Greece to roman road

Everyone in the hall was buzzing with each other. Obviously, they were greatly touched by this sudden news.

Constantine's words were like a stone thrown into calm water, causing ripples.

The Greek General Company mentioned by Constantine reminded the people of the East India Company.

As long as we talk about colonial history, the East India Company is an unavoidable topic. It has left a strong mark in the world's colonial history.

In order to facilitate the acquisition of wealth, Britain, France, the Netherlands, and Portugal all established the East India Company.

The most famous of them is the British East India Company.

This company may be the most powerful in history.

It completed an almost impossible task for a company. With the long-term efforts of the British East India Company, the entire India became its commercial stronghold and almost dominated the entire India.

Through the East India Company, countless British people became rich.

Now that Constantine was going to establish a Greek head office, everyone was uncontrollably excited.

Although they also knew that this Greek company could not have the power and ability to make wealth like the East India Company.

"Three days later, those who are interested in investing in the Greek Corporation can go to Tatoi Palace to discuss specific matters," Constantine said.

"Your Excellency, can anyone buy shares?" a businessman asked hurriedly.

After Greece became independent, a large number of Greeks still lived outside the territory of the Kingdom of Greece. For these overseas expatriates, both the Greek people and the government authorities tended to emotionally consider them to be Greeks.

This has also led to a large number of overseas citizens in Greece.

Moreover, among these overseas Greeks, there were many wealthy businessmen and political elites serving in the Ottoman Turkish government.

These people have accumulated a lot of wealth through many years of business or politics. If there are no restrictions, the future Greek head office will allow a group of overseas people to occupy a large number of shares, adding many risks to the operation.

"It must be Greeks, those who live in the Kingdom of Greece, have priority," Constantine emphasized.

After Constantine's explosive news, it was clear that no one was interested in paying attention to irrelevant matters anymore, so the meeting ended in a hurry.

Everyone was eager to prepare for the deliberations in three days.

Only Tricupis and Constantine were left.

"Prime Minister Trikoupis, when do you think Greece will be able to establish a mature civil service system?" Constantine asked.

Constantine was really tired of the Greek government being paralyzed every once in a while.

"You should know very well, Your Highness, at least it is impossible for now."

"Until then, Greece must find a way out, either militarily or economically," Trikoupis replied helplessly.

“Before this, I didn’t think there was an opportunity to establish a mature civil service system.”

"Your Majesty the Duke, the Greek government's finances have always been tight. Although it is presumptuous to say this, I hope you can seriously consider allowing the Greek government to share some benefits in the Congolese colony and ease Greece's debt." , Trikupis said softly.

It seems to be a very famous thing that the Greeks are in debt.

Constantine still remembers that there was a period of time in later generations when news about the Greek debt crisis was widely reported.

People generally have the impression that Greeks are poor and lazy, and at the same time maintain unrealistically high welfare benefits, so the debt snowballs and grows.

To clarify, Greeks are not lazy and are probably the most diligent of European countries.

Because his average weekly working hours are the longest among European countries.

The history of Greek debt began when Greece gained independence from Ottoman Turkey around 1830. The Greek people's war of independence at that time won the sympathy of many European countries.

Europeans did not want this country with a long history, the birthplace of European civilization, to fall into the hands of the already weakened Ottoman Turkey.

In order to fight the war against Ottoman Türkiye, a large amount of foreign debt was borrowed, which was the source of Greece's debt.

Although Greece succeeded in becoming independent, this barren land could not collect enough wealth to repay its huge foreign debt.

The Greek government has since fallen into a vicious cycle of borrowing new debt to repay old debt, which has continued into the 21st century.

As of now, Greece owes about 400 million drams (one pound is equal to 25 drams) in foreign debt, which is about 16 million pounds.

Greece now has a total of only about one million people, which is equivalent to each person carrying 400 drams.

This is a heavy debt.

"I can't help you with the debt problem. You can only rely on your government to find a solution." Constantine said expressionlessly.

"Your Highness, after all, you are the crown prince of the kingdom. Although the government of the Congolese colony is unable to help, you cannot deny that the Congo Committee you funded would not have been able to obtain the management rights of Congo without your title of Crown Prince of Greece." Triku Pease said anxiously.

It is true that if it were not for his status as the Crown Prince of Greece, no matter how many treaties his Congo Commission had to mandate rule, it would have been impossible for the countries at the Berlin Conference to recognize that the ownership of Congo belonged to the Congo Commission.

Constantine was silent as he considered Trikupis's words.

The Greek government is facing more than just debt problems. Giving it a sum of money to repay its debts is just to meet its immediate needs.

The Greek government employs a huge army of civil servants who can gnaw away like locusts no matter how much profit there is.

Without economic development, finance will be like water without a source.

If the underlying problem is not solved, it is of little significance to just treat the headache and the foot.

But you can’t completely turn a blind eye.

"I will come with a sum of money from the Congolese Commission's revenue."

As soon as these words came out, Trikupis's eyes lit up.

“Use it for education in Greece and invest in the future of Greece”

"This money will be used to establish an educational foundation, mainly for compulsory education for the Greek people," Constantine said.

Greece has a small population, and children of school age only account for a small part of the population. If the population is squeezed, the Congolese Committee can still come up with the money.

Trikoupis was angry about it, and his words were exciting. His feelings did not support the finances of the Greek government.

"Investing in education? If so, it would be a great thing for the Greek people."

"There is no way. We have no resources. We can still import from the colonies, but most of the people are ignorant and illiterate. What should we do?" Constantine sighed and said helplessly.

"This resource-poor country can only rely on developing its mental resources to make up for its physical weakness," Constantine said firmly.

"If you are serious, Your Highness, compared with compulsory education, the debt problem of the Greek government is not that important."

Trikupis said excitedly.

"I have always wanted to promote the development of education in Greece, but as you know, the Greek government's account cannot afford the money at all. After paying off the foreign debt every year, it can barely cope with the daily operations of the government."

Compulsory education, no matter how much people praise it, can never be excessive.