Phoenix Town is extremely quiet in the afternoon. There is neither the hustle and bustle of Pretoria nor the desolation of Bloemfontein. Occasionally, someone rides a motorcycle speeding through the street, which always attracts loud shouts from women on both sides of the street.
.
"There seems to be no one here. Are all the houses here inhabited?" Louis Botta was a little surprised. The situation in Phoenix Town was completely different from the small towns in Orange.
In Louis Botta's impression, a small town with a prosperous population must be full of smoke and fire, and the ground must be overflowing with sewage. In the town, there should be children playing and chasing each other, and wild dogs all getting fat.
The pub is bustling with people 24 hours a day.
There are no pubs in Fenghuang Town at all. The streets are so clean that there seems to be no dust. There are no clothes hanging to dry in the houses on both sides of the road. There are not even wild dogs and cats. Occasionally, people walk through the streets in a hurry, seemingly not paying attention at all.
To the warm sunshine and cool breeze.
"No one is normal. Nyasaland has the best public education in southern Africa. The enrollment rate of school-age children is 98%. The children should be in school now. School buses only take them on weekends.
Come back, as for the adults, they should all work on the farm and can only rest on weekends." Carlos knew the situation. Nyasaland University is not an ivory tower. There is an internship period when graduating from each major.
"Only a robot can do it." Swift clearly didn't believe it.
Louis Botha also had doubts in his eyes, not just about the enrollment rate. According to Louis Botha's understanding of Nyasaland, the farms in Nyasaland are basically owned by Roque, so the Chinese in Phoenix Town are
They are all workers of the Nyasaland Agricultural Company, and workers generally do not have such enthusiasm for labor.
"They are not robots. If you know their life in the Qing Dynasty, you will know why they work so hard. They don't want to go back to the past life. As long as you give them a glimmer of hope, they will do their best to give you the greatest feedback."
Carlos has personal experience, but Swift may not understand.
Before the demise of the country established by the Boers, the Boers were also colonizers in southern Africa, and there were countless Africans enslaved by the Boers. Therefore, the word "effort" did not exist in the Boer lexicon. When the Boer country existed, even if
Even though he is a farmer in the most remote area, he can live a leisurely life without working hard.
Relatively speaking, after the Chinese from the Qing Dynasty came to southern Africa, they really worked hard all the time. Nyasaland once set a record of one man and four horses cultivating 20 acres of land in one day. For the Boers, this was simply
Myth, even if you gave the Boers a tractor, they couldn't do this.
The national farms in Nyasaland are actually not national farms in the strict sense.
Specifically, the farms in Nyasaland are all contracted to the Chinese in Nyasaland by the Nyasaland Agricultural Company. The agricultural company will provide farmers with free agricultural tools, seeds, fertilizers, and technology in the first year of contracting the land.
Guide and stipulate the types of crops to be grown on the farm, and then purchase them at a fixed price. All the money gained from selling the crops belongs to the farmer.
In Nyasaland, on average, every farmer can lease at least one hundred acres of land from the Nyasaland Agricultural Company. The cost of leasing land is very low. One hundred acres only costs about ten rands per year. This money is also
No, it is used as the revenue of the Nyasaland State Government. From this alone, the Nyasaland State Government can obtain an income of about half a million rand every year, which greatly relieves the financial pressure of the Nyasaland State Government.
You must know that the main revenue of the Nyasaland State Government is corporate taxation, and agricultural taxation only accounts for a small part. Therefore, the Nyasaland State Government has the ability to establish compulsory education covering the entire state.
And what may be the first free medical care in the world.
"Find a place to have lunch first." Louis Botta felt a little hungry at this time. Lunch was not provided on the train.
There is only one hotel in Phoenix Town that includes a restaurant. The hotel's signboard is in Chinese characters, which Louis Botta did not recognize.
When he walked into the restaurant, the menu still had Chinese characters, which made Louis Botta unbearable.
"This is still southern Africa, why are there such square characters everywhere?" Swift was also very dissatisfied.
"Chinese is the official language of Nyasaland." Carlos was so proud on this issue that he did not notice Swift's disrespect for Chinese: "Not only in Nyasaland, but also in Transvaal
Like Rhodesia and Bechuanaland, Chinese is also the official language."
When the federal government was first established, only English and Boer were listed as official languages in southern Africa.
Specific to the states, only the Transvaal and Nyasaland used Chinese as their official language at that time. This did not conflict with the Southern African Constitution. It was a decision of the Transvaal and Nyasaland governments, and the federal government had no responsibility.
interference.
As the number of Chinese in southern Africa increases, Rhodesia and Bechuanaland have also successively adopted Chinese as their official language. So far, four of the ten states in southern Africa have adopted Chinese as their official language, and Chinese as the federal language.
