Ferdinand II cried and laughed for a long time holding his recovering son, before he remembered Marin who was waiting beside him...
"Ahem—Baron Marin, I will fulfill my promise. By the way, I want to ask, what do you want the colony of the barbaric continent for?"
"Planting the land..." Marin said innocently.
"Planting?" Ferdinand II almost didn't recover from his breath. Isabella I, who had been making soy sauce on the side for a long time, also burst out laughing.
"Yes, Your Majesty, as you know, the minister's fief has only a few small islands. The land is barren and lacks fresh water, so it is not suitable for farming..." Marin blinked and continued to play dumb.
"So you are going to farm in the wild continent? Are you afraid of being hacked to death by those barbarians?"
"It's nothing, I can choose a small island, or a location at the mouth of a river, where there are few barbarians nearby, to reclaim tens of thousands of Ugrams of arable land, and to plant a lot of food..." As he spoke, Marin also revealed Intoxicated expression.
Both Ferdinand II and Isabella I had a chill, and even Prince John shivered, thinking he was afraid of the cold again...
"Aren't you authorized by the Pope to go to India to buy spices? You're making huge profits in that business, why do you still have to farm?" Ferdinand II knew that Marin had bought the authority to buy spices in India.
"Your Majesty, you also know that the minister is just a little baron. He was hotheaded before, so calm down and think about it. I am a mere baron, and I am fighting for food with the Portuguese. Isn't that courting death?"
"This time to explore the road, I sent four ships, and the Portuguese also had four ships. Of course, they can't do anything about me. However, once the Indian route is confirmed and the Portuguese see the huge profits, they will definitely not allow my ship to participate in it next time." .Maybe, next time the Portuguese will send a fleet to intercept some of my ships. At that time, I will not be able to continue this business..." Marin lamented, but it was also very reasonable.
The most distinguished couples in Spain nodded and agreed with Marin's statement. After all, Marin, a small barony, cannot compete with the Kingdom of Portugal.
"So you went to the Wild Continent to farm?" Prince John asked curiously.
"Yeah, I'm trying to reclaim 100,000 Ugrams of arable land in the wild continent and become a big landlord!"
"Hahahaha..." Everyone was amused by Marin's words.
Then, after obtaining the consent of his wife, the cheerful Ferdinand II issued a document allowing Marin to open up 5 colonies in the wild continent (America).
Of course, in order to block other people's mouths and prevent others from making irresponsible remarks, Ferdinand II decided to confer on Marin the title of "Wild Earl" who surrendered to Spain. In this way, Ferdinand II not only repaid Marin's kindness for saving his son, but also ensured that the wild land still belonged to Spain in name, and had the best of both worlds.
"However, Your Majesty, I live in the northernmost part of Germany. I became the Earl of Spain, so I cannot come to the Iberian Peninsula to pay tribute to Your Majesty..."
"You don't need to come to pay tribute, and making you the earl of the Kingdom of Aragon and Castile is actually blocking other people's mouths. I will be famous in the documents. Although you were canonized as the earl of the wild, but in these five The colony has all the rights and does not need to pay taxes to the kingdom, as long as it belongs to Spain in name. The succession of the descendants does not need to be canonized again by the royal family, just perform the enthronement ceremony by yourself... "
"Then thank you, Your Majesty!"
"Don't be too busy, I'll send someone to find a "Bible", and press the "Bible" to swear allegiance to us first. For the first canonization, you still need to swear allegiance to our husband and wife."
"Okay!" Marin knelt down on one knee without hesitation, pressed the "Bible" with his hand, and swore allegiance to Ferdinand II and Isabella I. Anyway, it's just acting. Moreover, there are huge benefits after the show is over...
"How much do you plan to expand each colony point?" Ferdinand reconfirmed.
"Don't worry, Your Majesty, I will only draw a circle on the map with the port as the center." Marin replied. However, Marin did not say that it was a world map with a scale of 1:30 million. Draw a small circle on it, no matter what, it has more than 100,000 square kilometers, which is much larger than Portugal...
"Okay, I believe you, come, write this sentence into the document..." Ferdinand II was complacent, thinking that Marin was restrained, but he didn't know that the small circle he wanted was much larger than Portugal . The sum of the 5 small circles is definitely much bigger than the mainland of Spain...
After the two parties signed the document, they both thought they had taken advantage of it, and they both laughed. Marin naturally knew that he had taken advantage of it, so he smiled brightly.
Ferdinand II, on the other hand, thought that he paid off the kindness of saving his son's life with a small place the size of five palms, which was still an uncultivated wild land. He also felt that it was a great deal, so he laughed happily...
…
After the simple allegiance ceremony, Ferdinand II and Isabella I returned to the capital Toledo with the prince, his wife and Marin.
In the royal palace of Toledo, Ferdinand II and his wife warmly entertained Marin, and Prince John, who was already in good condition, also accompanied him in person.
Although Prince John was born to the old and cunning Ferdinand II and Isabella I who was also inefficient, this child grew up in the palace and never saw the cruelty of the world. Therefore, the child is still a little ignorant and a little shy. When Marin reminded him to be restrained in the intercourse, the prince blushed.
However, for the dishes of this palace banquet, Marin was so depressed that he wanted to die...
Marin never thought that at this banquet, Ferdinand II prepared so much pepper...
