Chapter 149 The Throne
Education in the East African colonies was of a scientific nature. Through the inculcation of this knowledge, the outbreak of local diseases in East Africa was greatly reduced, while the health and survival rate of immigrants was improved.
Currently, East African colonies are doing much better in disease control than South American colonies that have been developed for hundreds of years.
That is, the East African colony had just been built, so it looked relatively poor and not very wealthy.
This is particularly reflected in the ugliness and roughness of the building's appearance, especially in the earlier developed buildings in East Africa. Because there is no template to refer to, they are naturally not beautiful. In addition, the clothing is also very monotonous and uniform, but these are external.
In fact, East Africa's investment in other areas far exceeds that of its contemporary colonies or independent countries at the same latitude, mainly in the three areas of education, health and infrastructure construction.
For example, infrastructure such as roads, although the quality is not high, the East African colonial government is repairing them seriously to first solve the problem of whether they exist or not. Few other countries at the same latitude have something like East Africa, or they have no chance.
A colony, as the name suggests, is a place where colonists live as parasites. Especially in the current era, Western countries are simply sucking blood from the colonies.
The East African colonies were built by Ernst as a country, so the treatment was naturally different. It would be a waste to over-exploit the potential of East Africa.
Moreover, East Africa currently has no strong enemies on all sides, so it can develop with peace of mind, and no one has noticed this small place in a remote corner.
The four most important needs of human beings are food, clothing, housing and transportation. For East Africans, the priority now is to solve the problems of transportation and food, and we have been working hard in these two aspects.
As for clothing and housing, you can just make do with them for now. Anyway, the weather in East Africa will not drop below ten degrees even at the lowest temperature, so there is nothing to worry about.
As for the issue of food, East Africa is currently a colony specializing in agricultural development, and it has a vast area and a sparse population. The immigrants' food requirements are far above the world average, so it is not too urgent.
The problem of transportation is the biggest problem in East Africa, so infrastructure construction requires building more roads, digging more canals, and raising more livestock for transportation.
Only when the transportation problem is solved can European materials and equipment be transferred to East Africa, and East Africa's grain can be sold, so this is a two-way economic issue.
Hundreds of thousands of indigenous laborers are working hard on the front lines of road construction in East Africa, contributing to East Africa's transportation infrastructure. The problem of road construction cannot be solved by simply building a road. In East Africa, it is also necessary to do a good job of road drainage.
Therefore, drainage ditches must be dug beside the roads. The scale of the ditches must not be small, but must be sufficient to cope with the heavy rains during the rainy season in East Africa and prevent the roads from being damaged by rain.
In the absence of specialized machinery, indigenous people had to be used extensively to complete these tasks.
What East Africa is building is not just roads, but also water networks. Rainwater is collected into these canals during the rainy season, instead of spreading directly on the grasslands as in the past.
Actively directing rainwater into rivers, lakes and low-lying areas is equivalent to grabbing a piece of land with the potential to become arable land from the flat land that was originally flooded by rainwater during the rainy season.
Since precipitation in East Africa is not concentrated, these ditches will also be able to help the East African colonial governments serve as water diversion networks in the future.
Collecting rainwater can also improve the local environment, especially during the dry season.
It is not realistic to build reservoirs in East Africa now, but there are many natural depressions and lakes that can be used. While building roads in East Africa, rainwater from all over the country is also introduced into the depressions and lakes through ditches beside the roads.
Some temporary wild reservoirs were formed to prevent a lot of rainwater from flowing along the terrain and finally into the Indian Ocean.
…
Berlin.
Hechingen Manor.
"Ernst!" Prince Constantine suddenly stood up from the recliner and shouted to his son excitedly.
Constantine held the edge of the chair with one hand and held the newspaper in the other hand and asked, "Have you read today's newspaper?"
Ernst calmly held the teacup, added some hot water to himself, took a sip, and then said, "Of course, father, they are just trivial matters."
"My God, you have such a big heart. This is just a small matter. This is an event that affects the situation on the European continent." Constantine said.
He continued, "I can't believe the world is changing so fast now."
Ernst comforted him: "As long as the European situation does not affect our interests, let it change freely!"
"That's true. But it is not without impact. Now that the Spanish leader has fled to France, the Spanish monarchists will definitely choose a monarch from the royal families of various European countries." Constantine said meaningfully.
"Father, the situation in Spain is very bad, especially in the future. It will continue to decline at a rate visible to the naked eye. There is no unified voice in the country, and local autonomy is also very strong." Ernst said rationally.
Constantine was still a little unwilling: "But what if it succeeds!"
Ernst only said: "French!"
Constantine understood instantly.
"It seems I was too impatient!"
"Actually, anyone who has such a great opportunity in front of them would probably be unable to resist the temptation, father. But we shouldn't be the first to take the lead, and there's no need to take such a big risk," Ernst comforted.
"After all, Spain is one of the most powerful countries in the world today. Who wouldn't be jealous?" Constantine sighed. As for the risks, the temptation of the throne is not difficult to deal with.
"Our Hechingen interests are in Germany and East Africa, but not in Spain. Maximilian I is still staying in East Africa! We have precedents, so we must learn from them," said Ernst.
"Indeed, given the current complicated situation in Spain, even someone like me who has been in politics for a long time may not be a match for those old guys, especially now that they still have military force in their hands," Constantine said.
"These are nothing. The main reason is that Spain is too old and many things cannot be changed. There is no investment value at all," said Ernst.
"The situation in East Africa is much better than that in Spain now. Its land area is second only to Tsarist Russia in Europe, and it is not a bad place. The population this year is nearly two million, and its comprehensive resources far exceed many European countries." Speaking of this, Ernst felt a sense of accomplishment.
The most important thing is that the East African colonies are new enough, and all the orders and rules are customized by themselves. Judging from the current situation in the East African colonies, there is no problem for Ernst to proclaim himself a local emperor.
But if you really go to Spain, it won't be so easy, because there are all those old foxes and powerful people there. To be honest, the Habsburgs are more powerful there than the Hohenzollern family.
At the end of September 1868, the Spanish military government overthrew the rule of Elizabeth Alexandra Marie, and the queen eventually fled to France, leaving the Spanish throne temporarily vacant.
As in history, the Spaniards first targeted the Hohenzollern family, and of course Prussian Prime Minister Bismarck played a big role in this.
After Bismarck used money to gain power, the Spanish government unscrupulously chose the Hohenzollern family.
Naturally, the Hechingen royal family did not show any interest in this matter. After Constantine and his son had a conversation, they both made it clear that Hechingen currently had no interest in Spain.
The historical baton then passed back to Prince Leopold of the neighboring Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen royal house.
Personally, Leopold was not very willing to get involved in the muddy waters of Spain, but now the interests of his family and kingdom were involved, so Leopold was hesitant. However, soon the French would help Leopold make a decision.
(End of this chapter)
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