Chapter 361: C-001
In the following month, East Africa began to fully utilize the Far Eastern Aid Group. To get people to willingly work, it is important to know how to offer incentives. The East African Kingdom offered a good deal—besides basic living guarantees, they also offered high wages. However, these wages were all paid in the Rhine Shields, which were only valid within East Africa. Money earned in East Africa stayed in East Africa. No one could take it home.
Additionally, these doctors were given East African job titles, which meant they were considered government employees in the medical field. Li Ge and Ande could only watch helplessly, unable to do anything.
Thanks to East Africa's efforts to win people over, many were tempted. However, most people still hoped to return to the Far East. Being a doctor was a high-paying job everywhere, and life wasn't bad. Moreover, many Far Eastern doctors were quite talented and had a strong desire to return to their roots. East Africa understood this but didn't mind. There would always be a steady stream of Far Eastern talent coming to fill the vacancies in the East African Kingdom until the day East African medicine fully developed.
September 13, 1871.
King Constantinoe himself visited the city of Dar es Salaam. Over the years, Dar es Salaam had developed significantly, and the transportation pressure it carried had also grown. So, three years before Dar es Salaam's renovation, East Africa had opened a new port seven kilometers southeast of the old one to help ease the strain on the old port.
This new port was mainly used for the import and export of East African bulk commodities, immigration, and important imported equipment. The old port was mainly for receiving foreign ships that needed to dock in Dar es Salaam.
This was also the reason why Dar es Salaam's immigration transition point was moved from the city center to the southern suburbs. After immigrants landed at the new port, it was more convenient for them to go to the immigration transition point, and it also made management easier.
Previously, when immigrants landed in Dar es Salaam, they mixed with the local population, and the temporary settlements were scattered all over the old city, making them difficult to manage. This also negatively affected the city's appearance, which was not good for the mood of passing consumers. Immigrants, having spent a long time on ships and often coming from poor backgrounds, were not well-received upon arrival.
Although the consumers in Dar es Salaam were also often sailors who had been on the sea for years, and their image was far from perfect, they had money. They could go months without bathing or washing their clothes, but they were still strict with others. They couldn't stand the disheveled appearance of the immigrants. So, maintaining a clean and tidy city helped East Africa's government empty the pockets of foreign sailors.
From the new port's function, one could also see that it was used to hide some of East Africa's development data. Dar es Salaam was a melting pot, with merchants from all over the world. Who knew if there were any "ill-intentioned" people among them?
Today, Constantinoe personally visited Dar es Salaam's new port to attend the opening ceremony of East Africa's first railway.
Three days ago, a steam locomotive arrived in East Africa, built in cooperation between Hechingen Vienna Energy Power Company and the Austrian Royal Railway Company. It came with six carriages, one passenger carriage and five freight carriages.
It took two full days to transport this massive locomotive from the port to the station. Dar es Salaam's railway station was located three kilometers southwest of the city. To get the locomotive to the station, East African railway workers reinforced the roads along the way.
The Dar es Salaam railway station was simple, with just a platform, a signboard, and a small 30-square-meter building. Technicians from Hechingen Vienna Energy Power Company were at the platform to introduce the first train of East Africa to Constantinoe.
"Your Majesty, this train was designed and built by Hechingen Vienna Energy Power Company and the Austrian Royal Franz—Eastern Emperor Railway Company. It incorporates many of the era's most advanced technologies. After six months of technical verification, it was assembled by skilled Austrian locomotive workers. After leaving the factory, it underwent three months of trial operation in Austria. It can fully meet the current needs of East Africa. Under the instructions of His Highness Ernst, this train is named after you, and its number is K-001."
Constantinoe asked, "If it runs in the mountains, will it still work well? The elevation difference between the East African plateau and the coastal plain is quite large."
"Your Majesty, this locomotive has undergone extensive testing in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Our team specially built an experimental track in the Alps. Its speed and climbing ability are at world average levels. We also have data on East Africa's geographical conditions, and the difficulty is far less than in Austria. Austria is a mountainous country, so in recent years, many mountain railways have been built. East Africa's plateau, although high, has many areas where the transition from the plateau to the plains is gradual, and the overall slope is much gentler."
There is a difference between plateaus and mountains. Africa is a continental plateau, the highest of all continents, and this type of geological structure does not form mountain ranges due to tectonic activity. East Africa's terrain is mainly composed of gentle plateaus, lacking high mountain ranges.
So, East Africa does not have the abrupt geological structures that block transportation like Brazil's coastal shields. The East African coastal plains, according to official East African statements, are plains. However, in reality, only areas close to the coastline have an elevation below 200 meters, while the majority of the region transitions from 200 meters to 1000 meters. By the time it reaches the edge of the East African plateau, the elevation difference is not that large.
The East African plateau's elevation ranges from 1000 to 2000 meters, with an average altitude of about 1200 meters. Mountains like Mount Kilimanjaro, which rises over 5800 meters, are mainly influenced by the East African Rift Valley. This region was formed around 750,000 years ago by volcanic activity, initially consisting of three large craters: Shira, Kibo, and Mawenzi.
East Africa has many volcanoes, but most are dormant or extinct. Though the volcanic earthquake belt created by the East African Rift Valley is vast, it is much smaller compared to the Pacific Ring of Fire. East Africa experiences earthquakes and volcanic activity less frequently than Italy. At least, Ernst had never heard of any major volcanic or earthquake events in Africa in his past life. Earthquakes are common, but they are rarely severe, and most do not exceed magnitude 6.
Overall, apart from areas near the East African Rift Valley, East Africa does not need to worry much about volcanic and earthquake natural disasters. The geological conditions are generally stable. When building railways, it is more important to consider factors like heavy rain and floods.
Moreover, East Africa is vast and sparsely populated, so areas not suitable for railway construction can easily be bypassed, making the project not very difficult.
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