This showed that Europe's current situation was simply too fiercely competitive. And because it was overly fragmented, many countries had no choice but to pour vast sums into their militaries.
Of course, this was not necessarily a bad thing. Without such fragmentation, the Renaissance and the Enlightenment would probably have found it difficult to emerge in Europe as well.
Moreover, this further drove European nations to expand overseas. Take the former Portuguese Empire, for example. Why had the Portuguese become the vanguard of the Age of Discovery? One reason was that there was simply no room left to maneuver in Europe.
The same principle applied to Ernst's development in Africa. In a tiny place like the former Principality of Hechingen, even if Ernst had fought himself to the bone, his ultimate fate would probably have been no more than becoming a senior Prussian officer or civil servant.
After all, Prince Constantin had been a general in the Prussian Army in his previous life, only to die alone and forlorn in what had once been Poland, Green Mountain City in present-day Prussia.
"Captain Rollingen, when will we be able to dock at the pier?" At that moment, Cary, the head of the East African Chalde Trade Company, asked.
The Chalde Trade Company was merely a small trading company in Mombasa city, East Africa. The cargo aboard the Rollingen was being handled by this little trading company.
Rollingen did not dare neglect Cary, for Cary represented the owner behind this ship's cargo.
He said to Cary, "Mr. Cary, don't worry. There are simply too many cargo ships in Odessa right now, so waiting is unavoidable. Based on my experience, barring any accidents, we will have to wait another six hours. We are already relatively far forward in the queue."
The greatest difficulty