Chapter 182 Choice
March 1869.
After inspecting enterprises in Vienna, Ernst visited the Austro-Hungarian royal family, stayed there for a short time, and then returned to Hechingen.
1869 was a critical year. The opening of the Suez Canal at the end of the year alone would have a profound impact on the East African colonies.
The opening of the Suez Canal does not only mean a change in the waterway, but also affects various affairs in East Africa.
Cape Town's strategic position will decline as a result, and Britain and France will engage in a series of competitions for control of the Suez Canal.
Ernst believed that this was also an important factor in why Britain allowed Prussia to challenge France later. France was indeed too powerful at that time.
Now, all European countries know that Prussia is accumulating strength, and the changes in the European landscape also depend on Prussia's next decision. All countries are focusing their attention on Europe, which is a good thing for East Africa.
The opening of the Suez Canal weakened the position of East African ports such as Dar es Salaam and Mombasa in the world's main shipping lanes.
The impact on the East African colonies can be both positive and negative. It can reduce other forces' vigilance towards East Africa, but East Africa, including the entire Africa, will also be in a passive position in the future in terms of economy and strategic position.
Just like why the United States is pursuing and blocking Russia, America is still too isolated geographically compared to the world island as a whole. If a country like Russia that spans the European continent is allowed to extend its influence to the entire world island, the United States will really only be able to be the king of America.
The same is true for Africa. In the past, the world's commercial routes had to run around the entire Africa. The Mediterranean coast of North Africa has always been the main traditional commercial route between Europe and the Middle East, while the coasts of East, West and South Africa are the only way to the Far East.
After the opening of the Suez Canal, the coastal areas of East, West, and South Africa will all decline. Of course, there is a prerequisite, that is, no world power is born in Africa.
If a true world power is born in sub-Saharan Africa, like the United States, sub-Saharan Africa can be pulled back into the world trade system and occupy a large share. Otherwise, South America will be the ceiling of Africa's future development.
"Ernst, what have you been busy with recently? I saw you writing something in the study recently. Didn't you just come back from Vienna a few days ago after building a business?" Prince Constantine came up behind Ernst and asked his son as he looked at the table full of information and documents.
Prince Constantine has now completely bid farewell to the affairs of the kingdom and is unemployed at home, mainly managing his territory every day.
In another year, Constantine will be 70 years old. In history, Prince Constantine had a rather turbulent life. He had no children in his previous life, so he spent most of his later years in Prussia and finally died in Green Mountain City in Prussia.
In this life, after having Ernst, Constantine's attention to politics was significantly reduced, and he was not active in Prussian politics.
For example, the famous Hohenzollern Royal Order in the previous life was jointly founded by Constantine and Prince Karl Anton of Sigmaringen. Prince Constantine was very enthusiastic about the cause of the entire Hohenzollern family.
In this life, Prince Constantine focused most of his attention on the training of Ernst. The Hohenzollern Royal Order still appeared, but this time only Prince Karl Anton took the lead.
In the early days, Ernst was still young, and Constantine stayed in Hechingen most of the time to take care of Ernst. After Ernst awakened, he grew too fast, which caused Constantine to lose his ambition. After all, his son was so successful, and he should enjoy his old age.
"Father, I am planning the upgrade and renovation of the First Town. I intend to build the First Town into a modern city with a high level." Ernst was flipping through a book about urban construction.
"The First Town, is it the temporary political center of the East African colony?" Constantine asked.
The Hechingen royal family now owns two colonies, East Africa and Alaska. Compared with the actual transaction procedures and documents of Alaska, the royal territory of East Africa is merely a claim of the Hechingen royal family itself.
The political center of the two colonies was Hechingen. As the nominal owner of the Hechingen royal territory, Constantine naturally had some understanding of it.
"Yes, father. The First Town is the political center of East Africa. It will also be the temporary capital of our Hexingen royal family when it enters East Africa in the future. So I have to complete the local construction in advance to facilitate the subsequent relocation work." Ernst said bluntly.
"It seems that you really like East Africa and have decided to place the entire family's future in East Africa!" Constantine said with emotion.
As a European, Constantine certainly has deep feelings for Europe, but he will not stop his only son from betting the family's future on East Africa.
