Chapter 10 The Situation in Africa

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"By the way, speaking of slave traders, are Arab slave traders in the Congo River basin harassing frequently?" Constantine said to Stanley.

"Why not frequently? Europeans go to Africa just to seek money. These Arabs are really vicious. They set out from the east coast of Africa, especially Zanzibar Island, which is the base camp of their Arab slave traders. They often clash with the mercenaries of our expedition team. These bastards, when they arrive at the villages of African natives, kill all those who dare to resist, and then abduct young children and docile women as slaves. Even the missionaries of the Catholic Church can't stand it." At this point, Stanley seemed to think of something interesting and paused.

"If one day you go to southern Africa and see many Christians, don't be surprised. Since the Age of Discovery, European missionaries have come to southern Africa to preach. You can't guess their initial missionary methods, haha," Stanley laughed.

"Missionary methods?" Nina asked puzzledly, "What other methods can be used for missionary work? Priests preach the Bible to people who worship God."

"No, no," Stanley was very proud of Nina's failure to guess correctly, and deliberately teased the little girl, "Their initial missionary method was to kidnap local nobles or powerful people, and then preach God to them, and then release them after they converted to God. Don't you think it's interesting?" Stanley said.

"There are still missionaries like this?" Nina widened her eyes and couldn't believe it.

"By the way, just last year, an expedition led by the Frenchman Brazza raised the French flag in the north of the Congo River, now called Brazzaville. We did not show any weakness and raised the flag of the Congo National Committee in Kinshasa, south of the Congo River," Stanley looked at Constantine and said carefully.

According to the original plan, Constantine personally notified Stanley in the north of the Congo River, but this guy didn't care and let the French get ahead.

"Alas," Constantine sighed in his heart. Historically, Congo (Brazzaville) was a colony of the French, but now this situation has not been changed.

Of course, it may also be that Stanley judged the situation and did not dare to offend the French. Although the French were defeated by the Germans in the Franco-Prussian War, they were still a power that Greece could not provoke.

"How many bases and treaty agreements have your expedition built?" Constantine asked.

The basis for determining the ownership of colonies in various European countries is actual occupation or agreements signed with chiefs. Actual occupation is the business contact base established by merchants, and the agreement is the protection agreement or mandate treaty signed by the indigenous chiefs by various colonial countries, either by coercion or inducement.

This is the basis for determining the ownership of colonies. For a small country like Greece that depends on others, it may not be possible to get colonies with this thing, but if it does not exist, it will definitely not get it.

"We went up the Congo River as planned, set up more than ten bases along the way, and signed more than one hundred rights transfer treaties," Stanley replied.

"You need to speed up the progress. Countries are rapidly expanding into Africa. By the way, based on your experience in Africa for so many years, what do you think of the development prospects of the Congo River Basin?" Stanley asked.

After hearing Constantine's question, Stanley frowned and thought.

"If the development prospects you are talking about are about making money, then I, Your Excellency the Duke, probably won't be happy to hear it," Stanley said, touching his chin with his right hand.

"What does this mean?" Stanley's heart tightened. He thought he could hear some inspiring words, but Stanley's words were more like a bucket of cold water.

"The Congo River Basin is densely covered with rivers, crisscrossing not only the Congo River, but also many of its tributaries. There is abundant rainfall and steady water flow. This is because the equator passes through the Congo River Basin. With the change of seasons, when it is dry season south of the equator, it is rainy season north of the equator, and vice versa. The tributaries of the Congo River are distributed both north and south of the equator. They take turns to inject abundant river water into the downstream Congo River. From my experience, it has a very high water transport value," Stanley said.

No matter what era, water transport is the cheapest mode of transportation, without a doubt.

And the waterways formed by the many tributaries of the Congo River are golden trade routes.

"According to you, this should be good news, right?" Constantine asked puzzledly.

"You are right, but there is a premise. You need a huge upfront investment. The railway from Matadi to Kinshasa is a hurdle that cannot be overcome," Stanley replied.

From Matadi to Kinshasa, this railway is about 400 kilometers long. You can imagine how difficult it would be to build such a railway in Africa, far away from the civilized world.

The more difficult it is to build, the higher the cost.

As for why it is from Matadi to Kinshasa, this is because the waterfall area in the lower reaches of the Congo River causes the ships to reach Africa and sail inland along the Congo River as far as Matadi.

The river section from Matadi to Kinshasa is not navigable.

"Building a railway that connects the vast waterway network of the Congo River with the estuary that can be navigated by seagoing ships is an indispensable condition for the development of Congo," Stanley continued.

"As for what resources Congo has, I am not a professional scholar and don't know. But judging from the level of civilization of the local people, no matter what kind of treasures God has buried in Congo, they are still buried intact in the ground." Stan Li Dao.

"In other words, so far, I know that you and your father, His Majesty the King, have invested a lot of money, but with all due respect, that is not enough. You must find supporters. Those in your hands Bankers who hold a large amount of capital, or some other powerful people, this is my sincere suggestion," Stanley said, looking at Constantine.

Stanley fully hopes that Constantine will succeed, because the balance of his reward has not yet been paid.

"In other words, the initial investment is very expensive, but there is still a good prospect of profit?" Constantine wanted to know what this old African oilman thought and continued to ask.

"That's right, oh, by the way, I recently heard that an expedition team came to Tanzania," Stanley said.

"There are so many expeditions in Africa, sir," Constantine said nonchalantly.

"This one is different. His leader is called Cameron, who is an Englishman. As for his sponsor, I found out privately," Stanley said here, looking at Constantine, "he is the King of Belgium, Leopold II”.

Hearing this name, Constantine's pupils shrank and he secretly thought, he's still here.

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