The Rise of the European Emperor

"The price?" Marin frowned. After a while, he said to Prince Philip seriously:

"I hope that the Habsburg family can take over Switzerland and attract the attention of the German princes and the French. In this way, the pressure on the North Sea Kingdom will be greatly reduced. Your Highness, this is what I really think!"

Marin didn't hide it, but said it openly.

After hearing this, Prince Philip nodded in agreement. But he asked again:

"But why should our Habsburg family help you share the pressure? Give me a reason..."

Marin shook his head and smiled:

"Your Highness, there is no need for a reason. Seizing the land of Switzerland is the wish of the leaders of the Habsburg family. Without me, you will also plan to do so. Just like now, your army is still in Switzerland. My joining , just to let you grasp more.”

Speaking of this, Prince Philip nodded and agreed:

"That's right, taking Switzerland is indeed our Habsburg family's long-standing goal. However, even our Habsburg family can hardly fight against the joint pressure from France and the princes alone."

Obviously, Prince Philip wants to make progress by retreating, and wants more benefits...

When Marin saw it, it was okay, did he treat me as a winner? So, he stood up and was about to say goodbye...

Prince Philip suddenly lost his temper. After all, Marin was right. Without Marin, they would also want to annex Switzerland.

"Okay, Marin, tell me, how can I cooperate with you? But, I really don't have any money right now!"

Retaining a huge army in Switzerland also drained the financial resources of the Habsburg family. Prince Philip's side was okay, but Emperor Maximilian I's side was even worse, and he was already heavily in debt. If it were half of the nobles, it would have been enough to go bankrupt. In the original history, Maximilian I also died of illness in 1519 while avoiding debts.

It's not that I'm worried about what the creditors will do to him, but the emperor wants to save face anyway. Being besieged by creditors every day is very embarrassing. Therefore, the emperors in history used the name of "inspecting various places" to run around at a young age, in fact, to avoid creditors. As a result, he died of illness on the way.

Right now, because of investing a lot of money in the Swiss battlefield, the emperor at this time owes more debts than at the same time in the original history. If the original history owed one ass of debt, the current emperor basically owes two asses of debt ...

However, the emperor also found a way. Inspired by Marin, His Majesty the Emperor thought of selling the newly acquired Swiss land as manors and fiefdoms, and wholesaled low-level titles and territorial fiefdoms, but obtained a lot of funds.

But the problem is that although many people are rich, they are not sure that the Habsburg family can hold the Swiss region. Therefore, most rich people are actually waiting and watching, and only a few people start.

If the Habsburg family can really win all of Switzerland and give customers confidence, the funds obtained from the sale of Swiss land will be extremely sufficient, at least allowing the Habsburg family to pay off most of their debts. This is definitely super good news for the Habsburg family whose debts are already measured in millions of gold coins.

As the undisputed heir of the Habsburg family, Prince Philip obviously knew the importance of taking over the whole of Switzerland to the family. Therefore, he could not bargain with Marin. But, he really has no money now...

Marin nodded, he was very aware of the poor financial situation of the Habsburg family. However, he didn't want money in the first place.

"How about this, Your Highness, didn't I tell you about raising sheep in enclosures before? Do you remember?"

Of course Philip remembered, and, now in the Netherlands, he and some big nobles have already begun to enclose land. But so far, the land they enclose is mainly public land. And those public lands belonged to him, the Lord of the Netherlands, in name. Public land has not been enclosed yet.

Naturally, it has not yet reached the stage of "sheep eating people".

What Marin wants is to let Prince Philip speed up the process, start annexing the land of poor farmers as soon as possible, and drive the farmers out of their land. Then, let Marin recruit these landless farmers.

"It's not good, it's a bad reputation..."

Prince Philip was a little hesitant. As the heir of the Habsburg family, although he was greedy and not very smart, he also knew that his reputation should not be too bad.

\u0026nnbsp;"I didn't let you do it yourself, you can let the nobles in those greedy places do it... You just need to tell them that if you can help me get a farmer, I will give them the benefit of 30 gold coins. Or, wait value in material compensation."

"Then..." Prince Philip's eyes lit up immediately.

Marin saw what he wanted to say, gave him a reassuring look and said:

"Don't worry, Your Highness. Even if you don't do it yourself, those nobles send people over to me, and I will convert it into a benefit and compensate you for the price of the weapon. Moreover, I will give 30 gold coins to each household, and you can give them 20 gold coins."

