Chapter 193 Husband and wife conversation
May 29, 1869.
Dar es Salaam, East Africa.
"Stand at attention! Everyone, gather them!"
The Dar es Salaam garrison gathered at the dock, which is rare in Dar es Salaam.
In a beer hall.
"Miller, what are they doing? It's very rare for an organized army to appear at the dock. Usually there are only a few people responsible for maintaining law and order." Schultz asked.
"I don't know the details, but I guess some important person is coming to East Africa, so they are here to welcome him!" Miller said.
"Those are the four big ships on the sea! I was wondering why there were no immigrants coming down on today's ships. I even took a special look at the flags on the ships and confirmed that they were indeed our own ships in East Africa, not those passing ships." Schultz said.
Passing ships are those ships that stop at the port of Dar es Salaam for rest and recuperation. They are generally merchant ships from various countries that temporarily replenish fresh water and supplies at East African ports.
"That's what I thought at first. An area on the dock was temporarily vacated to separate it from the four ships. It was obvious that there were extraordinary things or important people on the ships. And just now I saw many important people from the city government arriving one after another, dressed in suits and ties, with such a grand ceremony, so I concluded that they were here to pick people up," said Miller.
Sometimes some important instruments and facilities are landed in East Africa. Although they are taken seriously, they will not clear such a large area at the dock and make such a big scene. Although there are soldiers coming to escort them sometimes, there are only about 10 to 20 people at most.
"Crack, crack..." accompanied by the rhythmic sound of horse hooves.
A luxurious carriage passed by the cobblestone road in front of the tavern, attracting the attention of nearby residents and interrupting the conversation between Miller and Schultz.
It was not the noise from the wooden tires and stone slabs of the carriage that affected the two men, but the fact that the owner of the carriage was a well-known figure in Dar es Salaam, or a household name.
In East Africa, the only carriage equipped with special guards was that of Ernst's father-in-law, Maximilian I and his wife.
Maximilian I originally planned to travel around East Africa, but since Queen Carlota came to East Africa, his travel plans were completely shelved indefinitely in Dar es Salaam.
Years ago, Maximilian I returned to Austria at the persuasion of Queen Carlota, specifically to visit his mother and daughter. Unfortunately, after staying in Vienna for a while, Maximilian I felt very uncomfortable. When some people talked to him, there was always a hint of curiosity in their eyes.
Especially when facing Franz, Maximilian I felt even more uncomfortable. Franz did not take advantage of his brother, but just said to Maximilian I when he saw him: "Don't bother with those unrealistic things in the future." It was a kind remark, but it made Maximilian I feel very depressed.
So, Maximilian I, feeling ashamed, ran to East Africa again under the pretext of recuperating. Fortunately, Queen Mother Sophie also knew her son's embarrassment and agreed to his request. Originally, Maximilian I considered taking his daughter with him, but when he thought of the poor educational conditions in East Africa, he decided to let his daughter stay with her mother.
Going to East Africa for recuperation is definitely an excuse. At this time, the conditions in East Africa cannot be compared with those in Austria. Even if you want to travel to East Africa, the conditions are not there. With the poor transportation conditions, traveling in East Africa is destined to be a living hell.
The coastal areas are not so bad, especially Dar es Salaam. As an important commercial node, you can hear all kinds of interesting stories about the inland and the sea of East Africa here. After the transformation of the East African government, the living environment has also been greatly improved. This is also an important reason why Maximilian I has always lived in Dar es Salaam.
Of course, there was another important reason why Maximilian I stayed here. That was that Dar es Salaam, as a coastal city, always reminded him of his time as commander-in-chief of the Austrian Imperial Navy in Trieste and later as governor of the Kingdom of Lombardy and Venice.
That period was the highlight of Maximilian I, who demonstrated his outstanding talents. The Austrian navy grew rapidly under his drastic reforms. Admiral Tegerhof, who later dominated the Battle of Lissa, was a military talent promoted by Maximilian I's reforms.
Politically, he also made some achievements in governing the Lombardy-Venetian Kingdom and eased the relationship between Italians and Austria, but his liberal policies aroused the dissatisfaction of Francis, who believed that he was too indulgent to the local Italians. Therefore, he was removed from the post of governor soon after, but still retained the position of commander-in-chief of the navy.
After what happened in Mexico, Maximilian I now admitted that he was indeed not good at politics, but he was doing a good job in the Kingdom of Lombardy and Venice.
