Chapter 268 Gold Mine

Guinea

This age has not been developed, most of the area is tropical forest. It is rainy season again, and the jungle is even more dangerous.

However, this cannot stop people's enthusiasm for making a fortune. The Austrian colonists have begun to extend their tentacles inland, and they do not need government organizations. The civilian armed groups who want to make a fortune have already acted spontaneously.

Europeans of this era, as long as they took the initiative to go to the colonies, they were all brave and brave, but they were much more courageous than those who were forced to immigrate by the Vienna government.

This is also related to the proportion of young adults in refugees. Affected by the Balkan War, a large number of young adults died, and finally the refugees who went to the African continent had a situation where there were more women than men.

This is also a good thing for the Vienna government to develop the African continent. In this era, most of the people engaged in colonial activities are men, and all countries are suffering from the imbalance between men and women in the colonies. Because of this problem, a lot of hybrids appeared in later colonies.

No headaches now, the massive immigration of women solves the problem. Once they started a family, then it basically settled down.

Franz already had a propaganda plan in place, and he was close to finding gold.

There is no way, the Europeans of this era recognize gold mines. For most people, mining gold mines is the easiest way to make them rich overnight.

In order to attract immigrants, Franz reluctantly gave up the plan to dominate the gold mine. Of course, not knowing the exact location of the gold mine is also a major reason.

...

After the rain, Baron Fickney took the colony on the road. As a traditional German military aristocratic family, in this era of great change, his father's generation failed to keep up with the times, and the family business slowly declined.

Originally, there was not much output on the land, and after the abolition of serfdom, his income was even less. Only relying on the income in the fief, it is no longer possible to continue to maintain his luxurious noble life.

In order not to become a member of the bankrupt aristocracy, after the Vienna government opened up the African colony, Fickney mortgaged the fief to the bank and organized a colonial army of 200 people.

Different from other colonial armed forces, everyone in his team is well-informed, and they are all private troops composed of farm laborers in the fief.

These people are the result of the Fickney family's operation for many years. Even after the abolition of serfdom, the local people still owe their allegiance to him.

Although the size of this team can only be regarded as medium among all the colonial teams that went to the African continent, its combat power is at the forefront.

This is the background of the noble family, even if it is the capital left over from the decline, it is not comparable to the upstarts.

...

"Baron, the sentry found that the indigenous tribes were hunting in front of them. There were about 150 people. Their weapons were mainly bows and arrows and bone spurs." A middle-aged man said seriously.

Fickney frowned. He didn't like to deal with these pure indigenous tribes very much, and there was no way for the two sides to communicate.

He is not a slave trader, and has no interest in capturing slaves. Although American slave traders during this period have appeared in colonial strongholds to buy slaves, and their bids are not low.

Fickney, who came from a noble family, still couldn't hold back his face and ran to become a slave trader, which he thought was a disgrace to the honor of the family.

He has always despised those teams that have degenerated to profit from selling slaves.

The Vienna government also prohibited the slave trade. Shortly after Franz came to the throne, the Abolition Act was promulgated, which was the legal basis for the Vienna government to liberate serfdom.

Of course, this law does not govern the African continent for the time being. As long as slaves are not brought to Austria, no one will bother.

The Americans and Portuguese were slave traders, and the colonial government never asked or controlled them. This is the African continent, and order relies on fists.

The Austrian soldiers of the battalion in the colonial stronghold alone are probably not the opponents of the slave merchants.

The reality is so cruel, overseas colonization also has to consider the cost. Austria opened up more than 20 colonial strongholds on the African continent, and the troops of an infantry division were scattered like this.

In addition to the government army, large and small colonial teams from China are also an important part of the colonial armed forces. A single armed team is inconspicuous. Once all organized, it will be two infantry divisions.

From the moment they set foot in the colony, they were part of the Austrian Army Reserve. In an emergency, the colonial government has the right to recruit all armed groups.

Fickney asked, "Can you avoid them?"

He came to find gold to make a fortune, not to fight with the indigenous tribes, which would not bring him the slightest glory, and would consume precious ammunition.

The middle-aged man thought about it and said, "I'm afraid not, they are blocking our way unless we are not moving forward.

Otherwise, even if they avoided them, they would most likely be ambushed by them on the way home. There are already several teams in the stronghold that have been attacked by indigenous tribes.

And these people have skulls on their waists, most of them are cannibal tribes, not a good thing, we don't need to be polite to them. "

"Bang bang bang..."

Before Fickney could give an order, the gunshots rang out.

"what happened?"

"Baron, the enemy has discovered us and is attacking us." A soldier hurriedly said

After learning that the enemy launched an attack, without hesitation, Fickney immediately ordered: "Pooh, bring someone up to kill it.

They, solve them directly with guns, don't be foolish to fight them hand-to-hand! "

"Yes!"

