Chapter 314 Trade and Conflict
The town of Bodele in Turkana Province of the East African Kingdom is one of the northernmost towns in Turkana Province. It is also a trading market set up by the East African Kingdom.
In the morning, Bodele opens for business.
Abyssinian caravans came from all over southern Abyssinia to trade in the town of Bodele, bringing Abyssinian horses, cattle, sheep, camels and some agricultural specialties.
"Today, our store has received a total of 150 muskets. They are of excellent performance. Feel free to bid. The highest bidder wins." As a specialized arms store announced its products.
In an instant, everyone started bidding.
"I offer thirty Abyssinian horses," said Bubuyaweisi, a businessman from the Tigray region in northern Abyssinia.
The Abyssinian horse is a specialty of Abyssinia and is also produced in the Turkana Province of East Africa.
As soon as his bid was made, it scared away many small caravans that were interested in purchasing Abyssinia. Northern Abyssinia was the core area of the Abyssinian Empire, and the Tigray region was the birthplace of the Abyssinian Empire. Many ruling families of the Abyssinian Empire were rooted in the Tigray region, and Bubuyaweis was a member of the Zagwe family in the Tigray region.
Just when Bubuyaweisi thought he had won the goods, a discordant voice suddenly came, "Haha, the Yankees also want to ride on our heads. We recommend that the Lai family provide thirty Abyssinian horses and a camel."
This is a merchant named Odley Kevin from the southern Amhara region of the Abyssinian Empire. It is obvious that Odley Kevin is also determined to get this batch of guns.
Bubuyaweisi took a closer look and found that it was his "old rival". He mocked them without hesitation: "It turned out to be a small Amhara family. How can you compare with our Zagwe family? Our Zagwe family is one of the top three families in the empire. If I add ten Amhara donkeys, these guns will belong to me."
The East African businessman was stunned, so he asked, "Mr. Bubuyaweisi, you are talking about ten donkeys, right?"
Bubu Yaweisi: "It is ten donkeys, but they are ten donkeys of Amhara, or stupid donkeys with the same brains as the Lai family of Amway."
"You..." Odley Kevin's blood pressure rose instantly. "Okay, okay, let's play it this way, eh? I'll also add ten lame camels from the Zagwe family of Tigray."
East African businessman: "Uh! Mr. O'Drey Kevin, disabled livestock will be discounted."
It was obvious that O'Drey Kevin did not really want to trade with the lame camel, but just wanted to humiliate the Zagwe family. The East African businessman misunderstood his meaning, but O'Drey Kevin was very happy.
Odley Kevin: "You are right. Lame camels have to be discounted. I said that Zagwe lame camels are not worth the price! Hahahaha..."
"You bastard..." Bubuyaweisi was enraged by the irony and was about to start a free fight with Odley Kevin.
The quick-eyed and quick-handed East African staff tried to pull the two parties together, but both sides were obviously unwilling to give up, and a group of people surrounded and fought each other.
Seeing that he couldn't stop the fight, the shop owner had no choice but to blow the warning whistle, followed by a sharp, trailing "whoa" sound.
Upon hearing the news, the East African mounted police from the town of Bodele came from outside the market on more than a dozen horses, holding sticks and driving away the Abyssinian merchants who were fighting with each other.
soon.
"Be quiet, this is a public place, not a place for fighting," said Cruz, chief of the Bodelai Police Department, angrily.
At this time, the two fighting parties had already squatted in a row, listening to Cruz's lecture. They were surrounded by Abyssinian spectators. It was rare to see these big families suffer a setback, which was really interesting.
"Bodele is a fair trade market. Everything depends on money, not on who has stronger military power. You should be thankful that it is me and not the border guards who came, otherwise they would not tolerate you. Now let's return to the trade. Don't fight again, otherwise I will let you know how powerful our East African police are. Everyone else, disperse and continue the trade."
After restoring the normal order of the market, Cruise left, leaving Bubuyaweisi and Odley Kevin glaring at each other. However, they did not dare to fight again, as it was really painful to be hit by the East Africans' batons.
In the end, O'Dley Kevin bought the batch of guns for thirty horses and eleven "Zagwe Lame" camels.
