Greece’s Roman Road - Chapter 248

Hearing Constantine’s words, many nobles in the conference room whispered among themselves.

Although everyone became a nobleman and got a lot of land as fiefs, due to the low price of food in Greece, everyone did not pay much attention to these lands.

Although the signs of mechanized agriculture had already appeared at this time, due to technical reasons, with the technical level in the early 20th century, the so-called mechanized agriculture level was very low, and the slightly complicated farming work still required a lot of manpower to complete.

This also means that even if the nobles really develop the land, other than renting the land to tenants or setting up agricultural cooperatives, there is no other good way to make full use of their land.

In fact, if Constantine did not make special instructions and advocates today, for these people, their most likely choice is to rent out the land, and then rely on the rent to obtain land income.

It is too difficult for them to really work like peasants in the fields.

They themselves have military positions and have no time to manage their own land.

Emmanuel was a little puzzled that Constantine attached so much importance to the land of the nobles. After all, as the crown prince, Constantine had no reason to care so much about how the nobles managed their own land.

“His Royal Highness, can you talk about the reasons for everyone to actively join the agricultural cooperative?” Emmanuel’s question was also what many nobles present wanted to know.

Hearing Emma Inur ask this, everyone looked at Constantine with searching eyes, hoping that he could explain the reason.

“The reason why I hope everyone does this is to hope that the nobles of Greece can become a political force that cannot be ignored in Greece,” Constantine Chen said sincerely.

After all, the royal family painstakingly canonized these nobles, and their purpose is also very clear, that is, they hope that they will become the political alliance of the royal family.

“You are also aware of the land situation in Greece. The farmland is relatively barren, and there is not much land suitable for agricultural and animal husbandry production. The vicinity of Thessaloniki is currently the largest plain in Greece.”

“From Thessaloniki to Skopje, although there are still hills and mountains, the arable land is indeed the largest in Greece.”

“With such favorable geographical conditions, it will inevitably be the most important agricultural producing area in Greece in the future. According to agricultural experts, the climate and soil here are suitable for growing crops such as wheat, citrus, tobacco, and cotton.”

When everyone heard the words such as tobacco and cotton revealed by Constantine, the eyes of those who were more sensitive to business suddenly lit up.

Tobacco and cotton are cash crops that are in high demand in Greece.

Among them, the Greek army is the largest consumer of tobacco.

For soldiers whose lives are in constant danger on the battlefield, there is nothing more relaxing than a cigarette.

The domestic demand for tobacco in Greece is also increasing day by day, and a large number of imports are imported from the United Kingdom (actually a British overseas colony) every year to meet domestic demand.

Cotton is even more popular in Greece.

As a big textile country, Greece has been importing to satisfy domestic textile enterprises in recent years.

Before 1912, the Ottoman Empire had been Greece’s largest cotton importer, as well as Greece’s largest cotton cloth export market.

Next is Egypt, where the long-staple cotton grown in Egypt is the best quality cotton in the world due to sufficient sunlight.

The cotton that can be produced in Greece is almost negligible, only a measly 9,000 tons.

For the huge domestic consumption of cotton in Greece, this means that the Greek cotton textile industry is extremely dependent on the international market.

Due to the successive wars in the Eastern Mediterranean, first the Italian-Ottoman War in 1911, both the cotton exports from the Aegean coast of Asia Minor and the cotton exports from Egypt were severely affected.

Followed by the Balkan War, Greece directly declared war with the Ottoman Empire, and it is even more impossible to import cotton raw materials from the Ottoman Empire.

These two wars seriously affected the Greek cotton textile industry.

Due to the inability to import enough raw materials, textile factories have emptied a lot of capacity.

This means that if a large number of cash crops such as tobacco and cotton can be grown in Macedonia, it will not only reduce the amount of imported goods in Greece, but also allow these nobles who own a lot of land to make a fortune.

Thinking of this, several nobles were really moved by the idea of ​​managing land that Constantine said.

“I hope you will actively participate in agricultural cooperatives, unite the people of Macedonia, and build Macedonia into the richest agricultural production area in Greece”

The nobles have the advantage of having a lot of land, and naturally have more right to speak than other farmers in the formed agricultural cooperatives.

Through these agricultural cooperatives, nobles and royal families could indirectly influence farmers who joined the cooperatives.

It can be expected that these agricultural cooperatives, after a long period of development, are not only an economic organization, but also a natural political organization.

For example, if these agricultural cooperatives develop well and bring huge benefits to the Macedonian farmers who join the agricultural cooperatives, then the nobles who have the right to speak in them can naturally easily influence the members~www.mtlnovel.com~ let them vote , select candidates who are more closely associated with the royal family and aristocracy.

Through the aristocracy and agricultural cooperatives, the royal family indirectly penetrates into the domestic economy and politics of Greece, thereby expanding the invisible influence of the royal family in Greece and enriching the public opinion base of the royal family.

Constantine explained these considerations to everyone without concealment.

Emanuel pondered Constantine’s words and nodded in agreement: “This is indeed a good strategy, and it has many benefits.”

“First of all, we can organize everyone to reclaim Macedonia’s land more efficiently through advanced forms of agricultural organization such as agricultural cooperatives.”

Speaking of this, there is a somewhat helpless tone: “Macedonia, a land suitable for agricultural production, due to extensive management, during the Ottoman rule, the taxpayers did not care about anything except collecting taxes. Later, they fell into perennial riots and serious population loss. , and there are large natural forests. I heard people say that in the depths of these forests, people often see the silhouette of European bison, and you can imagine how desolate it is.”

“The roads are not accessible, the traffic is inconvenient, the roads from Thessaloniki to the Macedonian interior are all dirt roads and mountain roads, and none of the ground has been hardened”

“According to the information obtained by the personnel of the Military Intelligence Service, the best road in the interior of the Balkans is actually a road built by the Roman Empire.”

The other nobles in the room shook their heads helplessly when they heard these words.

In order to give full play to the nobles’ frontiers and strengthen the control of the newly acquired territories, most of the fiefs of these nobles are distributed in the inland areas of Macedonia.

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