The Rise of the European Emperor

Thinking of this, Marin thought for a while and asked Magellan:

"Ferdinand, do you know any Portuguese aristocrats who have completely given up on the Kingdom of Portugal, kept their promises, and have a strict mouth?"

If you want to find a spokesperson, not only the identity is suitable, but also the personal character is very important. Keeping promises and being strict with one's mouth are the basic qualities. If a person does not keep his promise or speaks loudly, the Portuguese will definitely know the details and stop him.

Magellan thought for a while and said:

"There is such a person, his name is Ferreira Lavra, a baron in the Porto area. At the same time, he was also the head of the guard in the palace of His Majesty Joao II, and he was also the one who introduced me to the palace as a knight boy people."

"Originally, he was a person trusted by His Majesty Joao II. If Prince Alfonso can succeed, he must have a bright future, but..."

Magellan shook his head, apparently thinking of himself. He then went on to introduce:

"Baron Ferreira's ability is not outstanding, his brain is not very smart, and his martial arts are not particularly good. However, he is very loyal to His Majesty Joao II, so he was very trusted back then."

"However, after the death of His Majesty Joao II, he was liquidated, driven out of Lisbon, and forced to return to his hometown. Ordinarily, he, a confidant of His Majesty Joao, and his status as a baron is not low, should seek refuge in Coimbes His Majesty the Duke of La. However, his mind is relatively rigid, and he does not recognize the Duke of Coimbra, the illegitimate son of His Majesty Joao, as the young master, but only recognizes the dead His Highness Alfonso. Therefore, Duke Jorge was annoyed. Then, he He was neither liked by the great nobles of His Majesty Manuel I nor accepted by the opposition of the Duke of Coimbra. Lord."

"Some time ago, I heard that there was a food crisis in Baron Lavra. Baron Ferreira even took people out to sea to fish in order to get enough food..."

"Fishing? His fief is by the sea?" Marin asked with interest.

Magellan nodded and said:

"Yes, the Barony of Lavra is not far north of Porto City. It is close to the sea. There are only a few coastal villages. The land is barren and the food production is insufficient. It is said that the cultivated land there has been soaked in sea water and has a salty taste... So, The food production is very low, and Lord Ferreira's life is naturally not very good..."

After hearing this, Marin knew it right away—this is clearly the coastal saline-alkali soil soaked by seawater! In future generations, there may be many solutions. For example, pumps are used to pump groundwater with high salt content and discharge it into the sea. At the same time, it will not take many years to improve the land by diverting fresh water from the river. Or, plant salt-absorbing plants bred by later generations of experts,

Absorb the salt in the soil and even the salt in the groundwater to reduce the salinity. Of course, this method is relatively slow.

However, in this era, coastal saline-alkali land is really a difficult problem to solve, and there is no solution at all. No way, Portugal faces the Atlantic Ocean, with high winds and rough waves, frequent tides, and it is normal for coastal land to be soaked by seawater.

Baron Ferreira is very unlucky. Although the baron has a dozen or so villages, they are all somewhat saline coastal saline land, and the output is very low. Therefore, he had to let the two villages closest to the sea get fishing boats to go fishing. However, because the farmers couldn't afford fishing boats, he had no choice but to buy two fishing boats out of his own pocket and personally lead a team to go fishing to subsidize the food shortage in the territory.

In fact, it was this Baron Ferreira who had a rigid mind. As a coastal barony close to Porto, if it developed trade, it would have been done long ago, so why go fishing? Apparently, Magellan's assessment of the guy's rigidity was justified.

However, this kind of rigid-minded person is exactly what Marin needs very much. Because they value commitment and do things in a strict manner. As long as you promise yourself, you will basically not go back on your word.

Marin then directly told Magellan:

"I've given you a task. Go find this person and sign a secret agreement with him, requiring him to apply to the Portuguese royal family for the development of rhino and elephant resources near the Cape of Good Hope, and to establish a trading point at the Cape of Good Hope to obtain local animal resources. Exclusive rights to..."

After hearing this, Magellan was puzzled:

"It's no problem for him to organize a team to hunt rhinos and elephants at the Cape of Good Hope. However, it is very difficult to obtain the exclusive management right there. After all, people in the royal family value money but not people. Want to buy It takes a lot of money to obtain exclusive rights. But with so much money, who would develop that kind of wild land?"

Marin thought for a while and said:

"How about this, you let him promise that all the rhino horns and ivory hunted will be handed over to the royal family for sale at a very low wholesale price."

Magellan grew his mouth:

"Isn't this a part-time job for the royal family?"

Marin nodded and said:

"Yes, I'm afraid that's the only way that the Portuguese royal family will allow an old minister of João II to get such rights. Anyway, my purpose is not rhino horn and ivory. You can let him write this article into the exclusive right In the contract, there is such a harsh condition that no one will come to snatch it. Moreover, there is no need to worry about Manuel I not agreeing."

After a pause, Marin continued:

"You tell Baron Ferreira that he doesn't have to go to the Cape of Good Hope himself, he just needs to send a steward to make a show. The establishment of a trade point on the Cape of Good Hope and the organization of a team to hunt rhinos and elephants are all my responsibility. Send someone. In return, not only will he get the money from selling rhino horns and ivory to the Portuguese royal family every year, but I will also give him another 5,000 gold coins every year!"

This condition, for Baron Ferreira, who was so poor that he led a fishing team out to sea, was definitely a very generous treatment. Because, according to this contract, Baron Ferreira, a poor baron, definitely earns more than 10,000 gold coins a year. Such a good thing, where can I find it?

Moreover, the Portuguese royal family earns even more. Because those rhino horns and ivory are sold at high prices in the European market, and their profit will only be more than that of Baron Ferreira. Therefore, Manuel I has no reason not to agree to this kind of contract that falls from the sky.

Sure enough, after Magellan returned to Portugal and had a secret talk with Baron Ferreira, the poor Baron Ferreira agreed without hesitation. Moreover, he also plans to send his second son, Eduardo, who has no right of inheritance, to the North Sea country, from a certain origin.

Eduardo is 21 years old, the age at which a knight has finished his studies. However, because of his status as an "old minister of Joao II", Eduardo has almost no chance of getting a chance in Portugal. His eldest son, Louis, could at least inherit the poor villages of the barony as a country landowner. However, the second son has no future. Therefore, sending them to Beihai might be a way out.

Magellan asked Marin for instructions through the carrier pigeon. After thinking about it, Marin agreed to accept Eduardo. Anyway, he has a lot of colonies in his hands, and when the time comes, he will get a colonial fief for Eduardo. In this way, it can be regarded as an exchange of interests with Baron Ferreira.

After the two parties reached an agreement, Baron Ferreira immediately set off to the Royal Palace of Lisbon, submitted a request to go to the Cape of Good Hope to hunt rhinos and elephants, and asked for the exclusive development of local resources.

After Manuel I learned of Baron Ferreira's conditions, he almost suspected that Baron Ferreira's brain was broken. However, this is beneficial to him, and he does not need to pay half a copper coin, so he has no reason to refuse.

In the end, Manuel I personally issued instructions-agreeing to Baron Ferreira to obtain the exclusive right to develop and trade around the Cape of Good Hope for 20 years. However, among the local resources, the management rights of the gold and silver mines need to be returned to the royal family, and the rest can be given to Baron Ferreira's family...

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