Chapter 184 United Agricultural Development Corporation

The establishment of the Congo Territory caused a sensation both inside and outside Europe, because it was the first time that a European country established a large-scale colony in the interior of the African continent.

In addition to attracting the attention of various governments and royal families, it also attracted the attention of a large number of Spanish nobles.

At present, most of the Spanish nobles have one characteristic, they are land nobles, that is, nobles who make a living by the land in their hands.

Most of the income of the nobles comes from the land and castles in their hands, and rarely involves industry and finance.

This also led to the fact that although the scale of the royal family's land was not as large as these nobles, it soon surpassed these nobles in terms of total assets.

After all, farming is not as fragrant as industry and finance. The most profitable industries in this era are industry and finance. Especially after the Spanish government promulgated the policy of land tax reduction and rent reduction, the nobles obtained even less income from land.

The newly established Congo Territory is definitely an undeveloped land with huge economic benefits and potential value.

Don't underestimate the ambitions of European colonists. Basically, the areas that have not been touched by European colonists in this era are barren and unworthy of colonization.

Spain was able to establish the Congo Territory on the upper plateau of the Congo River Basin, which also meant that the Spanish royal family believed that this land had development value and that the establishment of the Congo Territory could bring huge income.

Some nobles did have ideas about the newly established Congo Territory, but Carlo did not express any opinion, so the nobles could only give up.

After all, Carlo at this time was not the young king who had no power in the past. It was simply wishful thinking to skip Carlo and establish a plantation in Carlo's Congo Territory.

While the nobles were anxious, Carlo had arranged for the church and a small number of trustworthy nobles to develop the Congo River Basin first.

In history, King Leopold II of Belgium made a lot of wealth by relying on a large number of natural rubber trees in Congo, but it was obvious that Carlo at this time could not completely imitate it.

These natural rubber trees are indeed a huge fortune, but they have to wait until rubber is really valuable before they can become income.

Although rubber currently has other uses, when rubber is really valuable, it has to wait until tires and cars are born one after another.

It is precisely because of the great expansion of the use of rubber that the value of rubber continues to grow, and rubber estates and rubber companies have sprung up everywhere.

At present, the value of rubber is similar to that of oil, and the price is low because the biggest use has not been found. The rise in oil prices is also due to the invention of various internal combustion engines and engines, and the birth of machinery using these engines has made the value of oil as an energy source rise steadily.

The same is true for rubber. Before the birth of a series of other rubber products such as tires, natural rubber did have a certain value, but it was not high.

Although it is impossible to make a lot of money from rubber plantations, there are still many uses for these lands in Congo.

In fact, Congo, which is almost entirely irrigated by the Congo River, is more suitable for planting agriculture.

But because the Congo Basin is full of tropical rainforests, various diseases and poisonous insects are rampant, making the environment in this area extremely bad and agricultural development extremely difficult.

On the contrary, the vegetation in the upper plateau area is not so dense, there are fewer poisonous insects, and it is easier to develop. In addition, because it is located in the tropics, it is more suitable for growing rice, cotton, oil crops, cocoa, rubber, bananas, etc.

Since the rubber plantation cannot be established, we can focus on cotton plantations and banana plantations. Anyway, there are a large number of indigenous laborers who can be exploited. As long as the plantation is established, there are various ways to make money.

After the establishment of the Congo Territory, crops and agricultural products from the upper plateau can be transported in two ways. The first is to transport them to the port of the Spanish colony of Guinea by rail, and the other is to go down the Congo River by river and finally reach the estuary.

For Spain, both methods are naturally needed. Although the first method of transporting materials by rail can also transport materials smoothly, after all, this railway is a single-track railway, and there is an upper limit to the transportation of materials.

The second is to strengthen control over the Congo River Basin. Now that the Congo Territory has been established, the next most important thing is to control the entire Congo River, extend it to the entire river basin through the Congo River, and thus control the entire Congo region.

In this regard, the biggest colonial competitor facing Spain is Portugal. Portugal has been carrying out colonial aggression against the Kingdom of Congo for a long time in the past, and has established its own colony in West Africa.

Although they have not yet completely mastered the lower reaches of the Congo River, if Spain does not speed up, Portugal is likely to completely master the lower reaches of the Congo River before the arrival of the Spanish colonial team.

This is not good for Spain. After all, the upper reaches of the Congo River are inland areas. Without the support of river transportation and ports, economic development will be subject to certain restrictions.

At this point, even if the relationship between Spain and Portugal has eased, Carlo will not retreat even a step.

If Portugal is determined to compete with Spain in the lower reaches of the Congo River, Carlo will not mind sending out the power of the Guards to forcibly seize this area.

If Portugal is dissatisfied, the worst that can happen is a war between the two countries. For Spain, a war can train its own army.

