Chapter 405 Behind the Canal
October 4, 1872.
King Constantine visited Third Town to inspect the canal project. Third Town, as the capital of the East African region (Upper Coastal District) during the former colonial period, relied on its first-mover advantage and was still the capital of the Maritime Province. The second largest city after Tanga City, the provincial capital and seaport city.
As the Ndebele people were escorted to the Central Province by East Africa as a whole, the excavation work of the Central Canal also started for a period of time. Among them, the No. 1 Canal, which connects the Little Rhine River and the lower reaches of the Wami River, has the fastest progress. .
Canal No. 1 starts in the third town (Kitunga), less than eight kilometers away from the first town, and ends at Mwomero village on the Wami River.
Since the adjustment of the administrative divisions of East Africa, the gap between the Third Town, a city that was once at the same level as the First Town, has rapidly widened, and it is very likely that it will become a part of the First Town like the Second Town (Rufu) in the future.
The same is true for the development direction of the first town and city, focusing on the west and north, choosing to develop in a staggered direction with Dar es Salaam and Bagamoyo.
“The total length of Canal No. 1 is 44 kilometers, the river channel is 20 meters wide and 6 meters deep. More than 5 million cubic meters of earth and stone need to be cleared, and the total number of workers is 50,000. According to the current construction progress, it should It can be completed within six months,” the person in charge of Canal No. 1 told Constantine.
Constantine had no idea about these numbers, but he knew that it took ten years to build the Suez Canal, so he asked: "The canal in East Africa was constructed in three sections at the same time. At that time, you said that the length of the central canal after completion was It is comparable to the Suez Canal, but as far as I know, the Suez Canal took ten years to build, why does our canal only take a few months?"
The engineer replied: "Your Majesty, the Central Canal is just The length is comparable to the Suez Canal, but Other data are too different. Take the width as an example. Our canal width is designed to be 20 meters, while the width of the Suez Canal is more than 200 meters, ten times that of ours. At the same time, the depth of the Suez Canal is also central. canal is more than twice the size of the canal, so the Suez The total amount of earth and rock that needs to be cleared in the river is at least twenty times that of ours, and this is only the data for Canal No. 1. Like Canal No. 2 and Canal No. 3, some concessions must be made due to the topography. The width and depth cannot be reached. to this standard.”
It turned out to be like this, but Constantine still thought that the construction speed was too fast. He asked: "Will such high-intensity work make the laborers unbearable?"
"Your Majesty, our team has fully calculated Yes, each worker needs to clean at least five cubic meters of earth and stone every day. Cleaning work is not difficult for workers who are proficient in using shovels and hoes to dig soil. Some strong laborers can even complete ten cubic meters of cleaning in one day. Fifty thousand people can complete at least 250,000 cubic meters in one day. Quantities.”
Cons Tandin: "Won't they suffer from injuries? I heard that many people died during the excavation of the Suez Canal."
"Your Majesty, if you have a detailed understanding of the excavation work of the Suez Canal, you will know The reason.
The construction of the Suez Canal. They do not treat Egyptian laborers as human beings at all, but as disposable consumables. The Suez Canal passes through the desert area. Not only is it unbearably hot, but it is also extremely short of water. A large number of workers are dying of thirst every day. This is very important to us. It is unimaginable.
Drinking water is not provided, and the dietary conditions are predictably worse. The amount of food provided by the Suez Canal Company to workers every day is not enough to satisfy children's hunger. The workers are hungry for a long time and perform high-intensity work. If under such conditions It is strange that people did not die when building the Suez Canal. Egypt sacrificed 120,000 lives to build the Suez Canal, with an average of 783 deaths per kilometer. "
Constantine: "Then what are our conditions in this regard? ”
Although the canal project was the idea proposed by Constantine, the specific operations were carried out by Ernst, so Constantine did not know much about the specific conditions of the canal.
“We have drinking water. It is sufficient, and at the same time, alum will be used to carry out simple purification of drinking water in advance.
