Greece to roman road

"Also, I have discussed with your mother and feel that Princess Sophie of Germany is very suitable for you. As a marriage partner, if you don't object, you can try to get in touch and make a marriage contract."

Queen Olga looked at Constantine and said.

Princess Sophie, the daughter of Crown Prince Frederick and Crown Princess of Germany, and the sister of William (later William II).

Constantine had come into contact with her during his two years of study in Germany. She was a gentle and kind girl, and Constantine did not dislike her.

Thinking of this, Constantine smiled and said, "Have you heard of that Greek legend?"

"What legend?" Queen Olga was stunned and asked doubtfully.

"There is a legend among the Greeks that if a king named Constantine and a queen named Sophie ruled Greece, the Hagia Sophia in Constantinople would fall again. into the hands of the Greeks,” Constantine explained to the two men.

"Is there such a legend? That's very good, it's a good omen," said King George I.

Both were outsiders (George from Denmark, Olga from Russia) and had no knowledge of Greek folk tales.

Sophie is the symbol of wisdom in Greek. The pronunciations of wise man and sage are similar to Sophie, and Sophia also has this meaning.

So this legend is not nonsense. Its general meaning can be understood as: If King Constantine is wise and wise, then he will rule Constantinople again.

From this legend, we can understand the deep attachment hidden by the Greeks to Constantinople.

This New Rome (the original name of Constantinople) was founded by the Roman Emperor Constantine the Great in 330 AD. Later, people gradually named the city he founded after Constantine, the first emperor of Eastern Rome. ).

I don’t know if it was fate, but more than 1,000 years later, this city was finally captured by Mohammed II of the Ottoman Turks in 1453 in the hands of another Constantine (the last emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire).

This may explain why when Constantine was born, the Greeks launched a petition to name their king's eldest son, future crown prince, and future king, Constantine.

The Greeks had high hopes and a special affection for Constantine.

Constantine, who understood this situation, did not dare to slack off at all in these years.

It was precisely because of the high expectations that when Constantine failed, people's anger became stronger.

"I know, I will take care of things in the Congo as soon as possible," Constantine replied.

"As for the engagement, I have had contact with Princess Sophie and I have no objection."

Three days later, Constantine agreed to the division of shares in the Greek Congo Corporation, chaired by Nina.

Probably, the royal family and the Greek Educational Foundation hold 50%, the National Bank of Greece and Alfa Bank each hold 10%, other interested families and individuals hold a total of 10%, and the other 20% are all given to overseas Greeks.

As for the general manager of this company, Costebrough serves as the general manager, while other shareholders send directors to form the board of directors.

It is headquartered in Athens, but as a colonial company, it must send people to the Congo.

········

Standing in front of Piraeus Port, bidding farewell to Banning and Costebrew who are about to leave for Africa.

"This trip to Congo, Banning, I hope you can establish effective government institutions as soon as possible, and at the same time be careful to guard against the expansion of colonies in other countries."

"Assist Costeburu to get the land with good geographical location and suitable for development into the hands of the Greek Congo Corporation as soon as possible so that it can generate economic benefits," Constantine ordered the two of them.

When Costeblu came to inform Constantinople this time and volunteered to go to the Congo, Constantine was very surprised.

At the end of the 19th century, unlike later generations, transportation was developed and communication was convenient.

Traveling to Africa in this era is still very dangerous.

The threat of diseases, such as malaria, yellow fever, schistosomiasis, etc., dangers caused by navigation accidents, etc.

So these days, except for those who want to go to the colonies to make a fortune and have little chance in their own country, it is really beyond Constantine's expectation that rich children like Costebrew dare to take the risk to go to Africa.

In Costebrow's words, this is a family ordeal.

If he can survive safely and make a career in the Congo and prove his talents, he will have a promising future in the family.

"Costebru, after arriving in Africa, you can consider other projects yourself. Give priority to buying part of the land where the wild rubber forests are located," Constantine said to Costeburu.

"Rubber forest? Is it the rubber used to make tires?" Costebrew asked.

"Isn't that thing of much use now?"

“I am quite optimistic about the rubber market situation in the future. In short, the Greek Congo Corporation can just buy some wild rubber forests,” Constantine said.

At the end of the 19th century, with the invention of pneumatic tires, rubber occupied an increasingly important position among industrial raw materials.

Constantine wants to plan ahead and make a fortune in the rubber boom.

Moreover, rubber is an economic crop. It takes a period of time for newly planted rubber trees to be harvested. If you wait until the rubber gap is huge and the price rises, it will be too late to plant rubber trees. By the time the newly planted rubber trees can tap rubber, the price will have already It has dropped because when rubber prices are high, everyone will plant large areas of rubber trees.

"Also, Banning, I hope you can understand that when we go to Africa, the factor of making money is greater. I don't want to see the indigenous people in the Congo rebelling and rioting all day long." Constantine faced Banning seriously. said.

"You, the Congolese government, need to be more flexible and gentle in your methods and learn from the colonial experience of the Netherlands or Portugal. As long as the indigenous Africans can recognize the rule of the Congolese government and do not affect European or American businessmen from going to business, you can be more tolerant. Don’t have to be so tough”

Constantine was mainly worried that the Congolese government advocated too much force, or that the companies or individuals who went to Congo were exploiting the indigenous people as if they were breaking their bones and sucking out their marrow, causing a strong backlash from the locals.

If war breaks out all over the Congo and the situation becomes uncontrollable, those companies or individuals will probably just slap their butts and leave. Anyway, Congo is an international colony and they can still make a fortune elsewhere.

But Constantine and the Congolese government were embarrassed.

The management of the Congo that Constantine had planned so hard was mainly used to obtain industrial raw materials and provide Greece with a start-up capital for industrialization.

Don't make any money at that time, and add a lot of money to hire troops to quell the rebellion.

At that point, the money spent on sending troops to Congo, Africa, thousands of miles away, may not be affordable by Constantine or Greece.

After all, Greece is not like Britain, France and Germany. Their own strength is strong enough. No matter how big the storm is caused by the colonial natives, they are confident enough to suppress it.

"Don't let your Congolese colonies be like those brainless Germans," Constantine solemnly warned.

After Southwest Africa (Namibia) was assigned to Germany at the Berlin Conference, a large number of Germans came to Africa and seized a large number of local people's land.

This has caused constant riots in the area, and the Germans have a tough attitude and believe in force. They have currently sent a large number of troops to stabilize the situation.

If the Congolese government followed suit, Constantine would die crying.