Greece to roman road

"In short, if a war breaks out in Europe, it will be difficult for Greece to survive. The company you are working for is the mainstay of the Greek national economy. You must take preventive measures for the upcoming war." Constantine said to the conference table The crowd said with sincerity.

"Greece's main commodity export market, once involved in a war, the original trade may be interrupted."

Curtis, the new manager of the Greek Steel Company, said with a worried face: “For the steel company, the coal problem is only one of them. Even if we can store some coal, it will still be a drop in the bucket for the steel company’s huge coal consumption. "

When purchasing coal in large quantities, the first problem is that it takes up too much money, and the second is management and storage.

If a large amount of coal is piled together for a long time, it is easy to spontaneously ignite.

"Secondly, there is the issue of the source of iron ore. When the war was going on, the price of industrial raw materials such as iron ore was very sensitive. During the two Balkan Wars, the price of iron ore in southern Spain increased several times. This only happened in the Balkan Peninsula. A small-scale war with limited impact on the price of industrial raw materials."

"It's hard to imagine how high the price of iron ore will be if a war spreads across Europe. I'm afraid that even if the shipping route between Greece and Spain can be open and not affected by the war, Greece's steel production capacity will be significantly reduced."

Everyone in the conference room remained silent. The problem of the source of coal and iron ore in Greece has not been solved for a day or two, and there has been no good solution.

In order to solve the coal problem, Greek businessmen, with the support of the government, have been trying to obtain the rights to develop the Zonguldak coal field in the Ottoman Empire.

This coalfield is the only fertile coalfield in the Balkans and Asia Minor. The coal type is rare high-quality hard coal.

In Asia Minor and the Balkans, only the Zonguldak region contains hard coal.

In addition, the coal mine is also strategically located on the coast of Asia Minor in the southwest of the Black Sea, not far from the Bosporus.

The mined coal can be shipped nearby, passing through the Bosporus Strait, directly to Thessaloniki or Athens.

Moreover, the coal seams in this coal mine are shallowly buried and can be mined in the open. The mining is not difficult.

If Greece can obtain coal deposits in the region, it can completely solve one of the long-standing problems that has plagued the Greek economy, the source of hard coal.

This was the goal that Constantine and the Greek industrial and commercial circles dreamed of.

To be honest, although Greece is rich in wine, the money it earns from exporting wine every year is not enough to import coal from Britain.

In 1913, the export value of Greek wine reached 75 million drachmas.

In 1913, Greece spent nearly 80 million drachmas on imported coal from Britain.

It was just that the Ottoman government had been blocking this move by the Greeks.

First of all, the composition of the coal reserves in the Ottoman Empire is surprisingly similar to that of Greece. There are very abundant lignite reserves, but there is no better quality coal.

It was also the only source of high-quality coal for the Ottoman Empire.

If the Ottoman Empire planned to develop its own steel industry, Zonguldak's hard coal was also indispensable.

Secondly, it is no secret that Greece lacks coal. The Ottoman Empire also intended to prevent Greece from obtaining the Zonguldak coal mine to avoid funding enemy countries.

After all, the relationship between the two countries has been in a state of mutual hostility for a long time. Greece's economic development is already fast enough. Wouldn't it be even more powerful if it obtained the Zonguldak coal mine?

Until now, the coal in Zonguldak is still under the control of the Ottomans. The technology is backward, the efficiency is slow, and the output is extremely low. It is only used to meet the needs of shipping coal in the Straits and coal for surrounding domestic use.

And not for sale to Greece either.

Now that the issue of Greek coal is mentioned again, Constantine can't help but drool over the Zonguldak coal mine.

Constantine once sponsored a group of adventurous teams, including several geologists, to privately explore for coal deposits in the Zonguldak area.

The news they reported back was that the coal mine has a huge coal-bearing area, including Zonguldak-Kozulu, Kiretchiliko, Alajia and other places. Conservative estimates suggest that the coal reserves have reached 100 million tons. The quality is fat coal.

From then on, Constantine was obsessed with this coal mine.

Banning, the outgoing Governor-General of Congo, who had just returned to Greece, also participated in the meeting this time.