Throughout the banquet, Ferdinand II estimated that he took out dozens of pounds of pepper. That is to say, there were not many people present. If there are many people, it is estimated that Ferdinand II will take out hundreds of pounds of pepper.
You know, in medieval Europe, the price of pepper was extremely high, so high that ordinary people could not afford it. In the early Middle Ages, the price of pepper was extremely high, reaching the point where a pepper bean was exchanged for a gold coin. Of course, that was the time of the Crusades when Europe and the Middle East were all at war. The price is so high because it is out of stock.
At this time, the Venetians can still find a way to buy pepper, Turkey has not yet controlled Egypt, and the European land trade route has not been cut off. Therefore, the price of pepper at this time is only about 10 shillings per pound.
In India, the origin of pepper, the price of a pound of pepper is at most one or two pfennies or pennies. And 10 shillings are equal to 120 pennies, so da Gama's profit from buying spices in India is as high as 60 times...
Now, because of the scarcity of pepper, spices such as pepper, cloves and cinnamon have become privileged materials that only the nobles can enjoy.
Generally speaking, among the great nobles nowadays, if you hold a banquet or prepare a lot of pepper, cloves, cinnamon, etc., you are ashamed to call yourself a great noble.
For example, when the King of Scotland visited King Richard I of England in 1194, Richard I asked the King of Scotland to eat 2 pounds of pepper every day in order to show his enthusiasm—why didn’t Nimad get angry
…
Right now, Marin encountered such an embarrassing thing-Ferdinand II served a lot of pepper in order to entertain Marin. Roast is served with peppers, as is bread, and cheese…
Seeing the king and his wife and the prince eating bread or roast meat dipped in pepper with relish, Marin felt a chill in his heart...
In fact, Marin is not very cold about the spicy seasoning of pepper. It's okay to put a little bit in the meal, but Marin can't stand it if there is too much. Not to mention, eating bread or grilled meat directly with pepper like this group of perverts at the banquet...
Therefore, in order to save face for the king and his wife, Marin just dipped a little pepper and ate it...
Unexpectedly, this caused a misunderstanding between the king and his wife—
"This child, after all, comes from a small down-and-out family, and he is not used to delicious pepper, hey—" Ferdinand II and Elizabeth I discussed in low voices.
Queen Elizabeth I also nodded again and again, expressing her deep agreement, and then looked at Marin with some contempt for the country people and a little sympathy-this child, who can't eat pepper usually, has a miserable life...
…
In fact, the nobles of this era in Europe spent a large part of their money on spices.
Often, after a big nobleman holds a banquet, he will consume hundreds of pounds of expensive spices such as pepper, cloves, and cinnamon.
And these spices are not cheap, so after a banquet, the cost of spices alone will cost hundreds or even hundreds of gold coins.
Therefore, those big nobles who like to hold banquets have poor financial conditions, but most of them are showing off with gritted teeth. Anyone who holds a banquet will be ashamed if they don't put a table full of spices for the guests to dip into. What if you have no money? Loan chant. Hanse merchants like to lend to these nobles, charging 15% super high interest, or in exchange for business privileges...
…
After eating a pepper banquet, Marin felt that he was about to get angry. So he asked the maid for a lot of honey, soaked in honey water to drink, so as to reduce the fire. For this meal, although Marin dipped in a little pepper, he still felt a little numb in his throat, and his sense of taste was almost destroyed. He really couldn't understand why the European nobles in this era were so heavy-spoken. Even, many nobles went bankrupt in order to buy spices...
Fortunately, Marin has no such hobby. Otherwise, he would have to go bankrupt...
Moreover, what makes Marin dumbfounded is that since Marin cured the prince with ginger syrup. Now, Ferdinand II and Queen Elizabeth I have officially upgraded ginger, a mid-range spice that was not very popular before, to one of the main condiments in the daily food of the Spanish court.
Marin agrees with this point. Eating more ginger is indeed good for your health. Of course, eating too much is not good, and it also depends on the season...
In order to avoid the "pepper banquet" prepared by the happy Ferdinand II couple "kindly", Marin took the royal couple After signing the appointment document of the barbarian earl, he fled the royal palace of Toledo in a panic and started to rush back...
However, before leaving, Marin worried that Prince Juan would die young in the future. Therefore, he, a Chinese medicine doctor who is not even a knife, took Prince Juan's hand and taught him a secret of health preservation-"Eat radish in winter and ginger in summer, no need for a doctor to prescribe it!"
This sentence was actually read by Marin on a health program in his previous life, and he used it to tell the weak prince. At the same time, Marin repeatedly told the prince to eat less things like ginger and pepper that are easy to get angry in winter, but he can eat some in summer.
In addition, he also told Prince Juan to exercise more to keep healthy, and to control his X life...
In fact, Marin didn't have any good intentions. He was just worried that the mighty Charles V would appear in the future, leaving him, a little prince who wanted to be king, nowhere to go. It was not really good for the prince. But in the eyes of the prince couple and Ferdinand II couple, Marin is really good for the prince. Therefore, they looked at Marin even more differently...
Marin's seemingly random reminder really played a big role. Prince Juan (although it can also be translated as Prince John, but Prince Juan has more Spanish characteristics) followed Marin's reminder and paid attention to health preservation, and he lived for a long time. Of course, this is something…