The Rise of the European Emperor

While Marin was preparing to take over the Bishopric of Munster by force, he also tried to find a way to help Earl Edward resist the attack of England. After all, the Earl of Edward was the mainstay of the scourge of England. Had the Earl Edward failed, England would have risen steadily.

More importantly, once the British defeated the Earl of Edward and recaptured the island of Ireland, then the Tarashan lead-zinc mine bought by Marin would not belong to him.

Therefore, whether politically or economically, Marin must help Earl Edward. To this end, Marin ordered the arsenal to produce 2,000 arquebuses of a different caliber from the East Frisian army's caliber to support Count Edward.

The arquebus is also powerful in positional warfare. However, in a positional battle, if the arquebusier is approached by the enemy, it is easy to be slaughtered. But in the defense of the city, there is no such danger. Because, with the tall city walls as cover, the arquebusiers could reload safely and comfortably. Then aim at the enemy troops who are trying to climb up the city wall and blow them to death. No matter how fierce you are, once you are targeted by arquebusiers while climbing the city wall, you will only be bombarded, and the survival rate is very low. Even if they get away with it, they will be out of combat for a long time.

Therefore, the arquebus is definitely an artifact used to defend the city...

Marin asked the arsenal to provide Earl Edward with 2,000 arquebuses, which could definitely knock out the siege British army. Because, with the financial level of England, the British army can mobilize at most 20,000 or 30,000 Malays to besiege Dublin.

If there were 2,000 arquebuses on the top of the city, it would easily cause thousands of casualties to the British army. If the casualties are large, the British offensive will be contained, and the morale of the army will be shaken. In this way, the British siege of Dublin will be over.

In addition, Marin also intends to buy sheep this time, and use rye in exchange. Earl Edward now has an army of 8,000, and is said to expand to 10,000. Such a large army requires a lot of rations.

As it happens, Marin has a lot of food, and Earl Edward is short of food. So Marin decided to buy English sheep at a discount on rye. At most, the price is low, at 1 pfennig per pound to Earl Edward. In this way, it can be considered to support him in disguise. After all, it might be more expensive for Earl Edward to buy food elsewhere.

Even the cost of 10,000 gold coins for the purchase of Tara Mountain, Marin also intends to convert it into rye and transport 600,000 pounds of rye to Earl Edward. I believe that Earl Edward will not refuse this method when there are more people and less food.

According to Marin's estimate, Earl Edward's army of 10,000 people would need at least 1.825 million pounds of rye to hold on for half a year. However, according to Van Gore, the food that Earl Edward seized was only 700,000 pounds, which was a big shortfall. Moreover, the siege of the British army may not only last for half a year, but may last for a year. Therefore, for Earl Edward, the more food the better.

In addition, Marin also planned to send 4 large iron gates to Earl Edward to prevent the British from learning the siege tactics of shelling + powder keg blasting.

As for the powder and lead bullets for the 2,000 arquebuses, Marin did not intend to provide them. Why? Because Marin didn't have enough gunpowder himself.

Last year's naval battle with the Danish fleet, that crazy shelling, consumed half of Marin's gunpowder. Coupled with the regular use of platoon tactics, Marin now has less than 200 tons of gunpowder left.

Right now, taking over the Bishopric of Münster may spark a war, and Marin can't guarantee that there will be enough gunpowder. In addition, the Duchy of Schleswig also needs a lot of gunpowder to prepare for a possible counterattack by the Danish army. Therefore, Marin now has no extra gunpowder to support Earl Edward.

However, another patron of Earl Edward, King Louis XVI of France, was able to provide a lot of gunpowder support. Because France is also a major artillery country in Europe. Before Marin equipped the navy with hundreds of heavy artillery pieces, the French had hundreds of army light artillery pieces, which were the largest artillery group in Europe.

In order to provide enough gunpowder for these artillery, the French naturally made many cesspits to collect nitrate. France is so big and has a large population. Although the extraction rate of soil nitrate is not high, the number is also amazing.

He had already provided the arquebus and asked the French to provide ignition powder, and Louis XII would not refuse it. After all, Louis XII also wished the British bad luck.

