Chapter 35 Cows and Horses
One month ago, April 22, 1866, Dar es Salaam Port.
Today the immigrants from the First Town and the colonial governor came to the port of Dar es Salaam to pick up the goods. Unlike in the past, more people were dispatched today.
"Old Qian, why did Mr. Kilman call us here today? They usually come to this place by themselves." asked an immigrant.
"How do I know? Just follow what the officer tells us, there is so much nonsense." Lao Qian said.
"Aren't I afraid? It's hard to have enough food in the first town. What if we are sent back to the Qing Dynasty again!"
"Stop thinking nonsense, Mr. Kilman wants us too. Grow crops for them, the land here is so barren , plus the natives are clumsy and can’t even farm. Mr. Kilman can’t farm by himself, right? So what are you afraid of?”
The two people were chatting, and they saw nothing in the distance. Several large ships appeared on the sea level.
"Look at this situation, they can't be new immigrants! We were brought here by that big ship last time."
Old Qian shook his head: "Who knows, the ship will arrive soon. You’ll know it soon.”
After a while, the Dutch merchant ship docked at the pier of Dar es Salaam Port. The Dutch opened the fence beside the ship, laid wooden planks, and an unloading channel several meters wide appeared.
The German governor began to direct the immigrants to board the ship to unload the goods. Following the leader's leadership, the immigrants boarded the familiar ship again, where the immigrants finally saw the goods this time.
"This is a horse, this is a cow!" The person who was talking to Lao Qian just now said in surprise.
"What am I saying? Such a good land should raise some livestock. The grass near the first town grows so well, these indigenous people don't know how to plant it or raise livestock. "
Old Qian said in disgust: "The more you say it, the more outrageous it is. Why do you still call it a beast? "
"It's all the same, it's all the same. I can't say anything nice. Isn't it uneducated? Haha..." He smiled awkwardly.
“Stop laughing, why don’t you come and help us drive the animals!”
……
After a busy day, we finally drove these cattle and horses off the boat. The immigrants from the first town began to drive the cattle and horses towards the first town.
The German commander seemed to have been prepared. He took a saddle and bridle from somewhere and put it on a horse.
As a veteran European cavalryman, Del finally found the feeling of riding on the battlefield this time.
He drove the horse imported from Russia to try out his skills in the open field. The horse was quite docile and carried Del for two laps on the flat ground.
In recent days, because Prussia is preparing for war, Prussian mules and horses have been controlled, and exports are even less possible.
So Ernst specially imported hundreds of horses from Russia. Horse farming is popular in Europe, so there are many horses in various countries. The Eastern European part of Russia is already rich in horses, and it also has Central Asia and There are vast grasslands in the Far East suitable for raising horses.
Ernst sent people to Russia to purchase horses, and then set off from the Baltic Sea and sent them to the East African colonies via Dutch merchant ships. He also pulled a group of cattle while passing through the Netherlands.
The Netherlands is a big country in animal husbandry. Animal husbandry is the primary agricultural industry, followed by flower cultivation.
Ernst currently has no way to improve the mechanization of the East African colonies. Currently, Europe is still using animal power. Steam agricultural machinery has some sales in the market, but steam agricultural machinery is expensive, large, and not very efficient.
So Ernst wanted to start some breeding industry in the colony to provide some animal power for the future. There are no domesticated large livestock in Africa. The animals in Africa are very wild, and the indigenous people make a living by hunting. There are animals everywhere. , are all sources of indigenous food. Although dangerous, sufficient resources make these tribes lack the consciousness to improve productivity.
......
The immigrants drove their cattle and horses back to the first town. So many animals successfully attracted the attention of the people in the town.
The chief of security began to order the immigrants to build horse pens and cattle pens, and at the same time found some experienced immigrants to be responsible for breeding. The site of the breeding plant is five or six miles away from the town, between the first town and the third town.
There is a grassland here, where immigrants set up camp and used wooden fences to drive cattle and horses in.
"They are all good cows! In the past, only landlords could raise the cows in my hometown to be so strong."
"This horse is not bad, I have seen horses ridden by high officials in my life. , there is a fat official sitting on it, and his soldiers are running behind him.”
"You're talking about the imperial court beating long-haired ones, right?"
