Greece’s Roman Road

After listening to these analyses, it is not surprising that the Greek government wants to build a canal here.

But a series of events later proved that this was a huge mistake.

The length of this canal is indeed not long, only about 6.5 kilometers, but its "quality" is high.

Where the Collins Canal is located, the ground is full of hard limestone, not mud, which makes the digging of this canal, like a fool moving a mountain, very difficult.

To make matters worse, in the Collins area, the ground level is much higher than the sea level, which greatly increases the excavation depth of this canal. The two sides of this canal in later generations are nearly 79 meters above the river!

The difficulty of excavating this canal was unexpected, and several companies that accepted it went bankrupt one after another!

In the original historical time and space, the original contractor of the Corinth Canal was a French company, which had an initial capital of about 30 million francs (about 230 million RMB) and issued about 60,000 bonds of 500 francs (30 million francs). ), 8 years after the canal was dug, before the canal was built, the company went bankrupt because it ran out of funds, that is to say, the canal consumed at least 60 million francs (about 460 million yuan).

One can imagine the financial bankruptcy of Greece in 1897, in which the canal played an "irreplaceable" role.

Eventually, the canal was followed by a Greek company, and after several years of excavation, it was completed.

The construction of the Collins Canal is very difficult. It can be said that it is a channel forcibly carved out between the rocky cliffs by manpower.

The high limestone walls on both banks are very solid, and it is one of the very few canals in the world that have been carved out of solid rock.

At the end of the 19th century, even for such a large-scale project, limited by the technical conditions at the time, the power of machinery was far from being enough to replace manpower.

If the problem of the Corinth Canal is simply that the development cost is high and the construction is difficult, that’s all.

After all, after this canal is built, it can generate huge economic benefits, and it is true that the advantages outweigh the disadvantages for Greece.

However, when the canal was built, there was no reasonable estimate and enough redundant width was set aside, which led to the dilemma of insufficient use of the canal just after the excavation was completed.

At the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century, it was the era of rapid progress in the history of world shipping.

Due to the maturity of technical conditions and the need of ocean transportation economy, the displacement of ocean freighters is increasing.

The larger the tonnage of the freighter, the lower the unit cost of cargo transportation. This feature makes ocean shipping companies order giant freighters of more than 10,000 tons.

The Collins River is only 25 meters wide, which is not enough for large ships, and can only accommodate some small freighters or cruise ships.

People sneered at it as "the most useless canal".

In later generations, this canal was a famous tourist attraction in Greece.

The Greek government originally relied on borrowing for infrastructure construction, and as a result, it spent a huge sum of more than 60 million francs to create a useless drain.

If the river channel is widened, it will continue to invest no less than the previous funds, which makes the later Greek government completely dispel the idea.

So, you can imagine how much Constantine's mood fluctuated when he heard that Trikupis was going to approve the construction of this stupid canal!

"Mr. Trikupis, I have no opinion on the railway and highway plan you mentioned, but this Collins Canal is the only one, you'd better do a detailed investigation in advance, and then make a decision whether to build the Collins Canal or not. canal"

Constantine said with a serious face.

"Although this canal is not long, as far as I know, the area where it is located is all hard limestone, and since the ground in the Collins area is much higher than sea level, it can be said that the construction of the canal is very difficult."

Hearing Constantine's words, Trikupis was skeptical.

To be honest, he can trust the French's ability to build canals. No, since the completion of the construction, the Suez Canal, which has been regarded as the world's strategic waterway, is a masterpiece of the French.

The Suez Canal, which is hundreds of kilometers long, can run smoothly. There is no reason why the French can't do this small canal in Greece, which is only 6.5 kilometers long.

As a politician, Terry Kupis has absolutely no idea about such technical engineering.

Therefore, the difficulty of construction was judged lightly from the length of the canal.

However, as the crown prince, Constantine strongly opposed the construction of this canal, and Trikupis did not want to confront Constantine directly.

"Prime Minister, regarding this canal, I still entrust some professional institutions to make a comprehensive assessment. If you don't object, I will handle this matter." Constantine chased after him and was eager to dissuade Trikupis from building the canal. The idea of ​​a canal.

"Okay, about the canal, we can postpone it for now," Trikupis made a concession.

"But as you said just now, the industrial zone plan will leave open space for the steel plant. Has anyone decided to invest in the construction of the steel plant?" Trikupis asked curiously.

Trikupis's policy has been unwavering in supporting Greece to develop its own industry.

Although Terry Kupus is not like Delianes, who often clamors for war and realizes the Greeks' ideal of regaining lost ground and regaining glory, but Constantine knew that this is also Terry's ideal. Kupis inner ideal.

It's just that Trikupis knew that Greece's strength was weak, so he always advocated strengthening his own strength first, and then looking for opportunities. Compared with Derianes, Trikupis can be said to have good intentions.

How to measure the strength of a country is a complicated matter. Parameters such as national income, gdp, land area, population, grain output, and resources are all factors that cannot be ignored.

However, at the end of the 19th century, if one wanted to use a particularly simple indicator as an indicator of a country's strength, then steel production was definitely an appropriate choice.

That is to say, at the end of the nineteenth century, it can be simply and rudely believed that whoever produces more steel is stronger.

Therefore, when Constantine spoke of the steel mill, Terry Kupis paid special attention.

Although the last time the two met, they had discussed the feasibility of developing the steel industry in Greece, but after all, it was just words.

"Speaking of the steel plant, it happens that you are planning to build a railway, Prime Minister. Why don't you take this opportunity to package and purchase the equipment and materials of the railway and the steel plant, put them together and quote them together, and you can get an affordable price," Constantine responded. .

For Greece, the equipment of the steel plant must be purchased from other countries.

As for the rails and locomotives used in the construction of railways, Greece does not have the capacity to produce them, and also needs to be purchased from foreign countries.

The products of large steel plants in Western European countries often include rails and steel-making equipment. Among them, steel rails are an important commodity for each steel plant. The production of steel rails requires a large amount of steel, so Constantine will only buy one piece.

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