But when they were leaving the city, Bubuyaweisi said viciously: "Asshole! When we get to Abyssinia, you'd better pray that nothing happens!"
Odley Kevin said with a smug look on his face: "Do you really think this is Tigray? I am waiting for your revenge."
O'Dley Kevin's confidence comes from the guns he had just obtained. With weapons in hand and the caravan being experts who have been in Abyssinia for many years, he is naturally not afraid.
…
To the north of the town of Bodele is Negmet, the southernmost city of the Abyssinian Empire. East Africa has a good relationship with the Abyssinian Empire, and there is almost no major conflict of interest between the two sides. This is also the reason why Bodele set up a trading market.
Although East Africa's expansion into the Ethiopian Plateau was met with vigilance from forces within the Abyssinian Empire, that was all.
East Africa never really invaded Abyssinia from beginning to end, so there was naturally no conflict or contradiction. At most, the southern neighbor changed from black natives to white people, which naturally aroused the vigilance of the rulers of southern Abyssinia. After all, the four countries of Britain, France, Italy and Egypt were eyeing the Abyssinian Empire on the Red Sea coast, and with the precedent of the British invasion, it was impossible for the Abyssinians to relax their vigilance.
That’s right. The Italians also briefly owned a “colony” on the Red Sea coast, namely the port of Assab in northern Djibouti. In 1869, Rubatino, a private colonial company owned by Italian colonist Giuseppe Sapetto, signed an agreement with the tribal chiefs of Assab on the Red Sea coast to purchase the port of Assab. However, Egypt objected to this and sent troops to occupy Assab. Italy’s colonization of Assab was temporarily frustrated.
So now Italy has no colonies in Africa, but the Rubatino Company has not completely withdrawn from the port of Assab and is still looking for opportunities to make a comeback. Now they have come across a good opportunity. The Kingdom of Italy is deliberately invading the Abyssinian Empire, so it needs a landing port, and on the Red Sea coast, the Rubatino Company is the only Italian company, so the Italian Royal Government recruited the Rubatino Company, a full ten years earlier than in history. But now the port of Assab is still in the hands of Egypt, so they still need to plan for the long term.
From the port of Assab coveted by the Kingdom of Italy, it can be seen that almost all forces are competing fiercely near the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, with Djibouti as the center in the past, the French Somaliland colony in the middle, the British Somaliland colony in the southeast, and Eritrea in the north. The Egyptian sphere of influence is mixed with the Italian civilian colonial groups in the Bay of Assab, while the west is the Abyssinian Empire and the East African Kingdom's Dire Dawa military town in the southwest. Together with the remnants of the Ottoman Empire, the small tens of thousands of square kilometers of land on the west bank of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait are crowded with countries and tribes. The source of all this is the opening of the Suez Canal.
The most aggrieved were undoubtedly the Abyssinian Empire and the Ottoman Empire. One was surrounded and turned into a landlocked country, and the other was the nominal master of the local area. However, in fact, Egypt had already gained independence from the Ottoman Empire and inherited most of its assets west of the Sinai Peninsula because of the sudden arrival of an Albanian strong man, Ali.
What’s interesting is that Eritrea was snatched from the Abyssinian Empire in 1557 by the Ottoman Empire at its peak, and is now Egyptian territory. This is one of the reasons why Egypt’s relations with the Abyssinian Empire are bad. Coupled with the disputes over interests between the two sides in the Sudan region, the hatred is doubled. When Britain invaded the Abyssinian Empire before, Egypt took advantage of the situation to rob the Abyssinian Empire.
There is no territorial conflict between East Africa and the Abyssinian Empire. Although East Africa occupied the southern part of Ethiopia in the previous life, the Abyssinian Empire never ruled here. The southern part of Ethiopia was incorporated into the Abyssinian Empire during the reign of Menelik II from 1872 to 1896. It was also Menelik II who moved the capital south to Addis Ababa in the central Ethiopian Plateau in 1886. Now the most powerful force in the Abyssinian Empire is Johnnes IV, who is supported by the British. Menelik II is now the king of the Kingdom of Shoa (equivalent to a vassal state conquered by the Abyssinian Empire).
(End of this chapter)
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