After a week-long exploration, Father Buckg gave the final answer: "Congratulations, Your Excellency. You're about to get rich.

This is a river alluvial mine, the gold content of the river sand on the surface has reached 8 grams, and the gold content of the ore sampling in the lower layer has reached 16 grams.

The mine stretches two kilometres along the river, and the initial estimate is that the gold reserves could be as high as 50 tons, and as long as the report is completed by the colonial government, it will be yours. ”

Hearing the news, everyone became excited, such a bonanza is rare in Austria.

The ecstatic Baron Fickney forcibly suppressed his emotions and immediately said: "It's not just me who wants to be rich, but all of us are going to be rich."

Rest assured, the original agreement is still valid, and this gold mine is owned by all of us, including the young men who died in search of it.

I can assure you in the glory of the Strey family that as long as you complete the registration in the colony, half of the proceeds from the gold mines will belong to you.

Now let's defend this gold mine of our own! ”

The discovery of gold also means that the most dangerous moment has arrived. In overseas colonization, because the interests are too great and the spoils are unevenly distributed, there should not be too many firefights.

Not to mention an internal firefight, it is very dangerous for even information to leak without reporting property rights to the colonial government.

In the face of huge interests, there should not be too many incidents of black eating black. In the open space of the African continent, the most dangerous thing is not the jungle, not the indigenous cannibal tribes, but thousands of peers.

Baron Fikni's worth is not thick, and after equipping everyone with weapons and equipment, it will be almost spent, and naturally it is impossible to have money to pay everyone's salary.

Since there is no money, you can only draw a big pie. Sharing the benefits of the gold mine is the core of his team.

Obviously, the credibility of the Stre family is still very important in the minds of these people, and if it weren't for the long-term concept of respect and inferiority, the atmosphere on the field would be even more enthusiastic now.

"Rest assured, Your Excellency the Generous Baron, we will defend the gold mine to the death!"

"Your Excellency, don't worry, as long as we are not dead, the gold mine will not be lost!"

……

Everyone reassured.

Assured by everyone, Baron Fickney smiled happily. After pacifying his subordinates, he was able to go to the colony to register and report with confidence.

Even if the property rights are confirmed, it does not mean that the gold mine is safe. This is the African continent, and there is no shortage of outlaws, and guarding the safety of the gold mines is also a top priority.

Some weak colonial teams, even if they find gold mines, do not have the strength to mine them themselves, so they can only sell them to the colonial government in exchange for a one-time return.

Obviously, Baron Fickney is not such a short-sighted person. This gold mine was sold to the colonial government, and it was only five or six hundred thousand Aegis at most, and if it was mined by itself, the final profit could be as high as millions of Aegis.

……

After Baron Fickni confirmed the property rights to the gold mines, the news of the discovery of gold mines in Guinea was transmitted back to China in the shortest possible time.

Schönbrunn Palace

Franz, who was working hard to create a man, was also attracted by the news. Gold mines mean wealth, and it is conceivable that it will not be long before Guinea will embark on a gold rush.

On the Gold Coast of the Gulf of Guinea, Franz still has some impressions, and there is no way to know where the specific gold mine location is.

Many place names in later generations do not exist in this era, and even if they are remembered, it is useless.

Just like the gold mine found in Guinea now, it is a big hello in the Guinean region that is not in the future.

The African continent in this part of the continent is still terra nullius. The colonial government also does not have the so-called concept of sovereignty, anyway, if I occupy it, it will be mine.

In later generations, the neat borders of African countries were actually determined at the Berlin Conference, and before that, there was no clear boundary line in each region, and whoever occupied it was considered to be whom.

The harsh reality made Franz give up his dream of digging for gold and making a fortune, but using the news of gold to attract immigrants was a good way.

The number of gold diggers who can make a fortune is always very small, and most of them end up running out of money, and the gold has not been found, and finally they have to stay in the colony to find work to make ends meet.

There is not much else on the African continent, but there is a lot of land. There is an abundant labor force, and the benefits of developing the local land are far from comparable to those of one or two gold mines.

The maid's voice sounded: "Your Majesty, the ministers of the cabinet are here. ”

"Well, I'll be right over." Franz replied

The allure of the gold mines is enormous, especially a large bonanza that attracts the attention of many people, even the cabinet of the Vienna government.

If gold is exchanged for money, it is estimated that this temptation is greatly reduced. One ton of gold is only worth 273,200 Aegis, and fifty tons of gold is more than 13 million Aegis.

In fact, mining gold mines also requires costs, and the final net profit may be only three or four million Aegis, and it takes time to mine gold mines, and the average annual return is only ten or two hundred thousand Aegis.

For Franz, this was a small amount of money, and for the Vienna government, it was only a day's revenue.

Obviously, this is not the case, and the biggest use of gold by the government is to issue currency as a reserve, and the potential profits contained in this are much greater.

……

Chancellor of the Exchequer Karl said in high spirits: "Your Majesty, a large gold mine has been discovered on the African continent, and after the analysis of geological experts, there may be other gold mines in the vicinity, and the colonial government has blocked the news."

If we organize manpower now and carry out comprehensive exploration, we will certainly be very profitable, and the African colonies will soon be able to turn their losses into profits. ”

Franz was puzzled, he had never heard of a large concentration of ore veins in Guinea, and it was not surprising that a large gold mine was discovered, but it was impossible not to cause a sensation when a large gold mine was discovered.

However, Franz did not rush to dismiss the Chancellor's assertion that the colonies were free to develop and expand in this era, and he would not be surprised if the colonial team ran out of Guinea and discovered gold mines.

Guinea is not large, and the colonies should not be expected to act according to the borders of later generations, and only they themselves know where the scope of their activities is.

