In order to investigate the information of Habsburg Monarchy in depth, Rubirola took to the streets of Natitingou again the next day.
Rubirola already had a preliminary understanding of Natitingou yesterday, but they rushed into the city before it got completely dark, so they ignored many details.
However, now wandering on the street in broad daylight, Rubirola found that he was a little conspicuous. Natitingou's current permanent population has exceeded three thousand. In addition to the original residents, there are also House of Habsburg and affiliated personnel, as well as some East African technical personnel who have entered here.
However, overall, the majority of Natitingou are still yellow-skinned, followed by mixed race, and pure white race is quite rare, let alone Rubirola, a pure French.
At the same time, Rubirola also discovered something, that is, the German used by people on the street when communicating is very jerky, mixed with some weird accents and vocabulary. Some people's German is not as good as Rubirola this French.
In this way, Rubirola wandered to a tavern in Natitingou. This was the place recommended by Sakuma and him, and it was also the easiest place to find out all kinds of information.
The boss saw an unfamiliar face and asked very familiarly, "Sir, you have just come to Natitingou recently, right? Are you from the local area, or are you from Habsburg?"
Hearing the boss's question, Rubirola was a little embarrassed, but he did not hide it and said, "I am not East Africans, nor am I from the Habsburg Royal Family, but a European tourist who traveled to Togoland and other places in West Africa. I just recently followed a caravan here."
It's no wonder that the tavern owner asked this. After all, Natitingou rarely has foreign white people here. This is a very small probability. For example, the French white people in Dahomey, Upper Volta, and Niger only add up to a few thousand people. They have to look after so much land and population. There are only a handful of people who can really find the time to go to Togoland.
Not to mention that most white people who come to Togoland will choose to go to the "big cities" in the south of Togoland, and Natitingou was previously just a remote, backward town in Togoland!
In addition, the white people who recently arrived at Natitingou are easily associated with local or Habsburg Royal Family members and some white workers they hired, so the tavern owner made a misjudgment.
This made the tavern owner a little passive, and he quickly said, "I'm really sorry, Natitingou has changed a lot recently, and we rarely see pure European tourists here before, so there is a misunderstanding."
Rubirola waved his hand and said, "Don't be sorry, it's all a trivial matter. But boss, just now you said this is Togoland, but I heard it has become Habsburg Monarchy now. What happened?"
Regarding his doubts, the tavern owner said nonchalantly, "It's just that I'm used to calling it that. After all, this place used to be the territory of Togoland. It was only three months ago that it became Habsburg Monarchy."
"It's still hard for us old residents to adapt to this change, so we haven't changed our tune for a while. By the way, guest, you are here to drink, do you want to try the sorghum wine in our store? I think you are European, and you must have never drunk this kind of sorghum wine."
Rubirola has indeed never drank sorghum wine. He prefers white wine in France, but in order to gather information, he still plans to try it.
The boss quickly gave him a bottle of sorghum wine. This sorghum wine is a specialty of Natitingou. To be more precise, it is brewed with local sorghum. As for the packaging glass bottles, they are imported from the mainland. After all, Natitingou is a backward area and does not have a full set of processing equipment.
"This kind of sorghum wine is the specialty of our Natitingou. Many West African caravans like this kind of strong wine very much. I don't know if it suits your taste." The tavern owner said while filling him up. "I heard that the local people are not very popular with sorghum wine. There is still some difference between our Togoland and the local people in this regard."
Natitingou and the entire Togoland, the popularity of sorghum wine is mainly caused by two reasons, one is custom and the other is the local climate.
West Africa is very suitable for the cultivation of sorghum, a temperature-loving, drought-tolerant, and barren crop. In the past, there was a certain market for sorghum wine in West Africa. Of course, sorghum in West Africa was mainly used to brew a local traditional beer.
Most of the immigrants in Togoland are from the Far East, and they prefer liquor made from sorghum.
As a colony in East Africa, beer is also popular in Togoland, but beer mainly relies on imports from the mainland.
