Chapter 44 Meeting

Seeing Constantine appear, Trikoupis, the current Prime Minister of Greece, stepped forward.

"Your Excellency the Duke, welcome to today's meeting," Trikoupis said.

For Constantine, it was the first time to attend a meeting of business people.

Constantine looked around the room and saw that everyone was gathered around a long table, a dozen men in suits, and their female companions who were dressed in colorful long skirts and dressed up beautifully.

There were several acquaintances among them, Gian Gaobai and George Steve from the National Bank of Greece.

Costebru from Alpha Bank.

These Greek financial tycoons all came to participate, and it seemed that this gathering of Greek business people was very grand.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, gentlemen and ladies," Constantine greeted as friendly as possible.

After everyone sat down again, Trikupis, who was sitting at the other end of the table and facing Constantine, said: "Your Excellency the Duke, according to the Greek ambassador to Berlin, the Congo Commission you funded won the right to manage Congo at the Berlin Conference."

When Trikupis mentioned the colony, everyone turned their eyes to Constantine.

The story of European countries, Britain, France, the Netherlands, Portugal, and Spain, grabbing huge wealth through colonization is well known among the European business class.

Now that the Greeks also have a colony, how can they not be tempted.

"That's it," Constantine said frankly.

After hearing this, Constantine already knew clearly why he was invited to a business meeting.

These merchants with a keen sense of smell smelled the smell of money, and they came to ask for benefits.

"Crown Prince Constantine, have you ever thought about handing over Congo to the Greek government for management? After all, according to the practice of European countries, colonies are generally handed over to the sovereign government for management, and it is not very convenient for you to manage the Congo River Basin through the Congo Commission after all," Trikupis said.

"Mr. Prime Minister, has the Greek government made any efforts in the Congo colony?" Constantine asked.

"The Greek government should not expect to get something for nothing, and, frankly speaking, I don't trust the Greek government. You have made a mess of Greece."

Greece is now a constitutional monarchy. King George I, Constantine's father, did not actively intervene in Greek politics.

Constantine has been busy for nearly seven or eight years in the Congo colony, from paying attention to explorers in Africa, hiring people to go to Africa, to huge expenses and diplomatic negotiations. All the expenses were paid by the royal family themselves, and the Greek government did not contribute at all.

Now they want to take the Congo colony into their pockets in one sentence. It's a good plan!

Constantine never thought of relying on the power of the Greek government from beginning to end in the Congo colony.

Even for management work, he planned to hand it over to the Congo Commission.

Because the Greek government will only make things worse.

After three or four hundred years of brutal rule by the Turks (the Ottoman Turks are descendants of the Turks), Greece, the cradle of Western democracy, has no experience in democracy.

In the Greek parliament, the members are scattered and have not formed a mature party system.

These members rush in when there is interest, and stand aside when there is no interest.

Since the current Greek prime minister is produced by the majority of the members, the members often unite to force the authorities to step down and then replace the prime minister.

This is the direct reason why the Greek prime minister changes the prime minister like a revolving lantern.

Since Greece does not have any large factories and enterprises to provide employment for people, the Greek government is the largest employer in Greece.

Moreover, Greeks are keen on government employment positions, that is, civil servants.

To get a civil servant position, it is not enough to have enough academic qualifications, because the current Greek public office has a tradition of party sharing.

In other words, if you want to become a civil servant, first of all, you have to become a member of the political group of the authorities, so that when they are in power, they will naturally give the position to their own people.

What's worse is that the government changes frequently, which means that every time the prime minister changes, the public servants have to be reshuffled.

Can you imagine how it feels for a country's government to collapse once in a few days or a year or two?

Because of the frequent changes, these civil servants who have worked hard to get to the top are very "cherishing" their hard-won positions.

The Greek government has not yet formed a stable civil service system.

Who dares to trust such a government?

If someone asks, is a democratic system necessarily more advanced than a monarchy?

Answering from the example of Greece, Constantine's answer is not necessarily!

The Congo Commission was lucky enough to obtain the management rights of Congo, which was originally the result of compromise among various countries.

If Congo is handed over to such a government, I am afraid that those dissatisfied international businessmen will soon kick Greece away and hand it over to a more efficient organization.

As a veteran in Greek politics, Trikoupis certainly knows what Constantine means, and he also understands the shortcomings of the Greek government.

So he cannot excuse Constantine's ridicule.

He sighed inwardly and said calmly, "Your Excellency the Duke, even if you insist on the management of Congo, you should support Greek merchants going there to trade, right?"

Control cannot be handed over to the Greek government. This is not because Constantine is selfish, but because the current Greek government really cannot be trusted.

However, he naturally supported Greek businessmen going to Congo to do business.

You have to work hard to get a colony, not to be a steward for another country.

"Dear Duke, the Greek business community warmly invites you this time because they want to learn about the situation in Congo through you. Can you tell us about Congo?"

After all, Gao Bairui was familiar with Constantine and told the question that the businessmen here were most eager to know.

Upon hearing this question, everyone looked at Constantine with burning eyes.

"Congo is located in the middle of Africa and has a tropical climate. It is suitable for the cultivation of sugar cane, palm, and rice. It has abundant water resources and numerous wild animals. As for local mineral resources, I'm sorry, there is not much information on this."

Constantine told everyone about the basic situation in the Congo without hiding any secrets.

He did not tell everyone the detailed status of mineral resources, because it would be useless to tell them. Greek businessmen are usually engaged in trade, and they are familiar with the exchange of supplies, and very few are engaged in industry.

It is useless to tell them about these mineral resources. Once the news is leaked, it will benefit businessmen from other countries.

Even just this news made the businessmen present excited.

Needless to say, ivory can be used to make sugar.

Greece imports 5,000 tons of sugar every year. Previously, because Greece did not have colonies, they could only import from other countries, such as Britain, France, and the Netherlands.

Now that they have the Congolese colony, they can grow their own sugar cane and then crush it to make sugar, which can save a lot of foreign exchange. There is no need for other countries to make this money.

Congo is such a vast land, there must be other commodities.

A national development strategy such as the development of industry and commerce cannot be promoted and led by one person. It requires the entire country, from top to bottom, and all strata to proactively make choices that are in their own interests.

If Greece wants to develop, industrialization is the only way to go.

Therefore, Constantine wanted to unite a group of business people around him to work together to promote the industrial development of Greece.

You can't accomplish great things by yourself.

"Just taking advantage of this meeting, I will make an announcement."

"In order to better develop the Congolese colony, I plan to establish a Greek head office. Its main business is to invest in Congo and develop Congo's rich resources. If you have ideas, you can come and become a shareholder."

Constantine shocked everyone with his words.