The Rise of the European Emperor

Marin thought that the rhinoceros leather armor was purely a temporary idea, and even leather armor made of rhinoceros leather is not very useful in Europe. Because, the musket rhinoceros leather armor really can't stop it.

However, colonies can be used. Even though the rhinoceros leather armor can't resist muskets, it is absolutely no problem against the weapons of the aborigines. How should I put it, Native Americans do not have metal weapons, and warriors wearing rhinoceros leather armor can definitely run amok in front of the aborigines.

Moreover, with rhinoceros hide, you can also make vests, that is, armor for war horses. A war horse is a highly mobile animal. If a war horse is put on the metal horse armor used by European knights, the horse's running ability will be greatly reduced immediately. Moreover, it also affects flexibility.

However, if rhinoceros leather is used to make horse armor, it is much lighter than metal horse armor. Although, the horse armor made of rhinoceros leather can't resist muskets, it may resist indigenous stone weapons and bows and arrows.

The conquest of the Americas must be inseparable from the long-distance raids of war horses. For long-distance raids, it is natural to use Eastern European Mongolian horses. Because Eastern European Mongolian horses have strong endurance and are suitable for long-distance travel. However, Eastern European Mongolian horses are medium-sized horses, and they can't carry the metal horse armor of European knights' war horses at all. But if you don't wear any armor, the horse will also be hurt by the bows and arrows of the indigenous people.

Therefore, strictly speaking, the significance of rhinoceros leather armor to war horses is more important than that of humans. Because, as a college student in the Department of History, Ma Lin remembers that once in class, the professor said that the chariots in the pre-Qin period and the shaft horses that pulled the carts were also covered with chariot armor made of rhinoceros hide. Because, in the chariots of the pre-Qin period, the shaft horse rushed to the front and was also the most vulnerable. If the enemy attacks the shaft horse and kills the shaft horse, the chariot will be useless.

The chariot armor made of rhinoceros leather is much lighter than the steel horse armor, but its protection is also enough to withstand the weapons of the indigenous people, which is a good horse armor.

For cavalry, the safety of war horses is very important. Cavalry without horses is not even as good as infantry. And if you want to rush into battle, the protection of the horse is also very important. As for the desperate style of play of the modern cavalry, it was based on the mobilization of the whole people and did not care about casualties. But the problem is that in modern times, the populations of European countries are tens of millions, so they are naturally not afraid of casualties. But Ma Lin only has a population of one million or hundreds of thousands, so how can he afford casualties? As for the elite cavalry, casualties are even more unacceptable.

The casualties of cavalry are inseparable from the safety of war horses. Marin clearly remembered the ancient poem he had memorized in his previous life - "shoot a man first, shoot a horse, capture a thief first and capture the king"...

In this era, when Swiss spearmen dealt with knights, they first used a spear a few meters to stand diagonally on the ground to poke the knight's horse. Once the horse collided with the spear array, it would definitely turn the horse on his back. The knight who lost his horse could only be killed by the Swiss infantry with "can openers" such as tomahawks and warhammers.

Of course, the Swiss spear formation could not even withstand the knights' horses wearing steel horse armor, let alone the horses wearing rhinoceros leather armor.

But Marin's original intention was not to use the horses wearing rhinoceros leather armor to attack the Swiss spear formation, but to attack the Native American army. With the horses protected by rhinoceros leather armor, you can safely attack the battle formation of the native Indians and easily win the victory.

In this way, Marin can easily defeat the armies of Native American forces such as the Inca Empire and the Aztec Empire without dispatching plate armor knights. After all, it is difficult for the weapons of these indigenous armies to break through the defense of the rhinoceros leather armor.

In addition, if you wear rhinoceros leather armor, the Cossack cavalry will not need to wear chain mail, which can also ensure safety.

After all, rhinoceros leather armor has been verified by ancient China. The armor made of rhinoceros leather can indeed block the swords and bows and arrows of the Bronze Age (except heavy crossbows). In order to obtain rhinoceros hides for armor, rhinos in the Central Plains of China and even in the Yangtze River Basin were killed and extinct... It is said that the reason why Qin conquered Bashu first was not only that Bashu was relatively weak, but also because there were many rhinos in Bashu at that time. After all, the development of Bashu at that time was far less than that of the Central Plains.

