A few days after Prince John's arrival, Columbus' fleet appeared south of the Canary Islands. It just so happened that they were blocked by Marin's two ships.
"Captain Kidd? Are you waiting for me here?" After the two fleets met, the travel-stained Columbus met the 250 formation led by Kidd who was waiting for him.
"More than that, the Earl has also come in person, in Las Palmas."
"Master Earl?" Columbus was a little puzzled. When he set off, Marin was still a baron.
"Oh, I almost forgot, Master Marin has captured the Count of East Frisia, and is now the Earl of East Frisia."
"Huh?" Columbus was a little surprised. From baron to earl, that is not an ordinary breakthrough, but a chasm of nature. Unexpectedly, his miraculous young master crossed over so easily... But that's okay, Marin became the earl, and the title of Columbus that could be awarded to him was even higher. Unlike the baron before, at most one knight was awarded to Columbus...
When Columbus' fleet docked at the port of Las Palmas under the guidance of the 250 formation, Marin was leading his men, and Prince John's men, playing football on the beach.
Prince John was very interested in the football games played by Marin's men, so he also asked a tailor to make dozens of sets of short-sleeved T-shirts and big pants, so that his men could also play football on the beach. Not to mention, the Spaniards seem to be quite artistic, and their kicks are more artistic than the Germans under Marin. Although it is just starting to kick, it looks better.
Prince John was very proud, thinking that his team was stronger in playing football, so he found Marin and sought a match. Prince John also named his team "Royal Toledo". Marlin suddenly felt a pity, because the Spanish capital is currently Toledo, not Madrid. Otherwise, Real Madrid would have appeared hundreds of years earlier. Seeing that Prince John named the team, Marin also named it the Earl of Friesland. In fact, Marin also wanted to call his team Royal Aurich, but unfortunately, he has no throne and is not qualified to be called Royal. Therefore, it can only be called the earl team...
Although the name of the team is not as high as that of Prince John, the team does not look so beautiful when playing football. However, when the real game started, Prince John was dumbfounded.
It turned out that although Marin's Earl team didn't look very skilled, Prince John's Toledo team was not much better. It's just that the Spaniards try to look good when they handle the ball, so it seems that the Spaniard's skills are very good, but in essence they are still very average. And Marin's team is not as good-looking as the Spaniards, but they are relatively simple and practical.
Moreover, the most important point is that Marin knows tactics...
Prince John's Royal Toledo team launched an attack like a tide. Except for the goalkeeper, they basically ran to the half of Marin's Earl team. And this was caused by Marin deliberately shrinking the line of defense first.
When the Toledo team's request for help ran to the Earl's half, Marin immediately signaled the fast horses in the team to launch a counterattack... Then, the Royal Toledo team was poured 4-0. This is also the reason why Marin's team members are so stinky, they often play handjobs. If he had the ability of a professional player of later generations, he might be able to score more than ten to zero...
On August 10th, the Toledo team challenged the Earls again. Marin and Prince John's team were playing happily on the beach, and suddenly heard the report from his men - the fleet of Marin and others had returned...
Marin immediately ignored the game and left. Although Prince John wanted to make a comeback, he also followed out of curiosity. As for the game, it was stopped immediately. They play every day now, not bad for this game.
In the residence, Marin saw the dusty Columbus. Of course, Columbus was wearing a Zorro mask, and Marin couldn't see his face yet, but it must be tired.
After finally getting ashore, Columbus was also very happy. If he hadn't waited to meet Marin and report on his work, he would have jumped on the bed covered with velvet quilt and had a good rest.
"Welcome back, Christopher!" Marin stepped forward and hugged Columbus.
"Thank you for your concern, baron... oh no, my lord earl!"
"Haha, Christopher, I'm an earl now. Based on your achievements this time, I can directly make you a baron!"
"From the baron?" Columbus was a little puzzled. Because, at this time in Europe, there is no such title.
"Oh, it's a new kind of title. I have implemented a three-level baron system in East Frisia. The baron is a three-level baron, but it is also hereditary and has a fief."
"Oh..." Columbus didn't care much. In fact, the Spaniards had made him an official baron before (there was no time to add a higher title, because the Spanish kings had not seen the spices and gold from "India", and the two kings did not see rabbits or eagles the master). It's just that the Spaniard turned his back and ended up canceling it.
Seeing Columbus's expression of not paying much attention, Marin knew that Columbus was a little too low. Then he said again:
"In addition, your eldest son inherits your title, and your younger son can also be made a hereditary knight..."
"Hereditary knight?" Columbus had never heard of this title.
"Well, a title established in East Frisia, the highest rank among knights, can be hereditary by men..."
Columbus' eyes moved, obviously very happy. As for the youngest son, he also knew that it was difficult to obtain hereditary noble status. But now, Marin immediately gave a hereditary title. Although he is only a knight, he can also become a hereditary noble. But what makes him even more happy is yet to come:
"In addition, I decided to reward you with 20,000 ducats in view of your outstanding performance during the voyage!"
This is really a big deal. Generally, the king rewards his courtiers, but he has never rewarded so much money. 20,000 Ducats, according to the gold-silver exchange ratio of 1:12, is equivalent to 42.7 grams of silver, equivalent to 1.14 taels of silver. In other words, it is equivalent to 22,800 taels of silver. In ancient China, if an emperor with a huge empire rewarded any minister with 10,000 taels of silver, he would be envied to death.
Columbus's eyes also burst into golden light. As a Genoese who advocates business, Columbus is of course also very eager for profit. Isn't the reason why he engages in great voyages is for title and wealth
Moreover, Columbus himself was a greedy man. Originally, in history, he was arrested and returned to Spain in 1500 because of corruption. Moreover, before that, Columbus had already proposed to share 10% of the profits of the voyage.
Therefore, although Columbus was a great navigator, he was very greedy for money. Therefore, the 20,000 gold coins moved him more than the title of baron.
Although, Columbus also made an agreement with Spain on a 10% profit before. However, his previous two voyages did not make much money at all. Because what he found were only some indigenous islands, what valuable things could he bring back? So, Columbus had to bring some Indian sweet potatoes back to fool the Spanish royal family—look, this is something Indians eat, isn’t it rare? Rare... Compared with the one-time profit of more than one million gold coins this time, the significance of the future for his two previous voyages is far greater than the reality.
The reward of 20,000 gold coins is definitely more than 1% of the income of this voyage, even close to 2%. This is not one percent of tens of thousands of gold coins, but one percent of more than one million gold coins. Anyway, before Columbus was in Spain, he had only a few thousand gold coins in total, most of which were rewarded by the royal family and were confiscated in the end. Moreover, among the thousands of gold coins, the mansion as real estate accounted for the majority. The cash in Columbus' hands is basically not much...
However, the surprises continued:
"Well, your fief will be allocated to Lyle County, the most agriculturally developed county, and 1,000 Ugrams of fertile arable land will be confiscated. In addition, the castle construction cost of your barony will also be paid by the treasury..."
With a wave of Marin's hand, the cost of building the castle of several thousand gold coins was saved again, and Columbus' eyes once again shone golden...
For a greedy navigator, what could make him happier than saving a few thousand gold coins...
"Christopher, you work hard and hang out with me. I will never treat you badly. I will let you live a life of wealth that ordinary people can't imagine!"
"Well, I will, Lord Earl!" Columbus nodded emphatically. Thinking of the 20,000 gold coins given by Marin and the benefits of helping to build the castle for free, as well as the fertile farmland of 1,000 Ugrams without paying taxes, Columbus, a greedy guy, was so excited that he forgot to rest because he was so excited that he couldn’t sleep …