The Rise of the European Emperor

Not all small Hanseatic merchants are willing to leave Bremen, because some small Hanseatic merchants themselves rely on the city of Bremen for business. After leaving Bremen, they completely lost their original business channels. Even, it is a way to survive.

After all, there are no well-developed transportation channels these days. Moving a family is very costly. The toll alone is scary. If the family is a little weaker, the small Hanseatic businessman will become an ordinary citizen's family after moving down. Instead of this, it's better to stay and be an ordinary wealthy household.

Therefore, in the end, dozens of small Hanseatic merchants with weak financial resources in Bremen chose to stay. Of course, they did not fight against Marin, but planned to join Marin.

"What, you want to join me?" Marin looked at the representative of the small Hanseatic businessman named Simon in front of him, his face was full of surprise.

Simon, a small Hanseatic merchant, said bitterly:

"Yes, Grand Duke. We are all small Hanseatic merchants at the bottom of Bremen. Speaking of which, we are no better than the owner of a grocery store. Moreover, our previous business channels were all local. Leme, I don't even know how to survive. Therefore, we plan to be loyal to you, Grand Duke, and we have a way to survive..."

Marin nodded clearly, but changed the subject:

"It's not that I can't keep you, but I want to tell you with regret—I'm afraid Bremen City can't let you stay anymore..."

"Why?" The businessman Simon didn't understand.

Marin explained patiently...

It turned out that in addition to coveting Bremen's boatmen and sailors who are good at inland navigation, Marin also coveted the city of Bremen itself. After all, it is not enough to rely on Emden as an important business center. If you want to develop the economy of the North Sea country, you must at least have multiple economic centers in order to boost the economy of the North Sea country. Bremen is obviously a very good economic center.

According to the geographical location of the city of Bremen, it can not only radiate the two provinces of Oldenburg and Bremen, but also affect the newly acquired Luneburg Principality in the south.

Moreover, along the Weser River, it can also be traced back to Hesse and Thuringia. If it is well managed, it will definitely play a leading role and drive the economic development of the entire Weser River Basin.

In fact, in ancient times, rivers were an important way of transportation. After all, in ancient times, land transportation mainly relied on horse-drawn carriages, and the cost was too high. And switch to shipping, the cost can save a lot.

Even in later generations, the Yangtze River Basin and the Yellow River Basin are the two most important inhabited areas in China. Especially the Yangtze River,

That is the main artery of China's economy in later generations. If it weren't for the huge location advantage at the mouth of the Yangtze River, could Dashanghai become the leader of China's economy? Similarly, Guangzhou is also the leading region in the Pearl River Basin.

Obviously, if a river is compared to a dragon, Hamburg is the "leader" of the Elbe. And Emden is the "leader" of the Ems River. As for Bremen, it is the "leader" of the Weser River...

Bremen itself has developed very well and has played an important economic role in the Weser River Basin. Although most of the Hanseatic merchants in Bremen have left, Marin will not abandon Bremen. Because he needs Bremen City as the "leader" to drive the economic development of the entire Weser River Basin.

Therefore, even if the big Hanseatic merchants in Bremen City have withdrawn, Marin will ask the Beihai Chamber of Commerce to send a large number of people and bring a large amount of capital to re-operate the business of Bremen City.

Just in time, he also needs some skilled veterans as the pioneers to open up the situation. Therefore, Marin agreed to the participation of these dozens of weak Hanseatic merchants, and planned to merge them into the Beihai Chamber of Commerce as a pioneer in developing Bremen.

Of course, the necessary scrutiny is a must. For those who have a great reputation in Bremen, Marin will never keep them. Because such people can easily incite ordinary citizens, boatmen and sailors in Bremen. But that kind of people are mainly big Hanseatic businessmen, and they have basically left. Therefore, it is no problem for Marin to absorb a small number of down-and-out Hanseatic merchants.

Moreover, after joining the Beihai Chamber of Commerce, they can't control what they want to do in the future. If they find that they are powerful in Bremen, they will be transferred away from Bremen. The Beihai country is so big, it is easy to arrange several merchants.

...

In fact, what Marin wants to do most now is to excavate the famous "Sino-German Canal" in later generations. Once the "Sino-German Canal" is opened, its role will be no less than that of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal.

The Sino-German Canal is an east-west canal, which connects the Rhine River, Ems River, Weser River and Elbe River. It is a very important transportation channel for bulk materials such as coal and iron in Germany in later generations. Cargo ship, the transportation capacity is quite impressive.

