Greece to roman road

After the war, the first problem that Greece's new prime minister had to solve was, in addition to the messy financial problems, the digestion and absorption of Greece's newly acquired territories.

With the permission of King George, in order to alleviate the financial difficulties, the new government officially entrusted Greece's three major banks, the Royal Bank of Greece, the National Bank of Greece, and Alfa Bank, to issue 50 million drachmas of government bonds.

Among them, the Royal Bank of Greece was the bank established by Constantine as the executive director of the Education Foundation after the financial transactions of the Royal Education Foundation became more and more complicated. It was originally created by Coredis just to solve the trouble of capital flow.

The funding source of the Royal Hellenic Educational Foundation is 10% directly transferred from the Congolese government’s fiscal revenue.

The amount of this money in 1896 was 500,000 pounds, equivalent to approximately 12.5 million drachmas.

Also, according to the original agreement, 5% of the Congolese fiscal revenue received by the Greek royal family every year will be directly deposited into the royal family's account in the Royal Bank.

After more than ten years of development, the Royal Bank of Greece has grown day by day with the help of the deep resources behind the royal family.

Especially with the help of Constantine's influence, the upstream and downstream enterprises in the Greek cotton textile industry, the steel industry, and the Greek Congo Corporation, a giant enterprise, generally have their funds flowing through the Royal Bank.

It is precisely with this unique advantage that in recent years, Royal Bank has suddenly emerged in the Greek financial community. Together with the well-established Alpha and National Bank of Greece, the three have become the three largest banks in Greece with strong financial strength.

Especially in recent years, after Greece acquired the colony of Congo, its industry and commerce have developed rapidly, and Alfa Bank and National Bank of Greece have also shared a lot of benefits.

With the growth of the Royal Bank, the Greek royal family now has considerable say in the financial world.

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Syntagma Square Conference Room.

The new Prime Minister Alexandros attended the Imperial Council for the first time to discuss how to absorb and digest the newly acquired territory.

"Among the newly acquired territories of Greece, the most troublesome one at present is Albania," Alexandros said to everyone.

After that, he looked at the confused King George and said softly, "Your Majesty?"

"Ah", seeing everyone's eyes focused on him, King George rubbed his face with his hands to cheer himself up.

After winning the war in 1896, even King George's desire to participate in government affairs gradually faded.

Now this old man, after getting up every day, does not take any guards with him, just like a retired old man, he walks on the street and greets people enthusiastically when he meets them.

Affected by this, the Greek royal family has a strong reputation among Greeks, especially the people of Athens.

At least in 1896, a period when the monarchy of the feudal era was still in power, such a down-to-earth king was really rare in Europe.

Therefore, the constitutional monarchy also has its benefits. King George must have felt this: There is no need to do things, the king does it.

Everyone follows established rules to maintain the normal operation of the country.

"Keep talking, Prime Minister, I'm listening," King George woke up and said.

Looking at Constantine's helpless shrug, Prime Minister Alexandros could only continue: "Albania covers an area of ​​about 28,000 square kilometers, three-quarters of which are mountains and hills, and the Adriatic coast is the region's The plains contain most of the arable land in the region.”

“The coastal plain area is also the most economically active place in Albania.”

“The majority of the population also lives here.”

"The total population of the region is about 300,000, of which 240,000 are MSL and the rest are Orthodox and Catholics."

Prime Minister Alexandros introduced the basic situation of Albania to everyone.

"So far, the Greek Army has approximately 15,000 troops stationed in Afghanistan."

“The current situation is that in order to stabilize Greece’s control over Albania, the government needs to strengthen the connection between mainland Greece and Albania.”

"The best way is to build a railway to connect Greece and Albania"

After saying that, Alexandros looked at everyone present.

"In this way, Epirus, located between Albania and Greece, can also be connected by railway."

“The railway plan that the government is most optimistic about now is to connect Tralica (a city in north-central Greece) in northern Greece, which is already connected to the railway. The railway line continues to extend to the north, passing through the city of Ioannina, the capital of Epirus, Albania Vlora in the south, Tirana in the center, and all the way to northern Afghanistan.”

Everyone understands that in order to effectively control the A region, this railway must be built.

But building railways requires a lot of capital investment.

After such a war, the Greek economy is still in the recovery period. Now the Greek government is still relying on borrowings to maintain its economy. It really cannot come up with extra money.

Albania is the most valuable piece of land that Greece obtained from the Ottomans this time. It is large enough and has some arable land and minerals. Moreover, it is adjacent to the Adriatic Sea and has many excellent ports along the coast. In addition to the huge initial investment, The prospects are still promising.

When everyone heard about this situation in Albania, they couldn't help but frown.

Judging from the experience of former Prime Minister Trikupis investing in Greek infrastructure, if the Albanian region wants to generate income, it is estimated that the investment must go to Greece, which means that this amount may reach hundreds of millions of drachmas.

Constantine thought about the information about Albania and encouraged everyone: "Is there a good side? Although Albania has more than 200,000 msl, the Albanians do not have their own writing. This is very difficult for Greece to assimilate the Albanians. , is a benefit”

"Also, from a historical perspective, the relationship between Albanians and Greeks is still good," Constantine said, looking at the crowd who became quiet as soon as the Prime Minister mentioned money.

Although when people mention the word Greece, they will think of the ancient Greek civilization with splendid culture, thereby connecting modern Greece and ancient Greece. However, the ancient Greeks may not be the same as the so-called "Greeks" living in Greece in the 21st century. relation.

Historically, the Greek region was conquered by the ancient Romans and ruled for a long time until the fall of the Eastern Roman Empire.

During this long period of time, Greece has been massacred several times. For example, Athens, the most famous city in Greece, has several recorded massacres.

So much so that some sociologists and historians say: Not a drop of blood in the veins of modern Greeks belongs to the ancient Greeks.

The ancient Greeks may indeed be lost in the dust of history.

The people who lived in Greece in later generations were closer to the Albanians and Slavs in terms of blood.

Moreover, many Albanians participated in the Greek War of Independence, and there are also many Albanian Orthodox Christians in Greece.

Therefore, the relationship between Greece and Albania is not bad.

What Constantine meant by historical factors was not just these.

The process of the Ottoman Empire's conquest of Albania was also a history of ups and downs, evoking praises and tears.