African Entrepreneurship Record

The time swiftly moved to 1917.

The streets of Rhein City were bustling with cars and people, and in just over a decade, Rhein City had leapt to become one of the new big cities in East Africa.

And the Tsarist Russia’s Crown Prince Aleksey and his two sisters were touring Rhein City under the guidance of Maxim, the fourth prince of East Africa.

Prince Maxim was born in 1887, the youngest son of Ernst, and even so, he was much older than the children of Nicholas II.

Among the Tsarist Russian prince and princess who came to East Africa this time, the oldest was the third Russian princess, Maria, born in 1899, and she was currently only eighteen years old.

This journey of the Russian royal family to East Africa was led by Princess Maria, taking care of her sister Anastasia and her brother Aleksey.

Maxim, strolling with them through the streets of Rhein City, said to the now-adult Princess Maria, "Rhein City is a new city, so its scale cannot compare to Saint Petersburg, but our capital in East Africa also has advantages that Saint Petersburg cannot have. Here, it’s spring all year round, and it’s situated in the middle of the land, while Saint Petersburg is quite the opposite."

In Russia, Saint Petersburg is considered one of the relatively warm areas. However, no matter how warm, it is already near the Arctic Circle, whereas Rhein City in East Africa is close to the equator.

Geographically, the two can be said to be diametrically opposed, but they also show differences in climate at the same latitude.

Just like Saint Petersburg, the name easily evokes images of snow, while Rhein City makes one think of scorching sunshine, but the reality in both places is not as such.

The winter in Saint Petersburg is only a few degrees below zero, which would be unimaginable in other parts of Russia at the same latitude. In East Africa, the climate of Rhein City is more common, with the highland areas being mostly similar to Rhein City.

Maria said, "This is indeed beyond our expectations. During this period, the snow in Saint Petersburg or other parts of Russia has not yet melted, while East Africa is just entering summer. But except for when we first arrived in East Africa, we haven’t felt the heat in Rhein City."

Maxim said, "That is because the climate of coastal or plain areas is different from the inland highlands. In coastal places like Dar es Salaam City, the temperatures are generally higher than inland."

"This is due to altitude and topographical influence, as with Saint Petersburg, which shares a temperate continental climate with many places in your country, but due to the influence of the Atlantic warm current and the sea, it is warmer."

"And we East Africans, if only considering climate factors, prefer to stay in the inland highland areas, where the climate is cooler."

Although it’s summer, today’s highest temperature in Rhein City is only twenty-six degrees, and there have been showers in recent days, so the summer heat is not felt.

Princess Maria quite likes this climate, she said, "It feels like Rhein City’s temperature and air are much better than Saint Petersburg’s, which is a novel experience for us."

"If it were a typical day in Saint Petersburg, I would prefer to stay indoors and enjoy the warmth of the fireplace. But in Rhein City, it is more suitable for going out and having fun."

Prince Maxim laughed and said, "In that case, you three can stay in Rhein City for a while. This invitation to East Africa was to deepen the relations between our two countries; the only pity is that your parents and two sisters could not come."

Upon mentioning this, Princess Maria’s face dimmed slightly, then she said, "Nowadays, my father and mother are preoccupied, and my sisters are in hospitals at the front lines. It’s just that Anastasia, Aleksey, and I are too young to be of any help, so our father asked us to come to East Africa to relax."

"I don’t know when the war will end. Before we left Saint Petersburg, we heard some news. The front-line situation is unfavorable for Russia, and although my father didn’t say it, I could feel his inner anxiety."

Perhaps this is also why Nicholas II agreed to East Africa’s request to send his two daughters and only son to East Africa.

Since last year, the European war situation has started to become unfavorable for Russia, especially by the end of last year, the Russian army was retreating step by step, losing a lot of land.

And there was a crisis in the supply situation in Saint Petersburg, due in part to the German Navy’s blockade of the Baltic Sea, and in part to the fall of Poland and other regions, which were originally grain-producing areas.

All of this led to increasingly frequent anti-war activities in Saint Petersburg, which might make Nicholas II feel the crisis.

Another factor was the invitation from East Africa to the Russian royal family, which was currently good news for Nicholas II.

In a situation where the two allies, England and France, were unreliable, East Africa instead became a significant support for Russia. The exports from East Africa, to some extent, alleviated Russia’s material shortages.

It’s understandable, England and France, though allies of Russia, could offer very limited support to Russia.

After all, facing the pressure of the Allies, both countries had significant shortages in supplies themselves, let alone spare some to meet Russia’s needs.

Moreover, a country of Russia’s size is not something that England and France can support, and in recent years, the industrial development of both countries has been sluggish. Even the combined military production capacity of the two barely competes with Germany.

And Germany still has Austria-Hungary as an ally. Although it is the weakest among the five great powers in Europe, it still significantly relieves the pressure on Germany.

Of course, it cannot be excluded that England and France hope the Allies will go as far as possible against Russia, while also fearing that Russia will achieve too much progress in the war. It’s similar to the scenario in World War II in the previous life, so the Allies are not entirely united.

For Princess Maria’s grievances, Prince Maxim could only pretend helplessly and say, "I hope the war ends soon!"

But in reality, the country that most hopes the European war continues is East Africa, so what Maxim said wasn’t sincere.

In the past few years of war, East Africa has reaped substantial benefits, with the entire population enjoying the dividends brought by the European war, with overseas orders pouring in, so naturally, East Africa hopes this war continues.

The economic benefits are felt by the East African people, and overseas, East Africa advances rapidly in colonial expansion amid the European powers being entrenched in World War I, making significant strides in Nanyang and America, and quickly opening up in West Africa.

As the fourth prince of East Africa, Maxim is well aware of these, but it was impossible for him to gloat in front of the three Russian royal members.

So Maxim shifted the topic to, "Now that you are in East Africa, don’t think about those worrisome matters. You three siblings can enjoy the scenery here in East Africa."

"This time, I’ll personally be your guide, and this will be an unforgettable life experience for you. As another great power, East Africa and Russia are completely different styles."

"Here, you can see many sights not seen in Russia, even in Europe."

At the current stage among the many world powers, only East Africa is in the tropical region, while Russian nobles generally only circulate within Europe.

And Maria, Anastasia, and Aleksey are all quite young, so their experiences outside Russia are even fewer.

This time, coming to East Africa, they traveled all the way south, taking a train from Saint Petersburg to Crimea, and finally reaching East Africa, covering a journey of tens of thousands of miles.

It’s fair to say that this East African trip was also the longest journey they had ever experienced since they were born.

Maria, being the oldest and the only adult among the three, essentially engaged in conversation with Maxim throughout the journey, while Anastasia took care of the young Aleksey.

Aleksey, suffering from hemophilia, was not very healthy, plus he was young, so both sisters did not dare to relax their care for him.