The Rise of the European Emperor

It's not that those old ministers of Joao II were so unlucky that they couldn't eat, but that they had no future. As aristocrats, at least their family still has land, so they don't have to worry about food and clothing. However, they don't want to hold any position, they can only nest in the countryside as a local rich man. Because, they are members of a faction hostile to the current King of Portugal.

Just like Magellan, the great navigator, why did he go to Spain to hang out? It's not because he was once the attendant of Joao II's queen. If Prince Alfonso, the crown prince of Joao II, succeeds in taking over the throne, as his mother's attendant, Magellan can definitely be counted as "one of his own", and the future is bright.

It is a pity that Prince Alfonso accidentally fell off his galloping horse when he was out hunting and died. Moreover, Prince Alfonso is the only legal heir of King Joao II. As for Jorge de Rencastre, Duke of Coimbra, he was just an illegitimate child. Joao II tried his best after the death of Prince Alfonso, but failed to get the Holy See to recognize his illegitimate son as the heir to the throne.

Here we have to mention the struggle between King Joao II and the domestic nobles...

Portugal is a small country in Europe, but it has a history of hundreds of years, and there are many nobles in the country. The great nobles in Europe are not only distinguished, but also powerful, so strong that they can compete with the king.

João II was a promising monarch. He inherited the behest of his uncle Prince Enrique and vigorously developed the navigation industry. With his support and orders, the famous Dias actively explored the west coast of Africa and discovered the Cape of Good Hope. Later Da Gama's voyage to explore the Indian route was actually the result of Joao II's early preparations. João II died in 1495, and da Gama's voyage began in 1497. Obviously, exploring the Indian route cannot be prepared in a day or two. It was during the reign of João II that the foundation was laid that Da Gama opened up the route to India.

Therefore, in the eyes of the Portuguese of later generations, João II was the real promoter and decision maker of the Portuguese voyage. And Manuel I was just sitting back and enjoying it. Therefore, Manuel I has another nickname of "The Lucky Man".

At the beginning, in order to develop the maritime industry, Joao II had a desperate contest with the great aristocratic forces in the country. In order to suppress the great aristocracy and support merchants and navigators to engage in maritime trade and explore new routes, João II raised his butcher knife against the great aristocracy. This is rare in European noble battles, and it was Manuel I's brother, Diogo, Duke of Viseu, who was executed as the first bird by Joao II.

Both Diogo and Manuel I were cousins ​​of Joao II, and Diogo was also the leader of Portugal's conservative and stubborn aristocracy.

At that time, Portugal was not a country dominated by seafaring, and the great aristocracy also valued land more than seafaring. In order to promote the great voyage, João II raised his butcher knife and carried out a brutal cleansing in Portugal. Not only did he kill his cousin, Duke Diogo, but he also killed a large number of big nobles who were against him,

They also confiscated their property and forced many old Portuguese nobles to go into exile.

After cleaning up the great aristocratic class, Joao II naturally needed a lot of manpower to help him. Therefore, a large number of low-ranking nobles entered his realization, and were promoted and appointed. The reason why Magellan was able to enter the Portuguese court is also related to Joao II's policy of promoting and reusing low-level nobles. Otherwise, with a family of little knights like Magellan, how could Magellan have the opportunity to enter the palace as an attendant?

You know, in Europe, those who can serve the royal family have always been the children of the great nobles. Even as an attendant, they are selected from among the children of the great nobles who have no right of inheritance. After all, serving as an attendant to the king and queen is also a close minister, and has a greater chance of being promoted and appointed in the future. No matter how bad it is, he is still a child of a middle-class noble family.

However, Joao II and the Portuguese aristocracy completely turned their faces, and even drew their swords against each other, and even carried out a major purge. Therefore, Joao II is naturally unlikely to allow the children of the enemy family to enter the palace. Then, Magellan, a knight boy, had the opportunity to enter the palace as the queen's page.

According to the normal development of the plot, Magellan and a large number of low-level nobles will have a very bright future, and will replace the former big aristocratic class and become the upstarts of the Kingdom of Portugal...

