African Entrepreneurship Record
Chapter 129 - 123: The Well

Chapter 129: Chapter 123: The Well

It turns out that Franz didn’t particularly prioritize this matter. As a monarch, Franz was always preoccupied with national affairs.

As for the matter of young Rudolph’s education, Franz trusted his mother more, since he himself had been brought up this way.

In reality, this was an irresponsible attitude. Some people might just pursue getting by, perhaps he was unaware, but it was indeed convenient.

...

Poor little Rudolph thus fell into Ernst’s clutches, unaware of what kind of life he was about to face.

"Goodbye, sister! Goodbye, grandmother!" Little Rudolph bid farewell to his two sisters (his own sister Princess Gisela and Karina) and his grandmother.

"Ernst! I’ll leave Rudolph to you for a while. You must take care to ensure he doesn’t neglect his studies," Empress Dowager Sophie emphasized.

"Don’t worry, Empress Dowager. I am taking Rudolph to give him a more comprehensive and advanced education. He will be in contact with brilliant nobles from various European countries," Ernst assured.

"Take care of yourself, dear!" Empress Dowager Sophie kissed Rudolph’s forehead in farewell.

"Let’s go!" Ernst said to the coachman, who swung his whip at the horse’s rear, and the convoy began to move slowly.

As the carriage gradually disappeared from view, Empress Dowager Sophie only then came to her senses, uncertain whether Rudolph’s journey would be good or bad. Anyway, it was just for three months, so it wasn’t a big issue.

...

"Rudolph, what do you think of the scenery along the way?" Ernst looked at the fields speeding past through the train window and asked Rudolph.

"Ernst brother, yesterday was alright. The view outside is indeed something you can’t see in the palace, quite novel. But later, it got too tiring; I feel like my bones are falling apart," Rudolph complained.

The reason for this was that Ernst took him on a train ride to North German.

In this era, steam trains were not comfortable, and Ernst specifically booked a hard-seat carriage.

In the cabin were only Ernst, Rudolph, and Ernst’s bodyguards and assistant team.

Actually, given Ernst’s status, he could have booked a luxury compartment, which had excellent conditions. But the luxury compartment lacked the "green train hard-seat carriage" flavor of Ernst’s childhood from a previous life.

Ernst also wanted Rudolph to experience the hardships of travel that ordinary people face, the steam trains, bumpy railroads, hard seats, enormous noise, and a journey lasting over a dozen hours.

Not only Rudolph, but even Ernst felt exhausted. However, Ernst, with a taste for reminiscing about the bitterness and sweetness, found pleasure in it. Rudolph, though, was unfortunate, having never endured such agony from childhood.

After more than a dozen hours of torture, the train finally arrived at its destination: Berlin.

It was Rudolph’s first time abroad and seeing other capitals, he found everything here very novel. Prussia and Vienna were atmospherically more stern and orderly; it was a feeling the city exuded that could only be sensed but not explained.

Ernst had prepared a full schedule of education for Rudolph, with packed agendas, which slightly differed from the promise made to Empress Dowager Sophie.

Little Rudolph, in addition to receiving all his original courses, took on interactions with the Prussian royal family, visited Prussia’s industrial achievements, and was scheduled for a month at Heixinggen Military Academy.

Ernst’s focus was on establishing societal education for Rudolph beyond his courtly education.

Much like many families in Huaxia lacked family education, school education made up for these gaps.

Good family education has inherent advantages over societal education like schools, but many family educations fail.

Considering Rudolph’s experiences in a past life, his family education was an absolute failure, so Ernst wanted to emulate exam-oriented education from a previous life to forcibly instill normal thinking in Rudolph.

Birds of a feather flock together, and letting Rudolph interact more with outstanding individuals would definitely influence his future.

The benefits of exam-oriented education are very evident: it’s the "race," racing Rudolph so that he has no time to think or complain.

This is something courtly education cannot compare to, as it only served Rudolph alone, with all courtly teachers revolving around him, forcibly instilling knowledge.

However, with exam-oriented education, Rudolph would have competitors, with Ernst preparing for Rudolph to taste the fear of exams and the terror of competing with peers.

As for the nature and imagination supposedly stifled by exam-oriented education, even if true, it would do no harm to Rudolph. Franz wished to cultivate Rudolph into a prudent ruler, but history shows he failed.

Under the pressures of exam-oriented education, Rudolph could genuinely make heartfelt friendships, unlike those who courted favor. At that time, Rudolph’s classmates would be akin to brothers in hardship.

...

February 10, 1868.

On this day, the Central Government of East Africa issued a new document to the local regions, stating the excavation of wells throughout the East African colonies.

