The Austro-Hungarian financial crisis came and went quickly; after the government injected enough funds into the market, the market quickly began to recover.
Having gorged himself during the capital feast, Ferdinand was now embarking on a trip to London.
It was time to lie low for a while. In the past two years, Ferdinand had become famous in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and he had just made a fortune in the capital feast.
Being too conspicuous was not Ferdinand's style. He decided to take this opportunity to travel and, at the same time, resolve the issue of the gold mines.
After Ferdinand's rebirth, he immediately sent people to buy land, and many famous mineral deposits discovered in later generations were acquired by him.
Many places had harsh conditions and no mining value yet, so they were temporarily set aside. But those open-pit gold mines couldn't just sit there!
Who knew if they might be discovered by others prematurely and the gold mines stolen? Tens of millions of pounds in income were enough to drive people mad.
Lacking sufficient power, Ferdinand planned to find strong partners while also ensuring his own interests, which led to this trip to London.
Queen Victoria, full name: Alexandrina Victoria (May 24, 1819 - January 22, 1901), daughter of Prince Edward (Duke of Kent and Strathearn), inherited the throne at the age of 18 and was revered as a national symbol.
Queen Victoria reigned for 63 years and 7 months, longer than any other British monarch and any female monarch in history, a period known as the Victorian Era.
This was a period of considerable development in Britain's industry, culture, politics, science, and military.
Queen Victoria was the last monarch of the House of Hanover; her son and heir to the throne, Edward VII, belonged to the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha.
The Victorian era was Britain's most glorious period. It was the world's trade center at the time, and the British proudly declared:
"The plains of North America and Russia are our cornfields; Chicago and Odessa are our granaries; Canada and the Baltic are our timberlands; Australia and West Asia have our sheep pastures; Argentina and the western prairies of North America have our cattle herds."
"Peru sends us its silver; the gold of South Africa and Australia flows to London; the Indians and Chinese grow tea for us; and our coffee, sugarcane, and spice plantations are spread throughout the Indian Archipelago."
"Spain and France are our vineyards; the Mediterranean is our orchard; America is our cotton field."
Ferdinand departed from Vienna in early December and arrived in London just before Christmas. As soon as he disembarked, he met his friend and cousin, Albert Edward von Saxe-Coburg and Gotha—Edward VII—who had come to greet him.
The main reason they became friends was their shared Hobby, a rather unconventional lifestyle, both being anomalies among the aristocracy.
Edward was very welcoming of Ferdinand's arrival, not ruling out the possibility that Ferdinand could help him deflect some of the criticism. After all, two people being scolded felt different from one person being scolded. Otherwise, a Crown Prince wouldn't personally come to welcome Ferdinand.
"Ferdinand, my brother, why are you only just arriving now?" Edward shouted at Ferdinand.
"you know how far the journey is, don't you? The waves at sea were absolutely dreadful!" Ferdinand complained.
...Chatting idly, rambling about this and that, this was Ferdinand's forte. The two naturally had a very pleasant conversation. According to etiquette, he first had to visit Queen Victoria.
Buckingham Palace, well, despite its high renown in later generations, Ferdinand didn't find it particularly remarkable. Perhaps having integrated into this world, he saw it as just another ordinary palace.
However, the calligraphy and paintings along the way caught his eye. This place gathered antiques and artifacts from all over the world, and the art-like furniture truly broadened Ferdinand's horizons.
Edward seemed quite pleased with Ferdinand's reaction He spoke, "If you like them, I might consider giving you some, but now we must go and see my mother."
This pulled Ferdinand back to reality, and he gave an awkward smile, realizing his behavior just now had been a bit embarrassing.
"Ferdinand, welcome to my home!" Victoria said kindly.
However, for Ferdinand, it felt like an eternity. Victoria's aura was too powerful. He now felt some sympathy for Edward; with such a strong mother, life must be very difficult... Victoria was already very old and had limited energy, so she quickly let Ferdinand go, and he attended the welcome banquet as usual that evening.