But people are not as good as heaven, who knows that Prince Alfonso, the only legal heir of King Joao II, will fall off his horse and die? Then, Magellan and a large number of quasi-upstarts who had a bright future were instantly beaten back to their original shape. And the one who inherited the throne happened to be Manuel I, the younger brother of Duke Diogo, the former leader of the great aristocracy...

In other words, after Manuel I succeeded to the throne, the power of Portugal was once again controlled by conservative and short-sighted nobles. Otherwise, Portugal has a first-mover advantage, how could it be so bad later? Obviously, the upper layer is not strong...

Historically, since the colonial power of Brazil was obtained, the Portuguese nobles actively sent people to Brazil to farm. As for maritime trade, they were complacent and did not make aggressive progress. Instead, they were robbed of a large share by Britain, France, etc. later. Later, a large share was taken away by rising stars like the Netherlands.

Even the opening of the Indian route was almost blocked by a large group of conservative nobles in Portugal. It was Manuel I who was greedy for the huge profits of the spice trade in India and insisted on continuing to implement Joao II's original plan to find routes to India, which led to the prosperity of Portugal. In other words, after the death of João II, the Portuguese aristocrats who made a comeback were not only not the driving force for Portugal's progress, but a great obstacle.

...

Of course, these are not issues that Marin has to worry about. In fact, the stupidity and short-sightedness of those Portuguese nobles are more beneficial to Marin. Otherwise, how could he have the opportunity to snatch the benefits?

After the big aristocratic class made a comeback, those capable small nobles who had been promoted by Joao II all suffered. Among them, only a small number of people succeeded in turning to the blind aristocratic class or the monarch Manuel I. Some also took refuge in Jorge de Rencastre, Duke of Coimbra, but the Duke of Coimbra could not support too many people due to the suppression of Manuel I. Therefore, there are still most of the capable little nobles who used to get along very well in the period of Joao II, and have been completely sidelined since then, with no hope.

Therefore, a capable person like Magellan, for the sake of wealth, was forced to risk his life and go to Spain to seek support for sailing expeditions. There is no way, there is no future in this country. As Joao II's old minister, he is destined to be suppressed...

Marin was very interested in the news provided by Magellan. So he asked:

"How many former ministers of His Majesty Joao II who are capable but suppressed like you are there in Portugal?"

Magellan thought for a while and said:

"There are a lot of people who have been suppressed. Among them, there are probably hundreds of people who are capable..."

"Then can you persuade a few to come and serve me?" Marin asked.

Magellan's heart tightened, worried that introducing so many people would steal his job, so he became a little bit squeamish.

Marin seemed to see his thoughts and said with a smile:

"I just want to find some people to help me hunt rhinos on the African grasslands to obtain cowhide. What are you thinking?"

It turned out that Marin had a new plan after learning of the existence of such a group as "Joao II's old ministers" in Portugal...

In any case, those old ministers of João II who lost power were also nobles of Portugal. Manuel I and the great Portuguese nobles simply sidelined them, but did not deprive them of their titles.

As Portuguese aristocrats, it may be difficult for them to get opportunities at home. However, if it is requested to go to Africa to do business and open up trade points, the Portuguese court will not refuse. After all, no matter what they do, if they want to be authorized, they have to give benefits to the royal family. After all, Africa is theoretically the territory of the Portuguese royal family. If you want to operate trade on it, you must give the royal family benefits.

Moreover, because Africa is a territory owned by the royal family, the opening of a new trade zone does not require the consent of the big aristocrats, it only needs to be negotiated with the royal family. After all, those undeveloped lands in Africa are owned by the royal family, not the big nobles.

Marin had cooperated with Duke Jorge of Coimbra before, but Duke Jorge is a great nobleman after all. Even if his IQ is not good, there are still a lot of think tanks to advise him. Therefore, it is difficult to take too much advantage from Duke Jorge.

But those downcast old ministers of João II are different, many of them are low-level nobles, and they don't have so much thoughtfulness. Marin can find a low-level noble who has lost power, such as a knight or something, and make a big profit, let them apply for a license with the Portuguese royal family, and go to Africa to hunt rhinos. Of course, Marin himself will send the manpower to hunt the rhino. However, there needs to be a cover on the bright side.

And the next area where Marin hunted rhinos will be South Africa in later generations...

