Chapter 432 Three channels
July 1873.
After more than half a year of hard work, the No. 1 section of the Central Canal was completed, taking nearly four months longer than the East African government's planned construction period.
This is also a helpless move, because it is really difficult for the initiative of the indigenous people to be fully utilized. At the original historical level, the period when the sub-Saharan African people were most productive was when Westerners were setting up slave plantations.
After African regions become independent, black countries will generally fall into a trend of declining productivity, because without anyone to restrain them, they will return to the unfettered nature of the primitive society.
This is not unique to Africa at all. In fact, it is also the case in India and Southeast Asia. Although the behavior of the colonists is unforgivable, in completely colonized areas, their work efficiency may be the highest in history.
The "laborers" in East Africa also face this problem. Even using whips and corporal punishment can only make these "laborers" barely reach the level of normal paddling workers.
Because they were beaten too much, these "workers" became resistant, triggering Stockholm syndrome. The "workers" became well-behaved and tame, but they also learned to work as hard as possible in "enjoyment".
Sometimes it is impossible to tell with the naked eye whether the work is done seriously, especially for work like digging. It is impossible for the supervisors in East Africa to hold a scale to weigh whether each shovelful of soil by the "laborer" meets the standard.
In fact, this is actually done in East Africa, but it uses a spot inspection method. The supervisor is responsible for visually inspecting the workload of the indigenous people. If the supervisor feels that the workers are lazy, they will stop the work and measure the amount of soil dug in the indigenous people's shovels.
The effective method is the reward and punishment mechanism, with "labor" supervising "labor", and working groups are designated to implement the elimination system for the last place.
If a working group ranks in the bottom three in terms of performance for three consecutive days, they will be given priority for sale to the United States and other regions. On the other hand, if a working group ranks first for three days, they will get the best "laborer" meal, which will last until the next group comes first.
This also creates a vicious cycle. If the already diligent "laborers" get a better standard of living, eat more, feel fuller, have more meat, and work more powerfully, the first place is likely to be ranked first. in first place, while the other teams have to avoid falling into the bottom three.
The reason is the fear of the unknown. They don't know where their compatriots who were taken away by the Germans will be sent! How the Germans punished them! Will he be eaten by the Germans?
Although cannibalism is a bit nonsense, this is how the indigenous people arranged it in private. In addition to the cannibalism theory, there are other theories about shooting, Shenhu, and peeling...
The whole of East Africa is completely a "terrorist" country. This is completely unfounded. Ernst did not have the eccentricity of wearing special leather shoes.
Although the rumors are outrageous, East Africa is happy to see the results. It is obvious that the efficiency of "laborers" has been greatly improved. As for those "laborers" who have been eliminated, they have already boarded ocean-going ships and left East Africa, a place of right and wrong.
Affected by the economic depression, the current "slave" business in East Africa has also been affected to a certain extent. However, there is no need to worry about selling good goods, just like the purchasing power of the Ottoman Empire is still very strong.
American plantation owners began to cut down on food and clothing due to the fall in international agricultural product prices caused by the agricultural crisis, abandoning wasteland on a large scale to reduce production, and at the same time laid off agricultural workers on a large scale.
However, although there are many ordinary agricultural workers laid off, the imported "East African indigenous laborers" are not included in this. As a replacement for slaves, the cost of "East African indigenous laborers" is actually lower.
After all, buying and selling slaves also costs money. In the previous slave trade era, the black-hearted slave traders would not pay for a series of expenses such as the capture, food, drink, and shipping fees of these slaves from Africa to the Americas. These costs would eventually fall on the planters. On the owner's head, slaves are not cheap.
Plantation owners' need to purchase slaves was that these slaves could create long-term profits for the plantations, and then earn back the cost of purchasing slaves with interest.
The "East African indigenous laborers" are different. Before the economic crisis, East Africa still charged a nominal fee. After the economic crisis broke out, in order to continue to stabilize the US market, East Africa began to subsidize the slave trade.
