Chapter 74 Dreamland

"... East Africa under the rule of the empire is mysterious and strange. There, the gentry, mainly large farmers, wore black soft military hats, surrounded by black servants and strictly guarded them; in the vast central grassland, tax officials were in the scorching sun and collected taxes everywhere; in the summer resort of the snowy mountain of Kilimanjaro, on a rich banquet of the empire, there were delicacies and sea flavors. The jade liquid is full of dining tables; on the lawn of the senior club, the golf competition is repeated; on the Serengeti savannah, the horse racing competition is in full swing in the dust. In the tropical jungle, the hunting competition is exciting. In the dense forest, the chief executive in a tailless dress camped. While tasting delicious food, he solemnly raised his glass and wished the great emperor, the owner of all the land in East Africa, the great emperor, a long life. While listening to the howling of African coyotes in the dark. Under the scorching sunshine of Africa, the officers in combat uniforms chased the remnants of the German police force... slightly rules. The model manor owner's family has a large-scale restaurant. For immigrants, except for sports competitions, banquets have always been the best choice to relieve homesickness. These people, who had not been relatives before, held intimate family banquets every day, attended by at least dozens of guests, and a black servant stood behind each guest.

Here, almost everyone enjoys a rich and comfortable life. Sports competitions and banquets, and even Western-style dances are the main ways of their life!"

Fantasy Land - East Africa of the Empire - Empire Times

The colony is so strange to the Chinese people that when those officers and soldiers who will recuperate in the plantation are in the colony, it is difficult to adapt that they are in the colony. Only the "Black people are forbidden to enter" sign written in Chinese and German on the door reminds the officers and soldiers in the carriage that they are in the empire. The colony.

"... At that time, the German East African authorities also set up telegraph and telephone cables along the railway line, but soon after, it was found that this was a long-term headache for them: the rhino rhino began to use its bulky body to rub the telegraph pole for fun, and any normal baboon could not resist swinging on the wire. The fun of swinging, giraffes can easily cross the rails, but they don't want to condescend to bend down through the metal lines set up when the whites occupied their land. Giraffe flocks to the Serengati prairie and Masai grasslands have become the terminators of the strategic communication lines of the German overseas empire, of course..."

In the carriage, the conductor specially emphasized with a strong Shandong tone.

"Now the giraffe group is also the terminator of the strategic communication line of the Chinese overseas empire!"

"What is a giraffe?"

Suddenly, a question sounded from the carriage. Many of these expeditionary soldiers left their homes for the first time after becoming soldiers. Not all of them knew what a giraffe was.

"Where, that's the giraffe..."

The conductor pointed to a group of giraffes in the distance and shouted.

"So it's a long-necked deer!"

A kind laughter sounded in the car.

On the other side of the red horizon, the train drove on a straight one-way line.

The stationmaster in a German-style hairy sage uniform walked out of the station and wiped the wrinkles on his trousers with his hands. The station is a small brick house with high eaves. The nearby settlement immigrants waiting under the awning were ready in a burst of scratching. These immigrants mostly wore clothes that they would only wear during the festival. Men wore new clothes, and most of the women wore Confucian skirts. Although Confucian skirts were not suitable for work, today is a festival. Say.

A woodcut animal broke its pocket and poked out a surprised face. The children did not go to class today, but wore school uniforms, lined up, held the national flag in their hands, and looked anxiously at the direction of the train.

At this time, they were waiting anxiously, but near the railway station, a long Western-style carriage stopped on the road, with a black driver sitting on each carriage.

"Wow..."

Finally, in the whistle of the train, the train entered the station. When the train entered the station and stopped slowly, the school band played the national anthem. Like other comrades-in-arms, Wang Ze, who was carrying luggage in his hand, stood up. He looked out of the window curiously and looked at the hundreds of people who came to welcome the railway station. It feels like returning to China.

After the train stopped, when the conductor opened the door, he said to more than 20 officers and soldiers who had stood up in the carriage.

"I hope you have a good time here. See you in a month!"

Like other soldiers, Wang Ze recuperates in an expatriate family here, which is the most wonderful place for them in Chinese East Africa. They recuperate not in hospitals, but in the homes of expatriates.

"Brave soldiers, welcome your arrival. Your arrival is the happiest thing since the establishment of this town, except for East Africa's merger into China. You have fought and paid bravely on the front line..."

When the mayor delivered a speech to welcome them, Wang Ze looked at the smiling overseas Chinese. Through the clothes of the overseas Chinese, we could see their living standards. Their lives were obviously richer than those of domestic farmers, and even the women were a little more comfortable than that of domestic women.

