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Hearing Constantine's answer, Queen Olga said reluctantly: "Constantine, I just want to remind you that so far, your African expedition plan has spent 4 million francs, and The rewards, so far, are very few, some bizarre African wood carvings of limited value, diary records of African expeditions, and hand-drawn maps by explorers."

The adventurer Stanley brought back eccentric African indigenous artifacts, as well as adventure maps and diaries, to please his patrons, King George and Crown Prince Constantine, to show that he was not a liar and was indeed undertaking adventure and exploration. .

This is the only return on an investment of 4 million francs so far.

Four million francs was a truly huge amount of money in this era. One franc contained 29,032,258 grams of gold. The total of 4 million francs contained 16 tons of gold. It was not a franc that continued to shrink after World War I.

Supported by the strong national power of France, the value of the franc before World War I was stable and it was one of the important international currencies.

Queen Olga held the bill in her hand, swinging it to show it to Constantine and George.

King George was concentrating on enjoying his breakfast. He ate with gusto. He picked up a grape and put it in his mouth. The sweet and sour grape juice overflowed from the corners of his mouth. Then he picked up the napkin on the table and wiped the corners of his mouth. He seemed not to care about the conversation between the two. .

"If you want to get huge profits, you must be willing to invest huge amounts. Mom, this is the basic principle of business." Constantine answered vaguely while eating jam bread.

"Of course I understand this truth, but I want to remind you that your plan is too adventurous and very risky, and it is very likely that you will lose everything." Queen Olga looked at Constantine and reminded solemnly.

"That's part of the effort necessary to get huge profits," Constantine replied.

In Europe at the end of the 19th century, whether in London or Paris, people were very interested in news about overseas expeditions recorded in newspapers. For example, during the British invasion of India, the British colonial leader Robert Clive plundered Bengal.

Clive led his army to invade Bengal and looted the place. Clive alone robbed gold and silver worth 230,000 pounds.

He shamelessly showed off in the British Parliament: "There is a rich city under my feet, a powerful country in our hands, and a treasure house full of gold bars, silver ingots, pearls and gems has been opened in front of me. I have taken them all. 200,000 pounds. Gentlemen, until now, I still wonder why I was so polite?"

Whenever such news appears in newspapers, it can be a huge hit and sell out of stock.

People took newspapers to the streets, alleys, pubs or other crowded places, loudly and enthusiastically discussed someone's overseas heroic deeds, and said in an envious tone, "What a lucky guy."

In fact, this much-talked-about scene of people being keen on overseas adventures to obtain gold and silver treasures has appeared since the Age of Discovery opened the world, but at that time there was no large-scale distribution and sale of Just newspapers.

The initiators were the famous Columbus, Vasco da Gama and other pioneers of navigation and overseas adventure.

When the news came that Columbus had discovered India, the entire European continent was in a state of excitement.

(It actually discovered the American continent, but Columbus insisted that he discovered India. If you are looking at a map and find that there is a large island in the Central American waters called the West Indies, and you are confused, it is because Columbus made a mistake. .Europeans just make mistakes and are too lazy to correct them)

The rise of the powerful Ottoman Turkey in the 15th and 16th centuries blocked the trade routes between the East and the West. The Ottoman Turks blocked roads and charged high taxes and tolls, making Eastern goods, such as spices, peppers and chili peppers produced in India, and silk and porcelain produced in East Asia, more expensive (which were not cheap to begin with).

The helpless Europeans could only set out towards the western sea (Atlantic Ocean) to find a new route to the East.

Newspaper operators also responded to the public's wishes and were willing to publish adventure stories in newspapers. They even personally sponsored some adventurers to have adventures on the African continent. They negotiated with the adventurers to exclusively report on their adventures.

As for why it is Africa and not other places in the world, this is because at the end of the 19th century, other parts of the world no longer had any sense of mystery.

During the Age of Discovery that began around 1500, the Americas were first discovered. Portugal and Spain, the two first founders of colonial empires where the sun never set, soon colonized South and Central America.

Why was there no colonization of North America, such as the areas of today's United States and Canada?

The reason is that they looked down upon it. At that time, North America did not have as many gold and silver mines and other tropical crops as South America, such as sugar cane and cocoa. In their eyes, North America was a bitter cold land! !

So there is no longer any mystery about the situation in America.

As for Asia, the colonial activities of Britain, France, and the Netherlands in India and the East Indies (Indonesia) were already very clear by the end of the 19th century.

Therefore, at the end of the 19th century, for Europeans, only the African continent was still shrouded in fog.

Africa is very close to Europe, separated only by the Mediterranean Sea, which is like a big bathtub. However, Gibraltar, Spain, and the African continent are across the sea. As early as ancient Rome, Europeans were fighting wars in North Africa.

But this does not mean that the African continent is easy to explore. The world's largest desert, the Sahara Desert, completely separates southern Africa and North Africa. The vast desert and endless no man's land interrupt any exploration from land. Ideas for exploring Southern Africa.

The humid, hot and rainy tropical rainforest climate in southern Africa is very unfriendly to Europeans.

Europeans are actually more afraid of heat than cold, because they can effectively resist the cold, such as using bonfires, animal furs, cotton coats, etc. to keep out the cold.

But Europeans are helpless about the heat, especially in southern Africa, which is humid, hot and rainy. Mosquitoes can easily breed malaria, dysentery and other diseases.

Moreover, southern Africa does not have the profit stimulation of huge gold and silver mines like the Americas.

Therefore, at the end of the 19th century, due to the frequent overseas voyages and the increase in global trade, Europeans had a clear understanding of the coastal areas of Africa, but the inland areas of the African continent were still large blanks and blanks on European maps. question mark.

European geography at that time was eager to figure out a question: Where is the source of the Nile River? Do the Nile and Congo rivers originate from the same place?

With the funding of European monarchs, geographical research organizations, newspapers and other institutions and individuals, adventurers have the desire to make huge profits and get rich, or are driven by strong curiosity, or yearn for a free life of wild adventure, or simply With the call of the wild, southern Africa has become a paradise for explorers.

Obviously, Constantine was one of them, spending a large amount of money to fund the explorers' exploration of southern Africa, and the person he funded was the adventurer Mr. Stanley.

A legendary figure who was born in England, grew up in the United States, returned to England as an adult, and rushed to southern Africa driven by the adventurous craze.

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