Greece’s Roman Road

In the next two days, Elizabeth and William chatted very speculatively because of their common hobby in architecture.

So much so that before the two left Corfu, Queen Elizabeth officially announced that she had made a will and that William would inherit this exquisite Achilles Palace after her death, on the grounds that the treasures should be left to those who appreciate it. Its unique charm.

Hearing this, Constantine and Rudolph were very surprised, because the queen came to this beautiful holy place on the Adriatic Sea every summer to spend the summer.

For her, it was a way of escaping the tedious court life of Vienna, which was strict and red tape.

The two did not expect Queen Elizabeth to hand it over to William to inherit.

William and Constantine, who left by cruise ship, went north along the Adriatic Sea, passed the Austro-Hungarian Empire, landed in the Austro-Hungarian Empire from Trieste, an important seaport city, and took the train to Germany.

Constantine's journey to study in Germany began.

After following William to Berlin, he visited Crown Prince Frederick (later German Emperor Frederick III) and his mother Crown Princess Victoria (the eldest daughter of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert) who lived in Sanssouci Palace, He happened to meet William's youngest sister, Princess Sophie, who was about the same age as Constantine.

For nearly a year after that, Constantine studied political science at the University of Heidelberg with his mentor, Dr. Ruders.

It was not until October 1883 that Schmidt received a telegram from Banning: the lion's territory had been secured, the invaders had been repelled, and a new journey could begin.

This is a coded telegram, which clearly means: the construction of the stronghold in the Congo River Basin has been completed, and other adventurers who coveted this place have been expelled, and other preparations can be made.

Constantine, who received the telegram, immediately took the train and took Schmidt to Hamburg.

On the way, the two of them had a very deep understanding of the fast-growing railways in Germany and the railway lines extending in all directions.

Sitting on the train from Heidelberg to Hamburg, Schmidt envied: "It's really convenient. If only Greece could have a large number of railways, then we will definitely be able to defeat the **** Turks."

Schmidt obviously noticed the role of railways in warfare, but as a soldier, he did not know enough about the economic value of railways.

For today's No. 1 power in continental Europe, the speed of its development is the envy of Constantine.

And railways play an important role in the modernization of a country.

Before the railway, there was only one kind of large-scale means of transportation for human beings.

In order to use ships to transport materials, in history, various countries were forced to spend huge human and material resources to build numerous canals, such as the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal in China, the Erie Canal in the United States, the Suez Canal in France, and the Kiel Canal in Germany.

Even in the 21st century, ship transportation is still the cheapest way of transportation, and nothing is the cheapest.

This situation has led to the fact that before the emergence of railways, the world's most powerful countries were islands or coastal countries, and people called such countries as maritime countries.

Countries such as Spain, Portugal, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and France, which have successively emerged as world powers, all have one thing in common - relying on the convenience of shipping, they are all maritime countries.

The long coastline provides enough seaports to boost the development of commerce.

Their rise is dependent on the advantages of a naval power, a commercial power, and a shipping power.

Until the advent of railways, it became possible for land countries to transport goods on a large scale and cheaply.

Speaking of which, Germany's national destiny is a powerful proof of this.

The economic unification of Germany is far ahead of the political unification. The establishment of the German Customs Union has laid the foundation for the unification of Germany.

In the 20th century, Germany, which was a country where the wind was blowing in all directions and whose ability to fight astonished the world, had maintained a fragmented political structure for a long time.

Until the beginning of the 19th century, the desire for a unified market in the economic development of the German region became more and more intense.

The various states levied tariffs on each other, which seriously hindered the development of German commerce.

For example, the Rhine River, as an important commercial waterway, has important commercial value, but before the establishment of the German Customs Union, various states set up tax cards in order to increase taxes.

After a ship of goods is transported through the Rhine, the accumulated taxes and fees are higher than the value of the goods themselves.

This kind of bad situation makes the Rhine River, a natural trade route of great commercial value, greatly reduced.

After the establishment of the Customs Union, driven by economic interests, various states began to build railways.

In 1835, Germany only had a 6-kilometer railway. After the establishment of the Customs Union, driven by economic interests, various states began to build railways.

Before the Franco-Prussian War, in 1870, Germany, with an area of ​​only a few hundred thousand square kilometers, had a railway mileage of 19,575 kilometers.

The railway has developed to such a point that although each state is still independent, the commercial links established through the railway have made the whole of Germany closely linked.

By 1871, before the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War, in just one week, Prussia and various states had assembled troops through various railway stations, and delivered 500,000 troops, as well as supporting equipment and materials to the assembly areas on the front line.

On the French side, Napoleon III only gathered 200,000 troops and rushed to the front.

As a result, the war lasted only a few months, and Napoleon III led hundreds of thousands of French troops to surrender~www.wuxiax.com~ This result surprised all countries.

The military value of railways has been valued by military strategists from all over the world since then.

If you really want to say what is the most direct factor in the rise of Germany, the railways are the most important contributors.

Thinking of this, Schmidt patted his shoulder and said, "Sooner or later, Greece will also build a large-scale railway."

The two got off the train in Hamburg, and after leaving the train station, they reunited with Banning who was returning from Africa.

Banning is the chairman of the Congolese Council and has been in Africa until now, cooperating in Stanley's adventures in place of Constantine.

Banning was an important advisor to Constantine, and he has been giving advice to Constantine since the start of the African plan.

"Welcome back to Europe, Banning." Constantine said to the tanned Banning, then gave him a hug.

"Thank you, Your Excellency."

Afterwards, the three found a cafe on the street.

"Your Excellency, our business base in Africa has been completed." Banning said excitedly.

"What about the specifics? How many commercial strongholds are there, and what about the entrustment of the ruling treaty?" Constantine asked eagerly when he heard these words.

"The Congolese Commission has established about 30 commercial bases and about 400 entrustment treaties in Africa," Banning replied.

"Your Excellency, I came back this time just to discuss with you, what should we do next?" Banning asked.

Whether it is a power of attorney or a business base, if it is not recognized by the European powers, it will be meaningless.

How to get the recognition of European powers The most difficult part of this African plan is the Congolese Commission's suzerainty status over the Congo River Basin.

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