Chapter 165: The Expedition's Great Harvest (Ten-Thousand-Word Chapter)

"Officer Menotti, what a vast, uninhabited stretch of fertile land!" The deputy officer of the Spanish African Expedition, Antonio Ronaldo Prince Cruz, gazed at the boundless plains before him, speaking slowly only after a long moment of shock.

The African Expedition officer, Menotti, stared just as blankly at the fertile soil before him. After swallowing hard, he issued his orders: "Have the route taken along the way been recorded? How many indigenous tribes did we encounter, and which ones did we establish contact with? I do not want any omissions."

"Rest assured, Officer." Deputy Antonio smiled and nodded, saying confidently, "The brothers are all old hands at expeditions; they certainly wouldn't forget these procedures."

"God bless, our efforts over these past three years have not been in vain. The Congo River basin actually hides such vast plains; perhaps we can use this land to recreate another Spain!" The excitement on Menotti's face did not fade; instead, it intensified with his imagination.

The African Expedition had not had an easy time over these nearly four years. After outfitting themselves in Spain, they took ships to the Guinea colony.

After assembling all the expedition members in the Guinea colony and replenishing their firearms, ammunition, horses, and steamboats, they set off in a grand procession, heading north along the Congo River.

After passing through the Kingdom of Congo, the expedition first encountered an indigenous force named Anziku, and subsequently entered the territory of the Bantu people.

The further north they went, the more hostile the attitude of these African natives became. Along the way, the expedition had claimed thousands, if not tens of thousands, of indigenous lives; the reserves of bullets and firearms alone had already exhausted several horse-drawn carriages.

However, the good news was that they had also obtained a large amount of food from these natives. While the expedition was full of dangers, it also allowed them to learn more about the unknown.

Menotti had considered himself quite knowledgeable about these Africans, but after venturing deep into the Congo River, he realized just how ignorant and backward the Africans in the interior of the continent truly were.

Along the way, Menotti saw natives eating raw meat, witnessed cannibal tribes, and also saw indigenous states that existed on a significant scale.

If the expedition had not been protected by sufficient armed force, they likely would have been wiped out long ago during their contacts with these indigenous powers.

The four-year expedition career had taught Menotti one truth: those who are not of my race will surely have different hearts. No matter how servile these black monkeys were before him, in their hearts, they only felt hostility toward the expedition.

The expedition had also encountered betrayal by African natives during these years, and the result, of course, was the total slaughter of that African tribe.

"How many outposts have we established along the way?" Menotti asked his deputy, Antonio, while instructing his men to set up tents for rest, inquiring about the situation of their journey.

"Officer, we have established a total of 22 colonial outposts over these years and made contact with hundreds of local tribes and villages. Under your orders, thousands of Spanish flags have already been erected on this land, which is sufficient proof that Spain is the first colonizer to arrive in this territory." Antonio Ronaldo Prince Cruz reported to Menotti with a respectful expression.

The discoveries made along the way were not insignificant, not to mention the discovery of such vast plains in the Congo basin. Once all this news was reported back to the country, their expedition team would definitely be able to earn great merit.

Although Menotti was the officer of the expedition and the person in charge of the armed forces, Antonio was also a deputy officer and a commander of the expedition; the two could be said to have worked in perfect harmony during this expedition.

Deep exploration was, after all, a matter of life and death, and before the expedition set out, Carlos had promised that no one's contribution would be left behind.

Under Carlos's repeated instructions, Menotti dared not neglect this; every bit of merit from every person since the operation began was recorded, to be rewarded uniformly when the expedition returned to Spain.

The reason Menotti and Antonio were so excited was naturally because Carlos had promised it personally. If the expedition could discover fertile land and rich mineral resources within the Congo River basin, and seize the opportunity to establish colonial outposts or even colonial ranges, then they would have the chance to be awarded titles of nobility.

As the primary and deputy officers of the expedition, Menotti and Antonio were very likely to receive titles of Baron or even Count upon returning to Spain, so how could they not be excited?

Although the number of nobles in Spain was relatively high among European countries, the value of Spanish nobility had not decreased because of this.

Furthermore, in addition to the reward of titles, Carlos had also promised various rewards of property and funds. The two naturally believed the personal promise of a King, which also made them determined to perfect this expedition, so that their contributions would be greater and their rewards more plentiful.

