King of Mercenaries Chapter 346

Published at 14th of June 2023 05:11:01 AM

After the return of Amerigo, Marin began to prepare for colonization. After all, the route has been discovered and there are no hostile Indian tribes in the target area, so colonization is easy.

The only problem is the problem of ships. Because, to set up a colony, we must not only transport a large amount of goods in the past, but also transport many people. However, the number of people on board ships is limited. So Marin needs enough ships.

For example, the Mayflower Galen ship in the past is an example. The ship has a displacement of 180 tons and is capable of carrying 104 people. Even the most practical 250 model in Marin's hand, the number of people carrying it will not exceed 150.

去 From East Friesland to North America, it will take more than two months to three months, and it will take more than one month to return. Therefore, counting a 250-class armed merchant ship, it can only transport 150 immigrants in half a year, and it can transport 300 people a year.

If you want to emigrate 10,000 people, you have to run 34 ships twice ... Poor Marin now only has a few 250 class merchant ships, which is not enough ...

Therefore, Marin felt that the development of 500-ton merchant ships needed to be put on the agenda as soon as possible. Because the 500-ton warship has been successfully developed, only a few reductions in the ship's ribs will be required at that time. After all, merchant ships are not warships, and there is no need to consider the ship's resistance to artillery. However, if you want to mass-produce, you still have to go logging in the Americas. After all, North American wood is cheap. Unlike in Europe, when manufacturing a 500-ton ship, the bulk of the main keel is difficult to find and the price is high.

After many thoughts, Marin finally decided to buy 10 ships first and make use of them. By the time our own shipbuilding started, we knew it was the year of the monkey. Moreover, because prices have not yet undergone a price revolution, prices are not high. A 200-ton off-the-shelf merchant ship costs only 3,000 gold coins. 10 ships, only 30,000 gold coins. Marin now has a profit of 400,000 gold coins per year, which is completely affordable. Although it had cost too much money to feed 10,000 troops and build new cities and reclaim wasteland, the principality of Saxony sent war compensation of 1 million gold, which made Marin's bottom-line finances replenish immediately.

"The Duke of Saxony is really good!" Marin thought silently.

What Marin didn't know was that just two days before Christmas, Albrecht, Duke of Saxony, died of illness due to illness. Prior to his death, the Duke of Saxony continued to curse Marin, the "hateful little cub". However, Dresden is far southeast of Germany, and East Friesland is in the northwest of Germany. The news has not yet come.

Because the emperor asked for help, Marin had to send 2,500 people to Switzerland to fight for the emperor. But in this way, the regular army under Marin has fallen from 10,000 to 7,500. This scale is certainly enough for the vassals who are content with the status quo. Who is Marin? Ambitious! With 7,500 people, Marin always felt insufficient.

Therefore, in addition to arranging people to buy 10 merchant ships these days to transport settlers and supplies to the American colonies, Marin spent most of his time thinking about expanding the army.

However, what troubles Marin is that it is not easy to expand the army. It's not that Marin has no money to expand the army. After all, to feed a large army of 10,000, aside from the expense of gunpowder, the annual salary expenditure is only 200,000 gold coins. Marin now holds 1 million gold coins paid by the Duke of Saxony, plus hundreds of millions of pounds of grain in the silo, and there is no financial problem in expanding the army.

But in diplomacy, this is unrealistic ...

The German region is a very strange region. Here, in order for the vassal states to survive, in addition to being strong, diplomacy is also important. Moreover, if diplomacy is done well, a weak country will be as beautiful as ever.

Because there are many countries in the German region and even in the entire European region. Moreover, the German region has basically not completely crushed the superpowers of other countries. If such forces exist, I am afraid that the German region has already been unified.

It is precisely because there is no such superpower, that the German region has remained fragmented. Moreover, the princes are also very clever. Once any power has emerged as a super power, other powers will cling together and fight against them. Even before this superpower grows up, it will be suppressed together.

