The wooden fences were being put up, dividing the Zulu and Boer districts. A small gate was installed in the centre. Men stood on both sides looking at one another. Jan could only shake his head at the tomfoolery, but he could do little. Racial harmony was difficult among humans. The poor and rich could not even get along, so how should people of different species get along? Even the most multiracial societies had racism, but what Jan is seeing reminded him of the Apartheid South Africa he saw in various photos.
If nothing was done, it was heading that way. But it is not as if it was an easy matter to resolve. Mindsets take years, decades, and even centuries to change. How could a single incident by a charismatic leader in the novels solve all this? He was naïve if he thought so.
So, it was not shocking to discover a poster nailed to the wall. No one bothered to remove it, probably due to their lack of ability to read it. It was in Dutch.
Look at the squalor of the natives! Look at their poverty! They can't govern themselves! It is little wonder why. Naturally, man is superior to the elf! Elves need our guardianship so that they can be civilised in our ways. Through the virtue of hard work, they will be civilised!
Whoever wrote knew how to read and write well. Considering how many could not read or write, it narrowed it to a small group of petite bourgeoise and upper-class residents in the town. Since the lower classes lived on their subsistence farms, the person is very much an urbanite.
If a Boer read it, they would not even be bothered. They would nod and say yes! That is very much true! So, let's get some slaves for themselves, and become one of those rich landowners while the slaves work in the fields.
Such individuals are no different from feudal lords in an agrarian economy. It was obvious what needed to equalize these men. The smog of the factories. The elbows and arms touching one another abreast in the coal mines. Industrialization was the way forward and they will all realize they are all workers under the capitalist system.
He decided to leave it on the wall and wanted to make some enquiries on the local urbanites. It was clear he would never get the popular support of the subsistence farmers. The only reason they fell in line was due to Pretorius' authority. Then he should get acquainted with men similar to him in the old world, fellow urban dwellers.
That night, a social gathering was organized by a Boer merchant who supplied tools and various other general goods to people through General Stores.
Few would recognize him, so he brought a small entourage of bureaucrats. Fellow bureaucrats dressed in their white shirts and dark coats, with all sorts of Victorian hats stood by his side. Any man with any sort of common sense would know who the man in the centre was.
He made house calls with the various merchants, greeting them, and shaking their hands. They introduced them to their families. Their sons, and especially their daughters, forced a smile on their faces while shaking his hand. To tell the truth, he didn't like the current state of women's rights in the town. The workforce was rather limited due to the small number of Boers. If women were involved in the workplace, that number would double. But it was likely all support he had would eviscerate immediately and even his father would call him a stupid idiot for purposing turning everyone against him. At that time, even Pretorius won't even save him.
Like the women who were indoctrinated from their youth to be the perfect wives, he could only force smiles as the merchants wanted to play their games of politics here. He could not blame them, the only reason he was here was also due to politics.
The more interesting group were the group he calls the Intelligentsia. They were well-educated descendants of the middle and merchant class. The conversation there was the most interesting. They were all young, ambitious men talking about various political affairs. They spoke in English, clearly influenced by the influence of Great Britain.
"I hate living in this backward place with my family! I want to see the wonders of London! But my stupid father wants me to inherit his business!"
"Go to London for what? Smell the smog in the air. See the trash in the River Thames. No thanks. I rather go try the restaurants in Paris, perhaps the coffee houses in Austria."
Young ambitious men who wanted to see the world. They were potentially useful. Sure, they are young idealists, the only issue is when ideals crash with reality. The only reason the men aren't under his employ, was because they turned their noses upward at his offer. Who wanted to manage a small town full of farmers?
But this is the Victorian era, not the era of multiculturalism we have in the developed world in the 21st century. So instead of multiculturalism, the prominent schools of thought were the prototypes of Communism, Fascism, Nationalism and Racial Supremacism.
"It is our burden to civilize the elves. The elves won't do it themselves. So, we must help them."
One of them spoke up, and they all nodded in agreement.
