Chapter 673 Ivory
Selling naval ships is actually no different from dealing with scrap copper and scrap iron. It’s just that in this era, scrap copper and scrap iron also have a high value.
What's more, the ironclad ship with its weapons system can be said to be the most advanced technological weapon of this era, and is on the same level as the aircraft carriers of previous generations.
After Archduke Ferdinand arranged naval work, von der Leyen began to report to Ernst about the ivory business in East Africa last year.
"The ivory business in East Africa has always been booming. Last year, the transaction volume of ivory was more than 40,000 pieces, of which we have more than 20,000 pieces in stock, which is one of the approximately 10,000 elephants that died in East Africa in 1884 from the guns of hunters. "
The ivory business has always been one of the most prosperous businesses in East Africa. The Europeans first colonized Africa for three things: gold, ivory and black slaves. Therefore, the terms Gold Coast and Ivory Coast exist. In fact, "black people" "Coast" should also exist, but Europeans and Americans still have to build "archways" after all.
“How much ivory do we have left in our stockpile?” Ernst asked.
“There are still more than two million pieces. Based on the current annual shipment volume, it is enough for us to export for more than a hundred years.”
In the past two decades, more than 3 million elephants have been hunted in East Africa alone, with an average of more than 100,000 elephants slaughtered every year. However, the number of wild elephants in East Africa remains at least 6 million. After all, East Africa There are no relevant statistics, so it is difficult to judge the specific number.
At the beginning of the 19th century, the number of African elephants in Africa should have been more than 26 million, which was more than the number of black people in East Africa today. Compared with the only more than 400,000 African elephants left in the previous life, this number is indeed an exaggeration. .
“Last year, the international ivory market was not very good. Because West African ivory shipments increased, we could only lower the price of ivory slightly.”
The reason why East African ivory is subject to competition from West Africa is simple. In recent years, European and American colonists have stepped up their activities in West Africa, and East Africa has monopolized most of the raw material supply sources. This has led to a steady increase in West African ivory production.
Of course, the price paid is also obvious, that is, the elephants in West Africa were once again brutally murdered and embarked on the same path as their relatives and friends in East Africa.
The reason why it is said that it was brutally murdered again is because the trading center of ivory used to be on the coast of West Africa. Later, with the integration and large-scale development of East Africa, East Africa, which covers tens of millions of square kilometers, became the new world ivory supply center. At present, The world's largest ivory trading market is in Mombasa.
East Africa is equal to one-third of Africa, and the desert terrain of North Africa is obviously not suitable for elephants to survive, so the remaining elephants are mainly in areas such as West Africa, Abyssinia, Angola, Mozambique and Cape Town.
Among them, West Africa has the largest area, so it is the second ivory producing area after East Africa. However, the colonial history of West Africa is earlier than that of East Africa, so the number of wild elephants was not more than that of East Africa at the beginning.
In the 1970s, following the rapid expansion and development of East Africa, a large number of East African wild elephants were exterminated, so the number of East African elephants fell off a cliff in the 1970s.
It’s hard to say who has more elephants in West Africa or East Africa, but the hunting of elephants in East Africa has been greatly reduced.
To be honest, the killing was almost done. Especially in the eastern region, the area of human activities has basically not expanded, and Ernst is too lazy to cause trouble with animals. As for the western region, which is accelerating development, it is completely different.
“Find some time to do a survey on the number of elephants in East Africa. We need to have a full understanding of the wild elephants in East Africa. After all, ivory is not as easy to grow as leeks.” Ernst ordered.
Ernst’s purpose in understanding the current number of elephants in East Africa is not to have a heart attack, but to maintain the ivory business. Just like the kangaroos in Australia in his previous life, if there are too many, they can be killed. According to the current situation in East Africa, Like quantity, as long as it is kept within a reasonable range, stable supply can be guaranteed in the future. However, in the past, most African countries chose to fish from the lake, so the number of African elephants has been declining without effective recovery.
Ernst now wants to help other countries go a step further so that East Africa can fish sustainably in the future.
“In the past few years, the inventory of ivory has been increased to 30,000, and the number of ivory exports has been maintained at around 40,000 tusks each year. We import the rest from West Africa.”
Imported from West Africa?
“Your Highness, are you sure you are right? East Africa is the world’s largest producer of ivory. Why don’t we import ivory from West Africa?”
Ernst said: "Because I am not satisfied with the current ivory market structure. We need to unify East Africa and South Africa in the future. We don't care much about these small markets, but West Africa is a competitive market that threatens us. So we should explode this market."
“To be honest, the growth cycle of elephants is quite slow, but the world’s demand for ivory is increasing every year. According to our experience in East Africa, it is difficult or even impossible for elephant populations to recover under mass extinction.”
“As a centralized country in East Africa, we can adjust policies in a timely manner to ensure that the number of African elephants is maintained within a reasonable range and ensure the sustainability of ivory production in East Africa in the future.”
"And these are things that the future sovereign states of West Africa don't care about. They just want to get more benefits from West Africa. Therefore, in the next 20 to 30 years, the elephant herds in West Africa will suffer a devastating blow. I predict that by the beginning of the twentieth century, The number of African elephants in West Africa may be halved."
“Our job in East Africa is to further intensify this market trend, and we can also obtain certain profits by reselling ivory. It is nothing more than paying more freight. Anyway, it will be a convenient thing after the western section of the Northern Railway is completed.”
Ernst’s purpose is to speed up the ivory trade in West Africa. Isn’t there a saying that if there is no trade, there will be no killing!
East Africa can achieve this through trade with the indigenous West Africans, and the price paid is nothing more than cheap industrial products and food.
The ivory purchased from West Africa is then resold to the Far Eastern Empire, the world's largest ivory consumer. This can still guarantee a certain profit, because the overall supply of ivory exceeds demand.
In order to obtain substitutes for ivory in previous lives, some people even went to Siberia to search for the ivory of mammoths sealed in the frozen soil, which shows the vastness of the market.
“Your Highness, do you mean to seal up most of our ivory and ensure the living space of elephants in the future?” The subordinate felt that Ernst was a little whimsical.
After all, the 19th century was followed by the first and second industrial revolutions, which gave mankind the illusion that "man will conquer nature" in the future. What Ernst is doing now is absolutely a waste of effort in the eyes of most people.
But Ernst doesn’t care. After all, people today have different thinking patterns from people in the 21st century. Ernst is not a member of animal protection. He only considers this matter from an industrial perspective.
In the 21st century, in order to restore the number of elephants, various countries can be said to have crossed the sea and show their magical powers. As long as East Africa kills less, it is estimated that by the end of the next century, it will be able to monopolize most of the market, so it is still very cost-effective.
After all, East Africa now is different from those poor African countries in previous generations. There is no need to simply look at the ivory business to increase income. Ivory income only accounts for a small share of the income of East African countries, which is basically negligible. However, the single profit is greater than that of food. Ordinary industrial products are higher.
(End of this chapter)