"My dear, why do you think Prince Constantine would choose to come to East Africa? He is so old now, can he withstand the bumps on the sea?" asked Queen Carlota.
"This is normal. East Africa is now the most important territory of the Hechingen royal family. After all, Hechingen itself is just a small country and has completely become a part of Prussia. The Hechingen royal family's way to get further is completely blocked.
According to Hechingen's current financial resources, he has the ability and opportunity to operate for a throne in Europe. Although there are opportunities, they are not many. Even if that slight opportunity can be grasped, it will take time. After all, it is a once-in-a-century opportunity for the Hohenzollern family to obtain the Romanian throne in Europe.
Moreover, running the throne requires connections. To be frank, most of the connections of the Hechingen royal family among the European aristocracy are maintained by Prince Constantine alone.
But as you said, Prince Constantine is 69 years old this year, and his age is a disadvantage. Ernst was born too late, almost a generation apart. It would probably take a few years to completely inherit Constantine's political legacy.
In addition, Ernst has always been more enthusiastic about business in Europe. People like him who are born into a Prussian noble family usually gain experience in the military camp.
Prussia! We all know that the army there is the fastest way to get promoted. Ernst's peers are probably still suffering in the barracks, but he is free and easy. If it weren't for his noble birth, he probably wouldn't even be able to get into the circle. To be frank, you and I are more popular in the European aristocratic circle than he is.
Therefore, if the Hexingen royal family wants to achieve rapid progress, the only option left is to develop overseas colonies, and at the moment, this path seems very likely to work.
This is also one of the reasons why I admire Ernst. He found a good direction. The difficulty in East Africa is not worth mentioning compared with that in Europe.
And it has huge potential. Why didn’t I notice this great place in East Africa before? It’s much better than damn Mexico!
I was carefully maintaining the interests of all parties in Mexico, and had to consider the faces of France and the Americans, and finally offended everyone. As a result, Ernst, this kid, was able to get such a large piece of territory in East Africa just by suppressing and attacking the natives.
Moreover, East Africa has such good conditions, but no forces have set their sights on it before, which allowed Ernst to seize the opportunity. Our son-in-law still has some courage like me."
As he spoke, Maximilian I recalled his experience of governing Mexico with some sadness, then began to envy Ernst's vision and luck, and finally returned to contentment. The stronger the East African colony developed, the better, since Ernst was already engaged to Karina.
Therefore, East Africa will also be considered as his share in the future. After all, he only has one daughter, Karina, and Ernst's descendants still have the Habsburg blood flowing in their veins.
Maximilian I had to admire his mother's vision. This marriage was a real success. Others were not optimistic about Africa, but Maximilian I, who had stayed in East Africa for such a long time, had a better understanding of East Africa. The more he understood, the more optimistic he was about East Africa's potential. It was a solid foundation for his kingship.
However, Maximilian I was also confused. It was such a good land, but these indigenous people had not developed any civilization at all. Could it be that their human race was really not good?
You may say that African diseases are terrible, but these natives will not be affected too much. The reason why the natives in the American plantations choose black people is because they are hardy.
Far from the civilized world! East Africa is not remote at all. Dar es Salaam is a natural window for foreign exchanges. As a result, there is a somewhat decent Sultanate of Zanzibar on the coast, which was created by Arabs in the Middle East.
It doesn't look like this African has a low IQ. Those chiefs and slave traders are quite shrewd when it comes to business.
Moreover, I have been to America, which is the place that has truly separated from the Eurasian continent. However, the Indians, by playing with stones, created a civilization that was more brilliant than the African natives who entered the Iron Age.
I can't figure out what's wrong with the African natives? Let's change our way of thinking and summarize the reasons why Africa can't develop, such as geographical location, climate environment, disease and war... The comprehensive factors are like a rotten basket, and anything can be thrown into it.
But now we have real cases as hard evidence, so that trick doesn't work anymore. The construction of the East African colony just shows that the geographical location here is good. Ernst took advantage of the geographical location of East Africa to transport immigrants from both Europe and the Far East.
In terms of adaptability to the climate and environment, immigrants from Europe and the Far East certainly do not have as much advantage as the natives. There is even a group of Slavic immigrants who have been transported from the high-altitude and cold regions of Tsarist Russia to East Africa.
Disease and war. East African immigrants are far less resistant to African diseases than the natives. Moreover, the East African colonies themselves are warmongers, destroying several countries and constantly waging small-scale wars...
(End of this chapter)
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