Empire Rising: Spain

The news of gold discovered in the Congo Territory quickly spread domestically in Spain and then extended to other parts of Europe beyond Spain.

The news of the gold mines immediately caught the attention of the nobility. Some nobles, who had plantations in the Congo Territory, immediately dispatched people to the area where gold was discovered to search for other gold mines. Some did discover new gold mines, but the scale of these new mines was not as large as imagined.

The location of the gold mines is in the northeastern part of the Congo Territory, an absolute inland area of Africa. It can be said that apart from Spanish colonizers, almost no other country’s colonizers have set foot in these areas.

This also allowed Spain to eagerly promote the discovery of gold mines in the Congo Territory, which was basically a piece of meat in Spain’s mouth, and no other countries had the right to share a slice of the pie.

William, as the Minister of Colonial Affairs, was personally responsible for promoting the news of the gold mines discovered in the Congo Territory. Regardless of the size and reserves of the discovered gold mines, as long as they were discovered in the Congo Territory, they were all repackaged and promoted with great fanfare.

The initially discovered small gold mine was an alluvial deposit due to river erosion; the gold content in the surface sand reached 7-8 grams per ton, and the average gold content in the deeper ore reached around 17 grams per ton.

Not all gold mines could reach this level of gold content, but this did not prevent the colonial affairs department from using this highly rich small gold mine for promotion and as a representative of the gold mines in the Congo Territory.

Since the related news only published the estimated reserves of each gold mine, there was no clear range for the gold content of the gold mines.

This led the public to naturally associate the first discovered gold mine in the Congo Territory with these, believing that the gold mines in the Congo Territory were basically mines with at least 7 to 8 grams per ton of gold content.

Based on the conversion rate of 1 pound equaling 7.33 grams of gold, the value of these gold mines per ton of ore exceeded 1 pound.

The issuance of each country’s currency is based on their gold holdings, which also means the value of this gold could at least multiply several times.

Not to mention the gold prospectors, even the Spanish nobility was thrilled by it.

The Congo Territory had a large indigenous population, which could be forcibly coerced into digging for gold.

If a ton of gold ore could be mined every day, the revenue could reach 3 to 5 pounds. If 100 tons of gold ore were mined daily, the revenue would be 300 to 500 pounds, equivalent to about 7800 to 13,000 pesetas.

This was also a substantial income for the Spanish nobility, drawing increased attention to the news concerning the Congo Territory from more nobles.

At the same time, the colonial affairs department provided an additional boost. It announced that Spaniards had the right to own mineral resources found in the Congo Territory, and the Royal Family recognized this property sovereignty.

Spaniards needed only to pay a mining tax to the Royal Family and the government of the Congo Territory to legally extract their discovered minerals, with the proceeds only needing to pay lawful taxes before peacefully entering their pockets.

This relieved the nobles and prospectors of any concerns; as long as they could find gold mines in the Congo Territory, they would naturally have sovereignty over the Congo Territory.

Of course, only Spaniards had the right to own mineral resources. If a foreigner discovered mineral resources, they would have no right to claim ownership.

This primarily targeted the nobles since they alone had sufficient resources to organize manpower for prospering mineral exploration, thereby developing the Congo Territory.

Once gold mines were discovered in the Congo Territory, it led to the organization of more manpower to extract them. Extracting gold required refining, and with more people, the population of the Congo Territory naturally increased.

The various policies previously enacted in the Congo Territory only attracted a portion of the nobility to invest. However, once the news of discovering gold was released, many nobles voluntarily went to the Congo Territory to invest, aiming to acquire a fortune through gold mine discovery.

The colonial affairs department heavily promoted successful individuals among the nobility. Among them was a relatively lucky baron, who, due to the decline of his family, bet almost all his wealth and fortunately discovered a small gold mine in the Congo Territory.

This small gold mine had a very high gold content, with the highest content reaching 23 grams per ton, and average content at around 6 grams per ton.

The discovery of this small gold mine instantly turned the baron into a millionaire, just a step away from becoming a multi-millionaire.

Although it would take a long time to fully cash in on the gold mine, at least the baron successfully preserved his family wealth, with hopes to make his family even more prosperous.

Many nobles were like this baron, betting on their wealth, as many Spanish nobles had already fallen into decline.

Due to the large number of Spanish nobles, titles such as earls and barons were of little significance in Spain.

After Prime Minister Prim’s reforms, the nobles lost all their privileges. Some nobles who barely made a living from land rentals lost their former glory after the reforms.

The gold mines in the Congo Territory indeed presented them with a chance to rebuild their fortunes, at least offering a relatively fair opportunity.

As long as they could find gold in the Congo Territory, they would have something to gain. If fortunate enough to find a gold mine with large reserves, restoring their former glory might just be a thought away.

Among these nobles, there were the fortunate and the less fortunate ones.

Some formed legitimate exploration teams but never managed to find gold in the Congo Territory. Some were luckier, discovering a gold mine with small reserves, but sufficient not to incur losses.

