African Entrepreneurship Record

Chapter 436: Chapter 113 Military Industry Promotion

Far East.

Richard, who received orders from the mainland, quickly met with the high officials of the Far East government to begin promoting the weapon production line.

Richard directly approached Li Hongzhang, the then Grand Secretary of the Far East and Governor of Zhili, and said frankly, ”Mr. Li, just tell me whether you want it or not!”

Li Hongzhang, not unfamiliar with military affairs, was quite knowledgeable about Western matters. He examined the Dreyse rifle sample Richard brought and said, ”The workmanship is indeed exquisite. However, Ambassador Richard, if I remember correctly, this type of Dreyse rifle did not perform very well in the war between Prussia and France, so...”

Are you being picky! Richard felt somewhat displeased, so he said, ”You are right, the Dreyse rifle’s performance is not perfect, but for the present, especially in the Far East, it is sufficient. Moreover, as far as I know, your top military enterprises are still producing extremely outdated muzzle-loading rifles. Our Dreyse rifle production line is more advanced than those rifles. This was proven a few years ago in the Austro-Italian War. Just take the 1853 Enfield rifle produced by the Jinling Manufacturing Bureau, which is completely a product of a bygone era.”

”Ambassador Richard, while that reasoning is sound, currently we do not have a demand for such, or let’s say we do not have a new procurement plan.”

Li Hongzhang had seen many foreigners trying to sell weapons to the Qing Country, and generally speaking, foreigners were not very trustworthy in their words. Furthermore, the court truly had no money.

Richard did not rush; he said, ”Mr. Li, don’t rush to make a conclusion on this matter. Once you know their price, I believe you will like it. The entire Dreyse rifle production line only costs 110,000 taels of silver. This price is definitely value for money. This is not ordinary arms but a munition production line. I can tell you that once you acquire this production line, it can completely meet the needs of your army.”

The price is indeed not expensive. This production line, at full capacity, could almost meet all the needs of the Far East. After all, the military scale of East Africa was maintained at around 200,000 before the disarmament, and there were also 700,000 militia and police, all using the Dreyse rifles produced by East Africa. At this time, the standing forces in the Far East were merely maintained at around 800,000, so actually, East Africa had more.

Of course, militia and police in East Africa definitely could not be counted as standing armed forces, but their combat power should not be underestimated. In suppressing natives, they are the absolute main force of East Africa. With such a large indigenous population and a vast country area, it is necessary to maintain such a large military force.

Richard’s words indeed startled Li Hongzhang a bit. He asked, ”Does your country truly only ask for 110,000 taels?”

It’s worth knowing that the Jinling Manufacturing Bureau, as the largest current military factory in the Far East, has an annual budget of around just 100,000 taels, but its production capacity is extremely limited.

Richard: ”Naturally so, and although this production line was used by East Africa, we have only owned it for a few years. You can still use it for a long time, definitely value for money.”

Li Hongzhang thought for a moment and asked, ”Although this is the case, we do not need so many production lines, can your country offer them at a cheaper price if we buy fewer?”

Richard shook his head and said, ”That’s not feasible; this is a one-time trade. Either we sell it all, or we don’t sell anything. Moreover, this business is a loss-making deal. We East Africa just earn a bit of shipping cost, so the price cannot be reduced anymore.”

Indeed, it is a loss-making business. When Ernst purchased this production line, he spent a lot of money, and they had to be shipped from Europe to East Africa, now again from East Africa to the Far East.

Nonetheless, all of this is necessary. Ernst particularly emphasizes the development of East Africa’s military power, and some things have to be done even at a loss. When the Dreyse rifle became outdated, replacing it was inevitable, even if it hadn’t been in service for long in the East African Kingdom.

Of course, this time Ernst only plans to sell about 60% of it because once the Dreyse weapon production line is integrated, it can still be used to produce Mauser rifles. Initially, the Mauser Brothers upgraded the Mauser rifle based on the Dreyse rifle, so there is no problem producing Mauser rifles after modification, though many parts need to be reproduced.

After hearing Richard say so, Li Hongzhang had to give up. What he said was true; with such a low price, some demands are inevitable.

Nevertheless, he still needed to confirm whether the East African Kingdom wasn’t mocking them, as the Far East Army was considered the world’s nominally largest continental army. Can you, a small German colony, truly have the capacity to meet the needs of the Far East army? Such bold words indeed.

So Li Hongzhang tentatively asked, ”Does your country really have the ability to provide so many machines and equipment? If it’s Prussia or Austria, there should be no problem, given their army sizes are indeed huge. As for East Africa...”

With the increasing exchanges between the Far East and East Africa, the Far East actually formed a more ”profound” understanding of East Africa, viewing it like a colony akin to India.

Initially, the East African Kingdom indeed intimidated the Far East, as East Africa played the German card, impersonating Prussia and Austria-Hungary, presenting itself as if it were a representative of both countries. These two countries did not lose against Britain, France, or Russia.

In fact, it was indeed like that at the time. Heixinggen Principality was really a part of Prussia! At that time, East Africa was still a territory of the Heixinggen royal family, so it made sense East Africa claimed to be Prussian. When it became independent, East Africa no longer casually mentioned Prussia or Austria-Hungary; instead, it gradually referred more to East Africa or the general concept of German.

Why German seems general is because it’s too broad. Germany can call itself German, Austria can say so, even Luxembourg and Liechtenstein too, and naturally East Africa can say it too. You can say these countries are Germanic countries!

Of course, East Africa culturally belongs to German, while racially, it is quite mixed. Yet it does not prevent East Africa from self-identifying as a German country.

Perhaps some people in Germany, like Adolf, those extreme nationalists, if they knew the national condition of East Africa and how the East African Kingdom was composed, might not fully recognize the German identity of the East African Kingdom’s citizens.

That wouldn’t change anything; East Africa insists they are German, hence they are German. At least officially, both Germany and Austria have to recognize it. Disregarding the Heixinggen royal family’s factor, both countries must seek East Africa for their interests.

Richard said, ”Haha, rest assured on that matter. Whether we East Africa have the capacity, you could actually directly ask your country’s ambassador in East Africa, Mr. Li Ge. The Far East has a saying, ’seeing a part of the leopard gives a view of the whole picture.’ Mr. Li Ge should serve as that observer.”

Li Ge! If Richard hadn’t mentioned it, Li Hongzhang had almost forgotten that the Great Qing still had such a figure in East Africa. Originally sent to supervise the East African Aid Corps, Li Ge never returned, but instead, a letter came from that East African King Constantine recommending Li Ge as the Far East’s ambassador to East Africa. At that time, the Far East government grudgingly acknowledged it, since they had never faced such a situation before; besides, Constantine, however much he was a foreign king, and Li Ge was merely a scholar, a preparatory official, not even considered one of their own, and nobody was willing to go to East Africa to inquire about the situation, risking being detained like Li Ge!

Actually, Li Hongzhang’s doubt was entirely reasonable; East Africa could not possibly broadcast worldwide that it actually had an army of a million troops. Apart from Cape Town and Mozambique who knew at least tens of thousands in East Africa, other countries including Germany regarded East Africa as a typical colony, even considered quite ordinary among colonial nations.