Nobles should focus on family business. In the East African region, Dancong's data is indeed not comparable to that of the small Heixingen.
Heilongjiang was originally a small country that was dispensable in Europe. Although it was a nail that Prussia had embedded in southern Germany, its strategic position was negligible to the current Kingdom of Prussia.
After the unification of Germany in the future, it will have almost no presence. To put it bluntly, it will be a mountainous area. Of course, the entire southern Germany adjacent to the Alps Mountains is almost the same terrain.
"There is nothing we can do about it. The interests of East Africa are too huge, especially now. Anyone who knows the real data of East Africa will probably be tempted." Ernst handed a real-time updated map of East Africa to Prince Constantine.
"Indeed, a colony of such a large area cannot be kept secret for long. If it is exposed, it will probably attract the attention of those with ulterior motives." Constantine said seriously as he looked at the East African colony that occupied a large area in Africa on the map.
At the beginning, Ernst was just painting a pie in the sky for himself, but now that the pie has really appeared, Prince Constantine has to take it seriously.
"Father, these are the data for the East African colonies last year. Please take a look." Ernst took out a folder from the drawer beneath him. Inside was the annual statistical report on the East African colonies, covering the period from 1866 to 1868, with a total of three pages.
Prince Constantine pulled up a chair, sat at the conference table, and began to look carefully.
After browsing the data on economy, food output, resources, population, army, etc., Constantine's brows became increasingly furrowed.
After a moment, Constantine put down the documents and said seriously, "It seems that East Africa has completely grown up now. What are your plans?"
"Father, I plan to go to East Africa in the next one or two years. I will go there in person and take charge of various affairs in East Africa." Ernst honestly stated his plan.
"That won't do. East Africa is in urgent need of someone with enough prestige to take charge. Otherwise, the risks of remote control will be too great. I don't believe there is anything bigger than the Hohenzollern family's control of East Africa, and you can still sit still!" Constantine reprimanded Ernst in a rare harsh tone.
Ernst fell silent. Of course, Ernst wanted to fly to East Africa immediately to take charge, but Ernst had always been struggling with three points.
One is his only relative, Prince Constantine. In his previous life in Africa, what Ernst missed most was his parents in his hometown, but he had to travel overseas to make a living.
In Africa, Ernst's work location was unstable, and he often had to work with the company across borders. He was a stranger in a foreign country, so Ernst attached great importance to family affection. As a result, he died in a foreign country. Ernst couldn't imagine how heartbroken his parents in his previous life would be when they knew the news.
Therefore, in this life, Ernst was naturally worried about his father, with whom he lived day and night. This was also the biggest psychological obstacle that prevented Ernst from making up his mind to go to East Africa.
The second point is to coordinate the coordinated development of the East African colonies and the Hexingen Consortium. Ernst has tried to convince himself that the Hexingen Consortium is currently more important than East Africa, but the rapid expansion and development of East Africa is shattering Ernst's ideas. The position of East Africa in Ernst's heart is indeed unshakable.
Of course, in terms of emotions, the Far East must be very important in Ernst's heart, but Ernst knows that he is not cut out for the chaotic situation in the Far East, and as a German, he has no reason to interfere in the politics of his motherland in his previous life in this time and space. Bringing countless Far Eastern refugees and the lower classes to the East African colonies for development is already the greatest help Ernst can do to the Far East at present, but in this life, Ernst has never had any illusions about the Far East, and he really can't go back.
The third point is that Ernst was waiting for an opportunity to declare sovereignty over East Africa at the right time, at least with the consent of most of the great powers.
The above three points are the reasons why Ernst struggled. Anyone who is really faced with a choice will make some trade-offs. Ernst is not a hard-hearted person, which can be seen from the fact that Ernst did not directly carry out extermination activities against the indigenous people. But Ernst is not weak either, so many things can be accomplished. If he were really a saint, the East African colony would not have existed.
"I think I know what you are worried about!" Prince Constantine exclaimed.
Seeing his usually high-spirited son fall into rare silence, Constantine vaguely guessed something.