Regardless of whether these people were lucky or not, as long as they successfully discovered a gold mine in the Congo Territory, they were extensively covered by the Spanish media.

The story of some noble or commoner getting rich overnight amid the gold rush became the most frequently mentioned news in Spanish newspapers over the months.

As for how many nobles went bankrupt due to betting their wealth, it remained unknown, as nobody cared.

Carlo underestimated the allure of gold. When gold is placed alongside currency of equivalent value, it seems that any sensible person would choose gold.

The wave of searching for gold in the Congo Territory did not cease over time; instead, it intensified with the passage of time.

Starting from the first gold mine discovered by the nobility, numerous large and small gold mines have been found, and the discovery range is not limited to the northeastern part of the Congo Territory.

Besides gold mines, the nobility also discovered silver mines in the eastern regions of the Congo Territory. However, compared to the more enticing gold mines, the cheaper silver mines garnered little attention.

The newspapers publicizing the news of the gold mines in the Congo Territory only briefly mentioned the silver mines, merely to enrich the list of precious metal resources in the Congo Territory.

While the nobility were searching for traces of gold mines, Carlo was not idle either.

In fact, as early as the formation of the Congo Territory, Carlo had already had the mineral reserves of the Congo Territory surveyed.

Carlo had long known the value of this land in Congo, and naturally, there were gold mines present. Currently, some of the larger gold mines have been detected and exploited by Carlo. The medium and small gold mines that Carlo deemed unworthy are actually prepared for those nobles and prospectors.

Although gold mines are attractive, it must be acknowledged that this era’s currency prices are indeed high.

The value of 1 pound is 7.33 grams of gold, which also determines that the pound is the most valuable currency in the world. 1 pound can be exchanged for 26 pessetas, making the pesseta seem worthless.

In reality, the value of 1 pesseta is equivalent to 0.282 grams of gold, so the pesseta still holds considerable value.

A gold mine with a gold reserve of around 1 ton only has an actual value of about 3.5 million pessetas.

What does 1 ton of gold mean? If the gold content is about 8 grams, a total of 125,000 tons of gold ore must be extracted to refine 1 ton of gold.

Currently, the gold mines discovered in the Congo Territory are mostly small mines with less than 3 tons of gold reserves, and the maximum value of any one gold mine does not exceed 10 million pessetas, so Carlo indeed had no need to pay attention.

Currently, whether it’s the Royal United Bank or the Royal Steel Company, each provides the Royal Family with net profits of over 30 million pessetas annually.

It might be better to leave these gold mines for the nobility and prospectors, so they become even more obsessed with the gold mines in the Congo Territory, and invest more funds into the Congo Territory.

And indeed, this approach has proven effective.

In just a few months, the population of the Congo Territory has increased by nearly 5,000 people, most of whom were sent by the Spanish nobility.

Of course, some are also prospectors from various parts of Europe, whose goal is to seek alluvial mines in the rivers of the Congo Territory and earn income through illegal mining.

Carlo naturally allowed the presence of these prospectors since they also counted as the population of the Congo Territory.

If some people remain, the population of the Congo Territory can naturally develop and grow.

As nobles and prospectors flocked to the Congo Territory, the Royal United Bank and the National Bank also opened branches in the Congo Territory.

The purpose of these two banks opening branches in the Congo Territory is, of course, to issue loans to those prospectors and mine owners.

Exploring and mining gold requires significant costs, and not everyone can afford these costs. Yet these prospectors and mine owners are premium clients for the banks, as they can fully use the newly explored gold mines as collateral to secure loans from the banks.

Even if they can’t repay the money, there’s no worry, as the gold mines they explored would become the bank’s property.

Of course, such loans would only be granted to those with certain assets. Prospectors with nothing are not eligible for bank loans.

Besides issuing loans, the banks also have a business of purchasing gold ore. After gold ore is extracted, refining the gold is also a troublesome task.

Mine owners are fine, as they have enough equipment and capital to refine gold. Those secretly mining prospectors, however, may not have the capability to refine the gold.

At this time, banks can provide convenience. They can sell their unearthed gold sands to the banks, which would purchase the sands from them at a price equivalent to gold in pessetas.

Currently, in the Congo Territory, there are only two banks: the Royal United Bank and the National Bank. Without competitors, some smugglers also have no choice.

Doing this allows for collecting as much gold as possible, expanding Spain’s gold reserves.

The more gold Spain holds, the more pessetas it can issue internationally. Before deciding to attract part of the population through a gold rush, Carlo had already made thorough plans.

In reality, exploring and mining gold doesn’t necessarily profit; if no gold mine is found, it could lead to total loss.

Even if one is fortunate enough to find a gold mine, the initial exploration costs and later mining costs are substantial expenses.

While many nobles and prospectors were rushing to find gold, Carlo went against the tide, allowing the two banks to provide logistical support to these prospectors and nobles, which in fact turned out to be the most profitable.