Kenya is located in a tropical monsoon zone, with plains along the coast with abundant rainfall, highlands in the center and deserts in the north.

Because of its rich mineral resources, it was brought under the rule of the Austrian colonial government a few years ago, but only the coastal plain was really developed, and the rest of the region was only ruled in name.

Kenya is bordered by Somalia to the east, Tanzania to the south, Uganda to the west, Ethiopia and South Sudan to the north, and the Indian Ocean to the southeast.

Because of its unique geographical location, after the outbreak of the Second Ethiopian War, Kenya's local commercial trade flourished.

Every day, a large amount of supplies flow into the Ethiopian region from here. The Egyptian army has been able to hold out until now, and this trade route has also contributed greatly.

Nova Saltu, itself just a colonial stronghold on the Kenyan border, has a bit of a small town thanks to the boom in trade brought about by the war.

An ordinary manor in the east of the city was the stronghold of St. Ders, a large Austrian arms dealer.

At this time, a young man burst in out of breath: "Mr. St. Ders, something is wrong!" News has just come from China that the British are attempting to use diplomatic means to cut off our trade with Ethiopia. ”

The middle-aged man in a gorgeous costume had a sinking face, and then reacted: "Maus, slow down, the sky hasn't fallen yet." ”

calmed down, Maus: "It is said that because the front line is blocked, the British army has been unable to make a breakthrough for a long time, and the pressure of domestic public opinion is too great.

A week ago, the despicable British sent a diplomatic note to the Vienna government, asking us to cooperate in cutting off Ethiopia's trade routes.

It's a shame that they still claim to be the guardians of free trade, and if they encounter a little trouble, they want to break the freedom of trade, which is simply ......"

Saint Dels interrupted, "Okay, I know what's going on. Sit down and have a cup of coffee first, things are not that serious. ”

Maus was puzzled: "Why you?" Mr. St. Delles, if the Viennese government agrees to the demands of the British, our trade will not be able to proceed! ”

Cutting off people's financial routes is like killing their parents, and the British cut off their financial routes when they block trade routes.

Now that the world has been carved up by the colonial empires, and the arms dealers are not having a good time, they finally encountered a big war, and they are not allowed to make a fortune, Maus has enough reason to be angry.

Saint-Dels patted Maus's shoulder: "Calm down, Maus." Remember that as a competent arms dealer, you must remain calm at all times.

Things are not as bad as you think, and even if the Vienna government agrees to cut off trade with Ethiopia, will our trade routes really be cut off? ”

Maus asked uncertainly, "You mean - smuggling?" ”

Compared with normal trade, smuggling undoubtedly greatly increases the risk, and if you are caught, you will usually be fined for bankruptcy.

Saint Dels said coldly: "Just know, why say it?" From Kenya to Somalia, our border with Ethiopia is so long, how can we block it?

Even if the government could do it, why would they help the British?

I guess the Vienna government is desperate to let this Ethiopia fight for ten or eight years. As long as the colonial government will definitely release the water, will the British still be able to run to our territory to fight smuggling?

In contrast, I am more worried that the Ethiopian government has no money in its pocket. In the first two trades, they took out a large amount of physical collateral, which has explained a lot of problems. ”

Smuggling is only a basic operation of arms dealers, and the real legal arms dealers are very few, often with government backgrounds.

If ordinary arms dealers do not know how to smuggle, they will simply not be able to survive in the midst of cutthroat international competition.

As a leader among arms dealers, Saint-Ders naturally knows when to trade legally and when to smuggle.

Maus asked uncertainly: "Mr. St. Delles, you mean that our trade with the Ethiopians is coming to an end?" ”

As a partner, Mauske knows very well how hard it is to find a partner with purchasing power.

If the Ethiopians run out of money, the business will naturally come to an end. Arms dealers don't do charity, everything is based on profit.

