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 people serve as the royal family of Hechingen for generations. The loyal ministers who worked hard were 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 with Prussia, some power would be handed over.
Those are only military, taxation and other powers. The Hechingen royal family still maintains 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, after Prince Constantine left, they no longer belong to the Hechingen royal family, but are managed by the Hechingen Consortium, from employees who are attached to the royal family. Became an employee.
At the same time, the whereabouts of Prince Constantine must 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, it is estimated that Now about the same as Prince Karl Anton 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.
"There is no need to go to East Africa in person! In this era, there are almost no great 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. Stay! ”
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 areas are areas where it is difficult for our power to radiate, and we have little power there. , the risk of going overseas is too great," Prince Karl Anton said to Constantine.
In Karl Anton's view, the East African colonies are probably just like those traditional colonies. The sovereign state uses a conciliatory method to maintain colonial rule.
It is a small number of people who temporarily suppress the majority. After all, colonies are for plunder. Who would be idle and sincerely build colonies?
Even if Britain, France and others did some construction in the colonies, it was 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.
“Well, Karl, I am different from you. Hechingen is a small country and does not have much potential. Since it was merged with Prussia, I have not had much motivation to fight.
Unlike You, now almost all of the sons can find a good place. Ernst was too young and did not catch up with the good times. Even if he wanted to work in Europe in the future, I'm afraid the chance will be slim. After all, I'm old, and Ernst's situation will be even more difficult after my death."
What Constantine is talking about here is about Ernst. As for the 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 encountered twice in Sigmaringen. 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 others 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. He's just a high-status puppet.
A country like Romania, which is under the influence of the Ottoman Empire and wants to seek refuge in Europe, and needs a king to strengthen its ties with Europe, is really extremely rare.
“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. There are so many people under them. It is really difficult to go further. , but Heixinggen, as a prince, himself Your talent is good, and you only have one son. It will be enough for Ernst to inherit your title in the future, and the Heichingen industry is so big now that many nobles are asking for your family, which is something that many people cannot envy!" Prince Karl Anton still couldn't understand Constantine's thoughts.
To be honest, Prince Carl Anton actually envies Constantine. What nobles like them lack most is money. If you want to say who has the most money in the German region, the royal family of Hechingen is definitely Among the best, the Bank of Hechingen alone is already one of the largest banks in Europe. If Constantine proposed to Ernst, a large number of top nobles would 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 rare pride: “It’s enough to spend enough money. When wealth reaches At a certain stage, it doesn’t make much sense for big aristocrats like us. If we want to achieve something, we still have to be more political. One step closer.”
“Then you won’t have to suffer in that hellish place in Africa! With Heichingen’s current strength, I think there will be a lot of opportunities to operate in Europe, especially for you and Austria. We have good relations with the Hungarian Empire. If we have nothing to do, we can at least seek a throne in the Balkans!" 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 three big countries survive in the cracks. I think Karl (Carroll I, King of Romania) has complained to you a lot. !" Constantine asked.
"That's true, but it's better than that barren land in Africa. Even if Karl really can't control 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." Karl Anton said.
"There's nothing wrong with being a barren land. At least it shows good potential. Moreover, Europe is too convoluted and 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, he had almost the same impression of Africa as 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, can hardly find any 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 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 vermilion 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 back then. How many generations did it take to reach today's achievements? The future development of the East African colonies will indispensably require German input. Support, don’t be stingy when the time comes, 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, but instead asked for help.
(End of this chapter)