The Rise of the European Emperor

Since Sir Redondo came through the back door, he was naturally unwilling to be as foolish as most people to bid for the auction. Because the price is too high, and it may not be able to be photographed.

Therefore, he came directly to Marin, the master. Anyway, Marin has thousands of pieces of porcelain in his hands and more silk, and it is still possible to deal with him cheaper than the auction price, mainly for the Duke of Coimbra behind him.

In particular, under the premise that the Duke of Coimbra was still required to buy black slaves, Marin had to consider giving the Duke of Coimbra a face...

Of course, since he came through the back door, Redondo didn't come empty-handed, but brought a lot of gifts.

These gifts are all African specialties. After all, Portugal colonized Africa and could easily obtain many local specialties from Africa. Moreover, the cost is not high. However, it is a rare thing to get it in Europe.

Diamonds, for example, make a great gift that can't go away. This thing was picked up by African natives, and then exchanged with Portuguese colonial merchants for worthless glass beads and other items.

Transparent diamonds, also known as diamonds in legend, are of high value and can be used to create expensive jewelry. The turbid diamonds are not so valuable, but they are still rare. Just like the handful of diamonds that Redondo gave Marin, they are not big and have not been processed. Some diamonds have sharp points, which are not suitable for jewelry.

But Marin is very satisfied with these small diamonds with pointed tips, why? Because these small diamonds can be used to engrave the rifling in the barrel as long as you make a suitable jig. Diamond is so hard that it is perfect for this kind of work. Although Marin does not currently plan to launch the Mini rifle and Mini bombs, they will definitely be launched before the religious war. It is still necessary to get some diamonds suitable for engraving rifling.

In addition to ordinary-grade diamonds, Redondo also brought a lot of ivory products, gum arabic, rhino horn products and a bundle of elephant skins...

For ivory products, Marin is not cold. Because, in his previous life, he had seen too many hard white plastics, so he didn't feel too much surprise about the same white ivory.

As for the gum arabic, Marin remembered that it seemed to be a very good food viscosity additive, and it was natural and harmless. Also, it seems that it can be used as an anti-oxidation coating for printing plates. It seems that it is still useful...

As for rhino horns, like ivory, Marin is not interested. The thick and soft elephant skin, Marin doesn't know what it is for...

"This, although elephant skin is thick, it is relatively soft. Therefore, it can be used as a leather cushion for tables and chairs. At the same time, it can also be used to make a good saddle..." Redondo explained.

But for some reason, Marin suddenly remembered that a public service advertisement made by Yao Ming in his previous life was not bought or sold, so he was not killed...

Marin shook his head vigorously, and drove Dayao's advertisement content out of his mind. why? Because these days, the old blacks in Africa don't have a sharp weapon like a shotgun to hunt wild animals. Therefore, the old blacks have no way to deal with pachyderm animals such as elephants and rhinos. Therefore, animals such as elephants and rhinos should not be endangered at this time.

When asked, Redondo really gave an answer in line with Marin's guess:

"How do you say that the black natives killed elephants? In fact, the elephant skin did not come from the elephants they hunted, but from the elephants that died of old age and disease. Otherwise, with their weapons, they would not be able to break the elephant. Such a thick elephant skin. As for the number of elephants and rhinos? I heard from the local chief that they are everywhere on the grassland...and they are not easy to mess with..."

Marin's expression suddenly became weird. He clearly remembered that the black rhinoceros in West Africa had become extinct a few years before he traveled in his previous life. Unexpectedly, these days, the grassland is full of...

It's no wonder that the old blacks of later generations are armed with AK47s in war-torn countries. Hunting rhinos and so on is naturally extremely easy. But in this era, black people in West Africa simply did not have weapons that could break through the skins of rhinos and elephants. because,

Many of the weapons used by black people in West Africa are stone tools.

In fact, both the Mali Empire and the Songhai Empire in West Africa had metal weapons. However, those metal weapons are all in the hands of the officials. Because West Africa does not produce metals such as copper and iron, the metals needed are generally exchanged with foreign merchants in trade centers such as Timbuktu. The metal trade is generally controlled by the king, and metal weapons are also distributed by the king.

However, the kings, nobles and armies of the Mali Empire are generally located in the territory of the later Mali. As for the coast of West Africa that the Portuguese contacted, it actually belonged to the outlying areas of the Mali Empire. Therefore, the local chiefs naturally could not distribute any metal weapons.

However, the chiefs along the coast of West Africa have trade relations with the Portuguese, and they can exchange metal weapons from the Portuguese, but not many. Moreover, even ordinary metal weapons may not be able to break through the thick hide of a rhinoceros. If you can't kill the rhino or the elephant, but anger them instead, you will be killed...

