CHAPTER 536: CHAPTER 214 DROUGHT

According to this reasoning, East Africa can be considered a pseudo-great power. It can be seen as a great power among ordinary countries, but not when facing those countries above.

This state is similar to the Far East Empire in a previous life. In reality, the Far East Empire and the United States can be seen as two new superpowers confronting each other, considered unique nations. However, there are some indicators that the Far East Empire has not met the standards.

...

December 3, 1879.

"Your Highness, according to our records, the total number of immigrants to East Africa is over fourteen million six hundred thousand, with over thirteen million Black people registered as slaves."

"These are just a part of the records that can be used as a reference for the population statistics of East Africa. Of course, there’s a significant difference from the actual East African population data. For example, new births and deaths due to diseases and wars are not included."

"Additionally, the records have numerous missing entries and errors due to time’s passage, which damages some archives for various reasons, increasing the difficulty of our work."

With this, Ernst had a rough understanding of East Africa’s population data. Just the number of immigrants reached about fifteen million, so East Africa’s population, excluding Black people, should have doubled, roughly between thirty to forty million.

The number of Black people is also not to be ignored. A few years ago, the number of Black people was recorded as twenty-two million, and East Africa sent out about three million over the years, so the current Black population in East Africa should be close to twenty million but not yet there.

Among these nearly twenty million Black people, thirteen million are registered as "laborers" in East Africa, further indicating the essence of the East African slave empire.

Ernst asked, "When can your statistics be completed approximately?"

"It should be around March next year. After all, the workload is quite substantial. We need cooperation from various levels of government and a lot of calculations and reviews before we can finally get the results," Von der Leyen said.

Population statistics are not an easy task. The population data Von der Leyen previously provided for Ernst was instead the simplest to obtain. After all, the number of immigrants to East Africa, each time slaves were summoned and sold, was documented.

This is akin to accounting; East Africa also keeps a ledger, roughly calculating the population, since the number of immigrants and slaves is fixed. So every time there are new immigrants, they are promptly added to the total.

However, this method can only account for the number of immigrants arriving in East Africa. Once in East Africa, the situation becomes unclear, as migrating to East Africa carries risks. A significant number of people succumb to illnesses and other unforeseen reasons after arriving.

"Hmm, your work doesn’t need to be rushed, but it must be accurate, especially in preventing some people from concealing the population during statistics," Ernst emphasized.

In a country like East Africa, the phenomenon of concealed population is not impossible. Concealed population actually refers to undocumented residents, with the most likely being Blacks. East Africa is a slave state, enjoying the benefits of slavery, making it inevitable for some regions to secretly increase the number of slaves for local development or to be lazy. These slaves are unrecognized "laborers" by the East African authorities, which is illegal.

"Hmm, Your Highness, we will pay attention to this matter."

Ernst sipped his tea and said, "There’s no need to worry about offending anyone. If they are Black, it shows that the issue isn’t significant. However, for the sake of fairness, those hidden Black people should be redistributed by the government."

This is the difference between the local government and the Central Government. Local governments, for completing tasks and for their own interests, undertake some outlandish actions, while the Central Government must severely crack down on such phenomena.

However, in the attitude towards the local governments hiding more Black slaves, Ernst remains relatively lenient, allowing bygones to be bygones. This is because Blacks have no human rights and can only accept their fate.

"To what extent has the drought developed now?" Ernst continued to ask.

"Currently, the drought in the eastern coastal plains is within our controllable range. The situation in the plateau dry-farming agricultural areas is not as good. However, because drought-resistant crops are primarily grown, the situation is not too bad," Von der Leyen continued.

"In the coastal plain grain-producing areas, the water infrastructure we built over the years, with the reservoirs and irrigation systems we constructed, has played a significant role in drought resistance. Fortunately, during the long rainy season, we filled the large and small reservoirs with water, so we can now timely ensure agricultural irrigation."

"However, after the long rainy season comes the dry season, when we also have a demand for water. The dry season lasts about four to five months after the long rainy season, during which the reservoir is continuously in a water release state, reducing the storage capacity by about twenty percent."

"By the time the short rainy season arrives, due to water use and loss, the reservoir typically has only sixty to seventy percent capacity left. This unusual drought situation has created some pressure on our work, but as long as we hold out until March next year, the situation should significantly ease."

"As for the plateau grain-producing areas, the biggest problem arises from the confusion caused by irrigation construction, so the situation is worse than in the coastal plains."

The construction of water infrastructure inevitably affects the original natural forms, causing certain impacts on the wetland ecosystems of rivers and lakes, which is why the problems in the plateau grain-producing areas are larger than those in the eastern coastal plains.

Nonetheless, in transforming the East African environment, one cannot be too concerned about some minor details. If no changes were made, then human society would have no reason to exist and might as well return to the trees as monkeys.

Therefore, Ernst said to his subordinates, "Water infrastructure construction will inevitably have some short-term negative impacts on us. However, the overall benefits upon completion are what I truly value, so water infrastructure construction must be steadily advanced. It could even influence East Africa’s agricultural development for the next century."

Von der Leyen found Ernst’s words somewhat puzzling. Water infrastructure is naturally beneficial, but why does His Highness imply that there are disadvantages?

After all, they were not considering these issues from the mindset of the same era. Ernst’s environmentally conscious thinking is somewhat out of place in the 19th century. The people of the 19th century were quite confident, with the belief that "man conquers nature" firmly imprinted in their minds, a significant impact of the industrial revolution on human thought.

In fact, as the 20th century arrived, humanity began to contemplate how to live harmoniously with nature because conquering nature was an unattainable task. Merely believing in "man conquers nature" was futile, and as technology advanced, humans increasingly realized their insignificance in the face of nature.

By the 21st century, the emergence of "environmentalism" took a deviant path. Of course, Ernst referred to extreme environmentalism. In the past, people believed in science, but in the 21st century, many began to question science.

Therefore, societal thinking adjusts to the development of the era, and the human mind is not as strong as imagined. When society encounters setbacks, it easily veers into extreme paths.

The 19th century was an era of grand development, at least the psychological satisfaction of the Western world, full of confidence and optimism. This way, it was easy for future problems and drawbacks to be overlooked. Ernst aims to identify and fill these gaps in East Africa during this era.