Chapter 346 Immigration Transition Point
Far East Aid Group?
When they heard that the aid group came from the Far East, the staff of the Dar es Salaam City Government were bewildered.
The staff member said to Aryan in German: "Sir! We are not aware of the existence of the Far East Aid Group. There is no relevant information on the work schedule."
Aryan: "This matter was actually led by the East African diplomatic embassy in the Far East. But as you know, there is no telegraph line connecting East Africa to the Far East, so the message is transmitted slowly. As a result, it is embarrassing that the message has not arrived yet. This is my work permit, which can prove what I said."
In fact, even without a work permit, the city government staff believed what Aryan said. A yellow man who spoke German so well, plus his East African-style work suit, all proved that he was an East African German.
East African Germans are unique in the world. Their main features are yellow and white. Someone like Aryan who wears a western suit is at least a teacher in East Africa.
All white people in East Africa know a concept, that is, there is a group of people among the yellow race who are the direct descendants of the royal family and have considerable power in the government and the military. They are mainly students from the Hexingen Military Academy. They have received an education that teaches them to be loyal to the emperor and patriotic, and are quite trusted by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince.
This has resulted in the yellow race having influence and real power from the central government to the grassroots. Although they are still somewhat inferior to pure Germans, they are far superior to Slavs, Italians, and Paraguayans...
On the surface, it appears to be a dual system like the Austro-Hungarian Empire, but in fact its core is completely different, because the East African Kingdom has achieved the German-Chinese unity similar to the Manchu-Hungarian unity advocated by the ruling nations in the Far East.
And it is even more thorough, with intermarriage among ethnic groups achieved, and the number of combined families accounts for the majority in East Africa. From the second generation of East Africans onwards, there is no so-called race theory. To put it bluntly, they are all a bunch of people.
If we look for the most similar example to East Africa in history, it would be the Hui people, who were formed by the fusion of the Mongols, Chinese and some descendants of Muslims in the Far East during the Yuan Dynasty.
The only difference is that one uses religious integration, and the other relies on German cultural identity to integrate. What is German culture? The first thing that comes to mind is the German language. When everyone speaks German, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, which was unable to unify its language, has been left far behind. In addition, in East Africa, everyone's living environment is basically the same, and gradually, they will form unified views on the world, life, and values.
Staff: "This is not something I can decide. I need to report it to my supervisor first. Please wait a moment."
Aryan: "Okay, but how long do you have to wait?"
Staff: “It will be ready soon.”
Half an hour later.
Dar es Salaam Immigration Department: "Mr. Aryan, we are from the Dar es Salaam Immigration Department. According to the instructions from above, please stay in Dar es Salaam for a few days. The central government will send someone to pick you up in three days."
Aryan: "That's no problem, but how should we solve the problem of food and accommodation?"
Immigration Bureau: "We have vacated some transitional dormitories for immigrants. You can live there for a short period of time. You can eat in the canteen. If you have any needs, you can also tell our people. We are professional."
Aryan: "Thank you for your help!"
Immigration Agency: "You're welcome. We receive tens of thousands of immigrants every year. These are minor issues."
So Aryan walked out of the Municipal Service Hall and began to explain the situation to Li Ge and others who were waiting outside.
Aryan: "...So, we will probably stay at the immigration point for a few days. I'm not sure what the situation is like there, but we have already contacted the central government. They will send someone to pick us up, which means they still value you very much."
Li Ge: "Mr. Aryan, I have a question that I really can't help but ask. Why didn't your country make arrangements for us in advance? Instead, we are in a state of confusion now?"
Aryan: "Our embassy is indeed partially responsible for this matter, but it was more of a procedural error. We also didn't expect your government to care so much about East Africa and take the initiative to send people to East Africa to provide assistance, so that Ambassador Richard had no response plan at the time."
At the beginning, the East African Kingdom only hoped that the Far East government could facilitate it and allow East Africa to collect prescriptions, learn medical technology, and recruit medical personnel in the Far East.
Unexpectedly, they were so generous that they took the initiative to organize an official medical team to go to East Africa for free medical treatment at their own expense. Ambassador Richard naturally couldn't let them wait too long. Where can you find such a good thing? What if they didn't go to East Africa because they were made to wait too long? You know, it takes at least half a month to convey the news to East Africa, so Richard made a prompt decision and let them go to sea.
Li Ge and others calmed down after hearing Aryan's explanation. Fortunately, it was a misunderstanding, otherwise he would really think that the Germans were deliberately neglecting the Celestial Empire!
Li Ge: "I see. We were mentally prepared before coming to East Africa and we are not too demanding about food and accommodation."
Aryan: "I'm glad you can understand!"
Afterwards, under the arrangement of the Immigration Bureau, the dock workers loaded everyone's luggage onto the hired carriage, and then everyone went to the immigration transition point.