"Imagine being born as an elf, lacking the wonders of the enlightenment, not understanding how the world around them works. They must not also know that foul smells cause diseases! Imagine how many of them perish from all these. It is truly our burden."
"The heathenistic and primitive cultures shall be enlightened by gunpoint. We will cleanse their savagery out, whether they want it or not. It is our duty as humans."
There was little he could use to identify the culprit of that poster. Even if he could, what should he do? Argue against them? He was here to win political support, not make enemies. If being an abolitionist kills him, then he will wait till being an abolitionist is in vogue.
"Greetings gentlemen, I'm the Commando of this part of Port Mpande, Jan Boddewijk. Pleased to make your acquaintance," Jan entered their group with all smiles.
They stopped their conversation and turned to face him. Dressed in similar Victorian wear, they observed him.
"Commando Jan, it is also a pleasure to meet you. I heard you've studied at South Elfrica College. How was your time there?" A man shook his head.
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"It was… fine for the most part. Enjoyable., though I would rather have studied at Oxford or Cambridge. Unluckily, I'm no genius, and couldn't clinch any scholarships in the Cape Colony," Jan made it the fuck up.
"Yeah, I also want to study at Oxford. But my father is unwilling to sponsor it! He thinks I'll run away or something once I'm done."
"That's because he knows that you aren't serious about studying. You're only there to sightsee in Great Britain. You'll probably drop out after one semester."
"Fuck you! You're the one who will drop out after one semester!"
"Commando Jan, what do you think of adopting democratic systems in place? Like universal voting rights?"
"I might support such measures, but I don't think it would be good. Most men can't even read or write. So how can we expect them to tick the right box in the ballet sheet?"
"You could hire a cartoonist to draw the face of the candidates besides the box. But you're right. It would be hard to explain how it works to men who have no formal education."
"Commando Jan, I saw some machinery being hauled from one of the ships the other day. Are you establishing some factories here?"
"Well… it is still in the experimental phase. We don't know where setting up the industry is efficient or even effective in the first place. So, It is a small test run, it would produce some locally-made canned food. I hope you and your family would be able to support this endeavour."
"That depends. Father does not like to buy expensive things."
It was clear what anyone would think after talking to these men. Pretentious, know-it-alls, who presume they know everything about the world due to the books they read. That was what he could use to describe the local intelligentsia. Perhaps it would be different in Europe where the intelligentsia was more well-established due to local universities. Respectable works like Thus Spoke Zarathustra and The Underground Man by Nietzsche and Dostoevsky respectively could be produced by all so respectable intelligentsia.
"Would any of you be interested in working for the local administration? I could use skilled, educated men like you all to run things here."
The vast majority refused.
"I'm still waiting for Oxford to send over my admissions letter. So, I must refuse, apologies."
"My family is planning to move over to Cape Colony. Father said it was too dangerous due to how near we are to the periphery of savages."
There were a scant few who were interested.
"How much can one make?"
"What do you need me to do?"
"For starters, we have two Boer districts. Each district is divided into corporalships. You will work on the ground, interacting with the residents in the corporalship. In the outbreak of hostilities, you will have the same authority as a corporal."
"Then what about Veldkornets?"
"I have not figured out who to appoint to as Veldkornet, but it would most likely be the head of the bureaucrats, Russell Corbyn, who you will be reporting to. Militarily, a Veldkornet is similar to a senior non-commanding officer."
"Then the Commando is a commanding officer?"
"Yes. And on top of the Commando is the Commando-General, and that is Andries Pretorius."
"I might be interested. But I hope I do not have to address any of you as sir."
Jan scratched the back of his head.
"Well, I'm not too strict about the military hierarchies. Pretorius might be strict about it. But we shall see, I'm not looking to start a war anytime soon."
"Hey, hey. Actually, why not have the Veldkornet be elected from amongst the people? In the outbreak of conflict, the Veldkornet should be someone popular among the people so that they can pass down the Commando's orders. I don't think appointing the head of administration, who is also an Englishman, as Veldkornet would be a good idea."
"Remember! Aristotle! These people can't read or write!" A young man rebutted.
