Chapter 444 Arrival
In the First Town, everyone received a warm welcome. This was the second time this happened. The last time was when Constantine came to East Africa. Although Ernst had also been to the First Town, he hurried to join the battlefield in the south.
This time was different. The Crown Prince's wedding had to be lively. Ernst and Karina, who had just arrived in the First Town, "got married again" in the First Town according to the routine.
However, compared to Vienna, there were not so many distinguished guests in East Africa. After simply accepting the blessings of their subordinates, the family gathered at the Svet Palace.
"Karina, I don't have anything good to give you. This is a crown I asked someone to make in Europe as a gift for you." Constantine smiled and asked his followers to present the crown to Karina.
His son finally got married, and the next step was to have a grandson, who would inherit the great territory conquered by the Hechingen royal family. This was particularly important to Constantine, as aristocratic education made European nobles pay special attention to their families, even more than themselves.
Although Constantine and Ernst were both from the Hohenzollern family, Hechingen was considered a branch of the Hohenzollern family that ran parallel to the Prussian royal family and the Sigmaringen royal family. Therefore, it was in line with Constantine's idea to carry forward the Hechingen royal family, and what was meant by carrying forward was naturally a large population and both power and wealth. Now that they had both power and wealth, they only needed people.
"Thank you, Your Majesty!" Karina replied respectfully.
This is the embodiment of the Habsburg family, or Queen Mother Sophie's education.
"Try it on first!" Ernst took off the crown and put it on Karina's head. With the crown, she looked even more beautiful.
Married women in European royal families can wear crowns. Of course, this is not correct. This thing is directly linked to women, so it is more appropriate to call it a women's crown. According to Ernst's understanding, it is actually similar to the role of a hairpin and serves a decorative purpose.
The crown of East Africa has never been stingy in the use of gems. The "precious" diamonds can only serve as a foundation, and it is other gems that give it vitality.
The crown of the Crown Princess made Princess Charlotte's eyes widen. There was nothing she could do about it. The thing that was most abundant in East Africa was various gems. Even places like Kenya, where resources were relatively scarce, were rich in all kinds of gems. Fortunately, East Africa implemented a closed planned economy.
Otherwise, East Africans might go digging for "stones". This is probably the current situation in some colonies. Food exports are worth little money and are not scarce, so the colonists are more keen on high-profit industries. Things like gems that are highly profitable and popular in the international market are also the focus of colonial development.
With high aspirations but poor implementation, and without supporting basic industries, the colonists and compradors were ultimately rewarded with high profits, but the bad consequences fell on the lower-class civilians. Without a good and healthy agricultural base, the people of some countries with excellent natural conditions could not even afford to eat.
Brazil in the past was a good example. In most people’s impressions, Brazilians were very poor, especially the slums in Brazil which were famous all over the world.
But Brazil is actually very strong, with both agriculture and industry being quite good. Brazil has 1.2 billion mu of arable land, and crops can be harvested three times a year. It has excellent water and heat resources, and a population of just over 200 million. Brazil's total grain output has reached more than 200 million tons, equivalent to 1 ton of grain per person per year, far exceeding a certain Eastern power and close to the United States. Its superior agriculture has also made Brazil one of the world's largest net exporters of grain, the world's largest producer and exporter of coffee and sugar, and the second largest soybean, etc. In theory, Brazilians should have no problem getting enough food.
However, 50% of the people in Brazil do not have enough food to eat. This can actually be seen from Brazil's outrageous urbanization rate, which is as high as over 85%. The problem is that Brazil's industrial scale is simply not enough to support such a large population. As a result, many people in Brazil have flowed into gray and black industries, and gangs are prevalent in Brazil.
However, Brazil's industry is not sufficient to support employment for the Brazilian population, but Brazil's industrial size is among the top ten in the world, and it also has an independent aircraft manufacturing industry.
In Ernst's opinion, any country that can occupy a certain market share in the civil aircraft manufacturing industry in the 21st century is quite powerful.
After all, the wealth created by Brazil is not shared by ordinary people at all, and the polarization is too serious.
Therefore, Ernst believed that a country cannot develop without agriculture, cannot be strong without industry, and cannot be rich without commerce. Agriculture is definitely the key to the stability and existence of a stable country. Improving agricultural production and distribution is what many developing countries should do first.
Only by solving the agricultural problem can we effectively support industrial development and reduce dependence on foreign capital. Take East Africa as an example. East Africa's development is overspeeding. If it only relies on agriculture, East Africa can still develop, but the speed cannot be so fast. The accelerator of East Africa's development is the Heixingen Group.
The Hechingen Consortium is a kind of "foreign" capital for East Africa, and it is part of the spillover of productivity in the German region. Borrowing money for development is the norm in the international community, and Ernst is also playing the trick of transferring money from one hand to the other. However, once the capital flowed, East Africa's industry developed.
As for the question of no wealth without business, it is also easy to understand. Wealth is relative. If I have one more dollar than you, then I am richer than you. Therefore, the purpose of business is to put other people's money into your own pocket.
Ernst believes that there are three types of putting other people's money into your own pocket: robbery, fraud, and trading. Robbery is colonialism, fraud is the financial industry, and trading is the development of export trade.
East Africa is involved in all three categories. Colonialism is the foundation of the East African nation. More than 20 million blacks are the targets of looting in East Africa. East Africa does not have the conditions to engage in the financial industry, but the Hexingen Bank is doing it. During this economic crisis, the assets of the Hexingen Bank skyrocketed, and it was the leeks of Europe and the United States that were being harvested, not to mention the export trade.
Thinking of this, Ernst suddenly felt that he was a bit cruel. He didn't know how many people were implicated in the development of East Africa. But on second thought, if he didn't take the money, it would be swallowed up by Jewish and other capitals. Instead of using it to "lend" to them, it would be better to use it to develop Africa!
Ernst was thinking about this, which caused Constantine's dissatisfaction: "Ernst, stop daydreaming. Today is not an ordinary day. There are not so many national affairs for you to think about!"
"Well, father, you are right. I was just a little fascinated by Karina!" Ernst said quickly.
This made Karina a little embarrassed, but that was normal. When nobles met, they would praise each other.
"Well, that's better," Constantine said.
"Your Excellency the Grand Duke, this time you and your wife might as well move to the First Town. After all, there are too few acquaintances in East Africa, and Karina doesn't have many playmates when she comes to East Africa, so you, as her parents, need to spend more time with her." Constantine suggested to Ferdinand and his wife.
Archduke Ferdinand lived in Bagamoyo for a long time because of work. That was because the East African Navy was just established at that time, and Archduke Ferdinand was the only one who knew the business. Now that the East African Navy had been established and it had the support of the Austrian Navy, there was no need for him to do everything himself. In addition, Constantine took into account that Archduke Ferdinand and his wife had left their daughter in Schönbrunn Palace in order to go to Mexico, so reuniting the family now could be considered as making up for the missed lessons.
"Of course. After I have dealt with the naval affairs, Charlotte and I will move here," said Archduke Ferdinand.
(End of this chapter)
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