It was certainly not possible to evacuate Venice, the move was too big, Ernst would not agree, Austria-Hungary would not agree, and all East Africa did was to move the jobs of the Venetian workers who had migrated to East Africa as well.

In fact, a large part of the Venetians went to East Africa to participate in the great cause of land reclamation, so the industry required in Nairobi was not huge, but it had to be professional.

At the same time, Ernst's original aim was to turn Venice into Austrian territory, to avoid the possibility of it becoming a landlocked country in the future, rather than to force the remaining Venetians to oppose Austria's quest for autonomy and independence.

Germany has become an inland area, and East Africa is not worried, because most of Germany's access to the sea is concentrated in the Baltic Sea, and Britain and France can clamp Germany to East Africa, one is to block the German Navy in the Baltic Sea, and the other is to cut off the Strait of Gibraltar and let it go around the west coast of Africa, which is far away.

The Austro-Hungarian Empire mainly relies on the Suez Canal to East Africa, although there is also a risk of being cut off, but both Austria-Hungary and East Africa have the ability to counteract, and the Suez Canal is related to the interests of the vast majority of countries and regions along the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea, and maintaining the smooth and safe passage of the Suez Canal is not a matter for East Africa.

……

Mombasa.

Mombasa was particularly lively today, with a welcoming ceremony at the town hall at the pier attended by a number of government dignitaries, including East African Finance Minister von der Leyen.

On the dock was a ship flying the flag of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and it was the Austrian business delegation that disembarked from the ship.

Von der Leyen stepped forward and said, "Welcome to East Africa!" I'm the Minister of Finance for East Africa, von der Leyen. ”

"Hello Minister von der Leyen! I am the head of the Austrian business mission, Wolfgang. ”

Wolfgang said as he looked at Mombasa's environment, and the first impression was that it was uniform, or rather dull and featureless, and the streets were free of garbage and sewage, and the city seemed relatively empty, mainly because the roads were wide and the houses were not concentrated.

Seeing Wolfgang looking around, von der Leyen said: "Mr. Wolfgang, what is your first impression of Mombasa?" If you have any questions, I'm here to help. ”

Wolfgang: "Mombasa is still relatively good, I have imagined East Africa countless times before I came, but the fact that Mombasa is just in front of me is beyond my expectations. ”

Von der Leyen: "Mombasa is almost a city that has been demolished and rebuilt, and we are committed to bringing German culture to the African region, so you are welcome in East Africa, it is almost the same as returning to your own home." ”

The Austrian business delegation agreed on this point, and everyone was German, so it was naturally very useful.

Wolfgang: "Minister von der Leyen, although Mombasa looks good, why are the roads built so wide and the distance between the buildings so far that they seem empty, and is this a great waste?" ”

Wolfgang has been to many places in Europe, and at present, the roads in many European countries are generally relatively narrow, the flow of people is large, and the construction of houses also pays attention to a utilization rate, in his opinion, Mombasa is a bit too extravagant.

Von der Leyen: "On the one hand, because East Africa is vast and sparsely populated, land resources are not very scarce, and secondly, East African cities pay more attention to the living environment, you see that although the buildings are more scattered, but the greenery is also relatively rich, according to our East African saying, this is called a garden city, and at the same time convenient with the city's supporting facilities, such as drainage systems and reserved water pipes, street lights, warning signs and other space, Mombasa's temporary economic capacity is limited, so the relevant facilities are not perfect, but we refer to the advantages of other cities, Leave plenty of room for Mombasa's future development. As for the road is relatively wide, but the pedestrians and goods on the street are in order according to the traffic rules of walking on the right, so the traffic efficiency is also very good, and there must be a surplus at present, but there is no need to re-plan the population of Mombasa in the future. ”

Wolfgang believed von der Leyen's explanation for three points, at least indicating that the East African government was looking farther, but he chose not to give the remaining seven points, because the current European cities are not up to the level that von der Leyen said, so East Africa is even worse, which is a huge administrative waste and flashy.

"There is some truth in what you say, but East Africa is not very populous, and how many years are you going to make this city what you say it is, thirty years, forty years, or even longer," Wolfgang said. ”

Von der Leyen: "At present, the population of Mombasa has reached 60,000 people, second only to Dar es Salaam, you must know that we Germans have only opened up this city for more than three years, and this is still the effect after the expulsion of local Zanzibaris, that is to say, we only rely on immigration to make Mombasa and other cities on par with Europe in terms of population, so the future development of Mombasa must be very promising." ”

Sixty thousand people is not a lot for the city, but in 1870, Berlin had a population of only seven or eight hundred thousand, while Vienna had about five or six hundred thousand.

