This era had not yet been developed, and most of the area was tropical forest. It was also the rainy season, and the jungle was even more dangerous.
However, this could not stop people's passion for making a fortune. The Austrian colonists had begun to extend their tentacles inland. There was no need for the government to organize. The civilian armed forces who wanted to make a fortune had already acted spontaneously.
In this era, as long as the Europeans took the initiative to go to the colonies, they were the ones who dared to fight and break through. They were much more courageous than the Government of Vienna who forced immigrants.
This was also related to the proportion of young and old refugees. Due to the Balkan War, a large number of young and strong people died. In the end, there was a situation where there were more women than men among the refugees heading to the African continent.
This was also a good thing for the Government of Vienna to develop the African continent. In this era, the colonists were mostly men, and all countries had headaches about the imbalance between men and women in the colonies. Because of this problem, a large number of mixed-race people appeared in the colonies.
Now there was no need for headaches. A large number of female immigrants solved this problem. Once they had a family, then it was basically stable.
Franz had already formulated a publicity plan, and the only thing left was to find gold.
There was no other way. The Europeans of this era recognized gold. For most people, digging gold was the easiest way to make them rich overnight.
In order to attract immigrants, Franz had to give up the plan to monopolize the gold mine. Of course, not knowing the specific location of the gold mine was also a major reason.
…
After the rain, Baron Fickney took the colonial team on the road. As a traditional German military aristocratic family, in this era of great change, his father's generation could not keep up with the pace of the times, and the family business slowly declined.
The output of the land was not much, and after the abolition of serfdom, his income was even less. Relying on the income from the fief, he could no longer continue to maintain his luxurious aristocratic life.
In order not to become one of the bankrupt aristocrats, after the Government of Vienna opened the African colony, Fickney mortgaged his fief to the bank and organized a colonial armed force of 200 people.
Unlike other colonial armed forces, everyone in his team knew each other well. They were all private armies composed of hired farmers in the fief.
These people were the result of the Fickney family's years of operation. Even after the abolition of serfdom, the local people were still loyal to him.
Although the size of this team could only be considered average among all the colonization teams heading to the African continent, their combat power was at the top.
This was the heritage of a noble family. Even if it was the capital left behind by a declining family, it was not something that a nouveau riche could compare with.
…
"Baron, the sentries discovered a native tribe up ahead hunting. There are around 150 of them, and their weapons are mainly bows and bone spurs." A middle-aged man said solemnly.
Fakeney frowned. He did not like dealing with these native tribes. There was no way for them to communicate.
He was not a slave trader and had no interest in capturing slaves. Although during this period, slave merchants from the United States had appeared in the colonial strongholds to purchase slaves, and the price was not low.
As a noble, Fickney could not bring himself to become a slave trader. He felt that it was a disgrace to his family's honor.
He had always despised those teams that had fallen to the point of selling slaves for profit.
The Government of Vienna also banned the slave trade. Not long after Franz took over the throne, he enacted the Abolition Act. This was the legal basis for the Government of Vienna to abolish serfdom.
Of course, this law did not affect the African continent. As long as the slaves were not brought to Austria, no one would care.
The colonial government never asked about the Americans and Portuguese who were slave traders, nor could they control them. This was the African continent, and order depended on one's fists.
Just the battalion of Austrian soldiers in the colonial stronghold was not a match for the slave traders.
Reality was cruel. Overseas colonization also had to consider the cost. Austria had opened up more than 20 colonial strongholds on the African continent, and an infantry division was spread out just like that.
Other than the government army, the large and small colonial teams from within the country were also an important part of the colonial armed forces. A single armed team was not eye-catching, but once all of them were organized, it would be two infantry divisions.
From the moment they stepped into the colony, they became members of the Austrian army reserve. In an emergency, the colonial government had the right to recruit all armed teams.
Fickney asked, "Can we avoid them?"
He was here to get rich, not to fight the aborigines. This would not bring him any glory, and it would also waste precious ammunition.
The middle-aged man thought about it and said, "I'm afraid not. They are blocking our way unless we stop moving forward.
Otherwise, even if we avoid them, we might be ambushed on the way back. A few teams in the stronghold had been ambushed by the aborigines.
Also, these people have skulls on their waists, most of them are cannibals. They are not good people, so we don't need to be polite with them. "
Bang, bang, bang …
Without waiting for Fickney's order, gunshots were fired.
"What happened?"
"Baron, the enemy has discovered us and is attacking us." A soldier hurried over and reported.
After knowing that the enemy had launched an attack, Fickney immediately ordered without hesitation, "Winnie, take some men and kill them. Use guns, don't fight them in melee!"
"Yes!"
