Vienna, Austrian Empire.

After a month's stay, Palmerston finally figured out the alleged sincerity of the Count of Korolaf.

Reluctantly, Palmerston bought a "work of art" from a Jewish businessman for fifty thousand pounds.

The Earl of Korolav said that since everyone knew so much about art, he would not mind doing Palmerston this small favor.

He assured Palmerston that the Austrian Empire would withdraw its troops within six months, which made Palmerston so angry that he wanted to return the "work of art" on the spot, but he could not find the Jewish merchant.

In desperation, Palmerston had no choice but to ask the Count of Korolav as soon as possible, while the latter laughed at the former's pettiness and recklessness.

With no way to return the goods, and no evidence from Palmerston, he had no choice but to leave Vienna in the hope that Count Korollav would keep his promise.

In fact, Count Korollav did keep his word, but to Palmerston's surprise, the Austrian army was simply transferred from Bukovina to Nordsavi.

Bukovina is a major border town in Transylvania, and Nordsavi is also a border town in Vojvodina.

Graben Street, above the attic of Old Jack's Watch Shop.

Baron Bunolu took the letterhead in his hand with some confusion and looked at Talia and said.

"Namibia? It was a dead land where many nations tried to colonize, first the Dutch, then the Spaniards and the Portuguese, but the land there was barren and the natives were barbaric and warlike, and difficult to tame. In 1824 the British abandoned the last stronghold in Southwest Africa, where there are indeed no countries colonizing now. But from whom should we buy land? With whom do you sign a treaty? ”

Explorers of the Age of Discovery referred to Namibia as the "Gates of Hell", and it is probably because of this name that many people are reluctant to travel to Namibia.

In fact, the environment of Namibia's eastern highlands is not so harsh, but it is far from the coastline, and most explorers give up before they arrive.

Known Westerners, with only a few preaching stations, were often attacked by indigenous people, and the total number of whites in Namibia did not exceed 200, most of whom were missionaries and adventurers.

The main thing is that Namibia's narrow coast is covered with desert, and the hot and arid climate and a smell of death are prohibitive.

At the same time, there are many problems with establishing settlements on the coast of Namibia, such as the lack of food, water, fuel, and even building materials, and the lack of a deep-water port, only Port Walvis, also known as Walvis Bay.

Baron Brooke's fears are very valid, but what the world does not know is that the coast of Namibia, also known as the Diamond Coast, is rich in diamonds of great quality, the largest of which is in Lüderitz.

It's just that Lüderitz was still a barren desert at this time, and if you want to colonize Namibia, you still have to occupy the eastern plateau first, and it is the best strategy to get stable supplies.

"Does it matter who you make a treaty with? The Ovambo, Herero, and Mana people numbered no more than 50,000, but they established more than a dozen nations and hundreds of tribes. Perhaps they themselves do not know to whom the coast of Namibia belongs. Talia said.

"You mean to forge a statement?"

"No, it was the Austrian Empire that needed a declaration of permission to colonize Namibia."

"But what's the point? The Austrian Empire did not have a supply point in Namibia, and if it were to be established temporarily, the cost of establishing a supply point was very large, and it might cost hundreds of thousands of florins. ”

"To you" Talia took out a contract and handed it to Baron Brooke, "Archduke Franz has already bought the ownership of Port Walvis from the British government for 12,000 pounds. ”

In fact, after 1824, Britain was forced to abandon Port Walvis due to insolvency. The reason for this was that the nearby colonies of Angola and the Cape had better deep-water ports and could provide cheap supplies and goods.

However, this still did not satisfy Baron Brooke, and he continued.

"But how are we going to develop the colony of Namibia?"

"We can explore eastward, find suitable areas on the plateau for reclamation, establish settlements, and send explorers and geologists to explore for resources, so that we can solve the shortage of resources in Port Walvis."

"But who can guarantee that there will be areas suitable for reclamation in the eastern plateau? It is full of savage and warlike natives, and many missionaries and explorers have lost their lives there. ”

"Lord Brooke, what do you think feeds so many warlike natives?"

“.” Brooke was momentarily speechless, he realized the problem, he only heard the legend of the Namibian natives who were savage and warlike, but he forgot that the natives also had to eat.

"Don't worry, Lord Brooke. There must have been so many warlike natives, they must have fertile land, otherwise where would they have the energy to cross the desert to attack ports and missions? Talia asked rhetorically.

Baron Brooke continued to ask, like a curious baby.

"But Namibia is tens of thousands of kilometers away from the Austrian Empire, so it can't be for people to farm, right? And now that life in the empire is getting better and better, no matter how poor people are, they are not willing to leave, let alone go to a death zone like Namibia. ”

Talia took out another treasure map and a parchment scroll, which was drawn by Franz and written in Latin.

"There's a treasure map of Cleopatra VII (Cleopatra), and this history is recorded in this parchment scroll."

Baron Brooke looked at the treasure map, and could barely tell that it was a pattern from southern Africa, and there were a lot of X's drawn near Namibia, and the parchment scroll did look like it had gone through many years, but the ink seemed to be new.

Baron Brooke, of course, knew that these were forgeries, but as long as there were these, someone would be willing to go to Namibia, and that would be enough.

Baron Brooke still admired the vision of the "Grand Duke Franz", and he wanted to see what treasures were buried in Namibia.

Falsifying claims and false propaganda was not a difficult task, and Baron Brooke was concerned about the local natives.

Namibia is home to less than 50,000 indigenous people, the vast majority of whom live by herding, and although there are quite a few of them, there are 10 countries, hundreds of tribes, and dozens of languages.

The reason why there are natives who attack ports and preaching stations at any cost is because those white people often rob the cattle and sheep of the indigenous tribes in order to survive, and they naturally fight desperately for survival.

Vienna, Hall of Mirrors.

"My stupid brother, what are you going to do? Going to a desert colony? ”

"My poor brother, there is not yet a desert in the Austrian Empire, and should we not make up for the regrets of our ancestors?"

"My stupid brother, I would be laughed at if I sent someone to colonize a desert."

"My poor brother, are you going to give up being the first emperor to colonize the desert because of the ridicule of others?"

"Okay, I'll listen to you."

(End of chapter)