Chapter 890 Railway Construction
The outbreak of war in the Far East is ultimately a trivial matter for East Africa, and it is even difficult to attract the attention of its own citizens. After all, East Africa is currently focusing on domestic development and has no intention of intervening in international affairs.
September 1894.
New Frankfurt.
"This railway goes southeast. According to the higher authorities, it seems that a new city is being built southeast of New Frankfurt and northeast of Kabwe. Now this new railway branch line will use the New Frankfurt railway to connect to the national railway network." Railway worker Hans told his fellow workers the gossip he had obtained.
The efficiency of the East African government was quite good. As the location of Rhine City was selected, the construction of the railway to Rhine City began immediately. Hans and others were the railway workers on this railway line.
"There's nothing strange about this. A large number of new cities are built in East Africa every year. Take our Hohenzollern Province for example. There are quite a few cities that have suddenly popped up in recent years." Lavis replied.
Many cities in the Hohenzollern province suddenly rose up due to mineral resources or railways, especially the northern copper belt and the central railway line, so it was nothing strange for Lavis to see a new city emerging around New Frankfurt.
"Hehe, you don't understand this. If it's just a new city, it's naturally not worthy of my attention. But I heard from Director Valeni that this new city is likely to become our new capital in the future, replacing the current No. 1 town." Hans said to Lavis and others.
Lavis: "How did you get the information from Director Valeni? And since he knew this information, why didn't he publicize it?"
Hans: "I was drinking with Director Valeni a while ago! He said that when he was drunk, and I didn't think much of it at the time. After all, it seems that there is no problem with the First Town being the capital now, so how could the capital be moved? As a result, what Director Valeni said came true not long after, especially this railway, which Director Valeni mentioned in particular."
Another colleague of his, Bell, interrupted and said, "Hans, what's so special about this railway?"
Hans raised his lips and said, "There is a lot of knowledge involved here. As you all know, the capital of any country should be a place with convenient transportation to the whole country. Isn't there a proverb that says all roads lead to Rome? So the capital must be chosen in the area with the most convenient transportation in East Africa."
"Although the location of the First Town is good, close to the sea and with a railway, it is too far to the east. East Africa is a big country, larger than a dozen Germanys, so the location of the First Town is naturally too remote for the entire country of East Africa."
"But the area around New Frankfurt is different. Although this is not only the geographical center of East Africa, but also will become the future economic center of our country, to give the simplest example, if the central government is placed here, it can better control various regions of the country, especially the core areas of our country's major plateaus."
Everyone thought that what Hans said made sense, but Ravis asked, "But isn't this a waste of effort? We can just put the capital in New Frankfurt. Building a new city is a bit of a waste."
Hans explained: "This is not contradictory. The first town is not located in the more prosperous Dar es Salaam, but is built about 50 kilometers west of Dar es Salaam. So our future new capital may also take this approach."
At this time, Director Valeni popped out from nowhere and asked, "Hans, what are you talking about?"
The appearance of Valeni scared everyone. After all, as a boss, everyone was still a little afraid of Valeni.
Hans's face froze, and he quickly said, "We were just discussing the railway. After all, Director Valeni, you also said that we should pay special attention to this railway, so we were just talking about work."
"Oh, that's right. You'd better not be petty. This railway is very important and there can't be any quality flaws. So pay attention during construction and report any problems in time. Otherwise, it will be troublesome if problems arise later."
"Manager Valencienne, we are tired of hearing these words. Don't worry, we are always keeping them in mind." Lavis and others echoed.
The more this happened, the more worried Valeni became. He said directly, "This railway is more important than any other railway we have built before, so we must treat it ten or a hundred times more seriously than usual. Otherwise, I will not save you when you go in and operate the sewing machines."
Everyone was shocked to hear what Waleni said. Operating a sewing machine would send you to jail. Of course, in East Africa, you might also be sent to work in mines or doing heavy physical labor.
"Director Valeni, have you received any news? Hans just told us that this railway leads to the future new capital of East Africa."
Valeni frowned and said, "Well, Hans, where did you get the news?"
Being suddenly called out, Hans said tremblingly, "Manager, have you forgotten what you told me last month when you were drinking?"
Valeni scratched his head: "Really? What else did I say when I was drunk?"
Hans: "It was mainly about the Rhine and so on. I was also drunk at the time so I don't remember much."
Only then did Valeni remember how the news leaked. It seemed that he should drink less in the future. He didn't expect that he would speak the truth after drinking. If any secret was really exposed, it would be too bad.
"Don't take it too seriously. There's nothing about the capital city. I just got this gossip from a friend. But one thing is for sure, the higher-ups attach great importance to this city. So you should all be serious about your work, especially when monitoring black people."
Speaking of black people, Valenciennes had more to say: "Two years ago, we were responsible for a section of railway construction. Because of the carelessness of black people, an accident almost occurred. So you should pay close attention to the work of black people. You should repeatedly inspect the section they are building, at least three times a day, to ensure the quality of the project."
There are a large number of black laborers in the East African railway system. Although they have made important contributions to the construction of the East African railway, they obviously cannot become excellent industrial workers due to their cognitive and cultural deficiencies.
However, the East African government is well aware of this. The East African government has no intention of training blacks to become excellent industrial workers. As for the fact that blacks are now working in various industries in East Africa, it is because they are reluctant to give up this cheap labor.
However, in sectors like the railways, the proportion of black workers has actually been decreasing. In the past, the railways were full of black people and East African supervisors, but now the number of black people has dropped to less than 30 percent.
Of course, in mines and plantations, the proportion is slightly higher. Now the main work has begun to be done by East Africans themselves. After all, the number of East African citizens has long exceeded that of black slaves by about two to three times. At the same time, this is also the social effect after the East African government has begun to adapt in advance to the reduction of black slaves.
"Black people are generally not very attentive, or they lack basic knowledge, so you must keep a close eye on them. Otherwise, in addition to the trouble, it will definitely be your fault." Valenciennes continued to emphasize.
"Don't worry, supervisor, we will keep an eye on it, and we will definitely complete some key tasks ourselves, so that we can ensure efficiency and project quality at the same time." Lavis said at the right time.
(End of this chapter)
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