Chapter 163 End of the Year
In 1868, it was the end of the year again.
The population of East Africa went around to 1.75 million. In addition to the new immigrant population, there is also the first wave of baby boomers in East Africa.
The relatively stable environment in the past two years, coupled with East Africa’s preferential policies for female immigration, and the gradual improvement of immigration marriage problems, newly established families account for the majority of East African families.
Now that a family has been established, it is natural to pass on the family line. East Africa has been enjoying the dividends of war. The expansion of the territory and the increase in the area of food cultivation have provided impetus for immigrants to give birth.
In this era, the cost of raising children is extremely low, coupled with the influence of immigrants’ traditional concept of childbearing, they basically let go of life.
These immigrants, as long as they work a little harder, they can feed more people.
The immigrants in the East African colonies basically had no sense of crisis. The main reason is that East Africa is too open and the natural conditions are so good that they have lost the introverted environment of Eurasia.
In addition to the immigrant population, indigenous laborers are not included in the East African population statistics. This year, the number of indigenous workers is expected to be around 1.3 million.
There is no shortage of natives in the African continent. Even if the natives in East Africa are controlled, the natives have to undertake heavy work and will be sold by the East African colonies, so the loss is still great.
But when East Africa expands westward, it will catch a batch of them back to supplement the missing labor force in East Africa. It is a typical slave economy, and there are in and out, forming a closed loop.
Under the slave economy, the infrastructure in East Africa was created at a speed visible to the naked eye, and the cities and villages in East Africa were connected by roads.
At the same time, the widespread use of slaves allowed East Africans to easily open up several times the land, replace livestock and machinery, and support the scale of agriculture in East Africa.
The grain harvested by the East African colonies is mainly divided into three parts, one part is immigrant rations, the other part is slave rations, and the other part is sold overseas.
Among them, the rations of immigrants accounted for the largest proportion. It was not that the immigrants ate a lot, but that the new immigrants to East Africa were all poor and white, and it was impossible to put them into production immediately. The early rations were completely paid by the East African colonies.
In addition, land development, village and city construction, or wars in East Africa require a large amount of food as a guarantee.
The rations of slaves are not small. Where the number of slaves is, the total amount of food these people eat is indispensable.
In order to solve the problem of food for slaves, large tracts of corn and cassava were planted in East Africa as rations for slaves. These things have high yields and are easy to take care of. Basically, they can grow when planted in the ground, so food for slaves is easily solved.
Grain for sale is the main source of income for the East African colonies. However, grain cultivation is cyclical, coupled with the continuous influx of immigrants. At present, there is not much grain in East Africa for export, but with the huge arable land area, the amount is still considerable.
Naturally, the grains exported should be of the best quality, so that they can be competitive in the European market. With the help of low manpower and land costs, East Africa’s grain exports are very profitable.
Compared with food crops, economic crops are definitely more profitable, but the existence time in East Africa is too short now, and many economic crops have not yet entered the harvest stage.
For example, coffee plantations in Kenya take at least three to five years from planting to fruiting, rubber plantations along the Great Lakes take six to eight years, and special products such as cinchona trees take time.
Only economic crops such as sisal, clove, and peanut have entered the stage of sustainable production and export.
In the second half of the year, the area of East Africa did not expand much, mainly due to the simple expulsion of the indigenous people on the west side of the Mitumba Mountains.
The west side of the Mitumba Mountains is the buffer zone between the East African Plateau and the Congo Basin, and the terrain is relatively rugged.
The occupation of the Mitumba Mountains area can only be regarded as a continuation of the last Northwest War, so the East African government does not attach much importance to it.
The entire Mitumba Mountains area is densely covered with primeval forests and sparsely populated, and further west is the tropical rainforest climate.
So the East African colony easily acquired this place, about 200,000 square kilometers of land, mainly in the North Kivu and South Kivu provinces of the former Congo.
