Greece to roman road

Schmidt's method of using gold to lure investors is indeed feasible.

They are just bankers with large sums of money, who are not well-informed, shrewd and smart people.

Such fake news has limited effect, and real predators will not take the bait.

Since it is decided to use the news of gold mines to promote the development of the Congolese Railway Company, there must be real materials and genuine gold mines.

Based on the rough distribution of gold mines in Congo in Constantine's memory, Constantine Tondo's telegram instructed Banning to hire some geographers or mineralogists from developed countries in Western Europe such as Germany, Britain, France, and Belgium to go to the north and south bases of Africa. Wu Province conducts geological and mineral exploration.

The Congolese Commission funded the exploration and owns the minerals discovered.

Unless he had to, Constantine did not want Congo's rich mineral deposits to be exposed to the world prematurely. With insufficient strength and a treasure trove, envious countries could easily cause trouble to Greece.

However, Congo, which is of little value, has no ability to attract investment. The colonial forces want to gain profits quickly. If the transportation shortcomings are not resolved as soon as possible, Greece's development will be delayed.

Therefore, Constantine instructed Banning to limit the scope of activities of the exploration team, pay attention to controlling the direction of the situation, and limit the scope of exploration to the vicinity of North and South Kivu, so as not to attract the covetousness of various countries after all Congo's minerals are exposed.

Kivu was not a place chosen by Constantine at will.

This province was chosen because it is in the eastern part of Congo and is an inland province, far away from the western coast of Congo.

If countries are really interested in the gold mines here, they will naturally increase the construction of Congolese railways. After all, various mining equipment and personnel, as well as the transportation of gold mines, are inseparable from railways.

In this era when currency is gold and silver, and gold and silver are currency, no one can refuse the temptation of gold mines.

In order to maintain trade deficits and enable their countries to seize more gold and silver, various countries have taken various measures to strive to create a closed economic circle and avoid the outflow of gold and silver.

The problem of railway financing was solved. Constantine breathed a sigh of relief and walked out of the office with Schmidt.

In the empty playground, the two heard the faint sound of gunshots in the distance.

Seeing Constantine's interest, Schmidt replied; "It's the soldiers doing target practice."

"Come on, let's go see it together," Constantine said enthusiastically.

When the two came to the playground, they saw soldiers lined up in neat rows. Under the command of the commander, they took turns to shoot at the target.

Constantine waved his hand and motioned for the commander in the distance to come over.

The three four-pointed stars on the military rank indicate that he is a captain.

"Captain, how many rounds do soldiers fire in training a year?" Constantine asked after saluting.

"About 10 rounds a year, Your Excellency," the captain replied while returning the salute.

"There are only 10 rounds a year. Is it like this all year round?" Constantine frowned and replied.

"Yes, Your Excellency, soldiers only have 10 rounds of ammunition every year, so everyone usually trains the basic skills of shooting. Officers and soldiers cherish the opportunity to shoot live ammunition," the captain replied.

Constantine and Schmidt came to the headquarters and told Metaxas that the number of bullets the soldiers were training with was too few.

"In recent years, the government's finances have been very tight, so the training of soldiers has also been affected." When talking about the live-fire training of soldiers, Metaxas looked helpless.

"You know, the weapons and ammunition of the Greek army, every bullet, every shell, must be imported from abroad. The government owes a large amount of debt, and there is pressure to repay it every year. Military expenditures are not allocated well, and the training of soldiers will naturally deteriorate. Under the influence," Metaxas returned.

"If this continues, without adequate training, the combat effectiveness of the soldiers will be affected. After all, excellent soldiers are fed by bullets," Constantine replied regretfully.

After a period of understanding, Constantine already knew the situation of the first division.

Generally speaking, the morale of soldiers is good, but training is affected by insufficient military expenditures. Soldiers' live-fire shooting and artillery training have been forced to be compressed.

For a country like Greece with weak industrial strength, the cost of maintaining tens of thousands of soldiers is already very difficult.

It is no wonder that officers like Metaxas are eager to launch military operations against Turkey.

In general, a country's military strength is still subject to economic constraints after all.

Even though Constantine was dissatisfied with the current situation of the Greek army, when industry and commerce were not improving, the government's investment in the army had reached its financial limit.

Four months later, the division commander’s office.

"Your Highness, a telegram from the Congo," Schmidt reminded suddenly.

After receiving the telegram, it was the news from the Congolese exploration team.

After being prompted by Constantine, the expedition, with the help of the Congolese Commission, crossed the Congo River Basin with little risk and discovered many gold mines in North and South Kivu.

The main type of gold deposits is placer gold, which is found in rivers and valleys in North and South Kivu.

The content of gold ore is as high as 64 grams per ton. It is undoubtedly a rich ore and has mining value.

"Schmidt, send a telegram to Banning and ask him to get the news about the proven gold mine and release the news through newspapers in Western Europe," Constantine said.

"Then let the Congolese government send professionals to negotiate with Western European bankers or mineral development companies, using the ownership of gold mines as a bargaining chip to attract them to invest in the Congolese Railway Company," Constantine said.

Although a large gold mine has been discovered in South Africa, the gold mine is not afraid of being criticized too much.

The late nineteenth century was a period when the gold standard became popular, and all countries needed large amounts of gold as currency.

The reason for this is that the production of silver has increased dramatically, which has caused the value of silver to depreciate every year and has shown a long-term downward trend.

Compared with the instability of silver, the output of gold is limited and the price has always been stable.

Therefore, holding a huge amount of silver is equivalent to shrinking every year, and various countries have established a gold standard system.

Gold coins are a common means of payment in all countries.

Deep down in his heart, if Congo was not in urgent need of funds for development, he would prefer to leave these gold mines to Greek companies for mining, so as to keep the gold in the Greek domestic market.

At the end of the 19th century, almost three-quarters of gold was held by great powers such as Britain, France, Germany, Russia, and the United States. This caused a severe shortage of gold in other countries, and economic development was troubled by currency shortages.

Even so, because the products of powerful countries are more competitive and have greater international influence, gold continues to flow to the powerful countries at the top of the food chain.

Gold mines have become a strategic asset in short supply and are welcomed by all countries.