After the welcome party, Wang Ze saw the parents of his sojourn family in the next month - an overseas Chinese of Anhui surnamed Wang. According to the arrangement, they usually live in the homes of their fellow villagers.

"Your Majesty, welcome, welcome..."

Wang Simao rubbed his hands and said excitedly that he was the only Anhui person in the whole town, and the Wang officer he received today was the first fellow villager he had seen three years after emigrating.

"I'm sorry to trouble you!"

When Wang Ze was polite, he said, "It's not troublesome, it's not troublesome, it should be, it should be!"

Wang Simao pointed to the woman and child around him and introduced.

"This is inside, um... inside, this is a dog..."

At this time, Wang Simao's whole body looked squid. Turning his face, Wang Simao shouted behind him again.

"Quick, A Ping, take your luggage to the officer!"

A black girl in a maid costume came over, which only shocked Wang Ze. He was still a little unaccustomed to the appearance of black people.

"Sir, you see, this is my plantation, a total of 850 mu, because the soil here is barren, low organic quality, poor water retention ability, suitable for planting drought-tolerant crops such as sisal, so my plantations are all sisal..."

When Wang Simao pointed to the field full of sisal on both sides of the road and introduced his plantation to Wang Ze beside him, his face was full of pride. The land was reclaimed by him.

"Three years ago, when I came here, it was just a weed and barren land. It can be said that nothing grows except for barren grass. Those Germans are not very kind. Their planting companies and immigration circles occupy the best land, and all we get is this bad land..."

In the words, Wang Simao is still full of dissatisfaction with the political axe of the former German East African colonies.

When the carriage drove to the center of the plantation, there were some small mud houses on both sides of the road. The chickens and dogs running out of the house were skinny and ran on the dirt road behind a group of "little black monkeys". The western sky was burning, and the hot glow dimly and indifferently reflected the plantation, the small houses red, and the animal circles surrounded by earth walls. Hundreds of black people stood by the roadside and bowed to the owners of the carriage when the carriage came.

"When our group of immigrants came here, the natives here did almost nothing. In addition to dancing, hunting and hunting, they still used that kind of prism every day, which was purely to eat. After we came here, we not only reclaimed wasteland, but also taught the local people skills. I also hired them to work in the plantation. Like these 36 families, they work in my plantation. Um, long-term workers, yes, in domestic terms, they are all long-term workers in my family.

Like any overseas Chinese family that immigrated to East Africa, they often have a proud look when they mention their own plantations. Before they came to East Africa, their life in China was often very poor, but everything in East Africa changed their lives. By reclaiming land and building plantations, he They quickly became rich.

Especially today, because there is no need to fulfill the contract of the German company, almost every plantation has made profits far more than that of previous years. If it is because the Governor's Office limits the size of the plantation, maybe they will further expand their plantations.

Although it was only a few days, Wang Ze was conquered by the life here, not only because of the abundance here, or the rich meals on the table every day. At the beginning, when food such as meat and chicken were served every day, he thought it was the host's politeness to entertain guests, but he noticed that the family The children in it don't seem to be interested in these. Obviously, they eat meat every day.

In addition to a rich life, compared with domestic compatriots, the expatriates here are always full of enthusiasm, even women. Compared with the reserve of domestic women, they are more **. Those women will be like men, wearing that kind of Western-style clothes, riding on horses, with hounds and holding rifles. Chasing the prey, when the prey is captured, they will laugh loudly. Every night, there will always be Western-style dances held by nearby expatriate families, inviting them to participate. The dance was full of laughter. Until the early morning, the dance was still in progress, until the men were in the smoke of cigarettes and spirits. Some black servants were carried into the carriage.

In a word, everything here is so wonderful.

"Look at the sunset, I have never had a redder sun than this."

Standing in the corridor of the Wang family, Wang Ze and Li Haoran, the comrade-in-arms of the same teacher he knew on the train, all looked into the distance, crossing the seemingly boundless sisal land of the Wang family and the black figures working between the sword sma field to the red horizon. Now the sun is slowly falling in the turbulent red glow behind the mountains on the other side of the river, and the warmth of the day in April has gradually faded, faintly revealing a trace of coolness.

The brick house painted white in Fengjia Farm in the distance is like an island in the vast Red Sea. The open space to be planted and the sword and hemp fields stretching for several miles make everything here so different from that in China. There are woods on the edge of these fields. Even at the hottest noon, the woods are dark and cool, and a little mysterious. The rustling leaves in them always make people want to have a good rest in the shade there.

