Chapter 16 Costerbrook

Constantine observed the grass in his hand and remembered the scene of his previous meeting with Stanley.

　　At that time, Stanley complained that Europeans were in southern Africa and did not adapt to the local climate. People would often get sick. Diseases such as malaria and dysentery were common.

　　Constantine still thought that although cinchona bark can treat malaria, it has serious side effects. Unfortunately, artemisinin was only invented after World War II.

　　Thinking of this, I took another look at the green grass in my hand. I was ecstatic, and finally understood the source of familiarity. Isn't this Artemisia annua?

　　In the previous life, because of the invention of artemisinin, Huaxia also won a Nobel Prize. At that time, media public opinion climaxed, reporting the meaning of artemisinin in turn.

　　At that time, because of curiosity, I personally searched for some pictures of Artemisia annua on the Internet to watch. When I talked with Stanley, I also thought of Artemisia annua. Therefore, seeing Artemisia annua here naturally felt familiar.

　　Constantine struck a carp, stood up from the blanket, walked quickly to Nina, and eagerly asked, "Where did you get this grass?"

　　While speaking, he handed the half-sprig of Artemisia annua to Nina.

　　Nina didn't understand the situation for a while, and said in a puzzled manner: "What kind of grass?"

　　Constantine shook the half-branch of Artemisia annua in his hand, and said, "This is the grass in my hand, where did you come from?"

　　Although the puzzled Nina was full of doubts, but seeing Constantine's determination, she took Constantine to a small river not far from the rest camp and pointed to the river beach and said, "That's it."

　　Constantine walked quickly to check, and sure enough, a large patch of green weeds on the river beach, isn't it the Artemisia annua?

　　Constantine was overjoyed, this is really an unexpected prey!

　　In his previous life, Constantine also deliberately checked the information on artemisinin, remembering that a single medicine can be used to treat malaria. The prescription recorded by Ge Hong more than a thousand years ago: a grip of artemisia annua, two liters of water for soaking. Squeeze the juice and take it all.

　　To put it bluntly, this is the cure for malaria. You just need to soak in water, squeeze out the juice and take it.

　　Malaria is a disease caused by the plasmodium, which can be transmitted by mosquitoes. It has a high fever and sometimes cold.

　　This disease spread widely before the emergence of the special drug quinine.

　　For example, in ancient China, books described the land of Lingnan as "the land of miasma".

　　"Jiangnan is wet, my husband died young", this is the description of Jiangnan.

　　Needless to say, the reason for this statement is almost certainly the effect of malaria.

　　This disease once protected the inland areas of Africa from European invasion and became a stumbling block for European colonists.

　　The iconic meeting for Europeans to carve up Africa was the Berlin Conference in 1884. The Berlin Conference officially opened the clarion call for European colonial powers to carve up Africa.

　　For example, Germany acquired German East Africa (Tanzania) and Namibia after this meeting, and sent officials to the colonies to maintain its rule.

　　Seeing this, people will be very puzzled, why is it so late?

　　We must know the great maritime era that began around 1500. After that, the Portuguese and Spaniards occupied colonies all over the world. In the 17th and 18th centuries, Britain and France occupied large areas of colonies such as India and North America.

　　So why did European talents start to carve up Africa in 1884? After all, is there any place in the world that is as close to Europe as Africa?

　　For example, the Americas, whether in South America or North America, have a large number of descendants of Europeans, but there are very few descendants of Europeans in Southern Africa, and only South Africa and Namibia have a small number of European whites living.

　　The answer is malaria.

　　The popular treatment for malaria is quinine, which is extracted from the bark of cinchona.

　　At first it was some missionaries who saw the indigenous people use cinchona bark to treat pendulum (malaria) and imitated them eating cinchona bark. Later it proved to be effective.

　　It is precisely because of the emergence of quinine that it is possible for Europe to carve up Africa.

　　It's just that cinchona trees are demanding on the growth environment and can only be planted in subtropical regions. In terms of obtaining materials, it is definitely not as convenient as the widely distributed Artemisia annua.

