CHAPTER 425: CHAPTER 102: BUY AND BUILD TOGETHER

After the discussion on the naval academy’s name was concluded, the construction of the Ferdinand Naval Academy was finalized. As with Heixinggen Military Academy, Ernst would serve as honorary principal.

Prince Constantine said, "Ernst, are you perhaps addicted to being the principal?"

"Father, that’s a misunderstanding. Although my personal military skills are not very strong, it’s in the ideological development of the campus that lies my expertise."

Although Ernst rarely participated in teaching, he believed he had unique insights into political education, having been educated in this area from a young age.

"Vigorously developing the navy is currently a necessary move for the Kingdom of East Africa. The East African navy has become a critical shortcoming, which leads to a greater risk of maritime threats than land threats to the Kingdom of East Africa.

In comparison, the East African army faces relatively less pressure on defense because it has developed into the largest in Africa in terms of scale. Frankly, unless a nation mobilizes all its resources, there is currently no country that can defeat East Africa in the African interior.

However, our naval shortcomings are very obvious: insufficient personnel and insufficient number of ships. As long as other countries send a fleet, they could potentially sink the entire East African navy, so developing a navy sufficient to protect East Africa’s coastal areas is now our top priority," Ernst plainly stated.

The development of the East African navy was urgent, of course, but Ernst did not intend to expand the navy to an exaggerated degree. As Grand Duke Ferdinand pointed out, what East Africa lacks is a system, not just warships. Even if many ships are purchased, without a system to maintain them, they are merely scrap iron.

Constantine: "The naval issue is a long-term endeavor, not something that can be completed overnight. Even a strong country like Germany took decades to develop its navy. So, as long as our Kingdom of East Africa progresses gradually and steadily manages the African region, that will be enough."

Germany’s scale compared to East Africa is much more exaggerated. Apart from the advantage in size, in various metrics, East Africa cannot compete with Germany. Nevertheless, Constantine was now quite satisfied. At least the two could still be compared, unlike the previous Heixinggen Principality, which had no such qualifications.

But the Kingdom of East Africa is by no means complacent. Firstly, East Africa has in fact become the world’s largest exporter of slaves, which is contrary to the ever-strengthening abolitionist movement in the international community.

In Ernst’s view, the abolitionist movement is like the tears of a crocodile, extremely hypocritical, merely used to deceive Europe’s so-called ’saints.’

The real reason is that with the development of British industry, the slave trade was no longer profitable. Previously, British industry was entirely dependent on the slave trade, with industrial products needing slave-carrying ships to be sold around the world.

Now, with increased productivity and vastly improved product quality, the British no longer need to forcibly sell their products through the slave trade and instead have moved towards promoting free trade. In reality, once the British encounter setbacks, they revert to their old ways, as exemplified by the Opium Wars.

In previous lifetimes, there were numerous examples of Europe and the U.S. resorting to desperate measures, such as in the automotive industry, where when they were making money, it was free trade; when others were making money, it was dumping, warranting anti-dumping investigations.

The market itself needs others to be willing to open up to you before you can enter, or else, just like during the colonial era, forcibly open up other markets. Otherwise, why should Europe and the U.S. reap profits worldwide and live a superior life with human rights? Before Ernst’s crossover, Europe was already on this old path, finding it increasingly difficult to "harvest leeks." Thus, they first started to think about solutions starting from their citizens’ pensions and other benefits.

As for America, it has always taken the path of suppressing its own residents through foreign immigration, with the Latino community working themselves to the bone, while the lower-class country folks suffer in misery, with old industrial areas and traditional countryside falling into decline.

The slave trade was similar, with the main profits actually seized by later participants, which is why Britain and France, under the guise of moral elevation, transitioned from being slave traders to "noble gentlemen" against the slave trade.

East Africa is one of these later participants. Now, as the world economy was thriving, the European powers like Britain and France were not in a position to confront the Kingdom of East Africa. But once the economy encounters a downturn, they would inevitably revert to expansion.

Traditional colonial regions in North and South America have begun to break free from the control of major powers after hundreds of years of development, so Africa becomes the prime target for the next major powers.

Within this undercurrent that has subtly emerged, if the Kingdom of East Africa intends to maintain its independence, it must develop its navy to fend off enemies at the gates.

Ernst continued, "In terms of purchasing warships, I’ll need my father-in-law, you, to pay extra attention. Besides, there is no need to consider some smaller ships for now."

Grand Duke Ferdinand: "Of course, this falls under my responsibilities. However, smaller vessels are also an indispensable part of the navy. What are your thoughts on this matter?"

Ernst explained, "My plan for these smaller vessels is to have them designed and constructed by the four major shipyards under Heixinggen. This will help East Africa accumulate talent and technology for building its own ships."

Having the construction of small self-use vessels handled by Heixinggen’s shipyards is entirely feasible. In reality, with adequate funding, undertaking the construction of some large warships is also possible.

Nevertheless, Ernst dared not gamble, as private enterprises manufacturing warships is common in Europe, and even the mighty Royal Navy uses a combination of military and civilian resources.

However, Heixinggen’s shipyards lack experience in building military ships, particularly in advanced technologies.

As for the wooden warships previously built by East Africa, their technical sources were the shipyards of Venice, which had experience building sail warships for the Venetian navy, and the other three shipyards replicated the technologies of the Venetian shipyards.

However, with the rise of steam power and ironclad ships, the Venetian shipyard had fallen into decline, only beginning to restart its steam power research after Ernst’s investment.

Ernst continued, "The Bajamojo Shipyard must undertake most of the work this time. In terms of technology, more should be imported from Europe, and there should be a focus on vigorously training workers."

Most workers at the Bajamojo Shipyard are immigrants from German and Italian regions, with only a handful of immigrants from the Far East.

This is also characteristic of East Africa. In practice, in factories requiring some degree of skill, workers are primarily immigrants from German regions.

German region immigrants have received basic education, making them more suited to becoming industrial workers, whereas Far East immigrants can barely distinguish left from right and can hardly count to five, making it difficult to put them in factories.

Of course, this situation is also changing. Last year, East Africa’s first-generation elementary school students had already graduated. This is also one of the reasons why East Africa can send students abroad to Germany and the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

In this regard, East Africa has some advantages over the Far East, lacking a language barrier. The first batch of official students from the Far East also went to study in Germany and the U.S. this year, a total of fifty people, thirty of whom went to Germany and the Austro-Hungarian Empire on the recommendation of East African embassies.

The reason provided by the East African embassies was very convincing: as a feudal monarch state, you send students not to the monarchies of Germany and Austria but instead to the U.S.? It’s no wonder why the Great Qing is doomed.

East Africa’s first batch of foreign students was five hundred, not a large number, as East Africa did not take many families along during the early colonial era. Moreover, East Africa already had an educational base in Germany. Schools in the Heixinggen Principality maintained a scale of over twenty thousand students annually (including orphans from Europe and German regions).