Beasts of Burden

A month earlier, April 22, 1866, Dar es Salaam Port.

Today, the immigrants from First Town and the colony's officials had come to Dar es Salaam Port to receive a shipment. Unlike usual, far more people had been mobilized.

"Old Qian, why did Lord Kilman call us over today too? Usually, it's always their own people who come here," one immigrant asked.

"How would I know? Whatever the officials tell us to do, we just do it. Why so much nonsense?" Old Qian said.

"I'm scared, that's all. We finally got a full meal in First Town. What if they send us back to Qing China?"

"Stop imagining things. Lord Kilman needs us to grow crops for them too. The land here is so barren, and those natives are all clumsy as hell—they can't even farm. Lord Kilman can't possibly farm the land himself, can he? So what are you scared of?"

The two were chatting when several large ships appeared on the distant horizon.

"Judging by this, could they be new immigrants? We were brought here on ships like those last time."

Old Qian shook his head. "Who knows? We'll find out when they dock."

Before long, the Dutch merchant ships docked at the pier of Dar es Salaam Port. The Dutch opened the railings along the ship's sides and laid down planks, creating several-meter-wide unloading passages.

The German official began directing the immigrants aboard to unload the cargo. Led by the official, the immigrants once again boarded the familiar ships, and there they finally saw this shipment's cargo.

"These are horses! These are cattle!" the man who had spoken with Old Qian earlier exclaimed in surprise.

"See? Such good land ought to raise some livestock. The grass around First Town grows so well. Those natives can't farm, and they can't raise livestock either."

Old Qian said disdainfully, "The more you talk, the more ridiculous you get. Why are you cursing too? They're called beasts of burden."

"It's all the same, all the same. I can't tell good words from bad ones—I'm uneducated, aren't I? Hahaha..." he laughed awkwardly.

"Quit laughing and come lend a hand! Drive the animals!"

After a round of frantic work, they finally drove the cattle and horses off the ships. The immigrants of First Town began herding them toward First Town.

The German official had clearly prepared beforehand. From somewhere, he produced a saddle and bridle and fitted them onto a horse.

As an old European cavalryman, Dehr had finally rediscovered the feeling of galloping across the battlefield.

He rode this horse imported from Russia and tested his skills in the open grounds. The horse was fairly docile, carrying Dehr through two laps across the flatland.

Recently, because Prussia was preparing for war, Prussian mules and horses had all come under restrictions, making exports even more impossible.

Thus, Ernst had specifically imported several hundred horses from Russia. Horse-drawn plowing was widespread in Europe, so every country had quite a few horses. Russia's Eastern Europe region had always produced abundant horses, while Central Asia and the Far East also held vast grasslands suitable for raising them.

Ernst sent people to Russia to purchase horses, then shipped them out from the Baltic Sea aboard Dutch merchant vessels to the East African colony. While passing through the Netherlands, they had also conveniently loaded a batch of cattle.

The Netherlands was a major livestock nation. Animal husbandry was its foremost agricultural industry, followed by flower cultivation.

For the time being, Ernst had no way to improve the mechanization of the East African colony. Europe still relied on animal power, while steam-powered agricultural machinery had found some market demand, but it was expensive, bulky, and not very efficient.

So Ernst planned to develop some animal husbandry in the colony, providing animal power for the future. Africa had no domesticated large livestock of its own. African animals were fiercely wild, while the natives lived by hunting. Animals covered the land and served as the natives' source of food. Though dangerous, the abundant resources had left these tribes without any awareness of the need to improve productivity.

The immigrants herded the cattle and horses back to First Town. So many animals immediately drew the attention of everyone in town.

The security official began ordering the immigrants to build stables and cattle pens, while also finding several experienced immigrants to take charge of raising them.

The livestock farm was located five or six li from town, between First Town and Third Town.

There was a stretch of grassland there. The immigrants built a camp and drove the cattle and horses inside wooden fences.

"They're all fine cattle! Back home, only the landlords' families could raise cattle this sturdy."

"These horses aren't bad either. In my whole life, I've only seen horses ridden by high officials. Some fat-headed, big-eared official would sit on top, while the little soldiers beneath him ran alongside."

"You mean when the Imperial Court fought the Taiping Rebels?"

