The Rise of the European Emperor

"Your Majesty, His Excellency the Pope has disclosed such news before. He said that Spain and Portugal are going to divide the two gold producing countries in Africa equally..." Marin said softly.

"Oh, how to divide it?" Ferdinand II asked with great interest.

"Whoever gets Zimbabwe will get the right to own Morocco at the same time. And whoever gets the Songhai Empire, doesn't."

"That's the balance?" Ferdinand II, as a veteran politician, naturally understood the reason.

"Your Majesty, in fact, this is not a balance. Because, after all, the Holy See once allocated all of Africa to Portugal. If Spain can obtain one of the two major gold-producing countries, it is actually slaughtering the Portuguese... In addition, India needs Give half of it to Spain, it is estimated that His Majesty King Manuel I of Portugal has the heart to kill you..."

"This... is not wrong. At the beginning, we mistakenly believed in Columbus, thinking that the Wild Islands were India, and then signed the stupid treaty of the "Treaty of Tordesillas"... Alas, I really want to fight Columbus again. Dayton..." Columbus, who was far away from his home in East Frisland, suddenly felt the chrysanthemum tighten...

"Your Majesty, this is your excuse!" Marin took the opportunity to flicker.

"How to say?"

"The premise of signing the Treaty of Tordesillas was that Spain had discovered India?"

"Yes, we thought Columbus discovered India..." Ferdinand II said honestly.

"Isn't that necessary? As for this repentance, you said that Columbus deceived Spain, and also deceived the Holy See and the previous Pope. In fact, the premise of the signing of the Treaty of Tordesillas is that Spain has discovered India... …”

"That's right..." Ferdinand II patted his head and agreed with Marin's statement very much.

Since the premise of the signing of the Treaty of Tordesillas was that Spain had discovered India, the Spaniards' claim for rights in India this time was justifiable, and they should not be afraid of the Portuguese. Thinking of this, Ferdinand II's joystick became straighter.

"So, what reason should I use to intervene in African affairs? Even if they want to get Zimbabwe, the Portuguese will not agree to it?"

"It's simple, you announced that you would use the Wilderness Continent to exchange it with the Portuguese, wouldn't you have to?"

"What if the Portuguese refuse?"

"Then why don't you just give up the wild continent and declare the partition of Africa with Portugal?"

"Abandoning the Wilderness Continent? I'm so reluctant..." Ferdinand II was a little reluctant.

"Your Majesty, you occupy the wild continent at the same time, and you want to divide Africa with the Portuguese. Do you think it is reasonable to do so? If you really want to do this, you will not take care of it, and the Holy See will not support you. In addition, Portugal People will probably be so angry that they want to kill you..."

"That's true... But, Zimbabwe doesn't have as much gold as the Songhai Empire..." Ferdinand II still couldn't bear the gold of the Songhai Empire.

"Your Majesty, don't think that Zimbabwe's gold is not as much as Songhai Empire. However, Zambia, north of Zimbabwe, is the place with the most copper in the world..."

"The most copper? How many?" Ferdinand II was a little puzzled.

"According to my teacher's estimate, here, that is, the plateau area north of the Zambezi River, the total copper reserves may reach 30 million tons... er, that is, 66.1 billion pounds..."

"66.1 billion?" Ferdinand II thought that Marin was talking about 6.61 million.

Then, he suddenly jumped up with excitement:

"What did you say? 66.1 billion pounds?" Ferdinand II was so frightened that he almost fainted. This number is terrifying.

Before, the 33,000 pounds carried by the "Golden Sultan" of Mansa Musa scared Ferdinand II, not to mention the 66.1 billion pounds.

Although, the price of copper is much lower than that of gold. However, in Europe at this time, 180 pounds of copper can also be exchanged for one pound of gold. 66.1 billion pounds, can it be exchanged... Well, I calculate... Ferdinand II spread out the parchment on the spot, dipped the ink with a quill, and began to calculate. In the end, he got a horrific figure - the equivalent of 367 million pounds of gold...

Ferdinand II almost lost his seat, and Marin helped him in time.

"Too...too exaggerated...so much copper..."

"Your Majesty, if so much copper is actually mined, I'm afraid the value of copper will depreciate..." Marin reminded.