Such colonial disputes are not enough for other powers to intervene forcefully, and are nothing more than mediation. As long as the great powers do not interfere, Carlo will not be timid at all in the battle between the two teeth.

Not to mention a small Portugal. Even if the two Portugals unite, they cannot be Spain's opponent.

The gap between Portugal and Spain does not only exist in land area and population, but also in overall backwardness in economy, industry, population, agriculture and other aspects.

The land in the Congo was very important to Carlo. Not only can agriculture be developed and cash crops grown here, it is also extremely rich in natural resources and mineral resources.

In later generations, Congo was known as the world's warehouse of raw materials, possessing a variety of rich natural resources and a variety of rare metals.

It has more than 75 million tons of copper ore, 4.5 million tons of cobalt ore, 7 million tons of zinc ore, 600 tons of gold ore and 200 million carats of diamond ore. It also has more than 25 million tons of oil, 40 billion cubic meters of natural gas and more than 60 million tons of coal.

Such rich mineral resources are a good complement to Spain, and because it is located in Africa, transportation is also relatively convenient.

More importantly, Congo also has a large amount of high-purity uranium ore, which will be an important raw material for making atomic bombs in the future.

Although the atomic bomb was in the very distant future, Carlo had to think about his future heirs even if he didn't think about himself.

If it can become the first country in the world to possess an atomic bomb, Spain will have more confidence in the future world war. This will greatly change the war situation and the future destiny of Spain.

As the first native Spanish Duke that Carlo got to know, Duke Jacobo played a considerable role in Carlo's plan.

After being summoned by Carlo, Duke Jacobo hurried to the palace and asked to see Carlo very respectfully.

At this time, Carlo was completing his Congo River Basin development plan. When Duke Jacobo arrived, the plan came to an end.

"Your Majesty the King." Duke Jacobo saluted very respectfully. He did not have the slightest contempt for the 24-year-old king in front of him. Instead, he valued and respected him very much.

Duke Jacobo understood that the young king in front of him was not a child with immature means. To despise such a king is to make a fool of one's own title and future.

Although European kings rarely abolish noble titles, this does not mean that kings do not have such power. In addition, Carlo is not a native Spaniard, and he does not have deep feelings for them, the native Spanish nobles.

If these Spanish nobles block Carlo's path regardless of life and death, perhaps Carlo's abolition of certain nobles will happen in the near future.

Whether the king can abolish a certain noble actually depends on the power of the king himself and the king's influence in the entire European noble system.

After all, nobles are also human beings, and they will also be afraid when facing such power that can deprive them of their noble status. Once the nobles are afraid, they will naturally unite to fight against the royal power.

If the king cannot deal with the joint opposition of the nobles, he naturally has no right to deprive the nobles of their titles. Otherwise, whenever a civil war occurs between the king and the nobles, the country will be in turmoil at least, and the royal family or nobles will be deposed at worst, and the monarchy will suffer a heavy blow.

Therefore, under normal circumstances, European kings rarely fall out with their nobles. Unless the noble commits suicide, which goes against the interests of the king and most other nobles.

Such nobles do not even need the king to take action personally. The nobles themselves will unite to eliminate the traitors.

Carlo nodded with a smile, and then said straight to the point: "Duke Jacobo, I plan to establish a joint agricultural development company in Congo. I wonder if you are interested in serving as the head of the company?"

As the name suggests, the United Agricultural Development Corporation is actually the main agency in Caro to develop Congolese agriculture. The reason why it is a joint company is also because it takes into account what will happen after the nobles participate in the development of the Congo.

"United Agricultural Development Company?" Duke Jacobo was stunned at first, and then asked his own question: "Your Majesty, what is the purpose of this company? Is it only engaged in the cultivation and sales of agricultural products, or is it a large-scale to develop agriculture in the Congo region?

There are several different ways to develop agriculture in the Congo region. The first is to set up plantations of a certain scale and squeeze Congo's interests in the simplest way.

The second is to monopolize the trade of agricultural products in the Congo through large-scale construction of plantations, development of agriculture, and construction of transportation roads, and spread influence to other places outside the Congo, such as Portugal's West African colonies and so on.

Depending on the choice, the power and status of the so-called United Agricultural Development Company will naturally be different.

If it is only the first method, then this so-called company is actually just an organization united by several agricultural product plantations, and does not have much power.

But if it is the second method, the agricultural development company will become an important means for Spain to exert influence on the Central African region, and it can even control the Central African region through the company.

Don't underestimate the influence of such a company. When the United Agricultural Development Corporation has a large amount of agricultural production in its hands, it can affect the price of agricultural products in a region or even a country.

The fluctuation of agricultural product prices affects the income of farmers, and the income of farmers is related to the stability of the entire country.

