"Why, do you want to get involved in this industry too?" Prince Karl Anton asked.
"Not exactly. I mainly want to test the waters in the colonies," Ernst said frankly.
"This may be rather difficult to pull off!" Prince Karl Anton said without a second thought. "Although I think highly of your talent for business, I'm afraid it would be hard for you to make a profit from this!"
In Prince Karl Anton's view, if a colony was only going to lose money, what was the point of taking it over?
"Uncle Karl, by testing the waters, I mean building only a short stretch, not laying tracks across East Africa on a large scale," Ernst said.
"That still doesn't sound right! If you're merely building it for fun, there's no need to ask me. You could simply find a German railway company, and they should be able to begin work right away! Besides, with your status, I doubt anyone would dare cheat you," Prince Karl Anton said.
In Prince Karl Anton's eyes, Ernst was now, at the very least, a great nobleman and major capitalist in the German territories. That combination practically forged him an invincible golden body.
Besides, Ernst had said he only wanted to test the waters. No German railway company blind enough to court disaster would offend a future prince and business titan over such a small profit.
"Actually, Uncle Karl, it's like this. I do have my eye on the railway market, but I also know railways are different from the things I used to do.
"Railway technology is already highly mature, and the barrier to entry is extremely high. More importantly, there are many railway companies in the German territories. Entering the market directly now would be a thankless task.
"But I'm optimistic about the