The next day, Ferdinand and Edward let loose and began to tour London.
"Ferdinand, I hear you've made a lot of money in the past two years?" Edward said enviously.
"Not too much, just a few million pounds, which is a small sum for the royal family!" Ferdinand said calmly.
He was still a bit puzzled by Edward's envy. "You're the heir to the world's hegemon, isn't it easy for you to make money? Whatever you do, shouldn't it bring in a steady stream of wealth?"
"Of course, a few million pounds is nothing to the royal family! But to me, it's an astronomical sum!" Edward complained.
He recalled that this person's current life wasn't easy. His relationship with Victoria was strained. Although he was the Crown Prince, he was forbidden from participating in government affairs, and his expenses were strictly limited. He also loved cruises and horse racing, often spending lavishly, so financial difficulties were normal.
"God, are you kidding me! The Crown Prince of the British Empire has no money? Don't tell me that with the royal family's assets of hundreds of millions of pounds, you have no money?" Ferdinand said, feigning exaggeration.
In fact, he was overjoyed. Since you're short on money, it's easy to deal with. He immediately changed his plan; cooperating with Edward seemed just as good. As long as those colonial officials weren't out of their minds, no one should dare to make trouble for the Crown Prince's business!
By all accounts, Edward was easier to fool than Victoria, and the cost would be much lower. How could he give up a gold mine that was practically offered to him?
"Economic controls, no more than ten thousand pounds a month! You know my expenses are high, how can that much money be enough?" Edward complained.
"Don't you invest?" Ferdinand asked cooperatively.
"Why not? But with my small capital, even if I buy shares, I won't get much!" Edward roared.
"Really? I've discovered a gold mine. Are you interested?" Ferdinand said with a smile.
"A supermarket? I've opened a few, but the profits aren't great," Edward said frankly.
Ferdinand cursed inwardly. "You plagiarized my idea and then complained about low profits to me, the original owner."
"Of course not, I'm talking about a gold mine, and it's an open-pit gold mine! Do you understand, Edward!" Ferdinand roared.
"Heavens, God, am I dreaming? If you have a gold mine, why don't you dig it yourself? Why come to me?" Edward said, surprised.
"Damn it, don't you know that mining requires a lot of manpower? Do you know how high the wages of European workers are now? I'm looking for you to cooperate because I don't want to pay wages!" Ferdinand explained, roaring.
"What! You're not even planning to pay wages! You heartless capitalist! I won't let you succeed, I'm going to break off our friendship!" Edward said angrily.
Ferdinand remained unmoved and sneered, "Alright, don't put on a show for me. There are no outsiders here, no need for acting! This is the first time I've heard that the British Crown Prince would actually care about the lives of the natives! So..."
"Wait, why didn't you say so earlier, my brother? It's just slaves, isn't it? Tell me how many you need, and I'll take care of it. But how do we split the money?" Edward seemed to transform into a different person.
Then the two began to haggle, bargaining over every penny. Finally, they reached an agreement: they would jointly establish United Mining Limited.
Ferdinand, as the owner of the gold mine, invested 300,000 pounds and held 60% of the shares; Edward contributed not a single penny but was responsible for solving the labor problem, providing protection for the company, and resolving all external troubles, holding 40% of the shares.
The first target Ferdinand provided was the Coolgardie mining area.
Coolgardie: The Coolgardie gold belt is one of the two largest gold-producing regions spanning Australia. The Coolgardie Gold Project is located approximately 40 kilometers west of Kalgoorlie in Western Australia.
In 1892, 554 ounces of gold were discovered here, triggering the world's last gold rush. Nearly 16,000 people flocked to Coolgardie at the time, almost making it the third-largest city in Australia.
The project has an estimated resource of approximately 1.2 million tons, with a grade of 1.7 grams per ton, containing 69,000 ounces of gold. In the first 28 months of the mine's life, 65,000 ounces of gold can be recovered from three shallow ore bodies.