Greece’s Roman Road

Does Congo have oil?

Constantine carefully recalled the news about Congo Oil in his mind, but he had never heard of Congo Oil.

Then there are only two possibilities, no oil and poor oil, and therefore not a good reputation.

As a giant trust company that monopolizes the U.S. oil market, although Standard Oil takes the lead in petroleum refining and sales, it is relatively weak in crude oil extraction, accounting for only 25% of crude oil extraction.

As the helm of Standard Oil, it seems that he has decided to make efforts in the field of crude oil extraction.

"Mr. Rockefeller, I haven't heard any rumors about Congo Oil. If your company is interested, you can go to the Congo area to investigate. I can get the employees of the Congo Commission in Africa to cooperate fully," Constantine said.

"You are so generous, I..."

Just as the two were talking, Constantine suddenly saw Banning hurried over with a strange expression, interrupting their conversation.

Constantine nodded apologetically to Rockefeller, then walked to a remote place with Banning.

"What's the matter? Banning?" Constantine said, looking at Banning, who was sweating on his forehead.

Banning has always been calm and scheming in his daily work, but with such a gaffe today, there must be something important.

"His Excellency the Duke, I just received news from the Greek office in New York that the French and Portuguese have discovered our plan. They have blocked the mouth of the Congo River and will no longer allow ships flying the Congo Commission's gold star blue flag to enter the Congo River", Ban Ning said.

"What?" Constantine was also surprised when he heard Banning's news.

Although Constantine also understood that the intentions of the Congolese Committee would be understood by the French and Portuguese colonists sooner or later, it was beyond his expectations to be exposed now.

However, considering that Stanley has established dozens of commercial strongholds and hundreds of entrusted rule treaties, as long as the French and Portuguese in the north and south of the Congo River pay a little attention, the pretense of the Congo Council will be debunked.

After all, the Congolese Committee operates near the Congo River in the academic name of scientific investigation and geographical discovery.

It is inevitable that a large number of construction sites will expose the target.

"What's the specific situation?" Constantine asked hurriedly.

"The soldiers led by Captain Brut had an armed confrontation with the French and Portuguese colonial military personnel. The two sides refused to give in and often harassed each other," Banning said.

"No large-scale fire? That's fine." Constantine was relieved to hear the words, thinking that the three parties had a conflict in Africa.

Constantine walked back and forth, thinking about countermeasures to deal with the current situation.

After a while, Constantine turned to look at Banning and said, "In this way, we will act separately. I am in the United States waiting for news from the US government, and you will return to Congo immediately," Constantine said.

"You know the situation of the Congo River best, and you have been leading the activities of the Congolese Committee there. At this time, you must return to the Congo."

"You don't have to worry too much. After arriving in Congo, stabilize the mood of the team and encourage them. The French are now expanding rapidly in Africa, and it is unlikely that they will respond too violently to the Congolese committee, so they don't have to fear the French." , Constantine ordered.

In the early and mid-19th century, European colonial countries paid more attention to those colonies that could directly obtain huge profits.

Such as Britain's India, France's Indochina (Vietnam), the Netherlands' East Indies (Indonesia).

These areas are densely populated and the land is mature, which can produce a large number of resources, food and cash crops.

Before the colonists came here, there were already organized, mature civilizations.

After conquering by military, economic and political means, the suzerain country can grab huge profits from these areas every year.

Spices from the East Indies, for example, have always been the main commodity traded by the Dutch.

Compared with the colonies in these prosperous and prosperous regions, Africa is a land of poor mountains and bad waters, barbaric and desolate, and the climate is not friendly to Europeans, except for some strategically important locations, which are not valued by Europeans.

Therefore, before that, Europeans' control over Africa was limited to those areas that served as transit stations and commercial bases for ocean-going ships, such as Cape Town in South Africa and Walvis Bay in Southwest Africa.

Until the 1880s, the technical conditions for entering Africa became mature, and countries successively sounded the horn to enter Africa:

France invaded West Africa in 1880, Tunisia in 1881, Madagascar in 1883;

Britain occupied Egypt in 1882 and Italy invaded Eritrea;

As for the seafaring pioneer Portugal, although it has declined, it still firmly controls Angola in West Africa and Mozambique in East Africa.

This is the strength of Constantine. Although France is powerful, it has occupied a large number of colonies in a short period of time, and I am afraid that it will not be digested in a short time. Looking extremely annoyed.

However, the strength of each country in the African colonies is relatively weak, limited by the poor traffic conditions and communication conditions. Whether it is France or Portugal, the strength in southern Africa may not be comparable to the just over committee with 500 regular soldiers.

Therefore, although the sudden military confrontation in Africa was beyond Constantine's expectations, it was still under control.

"Of course, as long as the French don't go too far, you can tolerate it as much as possible," Constantine continued to instruct.

In any case, the current France is not something that Greece can provoke, and the strength of the two sides is not on the same order of magnitude.

As for Portugal, Constantine didn't say anything, and Banning could understand it.

The persimmons are soft. As far as Portugal is concerned, if it wasn't for the support of the British allies, let alone the colonies, even the mainland might have been annexed by Spain.

Compared with the current Greece, Enen, it is still stronger than Greece, although the strength is limited.

"I will go back to Europe as soon as I hear from the Americans," Constantine said.

Seeing Banning leaving in a hurry, Constantine came to Sanford.

"There is an emergency in Africa, Sanford, can you use your network to finalize the Congo Commission as soon as possible?" Constantine looked at Sanford and said.

Although President Chester said it would take two days to consider, Constantine no longer intends to spend too much time in the United States, and changes in the situation require him to return to Europe as soon as possible.

"That's it, it can be, but it needs your consent to show some Congolese interests," Sanford said seemingly indifferently.

"I heard that there are millions of elephants in the Congo. I can give them some places for elephant hunting teams," Constantine said.

"No problem, in a country where all resources revolve around the baton of money, as long as there are interests, you can have privileges," Sanford was full of confidence.

Constantine frowned, thinking about the current situation, and sighed in his heart that a small country like Greece, which cannot control the situation, can only decide the next step by observing the further development of the situation.

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