The call for the government's official language is also getting louder and louder.
"Okay, I don't object to the fact that Chinese is the official language of Nyasaland, but at least English and Boer should be used on the menu?" Swift did not dare to question the status of Chinese in Nyasaland.
This might set you on fire.
"Do you want to order?" The boss, who was rich and powerful, was impatient and couldn't even speak English. If Carlos hadn't been there, this meal would have been difficult.
"Please wait a moment—" Carlos was polite.
"Hey - why is there no Boolean on this?" Swift asked the store owner directly.
"What is Boerian?" Even though Carlos translated, the store owner was still confused.
"Boolean - it is the common language of the federal government -" Carlos explained with great difficulty, and it took him a long time to make the store owner understand what a common language was.
"What does that have to do with us in Nyasaland?" The shop owner had many questions, and he really wasn't looking for trouble. He really didn't understand.
"Since your restaurant is located in southern Africa, it should abide by the regulations of southern Africa." Louis Botta patiently explained that he would not fall out because of this matter.
"You are in Nyasaland now, and you should abide by our Nyasaland regulations!" The shop owner was stubborn.
"Asshole!" Swift shouted.
"You are the third level bastard - get out, I won't do your business, leave my store!" It's amazing, the shop owner can understand the swear words immediately.
And not only did he verbally chase people away, the store owner returned behind the counter and actually took out a shotgun that was extremely powerful at close range.
"stop!"
"Put the gun down!"
"Are you crazy?" Everyone, including Louis Botta, was shocked. At such a close distance, if the store owner fired, there would be no way to avoid it.
"Honey, blow the whistle!" the store owner yelled. He held the gun in a very standard posture. He loaded the gun immediately and carefully hid behind the counter.
Di——
A sharp police whistle sounded in the kitchen immediately.
Fenghuang Town, which was originally quiet and peaceful, suddenly became agitated. It seemed like there were countless footsteps running over from all directions. Everyone was carrying shotguns in their hands, and some were actually holding hunting dogs.
"what happened?"
Seeing the police officer wearing a police badge and wearing plain clothes, Carlos finally saw the reinforcements.
"Sir, we are staff of the Ministry of Agriculture, and this is the Minister of Agriculture, Mr. Louis Botha." Carlos identified himself as soon as he came up. He knew that coming to Nyasaland this time would not be peaceful, but he did not expect that he would come to Nyasaland so quickly.
Forced to be exposed.
"Who is more senior, minister - or our lord?" The arrogant-looking Sheriff didn't look like a good citizen either.
"It's all the same -" Carlos couldn't laugh or cry. Speaking in detail, it seems that Louis Botta is the more senior official and Roque is just the deputy minister.
"Lao Liang, that bastard scolded me and refused to let me write our name on the menu." The shop owner was full of citizen wisdom at this time.
"No, no, no, just a reminder. Of course, Chinese characters can be written on the menu, but English and Boer should also be written." Carlos corrected, Chinese characters are not allowed in Nyasaland, and I'm afraid the minister can't do anything about it.
"The misunderstanding is over. Put down your guns. It's okay. It's just a small misunderstanding -" Lao Liang calmed down the matter. If this matter gets serious, it seems that everyone will look bad.
At least Louis Botta's face looks very ugly now.
"Sorry, Mr. Minister, Lao Sun has just arrived in Nyasaland not long ago, and he still doesn't understand the rules here -" Lao Liang said to a young man next to him, and the young man left immediately.
Louis Botta didn't say anything. Even if he tried to stop him at this time, he couldn't stop him from reporting it.
"Just grab some food. Where is the mayor here?" Louis Botta was not in the mood to argue with the shop owner. Even if Roque came forward to do this, he probably would not punish the shop owner.
Rock guarding is famous in southern Africa.
"Mr. Minister, the mayor went to Little Rock City to pick someone up, and he probably won't be back until tomorrow." Lao Liang was smiling all over his face, but that was all. He didn't bend his waist very much, and he obviously didn't have much respect for the minister: "Old Sun, go quickly.
Get some food, what, sir, does our minister have any taboos? Lao Sun is from Sichuan, and the dishes he cooks are very spicy, and one bite can set your stomach on fire—"
"Put less chili pepper—" Carlos couldn't laugh or cry, and he was really speechless to this familiar Sheriff.
However, Carlos still underestimated the meaning of "put less pepper" in Sichuan cuisine. When the dishes were served, looking at the few pieces of meat hidden in the red plate of peppers, Carlos and Louis Botha, Swift
They were all dumbfounded.
"Not much, not spicy, not spicy at all!" Lao Sun still vowed, completely ignoring the green faces of Carlos and others.