…
Gunshots were fired 150 meters away.
Bang, bang, bang …
Without any suspense, the battle was over. Dealing with the aborigines in the era of cold weapons did not require too much effort.
After defeating the enemy, Baron Fickney did not give the order to continue the chase. He was not a slave trader and had no interest in capturing captives.
One of the soldiers who went forward to check suddenly cried out in surprise, "Gold!"
"Baron, these aborigines have a piece of gold on them, we are about to find a gold mine!"
The appearance of gold meant that there was a gold mine nearby. In this era, the aborigines' range of activity was limited, usually around a hundred and eighty kilometers.
After confirming the range, it was not difficult to find the gold mine. Everyone was pleasantly surprised. After working in Africa for a few months without any results, it would be strange if they weren't in despair.
For the sake of the gold, Baron Fickney said in a good mood, "Father, please help them!"
The priest said in disgust, "Sorry, Sir Baron, they are not believers of God. Moreover, I don't think the evil cannibals have the right to go to heaven. Their only destination is hell! "
A barbaric cannibal tribe, this was beyond what normal people could accept. Other than the retarded Virgin Mary, normal people would probably not accept that cannibalism was a culture.
Baron Fickney was in a good mood and ignored the identity of the enemy, but it did not mean that he had a good impression of the barbaric cannibals.
"Alright, let's continue looking for the gold mine."
...
It was as if God was playing a joke on them. The gold mine that was right in front of them did not appear. Instead, they were attacked by a few jungle killers, paying the price of three dead and five injured.
Facing these kings of the jungle, Fickney's colonization team was really tired. Everyone's morale was inevitably low.
"We are running out of supplies. After searching this area, if we still haven't found the gold mine, we will return to the base to replenish our supplies.
Now it's time to cook. After dinner, other than the people who were assigned to keep watch, everyone else should rest. If there are no results tomorrow, we will come back next time.
Don't worry, the gold mine is underground, it won't run away. This is an opportunity given to us by God, this is just a test! "Baron Fickney comforted them.
After being comforted, everyone's emotions calmed down a lot. Finding a gold mine had never been a smooth journey. Encountering a little setback was nothing at all.
They did not encounter the legendary cannibal flowers, cannibal tree demons, or demon wizards. They only encountered some poisonous insects and fierce beasts, which was already good luck. Fickney comforted himself.
He did not have much money left. If he could not find the gold mine, then he could only become a mercenary, working for the colonial government to get paid, or working for the slave traders to earn commission to maintain the operation of the team.
After hesitating for a long time, in the end, the honor of his family prevailed. He could not afford to sell his life to the slave traders.
Working for the colonial government was also working for the Empire. Although the income might be less, the status was different!
As a noble, if he could not become a high-ranking member of the colony after making contributions, then there would be a problem.
At this time, a familiar voice sounded, "Baron, this is the river sand we found in the river ahead. It seems to contain gold."
After saying that, the man handed the golden river sand to Baron Fickney.
After looking at it, Fickney quickly said, "Quickly ask Father Bartheg to come over. We might have found the gold mine."
In this era, European priests also had many part-time jobs as teachers, scientists, engineers, and so on. Without the burden of a family, they had a lot of time to learn every day, so their level of knowledge was usually good.
Father Bartheg was tricked by Baron Fickney. Fickney promised that once they found the gold mine, he would fund Father Bartheg to build a Catholic church and help him spread the gospel of the Lord in the colony.
The camp was not very big. Father Bartheg, who was praying, was invited over to identify whether the shiny substance in the river sand was gold.
Holding a magnifying glass and carefully observing for a while, Father Bartheg said, "God bless, Baron, you have finally found the gold mine.
However, I still need to go to the river personally to be able to determine the gold content in the river sand. If it is more than three grams, then it has development value.
Judging from Dan Cong's handful of river sand, the gold content in this area should be very high. From my experience, it should not be less than five grams. "
Fickney couldn't wait and said, "No problem, Father. It's getting late now. Let's rest for the night and go to the field tomorrow. "
It was not a secret that there was gold in the river sand, but the content was very touching. After more than a hundred tests, the gold content in each ton of river sand did not exceed three grams.
This amount might be considered a rich mine in the future, but in this era, it was not even worth mining. Even if it was extracted by force, it would not be profitable.
At first, Baron Fickney was very enthusiastic about testing the river sand, but he gradually lost hope. It was not until he saw the golden light in the river sand that he paid attention to.
It was already visible to the naked eye, so the gold content was naturally not low. However, this handful of river sand was not representative. Only after field exploration could the gold content be determined.
Father Barthegue replied: "Sir Baron, I have no problem. You can make the arrangements for these matters. "
…
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