It was two and a half months later when the topographic maps and expedition data regarding the Congo River basin were sent back to Spain.

The relevant information immediately attracted Carlos's attention, and Carlos immediately decided to convene an emergency cabinet meeting to cooperate with the government in the colonial development of the Congo.

Cooperating with the government to colonize the Congo was a decision Carlos had made after long consideration.

There were many reasons; first, the land of the Congo had attracted the attention of many great powers, and it would be difficult to fully secure this land relying solely on the power of the Royal Family.

Historically, Belgium did indeed pick up the scraps, but at the time, Belgium's strength was not even ranked in Europe, which was the reason the major powers were at ease.

Spain was different. Spain's comprehensive strength was more like the gatekeeper of the great powers. Those stronger than Spain were great powers, and those weaker than Spain were not.

Under such circumstances, even if they took this land in the name of the Royal Family, they might face opposition from many great powers, the most prominent of which would be the British.

Added to this was the fact that the Congo was an extremely vast territory; the current Congo had no distinction between Gold and Cloth. The expedition led by Menotti explored the entire Congo River basin, which was a vast territory of several million square kilometers.

It was currently sparsely populated only because the various countries did not understand the Congo River basin. But according to history, the gradual exploration of the Congo River was precisely happening during this period.

If they relied solely on the power of the Royal Family, it would be difficult to effectively occupy and establish Spanish colonial forces within a few years. But if they relied on the power of the Spanish government, a few years would be enough to establish large colonial outposts and, through these outposts, build a colonial territory of scale.

Of course, cooperating with the government was certainly not that simple. The Congo River basin was explored with funds from the Royal Family, so naturally, it was impossible to distribute the benefits to the government for nothing.

Carlos's bottom line was that the colony in the Congo River basin must be established in the form of a Royal territory; the Royal Family was the true owner of the territory.

The government could cooperate with the Royal Family to develop the land in the Congo River basin, mine the resources of the Congo River basin, and distribute the benefits according to the shareholding of their respective enterprises.

Although the government did not have sovereignty over the Congo colony, it could still obtain a large distribution of benefits, and he believed the government would not refuse.

At the emergency cabinet meeting, Carlos walked into the conference room with detailed information on the African colonial expedition and the drawn topographic maps, had the guards hand these materials to Prime Minister Primo, and then explained the reason for convening this emergency meeting: "

Gentlemen, according to the latest news from the African Expedition, the expedition has successfully explored the land within the Congo River basin and confirmed that in the upper reaches of the Congo River, there is at least one vast plain with an area of hundreds of thousands of square kilometers.

The expedition has established over 22 colonial outposts during this period and has made contact with hundreds of local indigenous tribes.

But this is far from enough to establish a formal colony. I hope the government can help the Royal Family promote the establishment of the colony; in return, the government can obtain half of the benefits of the Congo River basin colony."

Upon hearing Carlos's words, even Prime Minister Primo was very surprised. If the materials and drawn topographic maps in his hands did not look like forgeries, Prime Minister Primo would likely have questioned their authenticity.

Even Prime Minister Primo had a look of surprise, not to mention the other ministers of the cabinet. Learning that the Royal Family had dispatched an expedition years ago and had already achieved great success, the cabinet members had different expressions, but all had a look of surprise.

"Your Majesty, is this news true?" Defense Minister Serrano was the first to be unable to sit still, asking with a joyful expression.

As the former third-largest colonial empire, Spain naturally had many people who maintained abundant enthusiasm for colonization. It was just that the Americas had already been carved up, and the American colonies established by Portugal and Spain had basically already become independent.

In recent times, apart from some gains in the Morocco region, Spain had not made any colonial progress elsewhere.

Suddenly hearing that Spain had hope of obtaining a plain with an area of at least hundreds of thousands of square kilometers, Grand Duke Serrano was naturally very happy.

As for whether this land belonged to the government or the Royal Family, Grand Duke Serrano did not care. After all, whoever it belonged to, this land had nothing much to do with him.

Carlos smiled and nodded, saying: "The news from the expedition is true; this is certain. In a few days, the expedition officer Menotti will return to Spain. If you have any questions, you can ask in detail then."

Carlos had carefully examined the topographic maps and specific data reported by the expedition, and there was nothing suspicious in them.

