Chapter 73: Today and the Future

In the history of the United Kingdom, there is a cruise ship called "Great Eastern", which is different from the wooden-hulled steam engine sailing passenger ship at that time, the Great Eastern is designed as an iron-hulled ship propelled by propellers and sails, and this large ship, known as the "floating city on the sea", can carry 4,000 passengers and 6,000 tons of cargo, which is beyond the limit of human shipbuilding engineering at that time.

However, compared to its engineering grandeur, it is a commercial failure, and it can even be said that its failure is enough to set a warning bell for any engineer.

"Engineering limits can be reached, but don't try to exceed them."

However, engineers are the most stubborn group of people, they never believe in engineering limits, they are always in the process of constantly challenging engineering limits, establishing new engineering limits, and this is the embodiment of their ability

Before the First World War, when Britain and Germany were caught in an arms race at sea, the competition inevitably extended to the entire shipbuilding sector, especially the cruise industry, which was a symbol of national strength.

At that time, there were two huge shipping companies in the United Kingdom, White Star and Canard, and two equally large companies in Germany, North Deutsche Lloyd's and Hamburg-Americas. Just as the British White Star values comfort and Canard values speed, so does the distinction between Hamburg-America and North Deutsche Lloyd, with Hamburg-America placing more emphasis on the size of its ships and the comfort of its passengers.

In order to compete with the British Mauritania-class mail ships and the Olympic-class mail ships, Germany actually proposed the engineering construction of three super mail ships, they are 280 meters long and weigh 52,000 tons, far exceeding the British Mauritania class and the Olympic class.

While Britain and Germany are competing in warships and shipping, another ocean on the planet is silent, and because of the Sino-US naval agreement, China has slowed down the expansion of its navy and even stopped the construction of capital ships, but this does not mean that China, which has just gone to the sea, will abandon the sea.

Another maritime industry - the shipping industry, also entered China's field of vision, when the national strength can not be expressed through warships, through the maritime industry is also the choice to show the national strength, with government funding, in fact, the government enterprise Pacific company also began a large-scale expansion, and unlike the British and German companies, China pays more attention to tonnage and passenger capacity, in just five years, as many as six giant cruise ships entered the company. And the "New Oriental" with a displacement of 42,000 tons is one of them.

For the outside world, the "New Oriental" with a speed of up to 30 knots is the glory of China's shipbuilding industry after the "Zhiyuan Ship". In fact, to a certain extent, the "New Oriental" is also a test ship of the Navy, and the Navy tests new engine technology and new welding technology on cruise ships.

On the other hand, cruise ships can be requisitioned in wartime as auxiliary cruisers or troop carriers and medical ships, while the "New Oriental" was first requisitioned as a troop carrier and then as a medical ship to transport wounded soldiers in the first time after the outbreak of war, which is why Chinese cruise ships emphasize the number of passengers.

"God knows!"

On the side of the "New Oriental" hospital ship, Wang Ze, who had a triangular scarf hanging from his neck and gauze wrapped around his arm, muttered dissatisfiedly on his lips, although the ship had arrived in Dar es Salaam, his face was still full of dissatisfaction. …,

First, his hand was not broken, second, his leg was not broken, third, his torso was not shot, and fourth...... Anyway, he was not seriously wounded, but he was shot in the arm, and according to common sense, a lightly wounded person like him would stay in a field hospital for a week at most, and when the wound healed, he would return to the unit and continue to fight.

But what he didn't expect was that when he was simply bandaged in the field hospital, the doctor gave him a brand, he had a "boarding card", at that time he didn't know what the "boarding card" was, otherwise he would have returned to the army as soon as the wound was treated, but by the time he knew, the person had already arrived at the port, and then got on the hospital ship, at first, he thought that it was because the conditions of the hospital ship were better, and he originally wanted to sleep in a comfortable bed for two days before returning to the army, when he reacted, The hospital ship is heading towards the port of Dar es Salaam, where they are to be treated at the branch hospital in Dar es Salaam.

With such a little injury, it even has to reach Es Salaam!

Despite the dissatisfaction, the ship has left the port, and no amount of dissatisfaction can only turn into helplessness in the end, with this cruise ship that once excited the Chinese people to "Chinese East Africa", the new colony of China.

"Palm trees, blacks, snowy mountains, pastures, farms...... This is our Chinese colony! ”

When the huge "New Oriental" sailed into the harbor, the soldiers crowded on the deck looked at this colony with longing eyes, this is the first colony of China, and the colony is a symbol of a great power and a strong country to a certain extent in this era, which means that a country will go from its homeland to overseas and become a real world power!

And now, after this war, China has its own colony, and more importantly, it has been snatched from another world power.

"Look, blacks, so many blacks!"

The soldiers looked at the black laborers on the wharf site of Dar es Salaam, and they shouted excitedly, in their eyes, these black people are so cute, just because they are no longer foreigners, but citizens of "Chinese East Africa", yes, they are just citizens, these black people do not have the power to act as citizens, citizens.

Well! That's it!

Suddenly, these soldiers who came to the Chinese colonies for the first time, when the cruise ship entered the port, they could not help but have a sense of mission rising in their hearts -- to open up a broader living space for the empire and win the power of the colonial navy for the people.

"Tom, tom......"

At this moment, a cannon salute rang out from the harbor battery, which was a twenty-one gift, the highest tribute paid by the colony to these soldiers who had been wounded on the battlefield for their country. On the shore, tens of thousands of expatriates from afar kept shouting with flowers in their hands, welcoming the wounded soldiers in their native voices, and the whole of Dar es Salaam was once again boiling over the arrival of the soldiers.

