The Rise of the European Emperor

"1 is more than 80? Grand Duke Marin, are you kidding me?" Jacob Fugger was full of disbelief.

Now that he decided to make friends with the banking family, Marin did not hide his secrets, but introduced:

"Let me tell you, copper is so expensive only in copper-deficient Europe. In India and the Ming Empire in the east, copper is very cheap. The Spaniards are just trying to introduce some cheap copper from India. If you sell Indian copper, the price of copper will fall immediately."

"In addition, Japan, a colony assigned to me by the Holy See, also has a lot of copper mines. Once it is developed, it will directly hit the market!" Isn't that right, the culprit of the copper price plummeting to more than 1:80 in European history was brought back by the Dutch Japanese copper. Of course, that was in the 17th century. However, it is no problem that the large-scale introduction of Indian copper will cause the European copper price to plummet.

"Okay, I will deal with those small copper mines as soon as possible!" Jacob Fugger looked depressed. Whoever's most proud handwriting is denied by others will not feel good. At the beginning, he was the one who strongly advocated hoarding copper mines.

After a pause, Jacob Fugger asked again:

"What about the silver mine? Is there any value in keeping it? His Majesty the Emperor mortgaged the Schwarz silver mine in Tyrol to me. It is a big mine!"

It is indeed a big silver mine, and it is the largest silver mine in Europe in this era. Anyone who has played Europa Universalis knows that there is a huge silver mine in Tyrol, but it was mortgaged by the poor Habsburg family. And the mortgage object is the richest man in Germany...

Marin took a sip of tea, not knowing what to say. But suddenly, a thought flashed through my mind, maybe this is an opportunity...

what chance? An opportunity to solve the money shortage in Europe!

You know, Europe is short of gold and silver now, and the Tyrol silver mine is a famous big silver mine in Europe. Historically, during the ten years from 1526 to 1535, the Tyrol silver mine and the Saxon silver mine produced an average of about 70,000 kilograms of silver each year.

What is the concept of 70,000 kilograms of silver? That's 70 million grams! Calculated according to the gold-silver exchange ratio of 1 to 12, it is equivalent to 58.33 million grams. A gold coin of 356 grams is minted, which is equivalent to 163.85 million Gulden gold coins!

This is just one of the Tyrolean silver mines. If the Saxony silver mines burst into production together, it would be equivalent to producing silver worth 32.77 million gold coins every year!

If you count the slightly inferior Kutna Hora silver mine in Bohemia and the Rammelsberg silver mine in Goslar, which is currently in the hands of Marin, the four major silver mines exploded together. It will certainly greatly alleviate the money shortage in Europe.

As for the Tyrolean silver mine, which is currently in the hands of the Fugger family, it seems that it is only used for hoarding, and there is no plan to develop it yet. The later development was also stimulated by the discovery of a large number of silver mines in America. Because, if it is not developed, it will depreciate...

Of course, the Fugger family still doesn't know that there is a large amount of gold and silver in America, and Marin will not tell him. However, Japan's Yinshan can still talk about it...

So, Marin asked Jacob Fugger to back away from the left and right, and after making the other party swear not to leak the secret, he quietly told him:

"Count Jacob, let me tell you this. I discovered a large silver mine in Japan, and I am currently organizing an expeditionary force, intending to capture it and then develop it. That silver mine is estimated to produce more silver than Schwarz in Tyrol. Mine. If you develop late, when my silver mine starts to produce on a large scale, it is estimated that the price of silver will fall..."

This is why Marin scares the other party. In fact, even if Iwami Yinshan is developed, if the Potosi Silver Mine and other large American silver mines are not developed at the same time, the impact on the silver price will not be that great. The reason why Marin frightened Jacob Fugger was that he hoped that the powerful Fugger family could develop the Tyrolean silver mine earlier and ease the money shortage in Europe. After all, it will take a long time for him to take over Japan and develop Iwami Yinshan. The distant water cannot save the near fire!

Jakob Fugger probably thought of this too, so he asked:

"Grand Duke Marin, how long will it take you to develop that silver mine?"

