African Entrepreneurship Records 2

Chapter 1276 Alcohol
This is actually quite easy to understand. At that time, Russia was at war, and Russia was one of the most backward countries among the imperialist countries. The residents of the Russian front and occupied areas naturally had the most miserable living conditions.

Previously, the Tsarist government had to requisition grain from the occupied areas. After the Allies occupied Ukraine, they also had to requisition grain from the local area. Moreover, the military discipline of both Tsarist Russia and the Allies was not very good, especially the Bulgarian troops. In addition, the local agricultural production activities had been greatly affected by the war.

During this period, the occupied areas of Tsarist Russia, such as Ukraine, were in dire straits, if not hell on earth.

So don't underestimate a small piece of cookie. They helped these Russian refugees who had been in a state of famine for a long time to quickly stabilize themselves.

As for their life in the Basra refugee camp, although it was far away from the war zone, the Ottoman Empire was obviously not a charity, so it basically guaranteed their survival.

……

"Liberty!"

The so-called Liberty is an old sailing ship docked in the Persian Gulf south of the town of Fao.

Dozens of small boats have been anchored on the beach between Faao and the Persian Gulf. Because there is no port in Faao, large ships have no space to anchor and can only drift on the sea.

To get to the Liberty, you need to use these small boats, row to the side of the Liberty, and then climb onto the ship using the ladder.

The refugees were divided into groups of ten and boarded small boats one after another. There were three East African personnel on each boat, who were responsible for maintaining order and operating the boats to drift towards the Liberty.

On the shore, East African personnel will carry out the final disinfection operation, holding spray bottles filled with disinfectant and doing the final cleanup for the refugees.

"Kumoyev, what did the East Africans spray on us? It seemed to be liquor?"

Sitting in the boat, Lieblia put his sleeve over his nose and took a deep breath and said.

A young man with obvious Slavic appearance said, "It should be alcohol. East Africans are really extravagant. This kind of thing must also require a lot of food to make. It is placed on the front line. It is a life-saving thing."

The young man was Kumoyev, from a village called Ananyev in Russia.

Since the outbreak of World War I, Nicholas II issued a prohibition order, which also made the Russians who were addicted to alcohol very dissatisfied.

One theory as to why the prohibition order was issued was that during the Russo-Japanese War, the Russian army was addicted to alcohol, which resulted in the inability to supply logistical supplies to the front line in time. Some media even reported that it was not the Japanese army that defeated the Russian army, but alcohol. So, learning from the previous lesson, Nicholas II issued a prohibition order.

As for other reasons, as Kumoyev said, the brewing process of wine consumes a lot of grain, which is a very luxurious behavior when the country is short of food during the war.

Before the outbreak of the war, Russian conservatives actively supported the measures initiated by the authorities to combat alcoholism. They carried out anti-alcoholism propaganda and used speeches and publications to make the public aware of the harm caused by alcohol.

In short, there is a large number of people in Russia who support prohibition, and this group of people has considerable influence in the Russian government.

If Ernst were to judge the prohibition imposed by Nicholas II, it would be "self-destructive."

After all, the Russian army is the most dangerous when they are sober, and alcohol helps to paralyze the fear and panic of the Russian grassroots soldiers about war.

Moreover, from Ernst's perspective, no country has ever succeeded in prohibiting alcohol, whether it is the United States or the Soviet Union, it ended in failure. Of course, the starting point of prohibition is generally good, and excessive drinking is indeed extremely harmful to health, but in a country like Russia where the lower class lives in such a difficult situation, the so-called health is completely nonsense.

The effect of Russia's prohibition on alcohol is also very obvious. Alcohol is sold at high prices on the black market, and the lower-class Russian people are actively looking for substitutes for vodka, such as medical alcohol, and even methanol, brightener and varnish.

So, when the East Africans took out alcohol spray bottles to disinfect these Russian refugees, the Slavs were shocked again.

Lieblia smelled the aroma of alcohol wafting from his clothes, as if afraid that the smell would disappear and said, "It has brought out my alcohol bug."

"Before the war reached the Petri spellcard, although life was very difficult at that time, I still bought alcohol from the black market twice and diluted it with water to a low concentration to relieve fatigue. This made me miss the days before the war broke out and before the prohibition of alcohol was implemented."

"At that time, my father had not yet been conscripted into the army, and our family was able to make ends meet. The price of vodka was not as high as that of unscrupulous merchants. Thinking about it now, even though life was difficult back then, it was like heaven compared to the three years of war."

Lieblia was only sixteen years old. In the early days of the war, Tsarist Russia expanded its army through voluntary registration, but soon turned to compulsory conscription. In the process, many farmers and civilians were forced to leave their homes to fight.

However, before Russia organized a new round of conscription, Lebljana's hometown fell. Lebljana's age was actually very dangerous. It could be said that whether he would be forcibly conscripted or not depended entirely on the mood of the local conscription officer.

And his youth was also the reason why the Allies sold him to East Africa after occupying Lebrija's hometown of Petri Fuka.

In this "new triangular trade" organized by East Africa, East Africa is just like the American farmers in the last century. They do not accept older ones, nor do they accept those who are too young. Only those who are about to reach adulthood, such as Liberia, are the most popular.

Being young means being healthy. Even after being taken to the South Seas, they can continue to work for East Africa, and it will be beneficial for the East African government to transform them.

Although the Labor Party is currently active in Russia, this does not affect East Africa's recruitment of immigrants from the occupied areas. After all, the areas where the Labor Party is active are Russia's urban areas, rooted in factories, or sensitive areas such as barracks.

Rural areas were basically ignored by the Russian Labor Party, a tradition that was later inherited by the Soviet Union. People like Leblia, who were born in pure Russian rural areas and whose ancestors were serfs, naturally could not become the target of the Labor Party's development.

The number of workers' parties in the whole of Russia is only a few hundred thousand. If it is cities like St. Petersburg, Moscow, Kiev, etc., East Africa will definitely not ignore the risks and recruit immigrants from these cities for such a small number of immigrants.

Moreover, even if immigrants were recruited from these cities, they would not be able to stay in Southeast Asia after arriving there. After all, Russian cities and rural areas were completely two different worlds, and the quality of life of urban residents far exceeded that of Russia's vast peasant population.

Kumoyev sighed and said, "From the alcohol that the East Africans used to disinfect us, the biscuits we were given yesterday, the cars we rode in, and the dinner we had yesterday, it can be seen that East Africa is much richer than us in Russia."

"This is also good news for us. The conditions in the 'South Sea' mentioned by the East African officer before should not be too bad. At least, compared to Russia, they are not much worse."

The living standards in East Africa have always been good, at least above the world average. As time goes by, East Africa's industry has developed, and in recent years the living standards of East African people have caught up with those of other powerful countries.

Even because of the long-term existence of slavery, the people of East Africa have surpassed the general powers in some areas. Globally, there are only a few countries such as the United States, Britain, and France that can be compared with the people of East Africa.

Kumoyev is obviously a meticulous and thoughtful Russian youth. He judged his future based on just some details he had come into contact with so far.

Of course, the colonies in East Africa obviously cannot be compared with the mainland, but what the colonies lack is developed industry and economy. Other aspects such as laws and systems are basically not much different from the mainland.

(End of this chapter)