Chapter 201 Taking Office

"Mr. Afonso, why did most of your people leave?" Merk asked.

Just yesterday, Santos left the capital of the Yek Kingdom with many people.

"It's a pity that they chose to leave and go to the Kingdom of Kazembe in the south!" Afonso expressed regret, but a smile suddenly appeared at the corner of his mouth, but it was fleeting and no one noticed.

…

The hesitant Prince Constantine finally sent Maximilian I's suggestion to Ernst via a telegram from Dar es Salaam.

After staying in Dar es Salaam for a few days, people from the East African Central Government arrived.

"Your Majesty! How are you living recently? Are you used to the weather in East Africa?" Ursula von der Leyen, an official from the East African Central Authority, asked respectfully.

"Not bad, are we going to the first town today?" asked Prince Constantine.

"Yes, His Royal Highness the Prince notified us to come and meet you. It is not too far from Dar es Salaam to the first town, but it still takes two days to travel," said von der Leyen.

The road from the First Town to Dar es Salaam has been repaired and renovated twice and is now very smooth and has been upgraded to a brick and stone road surface. At the same time, most roads in East Africa were still rammed earth roads.

In fact, if the horsepower was not spared, the journey could be completed in one day, but Prince Constantine was of noble status, so the speed could not be too fast.

"Your Excellency Archduke Ferdinand, I am leaving today. If there is any news, I will send someone to inform you." Prince Constantine said to Maximilian I.

"Of course, Your Majesty, if it succeeds this time, I will be happy to serve," Maximilian I responded.

Prince Constantine talked with Maximilian I several more times, and he found that Maximilian I was really obsessed with the navy.

So he proposed to Maximilian I that if Ernst replied in agreement, he could invite him to participate in the establishment of the East African navy.

Maximilian I really took the bait. In fact, Maximilian I’s own idea was very simple. After all, the future of East Africa belonged to his grandson (daughter), so he had an obligation to do his part.

Soon, Prince Constantine and his Hexingen entourage gathered together. Dar es Salaam was just a transit station for this trip. The team of more than a thousand people marched towards the first town.

…

June 13, 1869.

First town.

The East African government held a warm welcome ceremony for Prince Constantine, and the people and officials of the First Town all took a day off to welcome the arrival of Prince Constantine.

It was also the first time that the residents of the First Town saw the faces of members of the actual ruling family of East Africa.

The military band began to play. This time, the First Town was well prepared and did not make the same mistakes as in Dar es Salaam.

Five officials from the first echelon of East Africa came forward to pay their respects to Prince Constantine and introduced themselves. In fact, the East African Central Government is now headed by six people.

One of them is von der Leyen, who accompanied Prince Constantine and was mainly responsible for the economic work in East Africa. It was he who went to Dar es Salaam to pick up Prince Constantine to the first town, so he is not included in this list.

"Your Majesty, welcome to the First Town! My name is Armand, and I’m the current chief of military in East Africa. I’m also one of the first mercenaries to arrive in East Africa to develop it. I used to serve in the Prussian army." Armand said excitedly to Prince Constantine.

This was also the second time that Alman had come into close contact with a real big shot (the first was Ernst), especially Prince Constantine, who was once his superior, although at that time he was just an insignificant soldier in the Prussian Army.

"You served in the Prussian army! Your unit number is..." Prince Constantine chatted with Almanhan for a while.

"Your Majesty, the Chief of Staff of the East African Army, General Siweite, reports to you!"

Siwei Te is obviously different from others, and the academic style is deeply rooted in his bones.

"I remember you. You were a student of the second term of the Hechingen Military Academy. Your grades were excellent at that time..." said Prince Constantine.

Siweit is indeed an all-rounder, so he was remembered by Prince Constantine. With his excellent performance, Siweit was entrusted with an important task by Ernst, who was in urgent need of manpower at the time, and was sent to East Africa. He is currently the ceiling of Chinese immigrants in East Africa.

"Hi, Your Majesty. I am the Director of the East African Agriculture Department. You can call me Wiggins."

"Hello……"

"I am Belred, the director of the disease control management department, from the Würzburg region of Austria."

"Hello……"

The last one is Karal, who is in charge of major engineering projects in East Africa.

These five people plus von der Leyen are the six horses of East Africa, basically representing the current development direction of the East African colonies.

Previously, only von der Leyen, Armand, and Stuart were called the troika, but now the troika is clearly a division and check and balance of government power.

In addition, there are some other important independent departments, such as Communications, Immigration Bureau, etc.

In addition, the subsidiaries and units of the Hexingen Group are also involved in the management of East Africa, so East Africa is actually jointly ruled by the government and companies.

All in all, the East African government was a mess, with a confusing system of authority, which in any case left Prince Constantine dumbfounded.

Sometimes he was the Chief of Military Affairs, sometimes the Chief of the General Staff. The names were quite impressive, even more exaggerated than his own positions in the Prussian army. Then he was directly called the Head of Department, which did not sound like a formal government agency or position at all. In the end, there was even some kind of bureau, and senior executives of various companies under the Hexingen Group stationed in East Africa.

The entire East African administrative system is a mess, and so is the military. East Africa is divided into regular army and militia.

Not to mention the militia, they can be temporarily recruited by giving them a gun, and the regular army also has a variety of numbers.

Although the East African regular army is divided into eight military regions according to eight directions, the troop numbers in each military region are varied and there is no unified standard.

This is obviously not the level that the East African army should have. Most of the German mercenaries in charge of the army came from the Prussian army and had basic military qualities. The students of the Hechingen Military Academy also received systematic Prussian-style military education, so under normal circumstances, East Africa should directly copy the Prussian military model.

Therefore, the chaos in the East African army was entirely Ernst's masterpiece. The power of government departments was broken into pieces, and the army was naturally even more so.

Fortunately, the opponents in East Africa are all selected from the natives. Even if the East African army is useless, its organizational ability is still several levels higher than that of the natives.

Although this greatly reduced the efficiency of the army, it made it easier for Ernst to check the power of all parties and prevent the emergence of a strong man other than himself in East Africa.

However, the arrival of Prince Constantine can now end this special situation.

With Prince Constantine taking over the East African government affairs, Ernst will have more energy to promote the construction of some projects in Europe and East Africa.

Prince Constantine's arrival in the First Town also means that the Hechingen royal family has officially settled in the East African colony. This will be the focus of the Hechingen royal family in the future, and the Sweet Palace in the First Town has officially become the center of East African politics.

(End of this chapter)