not one less." said two native officials of the Yek Kingdom.

However, Musiri was not reassured. He went to a box, took out a musket from it, held it in his hand and examined it carefully, then checked a few more boxes.

"Mr. Merk, can I have a test shot?" said Msiri.

"Of course, it's your right," Merk said.

Musiri skillfully loaded a gun with ammunition, then pointed it at a big tree in the distance and pulled the trigger. With a "bang", a hole appeared on the tree.

At this time, Musiri finally showed a satisfied smile and said, "You are very good! I am very satisfied with this deal."

"Of course. Our East African government is honest and trustworthy. We will never use those rubbish to deceive you, my friend," said Merk.

Although he said so, Merck didn't think so in his heart. These guns were all defective products after being repaired in East Africa. They could still be used normally, but they would definitely be rubbish if placed in the East African colony.

There are at least hundreds of thousands of guns in East Africa, most of which are old-style muskets eliminated from Europe. They have many problems and some will have various problems after being used a few times.

The East African government will then send these defective guns to the East African arsenal for repair, and finally select the worst batch from the repaired guns and send them to Msiri.

"By the way, Mr. M'siri, because your cooperation this time has made us in East Africa very satisfied, so we have prepared some other gifts for you this time," said Merk.

Merk waved his hand, and several East African soldiers unloaded three boxes from the carriage. They looked quite large and must have contained a lot of things.

"What's in here?"

“You can open it and take a look.”

Musili looked at these unexpected gifts with curiosity, but worried that it might be a fraud, he still asked his men to open them and check.

As the first box was opened, it was a box of wine. Not much, just five bottles in total, with straw at the bottom.

Musiri's eyes suddenly brightened. He walked forward, took a wine bottle in his hand and looked at it carefully.

Glass bottles are a real rarity for M'siri, and they are so perfectly made, though the shape is a little odd.

"Mr. Merck, is there water in this gemstone bottle?" asked Musiri.

"It's filled with wine," Merk replied.

"This wine must be very expensive!" asked Musiri like a bumpkin.

The things contained in such an exquisite work of art should not be ordinary things. Especially when Merck said that there was wine inside, Musiri became more convinced that the wine inside was also very precious.

Musiri had also drunk wine, but it was fruit wine made from local bananas from the Yeke Kingdom. It had many impurities and was very turbid, so when he saw the liquid in the bottle was so pure, Musiri thought it was filled with water.

As for why this work of art is filled with water, perhaps it is a special hobby of East Africans. This is what Mshiri thought before Merk said that there was alcohol inside.

"You're right. Look at the logo on the bottle. It's a man herding horses. So in our place, this wine is called 'Horse Wrangler'. This wine is very precious. Even in Europe, only a few people can afford it." Merkle said nonsense.

“Where is Europe?”

“It’s my hometown.”

“Is your king the only one among the few who can afford to drink it?” asked M’siri.

"Of course, only people of your status can drink this kind of wine," said Merk.

Hearing this, Musiri was instantly satisfied. Like himself, he was their king, wasn't he? This wine was worthy of his status.

In fact, Merk said this on purpose. In his eyes, how could Msiri be compared with people in the civilized world.

Wrangler, a familiar brand, is the civilian vodka that was a hot seller in Tsarist Russia and was the favorite of the lower-class alcoholics in Tsarist Russia.

However, thanks to the contributions of the drunkards in Tsarist Russia, Wrangler Vodka has become the most produced alcoholic beverage of the Hexingen Consortium.

Its biggest advantage is its low price, so it is used in East Africa to send to Msiri.

Musiri couldn't wait to taste the wine. He fiddled with it and found the wooden cork. He held the bottle with one hand and pulled it hard with the other hand to open it. He then took a big gulp.

"It tastes really good. You East Africans are very sincere. I will remember this friendship!"

"We are always generous to our friends," Merk said with a smile.

The first box contained such good stuff that Musiri couldn't wait to see what was in the remaining two boxes.

This time he did it himself, holding the bottle in one hand and opening the second box with the other, he saw a piece of textile inside.

"Mr. Merk, what is this?"

Merck walked forward, took out the fabric, and shook it with his hands. A cotton cloak appeared in front of Musiri.

There are also animal patterns unique to Africa sewn on it. It looks flashy, but the workmanship is acceptable, especially compared with the robe on M'siri. It is indeed more exquisite.

"This is the cloak we prepared for you. It can better show your kingly demeanor." Merk said.

Musiri took it and examined it carefully. He found that the workmanship was indeed "excellent" and the patterns were also very beautiful and colorful. Especially the lions, crocodiles, etc. on it were simply "lifelike".

"Good, that's great. I'm very satisfied with this gift." Musiri put the cloak back into the box.

Coming to the third box, he opened it, and this time Musiri had no idea what was in front of him.

Musiri also recognized the wine bottle as a work of art made of gemstones, but at most he didn't know its function. However, the thing in front of him was beyond Musiri's cognition. He had never seen such a thing in Africa!

Merk stepped forward and said, "This is a specialty of our East Africa. It's called cigarettes. It's for smoking and makes people feel good."

"How do you suck this thing?"

Merck took out a box, removed the seal, pulled out a cigarette, lit it, and began to teach M'siri how to smoke.

Soon, Musiri understood, but he was puzzled: "This thing doesn't feel good, it's just smoke!"

Merk said: "You won't see the effect in a short time, but after a long time, you will know the fun of it."

But Musiri was still skeptical, so Merk said to him, "Take one after every meal. In a few days, you will know the fun of it."

…

East Africa naturally had ulterior motives in giving gifts to M'siri. Cigarettes and alcohol are addictive. Once M'siri's stock runs out, he will naturally take the initiative to contact the East African colonies.

Anyway, Musiri still has to fight for territory, and he can always snatch some good things from other natives. East Africa can then exchange them for cigarettes and alcohol.

Of course, Msiri was more sensible. He cooperated well in handing over the territory of the former Yek Kingdom to East Africa. He also took the initiative to expel his citizens to the border areas with other indigenous countries, saving the East African colonies a lot of trouble, so the East African colonies had to "reward" them well.

However, Musiri was also very cunning. After leaving the Yeke Kingdom, he did not choose to be neighbors with East Africa again, but instead seized a relatively faraway piece of land as his base. If the payment from East Africa had not been received, he would probably have been able to run further. Later, Musiri still had to look to East Africa for ammunition replenishment, so it was impossible for him to cut off contact with East Africa directly.

The guns and ammunition were handed over to Msiri, and the East African colonies would not be worried. The more chaotic the Zambia region was, the better. Anyway, Msiri had few guns and could not threaten the security of East Africa.

Relying on the weapons in his hands, Musiri will certainly not sit idle, and the surrounding natives will definitely suffer. It depends on who will be more unlucky.

(End of this chapter)