Reclamation

While Prussia and Austria were locked in fierce combat, the East African Colony Coastal District had already driven out all the natives, except for those sold to slave traders in Zanzibar. Some were kept for heavy manual labor, while the rest were released after being rearmed.

These exiled natives were certainly not a result of the East African Colony's benevolence. They had been thoroughly intimidated by the coastal district's military forces and naturally dared not return, forced to head west or north. They were bound to encounter other native tribes, armed and without land or food, which would inevitably lead to conflict with other tribes. While they fought and died, the East African Colony would be the ultimate beneficiary, accepting new land.

Furthermore, it was uncertain whether natives who lost their tribes could survive. In short, the goal was to reduce the native population.

It was impossible to cultivate all the new land with crops, but the areas around new outposts could be developed first.

These were mostly places with ample water sources, providing a stable supply for production and daily life. Although the coastal district also had abundant rainfall, the East African Colony currently had a small population and limited cultivated land. As long as they found a river, they wouldn't have to rely on the weather.

As the easternmost district, the coastal area was adjacent to the Indian Ocean and had a humid, hot climate, making it very suitable for rice cultivation.

For the main staple crops in these newly developed lands, the preference naturally leaned towards rice. Wheat, with its high temperature sensitivity, would lead to reduced yields, making it more suitable for the western plateau regions.

Moreover, the western part of the East African Colony had relatively less rainfall, making it suitable for drought-resistant crops like wheat and millet.

Sisal was currently the colony's biggest flagship product. East Africa was suitable for growing many tropical cash crops, such as cotton, bananas, rubber, and coffee...

However, sisal grew best here and had a good market, while competition for other cash crops was fierce.

In addition to these, cloves were also an important crop in the colony. The Sultanate of Zanzibar was famous for its clove production, so the coastal district, being close to the Sultanate of Zanzibar, did not neglect clove cultivation.

Clove yields were relatively low, so sales were not a problem. The Dutch fleet could be used each time to transport these cloves directly back to Europe for sale.

Now, the East African Colony had begun to see the use of horses and cattle for plowing. With the increase in new horses, corresponding plowing facilities were also being arranged.

Communication within the colony was now also being done using horses. Messages that used to take one to two months to reach various outposts could now be delivered within one to two weeks.

The East African Colony was also using horses to explore further afield, gathering intelligence from regions like Kenya and Zimbabwe.

Horse plowing was prevalent in Europe, making warhorses less scarce than in ancient East Asia. Horse plowing had made horses essential tools for production, and the populace was motivated to raise horses.

This also made European cattle less important, turning them into common food on the table, which is why Europeans enjoyed beef and milk.

This was also related to Europeans' inability to process ingredients. For example, Europeans did not castrate boars, resulting in a strong smell in pork that could only be masked by heavy spices.

Of course, Europe did not eat much pork nowadays, with only the German regions consuming more. This consumption would further increase in the future with German unification.

Beef, on the other hand, required only simple preparation to achieve a good taste, naturally earning it favor among Europeans. A piece of butter with some salt could yield a simple and delicious steak.

In the East African Colony, Ernst naturally opted for horse plowing. Cattle were primarily raised for meat. The Maasai people of the future, a nomadic tribe in East Africa, sustained themselves by herding cattle.

Mandatory horse plowing would inevitably increase the demand for horses. As important means of transportation, horses could enhance the transportation capabilities of the East African Colony.

After all, the East African Colony currently had virtually no infrastructure and was still at the stage of walking. Only a few Germans had military horses for travel.

Coupled with the flat and open terrain of East Africa, it was very suitable for horses to gallop. In short, the more horses needed, the better.

Manda, the northernmost part of the coastal district, now showed signs of cooking smoke as immigrants began to light fires and cook.

The nearby fields were also nearly finished with plowing. Waterwheels were used to draw river water into the rice paddies, creating a landscape of crisscrossing fields.

These paddy fields were quite large. Horse plowing was used to till the land, although some were also tilled using natives as the power source.

Some of these fields had already been planted with seedlings, while others still needed time. To the east lay a range of hills, which were used for planting sisal.

Rows of sisal covered the hills from top to bottom, resembling East Asian tea plantations from afar, winding around the low mountains and hills in a spectacular fashion.

The climate conditions in the coastal district had also been favorable recently, with rainfall arriving at stable intervals and rarely being untimely.

This was considered a benefit of the Indian Ocean. As is well known, the El Niño and La Niña phenomena in the Pacific region are quite prominent, exacerbating climate fluctuations in East Asia.

While the Indian Ocean was also affected, it was not as pronounced. In East Africa, besides the influence of the equator and plateau regions, the most significant factor was the shift of the trade wind belt. The annual southward or northward movement of the trade wind belt brought a certain amount of rainfall to East Africa.

This resulted in two rainy seasons in East Africa each year. Concurrently, the East African coast was influenced by ocean currents, with the coastal district being the most affected.

Without the Somali Current, precipitation along the East African coast would undoubtedly increase, forming terrain-induced rainfall similar to that in northeastern India.

The stable climate of the East African Colony also facilitated orderly agricultural production. The colony already had a relatively mature agricultural calendar that could be used to guide and arrange the participation of new immigrants in agricultural production.

Currently, influenced by the unrest in East Asia, the number of immigrants developing in the East African Colony was rapidly increasing, especially from the north.

Affected by the Chuang Guandong movement, residents in the north now had two options: one was to develop overseas, and the other was to develop in the Northeast.

For overseas development, East Africa was currently the optimal choice. Because Ernst had made arrangements early on, and the northern regions had not been exposed to the outside world as early as the south, Ernst had established a larger and more mature immigration network in the north.

In the southern regions, especially the southeastern coast, there were more channels. Some people chose to develop in Nanyang, while the second destination was the Americas. After all, there were more avenues, and many emigrated as clan and local groups.

Therefore, immigrants from the south tended to stick together overseas, but internal conflicts were also quite severe. Because they gathered together overseas, forming settlements similar to Chinatowns, and clan fighting was a characteristic of southern clans, their overlapping interests overseas were even more pronounced. If one group gained a little more, another would gain a little less, leading to more clashes than within the country.

This was also one of the reasons why Ernst was hesitant to choose immigrants from the south. Only those who diligently farmed and caused no trouble, especially those who did not form groups, were preferred. Currently, although Chinese immigrants were the largest group in the East African Colony, they had no leader and were scattered like loose sand, which Ernst was very satisfied with.

In the German regions of Europe, while Prussia and Austria were engaged in fierce battles, the East African Colony was a scene of peace and harmony, with everyone contributing to its development.

House construction, farmland development, canal building, new road construction, livestock farming – an East African Colony centered on agriculture was rapidly being built.