In the era when automobiles were not yet popular, once the Sino-German Canal was dug, the transportation in northern Germany could be revitalized immediately, giving a huge boost and stimulus to economic development.

But Marin also knows that it is almost impossible to dig the Sino-German Canal now. Mainly - the Sino-German Canal is too long...

The Sino-German Canal is 321 kilometers long and spans almost half of northern Germany. Its length is about 130 kilometers longer than the Suez Canal.

It took 12 years and 120,000 Egyptians to dig through the Suez Canal. The project volume of the Sino-German Canal is much larger, and God knows what it will cost.

Historically, the Sino-German Canal was built from 1905 to 1930, and it took 25 years to renovate. Moreover, it was already the 20th century at that time, and the era of internal combustion engines had entered, and a large number of construction machinery were used. With the level of machinery at that time, it has been repaired for 25 years, and Marin doesn't think he has the strength to build the Sino-German Canal now. Maybe, when the Sino-German Canal is finished, I will almost burp...

Therefore, Marin had to abandon the grand plan to build the Sino-German Canal.

...

However, although the full version of the Sino-German Canal cannot be repaired, the castrated version of the Canal can be repaired. For example, the Münster Canal built by Marin is a castrated version of an important inland waterway connecting the Ems River and the Rhine River.

Although in terms of width and water depth, the Münster Canal cannot be compared with the canals of later generations. But at least it can sail. Although it can't reach the level of the thousand-ton ships of later generations, it can barely travel small and medium-sized cargo ships of less than 100 tons.

According to the estimates of professionals, it is the most economical to run a galley with a displacement of 50 tons on this Münster Canal. For a galley with a displacement of 50 tons, half of the cargo capacity exceeds 30 tons. This kind of cargo capacity is equivalent to the level of three or four Yellow River heavy trucks.

Although the speed is not comparable to that of a truck, it has a large cargo capacity. Moreover, inland river transportation does not need to burn oil, just hire a few paddlers. If it doesn't work, you can learn from the Turks and buy a few strong Mao Gonggong as paddle slaves. In this way, the inland waterway transportation started.

...

The so-called "castrated version of the Sino-German Canal" in Marin's plan is actually to use the Münster Canal to replace the role of the Sino-German Canal connecting the Rhine and the Ems Rivers.

In addition, Marin will dig a small canal to connect the Weser and Ems rivers. And the location of this canal, Marin has already thought about it...

During the previous war with the Allied Forces of the Eight Kingdoms, Marin's army passed through two rivers in Oldenburg Province-the Leda River and the Hunter River.

Among them, the Leda River is a branch of the Ems River. It originates in the northern border region of the Nordmünster region, which is further south on the southern border of the province of Oldenburg. After flowing into the province of Oldenburg from south to north, it suddenly turns to the northwest and flows into the Ems River. It should be pointed out that the confluence of the Leda River and the Ems River is the county seat of Lyle County, the most agriculturally developed southern part of the East Frisian region. At the beginning, Marin defeated Albrecht, the old Duke of Saxony, on the banks of the Leda River outside the city of Leer...

The Hunter River is in the southeast of the province of Oldenburg, and its source is in the territory of the Bishop of Minden, which is further south in the Principality of Brunswick-Lüneburg. The river then flows north through the Duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg and into the province of Oldenburg. After arriving near the city of Oldenburg, the river suddenly turned to the northeast and flowed into the Weser River. The city of Oldenburg is located on the north bank of the bend of the Hunter River.

Marin's plan is to dig through the Leda River and the Hunter River, and connect the two major rivers through the two tributaries of the Ems River and the Weser River to achieve the purpose of inland navigation.

Although the Leda River and the Hunter River are not big rivers, what Marin wants to dig is not a big canal. The castrated version of the small canal, connecting the tributaries of the Ems River and the Weser River, can fully achieve the purpose of carrying out small-scale inland shipping.

Once the Weser River and the Ems River are connected together, including the previously dug Munster Canal, Marin is equivalent to connecting the three golden waterways of the Weser River, the Ems River and the Rhine River. In this way, the promotion effect on the economic development of the North Sea country is absolutely leveraged.

Moreover, the most important thing is that if you dig westward from the bend of the Hunter River in the south of Oldenburg, you only need to dig less than 10 kilometers to connect the two tributaries of the Hunter River and the Leda River. Its engineering volume is much smaller than that of the Münster Canal.

As for the labor force to dig the river? What were the captured prisoners of the Allied Forces of the Eight Kingdoms used for? Marin never wastes the labor of prisoners of war...