Greece to roman road

"Your Excellency, no matter what, the dignity of the British Empire does not allow her to abandon her allies," Gladstone said casually.

"Your Congo Committee is too whimsical. It is impossible for you to establish an effective government agency to maintain order in the Congo region."

"Our ally Portugal is different. With the help of the British Empire, Portugal is the best choice for the master of Congo."

Constantine could no longer endure Gladstone's arrogance and stood up: "Since the British government is so confident and firmly supports the Portuguese administration of the Congo, then I will immediately inform those employees who have just passed the committee that their positions in the Congo are The work has no meaning anymore, let them retreat immediately.”

"Let the Portuguese compete with the French. I just don't know if they have the courage, and whether the British will not hesitate to fight a war with the French for the Portuguese Congo," Constantine said solemnly .

Hearing Constantine's threat to withdraw the Congo Committee, Gladstone hesitated and lowered his head in thought.

If the Congo Committee withdraws, then there is no doubt that the colonists of Brazza, supported by the French government, will immediately reoccupy it. You must know that the two sides are currently confronting each other north and south of the Congo River.

Seizing the Congo from the hands of the Congo Committee was easy. After all, it was just a privately funded organization with limited financial resources and no confidence to dare to resist the authority of the British Empire.

However, if the French took advantage of the Congo Committee's retreat to completely occupy the Congo River Basin, Britain would have no good solution.

Unlike the weak Congo Committee, France is an old rival of Britain. If it does not go to war, there is no way it can take food from the French population. An old European power like France will not give up because of the British's verbal threats. The fat of the mouth.

When Gladstone heard Constantine's rebuttal, he was also in a dilemma. For a moment, he really didn't know how to deal with this Congo Committee, which looked down upon him.

Let the Congo Committee retreat, the French will take over soon. No matter how powerful the British are, water far away cannot quench the thirst of the near, and the French are on the north bank of the Congo River, close at hand. The Portuguese colonial troops in Angola alone really didn't dare to do anything to the French.

If the Congolese Commission does not withdraw, then after the Berlin Conference, the international community will inevitably recognize the Congolese Commission’s management authority over the Congo region, because the reason why the Berlin Conference was held was nominally to resolve disputes in the Congolese region, and by the way, countries Demarcate the sphere of influence in Africa.

"Your Excellency, please be patient. I need to discuss colonial matters with other cabinet ministers."

After that, Gladstone left in a hurry.

Constantine and Banning were the only two people left in the reception room.

Banning walked back and forth, seeming very uneasy. After all, in the past few years, he had taken the trouble to go to Africa to assist Stanley in leading the complicated affairs of the Congo Committee.

And now, it's finally time for the results to be known.

"Your Highness, do you think the British will agree to hand over the management of Congo to our Congo Committee?" Banning looked at Constantine who was sitting on a high-backed chair with his eyes closed and concentrating. Banning, who was not familiar with international diplomacy, faced today's helpless An opponent like the controversial world hegemon really has no confidence in his heart.

Naturally, he couldn't be as calm and calm as Constantine.

"Banning, don't be anxious. Congo cannot be lost. It can only belong to our Congo Committee."

"You should think about how to get the international community to allow us to collect tariffs in Congo," Constantine said with a solemn face.

In fact, obtaining the management rights of the Congo Commission is only the beginning, but it does not mean that Constantine will be able to sit back and relax in the future.

If we can obtain management rights of the Congo after the Berlin Conference, we will immediately face another thorny issue, which is the source of money to maintain order on the Congo River.

The Congo region has a population of about 20 million and an area of ​​about 2 million square kilometers. In such a large place, establishing an effective judicial system, administrative system, garrison issues, and transportation issues will inevitably require stable income to maintain it.

If the royal family continues to contribute money to maintain the expenses that have just passed the committee, I am afraid that the royal family's finances will soon go bankrupt, which is simply unrealistic.

This level of expenditure is far beyond the limit of personal affordability.

In history, King Leopold II of Belgium, in order to maintain the initial development funds of the colony, begged his grandfather and grandmother in front of bankers and racked his brains to get a loan.

In a primitive Africa far away from civilization, it is expensive to maintain an institution with effective management capabilities.

Colonies in Africa, especially those in the tropics, were actually not profitable.

Colonies don’t make money? Aren’t the colonial countries out of their minds? Why did they fight for colonies?

It’s not that all colonies are unprofitable, it’s that most of the colonies in Africa are unprofitable.

When talking about colonies, you may think of British India, Dutch Indonesia, French Vietnam, etc.

Indeed, of course these colonies can obtain huge profits. Colonies like India have large arable land, high food production, and dense population, with hundreds of millions of people.

British domestic industrial products, when they come to India, are like mice coming to a rice vat and eating a lot of fat. In fact, India has the greatest contribution to the reason why the British Empire became the British Empire.

The same can be said for Vietnam, Indonesia as they have some things in common.

For example, it is densely populated, rich in grain, and rich in products, and can produce some special products.

For example, the Hon Kei coal mine in Vietnam produces high-quality anthracite coal and is located in a coastal area. It is used as thermal coal for merchant ships plying the South China Sea route. The French make money while lying down. Vietnam's rice is harvested three times a year.

Indonesia is world-famous for the production of various spices, such as cloves and cardamom. There is also the cinchona bark, which the Dutch almost monopolize the market. It is used to extract the raw materials of quinine. It also produces rubber, which is very important. Industrial raw materials.

But not all colonies are like these three, the most fertile places in the hands of each colonial country.

Just like these colonies in Africa, countries basically started carving up Africa after the Berlin Conference in 1884. If these colonies were really profitable, would they wait until now?

In fact, for a colony like Congo, which is located in the tropics and has difficult transportation, the most economically beneficial method of colonization is to let others maintain order and then let your own merchants come to trade.

In this way, you can enjoy the profits of trade without spending high costs to maintain local order.

Kill two birds with one stone.

The reason why Constantine was anxious to acquire Congo was because Greece was resource-poor and needed Congo's resources to develop industry.

As for purchasing industrial raw materials from other countries, just think about it. It is simply unrealistic. A huge outflow of gold and silver may directly cause the Greek economy to collapse.

The international business rules these days are to do everything possible to export, to do everything possible to prevent imports, and to create a trade deficit.

This trade deficit is not paper money, it is real gold and silver. These days, international trade only accepts precious metals.

If we continue to import large amounts, we must find ways to export to make up for the shortfall.

In this era, due to the popularity of mercantile ideas in international trade, all countries pursued a policy of not importing goods if they could, and it was best to use their own products.

In this way, the country can have more and more gold and silver, and the country will become richer.

And if a country continues to be in a state of trade deficit, it will lead to domestic currency shortages and cause chaos in the financial order.

Therefore, Constantine could only find a way to control a colony that produced various resources.

In this way, no matter how industrial raw materials, such as rubber or copper ore, are traded, money only flows within the Greeks.