Chapter 49 Flexible Means

"Also, I have discussed with your mother and feel that Princess Sophie of Germany is very suitable for you. As a marriage partner, if you don't object, you can try to get in touch and make a marriage contract."

Queen Olga looked at Constantine and said.

Princess Sophie, the daughter of Crown Prince Frederick and Crown Princess of Germany, and the sister of William (later William II).

Constantine had come into contact with her during his two years of study in Germany. She was a gentle and kind girl, and Constantine did not dislike her.

Thinking of this, Constantine smiled and said, "Have you heard of that Greek legend?"

"What legend?" Queen Olga was stunned and asked doubtfully.

"There is a legend among the Greeks that if a king named Constantine and a queen named Sophie ruled Greece, the Hagia Sophia in Constantinople would fall again. into the hands of the Greeks,” Constantine explained to the two men.

"Is there such a legend? That's very good, it's a good omen," said King George I.

Both were outsiders (George from Denmark, Olga from Russia) and had no knowledge of Greek folk tales.

Sophie is the symbol of wisdom in Greek. The pronunciations of wise man and sage are similar to Sophie, and Sophia also has the same meaning.

So this legend is not nonsense. Its general meaning can be understood as: If King Constantine is wise and wise, then he will rule Constantinople again.

From this legend, we can understand the deep attachment hidden by the Greeks to Constantinople.

This New Rome (the original name of Constantinople) was founded by the Roman Emperor Constantine the Great in 330 AD. Later, people gradually named the city he founded after Constantine, the first emperor of Eastern Rome. ).

I don’t know if it was fate, but more than 1,000 years later, this city was finally captured by Mohammed II of the Ottoman Turks in 1453 in the hands of another Constantine (the last emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire).

This may explain why when Constantine was born, the Greeks launched a petition to name their king's eldest son, future crown prince, and future king, Constantine.

The Greeks had high hopes and a special affection for Constantine.

Constantine, who understood this situation, did not dare to slack off at all in these years.

It was precisely because of the high expectations that when Constantine failed, people's anger became stronger.

"I know, I will take care of things in the Congo as soon as possible," Constantine replied.

"As for the engagement, I have had contact with Princess Sophie and I have no objection."

Three days later, Constantine agreed to the division of shares in the Greek Congo Corporation, chaired by Nina.

Probably, the royal family and the Greek Educational Foundation hold 50%, the National Bank of Greece and Alfa Bank each hold 10%, other interested families and individuals hold a total of 10%, and the other 20% are all given to overseas Greeks.

As for the general manager of this company, Costebrough serves as the general manager, while other shareholders send directors to form the board of directors.

It is headquartered in Athens, but as a colonial company, it must send people to the Congo.

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Standing in front of the Port of Piraeus, bidding farewell to Banning and Costebleu who are about to leave for Africa.

"This time I go to Congo, Banning, I hope you can establish effective government institutions as soon as possible, and at the same time be careful to guard against the expansion of colonies in other countries."

"Assist Costeburu to get the land with good geographical location and suitable for development into the hands of the Greek Congo Corporation as soon as possible so that it can generate economic benefits," Constantine ordered the two of them.

When Costeburu came to inform Constantinople this time and volunteered to go to the Congo, Constantine was very surprised.

At the end of the 19th century, unlike later generations, transportation was developed and communication was convenient.

Traveling to Africa in this era is still very dangerous.

The threat of diseases, such as malaria, yellow fever, schistosomiasis, etc., dangers caused by navigation accidents, etc.

So these days, except for those who want to go to the colonies to make a fortune and have little chance in their own country, it is really beyond Constantine's expectation that rich children like Costebrew dare to take the risk to go to Africa.

In Costebrow's words, this is a family ordeal.

If he can survive safely and make a career in the Congo and prove his talents, he will have a promising future in the family.

"Costebru, after arriving in Africa, you can consider other projects by yourself. Give priority to buying some of the land where the wild rubber forests are located," Constantine said to Costeburu.

"Rubber forest? Is it the rubber used to make tires?" Costebrew asked.

"Isn't that thing of much use now?"

"I'm quite optimistic about the market situation of rubber in the future. In short, the Greek Congo Corporation can just buy some wild rubber forests," Constantine said.

At the end of the 19th century, with the invention of pneumatic tires, rubber occupied an increasingly important position among industrial raw materials.

Constantine wants to plan ahead and make a fortune in the rubber boom.

Moreover, rubber is an economic crop. Newly planted rubber trees need some time before rubber can be harvested. If you wait until there is a huge gap in rubber and the price is high, it will be too late to plant rubber trees. By the time the newly planted rubber trees can be tapped, the price has already fallen, because when the price of rubber is high, everyone will plant large areas of rubber trees.

"Also, Banning, I hope you can understand that we go to Africa for the greater factor of making money. I don't want to see the natives in the Congo region rebelling all day long," Constantine said to Banning seriously.

"Your Congolese government should be more flexible and gentle, and learn from the colonial experience of the Netherlands or Portugal. As long as those African natives can recognize the rule of the Congolese government and do not affect the businessmen from Europe or the United States to go there for commercial trade, you can be more tolerant and don't have to be so tough."

Constantine is mainly worried that the Congolese government is too advocating for force, or that those companies or individuals who go to Congo will squeeze the natives like sucking their marrow, causing a strong backlash from the locals.

If there are wars everywhere in Congo and the situation is out of control, those companies or individuals can just leave. After all, Congo is an international colony and they can make money elsewhere.

But Constantine and the Congolese government are embarrassed.

Constantine has worked hard to plan the management rights of Congo, mainly to obtain industrial raw materials and to provide Greece with a start-up fund for industrialization.

Don't make money when you can't make money, and then add a large sum of money to hire troops to suppress the rebellion.

At that point, the cost of sending troops to Congo, Africa, thousands of miles away, may not be affordable for Constantine or Greece.

After all, Greece is not like Britain, France, and Germany. They are strong enough. No matter how big the waves caused by the natives in the colonies, they have enough confidence to suppress them.

"Don't be like those stubborn Germans in your Congo colonies," Constantine solemnly warned.

After Southwest Africa (Namibia) was assigned to Germany at the Berlin Conference, a large number of Germans came to Africa and seized a large amount of local land.

This has led to constant riots in the area, but the Germans are tough and believe in the use of force, and have already sent a large number of troops to stabilize the situation.

If the Congolese government follows suit, Constantine will cry to death.