...

Just when Marin was worried that there was not enough gunpowder, the two kings of Spain sent envoys to come...

It turned out that the spices of the Spanish Double King were sold out. So, they decided to organize a fleet to buy spices in India again, and asked Marin if they would send a fleet with them.

Marin thought - oh, am I not short of saltpeter? It is absolutely cost-effective to send a fleet to India to buy saltpeter, and the quantity is large.

So Marin immediately replied to the messenger, saying that he would send several ships to go with the Spanish fleet to India.

In fact, Marin himself can send a fleet to India. It's just that now Spain and Portugal are in conflict because of things in India, and they are also hated by the Portuguese. If the number of ships sent by himself is small, it is easy to be besieged by the Portuguese fleet.

After all, the Portuguese fleet is different from the Danish fleet. In this era, the Portuguese fleet has been equipped with a large number of artillery. Although the caliber is not as large as the artillery equipped by Marin's warships, but there are many more, it can also besiege and beat Marin's warships to death.

Therefore, following the Spanish fleet is the most correct choice. Not that the Spaniards were stronger at sea than the Portuguese. It's because Marin gave the Spanish Kings a wretched idea before. The Spanish Kings warned Portugal that if you dare to attack my merchant ships at sea, I will send troops to besiege Lisbon from the land...

Such a rogue trick left Portugal, with its weak army, helpless. Even if the Portuguese wiped out the Spanish ships at sea, as long as Lisbon was conquered by Spain, Portugal would be doomed as well.

Therefore, Marin let several of his ships follow the Spanish fleet, and the Portuguese did not dare to do anything. Unless, those Portuguese nobles in Lisbon are tired of living. After all, now the Spanish army has just defeated the French army, and the limelight is in full swing.

Moreover, this time, Marin intends to send a few more ships to India to buy more saltpeter back. After all, once the artillery is fired, the gunpowder consumption is too great. The consumption of platoon guns is much smaller than that of platoon cannons, but the total consumption is not small when it is used more. Therefore, it is better to have more fuel in stock.

In this way, Marin planned to send 8 ships to follow the Spanish fleet to India. Of course, in order to reassure Spain, Marin asked the messenger to tell the Spaniards - allow the Spaniards to inspect their goods and never buy more spices. Originally promised the Spaniards to buy only 50,000 pounds of spice, then they would not buy an extra pound.

Then, the rest of the vacant positions were naturally filled with materials such as saltpeter. At the same time, Marin also intends to buy a group of Indian slaves for the cultivation and management of sugar cane and pepper on the island of Grenada. After all, Indians are much better at growing sugar cane and pepper than Europeans.

In fact, if he chooses slaves, Marin will definitely not choose black slaves. Although black slaves are strong, their personalities are sloppy and their work is not strong. Don't look at the size, the work is far worse than the thin Chinese.

It's not that black people are not strong enough, but black people are only physically strong, but they don't have the skilled work skills of Chinese workers, they only know how to use brute force. Therefore, in the plantation, the labor efficiency of Chinese workers is higher than that of black workers.

Of course, this is also because those Chinese workers are all from China, where agriculture is developed, and farming is innate. And the Negroes, under the command of Europeans who were not very good at agriculture, certainly couldn't do well.

Even the Indians have the same agricultural skills as the black Africans. Although the old black people are physically strong, they are not good at using their brains. Therefore, in later generations, African industry and agriculture are very backward. It's not that black people are inherently inferior, but because these old black people are used to solving problems with their bodies, not their brains. It seems that if you use your brain, you will die...

And Indians, especially those with dark skin in India, are those so-called pariahs. Not only honest, but also good at farming. Bringing in those Indian pariahs is much better than bringing in old blacks. Because those Indian pariahs are not only familiar with farming, but also more honest than black people. After all, they have been untouchables for thousands of years and have become accustomed to being humble. Unlike those old black Africans, who are used to racing with antelopes on the grasslands, and are not used to farming. If you want the old black to work honestly, you must be fierce to them, and you must be in chains. And the inferior Indian pariahs do not need to be so fierce, they will accept the rule honestly, this is their habit...