African Nationhood

Chapter 518 Djibouti Administrative Office (Part )
The flying sand in the sky made Liang Pu, who had just changed into a new suit of clothes, suddenly feel unlucky. This ghost place is really terrible.

He thought about taking charge of his own affairs, but he never imagined that he would be the local emperor in such a harsh territory.

The territory of Djibouti was obtained from the French. At that time, the cabinet did not pay much attention to this territory. After all, it was too desolate.

If Chairman Shi hadn't specifically stated that he wanted to take over this territory, the cabinet wouldn't have cared at all.

When the cabinet negotiating team proposed the territory of Djibouti, the French reacted fiercely.

Only then did Shi Jinyong, who was presiding over the negotiations, realize the importance of this piece of land. The geographical location here was very good and it could guard the waterway of the Red Sea. It was indeed worth acquiring.

The two sides struggled for more than ten days, and the French finally compromised.

……

Liang Pushi still remembers the first time he landed here.

At that time, he was standing on the bow of the cruise ship and found that the contrast between the blue water and the sky-filled sandy beach was sharp.

He thought this place was similar to that in Southwest Africa, although there would be rivers and oases in the desolate interior along the coast to feed the people.

After getting off the cruise ship, I found that all the faces along the coast were dark and numb. They looked at me curiously. In their eyes, I guess I was no different from the French people who were about to leave sadly.

In accordance with the training requirements, Liang Pushi handed over the colony to the French and watched his soldiers raise the golden dragon and lion flag amidst the flying yellow sand.

After the French left, he followed the local Sudanese envoy into the port city of Djibouti.

This coastal city is barren and desolate. The entire city is covered with yellow sand and there is no greenery. However, because France has built a large number of buildings, the level of urban construction is relatively high.

But everywhere you look, you can see that the city is full of poor black people. Some of them are naked and hiding in shacks to enjoy the cool air, while others are staring blankly with their eyes open.

There are also some fishermen cooking seafood in a swarm of flying flies, but they lack spatulas and mostly cook them directly on the fire, and then eat them with dark, half-cooked food.

Liang Pushi lamented the poverty here and worried about the future. This place is really fucked!
When he saw the sultan and the nobles who came to meet him, he found that the nobles here were also wearing very ragged clothes, and he was even more disheartened.

Lamenting that he shouldn't have listened to his wife and had to come to this hellish place to suffer.

……

South China defeated the French, and there was great joy in the country.

Brothers Liang Pushi and Liang Puzhao also became excited. Among their classmates studying in the United States at that time, their brothers were the only ones who did not receive important tasks.

Over the years, they have become too ordinary, with nothing particularly outstanding.

If you only rely on your own skills to work alone, you will naturally have little chance of getting a big job.

Seeing other students ascending to high positions one after another, they were also jealous, but deep down they wanted to feel more secure.

It is inevitable to take care of things when you are ahead. They think that one thing more is worse than one thing less, and they have wasted so many years.

But their wives and daughters couldn't sit still and nagged them every day.

"After all, you and Chairman Shi studied abroad together. Their wives and daughters all wear gold and silver, and they drive in Crown cars.

Moreover, there were people flattering us wherever we went, and no one paid any attention to us wherever we went. "

The children at home often clamor to take the Crown car and do not want to take the Volkswagen (a civilian car produced by Nanhua).

……

Amid the nagging and complaints from their family members, the brothers had no choice but to seek help from Cai Shaoji, their old classmate and secretary-general of the State Council in charge of personnel affairs.

The effect of this petition was immediate. His elder brother Liang Puzhao was sent to the Falklands as vice chairman, and he, Liang Puzhao, was appointed commissioner of the Djibouti Administrative Office.

When one of the princes was released, the level of their brothers immediately increased.

Not only are they provided with a Crown car as standard, but they are also assigned large-sized houses.

The children jumped for joy, and the wives also showed smiles, praising them for finally getting over it.

……

The deputy next to him, Hu Zhongliang, smiled and said, "This place is indeed not for people, but we can't hang out here every day, right? Governor Liang, why don't we try to attack the Ethiopians?"

Hu Zhongliang is the leading officer of the local garrison. There is a battalion of troops stationed in Djibouti and they are very well-equipped.

It's okay to fight against the Ethiopians, but once a fight breaks out, it's not easy to be kind.

Without orders from the cabinet and the military, he was unwilling to provoke the Ethiopians. After all, the combat power of the Ethiopians should not be underestimated.

"Don't think about war. We can find ways to talk about cooperation with the Ethiopians."

"Cooperation, what kind of cooperation, buying land with them?"

"What are you buying land for? What is the difference between the land in the plains of Abyssinia (Ethiopia) and here? We can negotiate trade with them and sell our things to them.

In the past, we had no chance to do business here. Now that we have obtained this land, we can use the railway transportation line between the two places to do business for them.

In this way, our role will be greatly improved, and we don’t have to sit idle. "

Starting in 1897, the French built a railway line between Ethiopia's Shoa Mountains and the Port of Djibouti to control Ethiopia's foreign trade traffic.

Now that Nanhua has taken over the colony of Djibouti, control of the railway has also passed to Nanhua.

This railway controls 70% of Ethiopia's foreign trade and is very profitable.

This is also one of the reasons why the French are unwilling to let go, but they cannot resist Nan Hua's tough demands.

In the end, Nanhua gave the French 100 aircraft and supporting pilots in exchange for this territory.

The remaining colony is only worth 200 aircraft, which shows the importance and economic benefits of this place.

……

From 1909 to 1913, sharp political struggles occurred in Ethiopia because the emperor suffered a stroke and lost the ability to govern.

There are three factions in Ethiopia:
One group is the conservative figures among secular feudal lords and monks centered on Queen Taitu. They advocate maintaining purely formal national unity and resolutely oppose any necessary reforms.

The second group is the young Abyssinians, who represent a more progressive part of the feudal landowner group who participate in commercial activities; dependent on them are the emerging commercial bourgeoisie and young intellectuals.

The third faction is the feudal elements and commercial bourgeoisie in the Islamic areas who are dissatisfied with the local rulers and governors appointed by Menelik. Their leader, Ras Michael, is the governor of Volo Province and Menelik's son-in-law.

The three factions have different views and their relationship is not harmonious.

As a conservative, Queen Taitu sent people to find Governor Liang Pushi, hoping to purchase some weapons and ammunition from Nanhua.

When Liang Pushi heard the news, his body felt like an electric shock. This was a good opportunity to do business.

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(End of this chapter)