South Africa here does not refer to Africa, but specifically refers to the later Republic of South Africa. In later generations, South Africa is the world's largest rhino country, with more than 80 rhinos in the world.

Even in the global environment of rhino protection in later generations, more than a thousand rhinos are hunted for horns in South Africa every year, and the total number of rhinos is tens of thousands. In the 16th century, the local area had not been developed much, and Europeans using muskets had not yet entered. And the local black aborigines don't have the ability to provoke the powerful rhino. Therefore, these days, there are tens of thousands of wild rhinos in South Africa that are light. Want rhino hide? Hunting on the grasslands of South Africa is...

...

Marin's plan is actually to recruit a few old ministers of Joao II who are not very smart, and let them stand in front as a cover. But in fact, it was Marin who sent his men to South Africa to establish a trading port. Then, send musketeers on horseback to hunt and kill rhinos in the grasslands for their hides. As for the rhino horn, it was used as a trade to deal with the Portuguese royal family. Anyway, Marin is not interested in things made of animal bones such as rhino horns and ivory, so it is better to use them to fool the Portuguese. Then, he got the rhinoceros hide himself, made light armor, and gained real benefits... As for the trading port, Marin plans to build it on the Cape of Good Hope...

Moreover, Marin chose to send people to South Africa to hunt rhinos, in fact, he was also preparing to capture South Africa later. In the future, Marin will definitely control South Africa, the world's largest gold producing area. However, the gold mines in South Africa are deep inland and not easy to find. Therefore, this requires Marin to send manpower in advance to find out the local terrain and find the road to the inland. When one day, Marin obtained the territory of South Africa from the Portuguese, he could quickly send people to the area where the gold mine is located.

Among other things, Marin may not be familiar with other parts of South Africa, but because of the World Cup in South Africa, Marin's coordinates for Johannesburg, South Africa are very clear. Because the Soccer City Stadium in Johannesburg is the common venue for the opening match and final of the World Cup in South Africa. As a half fan, Marin has a deep memory of Johannesburg. Out of the habit of geography lovers, he noted down the latitude and longitude of Johannesburg. At that time, as long as the hunting team opens up the road to the Johannesburg area, they can send people to develop the gold mine at any time. And Johannesburg happened to be developed on the basis of the gold mines in South Africa and is the location of the gold mines.

In other words, Marin sent people to South Africa to hunt rhinos, which is actually a very clever layout. First of all, South Africa is a place with a lot of rhinos. Sending hunting teams there can hunt enough rhinos. Secondly, through the hunting of rhinos, the hunting team must go deep into the interior of the South African plateau and reach the area near Johannesburg. In this way, Marin not only obtained enough rhino hides, but also opened up and explored the road to the area where the South African gold mine is located. On the way, just send people to develop the gold mine directly...

Moreover, South Africa is not only rich in gold mines, but also extremely rich in chromite, which even accounts for 72% of the world's reserves. The chromite reserves in Cuba are too small to be used at all. That is to say, Marin's demand for stainless steel is small now, and if it is industrialized later, the demand for chromium will be very large. Making stainless steel requires chromium and nickel, and the lateritic nickel ore in Cuba alone is enough to consume nickel. However, chromium is relatively scarce in Cuba. If you want to produce stainless steel in large quantities, you need to find a large amount of chromium resources. It just so happens that South Africa is the region with the largest reserves of ferrochrome in the world. Winning South Africa not only obtains the world's largest gold mining area, but also the world's largest ferrochrome resource producing area.

In addition to the two strategic resources of gold and chrome ore, Marin is also very interested in cattle in South Africa. Marin, who is very good at history and geography in his previous life, remembers that the Zulu people in South Africa, including the Bantu people who are the source of the Zulu people, like to raise cattle. Moreover, when a man marries a wife, he must use a cow as a bride price. Generally speaking, if you want to marry a woman, you need to pay a dozen cows as a bride price. The more cows in the family, the more wives you can get...

Marin was not interested in those black girls, but he was very interested in the cows that were exchanged for black girls. After all, having cattle means having the animal power to cultivate land. No matter how bad it is, you can kill and eat beef...

In short, South Africa is a treasure. The sooner you lay out here, the sooner you can get huge benefits...

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