Although the drawn topographic maps had some deviations, they were generally very similar to the Congo River basin in Carlos's impression.

Besides, even without the news reported by the expedition, Carlos knew about the plains and the rich mineral resource reserves of the Congo River basin.

It was just that colonizing the Congo also required a suitable reason to persuade the government to agree, which was the reason Carlos had first dispatched the expedition to explore the Congo River basin.

When the actual operation began, the original expedition could also serve as guides and intermediaries, helping the Spanish colonial team better communicate and interact with the local natives.

"Your Majesty, how should the plains discovered in the Congo River be handled?" After reading all the materials, Prime Minister Primo first passed the materials to Grand Duke Serrano, and only then asked the question he was most concerned about.

Since the plains in the Congo River basin were discovered by the Royal Family's expedition, this land would most likely belong to the Royal Family.

Since this land was to belong to the Royal Family, why should the government put in the work and effort? What Prime Minister Primo was asking was, in fact, the benefits the government could obtain in the colonial operation.

"The land in the Congo River basin should be established as a Royal territory; the Royal Family is the sole owner of this land." Hearing Prime Minister Primo's inquiry, Carlos said with a smile: "

But half of the benefits obtained from this land can be given to the government; only by the Royal Family and the government cooperating to jointly develop this land is the best result for us."

Hearing that Carlos wanted to establish this land as a Royal territory, the expressions of several ministers changed instantly. Minister of Transport Ruiz stood up and said: "Your Majesty, since a colony is to be established, it would be better to establish it directly as a new colony of Spain.

The proceeds of the colony can still be split 50-50 with the Royal Family; after all, the main force for building this colony will certainly be the government. What do you think?"

Carlos smiled; he had long known that the government would certainly have ideas about this land. However, because of the expedition, the Royal Family had already gained the upper hand, and it was basically impossible for the government to obtain sovereignty over this land, as they had no justification at all.

Unless the government wanted to seize it by force, the government had no chance of obtaining sovereignty over this land.

So the question arose, would the Spanish government fall out with the Royal Family over this land?

"Minister Ruiz, please repeat what you just said." Carlos looked at Ruiz with a calm gaze; he had no good feelings for this so-called radical reformist.

"Your Majesty, the government has the right of disposal over the land of Spain. Furthermore, the government will be the main force in developing the land in the Congo River basin. I believe that establishing a colony under government control is the best way and the most effective colonial method.

The Royal Family can still obtain a share of the benefits from the colony in the Congo River basin, which is also compensation for the Royal Family being the first to discover this land." Hearing Carlos's request, Ruiz was not panicked at all and stated his opinion again.

For Ruiz, as long as Prime Minister Primo did not express clear opposition, he was naturally fearless.

Furthermore, according to the Spanish Constitution, the Royal Family did not have much influence over the cabinet government. As a minister of the cabinet government, Ruiz did not fear Carlos's blame, unless Prime Minister Primo was completely obedient to Carlos.

Moreover, Ruiz was also a person of status within the Progressive Party. He was the number two figure in the Progressive Party and the number three figure in Spanish politics, with influence second only to Prime Minister Primo and Grand Duke Serrano.

For Ruiz, the Royal Family should not interfere too much in the decisions of the Spanish government. Since this land had already been discovered, it should naturally be handed over to the Spanish government to handle.

To reward the Royal Family, half of the colony's proceeds could be given to the Royal Family, which was already a win-win situation.

Hearing Ruiz's answer, Carlos smiled and said mercilessly: "Minister Ruiz, may I ask if you can represent the Spanish government?

The expedition that discovered the plains in the Congo River basin has nothing to do with the government, and even less to do with you. Forgive me for being blunt, but you have no right of disposal over the land in the Congo River basin, and even less right to make suggestions.

The purpose of my convening this meeting was only to invite the government to develop the land in the Congo River basin together, not to listen to your self-righteous claims."

Since becoming the King of Spain, Carlos had indeed not interfered too much in the decisions of the Spanish government. This was more to give Prime Minister Primo face, and did not mean that Carlos had no ambition for power and was willing to be a puppet King.

A suggestion like Ruiz's was essentially offering his face for Carlos to slap. Carlos did not have much affection for such a radical reformist.

Because this guy was a member of the Republican Party before joining the Progressive Party. Whether he truly identified with Spain's monarchy or had to identify with it because of Prime Minister Primo's advocacy was a question worth thinking about.

