Chapter 34： "African Construction Corps" (1/2)
”Your Royal Highness, are we too kind to the natives of Africa? These guys are not civilized and can only be regarded as a cheap tool of labor. Only by giving them limited means of subsistence can they be allowed to work. We can be like the colonial authorities. Command them with a rifle like that!” Major Huck said cautiously.
”Using a rifle? Of course you can. The result of this is that maybe one day you might die under the aboriginal scimitars and poisonous arrows. I really don't care about this. Although the Kingdom of Bavaria is not big, there are at least three armies. The configuration of 18 cavalry regiments.” Ruprecht said irritably. ”Without you, I can easily pull out another team.”
”Uh.” Hacker was speechless.
”Remember our purpose, we are to make money! Make money! Isn't it good to recover the cost of not making money? What do you do in Africa under the scorching sun and mosquito bites if you don't make money? The investment and benefits that should be given cannot be less! Why did the colony run by the empire lose all its money? The funding for suppressing the uprising is too high! Blacks are also humans, so they will kill you if they don't give them a way to survive!” The prince is really anxious.
Lao Tzu paid you to have a good relationship with the local snakes, don’t you? Do you think you are very NB? Lao Tzu tells you as a ”coming” person, it's useless! It's not that Germany can't beat those indigenous people, but that it can't be counted! From 1904 to 1907, the Germans threw away 600 million marks in order to suppress the uprising in Namibia! In the end, the Germans who suffered a loss had to change their strategy and became, as long as they worked, what other loves were, and they began to absorb Africans into the colonial army.
600 million marks, what can't you do? Don't say 600 million, you can't spend 1% of the money to buy and hire local people! A Herero farmer in Namibia just bought a bag of corn on credit, and the German who asked for the debt finally took the principal of 8 bulls and the interest of 2 cows! Who can bear this? Such things as free land expropriation and forced labor without payment are even more common.
The Germans thought they had saved money, but in the end, Germany got off the hook. The local Naama and Herero people just turned the table and quit! As soon as the uprising broke out, the Germans took in more than 2,000 lives and 600 million marks in military expenditure in more than three years. This is not considered a direct and indirect loss!
”Eating meat for the indigenous people to drink soup” This is Ruprecht's principle! ”Civilized Germans” and local natives jointly build a colony in Southwest Africa is the prince's goal! If anyone can't make it through these two points, I don't care if you are a German or an aboriginal! To put it bluntly, don't both black and white people work for the prince? They are all working people at the bottom, what kind of superiority do they show?
At that time, the black people did not have such a strong national consciousness, and they were all poor people struggling on the poverty line. They gave ordinary people a few pieces of black bread and gave the chiefs thousands of marks to solve all problems. Bavaria did not lack this. Some money! Not to mention the need for those big soldiers to pay for themselves, listen to the chiefs, and do their jobs well, and don't take care of everything else!
”Major, between your words and your performance, I don't think you are suitable for the command of the African Development Team. From now on, you have only one job, and that is to be responsible for the safety of the camp and personnel. Working under the command of Dr. Itmel, in addition, I will set up a monitoring team in the team to impose sanctions on all actions against the will of the kingdom!” The prince said sharply.
”Your will is my responsibility.” Major Huck is unwilling to say anything even if there are 10,000 people who are dissatisfied. Let alone the terrible punishment, just three times the annual salary and a higher and faster promotion guarantee. Let him not give up. How to get the truth without going through the ninety-nine and eighty-one difficulties? Without going around Africa, the **** of the baron who has fallen has no chance to revive the family.
”Okay, you can go out now, let Dr. Itmel come in, I have something to tell him.” The traveler is almost ready to watch the fire, just scare it. Major Huck is just today’s appetizer. It took only 20 minutes to talk about it. The two hours from now until lunch are reserved for the Dr. Itmel from the Netherlands!
”As an expert in the mining field, I believe in your abilities, and for this trust, I paid you a large reward and a noble title. I hope you will not let me down.” For those with skills, the prince is still very good. Respectful, just because of his experience in finding tin for the French in West Africa, digging for gold in South Africa, and finding iron ore in the Qing Dynasty, the traveler thought he had no problem finding diamonds in the place he marked out!