"Yes, that's what those soldiers said. Before leaving, they robbed a few cows from the landowner's house in our village, Wang, saying they were requisitioned by the imperial court. They are more ruthless than bandits. Landlord Wang’s servants can still guard the village. There is a bandit near us. His name is King Ermazi. He usually doesn’t dare to go to Mr. Wang’s village. But when the soldiers from the imperial court came, his servants didn’t even dare to fart. They usually bullied us common people.”
“ Bah, they are not good things. Dog bites dog, a hairy mouth, such a beast Why didn’t God just accept it? It’s so blind.”
“Well, fortunately, the year before last, Mr. Yang came to recruit workers. At that time, there was no way to survive, so he thought of finding a way to make a living, so he got on the ship. I couldn’t even imagine today’s days!”
“Who said that? No! My family also suffered a disaster. Both of my brothers starved to death. I was lucky enough to survive until Mr. Kilman came. Now my life is better without those dog officials and landlord bastards. Mr. Kilman always keeps his word, and he really makes a living!”
"I would say that the Qing Dynasty deserves to be destroyed. I have long heard from the village scholars that the imperial court cannot defeat the foreigners and cedes land every year to pay compensation. These grandsons do not regard us as human beings. Someone will take care of them."
"Alas. , it’s hard to say, those foreigners, what kind of British and French chickens have arrived in our land? Come on, don't you still enjoy the good life? Why don't you pay the compensation to us! I heard that once the South loses the war, there will be several tax increases. What's the name of war repayment? It's like a dog, it hurts people. Wow!”
“This means that we are no longer living in the Qing Dynasty. We don’t have those black-hearted masters anymore. They say foreigners are scary. This Mr. Kilman is usually a bit cruel, but he has a cleaner heart than those black-hearted officials of the Qing Dynasty.”
“Oh, say that. Everything about Feika (Africa) is good, the food is good, the clothes are good, but there are too few wives. , those natives are too black to look at, and many of us singles don’t know if we can find a wife in this life.”
“You just think about it all day long, and you can’t even eat in the Qing Dynasty. , which woman would like you to live a miserable life with you?”
"Aren't I thinking about important things in life? Think about it. In a few years, when we become prosperous and we can return to the Qing Dynasty, won't we be able to find a wife? If we come back then, the whole family will have a litter here. Baby."
"That's impossible! Can Mr. Kilman let us go back?"
"You don't understand this! You know there is someone from Kilman. Manlai's chief, he is also a Chinese among us, and his foreign name is Pierre. Si Li, can talk to people,"
"He said that he was a graduate of the Heixingen Military Academy. The land we have here belongs to the Heixingen principal. This principal must not Yes, in the Qing Dynasty, he is a relative of the emperor's family."
"I have also heard that Chief Pierce Lee was spotted by Mr. Kilman at a young age and went to study in Kilman. So you can come to us as an official.”
"That's what Chief Pierce Lee said. We are all consultant workers of Hechingen Company, that is, long-term workers. After working for twenty years, you can choose your life. When the time is up, you can stay in Feika or return to the Qing Dynasty. You choose it yourself, and Chief Pierce Lee also said that the few pieces of paper issued to us every month should not be lost. They are Kilman silver coins issued to us, which can be exchanged for money at the Qing bank. "
“How many pieces of paper can be exchanged for money?”
“You don’t understand this! This is the money used by the foreign masters. It can be exchanged for silver in the Qing Dynasty. If the Qing Dynasty does not recognize the foreign masters But I want to beat up those masters. A few years ago, I heard that the soldiers from England and France invaded the Forbidden City and sat on the throne. They even burned down the emperor’s garden, which was called the Old Summer Palace. In the end, the Queen Mother and the Emperor even paid compensation. A sum of money for the foreign master."
"If that's the case, I have to keep those pieces of paper. Mr. Kilman sent them to me before, and there was a foreigner's face printed on them. I thought. I dare not throw away something important. I didn’t expect it to be money, but I have to put it away and use it to marry a wife later. "Old man Wang, you are already forty and still want to marry a wife?" How will you look after this year?”
"What's wrong with marrying a wife? I've never tasted being single all my life! When you get old, find an old wife. As long as you have money, you can't find anything."
"That's right..."
The immigrants chatted about the past, present and future, with their eyes full of hope for a happy life.
(End of this chapter)