"Your Excellency the Governor!"

On the pier, Li Zicheng, who was standing on the trestle, turned his head to look at Wu Zihao,

"How's it going, have you arranged everything?"

At this time, he had already become the first governor of Chinese East Africa, as the consul in East Africa, as is the practice of colonial governors of other countries, wearing a military uniform, the colonial governor is not only responsible for administrative affairs, but also needs to be responsible for military affairs, but he is not a temporary military uniform, in fact, although he is a foreign ministry official, but as early as university, he joined the Royal Reserve Corps, and now he is only reorganized from the reserve to active duty.

"All the doctors agreed to the last batch of wounded were evacuated to the homes of the expatriates for recuperation, and the beds could fully meet the needs of the wounded, and at least two-thirds of the wounded could be directly evacuated to the homes of the expatriates for recuperation, so there was no problem in receiving treatment!" …,

Wu Zihao hurriedly replied that the current officials of the Governor's Office were actually set up on the team of the original consuls, and this was entirely because of the debate on the legitimacy of the Congress during the seizure of the colony, and the subsequent domestic turmoil.

Under these circumstances, the officials of the consulate directly became officials of the Governor's Office, and then the Society of Overseas Autonomy was organized, and through the election of the expatriates, the civil magistrate was elected, and it is this "Governor's Palace" of only twenty-three people and hundreds of elected officials that the administration of this area of one million square kilometers is now managed.

"Many people have always wondered why we took the initiative to take on the responsibility of treating the wounded without central funding, and even today, they still don't understand my intentions, but they only praise me for how wise I am when they see the arrival of the silver!"

Looking at the "New Oriental" slowly sailing into the port, Li Zicheng said these words to his assistant, with a helpless wry smile on his face, all along, until yesterday, the committee was still privately questioning whether East Africa can afford the huge expenses for treating the wounded, after all, in addition to the money paid by the army, for East Africa, it needs to build new hospitals and need corresponding logistics facilities. Even the current port expansion is being undertaken by East Africa.

But all this changed yesterday, with the approval of the Congress, the imperial treasury provided a one-time grant of 400 million yuan to East Africa, and the Ministry of Transport will invest 200 million yuan in East Africa to improve the road transportation system in East Africa.

It can be said that East Africa's short-term efforts have been exchanged for huge returns, and those returns are different from government-funded investments, which are often industrial and predatory, but the allocation of 400 million yuan and the transportation investment of 200 million yuan are to take advantage of the future development of East Africa.

It is precisely because of this that the elected officials, who had complained about the poor financial resources of East Africa and the task of recuperating the wounded, finally no longer had to reluctantly accept all this in order to "show the loyalty of the first colony of the empire to the empire", and now they accepted it from the bottom of their hearts, and regarded it as an honor.

"But they don't know that compared to 600 million yuan, I value them more!"

With his chin slightly raised, Li Zicheng pointed to the cruise ship that was entering the port with the help of a tugboat.

"They don't know at all that for Chinese East Africa, what we need is not money, when the Germans governed East Africa, the annual financial surplus here was as much as 10 million yuan, enough to support the operation of the colonial government, but for East Africa, these are not enough, after East Africa became a Chinese colony, the domestic performance!"

Shaking his head, Li Zicheng's face was full of disappointment, and it was at that time that he realized the impact of parliamentary politics on the colonies in the future, and it was because of this that he hoped to make some changes.

"It's true that the Navy is going to build a base here, and we try to help them as much as we can, and in the eyes of many people, with the Navy as a support, everything is safe and easy, but ......"

Glancing at the port in front of him, Li Zicheng's eyes revealed worry about the future,

"All the Navy needs is a port, all they need is Dar es Salaam, or the port of Dar es Salaam, so that their responsibility is to continue to own the port when necessary, that is, they don't have much interest in the whole of East Africa."

When he sighed helplessly, Li Zicheng suddenly laughed again. With slightly pale sideburns, his eyes showed the look of a wise man at this time.

"However, the Army's dispatch to Arabia gave me an opportunity! A chance to change the fate of East Africa! If I catch it, the future of the whole of East Africa will be guaranteed in the most fundamental! ”…,

East Africa, Future, Guaranteed!

It was the first time Wu Zihao had heard the Governor mention these words, in fact, from the very beginning, the Governor had constantly emphasized responsibilities and obligations, all of which were the responsibilities and obligations of the colony, but now they were related to the future of the colony.

"Of course, the army will eventually send in all the lightly wounded, which is indeed beyond my initial expectations, but it is better to let more officers and soldiers come to East Africa. After their wounds are basically healed, our expatriates take them home, where they will be better cared for, so that those soldiers, know East Africa, know this land! At the same time, let them remember that here, there are their compatriots! Let them remember everything here! ”

At this point, Li Zicheng's face was full of pride, from the time the first batch of wounded arrived, he knew that he had succeeded! Or rather, South Chinese East Africa succeeded!

"You know, in China's official hierarchy, at least more than half of them come from the military, and the same is true of the National Assembly, and even more so of the House of Lords, after all, military service is the responsibility and obligation of the aristocracy, and how many of these wounded will become members of the National Assembly in the future? Into the state bureaucracy? The kindness they receive in East Africa today is the guarantee of tomorrow in East Africa, and you know, wartime emotions often affect a person's life! ”

At this time, the "New Oriental" docked, and the military band of the East African Garrison played the "Imperial March", and this day was another holiday for Dar es Salaam! And for the officers and soldiers on the "New Oriental", this is also a new beginning!

*J