Chapter 371: Business
Cultural relics are one of the carriers of culture, and culture is exactly what a new country like the East African Kingdom lacks the most. It's not just the United States, with its short history, even Russia faces the same problem.
Russia's history isn't exactly short, but it's rather awkward. It can't escape the legacy of the Mongol Empire and the Golden Horde, and it's constantly ridiculed by the Western world, saying that it could be kicked out of Europe at any moment.
Thus, Russia is rife with historical nihilism. During the Tsarist era, they denied the Mongol period; in the Soviet era, they denied the Tsarist period; then Russia denied the Soviet era. So Russia has always hovered between Europe and Asia, unable to find a sense of belonging for its own country. It's the same for the entire Slavic people. If Slavs could find cultural self-confidence, it would surely become a force capable of changing the world.
The East African Kingdom is similar to Russia in that both have mixed populations of yellow and white people, and nearly half of East Africa's population comes from the Far East. Ernst certainly won't deny that part of history; otherwise, how would he explain the origin of the yellow-skinned population within the East African Kingdom? It can't be told to future generations of East Africa that their ancestors just popped out of a rock.
Right now, the East African Kingdom is going fully Germanized. This is a necessary step to consolidate power, and also because, for the moment, the world's center is indeed Europe. East Africa needs to move closer to Europe. Presenting itself as a Germanic nation helps it participate in international affairs. Plus, "Germanic" is a cultural concept, not necessarily tied to Europe. It's like America being in the Americas, but still an English-speaking country.
Therefore, Ernst believes that the East African Kingdom is a country formed by the fusion of Germans and Chinese, and so it has every reason to inherit both cultural heritages. Thus, Ernst's private collection will remain in East Africa, since it represents a precious cultural asset. No one can deny that future generations in East Africa possess Chinese ancestry. It's just like those Chinese in Southeast Asia, who are still descendants of Yan and Huang (a reference to Chinese ancestors).
Another layer to Ernst's thinking is that German history and culture themselves aren't that deep. The concept of "German" first owes its formation to the brilliant history of the Holy Roman Empire in Europe, and then to Emperor Napoleon, who forced the entire German region into a cultural identity.
But how long did the Holy Roman Empire last, really? If you go further back to the Roman era, the ancestors of the Germanic people were just groups of barbarians living in the forests. Before the Germans destroyed Rome, there was basically nothing in their own history, not much different from the indigenous peoples in Africa now. Meanwhile, at that same time, Far Eastern civilization had already reached its peak. So combining Far Eastern civilization with Germanic history can perfectly piece things together, allowing future East Africans to claim five thousand years of history.
If those ancestors are part of your history, then that is also the history of your people. East Africa was born inheriting two civilizations, and Ernst feels no mental burden about this.
…
While Ernst was still dawdling at the Port of Trieste, the director of the Immigration Department, Thomas, had already arrived in Haiti. The sea routes from Europe to North America have plenty of ships, so there's no need to worry about not having enough departures.
A group of white people disembarking in Port-au-Prince didn't attract much attention. Port-au-Prince is the capital of the Republic of Haiti, as well as its political, economic, cultural center, and largest port city, located near the Cul-de-Sac Plain on the southeastern shore of the Gulf of Gonâve.
In 1843, an earthquake destroyed Haiti's northern capital city Cap-Haïtien, while Port-au-Prince was devastated by fire. The current Port-au-Prince has been rebuilt, but it's nothing like it used to be—just patched up enough to function.
The current President of Haiti is Nissage Saget, who has a knack for stirring trouble. He supported France during the Franco-Prussian War, which angered Germany. Consequently, Germany demanded £3,000 in compensation and sent two warships to Port-au-Prince to demonstrate their power. Haiti was forced to compensate Germany, and now Nissage Saget is overwhelmed trying to quell the Haitians' anger.
Over the past three years alone, Haiti has gone through two presidents before Saget. The first was Fabre Geffrard, arguably the only "enlightened ruler" in Haiti's history—some say there was never a president before or after him to match him. He did a lot of practical work during his rule, and people generally agree that Haiti was better off during that time. But at the end of his rule, he followed the old path: amending the constitution, giving himself a pay raise, buying two plantations for himself, and increasing funds for the military and hospitals—as well as his personal luxury items.
Toward the end of Geffrard's presidency, his subordinates tried several times to launch military coups to overthrow him, but those failed. Then, three years ago (in 1867), he was forced to step down and flee overseas by the rebels led by Sylvain Salnave, who wanted to replace him. Geffrard had been in power for eight years.
