In March 1871, Leopold II said to his cabinet members: "Belgium is small in size, lacking in resources, and we are wedged between great powers. If we Belgians want to establish ourselves in this era, we must have our own vast colonies!"

King Leopold II of Belgium has had a dream of a great power since he was young. However, Belgium's size makes it difficult to achieve his vision, so Leopold II believed that Belgium's future lay in colonies.

By 1872, East Africa had achieved an unprecedented victory in South Africa. This news made Leopold II, who had been paying close attention to Africa since he took the throne, restless.

Leopold II: "The Kingdom of East Africa! Does anyone know about it?"

Hmm? The ministers looked at each other, no one knew the specific situation of the Kingdom of East Africa, even if they had heard of the name.

Looking at these ministers, Leopold II said in disappointment: "I have always emphasized that Belgium's future lies in the colonies, but you treat my words as if they are in one ear and out the other."

"Your majesty, it's not that we don't care about this matter, it's just that colonization is extremely costly. If it's not a rich colony, occupying it has no value."

Leopold II: "That's nonsense! Any land has its value, only wise people can discover it. There are only two people in this world like me who have the same wisdom, and they are Prince Constantine of Hohenzollern-Heixinggen."

"I have detailed information on the Kingdom of East Africa here. This is data I collected through various investigations. Since 1865, the Heixinggen royal family began to colonize East Africa. By this year, the Kingdom of East Africa's territory in Africa might be around several million square kilometers. The Kingdom of East Africa's army can be seen from Somali to South Africa and even Central and West Africa."

Leopold II had ambitions for Africa early on. So after ascending the throne in 1865, he began dispatching expeditions to investigate the overall situation in Africa.

"What does this mean? It means that Heixinggen, a small German state with only a few tens of thousands of people and no autonomy, took only eight years to turn into a superpower with territory of several million square kilometers."

"Just the population and scale of Mombasa Port in the Kingdom of East Africa exceed that of the Principality of Heixinggen. According to the data from March this year, the number of ships entering and leaving Mombasa Port is over a hundred every day, mostly ocean-going vessels."

This data is true because East Africa currently only relies on the ports of Mombasa and Dar es Salaam for mass export of goods. The two ports are located on traditional trade routes, so the import and export scale is large.

However, Ernst could hardly imagine that Leopold II would send people to Mombasa to observe East Africa's development.

"You don't know the Kingdom of East Africa, but you should know Heixinggen Bank, right?"

"Why was Heixinggen Bank able to develop into the top bank in the German region in just a few years? I believe the resources of the Kingdom of East Africa greatly assisted the Heixinggen royal family. Africa represents untapped wealth, yet even a small country like the Principality of Heixinggen could grab such a big share. Our Belgium, with a population several hundred times that of the Principality of Heixinggen, should acquire vast lands in Africa."

This statement was somewhat inappropriate. Although East Africa did play a role in the rapid development of Heixinggen Bank, it was not as significant as Leopold II described. Heixinggen Bank rose to prominence primarily through war profits, notably in the Second Schleswig War, the Prussia and Austria War, the Prussia War, the Italian-Austrian War, and this latest European-American railway economic craze. Overall, it was war profiteering that established its position as Germany's foremost bank, and the Kingdom of East Africa's contribution wasn't substantial.

"So we should take actions in Africa immediately, or else we'll only be eating the Kingdom of East Africa's leftovers."

Originally, Leopold II was a relatively cautious person. After all, it was quite an achievement to acquire a colony as large as Congo from various great powers in the last life. Such a feat would be impossible without exceptional skills.

In the previous life, Leopold II sought African expansion at a time when European states also turned their attention to the African continent. Belgium joined quite late, starting actual operations only in 1876.

With the stimulation from the Kingdom of East Africa, Leopold II could no longer contain himself, especially after the Kingdom of East Africa forced the Cape Colony in South Africa to compromise, which became the catalyst.

The Cape Colony was a British colony, but for the Kingdom of East Africa to have developed enough in less than ten years to get such a long-established colony as the Cape Colony to compromise, was admittedly legendary.

The matter of the Cape Colony's compromise was quietly dealt with by the Cape Colony itself, as it was too humiliating. However, it couldn't escape the ever-watchful eyes of Leopold II on East Africa's movements.

Leopold II was somewhat familiar with East Africa and paid special attention, stemming from Grand Duke Ferdinand (Maximiliano I).

The wife of Grand Duke Ferdinand, Princess Charlotte, was Leopold II's sister. When Grand Duke Ferdinand was in trouble in Mexico, Charlotte sought help from European countries, naturally not excluding her homeland Belgium. At that time, she also pleaded for help from her brother, Leopold II.

Leopold II had not long ascended the throne, and being the monarch of a small nation, he lacked the capacity to intervene in Mexico thousands of miles away. Considering the size of the two nations, it would make more sense for Mexico to intervene in Belgium.

Therefore, Leopold II turned a blind eye, sending his sister to trouble the Habsburg family. After all, Emperor Franz was more influential than him, a monarch of a small country.

In the end, Austria-Hungary, because of the Prussia and Austria War, was incapable of interfering in Mexico's political situation. Even sending someone to rescue Grand Duke Ferdinand proved futile, primarily because Grand Duke Ferdinand himself was reluctant to return to Austria in disgrace.

At the time, Grand Duke Ferdinand was as stubborn as a mule, wanting to emulate Emperor Chongzhen's noble death, but was abruptly brought to Africa by Ernst using forceful means. For a time, he was depressed.

Naturally, Leopold II was privy to the inside story. When his sister ecstatically relayed the news of Grand Duke Ferdinand's survival to him, he assumed it was the Habsburg's doing. To his surprise, it was his sister's son-in-law who resolved the matter.

With the Heixinggen royal family also pursuing the route of African colonization, this considerably piqued Leopold II's interest in the East African colonies, seeing the small state of Heixinggen (compared to Belgium) as a pathfinder.

This foray yielded monumental results. Over the years, the Kingdom of East Africa evolved from a tiny speck in East Africa to a superpower with territorial expansion reaching millions of square kilometers. While Leopold II didn't know the exact population, based on the activities in Mombasa and Dar es Salaam cities, as well as the actions of the East African army in South Africa, he estimated it to be around a million.

Leopold II didn't doubt the Kingdom of East Africa's capacity to recruit immigrants, having researched it. After all, the Principality of Heixinggen was merely a small town with a population of thousands in Europe. How then did the Heixinggen royal family colonize Africa without a population?

Subsequently, Leopold II dispatched observers to the East African window cities of Dar es Salaam and Mombasa, concluding that a large influx of Germans and Far Easterners was evident.

The German migration was easy to explain; German territories were historically heavy sources of emigration in Europe. Thus, it wasn't surprising for East Africa to draw numerous Germans.

Yet Belgium didn't have the same population as Germany, so Leopold II intended to emulate Ernst and introduce Far Easterners as his instrumental colonizers in Africa, similar to how many Far Easterners served in the East African army.

After all, the Kingdom of East Africa had already provided an answer. The solution was straightforward: apply their formula. Using Far Easterners to govern blacks made perfect sense, enabling Belgium to enjoy the benefits effortlessly.

With this in mind, Leopold II declared: "If the Principality of Heixinggen can achieve such feats, Belgium should achieve even more remarkable feats. Have you seen how wealthy the Heixinggen royal family has become? With a population of over three million and a respectable level of industrial and agricultural development in Europe, Belgium must learn from the Kingdom of East Africa and create a second Belgium in Africa. Now, present me with a plan immediately; time waits for no one."

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