Chapter 187 Persuasion
In fact, it is procedurally impossible for Prince Constantine to leave for Africa immediately. After all, Prince Constantine's status is unusual.
Not only is he the monarch of Hechingen, but he is also the prince of the Kingdom of Prussia, and when he goes to East Africa, he has to take some of the confidants of the Hechingen royal family with him. We cannot just let these loyal ministers who have worked for the Hechingen royal family for generations be dismissed on the spot. .
Hechingen is not large in area, but as a country, it has a lot of administrative agencies. Even if it was merged into Prussia, some power would be handed over.
Those were only military, taxation and other powers. The Hechingen royal family still maintained a large number of people, including servants and guards.
The follow-up arrangements for these people must be arranged. Those who are willing to go to East Africa with Prince Constantine will be taken with him. Those who are not willing will be given a higher disbandment fee. The remaining ones who are neither willing to go to East Africa nor have nowhere to go will be Stay and continue to take care of the property in Hechingen.
After all, castles and industries also need manpower to take care of them. However, with the departure of Prince Constantine, they no longer belong to the Hechingen royal family, but are managed by the Hechingen consortium. They have changed from employees dependent on the royal family to employees.
At the same time, the whereabouts of Prince Constantine had to be thoroughly negotiated with the family. The first person to receive the news was Sigmaringen next door.
"Constantine, do you really want to go overseas alone?" Prince Karl Anton asked Prince Constantine.
As one of Prince Constantine's most familiar friends and relatives, Karl Anton did not understand Prince Constantine's decision.
Because of their geographical location and family reasons, Hechingen and Sigmaringen have a very good relationship, especially in this generation, Prince Karl Anton and Prince Constantine have the best relationship.
The two decided to merge the two countries into Prussia, and they also helped each other politically. In recent years, Constantine has faded out of Prussian politics, but his support for Prince Karl Anton has not diminished.
And Sigmaringen is indeed developing well. Karl Anton’s two sons are relatively promising, and he also holds important positions in the Kingdom of Prussia. If Prince Constantine does not fade out of the center of power in the kingdom, he will probably be with Karl Anton now. The prince was about the same in the Kingdom of Prussia.
"Yes, for the expansion of the family overseas, I also want to contribute to the expansion of the family." Prince Constantine said.
"Then there's no need to go to East Africa in person! In this era, there are almost no big nobles of our status who go overseas to develop. Europe is the center of the world. The overseas situation is complicated, and you may not be able to grasp it!"
What Prince Carl Anton was alluding to was none other than the Brazilian Empire, a country that the Portuguese royal family briefly established after Napoleon was forced to move to Brazil.
"To be honest, our nobles' foothold in Europe relies largely on the mutual support of families and political allies. After all, overseas is an area where it is difficult for our power to radiate. We have little power there. Going overseas is too risky. Big," Prince Karl Anton said to Constantine.
In Karl Anton's view, the East African colonies are probably just like those traditional colonies, with the sovereign countries using a conciliatory approach to maintain colonial rule.
Therefore, a few people temporarily suppress the majority. After all, colonies are for plunder. Who would be idle and sincerely build colonies?
Even if Britain, France and others have some construction in the colonies, it is to squeeze the potential of the colonies to a greater extent. Only Portugal was forced to vigorously build Angola and Mozambique because it had no other choice.
There is still a risk of independence for overseas colonies, so Karl Anton urged Constantine not to take risks overseas.
"Hey, Karl, I'm different from you. Hechingen is a small country without much potential. Since it was merged with Prussia, I don't have much motivation to fight.
Unlike you, now almost all of the sons can find a good place. Ernst was too young to catch up with the good times before. Even if he wants to work in Europe in the future, I'm afraid the chance will be slim. After all, I am also old. Well, Ernst's situation will be even more difficult after my death. "
What Constantine is talking about here is about Ernst’s future. Just like Sigmaringen, Ernst himself has the possibility of becoming the king of Europe, but this kind of pie-in-the-sky thing is probably only possible in Sigmaringen. Only met twice.