This is tantamount to letting Philip take one-third of the benefits. And, you don't have to do it yourself. If he gets 10,000 households, he can get the benefit of 100,000 gold coins.

...

In the end, the result of the discussions between Marin and Philip was for the nobles to drive the farmers out of their land. Then Philip pretended to be a good person and introduced them to Marin, saying that he would find a way for them to survive. Then, Marin paid Philip to sell weapons to him...

However, the export price of weapons is based on the market price, which is the case on the surface. In fact, Marin only charged a preferential price...

But this preferential price is actually not very favorable, because its discount is compared with the market price...

For example, wind-up flintlocks, based on the manufacturing cost of other countries, the manufacturing cost of each wind-up flintlock is at least 10 gold coins. Among them, the clockwork steel wheel alone costs at least 5 gold coins, or even 10 gold coins.

why? Because their clockwork steel wheels are made by top craftsmen by slowly beating an iron rod with a hammer. Iron rods are generally pig iron rods, which contain more impurities. Through repeated heating and beating, the impurities in the iron rod will be slowly beaten and squeezed out to form steel rods. Then, it is made into an iron bar-shaped clockwork steel wheel.

But the problem is that because the smelting technology in this era is very low, the pig iron rods beaten into clockwork steel wheels often have too many impurities, especially the content of sulfur and phosphorus may often exceed the standard.

Therefore, the yield rate of beating iron rods into clockwork steel wheels is relatively low. Not only is it very time-consuming, but if the sulfur and phosphorus content of the iron rod exceeds the standard, it may also break, resulting in wasted effort. This is similar to forging heavy artillery, with a high scrap rate.

In this way, the cost of the clockwork steel wheel is very high, at least 5 gold coins, or even 10 gold coins. Moreover, you must be a master craftsman at the level of a master craftsman to make it, and the output cannot keep up.

The price of a musket is often around 15 shillings to 20 shillings, which is about three or four gold coins. Clockwork steel wheels can be added, each costing at least 10 gold coins. The market price is 15 gold coins to 20 gold coins, which is very expensive.

In particular, the clockwork drum is a consumable item because it is not rustproof, and it needs to be replaced after a while. Therefore, the armies of most countries cannot afford to equip them. Only a few officers will be equipped with one. As for the soldiers, let's use ordinary matchlock guns that cost three or four gold coins. No way, the cost is too much. Of course, it would be great if the Musketeers could buy one for their own use...

But Beihai is different, because Marin came up with quicklime slag and the technology of removing sulfur and phosphorus in molten iron, which led to Beihai's steel technology leading the times from the beginning. Later, a simple carbon spring steel was developed. Later on, rustproof nickel was added...

Therefore, the manufacturing cost of clockwork steel wheels in Beihai is very low. The average cost of each clockwork steel wheel is only 1 shilling, and the maximum cost is no more than 1 gold coin. Moreover, there is no need for master-level craftsmen to personally forge, as long as generally qualified blacksmiths are trained, they can manufacture. And the cost is also an important reason why the cost of the North Sea country is so low. After all, master craftsmen, with such a high salary, at least one or two shillings a day, or even a few shillings. For ordinary blacksmiths, three or five Finneys a day is enough, less than half a shilling. The labor costs are completely different. Moreover, the use of steel bars made of stainless spring steel saves time compared to the use of pig iron bars by other master craftsmen. Because, ordinary craftsmen in the North Sea country only need to beat and bend the spring steel strips into spring coils, and then temper them. In other countries, it is necessary to beat an iron rod repeatedly to remove most of the impurities in the iron rod, then beat it into an iron bar, then beat it and bend it into a spring coil, and then temper it, which is very time-consuming. It also requires a master craftsman with a high salary to do it himself.

In this way, the cost of making a clockwork pistol in the North Sea country would definitely not exceed 5 gold coins, or even less than three gold coins. The lowest, can reach more than 1 gold coin.

However, the sale to Philip was calculated based on the lowest "friendship price" in the market, 10 Gulden gold coins each. Calculated, Marin's profit is at least two or three times. But in the eyes of other people who don't know about the steel technology of Beihai State, they have sold a huge favor to Prince Philip...