Chapter 206 "Collecting Trash"
Constantine and Maximilian I chatted for a long time. In a word, if you want money, you can talk about everything else except money.
Facing the cheeky Prince Constantine, the first naval commander in East Africa could only return without success. Not only did he not get support, but he had to take in a lot of resources himself.
And Ernst, who Constantine said was short of money recently, is conducting an investigation in the Ruhr area of Prussia.
…
Thick smoke, dark clouds overwhelming the sky.
This is what Ernst saw in the cities of the Ruhr area. The Ruhr area is rich in coal resources, but lacks iron ore.
Fortunately, the transportation here is extremely convenient. The Rhine River, the Ruhr River, and the Lippe River meet, the river network is densely covered, and the river transport is well developed.
"The environment is really nice!" Ernst said sincerely.
"Your Highness, I think the environment here is far worse than that in Berlin, and the air in Berlin is not so dirty." The manager of the accompanying Hechingen Bank said.
"I'm talking about the industrial environment, not the natural environment. Remember that our trip is not for tourism, but to inspect local industrial equipment and factories."
"By the way, how about your local research?" Ernst asked.
"Your Highness, we have visited two-thirds of the local enterprises and factories. Many enterprises and factories are currently expanding. The German market has been booming in recent years, so they are also busy with production and expanding production capacity.
Many machinery and equipment have been snapped up by related companies and factories as soon as they leave the factory, and the price of machinery has also been fired very high.
However, there are also advantages. In order to improve production efficiency, some large enterprises and small workshops are stepping up the elimination of old machines and equipment. Although these equipment are a bit outdated, the price is also cheap and the quantity is large. If it is high, our suggestion is to buy these second-hand equipment or better. "
"My request is not too high, but you can't take it lightly. If you buy a pile of scrap iron, I will be really angry!" Ernst said.
On this trip, Ernst came here nominally to investigate, but in fact he came to collect junk. This is also an old tradition of the Hexingen Consortium.
At the beginning, we received second-hand military uniforms and weapons from the Prussian Army, and now we are purchasing second-hand industrial equipment from Prussia.
These obsolete industrial equipment really have no good place to be placed in Prussia, but placing them in East Africa is definitely a sharp weapon to increase East Africa's production capacity.
The poor city of Mbeya is still using a lot of "labor", using simple tools such as hoes and shovels, to produce coal for East Africa by carrying them on their shoulders.
"Labor" is also a resource. If some of them can be liberated from coal mines, East Africa can invest more manpower in other projects.
"Your Highness, don't worry, we have specially hired a group of professionals this time, and will conduct a professional inspection of the equipment in advance to evaluate whether it is suitable for continued use.
At the same time, we will actively cooperate with big companies such as Krupp. The equipment they have eliminated should be more reliable in quality. "
Even if it is tattered, the value will not be low, because Ernst’s purchase volume this time is very large, otherwise he would not have been accompanied by the manager of Hechingen Bank.
According to political and economic standards, East Africa is a proper feudal agricultural country, but feudalism and agriculture do not mean that there is no industry.
Now that even the Qing government and Japan are engaged in industrial construction, East Africa naturally cannot be willing to be left behind.
However, the two countries in the Far East are too strong. Take Japan as an example. It has a relatively long history and a very dense population. It has everything it should have, but it is behind the times. There is really no advantage, there are a lot of minerals, but they have to be developed first.
And Japan's current reform is not too difficult. After all, the Japanese have a way of bearing humiliation. As long as they are willing to give the green light to Britain and the United States, Britain and the United States are also willing to support Japan.
Japan has done the same in history. Just for the construction of railways from Tokyo to Osaka, Yokohama and Hyogo, the Meiji government issued a bond of 1 million pounds in the UK with the customs revenue of all Japan as collateral.
Moreover, supporting Japan can contain the Far East and Tsarist Russia. Strategically, Britain and the United States also need a stronger Japan.
East Africa does not have this condition. Now East Africa has not introduced foreign capital, and it cannot do this, not to mention Britain and the United States, even Prussia and Austria.
That is not the introduction of foreign capital, but the life of the royal family of Hexingen. After all, East Africa is basically of no value for cooperation and use by countries.
Instead, it is a potential competitor. After all, there is no greedy Tsarist Russia next to East Africa, and East Africa itself is "African Tsarist Russia".
So all trade in East Africa is only run through the Hexingen consortium, and the data is in their own hands, and they will not be published to avoid attracting the attention of other countries.
There are also disadvantages, that is, there is a large funding gap, and the construction of East Africa is completely dependent on the Hexingen Consortium. This is why Ernst chose agriculture as his foothold in East Africa.
The investment in agriculture is small, and the speed of returning funds is not too slow. It is not very profitable to make money, but people are retained.
"This time we will focus on mining and iron-making equipment, and strive to build a primary industrial city in East Africa." Ernst said.
What Ernst was talking about was Mbeya City, which is located deep in the hinterland of East Africa. It has good resources, coal and iron resources, and the climate is suitable for industrial development. However, the traffic conditions are not very good, but the industrial products in East Africa must be used for their own use and digested internally. That's it, no need to export.
"Your Highness, the corresponding mechanical equipment is not difficult, but the problem of having mechanical equipment without professional workers is not easy to solve."
"Don't worry about this, I will naturally have a solution when the time comes, so you don't have to worry about it."
The solution that Ernst said is "paying to work". Ernst plans to transfer a group of immigrants from the Far East to the Ruhr area for "internships". The wages are paid by himself, and they will enter the factories in the Ruhr area to gain experience for a period of time. , and then sent directly to East Africa.
Ernst can still afford this amount of money. To be honest, how much salary are you going to pay the Far East immigrants? It is enough to maintain food and clothing, and Ernst will not pay for any more.
And the German factory owners have no reason to refuse. They will give you a part-time job for "free" for a period of time, so you can say whether you need it or not!
In this way, the most basic industrial workers are solved. The low-end ones are those heavy and tiring jobs without technical content, so they go to "labor". Technicians are enough, that is, to overhaul those second-hand machines at any time to ensure the normal operation of the equipment.
This trash collection event was quite a sensation. The entire Ruhr area was the target of the Hechingen consortium, because it had the most complete industrial equipment and dense cities, so it wouldn't run around in the whole of Germany.
And after the equipment is in hand, it is very convenient to disassemble the parts and use the river and railway to go directly to the North German Federal Port for shipment to East Africa.
(end of this chapter)