The Rise of the European Emperor

After clearing his throat, John asked Louis XII:

"Your Majesty must have heard of the legend of the Golden Basin in Sicily?"

Louis XII nodded:

"Yes, of course I know. The Golden Basin is fertile and has a warm climate, and is rich in wheat and olive oil. It is said that the per acre of wheat in the Golden Basin can reach an astonishing amount of Bonniers (Medieval French land area unit, about 1 acre). Hectares, equal to 15 acres) about 3,000 pounds (french pounds, the more 489.5 grams), which is twice the per-mu yield of wheat in other areas! However, what does this have to do with your secret?"

John smiled and said:

"Of course there is a relationship, and it is a very big relationship! Because, the former grand duke of the North Sea Country, Marin, discovered this secret and applied it to the agricultural production of the North Sea Country. In his name, no less than 100,000 Bonnie's arable land (actually more ), he basically applied the method he learned from the Golden Basin of Sicily, so that the output of rye from each Bonnier arable land can reach more than 3,000 pounds. And each pound of rye is worth 1 pfennig, and 3,000 pounds of rye is 3,000 pounds. Finney, equivalent to 50 gold coins. 100,000 Bonnies is 5 million gold coins..."

"What?" Louis XII was so frightened that his glass fell to the ground. However, the wine glass is made of gold, and it cannot be broken.

"5 million gold coins... 5 million gold coins... No wonder, he can pull up a standing army of 60,000 people! This financial resource, I can't do it..."

This year, the country with the richest financial resources in Europe is Venice, with an annual fiscal revenue of about 1.65 million ducats. France is second, with an annual fiscal revenue of about 1.2 million gold coins.

However, Venice relies on the taxation of nautical trade, while France relies purely on the output of the king's fiefs and few commercial taxes and import and export trade tariffs.

But what did Louis XII hear? In a mere North Sea Grand Duchy, the output of Marin's fief has reached an astonishing annual income of 5 million gold coins... No, I have to drink a drink to suppress the shock...

So, Louis XII picked up the glass, poured a glass of Burgundy red wine, and drank it...

"Your Majesty, 5 million gold coins are only the total output. In fact, only half of them can be obtained..." John reminded.

Actually, that's not the case at all. John's statement is the norm for the rest of Europe. Because each royal family territory is managed by nobles who are loyal to the royal family or branch nobles of the royal family. These nobles naturally want to goose and pluck their hair, wantonly filling their own pockets. Therefore, it is not bad to have half of the output in the hands of the king.

The North Sea Kingdom is different. The predecessor of the North Sea Kingdom, East Frisian, was built on the premise that Marin washed the old nobles with blood. In Beihai Kingdom, there are not many nobles. Therefore, Marin generally employs a large number of civilians as manor stewards. But Marin did not trust them completely, but at the same time sent Kohler's spies to monitor them to avoid corruption. Therefore, most of Marin's fief output can be safely put into storage, avoiding corruption by his subordinates. Although corruption cannot be eradicated, at least there is no major problem in general. Unlike those old-fashioned countries, the personnel relations in the territory are complicated, and there are many people who are greedy for ink. In the end, half of the part in the hands of the monarch is not bad.

Louis XII, whose mood calmed down a little,

exclaimed:

"Even if it's only half, it's 2.5 million gold coins, more than twice the income of the French royal court! No wonder, a mere North Sea country dares to pull up an army of 60,000 people and make waves everywhere. People who have food and grass are self-willed. !"

"Now that I dedicate this secret to Your Majesty, does Your Majesty think that a baron is too much?" John asked with a smile.

"It's really not much! However, I really can't give you a viscount, otherwise, those nobles will be in trouble!" Louis XII said seriously.

John nodded and said:

"I understand, so I hope Your Majesty will take more care of my winery business in the future. Also, I will give my subordinates more opportunities to enter the palace and make friends with great people!"

"It's natural!" Louis XII nodded and said:

"Now, can you tell the specific secret?"

"As ordered, Your Majesty!" John saluted, then continued:

"It's like this, the late Grand Duke of the North Sea Kingdom, Marin, chatted with a mercenary from Sicily when he led his troops to fight in Italy, and inadvertently learned a secret - the volcanic soil in Sicily is very fertile. Planting on the top yields high yields!”

"So, he had a whimsy-since the volcanic ash soil is fertile, why not dig the volcanic ash back as fertilizer to fertilize the farmland? Then, he sent his senior minister Kohler to go to Naples, Italy to buy a volcano, and there I dug up the volcanic ash and transported it back to the fields as fertilizer. Later, it turned out to be a high yield..."

"Volcanic ash? As fertilizer?" Louis XII was stunned...

"It's that simple?"

John nodded:

"Yeah, it's that simple..."

Louis XII suddenly had a feeling that he was fooled and wanted to refund the ticket:

"I feel like I was tricked by a baron to leave..."

"Your Majesty, I didn't lie to you. You think, it's easy for me to say it, but, for thousands of years, who would have thought of this? Only a genius like Malin, the former Grand Duke of Beihai Kingdom, would do such a thing. Weird attempt. In the end, he succeeded! Moreover, if the minister does not come and tell His Majesty, His Majesty will never know!"

After Louis XII heard it, indeed, if John hadn't come to tell him, he wouldn't have thought of it even if he tried to break his head.

