Prince Constantine, without doubt, is a notable figure in the southern territories of the German lands. Just a simple exchange with the major nobles across regions, and he gained the support of the southern states.
For the Southern German nobility, emigrating overseas is actually a good thing. The Southern German region mainly relies on agriculture, and farrs are a highly fertile group.
Moreover, the land in Southern Germany is fertile, and the farrs’ living standards are decent. In normal years, they can freely have children, but when a disaster strikes, it’s a different story.
And given that Southern Germany already has a high population density, the nobles’ territories themselves are not lacking in population. Naturally, the nobles don’t care about the lives of those affected by disasters. After all, the land is in the hands of the nobles. If you don’t farm, soone else will.
In addition, the industrial level in Southern Germany is not high (compared to Prussia and Austria), unable to absorb the excess population.
Thus, unemployed farrs had to find their own way out. Previously, most Southern German farrs went to Arica.
This wasn’t because the conditions in Arica were particularly favorable, but because German emigrants truly had nowhere else to go. European countries, due to reasons such as religion and population, were resistant to immigrants, while the British had initially enticed many Germans to North Arica to develop the area.
Among these Germans who went to Arica, a few managed to rise to prominence, but for most, their lives did not see much improvent. Especially in the early days, the living conditions of German emigrants were very harsh. Many Germans who arrived in Arica beca so-called "indentured servants," their status barely above that of Black slaves.
However, due to historical inertia and the increasingly welcoming attitude of Arica towards immigrants (even the Black slaves were liberated), going to Arica for developnt remained the first choice for German emigrants.
Especially recently, as Prussia has stabilized and gained control over the North German region, emigration from North Germany has significantly decreased.
In contrast, the southern region has not yet fallen under Prussian control, and with poor harvests, emigration has increased rather than decreased (1866 to 1869 was a peak period for Southern German emigration. Source: Internet).
But the situation in Arica has improved again—with the end of the Civil War, Arica began its westward developnt, increasing its demand for immigrants.
Hence, Ernst’s mission now is to "steal" people from the Aricans, and the chances of success are definitely high this ti.
Previously, the German regions had no colonies of their own overseas (both Prussia and Austria had made attempts, but these were mostly spontaneous actions by rchants, leading to failures). So German emigrants naturally could only survive in British colonies.
Now, the East African colony is a colony developed by the Germans themselves (Heixinggen is a Vassal State of the German lands, and after being incorporated into Prussia, it nominally retained its status and participated in Prussian politics as a vassal), and it has a vast area that has undergone preliminary developnt. The conditions are not bad, providing German emigrants with a new option.
This isn’t the main point; the primary advantage is that Heixinggen itself is one of the local powers in the Southern German region, interconnected with the Southern German nobility, all being one of their own.
And the residents of Southern Germany are all subjects of the nobility, and the peasant slave system was only abolished not long ago (for instance, Bavaria abolished peasant slavery in 1808), so the nobility’s influence on the local farrs is still profound.
Therefore, as long as the support of the local nobles is secured, Heixinggen can gain a large number of emigrants who historically went to Arica.
And historically, German emigrants to Arica showed little interest in politics, a trait that resembles that of the Far East migrant groups, which only makes it more convenient for Ernst to manage.
Of course, swallowing all these emigrants is impossible, since so may choose to go to Arica to join relatives and friends, but such people are the minority, and Ernst doesn’t mind.
...
Kingdom of Württemberg.
A group of people gathered around the recruitnt station of the Heixinggen Consortium, which is quite simple, just a platform set up in the village.
Most of those who ca to inquire were ragged German farrs.
"Sir, we have never heard of this East African colony. Is it reliable for us to live and work there?" asked a Württemberg farr, Oruch Res, to the staff mber of the Heixinggen Consortium, Eric Knight.
"Rest assured, the East African colony is a territory developed by us Germans overseas, covering an area larger than two German regions combined, and already ho to over one million Germans. Previously, most of the recruits were residents from the Austria-Hungary Empire, which is why you haven’t heard of it," Eric Knight exaggerated. He glorified the entire East African colony’s population (including the natives) as Germans to convince this group to move to East Africa with peace of mind.
"Uh... how much is over a million? Sir, I haven’t gone to school, so I can count only to ten! Could you possibly give us an analogy?" asked one farr embarrassingly.
Eric Knight felt a wave of awkwardness, but for the sake of his performance, he cheerfully said, "Your village, on the map of the Kingdom of Württemberg, is just as big as a grain of wheat tossed into a pond. And there are hundreds of thousands of villages like yours in the Kingdom of Württemberg. The entire population of all villages and cities in Württemberg is about the sa as that of the East African colony."
"Wow! With so many people in East Africa, the sa as the whole kingdom, why are they still recruiting us for developnt?" a farr asked puzzledly.
Goodness, my words were for nothing, thought Eric Knight. There was no helping it, the villagers’ knowledge level was too low to comprehend his words. Yet, Eric Knight did not give up, as it’s actually easier to bluff those with a low level of knowledge; it just takes a bit more explanation.
"This is different, how about this, let draw it for you on the ground."
Eric Knight found a twig and squatted down to clear a space on the ground.
"Here’s the Kingdom of Württemberg." He said as he drew a small circle the size of a thumbnail.
"And this is the East African colony." Eric Knight stretched out his arms to draw a circle with a diater of a ter, "You see, this is the size difference between Württemberg and the East African colony. That way, the size of your village compared to the land of Württemberg is like the size of Württemberg compared to the land of the East African colony."
"You see, the land in the East African colony is this big, yet the population is the sa as that of the tiny Württemberg. That’s why the East African colony is recruiting people to develop it!" Eric Knight explained to the villagers.
"What does East Africa look like? Is it like Württemberg, is the land there fertile, how’s the rainfall?" so villagers asked.
"East Africa! It’s sowhat similar to here, not too cold or too hot, and the land is quite flat. The precipitation is sowhat similar to ours, and there are many rivers, great for growing crops. Of course, it has so drawbacks — there aren’t many people, and there are more wild beasts. But don’t worry, the East African colonial governnt will organize an army to clear the beasts before arranging for you to develop the land. Safety is assured," Eric Knight said, half-truthfully.
In reality, current German emigrants to the East African colony would typically not go to those barren places.
Ernst, to balance the Chinese immigrants, would surely distribute the German emigrants into the existing colonial cities and settlents.
Therefore, even the worst situation for German emigrants would be to be assigned to well-developed villages, with no chance of forming independent communities.
After all, to integrate East African and Chinese culture, achieving Germanization, they couldn’t allow Chinatowns to exist like in later Southeast Asia.
If they all lived together, there would be no need to interact with other ethnic groups, and how would they integrate among each other?
As for why Eric Knight needed to deceive these villagers, it was actually to alleviate their concerns.
After all, if East Africa were praised too highly, it would surely arouse the villagers’ suspicion. Only by ntioning East Africa’s drawbacks could their doubts be dispelled without scaring them away as well.
And the wild beasts made for a great excuse, posing indeed so degree of danger, while also proving East Africa indeed had a lot of wasteland. Saying the East African colonial governnt would send troops for clearing could further assure the villagers subconsciously, as wild beasts definitely couldn’t fight against ard troops.
User Comments
0 comments from readers