After leaving the Milan Palace, Marin first went to live in the reception villa arranged for him by Ludovico Sforza. As for Marlin's 300 men, they were placed in a military camp outside the city. After all, the Duke of Milan must not be worried about foreign troops. Therefore, he only asked Marin to bring a few bodyguards into the city, and the others were arranged to live in the military camp outside the city.
After settling in, Marin sent one of the bodyguards to find the staff who had been sent to Milan to dig clockwork and make craftsmen with high salaries. The method of recruiting was very simple. The bodyguard first hired a translator who knew German, and then went to find some of the most famous watchmakers in Milan who were good at making clockwork. Then, through these people, the whereabouts of the people sent before were known.
That night, the men who had been sent before were taken to the villa where Marin lived, and Marin asked:
"How's the result of the solicitation?"
"Not very well, Lord Earl. These craftsmen seem to be nostalgic for the prosperity of Milan, and they are not very happy to go to the relatively remote East Frisia. Even if they are paid a high salary of 1 shilling per day, they are not very happy."
The daily salary of 1 shilling offered by Marin is definitely considered a high salary in this era. You must know that these days, because gold and silver have not yet been discovered in America, and the "price revolution" has not yet begun, prices in Europe are still relatively low. Of course, this is after the price revolution, compared with Ming and India in the same period, European prices are still on the high side. But even so, 1 shilling a day is definitely a high salary. You know, in this era, the daily income of ordinary people is generally only one or two pennies or pfennies. The wages of ordinary craftsmen are only 3 pfennigs per day. A more powerful craftsman may have five or six Finneys a day. The treatment of 1 shilling (12 Finneys) per day is definitely the treatment of a master craftsman.
Marin thought for a while, and now he urgently needs to form a certain number of black-shirted knights, and there is a great demand for clockwork guns. And if there are not enough craftsmen who make clockwork, it may affect the supply of muskets and affect the combat effectiveness. So, he decided to spend some money:
"Well, you can promise 1 shilling and 6 pfennigs per day, and hurry up. Besides, if they refuse to leave, you tell them that the French army is coming. They are about to launch an attack on the Duchy of Milan. When the time comes, Milan The city will be in ruins, and their property will be taken by French soldiers. Let them think what happened to the Neapolitans a few years ago... "
A few years ago, when the French army occupied Naples, they burned, killed and looted the local area, causing great damage to the local area of Naples. This point, the whole of Italy is very clear. Marin said that, although there are elements of scaring, but it is not nonsense.
Ludovico Sforza is not liked by the Milanese now, and the citizens of Milan feel that he is extorting money. However, when the French occupied Milan, they knew what real extortion was. Therefore, when Ludovico Sforza came back with the army, they took the initiative to occupy the city gate and welcomed Ludovico Sforza into the city. It can be seen that the behavior of the French army after entering the city was so unpopular that the citizens of Milan who originally hated Ludovico Sforza changed their positions and welcomed him back.
After arranging all this, Marin rested first...
The next day, accompanied by the translator sent by Ludovico Sforza, Marin went to "poach talents" with a high salary. With the Duke of Milan watching, Marin didn't want to reveal his true purpose. So, he simply went to the plate armor manufacturing workshop in Milan, wielding a hoe to dig people...
It's just that Marin used to send people to poach people, and he didn't know the specific poaching process himself. Generally speaking, the behavior of digging people is to dig at the craftsman's house after work at night.
But Comrade Marin didn’t understand, he just ran to other people’s workshops to dig people during the day...
If it weren't for the face of the accompanying Duke of Milan, Marin was almost beaten out by the workshop owner...
Even in a plate armor manufacturing factory, Marin's behavior of digging people face to face angered the factory owner, who directly picked up a stick and hit Marin. If Kahn hadn't seen the opportunity quickly and blocked it with a simple mace, Marin's arm might have been broken...
Then, Marin finally understood—there is a specialization in the art industry, and he just uses his brain to direct others to do things. If he really does it by himself, what he does is not as good as those below. After all, people are professionals.
In the evening, after Ludovico Sforza listened to the report of the interpreter following Marin, he laughed until tears flowed:
"This Marin is really young, so funny. Yesterday, I saw him so witty and scheming. But today, his immature side was exposed. He is still young..." However, Ludovico Sforza He didn't underestimate Marin either. After all, Marin has gone from a wandering knight to an earl in just a few years. He has no ability, can he be so good
The next day, Marin stopped going to those plate armor workshops. In Europe now, because of frequent wars, the famous Milan plate armor is also very popular. Therefore, the bosses of those plate armor workshops are very strict with skilled craftsmen. It is not easy for Marin to poach people. And like his subordinates came to dig people at night, Marin was too lazy to do it. Anyway, there are already subordinates who are digging for clockwork craftsmen. So, under the banner of poaching people, Marin began to visit his workshops in various industries in Milan...
Milan deserves to be the largest city in the empire, with a complete range of handicrafts. Not only is there a well-developed plate armor manufacturing industry, but silk and wool spinning are also well developed. In addition, workshops such as tanning, printing and dyeing, wine making, oil pressing, flour grinding, and bread baking can be seen everywhere. On the street, there are many masons and stonemasons, etc., gathered together, waiting for the employer to hire...
