The Rise of the European Emperor

For Marin, what the American colonies need now is labor, not stupid labor. As for the source of soldiers or something, it doesn't matter. After all, the Germans are enough to provide the required sources of troops. To develop the American colonies, farmers are needed, not soldiers.

Although the Italians are not good fighters, their farming ability is stronger than that of the Germans. These days, the Italians with the strongest farming ability in Europe are probably the Italians (if Marin, the traverser, is not counted). The Italians learned the cash irrigation technology of digging ditches from the Arabian region of the Middle East, coupled with the fertility of volcanic ash, and became the region with the highest grain production in Europe (also not counting the North Sea country). According to intelligence, the "Golden Basin" in Sicily, due to the fertility of volcanic ash and advanced irrigation technology, has a wheat yield of more than 200 pounds per mu, making it one of the most important wheat producing areas in Europe. Moreover, Duran wheat, which is suitable for making pasta, is abundant, and its value is very high. Otherwise, the Kingdom of Aragon, far away on the Iberian Peninsula, would not occupy this "treasure land" not far away.

Although they also don't know how to use manure, the farming techniques of the Italians are indeed much more refined than that of the Germans. Although there are far fewer plains than in Germany, the Italians, relying on more sophisticated agricultural irrigation techniques and favorable conditions such as volcanic ash soil, have a population of tens of millions in Italy, which is criss-crossed by mountains. In the same period, Germany (not the entire German region, excluding Austria and Bohemia, only counting the later German regions) had a population of just over 9 million.

With such a large population, it is obvious that Marin's American colonies can provide enough labor. Even recruiting people in Italy has less resistance than in Germany. Because the princes in the Italian region are not hostile to Marin.

In Italy, except for the Papal State and Venice, two forces that cannot be provoked, in other countries, Marin can actually send people to recruit immigrants.

In normal times, perhaps like the Kingdom of Naples, which belongs to a powerful country like France or Spain, Marin cannot easily send people to recruit immigrants.

However, the Kingdom of Naples is now in the flames of war, and there must be many victims. At this time, it shouldn't be too easy to send people to the Kingdom of Naples to recruit disaster victims. Anyway, whether it is the French or the Spaniards, the armies are all confronting each other near the city of Naples. Marin only needs to send people to other coastal areas of the Kingdom of Naples to quietly recruit people, and it's not a big deal.

In addition, in addition to the Kingdom of Naples with a population of 2 million, there are many people who can be recruited. The Duchy of Milan with a population of 1.25 million is also a good target for recruiting disaster victims.

At this time, because Gonzalo dispatched an army to loot most of the grain in the city of Milan, most of the grain harvested by the Duchy of Milan this year disappeared. It is foreseeable that after the spring of next year, the populous Duchy of Milan will definitely fall into a food shortage.

Of course, it's okay for now, after all, Gonzalo's Spanish army didn't have time to go to the Italian peasants' homes on the Po River plain to grab food. Therefore, the local farmers still have some food in stock, and life is not so sad.

However, Marin can make them sad...

The method is very simple - buy Guttendorf who is currently stationed in the Duchy of Milan, let him send troops to various parts of the Duchy of Milan, and forcefully collect military rations from the farmers. As long as the means are black, most of the grain of the farmers of the Principality of Milan can be taken away, making it even more difficult for them.

Moreover, General Guttendorf, who had lost his food, asked the peasants for food again, which was just a basic operation, and it would be the same for individual nobles. The difference is that,

The level of food requisition. If the means are mild, only part of the grain will be expropriated, so as to leave a way for the farmers to survive. But when they encountered cruelty, they directly expropriated and extorted most of the food. In this way, the farmers will not be able to support the autumn harvest next year...

Obviously, Marin just needs the farmers of the Principality of Milan to be unable to support until next year's autumn harvest. In this way, he will have the opportunity to recruit a large number of disaster victims from the local area...

So, Marin asked Kohler to secretly send someone south to quietly contact General Guddendorff. Moreover, a high price of 300,000 gold coins was offered. The only requirement was that when Gudendorff's more than 16,000 German mercenaries requisitioned grain and grass from the peasants of the Principality of Milan, they were ruthless and robbed most of the local farmers' grain, cutting off their way of life.

Only in this way, after a while, the local farmers will not be able to survive, and Marin will send people to recruit again, and the effect will be better...

...

Although the method is a bit nasty, it's really easy to use. If tens of thousands of strong men can be recruited from the Duchy of Milan with a population of 1.25 million, then millions of acres of grain fields can be reclaimed in America!

After all, with the "artifacts" of agriculture such as Prader plow carts, columbine carts, and wheat samarium, it is no problem for a strong man and his family to plant 100 mu of land.

In addition to the Principality of Milan, Marin can also recruit immigrants in the Principality of Savoy, Genoa, Mantua, Ferrara, Modena and other places. Although the difficulty of recruitment is higher than in the war zone, it is still possible to recruit people. After all, Italy has more mountains and less land, which is comparable to Hu Jian and other places. If there are more children in the family, they have to go to other places to make a living.

Therefore, the Italians are the same as the Hakka people. Because the family has little arable land, the men are used to wandering around, and they have also learned to do business and are very good at it.

Such an Italian is much easier to recruit than a French farmer with fertile land at home. After all, people are used to leaving their homes.

At that time, as long as the population ratio is well controlled, mainly Germans, and Italians are not allowed to join the army, nothing major will happen.

In short, Italian immigrants only need to cultivate the land well. Or, be a craftsman and scholar or something. As for fighting, it still depends on the Germans. In this way, there will be no funny incidents that can defeat an African country later...

How should I put it, the support of the two major powers, Britain and France, was the most important for Italy to become independent from Austria and establish a unified country. If Italy plays against Austria alone, it is purely to find confidence for the Austrians.

During the First World War, no one could beat the Austrian army with complex ethnic composition, but it could always find confidence in Italy...

...

At the end of November 1514, after several months of voyage, a Spanish clipper loaded with 150,000 ounces of gold finally drove back to the Spanish mainland of Cadiz from the coast of Mozambique.

When it was learned that the colonial army had finally found the legendary Zimbabwean Empire and snatched back 150,000 ounces of gold, the entire Spanish government and opposition parties were boiling!

150,000 ounces of gold! That is a huge amount that can mint 1.2 million gold coins! With these 1.2 million gold coins, the military expenditure on the Naples battlefield will be settled, and there is no need to spend huge sums of money from the spice trade to support it.

More importantly, it is said that Zimbabwe can still produce 30,000 to 40,000 ounces of gold every year! Not all of it is given to Spain, but Spain can earn most of it even through trade.

For Spain, having the exclusive right to trade with the Zimbabwe Empire is equivalent to steadily earning most of the tens of thousands of ounces of gold!

However, the profits of trade with black Africans have always been very high. In this case, the 30,000 to 40,000 ounces of gold produced by the Zimbabwe Empire each year can bring at least 20,000 ounces of gold to Spain. Converted down, it is more benefits of 160,000 gold coins!

In addition, adding the gold that is not considered profitable, it is estimated that the Spanish court can mint more than 200,000 gold coins every year. With this batch of gold, Spain will not have to worry about not having enough gold and silver to support foreign trade in international trade in the future!

All in all, with this batch of gold and the beautiful blueprint for future gold returns, the Spanish ruling and opposition parties are full of confidence in the future...