African Entrepreneurship Record

January 11, 1870.

Hohenzollern Castle, in the garden.

"One hundred eleven, one hundred twelve, one hundred thirteen..."

Ernst gritted his teeth and counted the number of push-ups with difficulty, sweat soaking through his white cotton vest.

"Three hundred!"

"Whew... this challenge is still too difficult for me!" Ernst said to the coach, gasping heavily.

He supported his hands on his thighs, sweat pouring down his forehead like rain. Tom timely handed over a towel, and Ernst took it to wipe the sweat off his face.

"Your Highness, it's already commendable that you can keep going; this level of perseverance is something ordinary people probably can't achieve!" the coach commented from the side.

"Coach Luo Weite, you're overpraising me. Without someone to supervise, I wouldn't be able to stick to it. Only someone with a bit of money to spare would do something as trivial as this."

Recently, Ernst noticed in the mirror that he had gained quite a bit of weight, which was a bolt from the blue for him.

In his previous life, he had always had a normal physique, but after crossing over, he gained a lot of fat due to good food and a lack of exercise.

By the end of this year, Ernst would be turning 20. He was currently 178 centimeters tall and estimated he wouldn't grow any taller, something he couldn't control.

Prince Constantine's appearance couldn't be called ugly, but it was rather ordinary. Ernst had only slightly surpassed Prince Constantine's looks.

Being relatively young, he was considered above average in appearance for this era. It's fair to say that Ernst had presence and spirit, but he wasn't exactly handsome.

With this foundation, any extra weight had a significant impact on Ernst's appearance. Even a slight gain made him look worse, and Ernst was self-aware enough to know he didn't have the willpower, so he hired a professional to tailor a weight loss plan for himself.

"Your Highness, your physique isn't actually bad among the nobility. There's no need for this so-called 'weight loss'," Tom said.

"You don't understand. My sense of aesthetics differs from ordinary people. It's only acceptable if I consider it attractive. Others' standards are irrelevant to me; my life is about satisfying myself rather than drifting with the tide."

Upon hearing Ernst say this, Tom stopped persuading him. To Tom, Ernst was merely making things hard on himself. Before losing weight, Ernst's physique had much of Prince Constantine's dignified air, appearing imposing and steady.

If Ernst knew Tom's thoughts, he'd likely feel dejected for a while. Prince Constantine was not dignified; he indeed had a bit of weight, his face almost becoming round.

...

"Ring ring..."

"Your Highness, it's a call from His Majesty the Prince!" a servant came to the garden to report to Ernst.

Ernst dismissed Tom and the coach and went to the telephone room, taking the phone from the operator.

"You wait outside the door. Come in only if I call you."

"Yes, Your Highness!"

The operator skillfully closed the door.

"Hello, Father, what do you need me for?"

"Ernst, I want to ask your opinion on an issue regarding East Africa's population."

Upon hearing this, Ernst focused intently; the East African population had always been a major concern for him.

"Father, go ahead."

"It's like this: in 1869, the number of newborns in East Africa was over 200,000, and I'm sure you're aware of this figure. However, this year, the number of newborns in East Africa will likely hit a new high. Based on reports from various levels of government, we can confirm that this year's number of newborns is likely to exceed 500,000!"

"Isn't that a good thing, Father?" Ernst asked, puzzled.

"It seems you don't understand the severity of the situation. Five hundred thousand is a conservative estimate, and the number could reach 600,000, 700,000, or even more. East Africa has 1.11 million families on record. Excluding those who just had babies last year, there are over 900,000 families, and they could all give birth this year, with some families having a second or even third child. Given this trend, imagine how many children there will be in East Africa in the next 20 years?"

"That's indeed quite a lot!" Ernst said, falling silent.

"More than quite a lot. If we estimate each family will have at least five children in the next 20 years, combined with new immigrants, East Africa's population could exceed 10 million by 1890, maybe even sooner; ten years might suffice."

"What do you think about this issue, Father?"

"I'm considering whether we should implement administrative intervention to reduce birth rates in East Africa?"

"That is absolutely out of the question!" Ernst firmly opposed. "While it's easy to change people's views on childbirth, adjusting them back in the future would be problematic. Therefore, we must not use administrative means to interfere with East Africa's population."

Ernst firmly opposed family planning, influenced by his experiences in his past life. If forced family planning was executed, Ernst's past life wouldn't have existed. Even so, his family was fined a large sum. People were generally impoverished at the time, so any valuable belongings were confiscated. When the country later became wealthy, no one wanted to have children anymore. Ernst himself never even married.

"Uh... Didn't you ask me for my opinion? I was just speaking offhand," Constantine was surprised by Ernst's strong opposition.

"Father, since East African people are keen to have children, let them be. In twenty years, when these children grow up, they will be East Africa's future, and the population won't be a problem by then. Coincidentally, the highest proportion is mixed-race families, germinating the East African German nation," Ernst said.

"I understand. You've always stressed that the population is the country's cornerstone and that more people are a strong nation's cornerstone, but such a vast number of children means the educational and rearing issues alone will be a significant burden for East Africa!"

Ernst thought carefully before replying to Prince Constantine: "Father, the childcare cost index in East Africa is compared to rural areas worldwide, not Europe. This population growth isn't a concern for East Africa. As for education, we employ what's essentially a frugal education system aimed initially at freeing up the East African labor force, encouraging more women to participate in work tasks. The scale of East Africa's industrial requirement for educated individuals is limited, so we can be flexible with compulsory education. Currently, East African schools use small-class systems, but these newborns will be school-aged in about four or five years, and by then, we could switch to larger classes. By that time, the first few batches of students will have graduated, ideally filling the teaching gap in East Africa. All they need to do is read from textbooks; the requirements aren't too high.

Currently, the primary challenge East Africa faces is raising so many newborns, and my personal suggestion is to make women full-time housewives, no longer engaging in agricultural production. It shouldn't be difficult for a mother to manage five or six children, just taking care of basic needs. As for any shortfall in agricultural labor, we should supplement it with Black people!"

Ultimately, the key to solving the problem comes down to 'labor.' The Black slaves in East Africa are only adult males, so their unchecked proliferation isn't a concern. They can exist in East Africa for just one generation, distributing the agricultural work among them. Essentially, their generation supports the generation of East Africa's newborns, until these children grow up and the 'tools' retire from East Africa.

This is a harsh reality, but until mechanization improves, the Nigger will have to bear the brunt. Ernst promises that once a suitable replacement for the Nigger is found, he will ensure those who have made significant contributions to the construction of East Africa are sent back 'home' in advance."