Suddenly, Louis XII raised his head and asked suspiciously:

"So, how do you know this secret? As far as I know, you are a wine merchant in the city of Munster, and the city of South Munster is not under the jurisdiction of the North Sea. Logically, you should not know this. Confidential..."

John had long expected to have this question, and answered calmly:

"Your Majesty does not know that this time, the seven princes jointly sent troops to Beihai Kingdom to seize this secret. Later, John, Count of Rietberg, joined in under the introduction of his younger brother, Bishop Conrad. Bishop Conrad has a very good relationship, and overheard the princes discussing this secret. The eight princes shared this robbed secret, and the minister was fortunate to hear it..."

"Then you came and told me?"

"Naturally, in terms of Europe, who can be stronger than the Kingdom of France? Moreover, France has a lot of arable land. With this secret, it is naturally even more powerful. If there is enough food, the French cavalry can be dispatched without restriction. Just ask, who in the world can stop ?" John flattered.

"You can see clearly..." Louis XII said proudly.

Because John was right. If there is enough food to feed those war horses, the plate armor that France can touch is not 10,000, but more than 20,000. Because the total number of French plate knights is definitely more than 20,000. However, once the plate armor heavy cavalry is dispatched, the food consumption is huge, especially the warhorse can eat too much. And the food is so expensive that the Dharma King cannot afford it. Therefore, France would rather recruit Swiss mercenaries to fight than easily use the country's plate armor and heavy cavalry. Because even if the Swiss were given double the commission, the cost would be much less than that of the cavalry. After all, Swiss mercenaries were mostly infantry. And the two horses of the heavily armored cavalry can eat the food of 10 people a day...

To understand these, Louis XII has already begun to look forward to the bright future of the French iron cavalry pushing the European continent. However, he suddenly remembered - no, it seems that the volcanic kingdom of Naples and Sicily are both in the hands of the sworn enemy Spaniards...

So he asked his own question...

John has a plan:

"This is simple. Your Majesty can arrange for his merchants to go to the Kingdom of Naples to buy a volcano, and then send someone to dig the volcanic ash and transport it back to the country as fertilizer! It is said that Beihai Kingdom does this."

"That's a good idea. Do you have any recommended volcanoes to buy? Also, will the local people object to our digging the volcano? After all, you also said that volcanic ash is fertile soil, so they can let you dig the fertile soil?"

John replied:

"Volcanic ash is fertile soil, but it has to be spread on the plains to become fertile soil. And in those mountainous areas with rugged terrain, even if there is volcanic ash, you can't farm. You can't farm on the mountains, right? We don't dig those on the plains. The volcanic ash is fertile soil, but people are sent to dig up the volcanic ash in the mountains, which no one cares."

"It makes sense, then which volcano should I buy, do you have a recommendation?" Louis XII said with satisfaction.

John spread out the map directly and pointed to a volcanic road along the Gulf of Naples in the Kingdom of Naples:

"Your Majesty, this is Mount Vesuvius, have you heard of it?"

"I've really heard of it. It is said that in Roman times, this volcano erupted and buried several cities."

The ancient city of Pompeii has long been forgotten by Europeans, and it will not be until 1594 that someone will excavate the stone engraved with the word "Pompey". In the 18th century, archaeologists dug up the ancient city of Pompeii, and then it became a sensation around the world. Before Pompeii was unearthed, Mount Vesuvius was not so well known. Louis XII could know, and he could be considered erudite.

John nodded and said:

"I went to Italy for business, and I heard from an Italian scholar that the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD 79 buried three ancient Roman cities - Pompeii, Herculaneum and Staby. Ya. It is said that before being buried by volcanic ash, Pompeii was the second largest city in the Roman Empire, second only to Rome, with a population of 25,000..." Actually, this is what Marin told John. Of course, these are common sense in later history.

"What? There is such a city?" Louis XII was taken aback. You know, with a population of 25,000, it was considered a big city in 1512. You know, Vienna, the capital of Austria, has only 20,000 people.

"Yes, I think, if the area under Mount Vesuvius is excavated in the name of archaeology, wouldn't the excavation of volcanic ash not be noticeable? Moreover, if the ancient city of Pompeii is excavated...it was a prosperous city in ancient Rome. , there may be many treasures..."

"Okay, that's it! I want to dig out the ancient city of Pompeii!" Louis XII's eyes already showed many antiques from the Roman era...

But he didn't know that this was a big hole that Marin left for him...

The ancient city of Pompeii naturally exists, and the antiques inside are also invaluable. But the problem is - it's Spanish territory...

If the Spaniards know that the French are digging Pompeii on their territory... I didn't say anything, let's fight first...

Once the fight begins, the French's plan to use volcanic ash to fertilize their fields will fail. In order to capture enough volcanic ash, the French had to send troops to snatch the kingdom of Naples again. And Spain will not show weakness... Let the two countries play dog ​​brains...

Of course, Marin will not intervene in the early stage, and always let the French taste some sweetness. After they have enjoyed a wave of benefits, they will invite the Spaniards to attack them...

In order to trigger a full-scale war between France and Spain, Marin also went out of his way to sell the news of the ancient city of Pompeii to the French. You know, he originally planned to secretly dig out the ancient city of Pompeii to steal those antiques. But keeping the two powerful rivals in France and Spain at war is more important than stealing those antiques. So, Marin reluctantly asked the French to buy Vesuvius and dig Pompeii...