The colonial minister, Josip Jelačić, proposed: "Your Majesty, the Gulf of Guinea has always been said to be a golden bay, and now that gold has been found in Guinea, it means that the gold in this area has not been mined.

Now let's take advantage of the fact that the news hasn't leaked out, first send troops to occupy all this area, and then slowly look for gold mines! ”

Franz shook his head, opened the map, drew a few lines, and asked, "It's okay to expand in the Gulf of Guinea, but the British, Portuguese, Dutch, and French all have strongholds in the coastal areas."

We can't be in conflict with so many countries at the same time, so the best thing to do is to avoid these strongholds and expand from the interior, can this be done? ”

The Golden Bay is so famous that although few new gold mines have been discovered in recent decades, it has become a hub for the African slave trade, with slave traders from all over the world gathering here.

Don't look at their individual strength, once they are united, they are not so easy to deal with. And it is still involved in the whole body, in case the countries behind it are involved, Austria still wants to monopolize the Gold Coast, it is simply a dream!

Josip Jelačić replied confidently: "Your Majesty, most of the colonial bases of these countries in the area are private acts and are not organized by the government.

We will also send civilian armed groups to compete with them, not to mention driving them out, and it is still feasible to establish some more strongholds in the coastal areas.

As long as we have a large enough number of immigrants in the area, we will have the initiative in colonization, and until there is a large discovery of gold mines, the intervention of governments will be limited.

As long as we have established enough advantages before this, then we can solve it through negotiations, which is nothing more than everyone sharing interests, and the fundamental strength is divided into local territories. ”

Civilian armed forces are the main force in the overseas colonization activities of various governments, and even if these organizations fight, there is room for maneuver, and governments will not be dragged directly into the water.

After a moment's hesitation, Franz drew a few circles on the map of Africa and said, "Let's take these areas as targets, these are the areas where there is probably a lot of gold."

However, our goal is not gold, the most valuable wealth of the African continent is undeveloped fertile land, followed by some natural minerals, and finally gold.

Even if gold is abundant, what can it be? The amount of mining is limited each year, and it is simply not worth investing a lot of resources to fight against other countries.

So once you can't do it, it's better to give up what you should give up, gold may exist in coastal areas, but more in inland areas.

We don't have the capacity to develop the interior deeply, but we empower civil society organizations to do so freely.

If countries concentrate on fighting for Ghana and Côte d'Ivoire, then we will go to Nigeria, which is a good opportunity to clarify the interests of West Africa. ”

After listening to Franz's explanation, everyone was shocked, that is, Austria, a land power country, if it was changed to a sea power country, this kind of remark would be deviant.

It cannot be said that everyone is short-sighted, it is really a gold mine, and it only takes a year or two for the colony to make a profit; If you open up plantations and grow cash crops, it will be difficult to see results in five or six years.

This is still based on the fact that there are enough immigrants, but unfortunately now that the major colonial empires are short of people, and the local population is not enough, where can they have the ability to develop colonies?

Not to mention the Netherlands and Portugal, which have a population of less than 5 million, even Britain and France have a population of more than 30 million, and the growth rate is about the same as that of a snail, and there are a large number of colonies, which cannot be developed at all.

On the contrary, the situation of Austria is better, the number of colonies is small, the population of the country is quite large, and the population growth rate is much higher than that of Western Europe, so there are enough human resources for in-depth development.

Chancellor of the Exchequer Karl reminded: "Your Majesty, if the government gives up its monopoly on the gold mines, I am afraid that our colonies will remain in a state of loss for a long time. ”

"This kind of loss is within our reach, and we can afford to give up the monopoly of the gold mines, but we can get a large influx of immigrants.

If we keep it under control, the gold rush can continue for at least five or six years, and as long as a third of these gold diggers remain, our roots on the continent will be solid. Franz replied calmly

The gold diggers may not be able to make money, but the people who provide logistical supplies to the gold diggers will definitely make money.

What the government needs is a colony that is sustainable in the long term, not a colony that prospers because of gold mining and bounces because it runs out.

Is the colony really losing money? It depends on how it is calculated.

If taxes and administrative and military expenses were simply calculated, there might be a loss on the books, but the gold rush would also create a local market that could expand the sales of industrial and commercial goods in Austria.

For example: tents, kettles, shovels, hardware, ships......

With so many related industries receiving orders, a large amount of tax revenue will inevitably be generated and fed back into fiscal revenue.

If it can't make up for the loss, then the government can always make a profit by buying gold locally and using it as a reserve to issue currency, and the currency tax collected will be converted into a profit, right?

There are not one or two loss-making colonies in various countries, but everyone still hasn't given up, and they know the hidden interests behind the scenes.

……

The Viennese government lifted the blockade, and news of the discovery of large gold mines in Guinea quickly spread throughout the New Holy Roman Empire, and then throughout Germany.

This was just the beginning, after Baron Fikney's discovery of gold, there were others discovering gold, but these mines were not that big.

But it doesn't matter, as long as there is a gold mine. Even some gold mines with too low gold content to be exploited were used for propaganda by unscrupulous colonial ministries.

Anyway, they are all gold mines, and the official just announced the reserves, giving a vague figure on the gold content of the ore.

For example: 0.8~45 grams, 0.8 grams per ton of gold content is not necessarily the lowest number, but 45 grams per ton of gold content must be the highest, or even far more than the highest gold content.

It is enough for these data to fool ordinary people, the gold content of each piece of ore is different, and it is normal to have such a big gap, and no matter how garbage the gold mine is, it will occasionally produce a piece of high-quality ore!

The media is also very cooperative with the publicity, so-and-so became rich overnight in the gold rush, for example, Baron Fikney became a household name, so everyone knows that he became a multimillionaire overnight.

As for the fact that wealth is still buried in the ground and that gold mining also requires costs, it is decisively ignored by the media.