The Rise of the European Emperor

Soon after Marin returned, he sent two armed merchant ships to Hamburg and Lübeck to demonstrate artillery battles. However, before dispatching the warship, Marin was reluctant to let Lübeck and Hamburg know that they were equipped with iron cannons on a large scale. So, the wretched Marin asked the craftsmen to paint a layer of copper paint on the outside of the cannons on the ship.

In this way, even if Lübeck and Hamburg saw the cannons on Marlin's ship, they would hesitate to learn from Marlin's practice. Because—the cost of such artillery is too high...

The price of copper is so expensive, and you are equipped with so many copper heavy artillery. Is there nowhere to spend the money? Even rich Lübeck and Burgers should hesitate. Even if they want to equip heavy artillery, they have to consider the terrible cost. Even if it is equipped, it can only be a small amount...

The artillery on the two 250-class armed merchant ships is no longer the original 12-pounder. Since the iron and steel factory was established, the gun casting factory has a supply of molten steel, so it is natural to improve the artillery. Although it is said that due to the level of craftsmen, the carbon content has been inaccurately controlled. For example, Marin craftsmen want low carbon steel, but they can make medium carbon steel. Want to smelt medium carbon steel, but smelt low carbon steel... Of course, high carbon steel cannot be made wrong, because smelting high carbon steel requires a furnace wall with a graphite substrate, and the environment is different.

However, even so, whether it is medium carbon steel or low carbon steel, it is suitable for casting guns, and it is much stronger than wrought iron. Therefore, the gun foundry quickly improved the 12-pound gun to an 18-pound gun without changing the size. Moreover, the total weight has dropped from 2 tons to 1.8 tons.

Even so, if calculated according to the price of copper, such a "copper gun" would be worth as much as 2,800 gold coins. Marin is equipped with 20 heavy "copper cannons" on an armed merchant ship. Isn't the cost of light artillery 56,000 gold coins?

When seeing a total of 40 heavy "brass cannons" on the two ships, the two local Hanseatic cities of Lübeck and Hamburg were also stunned by Marin's local tyrants...

Where is this war? It's all about taking gold bricks and PK with other people's bricks...

However, Captain Kidd, who led the team, explained that these coppers were cheap copper bought by Columbus from India. In real terms, the value is only one-tenth of the European price...

In this way, the two Hanseatic tyrant cities reluctantly accepted...

Indeed, the artillery on a ship is worth 5,600 gold coins. Although it is also a local tyrant, it is much easier to accept than 56,000 gold coins. The opening of the Indian route was known to the Hanseatic League. It's just that the two countries have been arguing about who first discovered India, Columbus and Da Gama.

The Hanseatic League was also very jealous of the huge profits of the Indian spice trade. It's just that they don't have the information on ocean voyages, and they don't have that plan. Because, even if they follow the route of Spain and Portugal, they are unwilling to bear the common anger of Spain and Portugal.

After all, the Hanseatic League can't even handle Denmark, and to provoke Portugal would be courting death...

East prices are cheap, and the Hanseatic League is also heard. They also had no doubts that Marin could get copper ten times cheaper. They even understood why Marin had only 23 warships. A warship needs so many bronze guns, do you want more warships? Not so much cheap copper...

After sighing, the two warships started a demonstration of naval battle under the watchful eyes of representatives from Lübeck and Hamburg...

This time, two warships 2505 and 2506 were sent. The sailors and gunners on board were very experienced veterans. In fact, Marin deliberately selected a group of the best sailors and gunners to show. Therefore, when manoeuvring the sailboat and firing the guns, they act like a cloud of water, without any hesitation.

An old 200-ton merchant ship of the Hanseatic League used as a target ship was watched by two 250-class warships at a distance of close to 100 meters. After several rounds of salvos , was smashed to the side, and sank into the sea after entering the water...

"Sure enough,

The power is extraordinary! ” praised the representative of Lübeck.

"It's just too expensive..." The Hansa representative shook his head with a wry smile.

Neither of the two representatives knew that the guns on the Marin ship were made of medium and low carbon steel, and the cost was much lower than that of copper. It's just that Marin, a wretched guy, painted copper paint on the outside of the gun body, deliberately misunderstanding the representatives of Lübeck and Hamburg...

In fact, the city representatives sent by Lübeck and Hamburg today are their respective naval officers. They came here today not only to test the authenticity of Marin's statement, but also to spy on the new tactics of the Marin Navy. To put it bluntly, I just want to steal the teacher...

However, now the two of them are stealing teachers. But there is nothing wrong with learning it. With so many copper cannons, even the wealthy Lübeck and Hamburg may not be willing.

Of course, this is not to say that two cities cannot be built. Rather, Parliament will certainly not approve...

Both Hanseatic cities are parliamentary. As for the parliament, it has to consider the interests of many parties, and it involves a lot of things. The councilors of both cities were big Hanseatic merchants. What are the characteristics of a businessman? Comparing with each other...

You let those Hanseatic merchant councilors in two cities spend 56,000 gp to equip a ship's artillery? Are you kidding me? Definitely rejected...

You know, for the cost of 56,000 gold coins, you can buy 30 merchant ships above 200 tons. For these Hanseatic merchants, merchant ships can make more money, can artillery?

However, the scene of the heavy artillery salvo was too shocking. After the two representatives returned, they still tried their best to persuade the parliament to buy a few heavy artillery pieces and study new naval battles...

In the end, the councils of the two cities agreed with the delegates' proposal. As a result, the two Hanseatic cities of Lübeck and Hamburg not only recognized the combat effectiveness of the Marin Navy, but also issued orders for heavy "brass cannons". Among them, Lübeck ordered 10 heavy artillery pieces. For burgers, I ordered 8.

This heavy artillery, the actual mountain is used by two cities to test. The point is that power needs to be shown to Parliament. Only if the parliament approves it will it agree to allocate funds to buy more heavy artillery...

After receiving the order, Marin immediately invited Old John and other top gunsmiths to make an iron mold from pig iron for casting an 18-pound bronze gun.

Before, because of the rich experience in using iron molds and the casting of 18-pound guns, several old masters were also proficient, so it was not too difficult.

Moreover, casting bronze cannons is much simpler than casting iron cannons. Because the bronze liquid is much more stable than the molten iron, and it is not easy to go wrong. Unlike molten iron, if you use an iron mold, because the cooling speed is too fast, it is easy to cause the cannon body ash to iron, resulting in brittleness and affecting the strength of the cannon body. And using bronze liquid, there is no such concern at all...

Coincidentally, the hundreds of tons of copper brought back from India by Marin were also stored in large quantities. Therefore, Marin provided the two cities with successfully cast bronze 18-pound heavy guns at a friendly price of 350 gold coins per gun. At the same time, Marin also provided the loading standards for shells and gunpowder to prevent the other party from destroying the barrel with random charging without qualified gunners. Of course, this standard is formulated in accordance with the powder gunpowder standard. After all, the Marlins are now using granulated gunpowder in Europe.

In addition, Marin also made an agreement with Lübeck and Hamburg - after the autumn harvest, he will invite the Swedish representative to hold a second four-party meeting to determine the time and details of the start...