The sound of horses' hooves heard by the two soldiers sitting in the corridor, the sound of rigging chains and the laughter of the black slaves; those who did farm work and mule horses came back from the ground. At this time, Wang Wu Li's gentle voice came from the room. She was calling the black girl carrying the key and basket, who replied in a crisp tone:

"Madam, I'm coming,"

So there came the footsteps from the back aisle to the kitchen. The black girl Wang Wuli trusted was going to distribute food to those black long-term workers who had worked for a day. From the domestic perspective, the remuneration of those black long-term workers was simply pitiful. They took care of them for two meals a day. In addition, every month, they didn't It's just three yuan.

Perhaps, because of this, expatriates like Wang Simao can enjoy such a rich life as now, and this is the biggest difference between the colony and the country, but for Wang Ze or Li Haoran, all this is not what they care about. In fact, although in just a few days, they have been happy. I fell in love with this dreamy place and fell in love with this Chinese colony.

Then I heard the busy sound of the maids in the restaurant. Obviously, the maids were already setting the table and began to prepare dinner.

At this time, they saw the "master" of the black servants. Wang Simao came back on horseback. Unlike usual, the face under the cowboy hat looked very ugly, and behind him, his eldest son, only 11-year-old Wang Huien, rode on another horse.

"Mr. Wang!"

Wang Simao looked at the two people sitting under the corridor with some embarrassment. After abrupt greeting, he turned back and stared at his son.

"Kneel down!"

After the two entered the house, Wang Ze heard a shout from the room, followed by a series of questions, which seemed to be related to black people. Obviously, his son had problems with the treatment of black people.

As guests, Wang Ze and Li Haoran left the corridor out of courtesy. It was not until dinner that the two of them learned from Wang Simao that he was going to send his son back to China for education.

"You can't let him be infected with the lazy habits of black people!"

This is the reason given by Wang Simao.

Although it was just an episode, all this did not affect Wang Ze and Li Haoran's good impression of this dreamland.

"Fantasy Land!"

On the grass of the Governor-General's House of Dar es Salaam, Li Zicheng, sitting in a chair, looked at the thank-you letters written by the wounded soldiers in his hand, with a proud smile on his face. From each thank-you letter, he could fully understand the infatuation of the wounded soldiers for this land, which is exactly what he needs. What he needs is through these. The wounded soldiers praised the land in their letters to their families and friends. In the end, these praises will not only cause more people to immigrate to East Africa, but more importantly, there will be a group close to East Africa in China.

"If China wants to open up colonies, this motivation should not only be full of high-level officials, but also have the same emotions among the people. Only with these two can China's colonial cause be truly expanded!"

After the first exclamation, Li Zicheng picked up the teacup on the table and looked at the beautiful governor's mansion. As the first governor of China's first colony, he couldn't help thinking of those "peers" in Africa and those white-skinned "peers" who suddenly jumped out of Africa with such yellow skin and black hair. Obviously, he is extremely uncomfortable, but it doesn't matter. He has never thought of letting them adapt to himself. For Li Zicheng, he is even full of interest in the place under the jurisdiction of his peers, of course, if possible.

"Zi Fang, do you know what China's advantages are in the process of overseas colonization?"

"Please make it clear to the governor!"

"China has two advantages. The first is that the Chinese Empire has a population of 50,000, a huge population and a narrow land area, which is a prerequisite for overseas colonization. In terms of the proportion of population to land, only through overseas development can China's population pressure be alleviated. There is now a According to the argument, if China had carried out overseas colonization since the Zhengde period in the Ming Dynasty, the Ming Empire might not have died in civil strife by exporting a large number of immigrants overseas.

What Li Zicheng said at this time is a historical hypothesis made by domestic scholars who supported overseas colonization. The dynasties in Chinese history who died in civil strife were not so much in civil strife as the contradiction between land growth and population growth.

"Second,"

Smiling, Li Zicheng looked at his secretary and said seriously.

"This is even more important than the previous one. For Europeans, the first generation of immigrants are Europeans, while the second and third generations are Africans and Americans. This psychology will only make them more and more localized. In the end, this localization leads to the collapse of the colonies, but the Chinese are different. We Chinese, even if we have lived overseas for hundreds of years, what we still pay attention to is to Tangshan. In Nanyang, after the death of the expatriates, their tombstones all face Tangshan. Therefore, the colonies we have pioneered will always belong to China, and will not be gradually localized, causing the colonies and the suzerains to be separated from morality. It's a pity..."

Looking at the sunset, Li Zicheng said with regret.

"Our history of colonizing is too short! If it can be a hundred years in advance, I can guarantee that we will become a real empire!"

(to be continued)