The reason why Maximilian I was hostile to most German princes was because Maximilian I revealed the ambition of unifying Germany. Moreover, after winning the Principality of Burgundy through marriage, the strength of the Habsburgs has indeed been greatly improved. If the Habsburgs had only Austrian territory, their strength would be similar to that of other electors. But with the Burgundy, especially the well-financed Netherlands (mainly the Flanders with a well-developed textile industry), the Habsburgs have already surpassed other electors. Therefore, this caused the princes to target the Habsburgs in the Imperial Parliament. When Maximilian I sent troops to Italy, the vassals of the imperial parliament tried their best to drag the emperor's hind legs. The taxation was not approved, which made the emperor lack military expenses. When the Italian coalition was working in Fornovo and the French, the emperor was still arguing with the princes and asking for money, and the battle that the emperor's army missed.

Uh ...

Therefore, Marin wants to expand his army, and also asks the surrounding vassals whether to agree or not. If it provokes the princes' rebound, Marin is likely to be beaten by the princes in groups.

Therefore, there is a great risk in expanding the army boldly. You know, the neighbors around Marin are not good. For example, in the Old Town of Oldenburg, although it is a war of five scums, they have the Nordic overlord Denmark as the background; so is the Bishop of Münster, and the background is the archbishop of Cologne, one of the seven electoral states, and it is also very powerful; As for Saxony in the west, then it goes without saying that the Saxony department ... only the Archbishop of Utrecht in the southwest has no background, but it can also be regarded as the power of the Holy See and cannot be easily offended ...

In other words, if Marin wants to forcibly expand his army, it may lead to a rebound from the Nordic hegemon Denmark, the two election princes and their affiliates, and the archbishopric of Utrecht, which is not weak.

Although it is a Quartet, each power is a group, and there is no more than one country. If they offend them, at least the four major powers can call on twenty or thirty vassal states to come and attack East Frisian together.

Therefore, Marin did not dare to directly and boldly expand his army ...

However, Marin now urgently needs to expand. why? Because Archbishop Rovere, Marin's father-in-law, needs ...

Although, according to history, Archbishop Rovere became Pope after the death of Alexander VI. But Marin's presence has changed history.

For example, the Spanish prince Juan, who should have died of illness, survived because of Marin's shot, and gave birth to a little prince with Princess Margaret. What made Marin speechless was that Prince Juan's son was named Marin. As for why, it is said that Prince Juan thanked Marin for his life-saving grace. If Marin didn't save him, the little prince wouldn't be born at all. In this way, the Spanish grandson Wang also named Marin ...

Similarly, Princess Juan Isabel, the eldest sister of Prince Juan, the queen of Portugal, died because of the "fanning" of the "butterfly wings" of Marin.

Marin's greater influence lies in the use of the Holy See to curb the spread of syphilis. In Europe, syphilis has been contained because of the Pope's ban. Although not completely eliminated, it is rare.

Marin couldn't guarantee whether his father-in-law would safely land in the position of pope in the future. You know, Caesar, now the illegitimate son of Pope Alexander VI, is a cruel man who dare to kill his brother. He will never show mercy to his arch-rival Archbishop Rovere.

Alas, Caesar is now the supreme military commander of the Papal States. Originally, Caesar and Alexander VI were poisoned by "Cantrella", causing him to lose his ability to move for a long time. He could only lie on the bed, so he could not stop the archbishop of Roverere .

The situation is changing now. If Caesar was still alive when Alexander VI died, he would certainly use the Papal army to intercept and slay his archbishop Roveret.

Therefore, Marin needed to prepare an army to **** Archbishop Rovere to Rome after the death of Alexander VI to avoid accidents.

As for the size of this army, Marin believes that at least 5,000 people are needed, and 10,000 are best. In this way, with the protection of this army, Archbishop Rovere will not be afraid of any threats and changes.

However, Marin is also difficult now, and can't openly expand his army. Moreover, he did not dare to send all troops to Rome with Archbishop Rovere. Because the East Frisian Land also needs to defend itself. The surroundings are all wolf-hungry tigers. If the army leaves, Marin may be left in the nest ...

Marin thought of Heishui, and then thought of the big companies in the future ...