Li Ge and others looked at the carriage they were riding in with curiosity. This kind of western-style carriage looked very strange and could not be seen in the Far East. However, it was quite comfortable to sit in and there was not much bumpiness. The experience was better than that of an oriental carriage, but a little worse than a sedan chair.
There were windows on the carriage through which one could see the scenery outside: houses, streets and pedestrians were all receding. Even though one had seen the street scenes of Dar es Salaam before, it was still somewhat novel, especially those "high" buildings with three or five floors, which were simple and solemn with various shapes. There were also poles (gas street lamps) that could be seen everywhere on the street. I didn't know what they were used for, but they were even equipped with glazed tiles and were square, somewhat like lanterns.
I don't know how long we had been driving when suddenly the carriage was stopped. It turned out that we had encountered a checkpoint again. Just like the one that blocked our group before, there were several East African policemen standing guard here with guns and live ammunition. However, there seemed to be no buildings ahead, just a road paved in the suburbs, and no one knew where it led to.
The city of Dar es Salaam seems to come to an abrupt end here. To the north, there is a prosperous scene, but to the south, all the buildings suddenly disappear and return to the wilderness.
"Brother Shiyan! Why are we suddenly in the wilderness? These Germans wouldn't..." said Ander.
"Don't think too much. If the Westerners really want to take action, they will not care about propriety, morality, integrity and shame. There are people stationed here, and there must be some important place ahead!" Li Ge comforted himself.
By this time, the police had already checked the immigration documents and said, "Let him go!"
The carriage began to move towards an unknown place, the suburbs of Dar es Salaam, which was deserted and covered with weeds and trees. The plants were very different from those in the Far East. After an unknown amount of time, the carriage stopped again.
Aryan came over and announced: "We are here!"
Li Ge and others got off the carriage and looked forward. They saw a large camp with rows of houses, all neatly arranged. It was completely different from the houses in Dar es Salaam.
If Li Ge and others looked at it, they would think that this place was just like the courtyard houses in the capital, arranged in an orderly manner, but more regular, and mostly in rows.
The immigration officer introduced: "This is the immigration transit point. Those houses are dormitories for immigrants. They can accommodate up to 2,000 people at a time. We have prepared dormitories for you in District 23, along with separate public bathrooms and toilets for your use. You can eat in the management cafeteria with our staff."
Afterwards, the immigration staff took Li Ge and his group to see their rooms.
"Each room here is for eight people, but considering that you are honored guests, four people will live in one room. You can choose the upper or lower bunk bed as you like. Although the environment is simple, it is very clean. We will send someone to help you clean every day."
This is considered a preferential treatment. In fact, the sanitation of the immigration transition point is generally taken care of by the immigrants themselves, and the Immigration Bureau is only responsible for regular inspections every day. However, Li Ge and others are VIPs, so the treatment is different.
"There are many mosquitoes in East Africa, so we will provide you with mosquito coils and mosquito nets, but the mosquito nets need to be arranged, so you can only use mosquito coils tonight. Each room is equipped with tables, chairs and benches. If you need to organize documents, you can use them."
"Also, the temperature may drop faster at night, so we have prepared clean mattresses for you. The logistics warehouse will deliver them to you soon. If you have any questions, you can ask me."
"No more!" Li Ge and others said.
This condition is much better than what I and others had imagined. According to some people in the Far East government, East Africa was almost described as a hell on earth. But now it seems that "hearing is false, seeing is believing, the ancients were not deceiving me!"
But the East African Kingdom now seems to be in much better shape than most places in the Far East. How shamelessly did they ask the imperial court for help!
Along the way, Li Ge and his companions discovered that East Africa was not only prosperous and bustling, but they did not see a single dilapidated place. The people lived and worked in peace and contentment, and there was no sign of the so-called epidemic. If that were the case, not only would nine out of ten houses be empty, but people would also be in a panic.
However, this also made Li Ge and Ander feel relieved. As the chief and deputy envoys of the aid group, the two were actually "scapegoats" pushed out by the Far East government, and were even promoted hastily.
The medical team led by the two was actually temporarily formed by folk doctors in the Zhili area who were kept in the dark. Unlike Li Ge and Ande, they could not get "insiders" from their colleagues and knew the "true face" of East Africa.
Although the East African Kingdom was a "barbaric country" founded by German warriors in the eyes of the Far East Government, the diplomats sent by the East African Kingdom to the Far East Government were at the ambassador level, which made it a special existence among Western countries. It was also the only Western country that "admired" the medical skills of the Celestial Empire, which greatly satisfied the vanity of the Far East Government, so reciprocity was necessary.
But if they really wanted to let big shots come to East Africa, they would be extremely reluctant. After all, even the British envoy said that Africa was a barren land where malaria was rampant. That was for sure. Who would go to East Africa to die?
Therefore, Li Ge and Ande, who were of low status and had no background, were arranged to be diplomatic envoys to the East African Kingdom. Having said that, in fact, Li Ge and Ande were not bad people themselves. Both of them were juren who were born in poor families in the north.
(End of this chapter)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com