Seeing that both Crown Prince Constantine and Prime Minister Venizelos were worried about the supply of coal and iron ore in Greece, they said: "If the problem of lack of coal and iron ore is only solved during wartime, Available from Congo”

Banning's speech instantly focused everyone's attention on him, and he explained to everyone: "Congo does not lack coal and iron ore, but because Congo is located in the interior of Africa, transportation is inconvenient. Congo's coal and iron ore If you want to transport stone to Greece, you have to pass through shipping and railways on the Congo River along the way, and then arrive at the Port of Matadi at the mouth of the Congo River before it can be loaded onto ocean-going ships."

"Every change in the mode of transportation will push up the prices of coal and iron ore."

"Our companies have always discovered a lot of iron ore and coal mines when developing mineral deposits in Africa. However, from an economic point of view, they lack mining value."

Congo is now very mature, and a steady stream of agricultural products is shipped to Greece every year.

However, with the acquisition of Macedonia by Greece, the status and importance of the Congolese colony tended to decline.

In order to stimulate people's enthusiasm for developing Macedonia's wasteland, the government intends to maintain domestic food prices in Greece and is unwilling to see Congo's cheap agricultural products impact the Greek domestic food market.

After Macedonia's major development last year, large areas of crops were planted on Macedonia's wasteland and a bumper harvest was achieved.

Apparently, in the eyes of Greek government officials, Macedonia is much more important than Congo.

The current situation of Greek individuals or companies investing in growing agricultural products in Congo is rather embarrassing.

For a long time, agricultural products produced in Congo, such as rice, sugar cane, timber, etc., have been continuously shipped to Greece.

In terms of mineral deposits, Constantine would naturally not forget Congo, which was later known as the "World's Raw Material Warehouse" and "The Gem of Central Africa."

Currently, Greek companies in Congo have developed gold, manganese, chromium, tungsten, lead-tin-nickel ore and other rare metal deposits.

The only large-scale industrial metal developed by Greece in Congo is copper.

Because the value of copper ore is relatively high, even if the transportation cost is higher, it is still affordable.

For late-developing countries in industrialization, the lack of resources is often a problem, because scarce resources are often in the hands of big countries.

All along, in the process of Greece's industrial development, in addition to coal and iron, which are troublesome, Greece has never been short of rare metals.

The copper mines in Katanga Province in Congo have shipped 20,000 tons of copper ore to Greece every year in recent years.

In addition, the rubber trees invested and planted by Greek companies in Congo have also passed their production period and are now in their prime. A large amount of rubber is produced every year, which can not only meet Greece's own domestic use, but also be exported to European countries.

As Andros Machinery Company's cars continued to roll off the assembly line, Greece's automobile industry flourished, and the use of rubber in tires began to grow on a large scale.

Congo’s vast rubber plantations also allow Greece to develop its automobile industry without any worries.

As for coal and iron mines, Constantine has never heard of any company developing them in Congo.

Curtis interjected: "The steel plant has been short of coal and iron ore. We have also thought of using coal and iron ore from Congo for smelting, but the freight is too high."

"We have calculated that if Greek steel plants use Congolese coal and iron ore, then we might as well be more cost-effective than directly importing finished steel from other countries. The price is too uncompetitive."

"Besides, the war in Europe will be over in a few months, and the extraction of resources takes a long time from investment to formal production, at least several months."

“If we start investing in mining Congo’s coal and iron ore now, and in a few months, when the war ends and commodity prices fall, it will still be more cost-effective to buy coal from Europe, then our investment in Congo will be wasted. What?"

Constantine was very interested in Banning's proposal.

If a war in Europe ends in a few months, it would be foolish to invest in Congo's coal and iron mines.

The question is, what should we do if the war in Europe becomes a protracted war?

"In this case, we will prepare for the worst, Curtis. We cannot predict how long the war will last. If the war does not end in just a few months like you said, , what should Greece do?" Constantine asked.

Andros, the manager of Andros Machinery Factory, also came to the meeting room in person and agreed with Constantine's point of view: "His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is right. We would rather lose some money than ensure Greece's coal and Smooth iron ore supply channels”

Andros Machinery Factory is a major steel user in Greece. With the sales of cars, the steel consumed is still increasing day by day. Once the steel factory stops production due to lack of raw materials, Andros Machinery Factory will immediately face a crisis.

