Chapter 904 Cabinda
Thinking of the fate of the royal families of various countries in the past life, Ernst still felt a little scared. After all, he was also a hanging lamp in his current state, so keeping a low profile in the palace could at least bring him some comfort.
However, Ernst's worries were unnecessary, because Ernst had given up on this path from the very beginning, as can be seen from the composition of East African immigrants.
Not to mention ordinary people, even the East African government is made up of a bunch of rough men with foul language. There is no such thing as aristocratic etiquette. The East African nobles only have the honorary title of "nobles".
This is the case for the upper class, let alone ordinary people in East Africa. They simply don't have so many complicated thoughts. Moreover, compulsory education in East Africa is completely biased towards science and engineering, which reduces a large number of social critics.
The threshold for becoming a keyboard warrior in the 19th century was very high. Only those with profound literary skills and a certain degree of social fame were qualified to serve, and their circle was only popular among the upper class.
Of course, as the size of the working class expands and their cultural level improves, a group of public party activists who dare to take action have begun to emerge in Europe.
However, this is only limited to Europe. It is not very popular in other parts of the world, including the industrially more developed United States. After all, the national strength of the United States has been on the rise, and social conflicts are easy to resolve.
It was precisely because of Europe's developed industry, chaotic society, and numerous countries that it was easy for various ideas to emerge and spread.
This is obviously impossible in countries like East Africa, the United States, or the Far Eastern Empire. That is to say, the state apparatus of the Far Eastern Empire is on the verge of paralysis, otherwise cultural control would be even stricter than in East Africa.
This can be seen from the "declining" situation of the East African literary industry. Up to now, Ernst has never heard of any local "literary figures", so it is impossible for East Africa to have much social change within one or two generations.
So far, East Africa’s policies have been implemented from top to bottom, which means that basically all social progress in East Africa is driven by Ernst, the top designer. Otherwise, East Africa will be like Brazil, with society in chaos.
Of course, these will not stop Ernst from having high standards and high demands for personal enjoyment. On the surface, the East African Palace is relatively low-key in scale and decoration, but in fact it is full of surprises. According to Ernst's requirements, it is natural to be as comfortable as possible. So after the construction of the East African Palace is completed, it will be one of the most modern palaces in the world.
Safety is also a key consideration for Ernst, so in the future the Rhine Palace will be equipped with a bunker and a dedicated tunnel connected to the Rhine subway, and a dedicated channel to the Rensemfowa River will be reserved.
After the completion of the Rensemfuwa River Dam, a huge artificial lake will be formed. The designers will design a dedicated dock based on the terrain around the lake to facilitate the royal family's escape by water.
Although the royal rule of East Africa is very stable, no "life-saving" supporting facilities can be lacking. And this is not an exaggeration. East Africa is also researching aircraft projects itself.
The same is naturally true for other countries, so it is not difficult for bombers to appear in the future. Not to mention bombers, even nuclear weapons will only be forty or fifty years later.
Therefore, the safety considerations of the Rhine Palace were completely in accordance with the standards of later generations, and Ernst had a lot of experience in this regard. After all, he was a bricklayer on a construction site in his previous life and had worked on many projects in Africa, so he was not completely ignorant of the design of the Rhine Palace.
In this way, the design of the Rhine Palace is more inclined towards practicality and convenience of life, rather than the artistry currently pursued in Europe or the imaginative plans of the United States.
…
Beginning in 1895, a construction boom swept across East Africa, from Gezira in the north to Upington in the south, and from Dar es Salaam in the east to Cabinda in the west.
In fact, this is true all over the world. Even the poorest and most backward countries and regions will have large plantations built on them because of the arrival of colonists. The indigenous people who have remained unchanged for thousands of years will also be put in shackles and forced to work.
"Snap", the sound of a whip cracking across the air became a feature of the 19th century, along with the phrase: "Lazy guy, get up and work!", which was the feature of the colonial era.
The East African supervisors were also very familiar with this kind of work, and the city of Cabinda had undergone a complete transformation in less than five years under the hands of East Africa.
"Although the Congo River's estuary is only five kilometers away, the river cuts very deep and the river is turbulent, so it is unrealistic to build a bridge here. The only solution now is to connect with Luanda by ferry. As for the railway, it can only be built through a roundabout solution in the upstream area."
The city of Cabinda has become one of the important economic ports in the western region of East Africa. With the expansion of the city and the prosperity of foreign trade, the flow of people and freight has increased, and the original backward transportation conditions are also eager to change.
In fact, the development speed of the four port cities in the west is not slow, only slightly slower than that of Beira Port.
After all, it is the bridgehead of the Atlantic trade, and the economic strength of the Atlantic coastal regions and countries is in no way inferior to the Asia-Europe trade. Of course, the Asia-Europe trade here also includes the Indian Ocean section. In the era of maritime transportation, the Asia-Europe trade cannot bypass the Indian Ocean.
On the Atlantic coast, South America and West Africa are the raw material production bases for East Africa, while Europe and the United States are the markets. With both available, coupled with German investment and the connection between the inland economy of East Africa, the growth rate of western coastal cities is much higher than that of inland Angola.
Of course, this situation is closely related to the geographical conditions of East Africa. No matter how Angola and Southwest Africa develop, the national policy resources they enjoy are certain.
However, including Angola and Southwest Africa, there are only four ports available for commercial trade so far, namely Cabinda, Luanda, Benguela and Walvis Bay from north to south. In addition, there are two naval ports, namely Alexandria and Swakopmund. Places such as Oranjemund outside these ports can only be regarded as small immigration bases.
Cabinda’s location, like Mombasa in eastern East Africa, is the port on the west coast closest to the main international trade routes.
The only drawback is that there is no railway connecting it to the inland, and the lower reaches of the Congo River next to Cabinda have no shipping value due to the upstream waterfalls, in the absence of both water and land transportation.
In 1895, Luanda's population exceeded 70,000, mainly due to its locational advantages, which enabled it to vigorously develop import and export trade, as well as processing and manufacturing industries.
Because of the poor domestic transportation, Luanda imports raw materials from West Africa and South America, and then processes them and exports the finished or semi-finished products to West Africa and South America. Some products can even be exported to European and American countries.
Of course, before its oil resources were developed, Cabinda was far less important than Luanda, which is currently the most developed city on the west coast of East Africa.
In particular, German investment is concentrated in Luanda and Benguela, while Cabinda is completely dependent on investment from the East African government.
The main reason for this result is the lack of transportation such as railways, so Cabinda’s urgent need for railways is higher than any other city in East Africa.
In 1895, after the Luanda and Benguela railways, the East African government finally set about changing this situation, and the final plan for the Cabinda railway was to be carried out simultaneously with the upstream Kinshasa.
“The Congo River in Kinshasa has the best river conditions and is suitable for railway bridge construction, but this may also be the largest bridge construction project in East Africa since the founding of the country.”
"Once the bridge is completed, it will be possible to supply railways and roads at the same time, solving the railway problems in Kinshasa and Cabinda at the same time. The railway will branch out from the Luanda railway, then go north to Kinshasa, and then pass through the Congo River Bridge and finally reach Cabinda along the north bank of the Congo River."
(End of this chapter)
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