Chapter 592: Inspection of Bagamoyo
Constantine was still on his way back, so Ernst planned to go to Bagamoyo city to take a look during this break.
"Karina, I'm going to the Bagamoyo Shipyard today and should be back tomorrow. Let your mother-in-law stay with you at home today. Tell the maid if you need anything. If you feel unwell, call a doctor..."
Ernst spoke a lot of words carefully. Now Karina is pregnant with her second child, and he really wants to take Karina to Bagamoyo with him to relax. However, Bagamoyo requires water transportation, so Ernst is not at ease.
"Okay, you don't have to worry about me. I'm not a child. Besides, there is everything in the palace, and there are so many servants at my disposal. But when can we go see grandma? She calls often. Little Frederick has never seen grandma, but grandma likes him very much." Karina asked.
Karina was raised by Queen Mother Sophie since she was a child, and they have a deep bond. But since she came to East Africa, she can no longer see her grandmother. The only thing she can do is to contact her by phone, which helps her alleviate the longing.
"My father-in-law occasionally goes to Austria to visit my grandmother. She is still in good health. Your brother Rudolf Jr. and your uncle are also doing well, so don't worry too much. I will accompany you back to visit them next year." Ernst promised.
In fact, the Austrian royal family had a lot of troubles, but many of them were related to Franz. Little Rudolf often contacted Ernst, who was able to provide him with guidance. In that era, no one cared about psychological problems, so the Ernsts had to worry about Rudolf's mental health.
As for Franz, although his love life was not going well, his mentality was definitely good enough, otherwise his previous life was so miserable and he would not have lived so long.
In this life, his brother Archduke Ferdinand was not shot dead by the Mexicans, and Ferdinand often went back to quarrel with them. His life was much better than in his previous life.
More contact with the Austrian royal family would also help the development of relations between the two countries. The relationship between the two countries was already very good. However, East Africa and Europe were separated by an ocean, so travel was not very convenient. When Ernst was in Europe, he often visited the Austrian palace.
Thinking of this, Ernst felt that he should not favor one over the other. There were many nobles and royal families in Europe who had good relations with the Hechingen royal family. It was just a good opportunity to meet them and strengthen the relationship.
So Ernst said, "It's just in time for me to go back to Europe and visit other countries that have good relations with East Africa. If you have any sisters you want to meet, you can tell me in advance so that you don't get caught off guard."
Karina: "I don't have many friends, and most of them are in Vienna. We can just have a simple get-together and take little Friedrich to meet some new people."
Karina grew up in the Austrian court, so most of the friends she made were children of Austrian nobles. After all, ordinary people did not have the ability to enter the Austro-Hungarian imperial palace.
"Of course it's no problem, but considering your due date, we probably won't be able to go to Europe until the second half of next year. There will also be a state visit at that time, so it will definitely be tiring, after all, there will be a lot of social engagements." Ernst reminded.
"These are nothing. I was used to them before coming to East Africa. On the contrary, there are not many nobles in East Africa, and there are not so many rules. It is very different from Europe." Karina said.
The couple chatted for a while, and then Ernst prepared to leave.
Because we are traveling by water, we have to wait for the boat at the pier in the north of the First Town. The pier is not far from the city. The third town is on the north bank of the Little Rhine River. It has now been merged with the First Town, so both sides of the Little Rhine River are still relatively prosperous.
Ernst was on the gunboat of the Guards Division, so the journey was very fast and it only took two or three hours to reach Bagamoyo City.
Although it only takes less than an hour to reach the First Town via the Central Railway, water transportation has obvious freight advantages over railways, so the economic ties between the First Town and Bagamoyo City are closer.
At noon, Ernst arrived in Bagamoyo. Although Bagamoyo is not as important as Dar es Salaam and Mombasa, it plays an important role in the shipbuilding industry in East Africa due to the development of the shipbuilding industry.
Of course, the most important thing is that the navy’s headquarters is here. Ernst first came to the navy to visit Ferdinand, but was told that Archduke Ferdinand was now at the Ferdinand Naval Academy on Pemba Island, so he had to visit the base construction accompanied by other naval personnel.
"Bagamoyo is the gateway to the first town and the estuary of the Little Rhine. It is no exaggeration to describe our construction there as impregnable. The navy and the Guards Division are heavily guarded. Any invading enemy will not be able to attack the nearby waters through the ocean."
"Well, I am quite familiar with this. How are the navy's new ships this year?" Ernst asked.
"This year, the Bagamoyo Shipyard completed the construction of three gunboats. As for the latest 3,000-ton armored cruiser, it may take some time. We estimate that it will be completed and put into service by the beginning of the year after next."
The shipbuilding technology of the Bagamoyo Shipyard is improving day by day, and it is now sprinting towards the 3,000-ton displacement level. Higher values should be achievable, but a more secure solution was chosen.
“The Bagamoyo Shipyard still needs to accumulate experience, which is what we lack in East Africa. At the same time, its performance in technology and R&D is also unsatisfactory. There is also a lack of relevant talent locally. However, it should be able to be built in 10 to 20 years, so you don’t need to be too anxious,” said Ernst.
"Independence has always been the goal of the East African Navy. We still need to learn from the navies of other powerful countries and try to keep up with other countries to avoid falling behind. However, this is not very difficult for us. We have already achieved independent production of some weapons and equipment, and the imitation work is also going smoothly."
If the East African Navy wants to be independent, it cannot avoid the inevitable path of copying. As for independent research and development and design, this greatly increases the requirements for talent, and it is also related to the layout of related industries. Without a strong industry, it is impossible to have a strong independent navy. Relying on purchases can solve problems in the short term, and the East African Navy's ambitions will naturally not stop there.
After visiting the navy, Ernst began to tour the civilian shipyard in Bagamoyo.
As the center of shipbuilding industry in East Africa, Bagamoyo now has a total of thirteen shipbuilding companies, most of which are state-owned enterprises, and there are only two private enterprises, which belong to the Hexingen Ocean Trading Company.
Therefore, the shipbuilding industry in Bagamoyo is first-class in East Africa. As for the shipbuilding industries in Dar es Salaam and Mombasa, they are also strong, but they are responsible for too many functions and cannot devote themselves to the shipbuilding industry.
On the contrary, the city of Bagamoyo can spare space to develop the shipbuilding industry because it does not have too much economic development burden. However, the shipbuilding industry in East Africa cannot be supported by private forces, so the ones who contribute are either the government or the Hei Xingen Group.
This undoubtedly limits the activity of the East African shipbuilding industry, but the benefits are also very obvious. The government and the Hexingen Consortium can make full use of the huge resource advantages in their hands and concentrate on supporting the initial development of the East African shipbuilding industry.
(End of this chapter)
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