Facing Ruiz's challenge to the Royal power, the best way was to make him recognize his status. Carlos did not believe that Prime Minister Primo would completely offend the Royal Family for Ruiz, because that was equivalent to digging up the foundation of the Kingdom's government.

The Kingdom's government and the King complemented each other; challenging the King's majesty was equivalent to challenging the majesty of the Kingdom's government.

Although Carlos did not know Ruiz's intention in openly challenging the Royal power at the meeting, Carlos would not tolerate such suicidal behavior.

"I agree with His Majesty's statement." Minister of Industry Canovas stood up and expressed his attitude: "Since the Congo River basin was discovered by the Royal Family's expedition, sovereignty should belong to the Royal Family.

However, it is very necessary for the government and the Royal Family to cooperate in development; such vast land is also a very good asset for Spain.

If the government were to take the land in the Congo River basin for itself, what would it consider the Royal Family to be? Don't forget, Spain is a Kingdom government, and His Majesty the King is the ruler of Spain."

"I also agree with His Majesty's proposal." Minister of Agriculture Hoviliar followed Canovas's lead, stood up, and said: "What we should be discussing is how to cooperate in developing the land in the Congo River basin, not infighting over the sovereignty of the land.

If even this step cannot be seen clearly, gentlemen, how can one speak of Spain being strong?"

The successive rebuttals from the two made Ruiz's expression uncertain, and he turned his gaze to Prime Minister Primo.

How could Prime Minister Primo not know what Ruiz was thinking, but if he really did as he thought, I am afraid Spain would split apart as a result.

"The government naturally respects the sovereignty of the Royal Family." Prime Minister Primo concluded the matter and said slowly: "Cooperating with the Royal Family to develop the land in the Congo River basin is also inevitable; this is one matter."

Hearing Prime Minister Primo say this, Ruiz could only sit down, realizing that he had completely failed in this argument.

"Your Majesty, does anyone else know about the expedition's actions?" After the argument ended, Prime Minister Primo looked at Carlos and raised his own question.

The confidentiality of the expedition was very important. If it could not be kept secret, I am afraid that while Spain was colonizing, this land would also attract other colonizers.

If colonial competition were to occur, Spain might not necessarily have the advantage. After all, it was not just Spain that was paying attention to the land of Africa. There were also great powers like Britain and France.

"Currently, no one else knows." Carlos said with a smile: "The expedition is protected by armed forces, and along the way, they have not yet encountered any other teams.

Currently, the expedition has established more than twenty outposts; in terms of colonization, we have already gained the upper hand."

Hearing that no one knew about the exploration of the Congo River basin, Prime Minister Primo was completely relieved. If Spain could gain an advantage in the colonization of the land in the Congo River basin, even if old colonial powers like Britain and France joined later, there would be no need to worry about falling behind in colonial competition.

"Regarding the development and colonization of the land in the Congo River basin, do you have any good suggestions?" Prime Minister Primo looked at the other members of the cabinet and raised his question.

"Your Majesty the King, Prime Minister. According to this topographic map, the plains of the Congo River basin are not far from our Guinea colony.

If we can use railways to connect Guinea and the plains of the Congo River basin, it will accelerate the establishment of our colony and promote the development of the plain region."

At the same time, we should build a railway along the Congo River directly to the coast and further control the Congo Kingdom on the coast. The southern part of the Congo Kingdom is already controlled by Portugal; if we do not act quickly, the Portuguese may well learn of the plains in the Congo River basin.

Although Portugal is a minor nuisance, if the news were to spread through Portugal to the whole of Europe, it would create a greater burden for our colonization.

Therefore, I suggest that the entire immigration effort be divided into two steps and carried out simultaneously. On one hand, we shall mobilize manpower from the Guinea colony to build a railway connecting the two colonies; on the other, we shall organize new personnel to control the coast west of the Congo River, bringing all the land from north of the Congo River to Guinea under our control.

In this way, we will build a vast and massive colony, and it is not impossible to recreate a new Viceroyalty of New Spain." Minister of Industry Canovas stood up and put forward his proposal.

The most important step in establishing a colony is building railways to transport supplies and troops. This is actually the business of the Ministry of Transport, but because of Luis's poor performance previously, Canovas directly proposed the plan on behalf of the transport department.

