Hearing Constantine's answer, Queen Olga reluctantly said: "Constantine, I just want to remind you that up to now, your African expedition plan has cost 4 million francs, and In return, so far, there are very few, some quirky African woodcarving works of limited value, log records of African expeditions, and maps hand-painted by explorers."
Adventurer Stanley brought back the quirky artworks of indigenous Africans, as well as adventure maps and diaries to please his patrons, King George and Crown Prince Constantine, to show that he is not a liar, and he is indeed taking risks and prospecting. .
This is the only return that has been received from an investment of 4 million francs so far.
4 million francs is a real huge sum of money in this era. One franc contains 0.29032258 grams of gold. 4 million francs add up to 1.16 tons of gold. It is not a franc that has been shrinking after the First World War.
Supported by the strong national power of France, the value of the franc before World War I was stable, and it was one of the important international currencies in circulation.
Queen Olga held the bill in her hand and swayed to show it to Constantine and George.
King George was eating breakfast intently, eating with gusto, took a grape in his mouth, the sweet and sour grape juice overflowed the corner of his mouth, then took the napkin on the table and wiped the corner of his mouth, seemingly indifferent to the conversation between the two .
"If you want to get huge profits, you must be willing to invest a huge amount. Mom, this is the basic principle of business", Constantine answered vaguely while eating bread with jam.
"Of course I understand this kind of truth, but I want to remind you that this plan of yours is too risky, it is very risky, and it is very likely to lose money," Queen Olga stared at Constantine and solemnly reminded.
"That's also an indispensable part of getting huge profits," Constantine replied.
In Europe at the end of the 19th century, whether it was London or Paris, people were very interested in news about overseas expeditions in newspapers. For example, during the British invasion of India, the British colonial leader Robert Clavou ransacked Bengal.
Kleivu led his army to invade and occupy Bangladesh and looted the area. Kleivu alone took away 230,000 pounds of gold and silver treasures.
He shamelessly flaunted in the British Parliament: "Under my feet there are wealthy cities, in our hands there are powerful countries, and in front of me, a treasure house full of gold bars, silver ingots, pearls and gems has been opened. I have taken all of them. 200,000 pounds. Gentlemen, until now, I wonder why I am so polite?"
Whenever such news appears in the newspaper, it can be sold out of stock.
The people took newspapers to the streets, alleys, pubs, or other crowded places, discussing someone's overseas heroic deeds loudly and enthusiastically, and said in an enviable tone, "What a lucky guy."
In fact, this kind of news of enthusiasm for overseas adventures to obtain gold and silver treasures, the scene that people talk about, has appeared since the beginning of the world in the era of great voyages, but there was no large-scale distribution and sale at that time. The newspaper is nothing.
The instigators were precisely the famous Columbus, Da Gama and a group of sailing undertakings and pioneers of overseas adventures.
When the news came that Columbus discovered India, the entire continent of Europe was boiling.
(It was actually the American continent that was discovered, but Columbus insisted that he discovered India. If you find a large island in the Central American waters called the West Indies when you look at the map, and you are puzzled, it is Columbus who made a mistake. . Europeans will make mistakes, too lazy to change)
The strong rise of the 15th and 16th centuries and the rise of the powerful Ottoman Turkey blocked the trade routes between the East and the West. The Ottoman Turks blocked the road and set up cards, charging high taxes and tolls, making Eastern goods, such as spices, peppers and chilies from India, and silk and porcelain from East Asia more expensive (not cheap).
Helpless Europeans can only set off towards the west (Atlantic), looking for a new route to the east.
Newspaper operators are also willing to publish adventurous stories in the newspapers, and they even go off the scene personally to sponsor some adventurers to take adventures on the African continent. They have discussed with the adventurers to exclusively report their adventures.
As for why it is Africa and not the rest of the world, this is because at the end of the 19th century, there is no mystery in the rest of the world.
In the great nautical era that began around 1500, the Americas, Portugal and Spain were the first to be discovered. These two founders of the first colonial empires that did not set the sun soon colonized South and Central America.
Why is there no colonization of North America, such as the United States and Canada?
The reason is that they look down on it. At that time, North America did not have as many gold and silver mines and other tropical crops as South America, such as sugarcane, cocoa, and North America, in their eyes, was a land of bitter cold! !
So there is no mystery about the situation in the Americas.
As for Asia, because Britain and France are in India, and the Netherlands is colonizing the colonial activities in the East Indies (Indonesia) Islands.
By the end of the 19th century, it had become very clear.
So at the end of the 19th century, there was still a foggy continent for Europeans, and only the continent of Africa was left.
Africa is very close to Europe. There is only a large bathtub in the middle of the Mediterranean. However, the Spanish Gibraltar and the African continent face each other across the sea. As early as in ancient Rome, Europeans fought in North Africa.
But this does not mean that the African continent is easy to explore. The world's largest desert, the Sahara Desert, completely separates southern Africa from North Africa. The vast expanse of deserts and endless no-man's land. Discontinued any idea of exploring southern Africa from land.
The humid, hot and rainy tropical rainforest climate in southern Africa is very unfriendly to Europeans.
Compared with the cold, Europeans are actually more afraid of the heat, because they can effectively resist the cold, such as using campfires, animal fur, cotton clothing, etc. to keep out the cold.
However, Europeans are very helpless when it comes to heat, especially in southern Africa, which is humid, hot and rainy, where mosquitoes and other diseases can easily breed malaria, dysentery and other diseases.
Moreover, Southern Africa does not have the benefit of huge gold and silver mines like the Americas.
Therefore, at the end of the 19th century, due to the frequent overseas voyages and the increase in global trade, Europeans have clearly understood the African coastal areas, but the inland areas of the African continent are still large blanks and blanks on European maps. question mark.
At that time, European geography was eager to figure out a question, where is the birthplace of the Nile River? Are the Nile and Congo rivers the same origin?
Funded by European monarchs, geographic research organizations, newspapers and other institutions and individuals, adventurers are eager to make a fortune with huge profits, or are driven by strong curiosity, or yearning for a free outdoor adventure life, or pure The call of the wild, southern Africa has become a paradise for explorers.
Obviously, Constantine is also one of them. He has given a lot of money to support explorers to explore southern Africa, and the person he sponsored is the adventurer Mr. Stanley.
A legend who was born in Britain, grew up in the United States, and returned to Britain as an adult, rushing to Southern Africa under the adventurous boom.