"That's right. Those soldiers said exactly that. Before leaving, they even seized several cattle from Landlord Wang's estate, claiming they were requisitioned by the Imperial Court. They were fiercer than bandits. Landlord Wang's retainers could usually guard the estate. There was a bandit near us called King Er Mazi, and he usually didn't dare go near Master Wang's estate. But when the Imperial Court's troops came, his retainers didn't dare let out a single fart. Normally, they only bullied common folk like us."

"Pah! None of them are good things. Dogs biting dogs, a mouthful of fur. Why doesn't the Heavenly God take away such beasts? The blue sky truly has no eyes!"

"Sigh, fortunately, the foreign masters came recruiting workers the year before last. There was no way to live then, so I thought I'd seek a path to survival and boarded the ship. I truly never would have dared imagine life being like this now!"

"Isn't that so? My family suffered disaster too. Both my brothers starved to death. I was lucky enough to wait for Lord Kilman and survive. Without those dog officials and bastard landlords, life has finally become a little easier. Lord Kilman keeps his word—he really gives us food!"

"If you ask me, Great Qing deserves to collapse. I heard the Xiucai scholar in the village say long ago that the Imperial Court couldn't defeat the foreigners, that it ceded territory and paid indemnities every year. Those bastards never treated us like people. Sooner or later, someone will deal with them."

"Sigh, hard to say. Those foreigners—Britain, France—came to our land, yet didn't the officials still feast on fine food and drink? And those indemnities they demanded, weren't they still apportioned onto our heads? I heard that every time the south lost a battle, taxes were raised several times over, something called war repayment. Dog-like bastards, plagues upon the people!"

"That's only because we're no longer scraping out a living in Great Qing. Those black-hearted lords are no longer above our heads. Everyone says foreigners are terrifying. Lord Kilman is usually a bit fierce, but compared with those black-hearted Qing China officials, his guts are clean."

"Sigh, they say everything in Africa is good—good food, good clothes—but there are too few women. Those natives are so black they're impossible to look at. With so many bachelors among us, who knows whether we'll ever be able to marry wives in this lifetime."

"All you do is indulge in wild thoughts. Back in Qing China, you couldn't even fill your belly. What woman would have looked twice at you and followed you into a life of hardship?"

"Wasn't I just considering one of life's great matters? What's wrong with thinking about it? In a few years, once we've made it big, we can return to Qing China and marry wives, can't we? Then we'll come back, and the whole family can raise a whole litter of children here."

"That can't be possible, can it? Would Lord Kilman let us go back?"

"You don't understand this, do you? Do you know there's an official in town from Kilman? He's one of us Chinese too, though he took a foreign name—something like Pierce Lee. He can get a word in with people."

"He says he graduated from some Hechingen Military Academy. The land here all belongs to the headmaster of Hechingen. That headmaster is incredible—if this were Great Qing, he'd be kin to the emperor's family."

"I've heard that too. Official Pierce Lee was noticed by Lord Kilman when he was still young and went to Kilman to study, which is why he can come here and serve as an official."

"It was this Official Pierce Lee who said that we're all hired laborers of the Hechingen Company—long-term workers. After working twenty full years, we can choose our own lives. Once the time is up, whether we stay in Africa or return to Qing China, we can decide for ourselves. And Official Pierce Lee also said that we mustn't lose the few sheets of paper they give us every month. Those are German silver dollars issued to us. We can exchange them for money at banks in Qing China."

"Those few sheets of paper can be exchanged for money?"

"You don't understand this, do you? This is money used by the foreign masters. It can be exchanged for silver in Qing China. If Qing China refuses to recognize it, the foreign masters will beat up those officials. A few years ago, I heard the soldiers of Britain and France fought their way into the Forbidden City and sat on the Dragon Throne. They even burned the emperor's garden, called the Old Summer Palace. In the end, the Empress Dowager and the emperor had to pay another sum of money to the foreign masters."

"If that's true, then I'd better keep those sheets of paper safe. Lord Kilman gave them to me before, and there was even a foreigner's portrait printed on them. I thought they were something important and didn't dare throw them away. Never thought they were money. I must keep them safe and use them to marry a wife later."

"Old Man Wang, you're already forty and still thinking of marrying a wife? What will you look like after twenty more years?"

"What's wrong with marrying a wife? I've been single all my life and never tasted the flavor! When I'm old, I'll find an old wife. As long as you have money, what can't you find?"

"That's right..."

The immigrants chatted of the past, the present, and the future, their eyes filled with hope for a happy life.