Chapter 599: World's "First"
New Year and Christmas in East Africa are quite lively, but in Ernst's impression, these two festivals must be set off by snow to appear more atmospheric. At this time, most parts of East Africa are the hottest, and the feeling of celebrating New Year and Christmas in summer is very awkward.
The arrival of the New Year also means the passing of 1880 in East Africa. The whole of East Africa continues to run without error like a precision machine. In just a blink of an eye, East Africans become busy again and continue to participate in the construction of East African countries.
The people of East Africa are more miserable in this regard. Other regions have long winters, so they can also rest for a long time. The climate in East Africa is not much different throughout the year. This is the climate that capitalists like, and it represents sustainable exploitation throughout the year.
…
"Is this a car?" Constantine exclaimed.
In front of the square of the Svet Palace, one of the world's first cars was assembled. Thanks to the long-term research and development of the Hechingen Consortium and some of Ernst's brilliant ideas, the first car in East Africa was very advanced when it left the factory. Specifically, it had a front windshield and a carport, instead of an open three-wheeled car.
The reason why it is one of them is that the Hechingen Consortium prepared one car each in Germany, Austria and East Africa at the same time, which means that there are a total of three of the world's first cars.
The purpose of this is that Germany, Austria and East Africa can simultaneously promote the fact that the first car was born in their own country, which will help expand sales.
Because the development of the automobile industry depends on the support of the market, and Germany and the Austro-Hungarian Empire are mature markets with a large number of aristocrats and wealthy people who can afford cars.
Moreover, the first cars of the three countries were all presented to the royal families of the three countries by subsidiaries of the Hexingen Group. Cars were luxury goods, so they had to be promoted with the help of aristocrats, and the royal family was undoubtedly the most distinguished signboard, especially the royal families of the two world powers, Germany and Austria-Hungary.
"Father, this is definitely a groundbreaking product. The automobile industry will become the greatest industry in the world, replacing today's horse-drawn carriages and becoming a product that will enter thousands of households in the future," Ernst said proudly.
"You said before that cars don't need animal power to run. Does this car also run on coal?"
"Of course not. Cars use gasoline as fuel, which is processed from petroleum. The world's largest oil producer is the United States, but we also have some operations in Romania."
There are many people in the United States who have become rich from oil, especially in the western region where there are many oil fields. The uneven distribution of oil resources also means that the local oil production in East Africa may not be very ideal in the future.
This is something that cannot be helped, but East Africa also has its advantages, that is, it is very close to the world's most important oil producing area, the coast of the Persian Gulf. Therefore, as long as the East African navy does not become too weak in the future, it is basically impossible to threaten East Africa through oil.
Moreover, East Africa is not far from two important oil producing areas, North Africa and West Africa, so Ernst is not too worried about the future energy problems in East Africa.
Moreover, the local oil in East Africa can meet the basic needs of East Africa, at least it can meet the needs of the future East African army, so that it will not be short of oil like Germany did during World War II. At the same time, East Africa also has a powerful presence in Kalimantan, an oil-producing island in the South Seas. Although the oil-producing area is not within the territory of the Lan Fang Overseas Province, the East African royal family also has the royal territory of Alaska, which is also an oil-producing area.
Therefore, as a major oil producing area in the world, East Africa can basically ensure the national energy security of East Africa through the use of force. Unlike the Far Eastern Empire, if there was no Strait of Malacca, the energy security of the Far Eastern Empire would be greatly improved. As a country in both oceans, East Africa does not have such hidden dangers.
In fact, according to Ernst's idea, it would be best to drive a nail into the coast of the Persian Gulf, so that East Africa's future energy security would be foolproof. However, East Africa has never found this opportunity.
Now the Persian Gulf coast belongs to four countries: the Ottoman Empire, Persia, Oman and Britain, so it is quite difficult for East Africa to intervene.
However, the existence of oil in the Persian Gulf is still unknown. Many future oil-rich countries are still living a hard life of nomadic life and pearl fishing. It is not an exaggeration to say that they are poor and destitute. No one would have thought that this place would be extremely prosperous because of oil in the 21st century, so Ernst has always had evil intentions here.
With the fuel replenished, the driver started the ignition, and the world's first car began to run smoothly on the Svet Palace Square.
"It's moving, and there's no smoke like a steam engine!" everyone exclaimed.
The black smoke that continuously came out of the car's tailpipe was automatically ignored by everyone because it was completely insignificant compared to the smoke from the steam engine.
As the car accelerated, it eventually reached a running speed of 30 kilometers per hour, drawing cheers from the East Africans present.
East African official media reporters recorded this historical moment and wrote on paper: "A carriage without a horse really achieved incredible movement..."
At the same time, similar performances were also being held in Berlin and Vienna, but they were even more lively than those in East Africa.
The Heixingen Group deliberately designed the car launches of the three countries to be held at the same time. It just so happened that Germany, Austria-Hungary, and East Africa were all roughly located near East District 2, so the timing was almost the same.
It's interesting that all three countries can claim to have invented the first car, but it will take some time to discover this.
"In addition to building some state-owned automobile factories in East Africa, Hechingen Bank will also invest in several private automobile factories. The former will be used to meet domestic demand, while the latter will focus on the international market." Ernst said to Constantine.
"What difference does it make?" Constantine asked.
"There is a big difference, because our domestic car market is very narrow, and most people cannot afford such luxury goods, so it is foreseeable that the demand for cars can only be met by government official cars, or those highly paid technicians, who are always a minority.
Exports are our biggest source of profit. Although many countries in the world are poor, they have a wide gap between the rich and the poor, and there are many wealthy people, such as the Far Eastern Empire. Therefore, this part should be handed over to the cost-conscious Hexingen Consortium. If it is a state-owned enterprise, they will not consider the cost and profit issues, so it is enough to let them eat up the domestic market. The international market requires professionals. "Ernst said.
The development of the automobile industry needs to rely on market regulation. It is not impossible to rely on state-owned enterprises to implement it through administrative means, but the flexibility is definitely not as good as private enterprises that have no moral bottom line. This statement may not be entirely correct, but if state-owned enterprises want to compete with private enterprises in this field, their management must be top-notch professional talents.
“Since you think highly of the automobile industry, why don’t we just build a factory in East Africa and take a share from Germany and Austria?”
"This is because we don't have the ability to eat alone. Our industrial system is not perfect and many parts need to be imported. Moreover, even if the parts are domestically produced, the overall quality is far behind that of Germany and Austria. This is why I require some car companies to be state-owned enterprises. Orders from state-owned enterprises can at least guarantee the development of other industries in East Africa. Otherwise, we will not be able to compete with the international level at all because the cost-effectiveness is too low." Ernst explained.
(End of this chapter)
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