African Entrepreneurship Record

Chapter 230: Chapter 218

”Your Excellency, Grand Duke Ferdinand!”

A row of young Austrian Navy officers stood straight in front of Ferdinand, who looked at the ”young talents” before him with satisfaction.

”Your Excellency, this is the East Africa Advisory Group formed by the Imperial Navy. In the future, they will serve under your command!” Blair introduced Ferdinand.

Ferdinand nodded affirmatively: ”Alright, once in East Africa, focus on your work. Even if you’re unhappy about coming to East Africa, keep in mind that although conditions here may be a little challenging, under the leadership of a former Imperial Navy Commander like myself, you won’t be wasting your talents. Consider East Africa as your home from now on.”

In just a few words, Ferdinand and Blair had established a role for these men. Ferdinand was well aware that some of them might be troublemakers or come from less reputable backgrounds, as the Austro-Hungarian Empire’s system made it difficult for commoners to stand out.

However, this only proved that these guys had real talent. East Africa lacked talent in every field, and Ferdinand would use them regardless.

With this group in hand, the 800 sailors in East Africa now had true leaders. Ferdinand couldn’t personally handle everything.

Though few in number, they could impart the knowledge and share some experiences of the Austro-Hungarian Navy with those sailors from inland troops, which was the most valuable asset.

...

January 7, 1870.

Central District, First Town, Qivite Palace.

”Your Majesty, Mozambique has sent a delegation expressing their desire to collaborate with us! They’ve already arrived at the port of Dar es Salaam.”

Von der Leyen, holding a telegram sent from Dar es Salaam, reported to Prince Constantine at the Qivite Palace.

”Collaboration! What does Portugal want to do?”

”After some probing, our people found out that they are likely intending to join forces with us to divide the Kingdom of Malawi.”

”Oh, that’s quite unexpected. I thought they were coming to protest our actions in the Kingdom of Kazembe.”

Prince Constantine took the telegram and began to read it with interest.

”Your Majesty, why would the Mozambique colony want to discuss this matter with us? With their strength, they should be able to deal with the natives on their own.” Von der Leyen asked.

”It’s simple. They can’t swallow the entire Kingdom of Malawi by themselves, so they need an external country to help them share the burden.” Constantine said after setting down the telegram.

”They’ve probably had their eye on the Kingdom of Malawi for a long time, but due to strong resistance from the local population, they’ve never succeeded. Before I came, the Kingdom of Malawi had already been mostly disintegrated and divided by the Portuguese. The central government was nearly non-existent, yet none of the tribes below seemed to let them swallow completely.”

”Your Majesty, what should we do? Should we let them come to First Town to discuss?”

”Let the city government of Dar es Salaam negotiate with them. There’s no need for them to enter the interior, as this could reveal some intelligence. Let’s agree to collaborate for now. It’s a good opportunity for us to occupy some strategically critical regions and consolidate the land we’ve gradually taken from the Kingdom of Malawi over the years.”

”But I feel this might be too favorable for the Portuguese, Your Majesty. We won’t actually seize much land; instead, we might be inadvertently handing the southern part of the Kingdom of Malawi to them.”

”Currently, we are engaged in a war against the Gledi Sultanate, and also deploying forces in the southwest, which consumes a lot of manpower. That’s why we don’t have the resources to open another front. Let the Portuguese take their chance with the Kingdom of Malawi. Whether they can manage it will depend on their own luck. Over the years, the Portuguese haven’t had much success with the Kingdom of Malawi, so it’s uncertain if they’ll succeed now. Meanwhile, we should focus on our own affairs.”

”Your Majesty, I understand, but in my opinion, sooner or later, we will have a confrontation with the Portuguese. There’s no need to aggressively compete while there are still empty areas in Africa, but when these areas’ interests are fully divided, the situation could be different.”

”I’m well aware of that. For now, it’s best to stabilize relations with Portugal. As long as we maintain our current pace of development, facing the entire Portuguese Kingdom in the future won’t be a problem.”

At this time, the native population of Portugal was just over 4 million, but Portugal was a traditional naval power with a considerable presence in the Indian Ocean.

The population of East Africa is actually comparable to Sweden, the Netherlands, Portugal, Belgium, Switzerland, and Greece.

But, as always, East Africa’s history is too short, and its accumulation is insufficient, although it does fare better than Greece, which is barely scraping by through borrowing.

”Your Majesty, there’s one more matter I must discuss with you. If not addressed, it could hinder East Africa’s development.”

”What is it?”

”During last year’s census, the lower government reported to us that East Africa might experience a baby boom this year, which will be a huge challenge for us.”

”A baby boom? Wasn’t 200,000 newborns last year numerous enough? Could this year surpass that?”

”Your Majesty, I was shocked by this as well, but upon reflection, it’s indeed true. Immigrants arriving in East Africa include already established families, and those single immigrants have gradually gotten married over the years. Through our efforts, the number of families established in East Africa has surpassed a million, coupled with increasing stability in East Africa, the populace’s desire to reproduce is strong. Some families have even started having second and third children, so this year’s birth rate might be astonishing.”

Prince Constantine fell into contemplation, then looked at Von der Leyen and asked: ”Will there be fourth, fifth children...”

Von der Leyen nodded: ”At least conservatively estimated to be five children. If nothing unexpected happens, it wouldn’t be uncommon for some families to have more than ten!”

The East African immigrant cohort mainly consists of farmers from various countries, with a very young demographic structure. Combined with East Africa’s unique land and distribution system, the birth rate indeed is astonishing.

Also, East Africans don’t go out at night; they have little nightlife, so they’re mostly at home making babies, naturally resulting in high birth rates.

Currently, the population of 2.5 million might expand to over 10 million in 20 years, or even more. Just thinking about this, Prince Constantine instantly felt that Ernst’s immigration policy was too aggressive.

It’s not that East Africa can’t support so many people, but too many newborns appearing in such a short time will definitely create manpower shortages and food pressure. After all, taking care of infants is very labor-intensive, and since they’re born clustered together, it’s like suddenly having tens of thousands of new mouths, and by East African tradition, they take at least 14 years before they can support themselves.

”Regarding this matter, first clarify the situations in various regions and report all data to me. I will discuss this issue with Ernst.”

”Yes, Your Majesty.” Von der Leyen answered.