We have also done a good job in terms of diet. We distribute food according to the contribution rate. Even the indigenous people with the lowest contribution rate can get the amount of food they need for a day. ”
As they spoke, the engineering staff took Constantine to see the canteen at the construction site. The canteen was divided into two parts, one was the dining area for East African nationals (mainly supervisors), and the other was the dining area for indigenous workers.
The supervisor's canteen has no special features. It is basically the same as the public canteens in East Africa, except that the construction conditions are much worse. After all, it is a temporary construction site. The indigenous canteen is very novel. Forget about tables, chairs and benches, it is just a huge place. You can find a place wherever you want when eating.
“What’s boiling in this pot?” Constantine asked, pointing to the mushy stuff in the pot.
Cook: “Tapioca fried rice.”
"Fried rice!" If he hadn't said it, Constantine would have thought it was porridge or something like that, but it smelled pretty good.
Constantine: "How do you fry these things so fragrantly?"
Cook: "Your Majesty, the main thing is to add a lot of oil after the pot is hot, and at the same time add A little spice is used to give the base flavor, and soaked cassava is poured in, and finally salt is added. "I see! But it's a bit too much." Constantine felt a little distressed. It was all money. !
The engineer on the side said: "The food for the indigenous workers should not be too bad. This is what His Highness Ernst specially told. He specifically asked to use large amounts of salt and oil to make the indigenous workers stronger, because These workers will be sold to other countries in the future.”
"That's good, make the best use of everything, and it's not incomprehensible to eat better." Constantine's face changed instantly. The pigs have to be fattened before being sold, so the cost of feed is unavoidable.
“They only eat this kind of thing every day?”
“Your Majesty, of course not, there are also corn, soybeans, etc. on rotation, and occasionally vegetable and fish soup is provided on weekends.”< br>
The food of some indigenous workers in East Africa is not very bad, and their living standards are even much better than that of most countries in the world. As for the indigenous workers who dug the Central Canal, their quality of life far exceeds that of Japanese civilians. As for East African citizens, although their income is not high, their quality of life is comparable to that of the United Kingdom and the United States.
In fact, the quality of life of the colonists in the colonies is not too bad. Take Mozambique next door as an example. The Portuguese will definitely not worry about food, clothing, housing and transportation. They mainly want to make more money and then return For local consumption, although the East African Kingdom has become an independent country, it has too many black people and is essentially a semi-colonial country. The citizens of the East African Kingdom also suck the blood of the indigenous people.
Under such conditions, the reason why East Africa's economy has not improved is mainly because East Africa has made relatively large amounts of long-term investment, with inputs higher than output, and it will take more than ten years for the results to be reflected.
The Central Canal is a typical example. There are not many ships on the entire Little Rhine, and the inland shipping in East Africa is basically zero. The natural river channels have not been effectively used. After the Central Canal is developed, it will be idle for at least a few years, and it will be more profitable. It is necessary to consider at least ten years later.
Fortunately, indigenous workers do not need to consider wages, as long as they maintain their basic survival needs, and this part is borne by the East African government. Although there is no agricultural tax in East Africa, food output is completely distributed by the state, and The arable land resources in East Africa are higher than those in most countries. This means that even when the level of productivity is relatively low, East Africa's food production is still considerable, and the government only needs to devote part of it to meet the needs of indigenous labor. After excluding the needs of East African citizens and the basic needs of indigenous labor, the remaining food can still be exported in large quantities.
At present, there is serious overcapacity in international grain production, and when exports may be blocked, it is impossible for the East African Kingdom to continue to provide higher distribution standards to its citizens. That would easily support lazy people and is not conducive to the functioning of society.
So there will be more and more projects like the Central Canal in the future. Instead of letting food rot in warehouses, it is better to use it to implement various major projects and major infrastructure. This is not easy to achieve in other countries because of the market In the economy, the bottom at least enjoys certain negotiation rights, but they just don’t have much leverage.
Absolute monarchies in East Africa, which are even more extreme than Prussia, do not need to be considered at all. As long as they maintain the size of their army and rule the natives with high pressure at any time, East Africa will have an endless supply of free labor for more than ten years.
(End of this chapter)