"Hmm." Prime Minister Primo nodded, feeling quite approving of such a proposal.

This is also roughly the way Spain colonized in the past. If we relied purely on sending out colonial teams again, it would take several months before colonization truly began.

But if we prepare supplies and gather manpower from the Guinea colony at the same time, it will undoubtedly save some time.

Although the scale of Spain's Guinea colony is not large, it is at least a formal colony, possessing a certain number of immigrants and stationed troops.

Even if some problems arise during the colonization process, they can be solved by the troops in Guinea. If we relied on transport from the Spanish mainland, the round-trip time would be too long, and it would very likely delay matters.

"How many troops do we have in Guinea?" Prime Minister Primo turned his gaze to Minister of Defense Serrano, inquiring about the garrison in the Guinea colony.

"After our army expanded, the garrison scale of the Guinea colony was also increased to one colonial garrison regiment. But if there really is such a vast plain in the Congo River basin, I fear the scale of one garrison regiment is far from enough," Grand Duke Serrano replied.

The Guinea colony is only a small colony established by Spain in the Guinea region, and the scope of the colony is limited to the nearby coast; the area is not large.

Previously, there was only a garrison of 1, 00 men here; if not for the comprehensive expansion of the Spanish army, I fear the garrison scale would still be maintained at around 1, 00 men.

Prime Minister Primo also nodded, clearly quite in agreement with Grand Duke Serrano's opinion: "It seems it is time to send reinforcements to Guinea, but we must find a suitable excuse."

It is not only Spain that has colonies near Guinea; Britain, France, and Portugal all have colonies there.

Especially Portugal's São Tomé and Príncipe islands, which face Spain's Guinea colony across the sea. If Portugal learns the news of Spain sending reinforcements to Guinea, they will certainly strengthen the guards on São Tomé and Príncipe and closely monitor the movements of Spain's Guinea colony.

In this way, Spain's action of building a large number of railways in Guinea toward the Congo River basin will certainly be discovered.

How can we send troops to Guinea without attracting the attention of the Portuguese, the British, and the French?

This question sparked a wide discussion among the cabinet ministers, but none could find any good solution.

After all, sending troops to Guinea is news that cannot be hidden; the supplies for transport ships along the way and the docking of ships will attract the attention of others.

Although the Guinea colony belongs to Spain, it also has immigrants from other countries. Portugal's São Tomé and Príncipe islands cannot be self-sufficient, and many supplies need to be purchased from the Guinea colony or even further away.

As long as Spanish transport ships dock here, they will certainly attract the attention of the Portuguese. Even Spain's grand actions will arouse the concerns of the British and French; after all, under the current situation of economic crisis, who can guarantee that Spain will not step out to stir up trouble?

"Prime Minister Primo, I do have a proposal." Seeing that everyone had discussed for a long time without any solution, Carlo smiled and spoke.

"Since our transport ships will certainly be discovered by others, why not play along with their scheme?

We can dispatch transport ships under the excuse of sending reinforcements to the East Indies, and dock at the Guinea colony by way of mid-journey supply stops.

As long as our transport ships leave Guinea early, I believe it will not arouse the concerns of the Portuguese. It is just that in doing so, our soldiers will have to be wronged.

When docking to resupply, our soldiers cannot disembark directly. They will need to wait until the dead of night when no one is paying attention to disembark on a small scale and transfer to other places."

Hearing Carlo's proposal, the cabinet ministers first pondered it, then realized that although this proposal was not a perfect solution, it was the best option currently available.

The transport of thousands of troops cannot be hidden from everyone, which also means the docking of transport ships will certainly attract the attention of other countries.

To deceive others, one can only use this seemingly reasonable method to take a gamble.

Prime Minister Primo pondered for a moment, smiled, and nodded, saying: "This is a good proposal, Your Majesty. However, I think that before our transport fleet sets off, we can let some situation arise in the East Indies to make our excuse for sending reinforcements more reasonable.

In this way, neither the Portuguese nor the British and French will suspect our motive for sending reinforcements. As long as our soldiers deceive everyone and successfully land in Guinea, the troop transport plan can achieve complete success."

After the plan was supplemented by Prime Minister Primo, it became more reasonable, and the cabinet ministers also began to express their approval one after another.

