African Business Chronicles

Chapter 45 – Roenroda

Roenroda, a small outpost in the East African colony, lies about 60 kilometers south of the nearest settlement and just 30 kilometers east of the Zanzibar Sultanate's sphere of influence. To the south, only 60 kilometers away, begins Portuguese Mozambique.

September 13, 1866

The colony's geographic survey team confirmed that Roenroda was suitable for human settlement.

October 7 – The first wave of settlers arrived. The population now stands at just over 600.

Roenroda is planned as the capital of the Lower Coastal District (Xia Binhaiqu), which covers an area of nearly 80,000 square kilometers.

Despite this vast territory, only a few hundred Chinese settlers and a small number of Germans currently reside in Roenroda.

It is about 400 kilometers from First Town (the colony's administrative capital), separated by the Central Coastal District. For comparison, the most distant region—the Soren Lake District (centered in Kigoma)—is nearly 1,000 kilometers from First Town.

Even counting the native tribes, the colony remains sparsely populated. There is still a long road ahead in developing East Africa.

Although Roenroda is officially the capital of Lower Coastal, in reality, it's still no more than a rural outpost—smaller than a single village in the Upper Coastal District.

The Eastern Lake Malawi District is even less developed. Its survey work was only recently completed, and settlers assigned to Songgea (the district capital) are still on their way.

The Central Coastal District is in slightly better shape. Due to its proximity to Upper Coastal, it already has over 1,000 immigrants.

The top administrator of Roenroda is a German named Thomas, formerly part of the colonial mercenary corps. His deputy is Li Wenhua, a graduate of the Hexingen Military Academy.

In fact, nearly all Germans in the colony have military backgrounds. Among the second-tier leadership are the Chinese officers—also mostly graduates of the Hexingen Military Academy.

The entire East African colony functions under what is essentially a military government. All settlers follow military-style orders and scheduling in both work and life.

Fortunately, the collective system works well. The Chinese immigrants are generally obedient and used to hard labor. Unlike Europeans, they don't demand personal freedoms or individual rights.

Had they been treated like free citizens, the colony's military-trained officers—lacking administrative experience—would have been completely lost.

But under this strict, military-style collectivist regime, things progress smoothly. As long as the settlers follow orders and Ernst's vision is implemented step by step, everything works.

Li Wenhua, a devoutly loyal graduate of the Hexingen Military Academy, was among those chosen to govern Lower Coastal.

Like his fellow alumni, Li saw Ernst as a savior—someone who rescued him from suffering in Qing China and gave him a future. His only goal now was to work hard to repay that kindness.

In East Africa, the colony is managed primarily by Germans and Hexingen graduates.

The Chinese officers act as crucial intermediaries: announcing policies, managing soldiers, overseeing settler work, and translating German documents.

Since all official documents are in German, they must be translated into simple language for the settlers.

Aiming for long-term Germanization, the colony launched basic German education. Illiterate peasants learned 800 essential vocabulary words—two or three per day.

To fully assimilate future generations, the colony planned to implement mandatory public education.

To prepare, Ernst was training a new generation of teachers—mainly orphans from German territories—who studied side by side with Chinese students at the Hexingen Military Academy.

Eventually, these bilingual students would go to East Africa together to open the colony's first schools.

…

Roenroda's location was advantageous but also risky. Just a few kilometers west lay three large native tribes.

To secure the area, 200 armed Chinese settlers were sent as a security force.

Once their weapons and ammo were distributed, Thomas and Li Wenhua led the group to eliminate local threats.

The first target was the Chigugu tribe—a few hundred strong. Mounted troops easily broke their lines, burning their straw-and-wood village.

Next were the Muwina and Lindi tribes to the north. Muwina had more people, but the Lindi lived in the most fortified terrain.

Muwina was dealt with similarly to Chigugu, just requiring more time.

Lindi, however, proved a real challenge. Cavalry couldn't operate in their terrain. The colonists used more ammunition, and finally resorted to flaming arrows soaked in oil to set fire to the wooden fortifications.

As the village burned, the East African security troops charged and shattered the last resistance.

The remnants of all three tribes fled west, clearing the region around Roenroda for development.

Once local wildlife had also been driven off, the settlers and the security force began building defenses.

Roenroda was initially a crude wooden and earthen outpost, but its proximity to both Portuguese and Arab territories meant it had to be fortified.

Watchtowers, moats, wooden palisades, and a drawbridge gave the settlers a sense of safety and stability.

Like much of the coastal plain, Roenroda focused on rice farming. But its main cash crop would be tobacco.

Until now, the Hexingen Tobacco Company had relied on imports from Britain, Portugal, and the Netherlands.

This was expensive. But East Africa had suitable climate and abundant land—more than enough to support the company's demand.

Roenroda became the pilot site for local tobacco farming. If successful, production would expand throughout the Lower Coastal District.

In contrast, the Central and Upper Coastal Districts continued to focus on sisal, which had reliable global demand.

Tobacco faced more competition—from both North and South America—so for now, the colony's tobacco would be for internal use only, helping the company cut costs.

Ernst didn't plan to expand into other theoretically viable crops—like coffee or rubber—without first ensuring market demand. For now, those would only be planted in small test batches.

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