"Company ... Company ... Branch ... Oops!" Marin suddenly patted his head and thought of a good idea ...

In previous life, Marin worked in a large company, of course, he worked in a branch office. Marin remembered this paragraph, just like Blackwater. So an idea formed in his mind ...

既然 "Since I can't expand in East Friesland, why can't I expand overseas under the name of Blackwater Company Branch?" Marin thought excitedly.

At present, if Marin wants to increase troops by 10,000 in East Frisian Land, it will scare the surrounding countries. However, by moving the army farther away from East Frisian, the surrounding neighbors were less sensitive.

Where do you open a "branch office"? Marin began to think ...

At first, Marin wanted to get people to North America. However, when transporting 10,000 troops to North America, Marin obviously did not have that capacity. Moreover, in that case, the logistical pressure is also extremely great. After all, North American colonies have not yet been developed and do not have food production capacity. If food is shipped from Europe, the cost will be too high.

Then Marin thought of Cork on the island of Ireland. Now, there is also secretly controlled by Marin. However, putting 10,000 troops there will scare those vassals on the island of Ireland. After all, the island of Ireland is now torn apart, and everyone's strength is not large. Generally, small princes have only one or two thousand troops. You put 10,000 troops in the past, those little Irish princes are still scared?

They were scared, and Marin wasn't worried. But I'm afraid they will report it to Henry VII ...

Henry VII wasn't nervous when he heard that 10,000 troops were on the island of Ireland? Perhaps, Henry VII would start directly and become stronger. Marin was not afraid of Henry VII, but he was also the King of England and could still use 10,000 or 20,000 troops. Even if Her Majesty's 10,000 people did not fail, they would still suffer huge losses. By that time, Edward will be cheap for nothing. Therefore, it is unrealistic to put 10,000 troops on the island of Ireland.

Then, in the end, only Teutonic country is the most suitable ... Marin thought ...

The Teutonic State is also a small country, with an area of ​​almost 30,000 to 40,000 square kilometers, which is more than ten times the size of East Friesland. Moreover, now that the Teutonic state is the boss of Philip, Marin's ally, Marin still has the opportunity to secretly put an army there.

In fact, Marin also heard that Prince Philip is now integrating Teutonic power. The original army, Philip did not trust. Because the Teutonic army is still a feudal army. The knights usually run their own industries, and when they fight, they bring their private soldiers together. However, for such an army, Prince Philip did not have much control. Therefore, before prince Philip would send 20 trusted young knights ~ www.novelhall.com ~ to learn from Marin's experience of the "Marin Square".

In other words, Prince Philip intends to establish his own army to complete the control of the Teutonic state. At this time, Marin could completely settle the 10,000 troops in Teutonic territory through Philip.

什么 As for what price to pay, Marin plans to send officers such as Schwartz and a large number of grass-roots officers directly to train these 10,000 people. At the same time, he also helped Philip train new troops. With the help of skilled hands such as Schwartz, Philip's new army was also easier to train.

As for the name of these 10,000 people? Marin planned to start a new company directly, called "White Water Company", and his legal representative apparently let his own uncle, Yule, act.

Fu Yule himself was a senior official of the Teutonic country. He set up an army, and they thought it was Philip's power. No one would not lose face. After all, Jules is now Her Majesty's first favorite.

Moreover, the Teutonic state is quite special, and it is now facing the joint oppression of Poles and Lithuanians. It is not too much to oppose an army, even those knight lords. Because the Teutonic state may fight Poland and Lithuania at any time.

Even Marin thought about it. Not only did he train mercenaries in the Teutonic state, but he also planned to have Sweden's ruling stern Steware also send a group of officers to train with the new army and learn the "Marin Square" together. By the time the old Steen Stoure launched an independent uprising, the officers could also command the army to use advanced Spanish squares to counter the Danish suppression.

In this way, opening a mercenary company branch in Teutonic country is not only beneficial to Marin himself, but also to Teutonic country and Sweden. It can be said that the three parties have a win-win situation, and all are happy ...

Chapter end