September 12, 1887.

Abyssinian Empire, Bahirdar.

Bahirdar was the new capital of the Abyssinian Empire, where Johannes IV moved his capital in 1880.

The entire history of the Abyssinian Empire was overshadowed by the intervention of East Africa, and Johannes IV put an end to the country's civil strife and established a new political center on the shores of Lake Tana.

"Tana" is the largest lake in the Abyssinian Empire, and the most important source of water for the Blue Nile, known as the water tower of Northeast Africa, and the African water tower is the East African plateau in the Kingdom of East Africa.

Fishing and shipping are very developed, and because it is a new town, the population is only about 50,000.

The core of the original Abyssinian Empire was in the northeast near the Red Sea coast, but the northeast region was threatened by Italy and Egypt, and the economic interests of the Red Sea Route to the Abyssinian Empire were gradually replaced by the development of southern trade in East Africa.

Guided by both economic interests and strategic values, Johannes IV had to move the capital from the northeast to Bahirdar, the center of the current Abyssinian Empire.

Former East African Minister Alander: "Dear Emperor of the Abyssinian Empire, starting today, the East African Legation in Bahirdar has been upgraded to an embassy, and I have been promoted to the Ambassador of East Africa to the Abyssinian Empire, continuing to serve the maintenance of relations between the two countries, and in the future, we in East Africa will build railways, telegraphs, and factories in the territory of the Abyssinian Empire to strengthen the ties between the two countries, which is also a common witness to the friendship between East Africa and the Abyssinian Empire." ”

The friendship between East Africa and the Abyssinian Empire is expressed in the phrase "less than the above, more than the bottom." However, compared to the other two neighbors of the Abyssinian Empire, East Africa was "amiable".

As the ultimate victor in the Abyssinian Empire, Johannes IV was very pleased with the attitude of East Africa, at least compared to the British, Egyptians, and Italy.

The border issue between the two countries was completely resolved more than a decade ago, and the division of national territory was clearly marked.

Of course, at that time, the Abyssinian Empire was still in a state of fragmentation of warlords, and it was not the turn of Johannes IV to call the shots.

However, since the completion of the border demarcation, East Africa has indeed not extended its hand to the Abyssinian Empire, and the relationship between the two countries has been stable for more than ten years, and the sincerity and respect of East Africa have obviously been initially recognized by the Abyssinian Empire.

Of course, if it was placed in the previous life, it was basically impossible for East Africa to do this, in essence, the Abyssinian Empire suffered a loss, and many subordinate forces and Fanguo lands were cut off by East Africa, but at that time, the Abyssinian Empire itself was difficult to protect, not to mention that it was just a little brother.

"Minister Aland, no, it's Mr. Ambassador, East Africa wants to build railways and telegraphs in the Abyssinian Empire, what impact does this have on our Abyssinian Empire?"

Johannes IV was a military emperor who really didn't know much about nation-building, so he was still very wary of Aland's words.

"We helped Abyssinia to build modern infrastructure, naturally for the sake of economic and trade exchanges and cultural exchanges between the two countries, which is very different from other European and American countries, for peaceful development, not war and slavery." Aland said.

"As we all know, we in East Africa have never infringed on the interests of the Abyssinian Empire, because our King Majesty said that the Abyssinian Empire is an important 'ancient civilization' in the world, and in the entire history of Africa, only Egypt and the Abyssinian Empire have this status, but you are different from Egypt, Egypt is a puppet kingdom of the United Kingdom, constantly conquered by external forces, only the Abyssinian Empire is independent and autonomous for thousands of years."

Aland put a high hat on the Abyssinian Empire, anyway, good words and no money, and the effect was significant, and it was obvious that Johannes IV had a lot more smile on his face.

"Our plan is to further deepen the 'friendly' relations between the two countries, and this requires deepening exchanges and trade, so we need to work on transportation and liaison. ”

"Modern transportation, the most important thing on land is the railway, at present, East Africa has been approved to build a railway across the entire Turkana province, and the end of this railway is the city of Jima on our border, but after the railway arrives in the city of Jima, the remaining issues need you to decide the problems within the Abyssinian Empire."

Johannes IV naturally knew where the city of Tima was, and now relying on the trade of Tima City, the southern city of Negmert in the Abyssinian Empire has developed rapidly and has become an important source of tax revenue.

Therefore, the extension of the railway into the territory of the Abyssinian Empire must have been of great benefit to the national economy, but Johannes IV was more interested in the military value of the railway.

"Ambassador Aland, I have also heard of the railway, it is said that it has the role of transporting troops in Europe, if a railway is built between the two countries, how can you guarantee that it will not threaten the national security of our Abyssinian Empire?"

"Your Majesty the Emperor, the railway is a road built of a pile of steel in the final analysis, and his military value is indeed not small, but in the end, the question is who controls him."

"Take our East African Railway as an example, the railways in our country are naturally under our control, and we can transport hundreds of thousands of troops by rail to the areas we want to deliver at any time, for example, after the construction of the railway in our Turkana province is completed, we can send the southern troops to the border of East Africa and the Abyssinian Empire in a few days at any time."

"Are you going to stop us from doing that? In the same way, the railways in the Abyssinian Empire are naturally in your own hands, whether it is to transport people and goods, it is up to you to decide, and we in East Africa will not intervene and meddle, which is very different from European and American countries, so the railway issue should not be something you should be afraid of. ”

The purpose of East Africa was to forcibly correct the economic structure of the Abyssinian Empire to a north-south direction through transportation, rather than an east-west direction.

After all, the Red Sea coast was the traditional commercial activity area of the Abyssinian Empire, but once the railway was built, it would be difficult to change this pattern, unless the Abyssinian Empire built an east-west railway by itself in the future.

But commercial trade also has inertia, and by the time the Abyssinian Empire has the ability to build its own railways, I am afraid that the trade between the north and the south will be mature for decades, so this is the construction of a set of system standards.

Of course, Aland's words are also not very respectful, especially the description of the railway in Turkana Province, which is clearly telling the Abyssinian Empire that East Africa wants to invade the Abyssinian Empire by railroad is not something that the Abyssinian Empire can stop at all, after all, the strategic depth of the Abyssinian Empire has been eaten by East Africa, Egypt and Italy.

Now the only appeal of East Africa to the Abyssinian Empire is the dumping market for goods, and the various resources within the Abyssinian Empire are not too important, which is the advantage of population.

The Abyssinian Empire has a population of more than 10 million, so there is a market demand of tens of millions, involving clothing, food, housing and transportation, etc., which is a good place for industrial products and commodities in East Africa, which is also the reason why East Africa intends to build railways and highways in the Abyssinian Empire.

Of course, the final destination of these communications was the border between East Africa and the Abyssinian Empire, making the future trade of the Abyssinian Empire a path dependent and unable to get rid of East Africa.

The Abyssinian Empire is not too much of a disadvantage, after all, East Africa can indeed bring some modern elements to the Abyssinian Empire, but these elements can only rely on East Africa to operate.

(End of chapter)