Chapter 885: The Awakening of Economic Colonies
The Abyssinian Empire was an thoroughly backward agricultural country, but one thing that cannot be ignored was that the labor cost in the Abyssinian Empire was very low.
After all, with a land area of only 300,000 square kilometers and a population of about one-seventh of East Africa, the Abyssinian Empire is very suitable for engaging in some labor-intensive agriculture.
After all, the deslavement of East Africa is a foregone conclusion. After the complete disappearance of black slaves, the labor cost in East Africa will inevitably rise, so some labor-intensive agriculture must be transferred to the Abyssinian Empire in advance.
For example, for industries that are difficult to mechanize in the short term, such as rubber, tea, and coffee planting, East Africa can give a portion of them to the Abyssinian Empire. As for competition, East Africa is not afraid of a small country like Abyssinia. Instead, it is a large tropical country with a vast territory like Brazil that is the object of East Africa's vigilance.
Of course, John IV knew that East Africa wanted to control the agriculture of the Abyssinian Empire, but he had no way to stop it. Apart from anything else, if East Africa took economic means to change the agricultural situation of the Abyssinian Empire, John IV would also be powerless.
Of course, Ramones also said: "We in East Africa understand the national conditions of Abyssinia. The Abyssinian Empire has a hunger problem and needs to solve the food problem first. Our East Africa can help the Abyssinian Empire in this regard. East Africa is one of the world's largest food exporters and is fully capable of solving the food problem of the Abyssinian Empire and forming an economic structure in which food and industrial products are exchanged for cash crop products."
Of course, the Abyssinian Empire had a relatively dense population and low productivity, so agricultural production was mainly based on grain crops. After all, the problem of food had to be solved first.
In order to make the Abyssinian Empire willing to produce cash crop planting industry which is heavily dependent on manpower for East Africa, it is natural to give the Abyssinian Empire a reassurance.
Of course, the main reason is that the mechanization of East African food crops, especially rice and wheat, has begun to show signs of development. In the future, a small number of agricultural population will be needed to meet the needs of large-scale agricultural production.
Of course, this is something that the native emperor Johannes IV could not imagine. In fact, he was not opposed to the planting of cash crops, because the current demand from the international community was huge, and the developed countries in Europe and the United States would collect as much as they wanted. Otherwise, European and American countries would not have developed plantation economies all over the world.
Of course, East Africa gave up part of its share because it had begun to shift towards industrialization. At the same time, the size of East Africa was not comparable to that of the Abyssinian Empire. Moreover, the Abyssinian Empire was easier to control. This was the main reason.
In the future, East Africa does not want to go to the rain forest of Vietnam to fight the indigenous people like the United States. Not only is Southeast Asia far away from East Africa, but the terrain is also complex. Abyssinia is mainly plateau terrain, and the mountains that are easy to defend and difficult to attack are basically in the hands of southern East Africa, so it is simply unable to resist the control of East Africa.
Of course, it was impossible for Ramones to make Johannes IV surrender easily with just a few words, but it was only a matter of time because the Abyssinian Empire had no choice.
No matter how the Abyssinian Empire struggled, even if the entire country only planted tropical cash crops, its output would always be limited due to its small land area. On the contrary, after these cheap agricultural products entered East Africa, they could be slightly processed and sold to Europe and the United States.
This is equivalent to East Africa deploying its thankless agricultural type in Abyssinia, while East Africa engages in mid- and upper-stream industries, namely processing and sales, forming a large industrial chain dependent on East Africa, which is good for both East Africa and the Abyssinian Empire.
In order to further dispel Johannes IV's doubts, Raymond said: "Of course, as a friend of the Abyssinian Empire, we in East Africa respect your decision. For example, on the issue of food security, your country has a lot of restricted land. You can expand the arable land on the current basis and engage in cash crop planting. This will not pose a threat to local food security, and you can also make more money. After all, international food prices have been low in recent years, and the profits are far less than those of rubber, coffee, sugar and other crops."
Sure enough, after Ramons’ reminder, Johannes IV, the emperor who came from a military background, also “came to his senses”. This is indeed the truth!
Of course, this is obviously impossible. There is a huge loophole in Ramones' words, that is, the premise that East African grain does not enter Abyssinia.
Ramons also said that international food prices have remained low, and cheap food from East Africa actually entered the Abyssinian Empire more than a decade ago. So now more and more landlords in the Abyssinian Empire are turning to cash crop planting, and East Africa is only accelerating this process.
The ultimate goal of East Africa is to fully integrate the Abyssinian Empire into the East African market. What Ramones is doing now is just to accelerate this process.
As for the issue of food security, it has actually always been East Africa's weapon. If Abyssinia really cannot be self-sufficient in food, East Africa will only be happy to see it happen.
Of course, as a fish raised in East Africa, East Africa will not go too far like the United States did on the Caribbean coast. It should at least give a sip of soup to the Abyssinian Empire.
In this regard, the East African government still has some integrity. After all, the East African government is not a merchant government like the United States. It will consider the two comprehensive factors of politics and economy.
"Moreover, our East African government will provide assistance to the Abyssinian Empire in agricultural technology, providing more advanced agricultural tools, seeds, fertilizers and pesticides to increase the agricultural income of the Abyssinian Empire." Ramons added.
The current agricultural tools used in cash crop planting have basically no technological content, so there is no need to worry about technology leakage. You must know that East African tractors are now only used domestically, and avoiding exports is to prevent future technological upgrades in agricultural powers such as the United States and Tsarist Russia.
As a strong country in the field of internal combustion engines, East Africa undoubtedly belongs to the first echelon in terms of machinery in this field. Due to early investment, it is ten to twenty years ahead of other countries in the world.
While the internal combustion tractors of similar competitors in the market are not yet worth promoting on a large scale, gasoline and diesel tractors in East Africa have already begun mass production in the inland areas.
This is equivalent to East Africa imposing a reverse technological blockade on the whole world. Moreover, because of the world market, East Africa can easily obtain technology from other countries in the world through trade or even espionage. Therefore, as time goes by, East Africa will be able to achieve a pattern of "what you have, I have too, and what I have you don't" in the field of practical technology.
This is East Africa's reverse application of the "closed-door" policy. Of course, this is obviously not conducive to technological progress in the world, but East Africa obviously does not care about this.
"Ambassador Lemons, I will give you an answer later regarding the cooperation between our two countries," said Johannes IV.
After all, he needed to ask his own think tanks for advice on matters like this, but Johannes IV was soon convinced by his ministers.
After all, the Abyssinian Empire's economic dependence on East Africa was an inevitable result, which gave rise to a large number of "comprador" groups. Of course, the form of the Abyssinian Empire was doomed to be unable to resist the subtle invasion from all aspects of East Africa. Since it could not resist, it might as well "enjoy" it.
In April 1894, East Africa and the Abyssinian Empire formally signed a treaty for in-depth cooperative development, and the Abyssinian Empire officially became the first country in the world to be tied to the chariot of East Africa.
(End of this chapter)
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