Chapter 301 Austrian Business Investigation Team
Evacuating Venice is definitely not possible. The move is too big. Ernst will not agree, and the Austro-Hungarian Empire will not agree. What East Africa is doing is to move to Venice, East Africa. The worker's job was also moved to East Africa.
In fact, a large number of Venetians went to East Africa to participate in the great cause of land reclamation, so the industry required by Nairobi was not huge, but it needed to be professional.
At the same time, Ernst's original purpose was to turn Venice into Austrian territory to avoid the possibility of it becoming a landlocked country in the future, rather than to force the remaining Venetians to oppose Austria's pursuit of autonomy and independence.
East Africa is not worried about Germany becoming landlocked, because most of Germany’s sea outlets are concentrated in the Baltic Sea. Britain and France are restricting Germany to East Africa. Firstly, they can block the German navy in the Baltic Sea; secondly, We could cut off the Strait of Gibraltar and let it go around the west coast of Africa, but the distance would be far.
The Austro-Hungarian Empire's access to East Africa mainly relied on the Suez Canal. Although there was a risk of being cut off, both the Austro-Hungarian Empire and East Africa had the ability to counterattack. Furthermore, the Suez Canal was related to the vast majority of countries and regions along the Mediterranean and Red Sea. interests, maintaining the smooth flow and safety of the Suez Canal is not a matter for East Africa alone.
……
Mombasa.
Mombasa was extremely lively today. A welcome ceremony held by the city hall was held at the pier. Many government officials, including East African Finance Minister Von der Leyen, also participated in the welcome ceremony.
A ship flying the flag of the Austro-Hungarian Empire was moored at the pier, and it was the Austrian business delegation that got off the ship.
Von der Leyen stepped forward and said: "Welcome to East Africa! I am the Minister of Finance of East Africa, Von der Leyen."
"Hello, Minister Von der Leyen! I am the head of the Austrian business delegation, Wall "Wolfgang."
As he spoke, Wolfgang looked at the environment of Mombasa. The first impression he gave was that it was neat and uniform, or dull and featureless, with no garbage or sewage on the streets. , the city looks relatively empty, mainly because the roads are relatively wide and the houses are not concentrated.
Seeing Wolfgang looking around, von der Leyen said: "Mr. Wolfgang, what is your first impression of Mombasa? If you have any questions, I can answer them."
Wolfgang: "Mombasa is quite good. I had imagined the sights of East Africa countless times before coming here, but Mombasa alone in front of me was beyond my expectation."
Von der Leyen: "Mombasa is almost a city that was demolished and rebuilt. We are committed to bringing German culture into Africa, so don't be polite in East Africa. It is almost the same as returning to your own home."
This point The Austrian business delegation all agreed. They are all Germans, so it was naturally very useful.
Wolfgang: “Minister von der Leyen, although Mombasa looks pretty good, why are your roads so wide and the buildings so far apart that they look so empty? Will this cause a huge waste? ”
Wolfgang has been to many places in Europe. In cities in many European countries, the roads are generally narrow, the flow of people is large, and the building construction is also exquisite. A utilization rate, in his view, Mombasa was built a bit too extravagantly.
Von der Leyen: “On the one hand, because East Africa is vast and sparsely populated, land resources are not very scarce. Secondly, East African cities pay more attention to the living environment. You see, although the buildings are relatively scattered, the green plants are also It is relatively rich. According to our East African parlance, this is called a garden city. It is also convenient to match the city's supporting facilities, such as drainage systems and reserved water pipes, street lights, warning signs and other spaces. Mumba Mombasa's current economic capacity is limited, so the relevant facilities are not perfect. However, we refer to the advantages of other cities and reserve enough space for the future development of Mombasa. As for the roads, which are relatively wide, pedestrians and goods on the streets must follow the traffic rules of walking on the right. It is well organized, so the transportation efficiency is also very good. It is definitely surplus at present, but when the population of Mombasa increases in the future, there will be no need to re-plan.”
Wolfgang believed von der Leyen’s explanation by three points, which at least shows that the East African government has a far-sighted vision, but he chose not to give the remaining seven points because currently no European city can live up to what von der Leyen said. level, so the difference is even further in East Africa. This is a huge administrative waste and is flashy.
Wolfgang said: "Although what you said makes sense, the population of East Africa is not large. How many years do you plan to make this city become what you said, thirty or forty years? Or even longer." Von der Leyen: "Currently, the population of Mombasa has reached 60,000, second only to Dar es Salaam. It only took us a short time for the Germans to open up this city. In just over three years, this is the result of expelling the local Zanzibar people. In other words, we have made Mombasa and other cities in line with Europe in terms of population by relying solely on immigration. Therefore, the future development of Mombasa must be "It's very promising."