Marin thought about it,

Said a conservative figure:

"It will take about 20 years to fully develop the big silver mine. After all, it is not difficult to develop a silver mine. The hard thing is to defeat the Japanese army. You know, the population of Japan is about 17 million, which is much larger than the population of France. I You need to prepare a large number of military expeditions to succeed. Counting the suppression of local resistance and the preparation time, it is estimated that it will take 20 years to reach the maximum production capacity. By then, the annual output of that big silver mine may exceed 100,000 pounds..."

In fact, at the peak of Iwami Yinshan, the annual silver output was 38 tons, equivalent to 8.37 million pounds. Marin wanted to scare Jacob Fugger, so he naturally raised his voice. Moreover, even if it is 38 tons, it cannot keep up with the 70,000 kilograms of the Tyrolean silver mine at its peak. 70,000 kilograms, that's equivalent to 70 tons!

But Jakob Fugger didn't know, after all, the Tyrolean silver mine hadn't started to explode. The annual output of 100,000 pounds that Marin said frightened him...

"The annual output is 100,000 pounds! Isn't the price of silver going to fall? Then my Tyrolean silver mine..."

Marin waved his hand and said:

"What are you afraid of? I will send troops to conquer Japan and then develop the silver mines. It will take twenty or thirty years. During this period, as long as you vigorously develop the Tyrolean silver mines, you will be able to dominate the market first!"

Jacob Fugger nodded, knowing that Marin was right. Then, he said worriedly:

"If you want to greatly increase production in a short period of time, it is estimated that you will need a lot of miners, maybe 10,000 to 20,000 people! Most people don't want to be miners. Where can I find so many miners?"

These days, the death rate among miners is high. Unless it is absolutely necessary, most people are unwilling to go down the well to mine. Especially in gold and silver mines, the overseers are especially scary, and not many can leave the gold and silver mines alive. For example, the Potosi silver mine is said to have killed 8 million Indians in 300 years.

Marin thought for a while, showing a sly smile:

"I have a method that allows you to get a large number of miners without worrying about them dying..."

Jakob Fugger would have misunderstood it:

"Do you want me to buy black African slaves? That's against the rules of the Holy See!"

Indeed, the state of Tyrol is just north of Italy, and selling black slaves here is simply a slap in the face of the Holy See. Historically, black slaves were mostly trafficked to America. Anyway, the Holy See will not send people to America to investigate.

Marin shook his head and said:

"Have you heard of the Crimean Khanate?"

Jacob Fugger instantly understood:

"You mean those Ross people? Buying white slaves is like breaking the rules!"

"Who said they were slaves? They were just hired labor with long-term contracts!" Marin said solemnly.

Jacob Fugger understood immediately, but he was still worried:

"What if those miners escape and sue the church?"

Marin glanced at him contemptuously, and said:

"Do those Ross people speak German or Italian? Or, Latin? They don't understand the language, how do you file a complaint? Besides, you can hire some mercenaries as supervisors to prevent them from fleeing the mine!"

"Then how do I get that kind of Ross miner slave? Do you have a channel?" Jacob Fugger humbly asked for advice.

Marin waved his hand:

"Don't ask me about this, you can just find the Venetians. Many of their galleys have bought Russian rowing slaves. Moreover, Venice and Tyrol are only separated by the Alps, so the traffic is very convenient. As long as If you are willing, it will not be a problem to get 10,000 to 20,000 Rus slaves as mining slaves. Of course, you have to prepare the so-called contract in advance to meet the inspection of the church. You can sign a 30-year contract with them, but in fact, How many miners can live for 30 years? But if you do this, you can deal with the public opinion. At least, on the surface, they are not slaves, and they do not violate religious regulations..."

Jakob Fuggle suddenly laughed:

"Sure enough, he is indeed a wise man praised by His Majesty the Emperor!"

The few words of the two "devils" sealed a tragic fate for tens of thousands of the grand duchy of Moscow. Of course, the Crimeans who took over this big order were naturally overjoyed. This is a super big order!

As for the blood and tears of the Ross people, who cares...