Chapter 991 Arrival
"Everyone, we are going to East Africa next! The people on the ship told me that in less than an hour, we will arrive at Mombasa, the second largest city in East Africa."
"I know that for you, East Africa is a strange country. You may be able to catch a glimpse of the tip of the iceberg in Mombasa. As an East African, the quality of honesty is engraved in the bone marrow, so next, I will describe the country of East Africa. Let me tell you the truth."
Kliad, who was responsible for "escorting" talents from various European countries back to their countries, as soon as he finished speaking, an unpleasant premonition came to the minds of these European immigrants who had been "cheated" from East Africa.
It is true that in order to recruit talents, East Africans in Europe will definitely make some embellished descriptions of their motherland's "wealth, strength, peace, civilization, and friendliness."
However, now that the contract has been signed and the ship is about to arrive, I regret that there is basically no chance. The East African personnel have naturally become more casual. Is it possible that these Europeans who boarded the "pirate ship" in East Africa can still jump into the sea? Can't swim back.
"Don't worry, everyone. There may be some discrepancies between East Africa and the propaganda, but the error will not be too big. Your work will also be guaranteed by the East African government, and the salary will not be lower than the contract. Of course, if you want higher salary, then It all depends on your strength. East Africa is a country that respects knowledge and technology, and you will not be treated unfairly in East Africa.”
But Liad can be said to be getting darker and darker, as if East Africa is really a cannibal cave in northern Myanmar, which makes the European guests on the ship feel more and more cold.
"..." But Liad did not take care of everyone's mental state, and finally got to the point and began to explain various common sense of life in East Africa.
As Kliad explained in depth, everyone had some doubts. The country Kliad described seemed a bit "dreamy", with collective agriculture, state ownership, and the First Five-Year Plan. How could it look like the one promoted by the European "ghost" party? set.
But one thing is certain, that is, East Africa, as a monarchy, cannot be that kind of country.
But there was no need for Liad to explain it too clearly to them. After all, the political system in East Africa was too alien in the world. Even East Africa was dazzled by the various operations of the royal family. The specific situation in East Africa still needed to be experienced by them. Only after some time can we make a better judgment.
At 11 noon on December 3, 1900, the first batch of high-level talents introduced from Europe in East Africa officially arrived in Mombasa.
“This is Mombasa!”
After experiencing the psychological devastation of the countries and regions along the Red Sea, Mombasa was the first African cosmopolitan city that the Europeans on board had seen.
This route starts from Trieste in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, then passes through the Suez Canal and enters the Red Sea. This is also the first time that the Europeans on the ship have seen Africa. There is no doubt that Egypt, the Ottomans, the Italian Red Sea Colonies, Djibouti and other places The vast sea of sand made everyone feel very disappointed.
Because of the Sahara Desert, most people's stereotype of Africa is drought, and this confirms everyone's thinking, that East Africa...
In fact, on the eastern coast of Somalia, the passengers on the boat have already entered the East African waters. However, if the Shabelle River Basin and Juba River Basin are excluded in Somalia, it is basically not much different from the Red Sea coast.
But when we waited for Mombasa, everyone was finally relieved. The entire Mombasa was undoubtedly very prosperous. Just in terms of the density of buildings and factories, it was not inferior to any European city. The climate conditions here are also very prosperous. It is much better than the north, but it is still relatively dry compared to northern Europe, somewhat similar to the feeling along the Mediterranean coast.
Looking at the shocked eyes of these European immigrants, Kliad gained a great sense of psychological satisfaction, which is the pride of an East African for his motherland.
Kriyad said loudly to them: "Mombasa has a population of nearly 700,000. It is currently the second largest city in East Africa. Industry and commerce are very developed. There are many European cities, and Mombasa has no shortage of them. At the same time, industrial products from East Africa also pass through Port cities such as Mombasa sell well overseas, including some high-tech products such as automobiles and electrical equipment. Mombasa..."
When Kliad told about the situation in Mombasa, many passengers whispered among themselves.
"Anton Lobov, how many people are there in Kiev?"
"It should be around 200,000 to 300,000! But in our Ukrainian region, the population of Odessa should be larger. I remember that the population of Odessa in the 1980s was already more than 200,000." Andropov replied .
"Compared with East Africa and Ukraine, which place do you think is more developed?"
"It's hard to say, but based on Mombasa's situation alone, East Africa is definitely better. After all, cities supporting such a large population are rare in Russia. I'm afraid only St. Petersburg, Moscow and Warsaw can compare, but just now Kolya De also said that Mombasa is only the second largest city in East Africa.”
"I know that the largest city in East Africa. When I was in Europe, the deputy minister of education in East Africa said that it is Dar es Salaam, but it seems that there is not much difference between Dar es Salaam and Mombasa. In other words, the population of Dar es Salaam should be only 7 to 8 million. From this point of view, there is still a certain gap between East Africa and Russia. After all, our top two cities have a larger population than East Africa. "
Andropov: "This doesn't mean anything. Kolyad once said that the development path of East African cities is different from that of Europe. They have few megacities, but the strength of small and medium-sized cities is good. It is said that the urbanization rate in East Africa is higher than that in Russia. This shows that East African industry may be more developed than Russia. After all, many East African products are also well-known, especially automobiles and power equipment, and East African agricultural products are also popular in Russia."
Russia has always been an important consumer market for East African agricultural products, second only to Germany. As a country colder than Germany, East Africa is the closest tropical product production area to Tsarist Russia.
Of course, geographically, India and Southeast Asia are closer to Russia, but in terms of routes, East Africa has greater advantages, especially the Black Sea route, and now Southeast Asia is too underdeveloped to compete with East Africa.
The large-scale development of Southeast Asia still requires the efforts of Britain and France. Southeast Asia is not as populous as in later generations, and the degree of development is also low. For example, Southeast Asia was the world's largest rubber producer in the past, but now the rubber industry is almost monopolized by East Africa. Although Britain and France have rubber plantations in Southeast Asia and other places, they are just in the initial stage and have to face competition from East Africa, and the development is very slow.
As the world's largest rubber producer, East Africa has severely lowered the price of international rubber by relying on large-scale planting and improving the advantages of the rubber industry, in order to suppress the rubber industry in Brazil, Southeast Asia and other regions.
Rubber is only one aspect. East Africa has taken similar measures in tropical fruits, spices and other industries. It has almost formed a monopoly trend in the Central and Eastern European market, which will not generate economic competition with the major grain-growing countries in Central and Eastern Europe.
Correspondingly, East Africa will also import a large amount of grain from Central and Eastern Europe. As for East African grain, it is used as feed or industrial production. Take the food processing industry as an example. If East Africa does not import high-quality wheat from Russia, it will process and export its own wheat, and the taste will be much worse.
However, East Africa's trade with Russia is generally in a surplus position. East Africa's imports from Russia are mainly reflected in the fields of food, minerals and a small amount of industrial products. All of these are intervened by the East African government. Only when there is a give-and-take in business can it last long.
Just like the early trade between the Far Eastern Empire and Britain, the Far Eastern Empire relied on its developed handicraft industry to beat British industrial products completely. Britain, which could not afford to play, simply used war and other insidious means to force the Far Eastern Empire's handicraft industry to go bankrupt, so that its own industrial products flowed into the Far Eastern Empire.