Chapter 26 People coming from afar
East African Colony, Second Town.
This was the location of the small town of Ruvo in Tanzania in its previous life, and the name of the Little Rhine in its previous life was the Ruvo River.
The Little Rhine runs southwest-northeast in East Africa, starting from the Uluguru Mountains, turning eastward at Kissaki and flowing northeast, before entering the Zanzibar Strait of the Indian Ocean north of Bagamoyo.
The second town is located on the eastern bank of the Little Rhine River. More than 500 newly assigned Chinese immigrants were resettled here. At the same time, more than 50 immigrants who had lived for a period of time were transferred from the first town to guide the new immigrants' production and life. , and there are three Germans responsible for local security management.
Ernst was not afraid that these Chinese immigrants would have bad intentions. These were selected old peasants who were illiterate and had no sense of resistance.
As we all know, the Chinese have the second highest patience in the world before they are forced to the point where they have no way out. The first is the Indians who are good at non-resistance.
As for the French, they can surrender on the battlefield, but if you lower their treatment, the unruly people in Paris will dare to besiege the government building the next day. (cold joke)
This is Ernst's view, but it is definitely true for this era. After all, the lowest Chinese are well versed in the golden rule of "the people do not fight with the officials."
Looking at ancient times, those who led the rebellion in Chinese history had read a few books even if they had no education. A typical example is the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, which had just been suppressed. Its leader Hong Xiuquan had participated in the imperial examination and was considered a top student in this era. .
Going even further, Chen Sheng, the earliest leader of the peasant uprising in Chinese history, could say something like "A sparrow knows the ambition of a swan." Even if he has never read a book, he must have heard some great principles and is knowledgeable. After all, as a village leader, you have a high chance of getting in touch with the lower-level bureaucrats and local dignitaries of the Qin Dynasty.
Therefore, when Ernst selected immigrants, his top priority was farmers and even refugees. It was basically impossible for them to have any culture or knowledge. At most, they had only been exposed to some opera and storytelling.
As a Chinese in his previous life, Ernst understood the thoughts of these people best.
It's no wonder that the British like to use Indians in the colonies so much. Obedience is on the one hand, and the ability to use force from the fox to the tiger is also natural, which just cooperates with the British to suppress various colonies.
There will be no problems in the East African colonies. What we should really be careful of are the temporarily captured natives. Now they are not many and cannot cause trouble. We need to be vigilant in the future.
As for the Chinese, their status in the East African colonies is not low, at least in theory. After all, the Germans and Chinese in East Africa are both hired workers of the Hechingen Consortium and have signed contracts, so the two are nominally equal. .
Just like it is said in later generations that everyone is equal, but in the company, do you dare to say such things to your boss? So the actual situation is that the Germans are in the management in the East African colonies, while the Chinese are under the management, similar to a company.
The indigenous people have not been counted among the people of the East African colonies from the beginning. They are currently assets and are assets to be sold.
Affected by the colonial development of East Africa, the Sultanate of Zanzibar even adopted a strategy of small profits but quick turnover, and the prices of indigenous slaves sold to the Arab region were reduced.
With these natives for comparison, the new Chinese immigrants are more honest and work hard. After all, the natives have proven that the Germans are not good people, and they should always keep their priorities in mind.
In this case, the second town was developed quickly. With the experience of the first town, the second town appeared on the land of East Africa as long as the process was followed.
There is also a new breakthrough this time, which is rice cultivation. This is indica rice introduced from India. Tanzania and India are both tropical, so the East African colonies have not directly tried subtropical rice cultivation. Moreover, transportation from India is also convenient and the distance is longer. Recently, as long as you negotiate a good price with the British businessmen passing through the port of Dar es Salaam along the way, you can take some with them on their return journey.
The second town is close to the Little Rhine River and has a more secure water source than the first town. Therefore, a large amount of rice is grown in the second town. In the future, there is a high probability that rice will be grown near the wetlands in the East African colonies like the second town.
After all, the yield of rice is higher than that of wheat. In the East African colonies, which also need human development, it is reasonable to pay more labor costs and pursue better yields.
Not only that, Ernst also planned to plant higher-yielding corn in the East African colonies in the future. In his previous life, Africa was a continent where corn was widely planted.
…
In the second town, newly arrived immigrants are cultivating newly developed paddy fields. The water from the Little Rhine River is introduced from the river into ditches through waterwheels, and then introduced into the paddy fields on the Leihao ridge.
Li Tiezhu and his fellow agricultural workers were immersed in digging a new aqueduct. His thin, dark body waved the shovel effortlessly. He stepped on the Prussian shovel, and the soft red soil was brought out by the shovel. He raised his hand and lifted the shovel. The shovel was turned over, and the soil fell onto the field ridge on one side.
"Uncle Jiaxiang, you have been here for a few months. Tell us what this Kilman (German transliteration) person is like? Does your word count?" Li Tiezhu asked while digging a trench.
Li Tiezhu was a newcomer to the East African colonies from North China, and he didn't know much about the Germans in the East African colonies.
Zhang Jiaxiang was digging the soil in front and said: "What are you doing with so much? Wherever you go, you are not begging for food. In the Qing Dynasty, you used to work as a tenant farmer for the landlord, but here... ah Feika (German transliteration) If you don’t just work as a tenant farmer for Mr. Kilman, what are you afraid of?”
Li Tiezhu said: "Then we farmed the land for the landlords in the Qing Dynasty for generations, and we know everything about him. We are not familiar with this Mr. Kilman, and we are not sure about it. Aren't we afraid?"
"What are you afraid of? At such a young age, are the Kilman people more scary than Mr. Zhou from our village? If there was no way to survive, you could run to Feika to farm for Mr. Kilman and stay away all day. Just thinking, there is nothing, as long as Mr. Kilman stutters, thank God." Zhang Jiaxiang said to Li Tiezhu.
"This is also the case. This year, my land is dry and there is no water in the river. Mr. Zhou has gone to live in the city, and the rent he collects cannot be less. There is no food at home. He is so hungry that he can't live. Mr. Kilman When they came to recruit workers, I signed up and finally got on the ship at sea." Li Tiezhu recalled.
Then he said: "This is the first time I have seen such a big ship in my life. It is bigger than Mr. Zhou's house. But life on the ship was not easy. In the first few days, the ground was full of vomiting and diarrhea. All the rations are fed to the fish in the sea.”
"It's good to fly here. I came here like this in the beginning. Now I can eat every meal every day, or three meals. How can I think of such a good life in the Qing Dynasty? I finish work at the end of the month, and I can still get points for good work." Two taels of meat, this day is better than the Chinese New Year!" Zhang Jiayi sighed.
"You do a good job, can you really eat meat? Uncle Jiaxiang, please don't lie to me." Li Tiezhu asked with bright eyes.
"Why did I lie to you? I've been eating for three months. As long as I don't get to the last place, every team can get points."
Li Tiezhu heard this and said: "Then let's wait and work hard. I haven't tasted meat in several years!"
As he spoke, he worked harder. Others were listening to the conversation between the two, and they also had expectations in their hearts. The progress of repairing the canal was greatly accelerated.
The Second Town is also becoming more and more impressive in the hands of new immigrants. Even the Germans in charge of management are a little surprised by the diligence of these Chinese. In terms of hard work and hard work, the Chinese are indeed admirable.