Chapter 211 Royal Influence

Mediterranean hairstyle, gray hair on the temples, dark yellow wrinkles on the face.

The old king slowly stood up from the wicker chair, with a look of recalling the past on his face.

"When I was twenty-one years old, I was elected king of Greece by Britain and France. I came from the wealthy Denmark in northwestern Europe to the barren Greece in southeastern Europe. It has been thirty or forty years now." King George seemed to be talking enthusiastically, looking at the gentleman Tandin said.

"Actually, the prince who was most likely to win the throne of Greece at that time was not me. Among those royal families who came from famous families, there were many people with noble blood and outstanding family reputation who had more priority than me." King George said here He shook his head and smiled bitterly.

Constantine could probably guess why no one wanted to go to Greece and become king.

The previous king of Greece, who was from the Bavarian royal family, was ousted by the Greek people through an uprising and violent means.

"None of them were willing to give up the luxurious aristocratic life in Western Europe and go to the war-torn and turbulent Greece, even with the temptation of a crown. At that time, Greece was impoverished and troubled internally and externally."

Constantine did understand this past event.

Greece, which was independent from the Ottoman Empire, was weak and faced the threat of the Ottoman Empire.

Therefore, the new King George of Greece elected by Britain and France, in order to gain more support from the great powers, married the Russian royal family and married the Russian Grand Duchess Olga.

King George stated while putting on his gray coat and holding his felt hat in his hand.

"After being crowned King of Greece, in order to prevent the royal family from becoming the center of conflicts and being involved in political struggles, I have always safeguarded the rights of the Greek Prime Minister and respected the rights of the Parliament."

"Don't try to be a powerful monarch with all the power, that will put the royal family in danger," King George warned solemnly.

Constantine stood respectfully and listened humbly to King George's experience in governing the country.

Many people have imagined that if they became a king or emperor, they would be powerful and majestic.

However, judging from the unfortunate fate of the emperors of the Eastern Roman Empire, that was not an enviable position.

Historically, not many emperors of the Eastern Roman Empire were lucky enough to die. There were many Eastern Roman emperors who suffered coups, assassinations, imprisonments, assassinations, defeats and were killed.

Of course, if you have the talent and strategy of Augustus or Emperor Constantine, that's a different matter.

Although many people will mock the rubber stamp when referring to the British royal family.

Thinking about it on the other hand, there doesn't seem to be anything wrong with people being able to enjoy the treatment of a king without working hard, running around all day, and taking care of everything.

The work of governing the country is left to the prime minister, and the monarch is only the nominal head of state.

"Europe is currently undergoing rapid changes. Suddenly, another crown falls. You know, more and more European people are questioning the royal power. Countries without kings seem to be able to exist normally."

"I don't know how many people are happy to discover that a country can be effectively managed without a king."

Constantine knew that the old king was referring to the United States and France, two republics without monarchs.

"Although according to the constitution, Greece no longer has a powerful monarch, this does not mean that the royal family does not need any political rights. If the royal family wants to continue, it still needs to have sufficient social influence." King George changed his words and said .

"Constantine, I want to hear your thoughts on ways to manage the royal family's social influence."

Constantine was stunned when he heard this, knowing that King George was testing himself.

After pondering for a moment, various thoughts came to mind one by one.

"With regard to building the influence of the royal family, there are mainly three aspects."

"The first is the military. Continue to strengthen and stabilize the royal family's leadership in the military. This is the foundation of the royal family's influence."

"Secondly, in terms of finance, since capital plays an increasing role in the political life of various countries and the royal power is getting weaker and weaker, which is an irreversible trend, then we should turn the royal family into capital and follow this trend."

“Currently in the financial field, the Purple Robe Foundation and the Royal Bank of Greece, both controlled by the royal family, are developing well. Through loans or investments from these two financial institutions, the royal family’s influence in the economy is amplified. After all, the financial industry is the foundation of all industries. Upstream, as long as the royal family has a place in the financial industry, the influence of the royal family in society cannot be underestimated."

To put it bluntly, as long as the royal family controls huge amounts of capital, there is no fear of losing social influence!

King George looked at the talking Crown Prince and nodded appreciatively.

King George clearly favored Constantine's idea of ​​maintaining the royal family's social influence through financial institutions.

"anything else"

"Then there's the education aspect," Constantine replied.

"The Royal Greek Education Foundation currently managed by Sophie plays a pivotal role in the Greek education system. The current compulsory education in Greece is almost entirely completed with the support of the foundation."

"Even in secondary and higher education, the role of the Royal Education Foundation is clearly visible. In recent years, the Education Foundation has invested a lot of scholarships in major universities to reward outstanding students. When these students enter the society and become Elite talents from all walks of life also invisibly reflect the good image of the royal family."

King George praised: "It is indeed a good idea. In any case, those students who enjoy the sponsorship of the foundation will look at the royal family with a more positive attitude."

Then he frowned and said: "However, there is also a hidden danger. The amount of funds for education is huge. How can the source of funds for this foundation be guaranteed?"

It is not realistic to rely on the royal family to pay for tens of thousands of students.

"At present, the main source of funds for the foundation is still from Congo's tax revenue. According to the agreement reached between the royal family and the Congolese government, Congo currently needs to pay more than 60 million drachmas to the Royal Education Foundation every year. In addition, there are also the investment income of the foundation itself, which will also be used for the operation of the foundation itself."

"According to my idea, the education foundation will inevitably need to rely on investment income to maintain its operation in the future. The proportion of funds allocated by the Congolese government in the foundation's funds will continue to decrease."

"The focus of the education foundation's investment will be the resource industry, both from a reasonable point of view and from a practical need. From the perspective of the Foundation, the resource industry is the main focus of the Foundation."

"After all, the beneficiaries of Greece's domestic resources should be the Greek people, which is reasonable."

King George asked with interest: "What resources has the Education Foundation invested in at present?"

"Currently, it is mainly oil and coal, as well as the bauxite industry. The Education Foundation previously invested in the development of the oil field in Ferry City together with the Purple Robe Foundation."

"Recently, it seems that several lignite mines have been invested for power generation."

"The Education Foundation is a sovereign fund managed by the royal family, and the beneficiaries will be all Greek citizens."

King George paced back and forth, considering Constantine's method.

"Good idea, just do it according to your idea, Constantine, as I said before, the State Council meeting in the afternoon will be handed over to you to preside over it."

As soon as the voice fell, King George picked up the civilized stick leaning against the vine and walked out of the courtyard.

Obviously, this "retired old man" was going to the street to relax again.