The Rise of the European Emperor

Looking at the pile of oak logs, half of Marin's heart is happy, the other half is painful...

Why does it hurt? It stands to reason that with so much wood, it should be able to explode a lot of warships. But the problem is, apart from wood, Marin's other resources are not enough...

Boat building is not just about wood, but also nails, drying oil and paint (both make up a waterproof coating), etc. Moreover, because it has been soaked in the sea for a long time, the nails are not enough. Because iron nails are easily corroded by seawater. Therefore, it is best to use copper nails. For dry oil, there is no tung oil in Europe, and linseed oil is generally used. Sometimes olive oil is also used, but needs to be mixed with paint. Because olive oil is a non-drying oil, its waterproof performance is not good. Therefore, it needs to be used in conjunction with paint.

However, the production of linseed oil is too small. Moreover, flax oil can also be eaten. Therefore, its price is naturally high. It's really expensive to build a ship.

There is no need to talk about copper nails. The price ratio of silver to copper in Europe is 1 to 15. 15 copper nails are equivalent to one silver nail made of silver, which shows the cost...

And paint, there is no sumac tree in Europe, paint is carefully prepared from minerals and animal products, and the price is very expensive...

So, no matter how much wood Marlin has, without enough copper nails, drying oil, and paint, it's no use. Moreover, Marin doesn't have too many shipbuilders in his hands yet, and he will cry if he talks too much...

...

After reading the reserved wood, Marin felt hungry, so he brought his hands down for a barbecue. The materials for the barbecue are sourced locally—a guard took off his armor, and at the speed of Liu Xiang and Bolt, he casually caught a sheep on the grass, slaughtered it on the spot, and then opened it on the grill. bake……

What? You say stealing the sheep of the common people? Joke, the whole of Cape Breton Island is Marin, and it takes nonsense to kill a sheep? Of course, Marin is a shrewd person. Although legally speaking, he just let people kill one of his own sheep, but in order to show that he was reasonable, Marin still asked people to find a shepherd and rewarded the shepherd with a handful of small silver coins as a reward. In fact, this sheep is not worth a handful of silver coins (that is, 50% silver pfennig coins), but Marintu is just happy, and it doesn't matter if you give more. Of course, this animal belongs to the manor under Malin's command. Malin gave the money, but he just didn't want to break the rules. Before the shepherd left, Marin told him to go to the manor with money worth one sheep, and give him the rest...

The shepherd left with great gratitude, while Marin and the guards attentively roasted the whole sheep...

The wood was also sourced locally, but this Marin didn't pay for it. why? In North America, sheep are an important asset, but wood is not. Because, on Cape Breton Island, except for oak, which is classified, the rest of the wood is thrown everywhere. Except for non-oak wood that affected farming, which was removed, the rest of the species were thrown away.

Who is short of firewood, pick it up everywhere...

The fat sheep kept turning on the grill, while the governor, Garland, added the firewood himself. And his firewood was chopped up by the sturdy men who served as guards next to him.

Smelling the smoke from the firewood, Marin suddenly felt that something was wrong - why is it still smelling a little caramel?

Suddenly, Marin came to his senses—he finally remembered what it was...

This wood is actually called sugar maple, also known as sugar maple. Anyone who has read the book in later generations will know that the symbol on the Canadian flag is the maple leaf. The red maple leaf on the Canadian flag is actually called the sugar maple leaf.

Sugar maple is a tall tree native to the high latitudes of North America. Its leaves, in autumn, will turn into a fiery red color, just like the Canadian flag of later generations. Of course, his most distinctive feature is his trunk, which oozes a sweet sap. This sap, which is slowly heated and concentrated over low heat, yields natural maple syrup, a caramel with woody and caramel flavors.

Marin had read reports in his previous life that maple sugar was not as sweet as sucrose, but the calories were much lower than that of sucrose. Moreover, it is rich in calcium, magnesium and various organic acids, which can supplement the weak constitution with unbalanced nutrition.

It is said that the Indians in North America can only hunt and eat meat in winter, and lack of vitamins and various minerals, causing many people to get sick and die. The winter in Canada is already very cold. If there is a lack of nutrition in the winter, the body will get sick and it is easy to die in the winter.

Later, around 1600, Canadian Indians stumbled upon the fact that they could drill holes in sugar maple trees to exude a sweet sap. Drinking this sap is not only sweet, but also good for the body. Later, European colonists once called maple sugar "Indian syrup"...

Of course, this is something that hasn't happened yet. Today, only in 1507, the Indians have apparently not discovered maple sugar. After all, that was around 1600.

And, Marin remembers, the extraction requirements for maple syrup are also relatively high - he needs to be in the spring, and he has strict temperature requirements. Extracting maple sugar is very simple. It is to drill a small hole in a sugar maple tree that is more than 15 years old, then put a pipe on it, and wait for the sap to slowly flow out.

