The Rise of the European Emperor

Speaking of which, South Africa's gold reserves are even larger. In one Rand gold mining area alone, the total gold reserves reach about 53,000 tons. However, the gold mines over there are not of low quality, but they are not high either. It takes a lot of manpower and material resources to mine so much gold.

But the problem is that South Africa is now a barren land. In the deep inland areas of the Rand Gold Mine, even if Marin colonized South Africa, he had to first build a stronghold on the coast of South Africa (such as the Cape of Good Hope), and then send troops deep inland to find gold mines, which was very troublesome.

And even if a gold mine is found, not to mention that other European countries will be jealous, the investment of human and material resources alone will be very troublesome. Needless to say, materials have to be transported from the local area. Manpower is also, mines require a lot of manpower to mine. And the protection of gold requires a large number of troops. Otherwise, the gold mined will be easily robbed. In later generations, Marin did not miss movies such as "The Golden Robbery". South Africa is very remote and inland, and it is easy to be looted.

Moreover, in this era, an important method for refining gold and silver ore is called "mercuring method". It is to mix mercury, water and gold and silver ore together and grind it, so that the mercury wets the surface of the metal particles, and further diffuses into the metal to form amalgam (amalgam), which is separated from the ore minerals. After that, the amalgam is heated and evaporated to remove the mercury, that is, the precious metal or its alloy is obtained. This method is mainly used to deal with gold and silver precious metals ores, because the price of mercury is also very high, if it is used to deal with cheap metals, it will lose money.

If you want to engage in gold mines in South Africa, you will definitely consume a lot of mercury. Generally speaking, it must be shipped from mainland Europe. However, if a large amount of mercury is purchased from Europe, it will definitely attract the attention of various countries, and it is difficult to keep it secret.

Originally in history, after Spain occupied the Americas, it was able to mine gold and silver in large quantities, which also had an important relationship with itself being a big mercury-producing country. Because Spain itself is one of the largest mercury producing countries in Europe, there is no need to ask for help. And if Marin wants mercury, he has to buy mercury in large quantities from European countries and regions such as Spain and Italy, which is not cost-effective and easy to expose.

Moreover, although Marin knew that the cyanide method was used more in later generations, he only knew a little about chemistry and did not know how to produce cyanide. Therefore, he can only continue to use the amalgamation method to produce gold and silver.

Of course, in this era, China and Japan were actually big producers of mercury. For example, the country of Ise in Japan is rich in mercury. As for Huaxia, that's funny. Because Taoism requires a lot of alchemy, the mercury production is also very large, and it can be easily purchased.

Marin originally planned to purchase mercury from China and Japan, and then ship it to South Africa for gold mining. However, after thinking about it later, isn't Hishikari Jinshan in the country of Osumi? Iwami Ginzan is also in western Japan, and they are very reliant. Instead of traveling thousands of miles to mine gold and silver in South Africa and the Americas, it is better to mine it in Japan.

Moreover, mining gold and silver in Japan, there is a great advantage. That is - Japan is very rich in human resources!

Japan currently has a population of 17 million,

It ranks third in the world after the Ming Dynasty and India, and has 2 million more people than France. With such a large population, labor is naturally worthless. Moreover, Japan has a large grain output, and there is no shortage of food sources in mines, which is convenient for miners to live. Not only that, the Japanese peasant class is more obedient than the Chinese peasants, and it is better to manage.

In this way, the nearest mining of gold and silver in Japan can be solved nearby, whether in terms of manpower or material resources, the cost is very low, and it is very convenient to mine gold and silver. In addition, the taste of Linggai Gold Mine is so high, not to mention.

At that time, Marin intends to drive tens of thousands of Japanese farmers and craftsmen to mine Hishigari Gold Mine and Iwami Silver Mountain, but he does not believe that enough gold and silver cannot be mined.

...

Just when Marin was planning to mine the Hishigari Gold Mine and Iwami Ginzan on a large scale in the future, an urgent message came from Wittenberg...

It turns out that James Bond, who goes by the alias of Calvin (that is, the former ace spy Jim, whom Marin deliberately changed his name), has been lurking around Martin Luther, influencing Martin Luther, so as to prompt him to think more quickly engage in religious reform.

Under the fascination of James Bond, Martin Luther really had the idea of ​​religious reform earlier than the original history. Of course, it's still in its infancy and hasn't taken shape yet. However, Martin Luther has now emerged in Wittenberg, the capital of the electorate of Saxony, and has won the attention of Frederick III, the elector of Saxony.

Today, Martin Luther, who is only 29 years old, has become a famous doctor of theology in Wittenberg and was announced as the next abbot of the monastery by Wittenberg Abbot Staupitz, with a prominent position.

And Frederick III also valued Martin Luther, a young descendant in the religious world, and often invited him to the palace in Wittenberg to discuss theology. As a close friend of Martin Luther, James Bond often followed Martin Luther in and out of the court.

It should be pointed out that Frederick III, Elector of Saxony, was not an ordinary secular prince, but a secular prince served by a monk. In other words, Frederick III was actually a monk, but because of his younger brother's incompetence, he served as the elector of Saxony. Moreover, his younger brother is also his heir. Therefore, Frederick III was very interested in theology, but resented the tyranny of the Holy See. Therefore, he gradually became a supporter of the Reformation.

Coincidentally, Martin Luther's thoughts included religious reform and opposition to the domineering power of the Holy See. Therefore, Martin Luther was favored by Frederick III and invited him many times to enter the palace to discuss theology.

...

And this information was discovered by James Bond when he followed Martin Luther into the palace to discuss theology with Frederick III. Because, the sharp-eyed Bond found that a Swiss military map was posted on the wall of the living room of Frederick III's palace. This piqued his great interest.

So, taking advantage of the opportunity that Frederick III invited him, Martin Luther and Dean Staupitz to eat, Bond used the toilet as an excuse to flash into Frederick III's study and saw a copy of the table on the table. Document - that is Frederick III's plan to secretly contact the princes of various countries to send troops to attack the county of Baden, and take the opportunity to enter Switzerland to intervene in the Swiss War.

After getting the information, Bond left immediately. That night, he contacted the people at the North Sea State Intelligence Station in Wittenberg and sent the information back...

...

Marin was also surprised when he received the information, because he did not expect that the princes would not come to deal with him, but to deal with the emperor... Before, he also received news that the princes threatened the country of Baden, and he thought that the princes were for the sake of Cheers to the Duke of Lorraine. Unexpectedly, their ultimate goal is the Swiss Habsburg family army...

"It seems that this result is not bad..." Marin also did not want the emperor to be too powerful. If the Habsburg family loses again, it seems not bad...

However, Marin quickly reacted - if the emperor was maimed this time, then the arrogance of these princes would be even more arrogant. Perhaps, with high morale, they will think of looking for trouble for themselves. Therefore, this time the emperor can lose, but not lose. The best situation is - both sides lose... Please use the latest domain name to read books on this site