Orange, Bloemfontein City.
"Currently Kimberley has no population to support its existence. Before the war, this was the most developed city in Boer Republic, with railways, telegraphs, etc., but now it is completely paralyzed, and the most terrifying thing is that we simply do not have enough population to resume local construction." Yuerta, the mayor of Kimberley City in East Africa, complained gloomily.
When it comes to East Africa, the most miserable place is the original Boer Republic area, because East Africa was really driven out of Boers, so that in the Orange area, ten rooms and nine rooms were empty, and the rest were almost all military.
Therefore, the Kimberley City government and other Orange regional governments are in more trouble than the governments in Mozambique and Angola.
"It's hard for a good woman to make a meal without rice. There is no one to develop the local area. Kimberley is now like a ghost town. There is no popularity except for the city government and the military camp. It is impossible for us to command the army to do these menial tasks."
"Now Kimberley still has production tasks to complete, and all the mines are completely shut down. If there is no one to maintain it, it is estimated that the mining area will collapse in a few months, and it will be difficult to restore it by then."
In response to Yulta's complaints, Bloemfontein City Mayor Hull Weixin still maintained a dead fish face and said, "You ask me for help, and I can't do anything! Now Bloemfontein is also an empty frame. If there were no garrison here, I have no doubt that our life safety will be threatened by wild beasts. Now the surrounding areas of Bloemfontein are covered with weeds, and there are so many empty houses. I feel terrified in the middle of the night."
Juerta: "At least you can still maintain your office. We rarely even go to Kimberley now. I won't say more. It's better to put up empty shelves at Kimberley with a few hundred people than to live under someone else's roof at Bloemfontein."
Hull Wei Xin said in embarrassment, "Bloemfontein's population was borrowed from New Baden Province next door. Southern Frontier Province to the south used to only have military troops stationed there, as well as military family members or military employees. Everyone is short of people, so don't worry."
New Baden Province is not a populous province in East Africa at all, and it doesn't even have any sense of existence. It can only support a few thousand people for Bloemfontein.
The original city of Orange has come to a standstill due to the East African policy, and the same is true for rural areas. Angola has central support, Mozambique has eastern and New Hamburg City support, and Orange is completely like an abandoned place.
Julta said, "I don't care about other places. Kimberley was the most economically developed area in Orange before. Bloemfontein only occupies the convenience of Boer Republic's capital. Apart from that, it is completely unimportant to Orange. If you want the higher authorities to see the value of Orange, you must develop Kimberley's minerals in a limited way. Is it possible that you expect the little income from farming to move the central government?"
In Orange, Kimberley became the most developed area in the entire South African interior because of its diamond mines, and it was also the focus of competition between British and Boers before the war.
The output value of Kimberley is much higher than that of other regions in Boer Republic combined. This is easy to understand. Before the war, the total population of Boer Republic was less than 400,000. In Europe, Far East Empire is the size of a city, and Kimberley was previously one of the largest diamond producing areas in the world, so the diamond industry alone exceeds the combined income of other areas of Orange.
Regarding Juerta's words, Hull Weixin also believes that there is some truth. If Orange is completely shut down, it may not attract much attention. The most effective way to reflect its own value is to revitalize Orange's industry first.
The diamond industry is obviously the most valuable industry in Orange, and it is a high value-added industry. In the 19th century, diamond production was very limited, so the price was very considerable.
After thinking about it, Hull Weixin said to Juerta: "Many of the mines in other parts of East Africa are dominated by black people. Obviously Kimberley can also use black people to support them first, but there are almost no black people in Orange, so we can You can ask for black resources from other provinces, and then I will allocate dozens of manpower to you. You can maintain Kimberley's mining industry first. Even if you complete the task and Kimberley has troops stationed, you don't have to worry about black riots."
Juerta said with a grimace, "If we attack black people, we in Orange may be the only ones in East Africa."
In other parts of East Africa, black people have made important contributions to East African economic development. Even Angola and Mozambique, which were just merged into East Africa, have a large number of black people for local governments to drive. However, the Orange area is really miserable, and there are not even many black people.
Boers is also a very exclusive ethnic group. In addition, they mainly focus on herding and do not need a large population. Therefore, there are not many black people in Orange, and only a small number of San people are distributed in inaccessible areas.
Hull Weixin patted Juerta on the shoulder and comforted, "There is nothing we can do about it. Angola and Mozambique have a large black population, and there is only an army in Orange, so we can't get involved, so we can only think of ways to rely on black people from other provinces. There is a shortage of nationals everywhere in this country. We should be able to squeeze out a lot of black people. I don't believe that the superiors will refute our application."
Juerta said, "It doesn't take too many, tens of thousands of people can restore the mine to its previous production capacity. Before South African War, the population of Boer Republic was not large. The main thing was the machines left by British. It may be difficult for black people to master them, so a dozen people will definitely not work. You have to give at least two to three hundred people, otherwise the Kimberley machines will be wasted."
Juerta's words reminded Hull Weixin, what is the most valuable thing in Orange now? In addition to minerals, there are also machines and infrastructure left by British, and these are mainly concentrated in Kimberley.
Therefore, if Orange wants to develop, it really cannot do without Kimberley. If these machines and infrastructure are allowed to be destroyed, I am afraid it will be difficult for Orange to find opportunities to industrialize again in the future.
So he said to Julta: "Machines are indeed very important. Kimberley could previously be compared with many economically developed cities in East Africa. The remaining conditions are indeed unique. When you arrive in Kimberley, you should first be optimistic about those machines and infrastructure. Shi, if nothing else, let's take a good look at the Kimberley railway. The relationship between us and Cape Town is indeed awkward now, but maybe the two parties will reconcile in the future, and then the Kimberley railway will be able to play a big role."
Kimberley has the only railway line connected to Cape Town within the original territory of Boer Republic, which is mainly used by British to transport diamonds. From this point, we can also see the economic strength of Kimberley.
Of course, this railway is now a dead end, and even the bridge on the Orange River was blown up during the war.
However, this railway may not be ineffective in the future. After all, relations between East and Britain cannot always be stiff, especially Cape Town, a British territory connected to East Africa.
Of course, British Railways and East African railway are not interoperable, so whether the Kimberley railway can be retained in the future is a question, but the Hull restoration still prefers to retain it first. Even if it is really to be demolished in the future, the situation in Orange will definitely be very different from now.