While the Germans were slowly losing interest in the war in the Far East, another important event was what made the Germans enthusiastic. The end of the Berlin West Africa Conference, the sordid conference of the great powers to divide Africa, dragged the whole of Africa into an era of occupation and plunder. This also marked the beginning of the German Empire's formal intervention in Africa and the beginning of colonization. The three main regions of the German sphere of influence: German East Africa, German Cameroon, and German South-West Africa, add up to nearly 3 million square kilometers. The Germans were excited that the Germans finally had their own colony! And this represents the market, represents business opportunities, and represents wealth!

Historically, however, the Germans did not receive as much wealth from the colonies as they had hoped. Although Jochen is aware, these places are very rich in cropping and animal husbandry, and have a considerable amount of mineral resources. However, due to the obstruction of the old stubborn Bismarck, Germany's investment in these three colonies was pitiful, not only low, but also poorly managed, and the initial management of the colonies was almost all done by non-governmental organizations, and there were no official institutions. During Bismarck's reign, only 0.1% of Germany's total exports went to the colonies, while only 0.2% of imports came from the colonies, and by 1905, only 2% of Germany's total overseas investment went to the colonies, and even in 1910, the trade volume between Germany itself and the colonies accounted for only 1% of the total trade volume!

Moreover, due to the lack of government management and guidance, the colony developed slowly, and due to the unplanned and predatory nature of the colonial development, the population of the colony also rose slowly, and the population of the German colony was only equivalent to 20% of the native population. Even the colony population of the tiny Kingdom of Belgium was 29% higher than that of Germany, and the Germans were willing to colonize and develop a pitiful few, with only about 6,000 Germans living in the colony in 1905 and only 24,000 in 1914.

Of course, Jochen is not a good man, and in this day and age you sympathize with the plight of the colony? Everybody will come and touch your forehead to see if you have a fever. And for the sake of Germany's development, in this era of great colonization, you don't go to grab territory.

So Jochen, who returned home from vacation again, found his father and began to sell his own plans for the administration of the colony.

"Father, after the Berlin Conference on West Africa, our empire finally had its own colonies, but I don't find any plans for the administration and use of the areas we have acquired."

"Jochen, why do you suddenly care about overseas markets? Do you still want to sell your HK company's products there? People there can't afford to buy your products. Crown Prince Frederick joked.

"Father, I'm not kidding. The areas we have now acquired are all of great benefit to Germany. ”

"Your views are the opposite of those of Your Excellency the Prime Minister. He thinks these places are losing money. ”

"I know that His Excellency Bismarck said as early as 1881 that 'as long as I am chancellor, there will be no colonial policy in Germany.'" And I know it too. He believes that it costs money to develop these places. And in the event of a war, it will not be able to hold on. But what the prime minister can't see is the relationship between input and output. These places are indeed very backward and poor, so it does cost a lot of money to develop them, but there are inputs to have outputs, and these places have vast areas and good natural resources. There is a very good environment for the development of agriculture and planting. And I also studied a little bit of African geography in school. Although I am not very professional, I believe that these areas should also be quite rich in mineral resources. "Jochen has no scruples about nonsense, of course, whether it is agriculture, plantation or extraction. It will cost money to develop in that area, but if the government steps in to direct the flow of private capital to these areas, not only will there be abundant development funds, but the use of these funds will be more efficient under the guidance of the government. In this case, we can see the return faster. And more importantly, if the colonies were really useless, why did the British maintain their own colonial system that was 100 times larger than their homeland? And the old prime minister had always worried about French retaliation, and then kept working on the diplomatic field, but why couldn't he see the reason why the French relied on his colony 20 times the size of the mainland to recover quickly after we were taught a hard lesson in the Franco-Prussian War? ”

"It sounds reasonable, but you can't convince Congress." Crown Prince Frederick had always been at odds with Bismarck, and he was not angry when he saw his son criticizing Bismarck's short-sightedness. And his son's point of view is indeed very attractive, but this is not enough, so he started to think about taking the school exam.

"Father, that's what I thought. First of all, these areas are now ours anyway. So instead of letting the people go there spontaneously, it is very logical for the Reich to be administered in the official name, and we can say that it is necessary to maintain the ownership of the Reich, protect the safety of the Germans there, maintain social order, and exercise the right to manage the Reich. In this way, the framework is first put up in an official form. Secondly, send a professional expedition team to investigate the humanities, climate, geography, resources and other environments, since it is the control area of the empire, of course the empire must figure out what its control area is like. The information brought back by these missions will serve as a reference for how to develop and develop these areas. Thirdly, I think we in the royal family should take the lead accordingly, and when the old diehards see that we are investing in Africa and getting something in return, I believe they will be tempted. Fourthly, I don't think it's too harsh on the natives in these areas, because the development of the colonies requires people, a lot of people, and if we are too harsh on them, then they will rebel, and in the event of a war they will die, and those who die are the labor that can be used to build the colony. Even if they don't resist, they won't do their best to build and develop a colony for us. Fifth, regional development should be adapted to the regional environment, and it is obviously a waste of resources to let a good grain producing area produce other crops. And I think that although these places are poor, when we develop to a certain point, the purchasing power of the region will definitely rise, and some relatively cheap and simple industrial products in our country can obtain the market of this developed region. The main consumers of these items should be the locals who have some purchasing power. These locals buy our products to improve their standard of living, and the wealth in their hands is returned to us, creating a virtuous circle. And it is not in our interest to squeeze them dry all at once, because they don't have oil and water to be squeezed, so we have to make them have oil and water first, and then slowly and continuously squeeze them. And in this way, when we have a good living and working environment in our area, the population of the area will grow, and I think the local people in other areas who are too hard pressed will also want to try to enter our control area, and then we will have more labor. to develop our area faster. And I think that when the development of these regions is on the right track, it will bring food, textiles, minerals, population, and markets to the empire. And this qiē boils down to - wealth. Moreover, the British were in a completely laissez-faire manner in their colonies, where they only needed to provide raw materials and markets, and the rest of the British were left alone. But I believe that with German rigor and efficiency, when the whole colony is brought under the imperial system of administration. Our benefit-to-output ratio will be much higher than that of the British. ”