After confirming that no one had any objections, Prime Minister Primo nodded and made the final decision: "Minister Serrano, the plan to send reinforcements to the Guinea colony is entrusted to the Ministry of Defense.

How many troops does the Ministry of Defense plan to send to Guinea?"

After thinking for a while, Grand Duke Serrano gave his answer: "To avoid attracting the attention of others while being able to stabilize the situation in the Congo River basin, I believe the troops we send should be maintained at the scale of one colonial garrison regiment.

A force of 2, 00 men is enough to deal with any resistance from the local natives, and even if faced with provocations from British and French colonial troops, we have enough strength to defeat them."

For any country, a force of 2, 00 men cannot be considered a small unit. And for the local African natives, a force of 2, 00 men is enough to crush them.

This is no joke; it is simply that the technological level and ideology of the African natives are too backward to resist the European colonizers at all.

Even Morocco, which is relatively strong among the African natives, had no room for resistance when facing Spain's colonial war, let alone these more scattered and backward African native tribes.

Some tribes are still in the stage of eating raw meat and drinking rainwater; what means of resistance do such tribes have when facing a modernized army with steel guns and cannons? Of course, none.

Regarding the matter of sending one colonial garrison regiment as reinforcements, the people present clearly had no other objections.

Seeing this, Prime Minister Primo nodded and said: "This colonial garrison regiment shall be drawn from the South Morocco colony; it can also demonstrate our panic.

Haha, I believe that when the Portuguese learn that there is a problem in the East Indies and that we are urgently mobilizing troops from the South Morocco colony, they will certainly be very reassured.

Also, to make it look real, our reinforcement of the East Indies cannot just be for show. It is time for the East Indies to be unified; as our largest colony at present, the East Indies cannot lag behind.

This troop transport plan will involve two colonial garrison regiments; one will be hidden within the transport fleet, and one will be displayed outside the transport fleet.

The garrison regiment in the open will follow the transport fleet directly to the East Indies, and their mission is to completely end the rule of the Sulu Sultanate and the Maguindanao Sultanate, and completely incorporate these lands into the colonization of the East Indies."

To make it look as real as possible, the best way is to let a war actually break out in the East Indies.

The East Indies is the East Indies; Spain's current colonial rule has not yet fully expanded to the entire East Indies.

In the southern part of the East Indies, there are still native forces such as the Mindanao states and Maguindanao. As for the island of Kalimantan, which faces the East Indies across the sea, Spain has already infiltrated the Sulu Sultanate.

It is just that because the former Spain was constantly weakening and domestic problems occurred frequently, it did not accelerate the colonization of the Sulu Sultanate.

This also led to the Sulu Sultanate, along with the Brunei Empire, the Kingdom of Sarawak, and other local natives, being eventually annexed by the British and becoming the British North Kalimantan colony.

The tacit understanding among European countries regarding colonization is generally that whichever country arrives first and establishes a certain colonial stronghold can claim that a certain area is its colony.

In most cases, countries still maintain this tacit understanding. However, for some more important colonies, competing countries will not yield; instead, they will provoke a colonial war because of the competition.

But war is not the only way to resolve disputes. Except for cases where the colony is too important or the countries are truly neck-and-neck in colonization, in other situations, whoever arrives first generally has the advantage.

Such rules are generally not challenged by anyone; after all, the two major colonial empires, Britain and France, are both abiding by them. Daring to challenge such rules is, in fact, challenging the existing colonial system.

Under the existing colonial system, the Anglo-French rivalry and the Anglo-Russian rivalry are relatively intense competitive conflicts. But why did World War I eventually evolve into Britain, France, and Russia vs. Germany and Austria? The reason is precisely that the Germans challenged the existing colonial system.

But there is no help for it; by the time Germany was unified, the important colonies had already been carved up, leaving only Africa, which had not yet been deeply explored.

It just so happens that the distance between Germany and Africa is relatively far, and it has no colonial strongholds. Although Britain is also far away, the British had long ago established multiple colonial strongholds, and also possessed the Cape Colony, a massive colony like South Africa, having long since gained a firm foothold in Africa.

At this point in time, the colonial progress of Portugal and Spain in Africa was faster than that of Germany, which is also the reason why the Germans did not eventually obtain any fertile colonies.

Germany, which did not get to eat any food at the dinner table, could only overturn the table, but the price was being beaten by the British and French who were eating and drinking heartily.

