Chapter 19 – Hexingen Military Academy

Chapter 19 – Hexingen Military Academy

In just a few short months, the Hexingen Military Academy had completed its preliminary setup. The teachers Ernst recruited hadn't begun teaching yet because the five hundred or so youths brought from the Far East were in poor physical condition and needed time to recover. Many of them appeared thin, malnourished, and weak.

Since these boys had just crossed the ocean to Europe, Ernst did not dare let them eat too much right away. They were already frail, and the long sea voyage was hard even for a healthy adult, let alone these children. Also, they had been through a long period of starvation, so one could imagine the state of their stomachs. If they were suddenly given too much oily or rich food, the toilets might not suffice the next day.

Therefore, after they disembarked, Ernst provided them only small amounts of vegetables, bread, and potatoes as a buffer. Their portions were controlled so they wouldn't wolf the food down and overburden their bodies. Even so, their eyes shone with gratitude—a sign of how eager they were to eat.

For children from the East in this era, being able to eat every day was already a blessing. Some of them had even eaten tree bark or mud in the past. For them, what Ernst offered seemed like a feast. Though these kids were pitiful, Ernst could at least ensure they had enough to eat—and was willing to spend his own money to give them some meat and fish.

In recent years, the Qing government—already corrupt—had increased exploitation of the lower classes, using them to fund foreign indemnities and the costs of suppressing southern rebellions. Meanwhile, the government turned a blind eye to the frequent natural disasters in the north, leaving countless refugees uncared for. One could see how hard life was for ordinary people in that ancient kingdom. Poor farmers without land not only worked themselves to the bone for no reward but could end up in crushing debt. Landlords could raise taxes with a few words, and the imperial court's levies would be passed on multiple times to tenant farmers. As soon as disaster struck, many families went bankrupt. The lucky ones traveled far as beggars; the unlucky ones died by the roadside.

Because of this, Ernst's recruitment efforts at the Far East Commercial Liaison Office went very smoothly. For those who had lost all hope, anyone offering a chance at food was a lifesaver. That also explained why some traveled across the sea to build railways in America. The hardship endured by later generations of Chinese was unimaginable; show them a glimmer of hope, and they became the world's most diligent workers.

As for India, that was a place where every social level seemed to let things decay. They'd been doing it for thousands of years, so in Ernst's eyes, they lagged behind even the native Africans. Although the African tribes did not excel at organized work, at least they had a positive attitude toward living. Indians tended to be passive and "realistic," which did not help them develop. Their version of "realism" was hardly a virtue—just a hazy outlook on the world, shaped by the civilization they had.

This was why Ernst chose Chinese laborers. Though he did feel some emotional ties, it was chiefly about profit: he needed disciplined, obedient workers. At this point in history, Europeans were the best workforce in the world, leading in education—especially in German lands, where compulsory schooling eliminated illiteracy and prepared people for industrial society. Even the average Prussian soldier had an elementary education, so they followed orders well. However, for Ernst's projects in East Africa, persuading German citizens—who had other options and enjoyed higher living standards—to move to a land with wild animals and no roads was nearly impossible unless he paid them a fortune. Since he could not recruit the best, he picked the second best, which meant the Chinese.

Historically, East Asian rulers were adept at mobilizing their people for large projects—building roads or digging canals—so their populace tended to be more submissive to authority and easier to organize. Also, modern Chinese had known only hardship, their society consumed by fierce internal struggle, so they were extremely industrious—arguably more so than anyone else on Earth. Europeans, having lost so many to the Black Death, could not relate to such a mindset. In Europe, due to the feudal tradition, peasants and lords had formed a certain balance. If a peasant died of overwork, the lord himself lost property, and because of the plague's toll, labor had become scarce and valuable.

As a result, Europe's upper class often indulged in pleasure, which fostered cultural and artistic growth and ironically eased the burdens on the lower classes. They had higher pay and rest time, and if not, they might revolt. In short, Europeans would not work relentlessly without proper wages.

Finally, Ernst did not need any particularly skilled laborers right now. He simply wanted to open up East Africa, and he was a strong-willed man who preferred total control. Uneducated Chinese laborers lacked the broader perspective of Europeans and had simpler demands, making them easier to satisfy and manage. At this stage, his main goal was farmland development; no land could jump to industrialization without first improving agriculture. Ernst wanted to organize Chinese farmers into companies to work the land in Africa.

The Far Eastern recruits only needed food, so their wages could be practically nothing. Large-scale farming wouldn't require them to work endlessly hard, either, because they could direct local African natives to do the heaviest tasks. Indeed, Ernst was just a profit-driven noble, not a saint. He intended to seize tribal lands, use whatever slaves Zanzibar's sultan didn't need, and put them to work—at least temporarily. Since the era of the Omani Empire, Zanzibar had sold slaves across the Arab world, disposing of any captives who seemed unfit. Ernst had no way to transport all these natives elsewhere right now, so he would treat them as laborers until their usefulness ran out.

Most local Africans were hunters or gatherers, lacking the experience to farm. So he only wanted them for heavy labor—pulling plows or digging irrigation channels. There were no tractors or excavators in East Africa, and even if such machines existed, Ernst couldn't afford them. The plan was to rely on manual labor. Perhaps in time, if the natives survived long enough to outlive Ernst's need for them, he would try to relocate them somehow.

Meanwhile, the teenage boys in question would help Ernst oversee the Chinese workforce in East Africa. He certainly couldn't give every Chinese worker a personal interpreter, and it wasn't as though many Germans spoke Chinese. Later on, after spreading German language in East Africa, the problem would vanish—though that might take generations. In this lifetime, Ernst was wholly German and would not sabotage his own foundation. He insisted that East Africa be German-speaking. Initially, a German elite would be the ruling class, and mixed-race children would gradually be promoted, forging a new nationality. Ernst would not allow any future unrest in his domain.

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