Of course, Dar es Salaam and Mombasa are the two largest transit ports in East Africa, so the scale of employment can support such a large number of people, and the service of passing ships and sailors alone will create a large number of jobs, and now the expansion of Nairobi will also form a "big" city with a population of more than 50,000 or even 100,000.

The power of policy is the power of policy, which is currently Mbeya, the third largest city in East Africa, and Mwanza, the fourth city, will also be relegated to the fourth and fifth positions due to the sudden rise of Nairobi City.

Although East African cities seem to be able to reach the European level, most of the existing urban populations in East Africa are at the level of towns and villages, and they are basically provincial capitals, and Mombasa is currently the only provincial capital with a population of more than 50,000.

After listening to von der Leyen's words, Wolfgang also became interested in East Africa, and he asked: "If you look at it this way, Mombasa's development is still remarkable, after all, it is not a small achievement to change from a colonial city to such a modern German style city today, I wonder what is the population size of East African cities now?" ”

The size of the population, especially the size of the urban population, means both labor and the market, and if East Africa is qualified for both, plus East Africa's resources, it will be difficult for entrepreneurs to invest.

Although the Austrian business delegation was commissioned by the royal family, everyone mainly came to make a fortune, that is, for the sake of His Majesty the Emperor, they would come to East Africa for inspection.

Von der Leyen did not answer Wolfgang's question directly, but said: "At present, the population of East Africa is mainly concentrated in agriculture and rural areas, and the urban population is not prominent. However, the northern industrial belt that we are planning, that is, the industrial belt with Mombasa, Nairobi and Kisumu as nodes, the population of these three cities alone will reach about 100,000, of which Nairobi will immigrate to East Africa because of the results of the war in the Venice area, and the urban population of Nairobi will exceed 100,000, in addition to this industrial belt, there are many villages distributed, and the population in the area is about 600,000. ”

Von der Leyen did not reveal the specific strength of East Africa as a whole, but simply repeated the size of Kenya's population to the delegation.

Von der Leyen doesn't need to describe it too much, the figure of 600,000 alone tickles the hearts of many people, and the population of Greece today is only 1.45 million, while southern Kenya not only has a relatively sufficient population, but also rich resources.

Von der Leyen continued: "In addition, we are planning a large area of cotton planting in the north, not ordinary cotton, but long-staple cotton, which may be a little different in quality than Egypt, but not much worse, and there are large-scale farms in the north, and the agricultural base in southern Kenya is also relatively good, sorghum, wheat, corn, millet are all grown, including coffee plantations in South Prussia Province, where the city of Nairobi is located. ”

This is the agricultural base of the Northern Industrial Belt, which is rich in raw materials, and Austrian businessmen can also rely on these products to invest in related industries.

Wolfgang: "East Africa does have its own advantages in this regard, because you have a lot of land and you are in the tropics, but I want to know about the medical conditions alone. ”

Wolfgang said what he thought in his heart, he had heard that Africa had a harsh environment and many diseases, and that it was not a question of whether to invest or not, but whether or not to die.

von der Leyen: "Mr. Wolfgang, you don't have to worry, we in East Africa have a very high investment in medical care, and through sanitation and environmental modification, the population loss has been reduced to a very low level, which can be said to be much lower than other regions at the same latitude, very close to the European level, you see me, I came to East Africa four years ago, and many of our government officials, including military officers, have been in East Africa for at least three years. ”

Even if von der Leyen doesn't say so, in fact, the living environment in East Africa is better than most of the regions at the same latitude, after all, most of East Africa is located in the tropical plateau, which is very livable, coupled with the vigorous promotion and enforcement of health in East Africa, as well as the large-scale culling of mosquitoes, although because of the low level of science and technology, people other than Ernst can't figure out the principle, but it vaguely reduces the probability of disease outbreaks in East Africa.

Not to mention that in the current era, Europe may not be able to deal with the disease, as far as Ernst knows, in the previous life, in 1872, during the World Expo held in Vienna, there was a large-scale epidemic of cholera, which caused thousands of deaths, and this is still Vienna.

The characteristics of the poor distribution of the population in East Africa, coupled with the effective monitoring system, also lead to the impossibility of large-scale spread of diseases in East Africa, the Minister of Health of East Africa is the real power, the existence of the top five positions within the government, we know that East Africa attaches great importance to this aspect, relying on the existence of health, medical and disease prevention and control systems There are not a few officials in East Africa, and the follow-up telegraph system in East Africa will further enhance the possibility of blocking the spread of infectious diseases in East Africa.

(End of chapter)