Although European nobles marry each other, and the German region also has a tradition of exporting kings, after all, the position cannot be created out of nothing.
Especially in recent years, the political situation in Europe has been chaotic. Even if there is a chance, Constantine may not agree.
In Europe, when other people ask you to be king, it is not a small matter to treat you to a meal. It is to maintain your own interests. For example, Maximiliano I was a chess piece thrown to Mexico by Napoleon III. At best, he was a high-status puppet. .
It is extremely rare for a country like Romania, which is under the Ottoman Empire's sphere of influence and wants to join Europe, to need a king to strengthen its ties with Europe.
"This is not a big deal. There are so many nobles in Europe, especially those with higher status like us. There are not a few in France. There are three royal families in France next door, and there are so many people under them. It is really difficult to go further. But Heichingen, as a As a prince, you have good talents, and you only have one son. Ernst will inherit your title in the future. Moreover, the Heichingen industry is so big now that many nobles are seeking help from your family. This is the envy of many people. Not coming!" Prince Karl Anton still couldn't understand what Constantine was thinking.
To be honest, Prince Carl Anton actually envies Constantine. What nobles like them lack most is money. If we want to say who has the most money in the German region, the Hechingen royal family is definitely among the best. Root Bank is already one of the largest banks in Europe. If Constantine proposes to marry Ernst, a large number of top nobles will definitely flock to him.
Although the great aristocrats themselves have a lot of assets, their expenses are even greater, especially those European aristocrats who came from the Middle Ages. They have been worried about debts in history. In the eyes of outsiders, Ernst seems to be young, rich and noble. synonym.
"Money is not everything, at least our Hechingen royal family is not very interested in money now." Constantine said with a rare pride: "It's enough to spend enough money. When wealth reaches a certain stage, for us, It doesn’t make much sense for a big noble. If you want to achieve something, you still have to take a step closer in politics.”
"Then you don't have to go to that hellish place in Africa and suffer! With Hechingen's current strength, I think there are a lot of opportunities to operate in Europe, especially since you have a good relationship with the Austro-Hungarian Empire and have nothing to do. At least you can go to the Balkans to seek a throne!" Karl Anton said.
"There are many opportunities in the Balkans, and the success rate is also high, but the situation in that place is too complicated, and the three big countries survive in the cracks. I think Karl (Carroll I, King of Romania) must have complained to you a lot!" Constantine asked in return! road.
"That's true, but it's better than that barren land in Africa. Even if Carl really can't suppress it, we won't stand idly by. But if you go to Africa, even if we want to intervene, there's nothing we can do." Carl Anton said.
"There's nothing wrong with being a barren land. At least it shows good potential. Moreover, Europe is so complicated that it's really difficult to get ahead. Although there may be many dangers there, it's easier to deal with the natives than a bunch of old foxes in Europe." Constantine said insincerely.
The more I learned about it, the more I felt the potential of East Africa. Before Constantine decided to go to East Africa, his impression of Africa was almost the same as that of Prince Carl Anton.
But when more and more data were placed in front of Prince Constantine, Constantine had to admit that his previous most optimistic expectations for East Africa were still too conservative.
East Africa, which has been vigorously developed by Ernst, has almost no shortcomings, except for a navy. However, East Africa is currently busy with inland expansion, and the need for a navy is not very urgent.
Constantine became even more excited when he thought that an emerging country with an easily manageable population of more than two million people and an area of more than two million square kilometers and continued to expand would be captured by the royal family of Hechingen.
However, those who are close to vermillion are red, and those who are close to ink are black. Following his son, Constantine has now learned the trick of making a fortune in silence, and he has mastered it.
He said to Karl Anton: "Although Africa is difficult, it was also extremely difficult for our Hohenzollern family to get rich. How many generations did it take to reach today's achievements? In the future, the development of the East African colonies will inevitably require German support. Then you can Don’t be stingy and get more support for me in the kingdom.”
He never mentioned the current development situation in East Africa and the huge interests of the Hechingen royal family in East Africa. Instead, he talked about it and asked for help.