Rubirola While listening to his explanation, he picked up the cup, sniffed the wall of the cup, then took a small sip, "Hiss, it's a bit spicy!".
The tavern owner said with a smile, "That's true, but if you drink too much, you will get used to and like this taste. Many black people in the West African caravans like this taste."
Rubirola has given this drink a low-end label, and he feels a little disgusted with it. This is mainly because he is not used to the taste for the time being, and Natitingou's colonial label of sorghum wine is a bit heavy.
After restraining his inner emotions, Rubirola opened his mouth and asked, "Boss, is this so-called Habsburg Monarchy of yours the rule of East African government, or the fiefdom of the Habsburg Royal Family?"
Rubirola doesn't believe it for the moment, but East Africa can generously give its colonies to the Habsburg Royal Family.
The tavern owner said, "As far as I know, it should have completely changed into Habsburg Monarchy! And our Natitingou is still the capital of this new country."
"In the past, this place was indeed managed by the Rhine Empire Togoland territorial government. However, many people from the original Natitingou government have left. There are many new faces in the government, and there have also been major changes in positions. For example, the town mayor has become a new-faced mayor to manage Natitingou."
"However, if you ask me, it's just a fool's errand. Our Natitingou is just a small town of a moderate size, and suddenly it became the capital of a country..."
It is difficult for the tavern owner to understand, but Rubirola is not surprised. After all, there used to be many small countries in Europe, especially within the Holy Roman Empire. Many countries are probably not as big as Habsburg Monarchy now.
Rubirola said, "Then are you assured of this Habsburg Royal Family rule?"
The tavern owner replied, "I was a little worried at the beginning. After all, we are used to the past life in East Africa. As for the new ruler, it seems to be very good so far, and it has brought quite a change to Natitingou."
"For example, Natitingou is expanding now, and the population has also increased a lot. New immigrants have been coming in recently, and our business here has been better."
"There are also big moves in the construction of neighborhoods. In addition to building more housing, I heard that new roads, water and electricity, new schools, hospitals, etc. will also be built."
"However, in my personal opinion, it is not easy to fully implement these measures because there are too few people in Natitingou. Just like building a new school, the source of students is a big problem."
"Originally, there was only one small primary school in our town, and it was responsible for the education of the entire area. Now, in addition to expanding the primary school, we also need to build a middle school. It will be difficult to recruit enough people."
"However, it remains to be seen whether these changes can finally be implemented. If they are really implemented, it will definitely be a good thing for us locals. In the past, the outstanding talents here, after graduating from primary school, if they wanted to continue to progress, they had to go to the middle school in the south to continue studying. However, it is too far away and can only be boarded, which is very inconvenient..."
Following the narration of the tavern owner, Rubirola finally determined that this Habsburg Monarchy was a vassal state supported by East Africa, at least for now.
After Rubirola stayed in Natitingou for two days, he started his return journey with a few bodyguards left by Sakuma. As for Sakuma himself, he wanted to continue going north to do business.
At the beginning of 1936, France finally figured out East Africa's actions in Togoland. Not only did they know the existence of the Habsburg Monarchy, but the Upper Volta Colony in the north also reported the situation of the New Kingdom of Austria to the mainland.
These two new West African countries were funded and built by the Habsburg Royal Family who was in exile in East Africa. The combined area of the two countries is almost 10,000 square kilometers, which is definitely not small. After all, France is only about 500,000 square kilometers. In other words, a collection of more than fifty Habsburg Monarchy and New Austria Kingdom would be the size of France.
Therefore, the emergence of these two countries still attracted the attention of French government. French government ordered Dahomey and Upper Volta's French Colonial Government to strengthen surveillance of the two countries.
At the same time, they also began to plan how to integrate the three French colonies in West Africa, namely Dahomey, Upper Volta and Niger.
This will strengthen France's ruling power and administrative resources in this region to deal with local threats from East African forces including East Africa, Kingdom of Southern Germany, Habsburg Monarchy and New Austria Kingdom.
However, although French government is wary of the two newly established Habsburg countries, there is not much that can be done.