In the final analysis, it is because Germany's geopolitics are too poor. Germany is located in Central Europe, right in the middle of a land of four battles. Such a terrible geographical location makes it difficult to give birth to a powerful country, not to mention that Germany is surrounded by great powers.

Although geographical location is not the fundamental factor determining the strength of a country, it can significantly influence a country.

Why was the United States able to become powerful? A large part of the reason is that its geographical location is far from Europe, escaping the chaotic flames of war in Europe.

It is precisely because of this characteristic that the United States attracted a large number of European immigrants, and its population soon surpassed that of the European great powers.

Long-term peace allowed the industrial and economic development speed of the United States to be very fast, which is also the reason why the United States eventually rose and became the most powerful country in the world.

If the same United States were placed in Europe, the United States would have no chance of becoming a world hegemon at all. The biggest reason why the United States is powerful is that the European great powers were only concerned with civil wars, allowing the United States, this upstart, to eventually pick up the bargain.

Most of the talent and technology of the United States came from Europe; these talents who fled the war to the United States eventually created the power of the United States.

If Germany were placed in the geographical location of the United States, Germany might have done even better than the United States. But Germany happens to be located in such a land of four battles, which to a certain extent also represents Germany's final outcome.

The plan to colonize the Congo River basin was quickly determined, and this meeting also ended smoothly.

For Carlo, ensuring that the Congo River basin ultimately belongs to the royal family is the most important thing.

Although the profits must be shared with the government, the royal family will not lose out. After all, the government has to pay to develop this land and send troops to protect the sovereignty of the land; the royal family only needs to sit and wait for dividends.

However, no one can question the legitimacy of the royal family's sovereignty over this land. After all, this land was discovered by the royal family's expedition team, which is the source of the royal family's sovereignty.

If the Spanish government itself does not recognize such sovereignty, other countries will naturally not recognize it either. In this way, this is no longer a dispute between the Spanish government and the royal family, but a colonial competition between Spain and other countries.

Prime Minister Primo understands this point, so he expressed affirmation of Carlo's proposal. In fact, there is no difference between the royal family's territory and the government's colony; after all, the revenue generated by this land is split fifty-fifty between the government and the royal family.

The only difference is that the status of the royal family has become more stable; after all, once the Congo River basin is built into a royal territory, the sovereignty will belong to the royal family.

If the House of Savoy were driven out of Spain, the Congo River basin would have nothing to do with the Spanish government.

Carlo doing this is also telling the cabinet ministers of the government that the current Spanish royal family and the government are one in glory and one in shame.

After the specific plan was determined, the Ministry of Defense entered a tense preparation stage.

After all, it is the mobilization of more than 4, 00 people, and in addition, they have to create reasonable reasons to make Portugal as well as Britain and France believe it, so every link of the action must be reasonable.

Because it takes a certain amount of time for news of the East Indies to spread to Spain, the reinforcement action can only be carried out at the earliest after one month.

This period of time is just right for mobilizing troops, preparing the transport fleet, and so on. As long as they wait for the news of the rebellion in the East Indies to return to the Spanish mainland, the government can use this name to urgently mobilize troops and send reinforcements to the East Indies.

About two and a half weeks passed before the Spanish African expedition leader Menotti successfully returned from the Guinea colony.

The reason it took such a long time was not actually the expense on the road, but the time spent on arranging the next steps of the expedition and integrating the specific data.

Although Menotti returned from Africa, Anthony still had to lead the expedition back and forth between Guinea and the Congo River basin to establish more strongholds and strengthen the connection with the local natives.

This is not only to create better conditions for Spain's colonization in this region, but also to stabilize his own credit, ensuring that no accidents occur.

If the strongholds established were destroyed in large numbers due to the negligence of the expedition, even if the credit of Menotti and Anthony would not be reduced, it would not look good on their faces.

What's more, if any accident really happened and delayed Spain's colonial progress, I fear their credit would also be greatly discounted.

Before returning to Spain, Menotti specifically arranged the subsequent actions of the expedition clearly, and Anthony also repeatedly guaranteed that he would execute them one by one.

After all, this concerns their credit and the concluding work of this expedition; they have worked hard for nearly four years, so they don't care about the remaining few months.

10, 00-word large chapter update, please support! First day of 10, 00 words a day, two more days to go.

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(End of this chapter)