...

However, what Marin didn't expect was that Redondo, the commercial representative of Duke Jorge de Rencastre of Coimbra, refused to open up a new trade route for rhinoceros hide. The reason is that they feel that the sales prospects of rhino hides may not be very good.

And Marin couldn't get rid of his plan to tell the other party that he would use rhinoceros leather to make horse armor and leather armor, so naturally he couldn't easily impress the other party.

In addition, Marin did not dare to increase the price indiscriminately. why? Because there is a huge demand for rhinoceros hides, if you rashly charge high prices, the cost will be greatly increased at that time. Because, once it is installed in the army, thousands or even tens of thousands of rhinoceros leather armors will be needed. If you bid one more gold coin for each set of leather armor, the cost may increase by tens of thousands of gold coins, which is a huge sum of money...

...

"What should I do?" Marin was a little distressed. He didn't want to tell the Portuguese the true use of rhinoceros hide, because he was afraid that the Portuguese would follow him and use troops equipped with rhinoceros leather armor to conquer the indigenous people. But if you don't tell them, you won't be able to impress them to get rhino hides for you.

You must know that most of Africa is within the scope of Portuguese colonization, and it is not easy for me to rush to purchase rhinoceros hides within the Portuguese sphere of influence. Otherwise, it will be regarded as a serious provocation, and even lead to war. But to give up the rhinoceros leather armor, Marin is also unwilling...

At this time, Redondo chattered about the relationship with Marin, what was "happy cooperation" in the black slave trade. And in the cork trade, the cooperation between the two parties is also very smooth. After all, Portugal is the largest producer of cork in Europe. The slugs made by Marin all need to use cork imported from Portugal as the support...

Marin was bored listening to Sir Redondo bragging about the good cooperative relationship between the two parties, and almost yawned. Because, he knew that the other party was making such a big circle, but in fact, he still drank silk for porcelain...

But when he heard Redondo say "Our Lord Duke hopes to have further cooperation with you, Grand Duke", Marin suddenly came up with inspiration...

"Further cooperation?"

Redondo was stunned for a moment, but still said:

"certainly!"

"Then, how about the cooperation between the two of us to acquire rhino hides?"

Redondo shook his head and said:

"Grand Duke, as I said before, we are still interested in the trade of rhino horns. The profit of the trade of rhino hides is too low. I am afraid our Grand Duke will not agree! Because this investment may lose money! Moreover, the natives How do you collect rhino hides if you don't have sharp knives?"

Marlin paused and said:

"What if, this business of buying rhino hides is funded by me?"

"You want to get involved in the Portuguese colonial business?" Redondo was surprised, this is a very taboo thing.

"No, I mean, I contribute capital and people, but I still count as a partnership with your duke in business."

"You know, Africa is the territory of the Portuguese, and I can't enter it casually. However, I am very interested in rhinoceros hides. Therefore, I propose that I will pay for it, and your Lord Duke will authorize me to work on the grasslands of West Africa. The purchase of rhino hides... In this way, even if you lose money, it will not affect your duke..."

"Is that so..." Sir Redondo thought for a while. Then he asked:

"So, what can our Lord Duke get?"

Marin thought for a while and said:

"The rhino hides purchased by my subordinates will naturally belong to me, and the precious rhino horns will be handed over to your lord duke at a low price. What do you think? And we, as long as your lord duke puts a name on it, get it for us to go to West Africa The qualification to buy rhinoceros hides on the grassland is enough, and there is no need to pay any price. Moreover, the rhinoceros horns with the highest profit will also be disposed of by your Lord Duke, and we don’t want any of them!"

"Is that so?" Redondo fell into deep thought. It seems that this business is worth doing...

After a while, Redondo replied:

"I personally agree with this cooperation, but as you know, Grand Duke, I am just a subordinate. The final decision on whether to cooperate or not depends on the Duke's decision! Well, when this auction is over, I will return to Lisbon to ask our Duke My lord, ask for instructions!"

"Okay, happy cooperation!"

...