From this document, it’s clear East Africa is indeed backward, as digging wells should be an initiative spontaneously undertaken by the populace in any nation and region (except Africa).

But the daily tasks and activities of the East African government seem more like managing a large village rather than a country.

The water resources in the East African colonies are naturally abundant, with villages and towns located near water sources.

So why did Ernst initiate the "well-digging" campaign in East Africa?

This can be seen in the data report from the East African government. As of now, the drinking water for East African immigrants mainly comes from rivers and lakes,

but the rivers and lakes in East Africa are not as clean as one might imagine. They are fine for agricultural irrigation, but during the rainy season or drought, many rivers and bodies of water turn into murky, yellowish mud water.

Some rivers are even more exaggerated, where clusters of hippopotamuses gather in the same stretch of river, their excrement directly polluting the entire water area, even suffocating fish (supposedly due to lack of oxygen).

Therefore, the water from East African rivers and lakes is generally treated in a simple manner before being consumed, and this is a mandatory requirement.

Typically, two sedimentation pools are dug to simply filter the river water. If it’s overly turbid, alum might be added, and finally, it’s boiled for drinking.

Thus, the drinking water in the East African colonies is directly tied to the quality of local surface water. Even with simple filtration measures in place, many people still fall ill or even die due to issues with drinking water.

However, during this era, most regions faced similar issues, so people were generally accustomed to it. It was also common for some to drink raw water directly from rivers and lakes for convenience.

Therefore, every measure in East Africa is strictly enforced. If someone is found violating the colonial government’s regulations, they face penalties.

Overall, East Africa still lacks clean and reliable drinking water. Ernst isn’t demanding that it matches the tap water of previous generations, but at least it should reach the standard of well water.

Well water may face the risk of bacterial, dust, and mineral excess, but it’s significantly safer than surface water from rivers and lakes, especially when compared to many of East Africa’s often yellowish water sources.

Dodoma, Fata Village.

"The soil is wetter here, you can see that this is the only spot where the moisture is most intense," Jorah Mormont said to the villagers.

As he spoke, he dug out a clump of soil with his hand in front of him, and then another from around.

"Look, when I squeeze this lump of mud, it holds together; but this other piece, it crumbles when pressed! So, it’s very likely that there’s a water source beneath this land," Jorah Mormont hypothesized convincingly.

Jorah Mormont is an immigrant from Austria-Hungary, a Serbian, who used to live in Hungary and has experience in well-digging, though it’s just experience.

"Then let’s dig here and see," decided the German village chief.

So, a group of about a dozen villagers began digging here using simple tools, just shovels and hoes, nothing advanced.

The villagers were responsible for preparing bricks, stones, and vines to use as materials for the well walls.

Jorah Mormont took charge of the main work. After digging roughly fifty centimeters, he began constructing the well wall with bricks and stones, using vines mainly for stabilization.

After each layer was completed, Jorah Mormont and his assistant used short-handled shovels to dig out soil along the base of the bricks, while the villagers on the ground hauled the dirt up using a wooden bucket tied to a rope.

As evening approached, after half a day’s work, the well gradually took shape. They had dug about ten meters deep but still hadn’t hit water.

"How deep is it now?" the village chief asked.

Someone brought a measuring rope, lowering it down the well, held at the bottom by the person inside.

"Chief, it’s about four meters left to reach twenty meters!"

"Alright! Let’s keep going today and see if we hit water. If there’s nothing at twenty meters, we’ll change locations tomorrow," the chief decided.

At that moment, Jorah Mormont spoke up from below: "Chief, don’t worry, we will definitely hit water after digging a few more meters. The deeper the soil, the damper it gets. Based on my experience in Hungary, we should have found water by around ten meters, but it seems African soil differs from Europe."

Upon hearing this, the group quickened their digging pace. Sure enough, within less than a meter, as Jorah Mormont struck with his shovel, water gushed from the ground.

"Water! Water!" Jorah Mormont exclaimed excitedly.

"Great, pull him up first," the chief instructed.

The villagers set up a simple ladder in the well, and Jorah Mormont slowly climbed up.

Thus, the first well in Fata Village was born.

Currently, in East Africa, wells are primarily for residential use. Each village having one or two wells is typically enough for the whole village.

As for agricultural irrigation, surface water from rivers and lakes is used, and it’s the same for livestock drinking water.

The development and utilization of wells further improved the drinking water safety for residents of the East African colonies, significantly reducing the space for various diseases to thrive.

Before tap water plants were built in East Africa, wells long served as the primary source of drinking water for residents. Some of these wells stayed in service for decades before being gradually replaced by tap water, and in some extremely water-scarce areas, wells continue to play an irreplaceable role.