　　Of course, Constantine wants to use this thing to make money from pharmaceutical sales, and I am afraid there is still a long way to go.

　　Among other things, if Constantine shouted out loudly that Artemisia annua can treat malaria, everyone would never be stingy with praise and praise the gospel brought by Constantine's discovery to patients from the bottom of their hearts.

　　As for making money, just think about it. After that, things have nothing to do with Constantine.

Countries like Britain, France, Germany and the United States really don't care much about the patent rights of a little Greek prince.

　　In the face of huge profits, there is nothing wrong with infringing on someone else's patent.

　　An accidental discovery of a medicinal material made Constantine not very concerned about the hunting afterwards.

　　The guests invited by Constantine had their own gains in the subsequent hunting activities. Seeing that the host Constantine changed his enthusiasm in the morning and lacked interest, he naturally would not force it to end the hunting activities in a hurry.

　　······

　　Costebro, who hurriedly returned home from the hunting activities in the Tatoy Palace, walked to the living room exhaustedly, took off his tight hunting suit, and relaxed on the sofa.

　　Probably the servant had forgotten to light the candle, and Costebro, sitting on the sofa, thought that the room was dimly lit.

　　"How about it?"

　　The sudden appearance of the sound surprised Costebreu, squinted his eyes to adjust to the darkness in the living room, and it took him a long time to reach the position in the living room facing the garden. On a chair, a middle-aged man was lying. It was his father, Jon, the founder of Alpha Bank.

　　"Oh, today's hunting was okay, did I hit a deer?" Costerbrook thought his father was asking how his hunting performance was.

　　"I mean which prince is like, is it worth the effort to make friends",The father asked.

　　If you want to be a successful banker, how can you succeed if you can't make friends?

　　Not only to make friends, but also to make friends with vast energy.

　　Thinking of his father's teachings in the past, Costebro recalled the performance of Prince Constantine during the day.

　　"I'm a very city man, just a bit whimsical," Costebrough said when thinking of the Africa Project.

　　"But I still obeyed your father, and expressed kindness," Costerbrook replied.

　　"Did he ask anything today?"

　　"No"

　　"Do you think it is possible for his Africa plan to succeed?" Costerbrook felt his father was asking himself.

　　"Unrealistic ideas," Costerbrook replied.

　　"I heard that the prince has mobilized the Royal Guard, do you understand?" Jon asked.

　　After the meeting with Stanley, Constantine only informed the Guards that there would be a task to be handed over to them in the near future to prepare them.

　　"If you want to inherit the family business in the future, it is better to be well informed", Jon frowned and looked at Costerbrooke.

　　"You think the prince mobilized the guards, but the king didn't stop it. What does it mean?" Jon continued to ask.

　　Costebro was already sweating on his forehead at this time, he racked his brains, not wanting to make a fool of himself in front of his father, but he really couldn't think of a reasonable reason.

　　"I don't know if you are really stupid or lack of experience, hey", Jon was a little disappointed when he watched his son ask three questions.

　　"His Majesty did not stop it, that shows his attitude, he is supportive," Jon said with earnest guidance.

　　"Yes, the king supports," Costerbrook said.

　　Then I think that His Majesty the King has been in power for about 20 years, and his political ability is not bad. It is impossible to watch his son spend a lot of money to mess around, and then lose face.

　　He supports it, which shows that Constantine's plan is indeed possible.

　　Jon nodded looking at Costerbrook who had suddenly realized it.

　　"Tomorrow you will go to Tatoy Palace to contact Constantine and give him a check for 500,000 pounds, saying that it is the Costebreu family who supports his Africa plan."

　　Hearing the huge figure of 500,000 pounds, Costerbrook was taken aback and looked at his father in disbelief.

　　"Then, what do we ask for if we spend £500,000?" Kesterbrough said.

"You don't need to say anything, Prince Constantine naturally understands. Even if he doesn't understand, His Majesty the King will understand. That's enough."

　　After speaking these words, Jon seemed to have lost interest in continuing to talk, and the room was quiet again.

　　Only Costebro was still trying to figure out what his father had just said.