...

One hundred and fifty meters away, gunshots rang out.

"Bang bang bang..."

Without any suspense, the battle is over. There is no need to spend too much money to deal with the indigenous people in the age of cold weapons. .

After defeating the enemy, Baron Fickney did not order to continue the pursuit. He was not a slave trader and had no interest in capturing prisoners.

A soldier who stepped forward to check, suddenly exclaimed in surprise: "Gold!"

"Baron, these natives have a piece of gold on them, and we're about to find a gold mine!"

The presence of gold means that there are gold mines nearby. In this era, the range of activities of indigenous tribes was limited, usually a radius of 180 kilometers.

Once the scope is determined, it is not difficult to find a gold mine. Everyone was pleasantly surprised. After working hard on the African continent for a few months, there was no gain at all. There is no problem if everyone is not desperate.

Looking at the face of gold, Baron Fickney said in a good mood: "Father, save them for them!"

The priest said with great disgust: "Sorry, Your Excellency, they are not believers of God. Besides, I don't think the evil cannibal tribes are qualified to go to heaven. Their only destination is hell!"

A savage cannibal tribe, which is beyond the reach of normal people. Except for the Madonna of the Brain, it is estimated that normal people cannot agree that "cannibalism is a culture".

Baron Fickney was just in a good mood and showed kindness, ignoring the identity of the enemy, which does not mean that he has a good impression of the savage cannibal tribe.

"Okay, let's keep looking for gold."

...

As if God made a joke with him, the gold mine that was close at hand did not appear for a long time. Instead, he was attacked by jungle killers several times and paid the price of three deaths and five injuries.

Facing these kings of the jungle, Fickney's colonial team was really tired, and everyone's morale inevitably became low.

"We're running out of supplies. After searching this area, if we haven't found any gold mines, we'll go back to the base to replenish supplies.

Now I start to live and cook. After dinner, except for those who have arranged for the vigil, everyone else has a good rest. If there is no result tomorrow, we will come again next time.

Don't worry, the gold mines are all underground and we can't run away. This is an opportunity given to us by God, and now it's just a test! ' said Baron Fickney reassuringly.

After being appeased, everyone's mood stabilized a lot. Finding gold is never smooth sailing, and a little setback is nothing.

The legendary piranha, man-eating tree demon, devil wizard, they have not met, but they have encountered some poisonous beasts, which is already a good luck, Fickney comforted himself.

He's running out of money, and if he can't find a gold mine, then he can only be a mercenary, getting paid for serving the colonial government, or working for a slave trader and earning commissions to keep the team running.

After hesitating for a long time, in the end, the glory of the family prevailed, and he could not afford to lose his life to the slave merchant.

Working for the colonial government is also working for the empire. Although the income may be less, but the status is different!

As an aristocrat, if you make a contribution, if you can't become a high-level colony, then there is a problem.

At this time, a familiar voice sounded: "Baron, this is the river sand we found in the river ahead. It seems that it contains gold."

After speaking, the man handed the golden river sand to Baron Fickney.

After looking at it, Fickney said quickly: "Quickly ask Father Battig to come over, we may have found a gold mine."

In this era, priests in Europe also took part-time jobs as teachers, scientists, engineers and other sub-professionals. There is no family drag, there is a lot of time every day to learn knowledge, and their knowledge level is usually good.

Father Buttig was fooled by Baron Fickney, and Ficoni promised to fund Father Buttig a Catholic church and help him spread the Lord's gospel in the colony once the gold mine was found.

The camp was not very big, and Father Battig, who was praying, was invited over to identify whether the shiny substance in the river sand was gold.

Holding a magnifying glass and observing carefully for a while, Father Buttig said: "God bless you, Lord Baron, you have finally found the gold mine.

However, I still need to go to the river to explore in person, to be able to determine the gold content in the river sand. If it exceeds 5 grams, it has development value.

Judging from this handful of river sand in Shancong, the gold content in this area should be very high. Judging from my experience, it should not be less than 5 grams. "

Fickney couldn't wait to say: "No problem, Father. It's getting late now, we'll rest for a night, and we can go to the field tomorrow to explore."

It is not a secret that there is gold in river sand, but the content is very touching. After more than 100 tests, the content of gold in each ton of river sand does not exceed 3 grams.

This value may be considered a bonanza in later generations. In this era, there is no value for mining. Even if it is forcibly mined and extracted, it cannot be profitable.

At the beginning, Baron Fickney was very keen to test the river sand, but gradually he became desperate. It wasn't until he saw the golden light in the hand of the river sand just now that it attracted his attention.

It is already visible to the naked eye, and this gold content is naturally not low. However, this handful of river sand is not representative.

The gold content can only be determined after on-site exploration.

Father Battig replied: "Your Excellency, Baron, I have no problem. You can arrange these things."

...