Because France is now crossing the river and cannot protect itself. Facing the increasingly severe European situation, especially Germany, which is back on the road of military expansion, it is difficult to take into account the security of its colonies at the same time when its homeland is threatened by serious external crises.
Moreover, in 1936, there was another major event that attracted French's attention, that was Spain in the back of France. The situation became increasingly turbulent and might even lead to a civil war.
As for the changes in Spain's situation, France cannot completely ignore it to prevent Spain from completely turning to Germany and stabbing France in the back.
Darfur.
Niara City is the administrative and economic center of Darfur, and is also the seat of the Darfur Colony government in East Africa. When East Africa chose Darfur Colony as its capital, there were two main competing cities, namely Niara City and Fashir City.
Nyala ultimately won due to its advantages in transportation and water resources.
In terms of transportation, Nyala is originally Darfur's most important commercial center, connecting the Egyptian Sudan region, trade between Kingdom of Southern Germany and East Africa, and being able to radiate Darfur's main population distribution areas.
Fashir is closer to the center of Darfur than Nyala, but the north of Darfur is almost all desert, and the population is concentrated in the south and west.
As for water sources, although the precipitation in Nyala is relatively scarce, it can reach at least more than 400 millimeters, which is two to three times that of Fashir. Through the dams built in East Africa, a reservoir sufficient to supply urban development has been formed in its south.
Therefore, from the perspective of modern urban development, Nyala is more suitable for development as the economic center of Darfur, and it also facilitates East Africa's control of the Darfur region.
Unfortunately, because the Darfur area is too poor, it is not even taken seriously in the colonies in East Africa.
But now Darfur has a chance to turn around, that is, North African Railway is officially connected across the board, and Darfur has become a key link in East Africa's trade with the ring Mediterranean Sea.
On the Niara City side, the first freight train from Port of Benghazi to East African mainland, which can also be called Eastern Europe Express, was stopping at Nyala Railway Station to replenish drinking water and perform maintenance, and this also attracted a large number of Niara City residents to watch.
"Great, this train is a symbol of our economic take-off in Nyala. In the future, Nyala will no longer be a remote place ignored by the empire, but a key node in the trade between the empire and Europe, North Africa!"
"The opening of North African Railway is of great significance to Niara City and Darfur. Without this railway, Darfur will always be the most insignificant territory of the empire. With this railway, we can greatly enhance our status and give wings to Darfur's economic development."
All Darfurians are full of expectations for the opening of this railway, because Darfur opportunities are too scarce.
For a long time, if we talk about the poorest and backward countries or regions around East Africa, then Darfur has definitely topped the list, and its status cannot be shaken.
Even Egypt and Abyssinia, although the two countries are low-income and backward countries, their populations and economies are huge!
And the climate of Darfur is also the worst around East Africa. There are also a lot of deserts in the east of Egypt and Southern Germany, but Egypt has Nile River is a stable water source. There are Chari River and Lake Chad river basins in the east of Southern Germany. Only Darfur does not even have a river with water all year round.
Therefore, for Darfur residents, the lack of water resources naturally limits the development of local industry and agriculture. Therefore, if Darfur wants to break the situation, the most reliable way is to break the transportation constraints of Darfur as an inland area.
In the past, Darfur was a meeting place for many countries and regions, and its business in ancient times was relatively good. However, transportation basically relied on livestock and manpower, and it was difficult to increase its scale. To put it bluntly, Darfur was just a corner where few people came.
But now, after the opening of North African Railway, Darfur's situation has completely changed. In terms of railways, North African Railway is the main artery of East Africa and circum-Mediterranean Sea trade. As long as it can be maintained, it can bring benefits to Darfur.
At the same time, with the development of Southern Germany, Darfur can now also play an important role in East-West trade. The Chari River and Lake Chad river basins have markets with a population of one million, and Egypt Not to mention the economic size of and Abyssinian Empire, they are both large markets with a population of tens of millions. In theory, their trade with Kingdom of Southern Germany is most convenient and quickest through Darfur.