The other shook his head and apologised for saying nonsense.
They had many ideas and wanted them implemented. But in this patriarchal, traditional Boer society? Such things get one killed.
Nothing changed, because the next day he saw more posters being put up by the human supremacist on the fence.
ELVES ARE INFERIOR! HUMANS ARE SUPERIOR!
Now that person didn't even bother to use logic anymore, going straight for the emotional centre of the brain. At first, he was fine with it, but now, clearly whoever did this is an attention seeker. Now he's annoyed.
Heading straight for the town hall, he marched to Russell's office. Opening the door, Russell dropped pieces of paper onto the floorboards. Jan raced forward to help him pick it up. Tidying them into a neat pile, he put them right back on the desk.
"Well, Jan. How can I help you?" Russell placed his head against the ground, checking to see if any paper had gotten underneath the desk.
"Someone is putting up posters on the fence. I want to know who did it. The words are printed using a printing press. So, I must ask, who imported or last purchased a printing press?"
"A couple of merchants come to mind. But I need more to narrow the scope."
"Alright then. I suspect that one of the merchants is directly involved. Whoever did this did not even bother to think about making a profit? How about their descendants? Any of them have children that are in their teens, and know how to read or write?"
"That's still a lot to narrow down."
"Alright then. I think their family owns slaves, specifically, elven ones."
"That did not narrow it down at all. Many of these merchants own slaves."
"Fine. Focus your investigations on the head behind the previous day's saboteurs. This is a small matter. Get those ruffians who clean the streets every day at the town hall to tear them down."
The next day, the whole wall was clustered with posters repeatedly saying the same thing. Some were even taunting Jan. Jan caressed his forehead and watched as men desperately tore down the posters.
"I don't think you should try to even fight with whoever that done this. I feel that he or she might escalate it to cover the whole town in posters if we mishandle this."
"I do not negotiate with terrorists. If he dares to plaster the whole town in it, then the town can lynch him on my behalf."
The next, next day.
"Oh my god."
Jan remarked as he saw the whole town is covered in posters. Every wall, every alleyway had this poster in it. There's even a poster put right on the town hall, taunting him. For the sake of the children, he decided to take down the poster. Not because he was a tiny bit infuriated with the joker, or that his pride was being inflicted. No, no, no. It was because the poster was ruining the atmosphere the town hall was trying to give.
It would be like going to a fine dining establishment to eat food on a plate covered with advertisements. It would be a travesty. So, for the sake of all that is good, he removed it.
Cracking his knuckles, he mumbled to himself, "This is war."
He got together some of his bureaucrats and organized a stakeout in the inn opposite the town hall. In one of the rooms facing the town hall, they carefully watched it. The perpetrator wanted to mess with him. So there was no doubt the perpetrator would come again to plaster another poster.
"Aren't we spending too much time just to catch a simple vandal? If they're going to keep escalating this, they're gonna be caught, one way or another," Russell commented, but Jan kept his eyes peeled on the window.
"This is personal. Somebody is trying to fuck with me. So, I need to fuck them."
"You're taking things way too personally. If we catch this man, please don't execute him. I do not wish for the town to become no different to a feudal kingdom where we can't insult the king."
Jan saw something.
"Shh… I see somebody. Someone is creeping up the town hall with a poster in hand. They're holding a small lantern. I can't see their face for here."
"Then what are you waiting for, let's go catch them."
"No, no, no. I read enough novels. The perpetrator might be using them as a decoy. I will sit here and catch them red-handed."
The individual put up the poster. Putting the lantern in front of themselves, they lit up the poster And Jan could see it being filled with even more swear words. One of them was calling him a CENSORED.
He charged out of the room and ran after the asshole who put the poster up. As the individual was walking away, carrying more bundles of posters in their hands, he yelled at them, "Stop in the name of the law!"
"You son of a bitch! I finally got you! Do you think you can talk smack about me without me doing anything? Well, think again bucko! I'm going to fuck you up!"
"Really? Should I scream sexual assault then? I can yell pretty loud. The whole town would be able to hear," A feminine voice responded.
"…"