Chapter 447 Interesting Talk

Nairobi.

The citizens of Nairobi, who were preparing for the locust plague, finally found that their efforts were in vain, so the government disbanded the locust extermination teams on the spot and restored normal production order.

This has disappointed the citizens of Nairobi. Why don’t the locusts come? They thought they could exercise themselves!

If Ernst knew what the people of Nairobi really think, he would definitely vomit blood. You really don't know how expensive fuel and rice are!

"I heard that there will be a locust plague here? We've been preparing for so many days, but we haven't seen anything. Is it fake news?" Stephen said in German with an Italian accent.

"Aren't there more locusts these days? So there must be a locust plague, but I heard that it was intercepted by the government. The Northern Province and Juba Province were severely affected. The pastoral areas were also attacked. The workers who delivered cotton a few days ago said that the cotton-producing areas in the far north also suffered some minor losses."

"I've been in Africa for so long, and I thought there wouldn't be any disasters here! It seems this isn't some kind of paradise."

"That's better than Italy. There were frequent wars in Italy and life was hard. It's much more comfortable in East Africa. I can complete my work step by step and don't have to worry about my livelihood. Besides, is the locust plague avoidable? The Far East, America, Europe, and even Russia are threatened by locust plagues." Chris said while pulling the spinning thread skillfully.

"Chris is right. Fortunately, the government put out the locust plague in time. Otherwise, it would be terrible if it really spread. I encountered it when I was in the Far East! You must have never suffered. I dare say that the life here is something I could never have dreamed of before. When the Yellow River changed its course, my hometown was a disaster area. The following year, a locust plague occurred, and there were a large number of black people..." Odebiao Meng said on the side.

"It's all the same, it's all the same. Italy is suffering too! It's just that we have more options and can escape to other countries, but you just can't escape."

"That requires connections. My cousin ran away during the war, but was caught in an Italian barracks and then sent to the battlefield. I haven't heard from him since then. I don't know how he is doing now."

"I'm afraid it's going to be a disaster. The Kingdom of Italy has fought so shamefully. I heard that they've been chased and beaten by Austria."

"Ahem, what do you mean Austria? We are all citizens of the Kingdom of East Africa now. Besides, Italy's failure was due to the incompetence of its officers, and it had nothing to do with the soldiers. Besides, my ancestors were not Italians. Venice was part of the Holy Roman Empire before! My father's uncle's cousin was German! So I am half German, too."

“…”

"If that's the case, then I am German too. My wife's grandmother's mother is also German, so I am also German."

“…”

"Okay, stop arguing. We've already registered, so you can't get away from not being a German even if you want to! East Africa is a place where you can only enter and leave. Fortunately, life here is pretty good, but it's too boring."

"Haha, Stephen, just be happy! It's good to get rid of all the bad habits you had in Italy in East Africa. Let's live a good life. It's better than being a scoundrel before."

"Let's not talk about this anymore. We have an appointment to play football with Factory 2 next Sunday. Who of you is going to watch the game?"

"I don't have time. My wife said I can't go anywhere this weekend, not even fishing. Oh!"

"I think it's better to marry an Oriental wife. They are much more virtuous than Italians."

"Come on! Look how pitiful Oudby is. He is controlled by his wife. I think the East Indies are the best. I heard that if you have money there, you can marry four wives."

"My urine is yellow, I'll wake him up first."

…

"The factory employees are so lively!" said Clayson, the director of Nairobi Cotton Mill No. 1. "It seems that we will have to give them more responsibilities this week."

"Hahaha, Mr. Factory Director, I believe those guys will thank you!"

As a light industrial center in the inland area, Nairobi's population has exceeded 100,000 this year. It was the largest city in East Africa for a few months last year, but was surpassed by Mombasa, Mbeya and Dar es Salaam one after another.