Especially for areas such as Portugal's West African colonies that cannot be self-sufficient and need to export materials from Portugal, a large-scale agricultural development company can have a great impact.

"I always have high expectations for the development of agricultural companies. According to the expedition team's investigation of the Congo region, the entire Congo River Basin has a high agricultural development value.

Especially in the plateau area upstream of the Congo River, because there is no dense tropical rainforest, it is easier to develop agriculture.

The task of the United Agricultural Development Company is to establish a large number of plantations in this area to increase the crop yield in Congo.

When the United Agricultural Development Company makes a profit, subsequent expansion will be possible. The specific things cannot be explained in short words. If you are willing to serve as the general manager of the United Agricultural Development Company, you can have the final say on the development of the company, and you only need to be responsible to me." Carlo said with a smile.

Duke Jacobo asked clearly before agreeing to something, which was what Carlo was most satisfied with. If he just nodded and agreed without asking anything, Carlo would doubt his ability.

To solve a problem, the most important thing is to understand the cause and process of the problem, so that it can be solved more reasonably. Duke Jacobo's calm attitude made Carlo very satisfied. The United Agricultural Development Company, which has not yet been born, needs such a leader to open up a great cause in the barren Congo River Basin.

After hearing Carlo's answer, Duke Jacobo no longer had any concerns. He nodded and said to Carlo respectfully: "I am willing to share your worries, Your Majesty."

Carlo smiled and nodded again, and he had already regarded the honest and dutiful Duke in front of him as his own: "The church will also participate in the agricultural development of the Congo Territory. After the company is established, it can cooperate with the church.

When the plantations in the Congo Territory have a certain scale and start to make profits, a large number of propaganda methods can be used to spread these things, and it is best to let all the nobles know."

Hearing that the church would also participate in the agricultural development of the Congo Territory, Duke Jacobo was stunned at first. But when he heard Carlo say that the plantation was profitable, he conducted a lot of publicity to let all the nobles in Spain know about it. Duke Jacobo completely understood Carlo's intention.

To put it bluntly, the church's participation was more like bait on a hook, tempting the nobles to take the bait.

The clever Duke Jacobo even thought of more, such as the government previously purchased part of the nobles' land by purchasing land at a high price, and then rented it out to Spanish farmers at a low price for planting.

To put it bluntly, the nobles had too much land, which not only affected the agricultural development of Spain, but also harmed the interests of most of the agricultural population in Spain.

Especially when the land in Spain was not fertile, the amount of land in the hands of farmers was directly related to their income.

Most of the land in Spain was held by the nobles, which also meant that a large part of Spain's agricultural income was occupied by the nobles.

What was Carlo doing to attract the nobles to develop agriculture in Congo in this way? Wasn't it for the nobles' land in Spain?

Thinking of this, Duke Jacobo had a clearer understanding of Carlo's plan, and sincerely admired Carlo for coming up with such a plan.

For Spain at present, this is indeed a good way to effectively alleviate the problem that the nobles hold most of the land.

More importantly, this method will not overly stimulate the nobles. After all, there is indeed more land in the Congo River Basin. If it is really fertile and more suitable for agricultural planting, then the nobles will not lose anything by exchanging land.

You know, the establishment of the Congo Territory has only been a short time. Carlo can propose such a plan, which proves that Carlo had such an idea before the establishment of the Congo Territory.

Judging from Carlo's current performance, it is much better than the previous two Spanish monarchs. Duke Jacobo doesn't understand the importance of the United Agricultural Development Company. This is not only an important institution for Spain to control the Congo Territory and Central Africa through economic means, but also an important means for Carlo to solve the problem of land nobles.

As the first manager of this company, Duke Jacobo's importance in Carlo's heart will naturally increase.

Thinking of this, Duke Jacobo naturally had no hesitation. For him, this was also a good opportunity to enhance his influence in Spanish politics and his status among the nobles.

"I understand, Your Majesty. After the establishment of the agricultural development company, I will contact the church to jointly develop agriculture in the Congo territory.

But as for public opinion propaganda, perhaps the cooperation of the Sun and the Spanish National News is still needed." Duke Jacobo stood up very solemnly and gave his answer and promise.

It is obviously a bit powerless for an agricultural development company that has not yet been established to vigorously develop plantations in the Congo territory. But if there is the support of the church, or if it cooperates with the church, the construction progress of the plantation will be much smoother.

The influence of the Spanish church is still very large. Through the propaganda of the church, some Spaniards can be attracted to go to the Congo River Basin for development.

With the efforts of the missionaries of the church and a large number of local indigenous people, the establishment of the plantation will be very smooth, and it is just around the corner to achieve profitability or even huge profits.

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