Sylvain Salnave turned out to be a total failure in governance. Not long after Salnave took office, Haiti experienced constant rebellions and peasant uprisings. Meanwhile, Salnave continued to suppress the opposition, amend the constitution to increase his own power, and make himself president for life—only to be overthrown again soon after.
In short, Haiti's history is a tangled mess, and the current president, Nissage Saget, could fall from power at any time.
But Thomas doesn't mind, because that's the state of affairs the East African side wants to see. Given Haiti's current situation, Thomas thinks it's completely unnecessary to waste money on the Haitian president. After some investigation, he found the Cheros family in Port-au-Prince. The Cheros family is a local "high-caste" clan with considerable influence. Since the ruler of Haiti can be overthrown at any moment, it's better to collaborate with an entrenched family.
"High-caste." When Thomas first heard that term, he was shocked. He thought such a system existed only in India, but it turns out Haiti has it too. Anyway, it doesn't matter. Haiti, a "democratic republic," has even had emperors more than once, so nothing is surprising here.
The Cheros family is a mixed Black-White "high-caste" clan. Their previous patriarch, Old Cheros, was a meritorious official who achieved distinction alongside Haiti's founding father. But unlike other officials who aimed for leadership, Old Cheros focused on making money. As a result, he survived the rise and fall of multiple Haitian presidents and emperors. Most of Haiti's earlier leaders were once his comrades. Old Cheros passed away in 1863, and now his eldest son, Young Cheros, manages the family.
Inside the Cheros family's estate, Young Cheros received Thomas.
"Greetings, Patriarch Cheros! The moment I set foot on this land, I heard about your renowned name. I hear the Cheros family in Port-au-Prince wields decisive influence," Thomas said.
Young Cheros replied, "Sir, you are…?"
Thomas introduced himself. "I'm a businessman from France. You can call me Medina."
Thomas is proficient in multiple languages, one of the reasons he became director of East Africa's Immigration Department.
"France!" Hearing the name of the former colonial ruler instantly made Young Cheros cautious. He also found Thomas's French a bit unusual, but he concealed his suspicion and said, "So you're from France. My great-grandmother was French. I studied in France before, so I'm quite familiar with the language. May I ask which part of France you're from? Your accent sounds a bit strange. Also, what brings you to the Cheros family?"
Thomas explained, "Ah, so you're half-French! That's wonderful. I come from northeastern France, near Belgium, so there's a bit of a Dutch influence in my accent."
Young Cheros nodded. "Ah, that explains it." It was probably like a dialect. His great-grandmother was from southern France, and her speech also differed from the Parisian French he learned.
Thomas continued, "This time, I've come with a business proposition I hope your family might be interested in."
Young Cheros asked, "And what kind of business might that be?"
Thomas answered, "Slave trading!"
"Cough, cough, cough…" Young Cheros was startled by Thomas's words, but he quickly composed himself and said, "That's not possible, Mr. Medina. The international community banned the slave trade long ago. If we Haitians participate, Haiti would be in big trouble."
He even suspected it might be a trap set by the French—like a sting operation.
Thomas reassured him, "Mr. Cheros, there's no need to worry. I'm just a slave trader who's only after profits. If the Cheros family can provide certain conveniences for my fleet's landing in Port-au-Prince, there won't be much else tying us together."
Young Cheros tested him: "Mr. Thomas, you must be an agent of the French government, right?"
Thomas thought, "How did we get connected to the French government?" He shook his head. "Impossible! You must have heard about the chaos in France: Republicans and Royalists in the Assembly are practically at each other's throats. They don't have time for anything else. We businessmen actually hope Britain and France stay in turmoil—that way business at sea is easier."
Young Cheros nodded. "True enough. France is in a mess at the moment, so they wouldn't bother with other countries. And the French were the ones who originally engaged in the slave trade. We could always claim ignorance. In any case, Haiti's conditions are chaotic, so having a slave-trading group based here isn't that surprising."
In that case, he thought he might be able to extract a big profit. So Young Cheros said, "If that's so, then fine. But Haitian lives are still lives. Our Cheros family would have to charge per head."
"Per head? That price would be outrageous! Who would do business with you then?" Thomas exclaimed.
Thomas argued, "That would be too much. We're only looking to do one-off deals. We can't predict how many people there might be. At most, we can pay an annual fee."
Young Cheros said, "Mr. Medina, as I just stated, Haitian lives matter, and our population is already small. Charging per head is only reasonable, and our family can also provide slave-hunting services."
So that's what it was. Apparently, Young Cheros thought Thomas wanted to buy Haitian people as slaves—which was Thomas's own oversight in not clarifying.
Thomas explained, "Mr. Cheros, you misunderstood. We don't want Haitians."