The reason why Nairobi became the largest city in East Africa in the past was that it developed early and had obvious first-mover advantages. In the early days, it benefited from the construction of the Uganda Railway by the British. After independence, Nairobi's infrastructure was far ahead of its neighboring countries. In addition, Kenya's long-term peace situation allowed Nairobi to effectively siphon off the surrounding population and industries. Industrial fields such as food processing are ahead of Ethiopia, which has experienced several turbulent times.

This is actually easy to understand. It is easier for rich people to make money than ordinary people. Kenya, which was the first to develop, has rich people compared to its neighboring countries.

Kenya's industrial products have obvious advantages over its neighboring countries, not to mention international competition. This has resulted in a number of mineral-rich countries not being as well developed as Kenya.

In the 21st century, after Tanzania and Ethiopia were catching up with the help of a certain big country, Kenya discovered oil. So Kenya had a good fate in the past, at least it was doing well in East Africa.

There will be no such opportunity in this life. Although the northern railway is planned to pass through Nairobi, the upper limit of Nairobi’s development is that of an important city. It is impossible for it to reach the level of the first in East Africa.

In particular, while East Africa was building the northern railway, it also built the even larger central railway, which made Tanzania's infrastructure conditions no worse than Kenya's, and even more advantageous.

Not to mention the comparison with Tanzania, even the coastal city of Mombasa overshadows Nairobi. After three transformations, Mombasa has already taken shape as an international port. Relying on foreign trade, it is developing rapidly.

Although the upper limit is not high, Nairobi's lower limit has been raised by the East African Kingdom, so it won't be too bad.

The textile industry may not be so profitable in the 21st century, but now it is the 19th century, and it, along with railways, steel, coal mines, etc., are all top-level quality industries, and it is also a textile industry and a light industry.

Coupled with the construction of the Northern Railway, agricultural development around Nairobi, mineral development, and the distribution center of agricultural products in the Great Lakes region, all indicate that Nairobi’s future potential far exceeds its past.

Of course, Ernst's development of Nairobi was only incidental, and the ultimate goal was to open up a connection channel between the Great Lakes Region and Mombasa.

For Ernst, the importance of the Great Lakes region is equivalent to the importance of the Sichuan Basin to the Far East. It is an important area for ensuring East Africa's agriculture, water resources and minerals. It is truly the East African version of the Land of Abundance. The Great Lakes region has excellent comprehensive qualities in all aspects. The only drawback is that it is far away from ports (seaports), so this part can only be solved by railways.

The potential of the Great Lakes region has not yet been fully tapped, but it is already the most important agricultural and mining (mainly precious metal development) production area in East Africa.

The next regions with the potential to surpass the Great Lakes region in agriculture are Zambia and southern Congo in the heart of East Africa, but their current level of development is too low.

However, in terms of current agricultural development in East Africa, Tanzania is still far ahead, but Tanzania's water and heat conditions are not as good as those in the Great Lakes region and Zambia and southern Congo.

Of course, this comparison is not correct. The land area of ​​the Great Lakes region is not as large as the other two. The Great Lakes alone occupy nearly 70,000 square kilometers, and the overlapping area between the Great Lakes region and Tanzania accounts for a quarter of the land area of ​​the Great Lakes region.

Zambia and southern Congo do not have those ridiculously large lakes on the East African Plateau, but they have plenty of water resources. Zambia's surface water resources alone account for 25% of southern Africa, and its groundwater accounts for one-third of southeastern Africa. It has a dense river network and can be called the "Jiangnan Water Town" of East Africa. However, if the Zambezi River is used as the boundary, it is actually more appropriate to call it the "Hebei Water Town".

In fact, the same is true for the Great Lakes region. Rivers flow into the Great Lakes from all four directions, east, west, south and north, to replenish the water of the Great Lakes. The only outflow channel is the White Nile.

The Great Lakes, Zambia, southern Congo, and Tanzania, these four regions are actually located in the central area of ​​East Africa. The terrain is similar to that of the Far East Northeast, but the precipitation is similar to that of the Far East Southeast. The development of agriculture has the best time and location, and the East African immigrant population is to make up the final human complement.

(End of this chapter)