As the heritage of the eight northwestern countries, the Mitumba Mountains area was taken over by East Africa, and further west is the huge tropical rainforest, with few suitable places for survival.
There is no country in the Congo Basin, and all of them are tribes, which are collectively referred to as the tribes of the Northwest Bantu, corresponding to the tribes of the Eastern Bantu that have been wiped out.
It was only after Belgium invaded this place that it integrated the prototype of the former Congo, the famous Belgian Free State of the Congo.
Now the Mitumba Mountains in the Congo area are occupied by East Africa, and there is no place for Belgians here.
Next year, East Africa will swallow the Katanga Plateau in the south of the Congo and the east of Zambia according to last year's plan, so the only thing left to the Belgians in the future is the real Congo Basin, that is, the tropical rainforest area.
But all plateaus and mountains that are slightly suitable for human habitation are reserved or already occupied by East African colonies, and the emergence of East African colonies will definitely affect the score of the great powers in Africa in the future, and the future will be highly variable.
Currently, Ernst is not interested in the hinterland of the Congo Basin, the tropical rainforest, and the reputation of being a forbidden place for humans is not something to brag about.
Throughout this year, the territorial expansion of East Africa has not been very large. Together, it is about 500,000 to 600,000 square kilometers, mainly in the northwest.
Among them, the eight northwest countries took the most effort, but after eliminating and expelling the eight northwest countries, East Africa has also established a stable local rule. Except for Egypt in North Africa, no other forces can threaten this place.
In addition to population and area, East Africa has initially established a traditional handicraft system to meet the needs of colonial immigrants.
Including saltworks, brick kilns, lime factories, various handicraft workshops...
These are gradually promoted inland after taking over the industries in the eastern part of the former Sultanate of Zanzibar.
Low technical content and low output are its characteristics, but the East African colony is a blank slate, and the follow-up development can only be sought after solving the existing problems.
Technical content also means that it is easy to be mastered by practitioners. It is suitable for dissemination in an illiterate environment like East Africa. If something is really advanced, the maintenance of the machine may be difficult given the cultural level of colonial immigrants.
The group of people with the highest education in East Africa is equivalent to the elementary school level, and they are still scattered in various government agencies to maintain the operation of the East African colonies.
Of course, East Africa has also built several modern factories this year. Although the scale is not large, it can be regarded as the introduction.
Machine and parts all rely on imports, and at the same time need the guidance of professional technicians. Every factory needs European employees to watch from the construction to the production stage.
The most important thing is that East Africa does not have a complete industrial chain. What is lacking in Europe can be imported from neighboring countries, so even small countries can achieve industrialization with the help of Europe's complete industrial system.
As for East Africa, only one Egypt has achieved half a foot into industrialization, and it was cut off by Britain, France and the Ottoman Empire.
The colony of Mozambique next door is completely used by the Portuguese to **** blood. The level of industrialization in Portugal is not high, let alone a colony, so the conditions for industrialization in East Africa are still immature.
Of course, if you are willing to spend money, even the North and South Poles can build skyscrapers, but the Hexingen Consortium is not a welfare institution. The Hexingen Consortium under the control of Ernst itself has continued to transfuse blood into the East African colonies in exchange for today's population and scale.
If the whole world can't find a second company, it's like if the East India Company had been losing money in developing India, the British government would have given up on India long ago.
Why the colonists didn’t expand blindly, after all, it’s still a matter of cost, and the operation of the colony also requires costs.
The most worrying issue in East Africa is not to be lucky enough to develop and build, and finally give others a dowry, so the population and the army are the core of the East African colonies.
Only someone can provide more soldiers and military expenditures, and only a large-scale, advanced-equipped, and powerful army can protect the security of the East African colonies.
And for colonists like Ernst, people are also wealth. If the quality is not good, the quantity is enough to gather wealth for the royal family of Hechingen.
Just like India in the previous life, no matter how miserable ordinary people are, it will not affect Indian companies to rely on India's population and market to grow bigger and stronger.
(end of this chapter)