Chapter 885: The Awakening of Economic Colonies

The Abyssinian Empire is a completely backward agricultural country, but one thing cannot be ignored, that is, the labor cost of the Abyssinian Empire is very low.

After all, it only has a land area of ​​300,000 square kilometers, but its population is about one-seventh that of East Africa, so the Abyssinian Empire is very suitable for engaging in some labor-intensive agriculture.

After all, the de-slavery of East Africa is a foregone conclusion. After the complete disappearance of black slaves, the labor costs in East Africa will inevitably rise, so some labor-intensive agriculture must be transferred to the Abyssinian Empire in advance.

For example, in the rubber industry, tea, coffee planting and other industries that are difficult to mechanize in the short term in the future, East Africa can give part of it to the Abyssinian Empire. As for competition, East Africa is not afraid of small countries like Abyssinia. , on the contrary, it is a large tropical country like Brazil with a vast land area that is the target of East Africa's vigilance.

Of course, Johannes IV naturally knew that East Africa wanted to control the agriculture of the Abyssinian Empire, but he had no way to stop it. Apart from anything else, if East Africa adopted economic means to change the agricultural situation of the Abyssinian Empire, Johannes IV was also helpless.

Of course, Ramones also said: "We in East Africa know the national conditions of Abyssinia. There is a hunger problem in the Abyssinian Empire, and the food problem needs to be solved first. For this, our East Africa can help Abyssinia." The Abyssinian Empire, one of the largest food exporters in the world in East Africa, is fully capable of solving the food problem of the Abyssinian Empire and forming an economic structure in which food and industrial products are exchanged for cash crop products.”

Of course, the Abyssinian Empire was relatively densely populated and had low productivity levels, so agricultural production was mainly based on food crops. After all, the problem of food had to be solved first.

In order for the Abyssinian Empire to be willing to produce cash crop cultivation in East Africa that relies heavily on manpower, it is natural to give the Abyssinian Empire a reassurance.

Of course, the main reason is that the mechanization of food crops in East Africa, especially rice and wheat, has begun to take shape. In the future, a small agricultural population can meet the needs of large-scale agricultural production.

Of course, this was beyond the imagination of Johannes IV, an indigenous emperor. In fact, he had no objection to the planting of cash crops, because the current demand from the international community is huge, and developed countries in Europe and the United States have to harvest as much as they can, otherwise European and American countries will not engage in plantation economies around the world.

Of course, the reason why East Africa gave up part of its share is that East Africa has begun to shift towards industrialization. At the same time, the size of East Africa is not comparable to that of the Abyssinian Empire. Moreover, the Abyssinian Empire is easier to control. This is the main reason. reason.

In the future, East Africa does not want to go to the rain forests of Vietnam to fight the indigenous people like the United States. Southeast Asia is far from East Africa and has complex terrain. Abyssinia is dominated by plateau terrain, and the mountainous terrain that is easy to defend and difficult to attack is basically in southern East Africa. In his hands, he was unable to resist the control of East Africa.

Of course, it was impossible for Ramones to make Johannes IV surrender easily with just a few words, but this was only a matter of time, because the Abyssinian Empire had no choice.

No matter how hard the Abyssinian Empire works, even if the whole country only grows tropical cash crops, its output will always be limited due to the small land area. On the contrary, after these cheap agricultural products enter East Africa, East Africa can be sold to East Africa with a little processing. Europe and America.

This is equivalent to East Africa deploying the thankless agricultural type in Abyssinia, while East Africa engages in mid- and upstream industries, that is, processing and sales, forming a large industrial chain dependent on East Africa, which has a great influence on East Africa and the Abyssinian Empire. Words are a good thing.

In order to further dispel Johannes IV's doubts, Raymond specifically said: "Of course, as friends of the Abyssinian Empire, we in East Africa respect your decisions, such as food security issues. Your country has a lot of restricted land. We can expand the area of ​​cultivated land on the current basis to engage in the cultivation of cash crops. This will not pose a threat to local food security, but at the same time we can make more money. After all, international food prices have been at low levels in recent years, and the profits are far less than those of rubber. , coffee, sugar and other crops.”

Sure enough, as soon as Ramones reminded him, Johannes IV, an emperor with a military background, also "came to his senses". This is indeed the truth!

Of course, this is obviously impossible. There is a huge loophole in Ramones’ words, which is the premise that East African food does not enter Abyssinia.

Ramones also said that international food prices have remained at a low level. Cheap food from East Africa actually entered the Abyssinian Empire more than ten years ago, so now more and more landowners in the Abyssinian Empire have started to Shifting to cash crop cultivation, East Africa is only accelerating the process.

The ultimate goal of East Africa is to fully integrate the Abyssinian Empire into the East African market, and what Ramones is doing now is just to accelerate this process.

As for the issue of food security, it has always been a weapon of East Africa. If Abyssinia is really unable to be self-sufficient in food, East Africa will only be happy to see it happen.

Of course, as a fish raised in East Africa, East Africa will not go too far like the United States did on the Caribbean coast, at least giving a piece of soup to the Abyssinian Empire.

In this regard, the East African government still has integrity. After all, the East African government is not a businessman government like the United States. It will consider more comprehensive factors, both political and economic.

"And our East African government will provide agricultural technology assistance to the Abyssinian Empire, provide more advanced agricultural tools, seeds, fertilizers and pesticides, and increase the agricultural income of the Abyssinian Empire." Lemons added.

The current agricultural tools for cash crop planting basically have no technical content, so there is no need to worry about technology leakage. You must know that East African tractors are now only used domestically, and avoiding exports is to prevent the United States, Tsarist Russia and other agricultural powers from upgrading their technology in the future.

As a strong country in the field of internal combustion engines, East Africa is undoubtedly in the first echelon of machinery in this field. Because of early investment, it is ten to twenty years ahead of other countries in the world.

The internal combustion tractors of the same type of competitors in the market do not have the value of large-scale promotion at all, but the gasoline and diesel tractors of East Africa have already begun mass production in the inland.

This is equivalent to East Africa's reverse technology blockade against the world, and because of the world market, East Africa can easily obtain technology from other countries in the world through business or even espionage, so as long as time goes by, East Africa can achieve the pattern of "you have me, I have you don't" in the field of practical technology.

This is East Africa's reverse application of the "closed-door" policy. Of course, this is obviously not conducive to the technological progress of the world, but East Africa obviously doesn't care about this.

"Ambassador Lemons, I will give you a reply later on the cooperation between the two countries." Johannes IV said.

After all, you need to let your own think tank help you with this matter, but Johannes IV was soon convinced by his ministers.

After all, the economic dependence of the Abyssinian Empire on East Africa is a foregone conclusion, which has given rise to a large number of "comprador" groups. Of course, the form of the Abyssinian Empire is doomed to be unable to resist the subtle invasion of East Africa from all aspects. Since it cannot be resisted, it is better to "enjoy it".

In April 1894, East Africa and the Abyssinian Empire formally signed a treaty for in-depth cooperative development, and the Abyssinian Empire officially became the first country in the world to be tied to its own chariot by East Africa.