Greece’s Roman Road

As for the so-called opium exported from the Congo, it was not used for medicinal products, but the drug company managed by Nina entrusted the Greek Congo Corporation to plant it for the extraction of medical morphine.

Morphine is widely used in medical treatment because of its special analgesic and narcotic effects. This substance extracted from opium has the strongest analgesic and narcotic effects among natural compounds.

Therefore, after Nina learned that the Congo could grow this plant, she commissioned Costerbloom to grow it locally.

In addition to the primary products that Banning said, the goods exported by Congo also include precious wood.

Congo's forest coverage area reaches 60%, accounting for about half of the tropical forests in Africa, so it provides a considerable amount of wood, including ebony, rosewood, yellow lacquer wood and other precious woods, which are exported to Europe in large quantities.

In addition, with the influx of European immigrants (gold diggers), and at the same time under the guidance of the Greek Congo Corporation, the cultivation of cocoa, coffee, and tobacco also flourished. These commodities were not only exported to Greece, but also to Exports from other countries on the Mediterranean coast have thus become one of the important financial resources of the Greek Congolese Corporation.

It can be said that it was precisely because of his control of the Congo that Constantine approved of Trikupis's huge loan scheme.

Otherwise, the huge debt of 600 million drachma, the annual interest alone can make the Greek government breathless.

"Since your Congo region is on the right track, then some things can begin." Constantine looked at Brute and said.

"How many troops do we have in the Congo Valley? Brut?"

Since he was sent to the Congo by Constantine a few years ago, Brut has been staying in Africa. Based on the 500 Royal Guards that were transferred to the Congo at the time, he executed Constantine to draw the natives to serve as an army and maintain local order.

Through rotations over the years, the local Greek army still maintains this number.

"So far, there are about 5,000 troops in the Congo region," Brut replied.

After all, he stared at Constantine to check the reaction.

"That number is not enough," Constantine said.

"In three years, Brut, you must have a colonial army of no less than 50,000 people in the Congo"

Hearing this number, not only Brute, but Banning was also surprised. After all, the current Greek army has a total of about 50,000 people, and now it is necessary to organize a colonial army of 50,000 people in Africa alone.

In a way, this is almost to reorganize an army.

"You also know that the conflict between Greece and Ottoman Turkey is extremely sharp. Especially after the recent influx of Greek goods into Asia Minor, the frequency of Greek businessmen encountering troubles in Ottoman Turkey has become more and more frequent," Constantine said with a serious expression. .

With the development of Greek industry, more and more Greek commodities appear in the market of Ottoman Turkey. As the so-called "close to the water, first-served month", due to Greece's favorable geographical location, some of Greece's commodities are highly competitive and will inevitably It touched cheese that was originally a commodity in other countries, such as the British, French, German or Italian commodity markets.

These businessmen used bribes to bribe some local officials and deliberately embarrassed Greek businessmen.

For example, the original cotton growers on the coast of the Aegean Sea in Anatolia originally sold cotton to British and French merchants, and then processed it into cotton cloth in Britain and France, and sold it to Ottoman Turkey. Before the appearance of Greek cotton cloth, this business model has become the norm.

Due to the advantages of Greece in terms of geographical location and labor costs, there is a tendency for Greek businessmen to replace the original roles of British and French businessmen, which threatens the interests of others and naturally attracts hatred.

In addition to the embarrassing position of the Greeks in Ottoman Turkey and the status of the conquered Greeks, those Ottoman officials turned to arrogance when confronted with Greek merchants, unlike the cautious and respectful attitudes they faced with merchants from other European countries. hold head high.

All of these, the possibility of military conflict between the two countries is increasing.

"For officers who are in short supply, you can apply to the Athens Military Academy. Your time is very tight," Constantine said to Brute.

In fact, the daily cost of a colonial army of 50,000 people is not high. The biggest cost is the full-body equipment prepared for these soldiers, such as military uniforms, rifles, boots, etc. As for food prices, the Congo region is rich in food, Such as rice, cassava, etc., the price is low.

The cost of maintaining an army of 50,000 people in Congo is far lower than the cost at home.

"Also, Brut, these officers who go to the colonial army to serve, you should pay attention to their emotional problems. Officers with serious racist emotions must be prohibited from entering the indigenous army. When recruiting officers, pay attention to the difference, understand? "

"These black troops will also be on the battlefield in the future war between Greece and Ottoman Turkey. They should be respected, understand, respect"

Speaking of this, Constantine turned to Banning and said, "You Congolese government should also be careful in the management of the local area. I hope you can respect the customs and habits of the local people, instead of being complacent all day long."

"The stability of the Congo is very important to Greece. Do you understand?" Constantine said to the two.

"But, Your Highness, will such a large number of indigenous troops threaten us?" Banning said.

Banning felt a little uneasy that 50,000 natives would soon appear in the area under his jurisdiction, and they would be armed with rifles and other weapons from Europe.

"If they start a rebellion, it will be troublesome"

This is indeed a hidden concern. In fact, the conflicts between the European colonists and the local people have always been acute. This is not a problem that can be solved simply by respect.

After all, Congo is not only a colony of Greece, but also a public colony of various countries. After all, Greece is only a manager chosen by various countries.

Therefore, for those businessmen from other countries, the local government of Congo has limited prestige and limited constraints on them.

Take the fiery gold mining in the Congo area for example. European colonists often hijack the local indigenous people and force them to work in the gold mines. In name, they are hired, but they are actually slaves.

Since this kind of thing is very frequent, and gold mining does require a lot of labor, Banning usually turns a blind eye to this kind of thing.

There is also the rubber industry in Congo, which also requires a lot of labor to tap rubber in rubber plantations (wild rubber forests). It is conceivable that black labor is still used.

The local black people have always harbored a strong hatred for these foreign colonizers.

When tens of thousands of heavily armed black troops suddenly appeared, why didn't the Congo region suddenly become chaotic?

Hearing this, Constantine frowned. Since he didn't know the specific situation in the local area, facing this threat, he had no idea for a while.

"Actually, it's not that there is no way to solve this hidden worry," Brut said suddenly.

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