Generally, a tree is collected once a year, and about 100 kg of sap can be collected at a time. Then, after concentration and processing, the 100 kilograms of sap can be processed into two or three kilograms of maple syrup. The processed maple syrup has a color similar to rosin. The lighter the color, the higher the grade...

However, even though it is spring, the weather required to collect maple sugar is also very strict. The article that Marin read in his previous life said that in the season of collecting maple sugar, in the middle and early spring of Canada, the temperature requirements are that the temperature should not exceed 0 degrees Celsius at night, and it needs to be above 5 degrees Celsius during the day...

It is said that sugar maple accumulates a lot of starch in the trunk in spring, summer and autumn. Then, in the long winter, the starch is converted into maple sugar in the trunk...

In the spring, when the temperature starts to rise, the maple sugar will be slowly absorbed by the sugar maple and converted into energy. Therefore, in early spring, and at the latest in mid-spring, maple sap must be collected. Otherwise, the sugar maple itself will absorb the maple sugar. Also, in order not to let the sugar maple die, it is best to only make a small hole in the trunk, not too many holes, or the tree will die...

Marin pondered that it was April. It's supposed to be mid-spring. However, Cape Breton Island belongs to the later Canada, with a higher latitude, and spring comes later. Last night, he felt that the temperature was around 0 degrees, but during the day, it looked like 10 degrees. It was indeed a good time to collect maple sugar...

So, after eating the roasted whole lamb, Marin didn't care to continue his inspection, but went back to find tools. After finding the chisels, leather pipes, and barrels to open the tree holes, Marin greeted Garland:

"Come on, let's collect honey!"

Garland's face is full of inexplicable - what? Young master said to go pick honey? But we are not bees...

With a head full of question marks, he found that Marin was led by a carpenter and walked in front of a red-leaf tree (Garland didn't know it was called a sugar maple, but only knew that the tree's autumn leaves were red), and he went directly. Dig holes. Then, guided with a leather tube, let the sap slowly flow into the barrel...

Then, Marin was not satisfied that the flow rate was too slow. So, he went back to find a batch of tools, drilled holes in the trunks of many sugar maple trees on the island, and collected the sap...

The next day, Marin had collected about two hundred kilograms of sap. Then, he found a pot, heated it on a small fire, and began to purify the sap...

After purification, Marin obtained a thick syrup of natural amber color in about 5 kg...  

"Come on, let's try..."

"%￥#@%#￥%..." After drinking the maple syrup, everyone was shocked, and many people had indescribable expressions on their faces...

"This... is this honey?" Garland was shocked... He really couldn't figure it out, Marin digs a hole in the tree, and he can make syrup similar to honey. It's amazing...

"It's not honey, it's just maple sugar. On average, each full-age sugar maple tree can collect 100 kilograms of sap every year, and can boil two or three kilograms of maple sugar..."

Garland's mouth suddenly grew:

"That's the kind of tree we have the most here, much more than the oaks. How much sugar would it take to collect two or three kilograms of maple sugar from each tree?"

You know, in this era, sugar is a scarce resource in Europe, and it is sold in pharmacies. On Cape Breton Island, sugar maples can be seen everywhere, and Garland has seen rolling gold coins hitting him...

Marin nodded and said:

"From now on, if it is not necessary, stop cutting down sugar maple trees. Also, you must collect maple sugar as soon as possible. I estimate that the time to collect maple sugar is running out. You must collect enough maple sugar within half a month. Maple sugar. Otherwise, after the season, you can't collect it..."

"Ah? Is there such a thing?" Garland suddenly panicked.

"Nonsense, this kind of sugar juice can only be collected in early spring. The requirement is that the temperature does not exceed 0 degrees at night and 5 degrees during the day... By the way, do you have the mercury thermometer invented by Leonardo da Vinci? It can be used for reference. …”

"Yes, I understand, I will arrange to prepare enough pipes and buckets to try to collect enough sugar juice!"

"Well, remember, you can only dig one hole in a tree, don't dig too much. Otherwise, the tree will die..."

"Ah? We took the sugar juice, and the tree can still survive?" Garland was a little shocked. In his opinion, with 100 kilograms of sap flowing from the tree, how can the tree still live?

"Nonsense, those trees are all over 40 years old. They are so tall and thick. What is 100kg of sap per tree? Remember, don't kill the tree! , you have to do something with the trunk to get it back. Otherwise, you won't be able to make maple syrup the next year! Also, get a few artisans to work out how to turn the syrup into solid maple syrup. Solid The maple syrup is sealed in an oil-paper bag, so I can take it back to Europe and sell it!”

"Understood!" Garland said, and hurriedly prepared the pipe and barrel. He wanted to grab the time to collect enough maple syrup in the short time Marin said. Otherwise, you will miss the season...