Chapter 69: The Hohenzollern Royal Territory
Thanks to Sergey's efforts, the Russian government eventually agreed to sell the Alaska colony to the Hohenzollern Consortium.
After multiple rounds of negotiation, the final price was set at 7 million rubles—a true bargain.
Of course, to keep the Russian government happy, some of the more livable islands and territories were excluded from the deal. The total land transferred was around 1.6 million square kilometers.
In return, Sergey personally earned nearly a million rubles from this deal.
March 13, 1867.
Under the witness of the Prussian government, the Hohenzollern Consortium and the Russian government signed the "Agreement on the Transfer of the Alaska Colony". The Alaska colony was placed under the name of Prince Konstantin.
In other words, from this day forward, the main territory of Alaska became an overseas territory of the Hohenzollern royal family.
This deal was reported by some European media, but it didn't stir much interest. After all, in the eyes of Europeans at the time, Alaska was just a barren land on the other side of the world—perhaps polar bears were the most numerous residents.
As for Ernst, although he had paid for Alaska, he had no real intention of developing it. It was more of a "might as well buy it while it's cheap" kind of decision—opportunities like this don't come around often.
Thanks to bribing Sergey and the others, even though he paid out over a million rubles in bribes, the Russian ministers did get the job done.
It's worth noting that in the past, the U.S. paid over 7 million dollars for Alaska, whereas Ernst paid in rubles.
At that time, the exchange rate between the U.S. dollar and the ruble was roughly 2 to 1. And with the ruble still depreciating after the Crimean War, Ernst got an even better deal.
So even including bribes, Ernst got Alaska for almost half the price the Americans once paid.
And that land—1.6 million square kilometers—is huge. Even if it wasn't valuable now, Ernst believed that just passing it on to his descendants would ensure their prosperity.
Of course, Ernst also considered the possibility of it all going to waste. That's why, aside from getting a guarantee from the Prussian royal family, he also made other arrangements.
For example, the payment to Russia was made in installments. After the first payment of 2 million rubles, the remaining 5 million would be paid over ten years. That way, the Russians had to behave properly if they wanted the rest of the money.
And Ernst didn't even need ten years—he already had a plan to get all the Russians out of Alaska. This was clearly stated in the agreement.
Since the Russians still held the southernmost tip of Alaska (around 20,000 square kilometers), they also needed manpower to develop that area.
So in the agreement between the Hohenzollern Consortium and the Russian government, it was clearly stated that Russian citizens in Greater Alaska (the area sold) were to be relocated to the southern part, or Lesser Alaska, which remained under Russian control. In turn, Russians were not allowed to remain in Greater Alaska.
In Greater Alaska, Ernst planned to implement a strict "closed-door policy"—expelling foreign merchants and monopolizing the local fur trade.
Exploration teams and private individuals from other nations would be strictly banned from entering and conducting any activities. If people ever discovered Alaska's real resources, Ernst's money would go down the drain.
For now, Ernst simply wanted Alaska to sit quietly—gathering dust—and hoped no one would find out its true value.
With the addition of his newly acquired land in Zanzibar, the total territory under the Hohenzollern royal family now reached an astonishing 2.8 million square kilometers.
To make it easier for diplomatic statements, Ernst and Prince Konstantin decided to refer to these lands collectively as the Hohenzollern Royal Territory of the Hohenzollern Family.
Such a vast territory naturally attracted attention, but other countries treated it as a Prussian overseas colony.
After all, Ernst's industrial base was rooted in northern Germany, and taxes were paid to the Prussian government.
Currently, only the East African colonies could be integrated into Ernst's industrial system—mainly with grain and tropical crops like sisal.
These raw materials were absorbed into Ernst's industries, which themselves were part of the larger Prussian economy. So, essentially, the East African colonies were serving the industries of the German states.
Thus, there was no problem at all calling East Africa a Prussian overseas colony. Ernst and the Hohenzollern Consortium acted as intermediaries, linking East Africa with German industries.
And right now, Prussia's influence in northern Germany was growing stronger. It was clear to anyone paying attention that unless other countries interfered, Prussia's unification of northern Germany was just a matter of time.
If Ernst wanted to get rich quickly, he could just send people to East Africa to mine resources. He'd make a fortune in no time.
But doing so might draw the attention of the great powers to Africa too soon. Productivity determines production relations. The reason European powers set their sights on Africa in the late 19th century was because the Second Industrial Revolution changed their production models.
They moved from exporting goods to exporting capital. That meant they needed to dominate global raw materials and consumer markets.
And right now, the East African colony was on the edge of this global shift. That's why Ernst was only doing relatively backward farming there. Though slower in building wealth, it was stable and allowed for steady population growth in the colony.
Only when the population reached a certain level could the colony resist invasion by other colonizers.
Strict control over settlers' freedom and collective management were also aimed at preventing information leaks.
For instance, East Africa's development was already ahead of many other colonies around the world. But due to geographic obstacles (Ottoman and Arab control across North and East Africa), Europeans didn't know much about it.
This delay in information gave Ernst the space to act. He planned to use the next 10–20 years, before the European powers divided Africa, to define the territory and secure migration efforts. If he succeeded, the Hohenzollern colony would firmly take root in Africa.
In truth, as long as a country didn't mess things up on its own, it was hard for others to take advantage of it. Ernst just needed to keep his head down, focus on farming in Africa, and avoid global hotspots—life would be just fine.
So, moving forward, the East African colony had no major plans aside from absorbing newly annexed Kenyan territory.
As for the Alaska colony, Ernst wanted to kick out the remaining Russians and other foreign merchants. To do so, he decided to transfer a unit from the East African colony to Alaska to assist the new colonial government there.
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