"Your idea is very good, but there is a problem that you have not recognized. There won't be much support for your plan in China. Crown Prince Frederick continued.

"I understand, father, that the Junkers landlord class will resist my plans. This is because the development of overseas colonies will bring two problems: first, the production of grain will be abundant, which will lead to a decrease in the price of agricultural products. This will obviously lead to a decrease in their income. Second, if the prices of agricultural products are lowered, the incomes of the workers will be depressed, and the bourgeoisie will develop rapidly. And this will obviously lead to a decline in their status. At the same time, the income and status of the guide zhì are damaged, and they will certainly not agree. And this is also the reason why His Excellency the Prime Minister firmly disagrees with the reduction of our country's grain import tariffs, because he is also an old Juncker. Jochen made no secret of his displeasure with Bismarck.

"Since you can see what the problem is, do you have any comments?" Instead of accusing his son of being rude to the Imperial Chancellor, Crown Prince Frederick went on to ask Jochen's opinion.

"First of all, the price of the Empire's grain imports must fall, and the Empire's current wheat production rate can only meet 74% of its needs. This not only leads to the deterioration of living standards, but also hinders the development of industry. Therefore, it is imperative to import large quantities of grain. Second, the government guided the Junkers to invest their own funds in industry, and the development of industry was rapid, so the profits generated were also high, so that some of the progressive and enlightened Junkers got out of the land and set foot in industry, on the one hand, they mobilized more money into the industrial field, and on the other hand, when industry brought them benefits, they would also rally closely around us. Thirdly, the old stubbornness who did not want to leave the land would allow them to absorb the land of the new Junkers who had left the land, and on the other hand, allow them to participate in the agricultural production of the colonies. Giving them the land of the colony and letting them invest their money in it, first, will speed up the development of the colony, and second, although the price of food has fallen, their output has increased, so they have not suffered economic losses, on the contrary, if a large area of the colony can really be used well, their income should be greatly increased. Third, when the colonies were able to produce large quantities of food, our dependence on imports became less. ”

"If that's the case, there will be a strong resistance at first, you have to think about it." Crown Prince Frederick said this, but there was a smile on his face, and it was clear that Jochen's words had moved him.

"Any new policy will touch the interests of some people, but as long as the new policy does bring benefits, then the vested interests of the new policy will support us. And some of the people who are touched by the interests will realize the benefits that the new policy can bring to them, and then they will come to us. And the old stubborns who don't repent at the end, I don't mind sweeping them all into the garbage. Anyone who stands in the way of the development of the empire is the enemy of the empire, and Germany is the Germany of the Hohenzollerns, not the Germany of the Junkers. Jochen made a categorical statement of rebellion that challenged the traditional powers of the Empire.

"Germany is the Germany of Hohenzollern." Crown Prince Frederick muttered that all his son's tirades did not have as much impact on him as this sentence. As for challenging imperial traditions? Crown Prince Frederick, who was deeply influenced by liberalism, was not interested in Prussia's Junker tradition, and this was the fundamental reason for his conflict with Bismarck. Although Frederick himself was open-minded, moderate and opposed Bismarck's iron-bloodedness, it did not mean that he was indecisive, and finally Crown Prince Frederick raised his head and said to his son: "This is a huge plan, it cannot be rushed, and every step must be done on the ground, and it will take time to minimize the impact on the country." But we do need to make the most of the moment. After all, we had just acquired the colony, and there would certainly be less resistance to proposing construction at this time than it would be to mention it later. Rest assured to go back to study, leave this qiē to your father to do. The old prime minister is indeed old. ”

Looking at his son, who had grown up and looked heroic, Frederick felt his son's ambition and fighting spirit. His own son always thinks from the perspective of Germany, and anyone who stands in his way to make Germany stronger will be kicked away by him as a stumbling block. Emperor Frederick felt this determination. But after all, he is still too young, although he has unparalleled talent and vision far beyond ordinary people, but he is too sharp. And youth is both his greatest advantage and his biggest disadvantage. Then, as a father, he may not be as amazing and brilliant as his son, but he paves the way for the development of the empire and clears the obstacles for his son. When you grow old one day, the foundation you have laid will become the best stage for geniuses to show their talents. One qiē for Germany, one qiē for Hohenzollern!

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