October 17, 1870.

Zanzibar, Palace of Curiosities.

The Palace of Curiosities stands at the western end of Stone Town and is part of the Sultan's Palace. This magnificent building has 40 thick columns, and under each column are 60 black slaves buried alive.

The elder Saeed passed away last year, and Saeed Jr., with the support of the Kingdom of East Africa, became the new monarch of the current Sultanate of Zanzibar.

"Minister Lemmons, what do you mean by this! We Zanzibaris are counting on the slave trade to make ends meet, and if the slave trade is abolished, to be honest, I don't care, but the ministers and businessmen below will not agree, and if I agree to your country's conditions, then I can step down. Said Jr. complained to Lemmons, the East African minister to Zanzibar.

"Your Excellency Said, please don't get me wrong, it's not that our East African Kingdom forced Zanzibar to cancel the slave trade, this matter is essentially for Zanzibar's sake."

Taking a sip of coffee from the Oriental teacup imported from the Far East by the Zanzibar royal family, Lemmons continued to analyze slowly: "Nowadays, the ban on the slave trade in Europe is getting stronger and stronger, especially Britain and France, they are the executors, we don't care too much about the attitude of slaves in East Africa, but we can't influence the public opinion in Europe, your country should have felt it over the years, the British have recently been inspecting the slave trade in the Indian Ocean more and more." ”

Little Said sighed and said: "We also know this, but the huge benefits of the slave trade, the people below will not give up, this is related to the livelihood of tens of thousands of Zanzibars, even I, the monarch, can not influence the thoughts of the subjects, if it is contrary to the ideas of the people, I will do it as a monarch!" ”

"Your Excellency Said, don't worry, in general, East Africa is still very clear about the national conditions of the Sultanate of Zanzibar, and we will not embarrass your country, we in East Africa have prepared a plan for Your Excellency in this matter." Lemmons spoke.

"Oh! I don't know what good way to do it in your country? Said asked curiously.

"First of all, the slave trade must not continue to exist, and you have recently found a time to abolish the legality of the slave trade, first from the legal level of the Sultanate of Zanzibar."

"This can be done, but is it just in name?"

"Of course not! Of course, I don't mean to really abolish the slave trade, but to make the slave trade more sophisticated and hidden. Lemmons explained.

"I don't know how!" After hearing that Lemmons didn't really want Zanzibar to abolish slavery, Saeed Jr. was a little relieved.

"The first point has just been said, the abolition of slavery at the legal level, so that the Zanzibar regime is not legally considered a slave country, and the next thing is to package the original slave trade, the slave trade has been boycotted by various countries, but the wage workers are legal, all slave traders under the control of the Sultanate of Zanzibar should exchange the slave trade for legal labor export companies, and emphasize that "domestic laborers" go abroad to earn foreign exchange for "domestic laborers" in foreign exchanges and business activities. ”

"If that's all there is to it, Mr. Lemmons, rest assured, we can still do it." Said Jr.

Lemmons shook his head and said: "Things are not so simple, since it is a labor export, then the slave ship does not exist, you must improve the living conditions of the "labor" transport ship, we do not force you to do a good job, at least look at the past, let these "laborers" have relatively decent clothes before going to the Middle East, and there must be a certain space for movement, and they can no longer squeeze the narrow shelves like goods. ”

Hearing this, little Said was embarrassed: "Mr. Lemmons, if nothing else, the cost of clothes alone is not a small amount of money, not to mention giving more space to slaves, the number of slaves on a ship will be reduced, and the money will be less, and the slave merchants will not agree." ”

Lemmons said: "Clothes can also be used repeatedly, just from Zanzibar to the destination to give a set of clothes to the slaves, after arriving at the place and then take them off, the next time you can continue to use, it doesn't cost much, as for the reduction of slave transport, the money earned less, it is better than being caught by other countries and not being able to do business!" ”

"You're right, but the slave trade is a spontaneous act of the merchants, and they also have to calculate the cost, and I'm afraid many people don't implement it well, especially the system of our Zanzibar Sultanate, so we don't have much binding on these traders." Said Jr.

