African Entrepreneurship Records 2

Chapter 954 Ernst's Way to Work
Moving the capital to the Rhine is not without its drawbacks. Since the advent of the Age of Discovery, the ocean has been the focus of strategy for all major powers, the most typical of which is Tsarist Russia. The original capital of Tsarist Russia was in Moscow. Later, Peter I and other Tsarist monarchs moved the capital to present-day St. Petersburg in order to seize a seaport, implement a maritime strategy, and learn from the West in an all-round way.

The previous policy of setting St. Petersburg as the capital of Tsarist Russia undoubtedly brought huge benefits to Tsarist Russia. With the advantage of maritime transportation, it was able to more conveniently accept technology and capital input from Europe. St. Petersburg also changed from a poor and remote place under the rule of the former Swedish Empire to the most prosperous economic region in Tsarist Russia.

Then, the rapidly westernized St. Petersburg radiated these technologies and capital to the inland areas of Tsarist Russia, which enabled the rapid development of Tsarist Russia's Eastern European mainland.

The relocation of the capital from the First Town City to the Rhine City in East Africa should be considered the opposite case. At least it is not so convenient for Ernst to inspect the Bagamoyo Naval Base.

In the past, if Ernst wanted to see the development of the navy, he could go to the First Town City whenever he wanted. The First Town City was less than 70 kilometers away from the coast and could be reached within an hour. But now it is impossible.

Of course, although the city of Rhine is deep inland, it also has a beneficial impact on East Africa's maritime strategy. After all, East Africa is different from Tsarist Russia. Tsarist Russia's important ports are concentrated in the east, while East Africa is a two-ocean country.

Therefore, Rhine City is located in the center of the east and west coasts, which can make it easier for the East African central government to coordinate the exploration and development in both the Indian Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean.

In the past, the East African government would naturally not have been able to do this, but with the development of communication technologies such as telegraph, telephone, and radio, the good foundation of railway and road transportation, and the future development of aircraft, the communication barriers between Rhine City and the East African coast are being reduced.

Think about it, in the time of Peter the Great, there were no railways and communication could only rely on horses to deliver letters. If there were any changes or transformations in Europe, by the time the news reached Moscow via horses, it would have been too late.

At this time, St. Petersburg, located on the coast and close to Europe, became the Tsar's only choice to implement Russia's maritime strategy.

If it were the era of Peter the Great, East Africa would not have the conditions to move the capital. Although inland areas are more conducive to controlling the entire country, they are not conducive to participating in maritime competition. At this time, the first town or city on the coast would have more advantages.

The advancement of communication and transportation technology has enabled East Africa to maintain good contact with the outside world even if it moves its capital to Rhine City, so as to always control the direction of world development and participate in international competition.

Similarly, in Ernst's view, it is appropriate for Tsarist Russia to move its capital back from St. Petersburg to Moscow. Although St. Petersburg is still the most economically active and easiest to communicate with the outside world, with the support of railways and communications, Moscow is no worse than St. Petersburg in this respect.

And what is crucial is that St. Petersburg's location is too dangerous, and Moscow, which is deep inland, is safer. In fact, after the demise of Tsarist Russia, the Soviet Union and later Russia chose Moscow as their capital based on this.

……

Ernst had no time to tidy up the Rhine Palace and had already started "going to work". On the day he arrived in Rhine City, he went to the Rhine City Central Government Building to handle government affairs.

This was a big change after the capital was moved. When he was in the first town, Ernst worked in the Svet Palace. After all, the traditional royal palace was the political center of a feudal monarchy.

However, in the Rhine city, Ernst completely separated the royal residence and office, which also meant that Ernst had to start his own "work" journey like the officials in East Africa.

"The journey from the Rhine Palace to the Central Government Building takes at least 30 minutes. Aren't we just asking for trouble?" Constantine said to Ernst.

Ernst said: "Nowadays, we have cars, and twenty minutes is enough. It doesn't take much time. Besides, placing the office in the Rhine Palace will reduce the living experience, so it is better to separate the two." Having said that, Ernst was actually thinking that if the monarch of East Africa becomes a figurehead in the future, a special government office will still have to be transferred. The specific manifestations in other countries are the prime minister's residence, the presidential palace, the prime minister's office and the like.

The most typical example is 10 Downing Street in the UK, so it is better to separate the royal palace and the government residence now to avoid trouble in the future.

This is actually a more euphemistic statement. We were about to enter the 20th century, and the early 20th century was also the last glorious years of the monarchy.

If East Africa experiences the same political changes as in Europe and other regions in the future and the royal flag falls, it will easily cause trouble if the palace where the royal family lives is also an administrative office center.

"To be honest, there is no civilian area between the Rhine Palace and the Central Government Building, otherwise safety would be a big problem." Constantine continued.

After all, there have been many assassination attempts on monarchs throughout history, especially the late Tsar Alexander II, who experienced more than a hundred assassination attempts in his life. He escaped before, but was finally killed in 1881 by an assassin's bomb thrown at his car.

This caused quite a stir at the time. Constantine strongly asked Ernst to strengthen the security of the Svet Palace. At that time, the Svet Palace was located in the center of the first town and was not strictly separated from the residential area. If there were criminals like the Tsarist Russia, they might find an opportunity to carry out a decapitation operation against the East African royal family.

Of course, this possibility is not great. The First Town City was built entirely on political grounds, so most of the residents of the First Town City are "good citizens", at least the archives are reliable.

"Father, safety has always been my concern. The security facilities in the entire area from the Rhine Palace to the Rhine City Administrative District are the strongest in East Africa, so there is no way we will encounter any thugs. Most of the residents along the way are family members of government officials, and other residents who maintain the life and infrastructure of the administrative district are also carefully selected. There are also troops nearby, so the safety of Rhine City is second to none in the world."

Along with the migration of the East African government and royal family, the Guards Division originally stationed in the Maritime Province (formerly the Central Province) and even its naval component also migrated here. Of course, their area of ​​activity also shifted from the Little Rhine River and Bagamoyo Port to the Rensemfuwa River.

However, the Rensemfuwa Dam has not been built yet, and the Guards Navy has limited space for activities. Once the Rensemfuwa River Dam is built, they will be able to carry out law enforcement operations in the Rensemfuwa River Reservoir.

In fact, it has also changed from a navy to a lake army. Due to the existence of large lakes such as the Great Lakes (Lake Victoria), Lake Malawi, and Lake Solon (Lake Tanganyika) in East Africa, the inland navy has always been maintained, but the inland navy has been reorganized into a water police department under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Public Security.

"In fact, there is a subway connecting the Rhine Palace to the Central Government Building, which is extremely safe. However, it is not necessary. It is safe to go anywhere by car. The royal family's cars are all bulletproof. If there is danger, the personnel can quickly get to their positions."

When Ernst said this, Constantine remembered that there was a subway under the Rhine City. However, he asked with some doubt: "Where is the subway entrance and exit of the Rhine Palace?"

Ernst smiled and said to Constantine, "In the middle of this year, that is, during the Spanish-American War, the subway was fully built. However, the Rhine Palace subway is more than 100 meters underground in the Rhine Palace, and usually no vehicles pass through it. There is a dark room in the Rhine Palace which is the subway passage. But after we return from the Central Government Building, we will take you to familiarize yourself with the internal structure of the Rhine Palace."

As the current king of East Africa, Constantine naturally had to show up at the government. After all, this was the first day of work for the East African Central Government after the capital was moved. So if he wanted to understand the layout of the Rhine Palace, he had to wait until the father and son got off work.

(End of this chapter)