Chapter 332 Rice Seed
The East African government was very unhappy with the Boers' covert support of the Ndebele people. Many people, including the hawks led by Constantine, wanted to immediately launch an attack on the Transvaal Republic. .
However, Ernst stopped him.
Ernst: "We must severely punish the Boers' behavior, but now is not the time for us to take action. Just imagine, if we force too much and cause the Boers to defect to the British, then we will not be good. It’s over, so even if we want to attack the Boers, we must complete the battle and wipe out the Transvaal Republic with lightning speed, without giving them a chance to react.”
Ernst's considerations are historical. Historically, the Boers were unable to cope with the pressure from the Zulu Kingdom, so they took the initiative to seek refuge with the British, although the Zulu people had British support behind them.
Later, everyone knew the result. A large number of diamonds and gold mines were found in the area where the Boers lived. The Boers, as the owners of this place, definitely wanted to monopolize them.
But the British just wanted to get it for nothing, and the Boers were naturally dissatisfied, "Why are you so selfish!" So there was the second Boer War, which was ultimately a dispute over interests.
Although the Boers resisted the British, they knew how to choose when they encountered threats. Although the British were not like human kings, the extreme feudal autocratic countries in East Africa posed a more deadly threat to the Transvaal Republic. .
In the end, the East African Kingdom’s decision was to prepare for war first, and after everything was ready, suddenly accuse the Transvaal Republic at the end of the year, and then directly attack the Transvaal Republic without giving it time to react. Don't take out the personal and material evidence in East Africa's hands now, so as not to alert the enemy. It will be enough to have this excuse to declare war. Essentially, it is still a question of whether East Africa wants to or not.
So under the calculation of the East African government, they first transferred their troops to the Matabele Plateau, and secondly, they chose to turn a blind eye to the Boers' support for the Ndebele people, and continued to increase trade with the Boer Republic. , to paralyze the Boer ruling class, and at the same time increase the penetration and intelligence collection of the Boer Kingdom through trade and contact with the Germans among the Boers.
...
June is the rice harvest season near the Great Lakes Region. The rice harvesting time in the Great Lakes Region is not uniform, but it is mainly concentrated in the second half of the year from June to December.
At present, the Great Lakes region is an important rice planting area in East Africa. Its rice planting scale has exceeded that of the eastern coastal plain and has become the largest rice planting base in East Africa.
Like the coast, the Great Lakes region has abundant precipitation and sufficient heat. Unlike the coastal plains of East Africa, it has a high altitude and the temperature near the Great Lakes region is relatively cool. In Uganda, it may drop below ten degrees Celsius at night.
So the rice varieties grown near the Great Lakes region are different from the indica rice grown on the coastal plains of East Africa, but the japonica rice grown in East Asia. Compared with indica rice, japonica rice has the advantage of being more cold-resistant and suitable for planting in mid-to-high latitudes.
The choice of rice planting location in the Great Lakes region in East Africa may be unexpected. After carefully selecting from many regions in the Far East, we found the Far Northeastern northern rice variety that is most similar to the Great Lakes region in East Africa.
The climate of the Great Lakes Region is definitely different from that of the Far Northeast, but the summer temperatures in some areas of the Far Northeast are similar to those of the Great Lakes Region. The difference is that the Great Lakes Region has more abundant rain and the soil quality is also different.
However, rice is very sensitive to temperature, especially low temperature. The temperature on the East African Plateau is almost ten degrees Celsius lower than the East African coast. Therefore, the summer temperature at latitudes in the Far East is more similar to the Great Lakes area. In fact, Liaodong is also a good place, but there is no corresponding stronghold in East Africa in Liaodong. The Qing government also paid more attention to the Longxing land, so it chose to collect seeds in the north.
“Currently it seems that the best growing rice variety is from a place called Shanxi in the Far East. It is adapted to the environment of the Great Lakes region, especially in farmland with higher altitudes. The better. When I investigated rice cultivation in Western Great Lakes Province last year, I found that the overall rice production there was relatively high," Marcos, an East African rice researcher, told government officials in North Great Lakes Province.
Brzeszin, a senior official of the North Great Lakes Province, asked: "Mr. Marcos, that is to say, next year we should take the initiative to promote this kind of rice cultivation on a large scale in the province?"
Marcos: "Yes, if If you are pursuing higher yield and quality, what I mean is that you should keep more experimental fields of other varieties. Maybe with the development of technology in the future, you can make breakthroughs, especially in terms of pest control, you can find alternatives at any time. "
Brzeszin: "Then what do you think is the difference between the rice grown here and the coastal plains of East Africa?"
Marcos: "Because of the temperature, the rice grown here is different. The growing season is longer than that of the coastal plain, and the sunlight is about the same. However, the daily temperature difference here is larger. According to my previous observation experience in the Far East, the rice produced by this kind of rice has a fuller taste. However, the rice grown along the coast of East Africa is The long-grain rice in India is very different from the rice in the Great Lakes region. The taste of Indian rice varieties is definitely not bad, but it all depends on personal eating habits and preferences."
Brzeszin asked: "Can you be more specific?"
Marcos: "For example, pilaf is popular in the Middle East and India, while steamed rice is popular in the Far East. Both sides have different pursuits in food."
Brzeszin: "Then can I understand it this way, The rice from our Great Lakes region is more suitable for the Far East market, while the rice from the coastal provinces of East Africa is more suitable for the Middle East and Indian markets?"
Marcos: "That's probably the case, think about what Middle Easterners and Indians eat with their hands. As for food habits, long-grain rice is more suitable as it is not easy to stick to your hands. Rice produced from East Asian rice seeds has relatively more moisture after being cooked and has a soft and glutinous texture. However, it is very unfriendly to people who do not use tableware. And it’s even hotter.”
As a rare rice agriculture expert in East Africa, Marcos can be said to be only a second-hand expert. After all, Germany does not have relevant talents in this area.
Before East Africa hired him as a rice researcher, he was just an intern at the East African Tropical Agriculture Research Institute, and his research direction was not rice. He was a half-way monk.
Therefore, his ability is very limited. He can only observe the growth conditions of each rice variety, summarize his experience, and finally record the data for reference by the East African government.
The Kingdom of East Africa is a borrowing system and has no talents with the ability to research breeding and hybridization. Therefore, mature rice varieties from abroad are introduced and then planted in East Africa. Finally, they compare which ones have higher yields and which ones are of better quality. Then it will be promoted on a large scale in the region, which can be regarded as adapting to local conditions.
(End of this chapter)