It would be nice for the Sultanate of Zanzibar to receive a little tax on these slave traders, and the slave trade, the Sultanate of Zanzibar itself was involved, and the royal family was the beneficiary of the slave trade, which meant that the top leaders of the Sultanate of Zanzibar were the largest slave traders in the Indian Ocean.

Lemmons said with a smile: "Your Excellency Said, as long as the Sultanate of Zanzibar can supervise its own nationals, the slave trade is a lucrative industry, and you make a lot of money, and it doesn't cost much to buy a dress for a slave, which we in East Africa can help you with, you can provide mechanized production of clothes, and only charge a little cost price." ”

"That being said, Zanzibar nationals have flexibility, they can be Zanzibar citizens, but they can also be Omani citizens, or even Ottoman citizens, and it's very difficult for us to define their identity, so how can we regulate that?" Said Jr. asked rhetorically.

"This thing is easy to do, learn from East Africa to establish a household registration system, determine the identity of Zanzibar citizens, if you don't agree to become a citizen of Zanzibar, don't force it, but if something happens, you will shift the responsibility to other countries, Oman, Osman. But the ugly words are ahead, we will assist you with this household registration system, don't think about being clever. Lemmons said.

"Hukou system?"

"Yes, the issuance of identification certificates to residents is an effective way to screen the behaviour of your Zanzibar nationals at sea."

"I don't think the ministers will agree to do it." Saeed Jr. shook his head and said that he didn't think his men would accept the suggestion.

"If you don't implement it, you have to implement it, this is the will of the East African Kingdom, for the smooth progress of these plans, our East African Kingdom will strengthen the garrison strength of the Zanzibar Sultanate, and at the same time, because of the British shipwreckage incident a few days ago, we believe that the current situation of the Zanzibar Sultanate is somewhat dangerous, for the strategic security of the East African Kingdom, the national defense of the Zanzibar Sultanate will also be incorporated into the military defense system of the East African Kingdom."

Having said all this, the true intentions of East Africa have been revealed, and Zanzibar is related to the strategic security of the East African coast, so it is naturally impossible to allow Zanzibar to remain outside the East African defense system.

Little Saeed's face was a little ugly, but he couldn't help it, in fact, East Africa has always had a garrison in the Sultanate of Zanzibar, and it is near the palace, and the number is only a few hundred, but Little Said will not joke about his safety.

"I wonder how your country intends to strengthen the Zanzibar garrison?"

"The important ports of Zanzibar, as well as strategic points, are all part of this plan, and we will increase the number of troops to 3,000 men, and at the same time, the batteries and other batteries will also be taken over by the East African artillery units." Lemmons read out the decision in East Africa.

"That'...... All right! We fully accept the decision of the Kingdom of East Africa. In the end, Saeed Jr. couldn't get tough.

Lemmons patted little Said on the shoulder with a smile and said: "You don't have to worry, East Africa strengthens Zanzibar's defense forces, mainly to deal with foreign countries, not against the Sultanate of Zanzibar itself. ”

Lemmons reassured Said Jr., which was a verbal promise to the continued existence of the Sultanate of Zanzibar.

……

October 21, 1870.

After a "friendly" persuasion of the Zanzibar Interior Ministers, the Sultanate of Zanzibar agreed to all the demands of the Kingdom of East Africa.

On the same day, the Sultanate of Zanzibar issued a law stating the complete abolition of slavery, the granting of free status to all slaves, and the cessation of the slave trade and the prohibition of the official and non-governmental slave trade in the Sultanate of Zanzibar.

At the same time, East Africa also began to plan the defense work of the Sultanate of Zanzibar, integrating Zanzibar into the East African defense system, increasing the garrison strength of Zanzibar, and rebuilding the defense of the port.

As for the slaves of the Sultanate of Zanzibar, after they were freed, they signed employment agreements with their former owners, and the Sultanate of Zanzibar appeared the next day with a large number of registered "labor companies", nominally providing labor services to the Middle East and other regions.

(End of chapter)