In short, Milan is too prosperous. Of course, this is compared to other German cities of this era. If it is put into the modern age of Marin's previous life, the prosperity of Milan is equivalent to that of a county...
Anyway, Marin knew that he had no talent for digging people, so he simply started visiting various workshops. And because of the banner of the Duke of Milan, those workshop owners did not dare to push them away. As long as Marin doesn't open his mouth to poach people and anger the workshop owner...
When Marin, accompanied by a translator, visited an oil press workshop, his eyes widened when he saw the oil press...
What did he see? Screw press!
Although it is manual, it is considered a very advanced machine...
The reason why Marin was excited was that he had read European history and knew that the first mechanism gold coin in human history was the screw press machine used, also known as the screw minting machine.
This spiral minting machine first appeared in Rome around 1530. It was designed by an Italian craftsman to press gold coins with complete patterns and characters for the Pope.
Since then, Italy has begun to popularize this spiral minting machine. The Dutch also introduced this minting machine around 1580.
Then, the use of spiral minting machines became popular throughout Europe to press gold, silver and copper coins with exquisite designs. It was used until the early 19th century before it was replaced by a more advanced elbow-action minting machine.
Before the appearance of the spiral minting machine, European coins were first minted into billets of equal weight, and then craftsmen, using manpower, hammered and punched out the graphics of the coins with molds. However, this coinage method is very backward, and it is impossible to produce clear and exquisite patterns and characters, not to mention, there are still large errors. The coins produced in this way are sometimes irregular and labor-intensive.
Often, hundreds or thousands of craftsmen are needed in a mint, some of whom are responsible for casting and cutting bills, and more people are responsible for making bills into coins with patterns and characters. As a result, not only is it very labor-intensive, but also requires a lot of man-hours.
If it weren't for the fact that the European royal family often adulterated gold and silver coins to make huge profits when minting coins, the mint might have lost money. But after the advent of the screw-type minting machine, the situation of minting coins has changed dramatically.
After the emergence of this kind of machine, the mint only needs to arrange for highly skilled craftsmen to make money molds and put them into the spiral minting machine. After ordinary craftsmen have made money billets of equal weight, the relevant craftsmen only need to put the money billets into a screw press machine with molds carved on the top and bottom. Then, start turning the lever, pushing the screw down. The pressure of the screw press is very large, and the direction of force is very stable. The money billet is squeezed desperately into the money mold that is clamped up and down, and becomes convex and concave. Then, a machine-made coin with exquisite design and clear text appeared...
Because gold and silver are relatively soft, the suppression of gold and silver coins is very simple and more efficient than hand-forging. Not only that, the appearance of the machine-made gold and silver coins is also very beautiful, and it can also suppress lace.
As for copper coins, they can also be suppressed, but copper is much harder than gold and silver, so it is more difficult to suppress. However, copper has a characteristic that it becomes softer at high temperatures. Therefore, when pressing copper coins, you can also heat the copper billets in the furnace to a certain temperature and then soften them, put them into the spiral minting machine, and then press them into exquisite copper coins.
When Marin saw the screw oil press in front of him, he remembered this history. He suddenly saw a bright future...
What future? Marin thought evilly - if he first worked out the spiral minting machine, not only could he mint exquisite coins that were difficult to imitate. Moreover, he can also use the more efficient and low-cost spiral minting machine to imitate the coins of other countries and make huge profits.
For example, France is not very good at dealing with Marin. Marin can use the spiral minting machine to mint French currency and compete with the French royal family for huge profits from minting coins.
If a spiral minting machine is used, Marin can use fewer craftsmen to mass-produce exquisite coins. After all, making money blanks is very simple, and ordinary craftsmen can do it. The craftsmen who make coins need good craftsmen to be competent, and the salary is not low.
But if Marin uses a spiral minting machine, he can replace craftsmen with machines. Generally speaking, it takes a long time for a craftsman to create a gold coin, and it also needs repeated comparisons and trimming. With a screw-type minting machine, you only need to put the money skin into the mold, let two strong men turn the lever of the screw rod, and a fine coin can be pressed out after a while. Not only is the quality better, but it also saves the labor of craftsmen and saves a lot of salary expenses. At the same time, coins are produced at a faster rate.
If Marin wants, he can even use the spiral minting machine to fight economic wars...
The specific method is to create bad money from other countries, use bad money to hit good money, and disrupt the economic order of that country.
For example, the silver coins of the French now contain less than 25% silver. But Marin can be even more wicked, reduce the silver content to 20%, and then suppress it in batches, and then put fake and inferior French silver coins into the French market, causing the French economy to fall into chaos, and causing the value of French coins to decrease in international trade, hitting France The reputation of the coin…
This kind of method is nothing more than pediatrics in later generations, and governments of various countries have various anti-counterfeiting measures to deal with it. But in this day and age, using such wicked tricks can kill people...
Thinking of this, Marin smiled wretchedly, seeing the people around him bewildered...
After waking up, Marin immediately caught the owner of the oil press workshop and asked him who made the screw press oil press. Because, he wants to dig this person to East Frisia, build a spiral minting machine for him, and start the profitable coinage mode...