"It's okay, even with a 100-fold depreciation, there are 3.67 million pounds of gold, which is a hundred times more than the 33,000 pounds that Mansa Musa carried..." Ferdinand II's mathematics is very good, look It wasn't taught by a gym teacher...

"However, so much copper can't be mined all at once..." Marin reminded.

"That's true... However, as long as this place is occupied and the copper worth 33,000 pounds of gold is mined every year, it will be enough..." Ferdinand II still remembered the amount of gold that Mansa Musa carried. .

"Your Majesty is wise!" Marin was actually snickering in his heart. Seeing that Ferdinand II agreed to give up the "terrifying" wild continent, Marin died of joy.

How easy is it to mine copper in hot Africa? Moreover, this data was explored in later generations. With the current technology in Spain, it is not bad to be able to explore one-tenth of the copper mine. Then, it is very difficult to mine.

This series of exploration and mining can drag Spain firmly in the Zimbabwe and Zambia regions. Then, their eyes turned to the north, and naturally they would not pay attention to the South African region south of the Linhe River.

South Africa, but Marin wants to win. There are not only massive gold mines, but also huge reserves of chromite, which are of great industrial significance.

Therefore, Marin threw out Zambia's copper to attract the attention of the Spaniards and let them invest their manpower and material resources to the north, rather than South Africa south of the Lin River.

Moreover, with the technical strength of Europeans in this era, it is unrealistic to want to mine copper on a large scale without machines. The production of several thousand tons of copper every year is frightening. At most, the price of copper fell. However, it is impossible to make Spain soar to the sky.

In the final analysis, it is a pit, a pit that drags Spain's national strength, a pit that is more pitted than Zimbabwe's gold...

However, it was such a big pit that ignited the blood of Ferdinand II...

Ferdinand II felt like he was going to explode. He walked around excitedly, then stared at Marin and asked:

"Marin, are you sure there's that much copper in that place?"

"I'm sure and sure, and, you can swear!" Zambia's bronze descendants are very famous, and Marin did not lie. However, Marin can't guarantee whether all the copper mines can be found in Spain in this era...

Moreover, the Zambia region is almost 750,000 square kilometers in size. Even if the plateau area is explored, it will take decades. Anyway, this pit is very big, just waiting for Spain to jump...

"Your Majesty, even the coastal area of ​​Mozambique is very rich and can develop sugarcane cultivation." Marin pointed to the part of Mozambique on the map and said to Ferdinand II.

"It's tropical over there too?"

"Of course, moreover, His Majesty can directly buy black slaves locally for use in plantations."

What Marin said was true. There were frequent wars between tribes in Africa and each other was captured as slaves. It is very cheap to buy black slaves locally. Also, no long-distance transportation is required. In fact, Marin is very strange, since Africa and the Americas have similar climates, why not plant plantations in Africa?

After thinking about it, I realized that it turned out that Africa was the territory of the Portuguese. The Portuguese are weak chickens on the land, unable to conquer the black tribes on the land at all. Therefore, they can only buy prisoners of war with black tribes through trade and sell them as black slaves, and they are unable to conquer those black tribes in Africa.

So, African plantations did not develop until after the full-scale European invasion of Africa in the 19th century. Now, the Portuguese seem to have only opened sugar cane plantations on the island of Sao Tome.

The Spanish army is much stronger than Portugal. Especially after the emergence of the Spanish phalanx, Spain has been mad at the European continent for a hundred years. It was not until the appearance of the line array of Maurice and Gu Erye that the Spanish army began to decline. However, if you take the Spanish phalanx and go to those African indigenous tribes, there is no problem at all.

Use the Spanish phalanx to smash the black tribes on the fertile land by the river in Mozambique and occupy a good location. Then, use cheap commodities to buy tamed prisoners of war from other black tribes as black slaves, and develop sugar cane plantations and even spice plantations on the spot, don't be too promising...

Marin explained this idea to Ferdinand II in detail, and Ferdinand II became more explosive, and the whole person kept walking around the room to relieve his excitement. Then, he whispered:

"I want Zimbabwe, Zambia and Mozambique! I want gold, and lots and lots of copper...well, and sugar cane..."

However, in Marin's eyes, Ferdinand II, who walked around excitedly and roared from time to time, was so like Mr. Fan Wei who "try two steps"...

Anyway, Marin can conclude that Ferdinand II has been "flickered and lame" by himself...8)