The Rise of the European Emperor

"Hey, farming cattle is a big problem!" Stopping writing the plan, Marin sighed deeply.

In that corner of the Philippines, there is no shortage of people. Not to mention the 10,000 to 20,000 Chinese immigrants, even the aborigines, there are estimated to be 560,000. Most of them are concentrated in Luzon Island. At that time, as long as the aboriginal fighters of Taiwan Island are dispatched with sophisticated weapons and armor, it will still be easy to capture.

But some people are useless, arable land depends on cattle. Don't look at people who can plow the land, but how many farmers can really endure hardships? Even the most hard-working Chinese farmers, if a family does not have cattle, it will only weigh more than ten acres of land. No matter how many, people will not be able to bear it.

But in the tropical rainforest area, not only do you need cattle, but you also need water buffalo...

If you just need cattle, it's too easy for Marin, go to Eastern Europe to buy them! Today, the Crimean Khanate has been tempted by Marin to become a professional cattle breeding country, which can supply tens of thousands of cattle every year. At the same time, on the Ukrainian prairie, which currently belongs to the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, the locals also raise cattle and sheep on a large scale, and can provide tens of thousands of cattle every year.

But unfortunately, these cattle are yellow cattle, not resistant to heat and humidity, unable to adapt to the tropical rainforest climate, let alone plow paddy fields...

Therefore, what Marin lacks now is not ordinary farming cattle, but buffaloes that can adapt to the tropical rainforest climate and cultivate paddy fields. Or, the Indian zebu kind.

However, it is very difficult to obtain buffalo or Indian zebu. Buffaloes are relatively scarce. Influenced by the Chinese farming civilization in East Asia and Southeast Asia, most of the buffaloes have been captured and domesticated by local people. Only overseas islands like Mindoro, which is full of miasma and prone to malaria, have large-scale bison.

As for the Indian zebu, if it grows a little whiter, it is the holy cow of India. It cannot be moved easily, let alone bought. Therefore, Marin can only find a way to buy or exchange Persian cattle for zebu whose coat color is not white, and it is more troublesome. Marin reckoned that even if things could be done, it would be scary if he could get thousands of zebu from India every year. Moreover, it is estimated that it is still a few thousand heads small, not a few thousand heads large.

How to get a large number of cattle suitable for the tropics? Malin thought about it...

He thought of Madagascar, known as the "Kingdom of Cattle" in later generations. However, according to the report of the spies who passed by Madagascar, the local cattle were indeed Zebu. However, it seems that there are not many of them. At least, not much along the coast.

In fact, it is not that there are not many cattle in Madagascar at this time, but the main part is not on the coast. In this era, Madagascar was mainly in the central plateau and southeast coastal areas before the embryonic form of the country emerged. Most of the development of agriculture took place in the central plateau and the southeast coastal plain.

Marin's men, however, scouted the west and north coasts of Madagascar when they passed through the Strait of Madagascar. They did not go to the southeast coast to see it, let alone go to the inland mountains to do reconnaissance. Therefore, Marin did not know that there were already many cattle in the central plateau of Madagascar at this time.

The Malagasy people have Indonesian ancestry, and their ancestors probably drifted over in canoes from Indonesians, and combined with the native Africans to form the Malagasy nation with not too dark skin.

The zebu on the island was probably brought over by Arab merchants from India. After all, Arab merchant ships traveled to and from India very early, and it was normal to get some zebu. Moreover, Arab merchants also brought rice from India.

However, the island of Madagascar is a tropical island, the northern coast is relatively hot and humid, and the environment is not very good. The western coast is not only hot, but also a bit dry.

Only the middle part of the island,

And the southeast coastal part, the climate is better. After all, the middle part is a plateau with a cooler climate. The southeast coastal part is more suitable for survival because of its higher latitude.

In later generations, Madagascar was known as the kingdom of cattle. On average, every two people owned one cow, and the total number reached more than 12 million, which is very scary.

But in this era, the western coast of Madagascar was basically undeveloped, and the northern coast was less developed. So, the number of cattle doesn't look like much. On the other hand, in the inland plateau area, because of the cool and pleasant climate, the population is concentrated, and the scale of cattle breeding is also relatively large. It is estimated that there are hundreds of thousands of zebu.

However, Marin didn't know. After all, his fleet could only stop by on the west and north coasts of Madagascar, without knowing the situation inland.

Without knowing it, Marin had only one choice left-buffalo in West Africa!

Specifically, it is to introduce West African buffalo from the Mali Empire and the Songhai Empire in West Africa for farming in tropical areas.

The cattle in West Africa are domesticated from the African buffalo. They are smaller than the Asian buffalo, but they are well adapted to the climate in tropical regions. In West Africa, although the north is a desert area, the south is still very humid. The cattle in West Africa are domesticated from buffaloes, so the local cattle are very suitable for service in tropical areas.

Once, Marin bought many local cattle from West Africa through the Portuguese. However, the price given is high. There was no way. At that time, a large number of grassland cattle in Eastern Europe died of heat because they did not adapt to the Cuban climate. Marin could only buy African cattle from the Portuguese at a high price.

Today, the Laayoune colony under Marin has established a solid trade relationship with the Songhai Empire, and it is still easy to buy cattle from the Songhai Empire. But it is not easy - how to transport the bought cattle out...

You must know that the trade route between the Laayoune colony and the Songhai Empire followed the route of the Sahara wells in Algeria in later generations. Walking camels is no problem, walking buffaloes...the problem is very, very big...

Camels must adapt to this Sahara desert route. As for humans, wearing a white robe and a water bladder can naturally make it through. But the buffalo cannot walk through. After all, buffaloes like water and are afraid of dryness, so they are not suitable for tropical desert climates. In addition, the coat color of African buffalo is black, which absorbs sunlight very much... Black cows straddle the Sahara Desert, and are easily burned to death by the scorching sun...

Therefore, what Marin is most distressed at the moment is how to transport the African cattle purchased from the Songhai Empire to the seaside...

The Songhai Empire obviously has no shortage of cattle. In the war with Moroccan mercenaries at the end of the 16th century, the Songhai Empire once wanted to use 1,000 cattle as a vanguard to attack the Moroccan front, which is a bit similar to the "Fire Bull Array". . But the people of Songhai did not expect that there was a musketeer on the opposite side, and when the musket fired, the cows ran back in fear, disrupting their own lines...

This can also prove from the side that the Songhai Empire has a lot of cattle. Fighting a random battle can actually drive 1,000 cows to be cannon fodder...

It's just that the Songhai Empire doesn't rely on the sea. Its transit is mainly in the territory of the later Niger, a proper landlocked country. Between the Songhai Empire and the sea, there is a declining Mali Empire...

The Mali Empire and the Songhai Empire are mortal enemies. After all, the Songhai Empire established itself by defeating the Mali Empire and grabbing Timbuktu. The two are mortal enemies. Even if enough African buffalo could be bought from the Songhai Empire, the Mali Empire would not let them go. What's more, the climate there is also very complicated. Especially the tropical rainforest in Guinea, it is very difficult to walk, and the forest is still very dangerous...

So, Marin is worried - he can buy cattle, but it is difficult to transport them to the sea... Therefore, the problem of cattle transportation is the biggest problem for Marin to obtain enough tropical cattle...