Chapter 372 Return to Africa
Port of Dar es Salaam.
Ernst set foot on this land again, and his heart was full of complex emotions. "It's different!" It's different. The city of Dar es Salaam in his previous life is completely different from the city of Dar es Salaam today. .
In his previous life, Ernst's first stop in East Africa was Dar es Salaam. As the most developed city in Tanzania at that time, Dar es Salaam was actually no different from most cities in developed countries in the world.
The vast majority of African countries are actually like this. Although they are very backward, there are always one or two big cities that can serve as windows. They are not much different from the rest of the world. However, their urbanization rate is very low, and their rural areas are miserable. Some places should not even be considered rural areas, but are reservations for aboriginal people, who live a primitive life.
The city of Dar es Salaam is such a typical example. Ernst’s impression when he first arrived here in his previous life was sunshine, beaches, coconut trees, a modern port, and modern high-rise buildings. Although it was a little worse than Nairobi and Mombasa, it was the best in the world. Not bad either.
Of course, Tanzania is far from being compared with the modernized Far East. The small counties in the Far East are considered big cities in Europe. Therefore, Dar es Salaam, the most prosperous city in Tanzania, can only be compared with the counties in the Far East. . In Ernst's previous life, the urbanization rate in the Far East was close to 70%, coupled with exaggerated infrastructure, so even in the most sparsely populated areas like Tibet, urban construction was very good.
Today's Dar es Salaam is completely different. If Ernst could find a city that was most similar to him, it would probably be Trieste in the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
It's now around nine in the morning, and the city of Dar es Salaam is quite active, with passing ships bringing an economic boom that's even worse than Trieste's.
"Your Highness, the urban construction of Dar es Salaam is quite good. If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I would have thought I had not left Africa."
Ernst held on to the railing of the ship and looked at the city of Dar es Salaam and replied: "This shows that our efforts over the years are still bearing fruit. If the potential of East Africa can be developed in the future, it will be no worse than Europe." .”
Even replacing Europe is not impossible! Ernst added silently in his mind that this was not empty talk, but a real possibility.
What were the shortcomings of Africa and Europe in previous generations? It’s not the population, it’s not the resources, it’s not the system. Africa has more people than Europe. Europe itself is short of resources. This is even more true in Europe after Russia was eliminated. Ernst didn’t even attach great importance to such things as systems. Africa almost experimented with them. Of all the institutional models in the world, the United States and the Soviet Union are here to promote what they consider to be advanced systems. But Africa is still lagging behind, so the problem Africa faces is economic.
If you spread out the world map, you will find that Africa is almost parallel to Europe. The advantage of Europe over Africa is that it is almost at the same latitude as North America and Asia. The only place at the same latitude of Africa is South America, which competes with Africa to see who is more backward. Its size is not the same. Big Oceania (Australia), scattered and broken Southeast Asia. It is said without mercy that although Southeast Asia is broken, it is the region with the most potential.
As for the countries and regions in the northern part of the Indian Ocean, they are all competitors of Africa in the future, and India is the most serious. It is inevitable that East Africa will attack India in the future. Its location and size are the biggest threats to East Africa's control of the Indian Ocean.
Africa has one thing in common with Europe, that is, they share the same Indian Ocean channel to Asia. Whoever controls this channel can basically control the world's largest wealth code.
There are no powerful countries around East Africa, only colonies that can be of great use, and India is the most threatening colony and the biggest obstacle to controlling the Indian Ocean waterways.
Assuming that Africa can develop, the Indian Ocean waterway, the most important trade route, will be driven by Africa. The impact on Europe will definitely be huge. Its impact is no less than that of the new waterway on the Mediterranean coastal economy before the opening of the Suez Canal. impact.
But because Africa was the lowest economic place in the world in its previous life, Africa's foreign trade is far from comparable to Europe's. Europe's position is not comparable to Africa's. Africa faces the Eastern trade route, and Europe still needs Suez and Cape Town. , cannot bypass Africa, otherwise we can only rely on land, or take an extra distance of the Pacific route.
The prerequisite for giving full play to this location advantage is that Africa's economic size can be compared with Europe. Even if it is only half of Europe's level, it will be enough to stimulate it.
However, all of this is relatively far away from the current Africa. It is better to lay the foundation of the East African Kingdom first before there is hope for the future.
Ernst's fleet passed along the coast of Dar es Salaam, but did not enter the port. Instead, it headed for the new port southeast of Dar es Salaam.
The main function of the new port in Dar es Salaam is to share the pressure of the old port. It is considered a self-owned port of the Kingdom of East Africa, so the new port has a small population, but the port area is larger than the old port, and the facilities are more complete and organized.
Soon the fleet entered the new port. The East African government had already prepared carriages and horses, waiting for Ernst here, mainly to collect Ernst's "treasures".
The dock was mainly occupied by port managers. Ernst's visit to East Africa was relatively low-key and there was no welcome ceremony.
"If I remember correctly, this location should have been in the area of the Grand Mosque and a university in Dar es Salaam in its previous life." Ernst muttered to himself. Ernst judged it based on an island on the other side of the port. That island was a beach attraction in its previous life, so Ernst remembered it clearly.
"Your Highness, welcome to Dar es Salaam. I am the administrator of Newport and the regional director of Dar es Salaam of the Hechingen Ocean Trading Company, Mox."
It turned out to be a subordinate of his own subordinate.
Ernst: "Very good. Next, you organize people to unload the things on the ship. Among them, you must be careful with the things on the Vostok and Chris. They are not big items, but you must be careful. If you hit a corner, I'm asking you for it! "
Mox said with shame: "Yes, Your Highness!"
After two days of hard work, all the items were finally moved down.
"Your Highness, should these things be taken to the train station or should we take the road directly?"
Ernst asked: "Is the railway to Soga completed?"
"Your Highness, the construction of the railway branch line in Suojia has also been completed, but the construction of Suojia has not yet been completed."
Ernst: "That doesn't matter. Let's go to Soga first and put some of our things there, and then go to the First Town."
It didn't matter that Soga City was not completed. Ernst knew that the National Library built there had been completed. It was one of the earliest buildings in Soga City and one of the buildings in Soga City that Ernst focused on.
Ernst went there to put the books he brought this time into the Soga National Library. These books cover everything, including astronomy, geography, biology, mathematics, chemistry, physics... In addition to books available on the market, among them There are also some books copied from various German university libraries that are difficult to see on the market.