Looking confused, Young Cheros asked, "You don't want Haitians? Then where are you getting your slaves? Could there be another source of Black people?"
Thomas said, "You're exactly right. Our colonies are in Africa, so the 'merchandise' comes from Africa."
Young Cheros replied, "If that's the case, why come to Haiti? Haiti is dirt-poor. It doesn't have the money to buy Black slaves."
Thomas said, "We're targeting the United States as our market, and Haiti is just a transit point. Surely you understand now."
Young Cheros continued, "Then what could Haiti offer you? Wouldn't it be simpler to head straight to the U.S.?"
Thomas explained, "We have to consider market factors. We can't possibly find buyers right away. We need time to connect with potential clients in the U.S., especially the plantation owners, and let them pick and choose the 'goods.'"
Young Cheros said, "So Haiti's role in all of this isn't necessarily essential?"
Thomas responded, "That's not the case. Actually, I'm just getting started in this line of work, so I'm not very familiar with the U.S. market."
Hearing Thomas was a novice piqued Young Cheros's interest. "Then can you be sure you'll find customers?"
He had taken the bait. Thomas had already investigated and learned that the Cheros family was involved in trading people. This was exactly what he needed.
Thomas sighed, "Honestly, I've mainly worked in the colonies before. I just heard that slave trading can be profitable, and Africa has no shortage of Black people. So I decided to see if I could get rich by trading slaves."
Young Cheros asked, "And you started this business without having any contacts?"
Thomas replied, "I was persuaded by a friend. He claimed to have contacts in the U.S., but there's been no word for two months. I had to come from the colonies myself to check things out. I found that Haiti sits in a good location, but the country is in chaos. So I hoped to find a powerful family to partner with."
Young Cheros said, "And you found the Cheros family. Mr. Medina, luck seems to be on your side. We do indeed have a potential avenue here, but how many 'goods' do you have?"
Thomas's eyes lit up. "Really? That's great news! We have plenty of 'goods'—far more than Haiti itself. There's practically no limit to what we can supply."
Young Cheros said, "That friend of yours might be unreliable. Why not just work with us directly? But I should make one thing clear in advance."
Thomas said, "Go on."
Young Cheros continued, "No matter how many 'goods' you have, our Cheros family can buy them all. We have our own sales channels to ship them to the U.S. But obviously, the Cheros family won't help for free. We might become your partners, but we'll need a commission. That means you won't get as much money per slave."
Thomas was overjoyed and exclaimed, "Mr. Cheros, you're saying we'd be partners, and you'll take a cut from the profits after selling the slaves?"
Young Cheros said, "Precisely."
Thomas said, "Deal!"
It was an unexpected bonus—completely unforeseen. Initially, East Africa was prepared to lose money sending these people to the U.S. But after this conversation with Young Cheros, not only would they avoid losing money, they might actually make a tidy profit.
Still, Thomas asked cautiously, "Mr. Cheros, we can easily supply a few million people. Could your family handle that many?"
"You want to empty out the colonies?" Young Cheros commented. "A few million might sound huge, but it depends on whether you can even transport them all here. Don't worry. Even if you brought ten thousand people per day to Haiti, we could still ship them off to the U.S. after a while. It's just a matter of small profits over many transactions. In a few hundred days, they'd all be sold."
Of course, that's not really possible. If Thomas had that much shipping capacity, East Africa wouldn't have spent so many years moving only a few hundred thousand people.
Thomas said, "Alright. We can manage a few thousand people per month. Once we earn enough money, we can buy more ships and transport more of them."
Young Cheros asked, "Aren't you worried about the British or French navy seizing your ships?"
Thomas replied, "Mr. Cheros, that depends on you."
"Me?" Young Cheros was puzzled.
Thomas clarified, "Suppose these people aren't slaves but Haitians?"
Young Cheros immediately caught on. "You mean we dress them up as Haitians? That's a clever idea."
The Cheros family's own business also operates similarly, under the guise of a labor company. He quickly understood "Medina's" plan, as they were essentially the same concept.
Thomas added, "Still, arranging Haitian identities is a favor we must ask of you."
Young Cheros said, "An identity? What kind of identity do Haitians need?"
Thomas asked, "No passports or something similar?"
Young Cheros replied, "We really don't have anything like that. But if you need it, it can be made."
Haiti doesn't even have passports—makes sense, as they broke away from France too early. Thomas said, "Then we'll trouble you to issue some kind of documentation for them. That way, we can keep the 'goods' safe."
Young Cheros responded, "No problem. A piece of paper with some official stamp is all it takes. I can arrange that with the Presidential Palace."
Thomas smiled. "Then I'll leave it to you."
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