Chapter 25 The Importance of Railways

In the next two days, Elizabeth and William had a very good chat because of their common interest in architecture.

So much so that before the two left Corfu, Queen Elizabeth officially announced that she had made a will and William would inherit the exquisite Achilles Palace after her death, on the grounds that treasures should be left to those who know how to appreciate their unique charm.

Constantine and Rudolf were very surprised to hear about this, because the queen would come to this beautiful holy place on the Adriatic Sea every summer to spend the summer.

For her, this was a way to escape the dull court life in Vienna with strict rules and red tape.

The two did not expect that Queen Elizabeth would give it to William to inherit.

William and Constantine, who left on a cruise ship, went north along the Adriatic Sea, passed through the Austro-Hungarian Empire, landed in the Austro-Hungarian Empire from the important seaport city of Trieste, and took a train to Germany.

Constantine's journey to study in Germany began.

After going to Berlin with William, he visited Crown Prince Frederick (later German Emperor Frederick III) and his mother, Crown Princess Victoria (the eldest daughter of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert of the United Kingdom) who lived in the Sanssouci Palace, and happened to meet William's youngest sister, Princess Sophie, who was about the same age as Constantine.

For nearly a year afterwards, Constantine studied political science at Heidelberg University with his mentor Dr. Luders.

It was not until October 1883 that Schmidt received a telegram from Banning: The lion's territory has been stabilized, the invaders have been repelled, and a new journey can be started.

This is a coded telegram, which means: the stronghold in the Congo River Basin has been built, and other adventurers who covet this place have been expelled, and other preparations can be made.

Constantine, who received the telegram, immediately took the train and took Schmidt to Hamburg.

During the trip, the two were extremely impressed by the rapid development of Germany's railways and the extensive railway lines.

Sitting on the train from Heidelberg to Hamburg, Schmidt enviously said: "It's so convenient. If Greece could have a lot of railways, we would definitely be able to defeat the damn Turks."

Schmidt obviously noticed the role of railways in war, but as a soldier, he did not know enough about the economic value of railways.

For the current European continent's first power, its development speed makes Constantine envious.

And railways play a vital role in the modernization of a country.

Before railways, the only large-scale transportation tool for human beings was ships.

In order to use ships to transport materials, various countries in history were forced to spend huge manpower and material resources to build many canals, such as the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal in China, the Erie Canal in the United States, the Suez Canal in France, and the Kiel Canal in Germany.

Even in the 21st century, ship transportation is still the cheapest mode of transportation. There is no one, it is the cheapest.

This situation led to the fact that before the emergence of railways, the world's powers were all islands or coastal countries, and people called such countries maritime countries.

Spain, Portugal, the Netherlands, Britain, France, these countries that have risen to become world powers one after another, all have one thing in common - they are all maritime countries that rely on the convenience of sea transportation.

The long coastline provides enough seaports to promote the development of commerce.

Their rise relies on the advantages of being a naval power, a commercial power, and a maritime power.

It was not until the emergence of railways that it became possible for land countries to transport materials on a large scale and cheaply.

Speaking of which, the fate of Germany has strongly proved this point.

Germany's economic unification is far ahead of its political unification. The establishment of the German Customs Union laid the foundation for Germany's unification.

Germany, which was so powerful in the 20th century and shocked the world with its war capabilities, had maintained a fragmented political structure for a long time before that, and small states like a pile of loose sand were distributed in the German region.

Until the beginning of the 19th century, the economic development of the German region became more and more eager for a unified market.

The tariffs imposed by various states on each other seriously hindered the development of German commerce.

For example, the Rhine River, as an important commercial waterway, has important commercial value. However, before the establishment of the German Customs Union, various states set up numerous tax stations in order to increase tax revenue.

After a ship of goods is transported through the Rhine River, the accumulated taxes paid are higher than the value of the goods themselves.

This poor situation has greatly reduced the role of the Rhine River, a natural trade route with great commercial value.

After the establishment of the Customs Union, driven by economic interests, various states began to build railways.

In 1835, Germany only had a 6-kilometer railway. After the establishment of the Customs Union, driven by economic interests, various states began to build railways.

Before the Franco-Prussian War, in 1870, Germany, with an area of ​​only a few hundred thousand square kilometers, had a railway mileage of 19,575 kilometers.

The development of railways has reached such a point that although the various states are still independent, the commercial connections established through railways have closely linked the whole of Germany.

In 1871, before the Franco-Prussian War broke out, in just one week, Prussia and other states assembled troops through various railway stations and transported 500,000 troops, as well as supporting equipment and supplies to the assembly points on the front line.

On the French side, Napoleon III only assembled 200,000 troops and hurried to the front line.

As a result, the war lasted only a few months, and Napoleon III led hundreds of thousands of French troops to surrender.

This result surprised all countries.

The military value of railways has since been valued by military strategists around the world.

If we really want to say what the most direct factor in Germany's rise is, the railway is undoubtedly the most important.

Thinking of this, he patted Schmidt on the shoulder and said, "Sooner or later, Greece will also build railways on a large scale."

The two got off the train in Hamburg, and after leaving the train station, they met with Banning who returned from Africa.

Banning is the chairman of the Congo Commission. Before this, he had been in Africa, replacing Constantine to cooperate with Stanley's adventure activities.

Banning is an important staff officer of Constantine. Since the start of the African plan, he has been giving advice to Constantine.

"Welcome back to Europe, Banning." Constantine said to Banning, who had a tanned skin, and then gave him a hug.

"Thank you, Your Excellency the Duke."

Then the three found a cafe on the street.

"Your Excellency, our commercial base in Africa has been completed." Banning said excitedly.

"How is it exactly? How many commercial bases are there? What about the mandate treaty?" Constantine asked eagerly after hearing this.

"The Congo Commission has established about 30 commercial bases and about 400 mandate treaties in Africa," Banning replied.

"Your Excellency, I came back this time to discuss with you what we should do next?" Banning asked.

Whether it is a mandate or a commercial base, it will be meaningless if it is not recognized by the European powers.

How to get the European powers to recognize the Congo Commission's suzerainty over the Congo River Basin is the most difficult part of this African plan.