Therefore, although there are many elephants and rhinos on the West African savannah at this time, the old blacks have nothing to do. At most, find cheap rhinos and elephants that died of old age or disease. Of course, there are also some fierce men who can hunt rhinos and elephants. It's just that there are relatively few such fierce generals. Moreover, metal weapons must also be equipped.

"Don't they know how to drive the rhino into the dug pit to starve to death?" Marin was a little dumbfounded. Hunting elephants and rhinos, using cold weapons... It's very deadly... You know, crazy bull elephants and rhinos are like tanks...

Redondo shrugged and said:

"Who knows? If those black natives know how to use their brains to hunt prey, maybe they can also use their brains to smelt metals instead of trading with us."

Marin nodded, agreeing with Redondo's words. If those black uncles are willing to use their brains, they will definitely not be unable to develop in the 21st century. Anyway, for old blacks, they can do it without using their brains. Therefore, it is easy for them to become athletes, but it is not easy to become scientists. Athletes can't make a country stronger, so there are many African stars, but the country is poor and backward.

Suddenly, Marin said:

"What if I want rhino hide to make leather armor?"

Marin was a college student majoring in history in his previous life, so he naturally knows history well. In the history of China, rhinoceros leather armor is a very important armor. Especially during the Shang and Zhou Dynasties and the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, rhinoceros leather armor was quite popular, and its protective power was also very good.

That's because during the Shang and Zhou dynasties and the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods, there were many wild rhinos in China. There were frequent wars in ancient China, especially during the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods, when there were many large-scale wars. In order to provide enough armor for the army, people at that time hunted and killed rhinos, which directly led to the extinction of rhinos in the Central Plains.

At the end of the Spring and Autumn Period, the Wu State in the south, because of its rich resources of rhinoceros, made very sophisticated armor. At that time, Fu Chai, king of Wu, had 103,000 soldiers wearing rhinoceros armor, and led his troops to the north to meet the alliance and strive to be the leader of the alliance.

The rhinoceros leather armor could not be cut by a knife and could not be pierced by an arrow. It was the best leather armor at that time. But the countries in the Central Plains had no rhinos to hunt at that time, and naturally they lacked rhino armor. Therefore, at that time, the army of Wu State was quite arrogant, directly under the leadership of the great military strategist Sun Wu, it destroyed Chu State in stages, and even competed to be the leader of the alliance.

However, Fu Chai led his troops to the north to meet the League, and his hometown in the south of the Yangtze River was empty. The insidious Gou Jian took the opportunity to demolish the base of his hometown. Fu Chai lost the rear, so he had to gg...

By the way, at that time, Yue State was still south of Wu State, and there was no shortage of rhinoceros, and there were also many rhinoceros warriors...

...

But in ancient China, there were endless wars, and a lot of rhinoceros hides were used. Then, more rhinos died tragically...

By the time of the Southern and Northern Dynasties, only the Southern Dynasty, which occupied the south, was able to obtain a large number of rhinoceros armor. For example, during the Southern Qi Dynasty, it is recorded that the elite troops of the Southern Qi Dynasty at that time were "all dressed in rhinoceros armor, and they could not be hurt by swords and swords." But after that, there was no legend of an organized army wearing rhinoceros armor.

In the Tang Dynasty, the leather armor of the Tang army was not made of rhinoceros leather, nor was it made of cowhide. At that time, it was forbidden to kill cattle. There must not be enough cowhide, but camel leather. The effect is definitely not as good as the authentic rhinoceros leather.

When the army of the Tang Dynasty heard that the Southwest Shaomin army was equipped with armor made of rhinoceros leather on a large scale, they were so tyrannical, even more luxurious than my Tang army... In fact, it was only because there were still many armors in the Southwest at that time. It's just a rhino...

...

Redondo didn't understand that Marin wanted rhinoceros leather to make leather armor. Because plate armor is already popular in Europe, why do you need leather armor? No matter how thick the rhinoceros hide is, it is no better than plate armor made of steel...

After hesitating for a while, he said:

"Our Lord Duke may not get involved in the trade of rhinoceros hides. Because rhinoceros hides can only be used to make armor. But, as you know, there are plate armors now, and leather armor has no market at all. Therefore, our Lord Duke also I don’t want to open up this way.”

After a pause, Redondo said again:

"Also, even if the blacks in West Africa killed the rhino with traps, there would be no sharp steel knife to cut the rhino's skin..."

Marin was dumbfounded. Indeed, Uncle Hei didn't have enough hard and sharp tools to separate the rhinoceros hide...