African Nationhood

The cool evening breeze blows from the Zambezi River into the streets and alleys of Tete, blowing away the hot air in every corner of the city.

Tete is basically hot all year round, and people are used to the city's heat.

Since Nanhua took over East Africa, it once became the stronghold of the Portuguese.

This city has been a commercial center since ancient times. Before the arrival of the Portuguese, it was the trading center of the Swahili people.

With the arrival of the Portuguese, they also took a fancy to Tete's unique geographical location, so they began city construction here.

Therefore, when Nanhua liberated this city, hundreds of Portuguese women were captured, accounting for half of the white women in the entire East African Administration at that time.

Because Nanhua was relatively strong, the Portuguese men were either killed or expelled, and most of the women were scattered and assigned to immigrants as wives.

Later, the administration was divided, and Tete was included in the Matabeleland region and established as the capital.

Over the years, Tete City has developed rapidly.

More new buildings were built, and the style of the entire city was rapidly changing.

Later, the Nanhua Urban Construction Department planned to build a bridge across the Zambezi River in Tete. The entire bridge cost 8 million yuan and was a major project of the year.

This cross-river bridge directly connects both sides of the Zambezi River and is also a connected road and railway bridge.

It took more than three years to complete the construction. After completion, primary products such as fur, tobacco, cotton and sisal from the Rhodesian Company were continuously transported to the North Zambia region.

It has provided sufficient raw materials for the industrial development of the North Zambia region, and the industrial output value has grown rapidly.

At the same time, industrial products from North Zambia can also be sold quickly through this bridge on both sides.

Because of Tete's superior and unique geographical location, the level of urban construction in Tete has improved rapidly.

The real estate development here is very high, and the prices of houses in many strategically located areas have also become tight.

Since the officials of the urban construction department have mastered the approval forms for cement, steel and bricks, businessmen here have been courting the officials in charge.

A Portuguese businessman in Tete failed to provide benefits to officials, so his construction company was delayed in getting the approval form for construction materials.

The Portuguese businessman therefore reported the behavior of local officials to the Judicial Committee in Hanking.

The Judicial Committee then sent an undercover investigator, named Annika Hannibal.

She is a Boer. As South China came to dominate southern Africa, Boers began to slowly enter the ranks of South China's civil servants.

Because several Boers are senior government officials, especially James Herzog, who is the Minister of Justice, there are relatively many Boers in the judicial system.

Although Annika Hannibal is young, she has handled some cases independently over the years.

When she took over this case, her boss had hinted to her that they attached great importance to this case. If she could investigate it well, it would be very helpful for her future promotion.

So she came to Tete without much thought. After arriving in Tete, she immediately contacted the Portuguese businessman who reported it.

The Portuguese businessman's name is Diego Enes, who was previously a large mining owner of the Rhodesian Company.

After the bridge across the river was built, he came to Tete to inspect it.

After he discovered that the real estate market here was very hot, he wanted to make a fortune from it.

Who knew that after he won the land, he learned that the building materials here required an approval form before he could purchase them.

He was dumbfounded at this time, and Nanhua's law stipulates that the land purchased by foreign businessmen must be developed within a time limit. After the time limit is exceeded, the land will be taken back.
In addition, 60% of the land purchase price will be deducted as a penalty.

So he had to go to the urban construction department and apply for an approval form.

The urban construction department informed him that construction materials were in short supply and they could not get the approval form for the time being.

Diego Enes had no choice but to wait, waiting and waiting but unable to get the approval form.

But the businessman who applied later than him got the approval form first, and he had to be patient to find out why. After asking, I found out that I had to bribe the civil servant responsible for the approval in order to get the approval form.

Although he felt unhappy, the deadline for the plot of land in his hand was about to expire, so he had no choice but to take the money and go to the official in charge. Who knew that the other person would become furious when he saw him handing over the cash.

He also asked the security guards to drive him out of the urban construction department.

Now the Portuguese businessman was confused. When he asked the businessman who told him the secret, the other party laughed at him and finally told him that the official was very good at painting.

If he asked again, he wouldn't say anything more. This answer made him a little confused.

……

Annika Hannibal also became confused after learning about the situation from Merchant Enes.

You know that the other party is taking bribes, but how do you catch him?

After much thought, Annika Hannibal decided to ask Portuguese businessmen to help her continue to secretly visit local officials.

"I'm sorry, Agent Hannibal, I'm afraid I can't help you because the deadline for the land I purchased has expired, and the local government will take back my piece of land soon."

Annika Hannibal immediately became anxious, "Mr. Enes, don't you want to recover the losses and punish the criminals?"

The Portuguese businessman smiled and said, "I want to punish him, but what can I do even if I punish him? I am just a foreign national, and such justice is too late for me."

Hearing what the other party said, Annika Hannibal had to return disappointed.

The mission this time was to find out the bribery of local officials. Since the Portuguese businessmen did not cooperate, she could only find other people to investigate.

After learning that she wanted to know about the bribery of local officials, the interviewees without exception rejected her.

Annika Hannibal had no choice but to find the Portuguese businessman again, "Mr. Enes, if I can help you extend the development period of the purchased land, can you help me continue to secretly investigate the corruption of that official?" ?”

When the Portuguese businessman heard the news, he immediately smiled.

"Beautiful lady, although I want to believe you, I can't imagine that a woman like you can shake the rules set by those hateful Chinese.

Now I have every reason to suspect that they have deliberately set a trap for foreign businessmen like us to slip into. "

After Annika Hannibal heard this complaint, a smile appeared on her face. She now finally had certainty.

"Mr. Enes, please rest assured that I will definitely help you extend the development rights of the land in your hand. But you have to promise me. If I do, you will help me investigate the corruption of that official."

Although the Portuguese businessman had no hope, seeing the young agent's confidence, he had no choice but to place his hope on this young girl.

So the two sides struck a deal.

After Annika Hannibal returned to the hotel, she immediately sent a telegram to her boss.

Ask your superiors to contact the North Zambia regional government on the grounds of "restoring the investment confidence of foreign businessmen" and ask them to extend the land development rights of Portuguese businessmen.

After Hannibal's boss got the telegram, he went to Minister Herzog and asked the Boer superior to check it before he called the North Zambia regional government.

The North Zambia Regional Government also paid great attention to the request from the Ministry of Justice, immediately held a meeting to study, and finally decided to extend the Portuguese businessman's land development rights.

At the same time, they were also told by the Ministry of Justice that they were strictly prohibited from leaking information to avoid bribery officials absconding and causing losses to the country.

The North Zambia Region Government immediately assured that it would keep the information strictly confidential and support the work of the Ministry of Justice.

Annika Hannibal found the Portuguese businessman with the approval document from the North Zambia Region Government. Now the Portuguese businessman had nothing to say.

He happily agreed to Annika Hannibal's request for assistance in the secret visit.

After the two discussed, Annika Hannibal acted as the Portuguese businessman's assistant and once again found the briber who pointed out the Portuguese businessman. (End of chapter)