"Ernst, you must remember that separation between life and death is inevitable. No one can act on impulse, especially for us nobles. From the moment we are born, our destiny is no longer controlled by ourselves. Family interests must always come first." Prince Constantine said.
"I know that I have become an obstacle in your heart, but I am old and I have become open-minded about many things. If you have an idea, just go for it boldly. I should not be a constraint on your life. Every father hopes that his son can have a promising future, and he does not want to be a stumbling block on their road to growth."
Hearing this, Ernst knew that Constantine might have realized the first point of his concern, but this was only Ernst's main concern, and the other two points could not be ignored.
So, he explained to Constantine: "Father, thank you for your selflessness and love for me, but things are not what you think. The East African issue also involves..."
Ernst shared his predicament with Constantine.
"Is that so? It seems that it is indeed difficult to let you go to East Africa now, but not going is also a problem..." Prince Constantine fell into thought after hearing his son's reasons.
"That's right!" Suddenly Constantine seemed to think of something.
He stood up and said, "I have thought of a way to have the best of both worlds. Do you think it will work?"
"What method?" Ernst was confused.
"What do you think about me going to East Africa to take your place?" Prince Constantine said to Ernst.
Ernst suddenly lost his composure. If his old father went to East Africa, the problem could certainly be solved, but the roads to East Africa were not very friendly to an old man.
"No, father, you are too old to go to sea." Ernst said to Prince Constantine in a firm tone.
"Hmph, you just look down on me. You weren't even born when I led Hexingen to dominate Europe! These years, in order to take care of you, I can say that it's basically like I've retired in Hexingen in advance. Now your physical fitness is no worse than you young people. It's just going to sea, right? Why don't you believe in your father's physical fitness?" Constantine said to Ernst.
"But……"
"But what? Let's stop arguing. I have made up my mind. This is no longer just your business, but a matter for the entire Hechingen royal family and the entire Hohenzollern family. As the current patriarch of the Hohenzollern family - the Hechingen branch, I have the final say on this matter." Constantine deprived Ernst of the right to speak with just one word.
Originally, Constantine was the main candidate for the position of patriarch of the entire Hohenzollern family. However, for Ernst, Constantine gave up the position of patriarch to Prince Karl Anton in his early years. After all, the patriarch of a large European family has a lot to do, and after being incorporated into Prussia, Constantine also had to deal with the affairs of the Hechingen territory and Prussia at the same time.
So Constantine handed over the position of patriarch to Prince Karl Anton, and at the same time he only held a nominal position in Prussia and received an extra salary. At that time, Hechingen was incorporated into Prussia, which actually reduced some of Constantine's enterprising spirit. After all, Hechingen was originally a small country, and it was only in name only. What's the point of struggling? Moreover, Constantine had a son in this life, so he was no longer keen on participating in Prussian political affairs.
In my previous life, I didn’t even have any children and could only consider my family. This life is naturally different.
"You arrange the ship now. I will go to East Africa immediately to continue the great cause of our Hechingen royal family. Don't think that I have been idle these years. In fact, I have been unable to hold back in my heart. For me, it is impossible to give up power all at once. It's just that in the past, Hechingen limited my stage to perform. Now there is a big stage of more than two million square kilometers to continue my revenge. Can you bear to cut off the dream of a father?" In order to make Ernst compromise, Constantine deliberately began to use the secret technique of the mind.
As the king of a small country with real power in the past, Prince Constantine, like most European monarchs, has full diplomatic skills. After all, it is common to switch sides and a country with poor diplomacy is destined not to survive for that long.
In Prince Constantine's eyes, Ernst's diplomatic talent is just so-so. When it comes to grasping people's hearts, the old fox is more experienced.
In the end, the father and son had a brief confrontation. The experienced Prince Constantine was certainly no match for the little kid Ernst.
Helplessly, Ernst could only agree to Constantine's decision, but he also managed to get some compromise. That is, for the sake of Constantine's safety and health, Ernst had to make full preparations. It was impossible for Constantine to leave for East Africa immediately.
The trip could only be made after Ernst coordinated and arranged the company's best ships and service personnel, and East Africa also had to race against time to prepare an excellent living environment for Prince Constantine.
(End of this chapter)
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