The Rise of the European Emperor

The silver mine in the Harz Mountains, Marin does not know how large the reserves are. However, he knew that Leibniz had worked as an engineer for the Harz silver mines in the late 17th century. The Rammersberg mine was mined until 1988.

Therefore, Marin can be sure that the reserves of the Harz Mountains silver mine must be very large. I don't know how much, but it's definitely not small. According to the report of the spy sent by Kohler to the Harz Mountains, the ore produced locally contains about 140 grams of silver per ton. If it is calculated by 27 million tons of ore, then the total silver reserves are estimated to reach 3780 tons, which is 100 million taels of silver.

However, this mine has been mined for more than 500 years, and now it only has more than 2,000 tons at most. However, this is also a very scary number.

In the future, Marin needs a lot of silver and Daming to trade and purchase. So, Marin is very short of silver right now.

Although it is said that Marin has long planned to capture the Japanese Iwami Ginzan. But the problem is that it will take several years to truly conquer Japan. First of all, he wants to send troops to help Ganfu Mizuko to capture the country of Osumi and fight against the Shimadzu clan. Then, after the Shimadzu clan is resolved, can I free up my hands to seize Iwami Ginzan. Moreover, even if Iwami Silver Mountain is taken away, it is still necessary to organize manpower exploration, and then recruit enough people and purchase enough equipment to develop Iwami Silver Mountain... Even, it is necessary to repair the mountain road from Silver Mountain to the outside world... …

This whole set has been completed in a few years. When Iwami Yinshan really produces a large amount of silver, it is estimated that it will be seven or eight years later, and it will be too late.

The silver mines in the Harz Mountains are different, which have been developed for hundreds of years. It is only limited by technology and scale, and the output has not been able to come up.

But one thing is, the silver mine in Harz Mountain has a complete set of complete facilities, and the road out of the mountain is not a problem, and Marin does not need to spend time building those infrastructures.

In other words, the mine can continue to produce silver after it is obtained. And if Marin increases investment, the output can be larger.

For example, Marin could install a more efficient blast furnace and fully apply the ash blowing method (which was only applied to Iwami Ginzan in Japan in 1533) to increase silver production. (In fact, Marin doesn’t know that there is also a futile method in Europe. It’s just that he has never operated a silver mine, so he doesn’t know the secret. After all, in this era, the fuzz method can also be said to be a “high-tech” kept secret by the silver mine owners. ”.)

However, at this time in Europe, other countries did not have more efficient blast furnaces. Marin invested in blast furnaces, which would definitely improve production efficiency and obtain more silver. Then, take it to trade.

...

In fact, before Spain mined gold and silver in the Americas, Europe not only had extremely low food production, but also had a serious shortage of precious metals such as gold and silver.

At present, the reason why many European countries are desperately mixing copper in silver coins is not only the intention to make huge profits from casting inferior coins, but also the helplessness of insufficient silver production.

It can be said that in this era, Europe is a poor world that lacks both materials and gold and silver for coins.

If Marin released the secret of the high grain yield at this time, then for Europe, the consequence would be a collapse in prices. Because the output of food is high, but the amount of money is insufficient, the only consequence is that prices plummet.

This was the case in the Ming Dynasty. The products of the Ming Dynasty were extremely rich, but gold and silver were scarce. Therefore, silver is very valuable, and a tael of silver can buy a lot of things.

However, don't assume that low prices are a good thing. Because prices are low, it is very difficult for ordinary people to make money, and it is not bad to earn a few taels of silver a year. Moreover, those who can earn a few taels of silver a year are farmers with land at home. Those tenants are even more miserable, because most of the income has to be handed over to the landlord, and it is not bad to have one or two taels of silver left.

Therefore, for society to develop, it not only needs enough materials, but also enough money. Only when there is money and goods, and the circulation of materials is promoted, can the society truly prosper.

Moreover, Marin had studied the text "Overcharged by Three or Five Fights" in his previous life, which talked about the problem of low grain prices hurting farmers.

Therefore, despite the bumper grain harvest in Beihai, Marin has been deliberately suppressing the sale of grain. Otherwise, the price of food would have collapsed early, which could lead to major unrest. Fortunately, he later started a large-scale winemaking business and dealt with the backlog of grain. Otherwise, those nobles in the country will definitely be dissatisfied.

In short, governing a country is not that simple. Not only do we have to worry about increasing grain production, we also have to pay special attention to the issuance of enough money. Otherwise, economic development will definitely be restricted.

Of course, in later generations, this will not be a problem. Because later generations use paper money, and there is no cost. Officials of various countries are eager to issue banknotes indiscriminately, not worrying about not enough money at all, but worrying about not enough goods.

But in this era, because the anti-counterfeiting technology is immature, you cannot mess with banknotes. Otherwise, counterfeit money will fly all over the place. Or, like in the Ming Dynasty, treasured banknotes become straw paper...

Under such circumstances, what Marin can do is to increase the output of gold and silver to meet the needs of society. In addition, it is to promote and issue copper coins to meet the needs of social trade. After all, it is really hard to find small groceries with silver coins...

...

Of course, Marin was worrying about the supply of silver. On the other hand, counterfeit silver coins of nickel and white copper are constantly being minted, hitting the French market.

In the two years since Marin went to Daming, the Beihai Mint actually minted 100 million French deniers silver coins worth 833,000 gold coins.

After Marin came back, he waved his hand—the hundred million fake Denier silver coins made of nickel-nickel-white copper were immediately sent to France for a big purchase.

It's counterfeit money, naturally I have to spend it and exchange it for goods...

Then, a large number of French livestock, grain, and oak were purchased by Marin's Chamber of Commerce...

There is no need to talk about animals, they can eat meat and use them. For example, many mules in France were bought by Marin's men with fake silver coins made of nickel-nickel-white copper and sent to the Americas for service.

As for food, Marin has no shortage of food at all. However, because the mining and smelting cost of nickel is much lower than that of silver, the cost of coinage is very low. It is used to purchase French food in large quantities, in fact, mainly to raise the price of food in France and make the French go hungry.

You know, in ancient times, food production was not high. Once a country is short of food, it is easy to become unstable. Marin's purchase of these grains was not enough to cause unrest in France, but it was also enough to make the French people tremble with fear.

As for purchasing French oak, I have to mention Marin's sinister intentions...

Marin has always worried about France's participation in the great voyage, because France's manpower and material resources are very powerful. Once the Frenchman is in the game, the pressure on Marin is huge.

So, Marin has been suppressing France's seafaring potential...

Before, he had suggested that Edward instructed the English merchant ships to pretend to be pirates to sack the coast of France, plunder the ships, and attack the seafaring potential of France.

But that's not enough, as long as the French have shipbuilding materials, they can build ships...

Therefore, Malin specially sent people to take nickel-nickel-white copper counterfeit silver coins to France to buy oak wood for shipbuilding, so that the French lacked shipbuilding materials.

Of course, this amount of money is not enough to keep the French short of oak. Therefore, Marin asked his men to use counterfeit silver coins to purchase tall oak logs suitable for keels in France. Especially those tall oaks that are old are the targets of Marin. As for the short ones, Marin didn't like them. Because, even if that kind of oak is used to build a ship, it will not be able to build a big ship, nor can it be used as a big sailing ship...

This is probably the first time in human history that money (and counterfeit money) has been used for such a strategic purpose...

After arranging the purchase plan, Marin ordered the Beihai Mint to mint another 500 million pieces of French "Silver Coins" of nickel-nickel-white copper...