This subsidy is distributed based on the number of "immigrants". When the East African Kingdom exports indigenous people, the first destination is Haiti. The more indigenous people Haiti accepts, the more profitable it will be. As for how Haiti arranges these indigenous people, East Africa has nothing to do with it. . Excluding the shipping capacity, manpower, and rations that East Africa spent to export the indigenous people, East Africa also had to pay Haiti an additional 200,000 East African rhine guilders every year. This amount of money was not a small amount for Haiti.
In other words, it is not a small amount for the family power in Haiti. At the same time, after they get the "immigration", they can also add it to the plantation, or sell it to the United States. If they have to do a business without capital, they can even be more extreme. , put these "immigrants"...
In the previous life, the population of Haiti was more than 10 million, but now the population of Haiti is less than one million. Even if all the indigenous people from East Africa immigrated here, it would be affordable for the rulers of the seabed. After all, there is a Dominican Republic next to Haiti. Share a portion of the population.
Of course, the East African Kingdom will not use trafficking methods for indigenous people who are highly motivated to work, but it is impossible for East Africa to let them stay in East Africa for a lifetime.
The approach in East Africa is to extend the working life of these more active indigenous people in East Africa, and then when the time limit is up, send them to the Msili regime in West Africa and other indigenous forces that were expelled from East Africa.
After all, Musili is an East African. If you want to gain a foothold in West Africa, you need manpower, and the more the better. This is also one of the places where natives of East Africa go.
Generally speaking, after "laborers" retire in East Africa, there are three main places to go, one is Central Asia, then the Caribbean coast, and finally West Africa.
Of these three places, Central Asia is not a good place for "laborers" because the Arabs have special methods for "laborers" to make them lose their ability to reproduce.
The Caribbean coast depends on luck. If you go to the United States, you are somewhat humane. If you are left at the bottom of the sea, you may not be able to make a comeback for generations to come.
If they are placed on the territory of the benevolent East African monarchs who fled to West Africa, there will be mixed benefits and drawbacks. The good thing is that the "laborers" sent from East Africa are high-quality labor in West Africa. Even just farming can create wealth for people like Msiri. , so these "laborers" have two options for re-employment in West Africa, one is to farm, and the other is to serve as soldiers.
Compared with West Africans, the indigenous kings of East Africa believed more in the reliability of natives of the same race. Moreover, as outsiders and invaders, they were not welcome in West Africa, and conflicts were commonplace. The natives exported from East Africa could just support them. and the native chiefs of West Africa against each other.
So the export of slaves also intensified the conflicts in West Africa, but the overall impact of the conflicts on West Africa was not great, at least there was not much change in the population.
Because in addition to exporting labor, East Africa mainly exports to West Africa the women and children of the indigenous people. Without women, the indigenous people of East Africa would not be able to grow. This is one of the hidden national policies of East Africa.
After all, East Africa's ability to export "laborers" is limited, with an average of only 20,000 to 300,000 per year (not counting those who actively leave and escape). If one day East Africa is suddenly targeted, the slave trade is canceled by the international community, and black people are They cannot be exported from their hands, and all that are left are male blacks. They are also incapable of asexual reproduction and will naturally die out in just one generation.
In fact, there is no "massacre" in East Africa, but the number of local "laborers" lost every year is not a small number, so the destruction of corpses and traces has always been the finishing work that Ernst has to do.
It is definitely not possible to bury them anywhere like in North America. In East Africa, people are usually cremated and buried nearby.
If it turns into ashes, no future generations will be able to recognize it. After all, people in East Africa are cremated after death, mainly to prevent the outbreak of disease. This is one of the current political correctnesses in East Africa.
However, this is within the affordable range for immigrants from East Africa. Those who can make a living in East Africa are not in bad health, are relatively young, and have decades to live.
In fact, Ernst himself does not support cremation. After all, it is impossible for him to choose to cremate himself after death. However, the current sanitary conditions in East Africa are really poor, especially the medical technology is backward, so it is reasonable to be too cautious.
In any case, it will not be too late to cancel it in 20 to 30 years. By then, the medical level in East Africa will be able to reach a higher level.
(End of this chapter)