St. Ders nodded: "Judging from the current situation, it should be a few months to do." Theoretically, we could also accept land mortgages from Ethiopians, but with a bit of risk. ”

The territory is used to offset the payment for goods, which is the usual method used by European colonizers in the early days of colonization and in the case of insufficient their own strength.

Maus instantly woke up, he was naturally not a fool to be sent by his family to engage in the arms trade, otherwise he would not be qualified to be a partner with the treacherous and cunning Saint Ders.

After hesitating for a moment, he asked, "Mr. Saint-Ders, do you want to transform into a colonial merchant?" ”

The arms trade in these years was not as lucrative as in later generations, and arms dealers were naturally not so dedicated.

In addition to the arms trade, St. Derers also engaged in overseas trade, for example, by selling local products from the African continent or reloading industrial and commercial products from the mainland.

These businesses have many competitors, and their profits are far less lucrative than those of the arms trade, so they can only be regarded as part-time.

St. Dels laughed, "Can't you? ”

"Of course not, just suddenly. The current colonial merchants are also not easy to do, especially in the inland colonies, many of which are losing money. Maus explained

Saint Dels shook his head: "It is precisely because of the loss that there is an opportunity." If it was really profitable, it would have been robbed by the big guys a long time ago, and we wouldn't even be able to drink the soup.

Originally, I was going to pay for a piece of colony, but unfortunately those colonial companies were too cunning, and it was obviously a rotten piece of land and a sky-high price.

I can only risk the idea of fighting the Ethiopian region, and my appetite is not large, and a few thousand square kilometers of land are satisfied.

With such a little land, the British must not have the heart to deal with us. Local indigenous people are also not a problem, and the biggest trouble is that it is difficult to make a profit.

However, this is only temporary, the land resources are not renewable, but the population is constantly growing, and sooner or later it will reflect its value.

Ten years ago, Kenya was a wild land, but now it has 800,000 immigrants, and that number is growing at a rate of 13 percent a year.

Of course, this is the result of the big immigration policy, and this growth rate can only be maintained for four or five years, and then it will slowly decline.

But that's enough, and it's still possible that Kenya's population will exceed two million in ten years.

When the time comes, the regions that are close to Kenya will also benefit. As a meeting point for the Anglo-Austrian colonies, smuggling a little merchandise into the British colony would be enough to recover the colony's operating costs.

How's that, is Maus interested in getting involved? If the Anglo-Austrian conflict breaks out in the future, we may still be able to become aristocrats. ”

Mao Si frowned, deep down he had complained countless times. Located at the junction of the colonies of the two countries, once a conflict breaks out between the two countries, it will immediately become a battlefield.

Want to make money? Let's survive first! The vast majority of such adventurers end up losing all their money.

At the height of the Anglo-Austrian conflict, thousands of people died on both sides every year, and finally the British were underpopulated and could not withstand the dispute that ended.

Even so, the border area between the colonies of the two countries is now the most dangerous area. A lot of murder and goods, as long as you run to the opposite side to be safe, don't commit too many cross-border crimes.

Maus refused: "I'm sorry, Mr. St. Ders, but there are too many resources to be invested in this matter, and I can't call the shots. ”

Saint-Ders was not disappointed, he wanted to cooperate with the family behind Maus, not this hairy boy.

It doesn't matter if the cooperation fails, there are too many aspiring second-generation young people in Austria, and St. Ders thinks that his eloquence is still good, and it is not a problem to fool a few collaborators.

This is the sorrow of the grassroots, and Saint-Dels has worked hard for more than 20 years to have the capital to join the colonial wave, but unfortunately the best time has long been missed.

Even now, he had to find collaborators. Relying on his own forces, he barely managed a mature colony. In such a border area, it is not possible to do without sufficient force.

Including the arms trade, he chose to cooperate with Maus, and that was to use the network of contacts behind the other party.

Saint Dels said magnanimously: "It's okay, this matter is not in a hurry." If you want to get a colony from the Ethiopians, you have to wait until the other side is exhausted, it's still early! ”

……