Greece to roman road

After hearing Constantine's words, many nobles in the conference room whispered among themselves.

Although everyone received a large amount of land as a fief after becoming a noble, due to the low price of food in Greece, everyone actually did not pay much attention to these lands.

Although there were signs of mechanized agriculture at this time, due to technical reasons, the level of so-called mechanized agriculture was very low based on the technical level of the early 20th century, and slightly complicated farming work still required a large amount of manpower to complete.

This means that even if the nobles really develop the land, there is no other good way to make full use of their land other than renting the land to tenants or setting up agricultural cooperatives.

In fact, if Constantine did not make special instructions and recommendations today, the most likely option for these people would be to rent out the land and then rely on land rent to obtain land income.

It is too difficult for them to really work in the fields like farmers.

They themselves have military positions and have no time to manage their own land.

Emmanuel was a little puzzled that Constantine attached so much importance to the land of the nobles. After all, as the crown prince, Constantine had no reason to be so concerned about how the nobles managed their own land.

"Your Highness the Crown Prince, can you tell us the reasons why everyone should actively join the agricultural cooperative?" Emmanuel's question was also what many nobles present wanted to know.

Hearing Emma Inur ask this, everyone looked at Constantine with searching eyes, hoping that he could explain the reason.

"The reason why I hope everyone will do this is because I hope that the Greek nobility can become a political force that cannot be ignored in Greece," Constantine said earnestly.

After all, the royal family worked so hard to confer these nobles with a very clear purpose, which was to hope that they would become political allies of the royal family.

"You are also aware of the land situation in Greece. The farmland is relatively poor and there is not much land suitable for agricultural and animal husbandry production. The area near Thessaloniki is currently the largest plain in Greece."

“Although there are still mountains and hills between Thessaloniki and Skopje, the area of ​​arable land is indeed the largest in Greece.”

"With such favorable geographical conditions, this place will definitely become the most important agricultural production area in Greece in the future. According to agricultural experts, the climate, water and soil here are suitable for growing wheat, citrus, tobacco, cotton and other crops."

When everyone heard the words Constantine revealed about tobacco and cotton, the eyes of those who were more sensitive to business suddenly lit up.

Tobacco and cotton are both cash crops with high demand in Greece.

Among them, the Greek army was the largest consumer of tobacco.

For soldiers whose lives are always in danger on the battlefield, nothing can relax them more than a cigarette.

Greece’s domestic demand for tobacco is also increasing day by day, and large quantities of tobacco are imported from the United Kingdom (actually a British overseas colony) every year to meet domestic demand.

Cotton is even more popular in Greece.

As a major textile country, Greece has been relying on imports to satisfy domestic textile companies in recent years.

Before 1912, the Ottoman Empire had been Greece's largest cotton importer and also Greece's largest cotton cloth export market.

Next is Egypt. Due to sufficient sunlight, the long-staple cotton grown in Egypt is the best quality cotton in the world.

The cotton that Greece can produce domestically is almost negligible, only a pitiful 9,000 tons.

For Greece's huge domestic cotton consumption, this means that Greece's cotton textile industry is extremely dependent on the international market.

Due to the successive wars in the Eastern Mediterranean, first the Italian-Ottoman War in 1911, both the cotton exports along the Aegean coast of Asia Minor and the cotton exports of Egypt were severely affected.

Then came the Balkan War. Greece declared war directly with the Ottoman Empire, and it was impossible to import cotton raw materials from the Ottoman Empire.

These two wars seriously affected the Greek cotton textile industry.

Unable to import enough raw materials, textile factories have exhausted a large amount of capacity.

This means that if cash crops such as tobacco and cotton can be grown in large quantities in Macedonia, it will not only reduce the amount of imported goods in Greece, but also allow these nobles who own large amounts of land to make a fortune.

Thinking of this, several nobles were really moved by Constantine's idea of ​​managing land.

"I hope you will actively participate in agricultural cooperatives, unite the people of Macedonia, and build Macedonia into the richest agricultural producing area in Greece."

The nobles have the advantage of having large amounts of land, and naturally have more say than other farmers in the agricultural cooperatives they form.

Through these agricultural cooperatives, the nobles and the royal family could indirectly influence the farmers who joined the cooperatives.

It can be expected that after a long period of development, these agricultural cooperatives have become not only an economic organization, but also a natural political organization.

For example, if these agricultural cooperatives develop well and bring huge benefits to the Macedonian farmers who join the agricultural cooperatives, then the nobles who have a say in them can naturally easily influence the members and let them choose those who are related to the royal family when voting. A candidate who is closer to the aristocracy.

The royal family indirectly penetrates into the Greek domestic economy and politics through the nobility and agricultural cooperatives, thereby expanding the royal family's invisible influence in Greece and thus enriching the royal family's public opinion base.

Constantine made these considerations clear to everyone.

Emmanuel thought about Constantine's words and nodded in agreement: "This is indeed a good strategy. It has the advantage of achieving multiple benefits with one stone."

"First of all, we can organize everyone through advanced agricultural organizational forms such as agricultural cooperatives to cultivate Macedonian land more efficiently."

He said this with a helpless tone: "Macedonia is a land suitable for agricultural production. Due to extensive management, during the Ottoman rule, the tax collectors almost did not care about anything except collecting taxes. Later, it fell into perennial riots and serious population loss. , and there are large areas of natural forests. I heard people say that European bison are often seen deep in these woods. You can imagine how desolate they are."

"The roads are impassable and the transportation is inconvenient. The roads from Thessaloniki to the interior of Macedonia are all dirt roads and mountain roads, and no ground has been hardened."

"According to the information obtained by the personnel of the Military Intelligence Department, the best roads in the Balkans are actually the roads built by the Roman Empire."

The other nobles in the room shook their heads helplessly when they heard these words.

In order to give full play to the nobles' border defense and strengthen their control over the newly acquired territories, the royal family had most of these nobles' fiefdoms distributed in the interior of Macedonia.