July 4, 1894.
After conducting an on-site inspection, the East African government dispatched a survey team from New Frankfurt City. After screening each of Ernst's requirements one by one, they finally selected a potential site for Rhine City, and the team leader, Bels, delivered the report to Ernst.
"Based on our survey of the areas surrounding New Frankfurt City and after weighing all factors, we have determined that the most suitable site for Rhine City lies approximately forty-nine kilometers southeast of New Frankfurt City and roughly seventy kilometers northeast of Kabwe."
"First, the Lunsemfwa River passes through this area, so the city's water supply will not be a problem. There can be no doubt that a city is best built near a river. Most cities in the world are like this. Take our capital, First Town City, for example—it was built around the Little Rhine River, and most of its water comes from that river, which also serves agricultural irrigation and shipping."
"Of course, shipping will be difficult to achieve on the Lunsemfwa River. It is a tributary of the Luangwa River, itself a tributary of the Zambezi River. None of them, including the Zambezi, can support large-scale navigation. The Lunsemfwa River shares this trait, with its considerable drop in elevation. Only by constructing locks could its shipping value be increased."
"However, that also brings advantages. For instance, the local hydropower potential is enormous, especially near the area we selected. The Ministry of Water Conservancy has confirmed that the river is suitable for being dammed to create an artificial reservoir, which would form a fairly large lake."
Ernst did have some impression of this, because Zambia had built a Lunsemfwa Dam here in his previous life. It supplied electricity to Kabwe City, also supported aquaculture, and created the sizable Mita