Sixty thousand people are not many for this city, but now in 1870, the population of Berlin was only 7.8 million, while Vienna had about 700,000 people. Around five to six hundred thousand.
Of course, Dar es Salaam and Mombasa have special circumstances. They are the two largest transit ports in East Africa, so the scale of employment can support such a large population gathering. Just providing services to passing ships and sailors is a huge success. A large number of jobs have been created. Now after Nairobi's expansion is completed, it will become a "big" city with a population of over 50,000 or even 100,000.
The third largest city in East Africa is currently Mbeya, and the fourth is Mwanza. It will also fall to the fourth and fifth positions due to the sudden rise of Nairobi. This is the power of policy.
Although East African cities seem to be able to reach European levels, most of the existing urban populations in East Africa are at the township level, which are basically provincial capitals. Among the provincial capitals, Mombasa is the only one with a population of over 50,000.
After listening to von der Leyen’s words, Wolfgang also became interested in East Africa. He asked: “If you look at it this way, Mombasa’s development is still remarkable. After all, it started from a colonial city. It has become the modern German-style city it is today. It’s not a small achievement. I want to know what the urban population size is in East Africa now.”
Population, especially the urban population size, means labor and market. If East Africa is qualified for these two things, plus East Africa’s resources, only entrepreneurs need to invest.
Although the Austrian business expedition was entrusted by the royal family, they mainly came to make a fortune. That is to say, it was for the sake of His Majesty the Emperor that they traveled thousands of miles to East Africa for inspection.
Von der Leyen did not answer Wolfgang's question directly, but said: "At present, the population of East Africa is mainly concentrated in agriculture and rural areas, and the urban population is not prominent. But the northern industrial belt we are planning, namely Mombasa, The three cities of Nairobi and Kisumu are the industrial zone. The population of these three cities alone reaches about 100,000. Among them, Nairobi will have more experienced workers immigrating to East Africa due to the war in Venice. The urban population of Nairobi will exceed 100,000. One hundred thousand, in addition to the industrial belt along the outer edge, there are also many villages, and the population in the area is about 600,000."
Von der Leyen did not disclose the specific strength of the entire East Africa, only the general population. The size of Kenya's population was repeated to the delegation.
There is no need for von der Leyen to describe too much. Just the number of 600,000 makes many people feel itchy. The population of Greece today is only 1.45 million, and southern Kenya not only has a relatively sufficient population, but also There are abundant resources.
Von der Leyen continued: "In addition, we are planning a large-scale cotton planting base in the north. It is not ordinary cotton, but long-staple cotton. The quality may be slightly different from Egypt, but it will not be worse. There are too many. At the same time, there are large-scale farms in the north, and the agricultural foundation in southern Kenya is relatively good. Sorghum, wheat, corn, and millet are all grown, including coffee plantations in South Prussia Province where Nairobi is located.”
This is the agricultural foundation of the northern industrial belt, rich in raw materials, and Austrian businessmen can also rely on these products to invest in promising related industries.
Wolfgang: "East Africa does have its own advantages in this regard. After all, you have rich land resources and are located in the tropics, but I want to understand the local medical conditions separately."
Wolfgang said Speaking from the bottom of my heart, I have heard that the environment in Africa is harsh and there are many diseases. It is not a question of whether to invest or not, but a question of life.
Von der Leyen: "Mr. Wolfgang, you don't have to worry about this. We invest a lot in medical care in East Africa, and through health and environmental transformation, the population loss has been reduced to an extremely low level. In this regard, it can be said that it is far lower than other regions at the same latitude and very close to the European level. Look, I came to East Africa four years ago. Many of our government officials, including military officers, have stayed in East Africa. at least three years Time.”
Even if von der Leyen doesn’t say so, the living environment in East Africa is actually better than most areas at the same latitude. After all, most of East Africa is located in the tropical plateau zone, which is very livable. The vigorous propaganda and enforcement of hygiene in Upper East Africa, as well as the large-scale culling of mosquitoes, although due to the low level of science and technology, people except Ernst could not understand the principle, but they muddle-headedly reduced the probability of disease outbreaks in East Africa.
Not to mention that in the current era, Europe may not be able to do much about diseases. As far as Ernst knows, in his previous life, in 1872, during the World Expo held in Vienna, a large-scale cholera epidemic occurred, killing thousands of people. People die, and it's still Vienna.
The non-concentrated population distribution in East Africa, coupled with the effective surveillance system, also makes it impossible for the disease to spread on a large scale in East Africa. The Minister of Health in East Africa is a powerful person, and the existence of the top five people in the government knows that East Africa is in this regard. Attention is paid to the fact that there are many officials in East Africa who rely on the health, medical and disease prevention and control systems. The subsequent rollout of the telegraph system in East Africa will further enhance the possibility of blocking the spread of infectious diseases in East Africa.
(End of this chapter)