After all, Andros' products, whether they are cars, trucks, or tractors, are all inseparable from steel.

"The worst result of doing this is that the investment in Congo's coal and iron mines will be in vain. We can still afford this loss." Venizelos also nodded in agreement.

"In exchange, no matter how the situation in Europe develops, as long as Europe's shipping routes are not affected, Greece does not have to worry about the supply of coal and iron being cut off."

"Your steel plant can contact the mining company in Congo to discuss the development of coal and iron mines there and come up with a plan as soon as possible," Constantine made a decision.

Andros faced Banning and highly praised his deeds: "Governor Banning has been running Congo for more than 20 years. Without your efforts and the outstanding work of the Congolese government, Greece's industrial development would definitely not be what it is now. smoothly"

“In my car factory, all car tires are made of Congolese rubber”

All the rubber used in the cars produced by Andros comes from rubber plantations in Congo, which makes Andros very fond of Banning, who has helped Constantine manage Congo for many years.

With the rise of the automobile industry, especially the rapid development of the American automobile industry, the price of rubber has skyrocketed, and rubber forests have become a scarce resource.

Banning smiled calmly: "In fact, the reason why Congo's rubber forests are as big as they are today is largely due to the persistence of Crown Prince Constantine. Not long after Crown Prince Constantine was crowned King of Congo, he exerted Influence, allowing Greeks to invest in rubber planting in Congo.”

"At that time, rubber was not as widely used as it is now. The development and growth of Congo's rubber industry is all due to the forward-looking foresight of Crown Prince Constantine."

"If a full-scale war really breaks out in Europe, many Greeks will make a fortune from Congo's rubber alone."

Hearing the two talking about rubber, Constantine also remembered that after the outbreak of the original space-time war, the price of rubber soared.

Constantine vaguely remembered that during World War I, rubber prices almost returned to their peak in 1910.

Even so, not everyone can buy it if they want to.

Because all ships, cars, submarines, and airplanes need rubber, and even artillery requires rubber. During the war, participating countries rushed to buy rubber everywhere.

During my last visit to Congo, I inspected the rubber plantations there.

"Banning, how much rubber planting area is there in Congo now? Please introduce it in detail." Thinking of this, Constantine immediately asked with concern.

Banning replied respectfully: "Your Royal Highness, about 100,000 acres."

"Scattered in various places in Congo, rubber plantations are too large and prone to problems. Especially once diseases and insect pests occur, rubber production will drop significantly. There are too many workers required, and it is not easy to recruit them."

"So a rubber plantation usually covers an area of ​​about 4,000 to 5,000 acres. Usually, sixty or seventy workers are enough, and it is easy to manage. During the busy season of rubber tapping, each rubber plantation will urgently recruit more short-term workers."

"Now the price of rubber has increased slightly every year. The market has been rising all the way. Generally speaking, the profits are good. When it comes to each rubber plantation, it still depends on the specific management level. If the management is not good, there will be losses. If there are wind and rain disasters and outbreaks insect pests, that’s a very bad situation.”

Constantine continued to ask him: "How much rubber is generally produced, what is the income, and what is the global market for rubber?"

The attendees heard the crown prince talking about Congo's rubber and listened carefully.

Banning responded: "The rubber plantations in Congo are all old trees that are about 20 years old. They have passed the growth period and produce a relatively large amount of rubber."

"Usually one acre of rubber forest yields close to 300 pounds of dry rubber. In comparison, one acre of newly planted rubber plantations usually only has 180 pounds. It takes about ten years to increase to 300 pounds year by year. The yield will gradually decline after thirty years, and at this time it is usually necessary to cut down and replant.”

"According to statistics from the Congolese government, Congo's 100,000 acres of rubber forests produced 18 million pounds of dry rubber last year. At a price of two shillings per pound, the revenue was about 1.7 million pounds, after deducting various expenses. With the earliest investment, we made a profit of almost one million pounds last year.”

"According to local rubber merchants, the total value of rubber imported by the United States last year exceeded 10 million pounds, and it is also the country with the highest import of rubber in the world. More than half of the world's market is in the United States. In other words, the total global rubber import and export volume now With a scale of about 20 million pounds, the United States imports the largest amount, followed by Germany and France, and the United Kingdom imports a relatively small amount."