The moment Marin saw Prince John appearing, he had an idea in his mind. After seeing that Prince John did not show a greedy expression, he made up his mind directly.
Previously, Marin had been worried that the Spanish kings did not believe that he had discovered India and brought back a large amount of spices, and planned to bring a boatload of spices to prove it. However, now that Prince John happened to come to the Canary Islands, and the prince endorsed it, the kings couldn't believe it.
Then, Malinte took the prince to visit Columbus' fleet. Seeing the mountain of spices, the prince couldn't close his mouth for a long time...
Of course, Marin didn't let Prince John look for nothing. In order to let the prince speak for himself, he decided to give benefits to the prince:
"John, I will give you 100,000 pounds of spices to sell as an agent, are you confident?" Marin's method is to give some of the spices to the prince for sale, and let him share some profits.
"This... I... I have no experience in selling spices..." Prince John was still too young to see the great benefits in it. If it were another shrewd person, I'm afraid he couldn't wait to agree.
"What's the matter? You are the crown prince. You can find a few big businessmen to sell it for you. How dare they refuse? Besides, Princess Margaret grew up in the Netherlands. She must understand business. point.” Princess Margaret and Prince Philip grew up in Ghent, a city of industry and commerce, so they are no strangers to business.
"Right… "
"Hehe, the price of spices in Europe is now 10 shillings per pound. I will give you 7 shillings per pound to ensure that you will make a lot of money..." Right now in Europe, southern Europe, because it is close to Venice, the price of spices is 10 shillings. Order left and right. In northern Europe and other places, the price is even higher.
"Is there a price difference of 3 shillings per pound..." the prince calculated, and was shocked to find that he had a price difference of 300,000 shillings to earn. Of course, you have to pay for it yourself. But even with a profit of 200,000 shillings, there is a full 40,000 gold coins to be earned...
Although the prince is simple, he is not stupid. With such a good opportunity, of course he would not let it go. So, he nodded heavily, and accepted the benefits Marin gave him with a smile...
The relationship between the two parties was good, and Marin deliberately gave money, so they became closer.
After Columbus and others rested in Las Palmas for two days, Marin also set off and decided to go to Spain. And Prince John also returned with them to arrange to receive 100,000 pounds of spices from Malin.
Along the way, Marin told the prince about his thoughts, which surprised the prince:
"Marin, are you saying that you want to give up this interest to Spain? Do you know? The annual income of the Spanish royal family is less than 1 million gold coins..." These years, only a rich country like Venice has a fiscal revenue of almost 2 million. million gold coins. Other countries, even a superpower like France, have an annual fiscal revenue of only a million gold coins. Other major countries have not reached this level. Stronger than Spain, Aragon and the Kingdom of Castile together only have 900,000 gold coins in total, and they have to pay the cost of supporting a huge army and bureaucrats.
"I can't help it, John, you have also seen that the spice trade is so profitable, how could the Portuguese allow me, a small person, to continue to participate in it. I can guarantee that if they know of my existence next time, they may send troops to intercept me ferry!"
"But... if Spain comes to do it, the Portuguese will be unhappy too..."
"Are you stupid? John! What if Portugal opposes the huge profit of more than one million gold coins? Is Spain afraid of Portugal?"
"But we are indeed no match for them at sea..."
"You won't put pressure on the Portuguese on land? The Portuguese army is scum. You just need to send out a large army and make a gesture to surround Lisbon, and see if he dares to object..."
"That's okay?" the prince was a little dumbfounded. Obviously, he had never heard of the story of "surrounding Wei and saving Zhao" in ancient China.
After Marin told him the story of "Besieging Wei and Rescuing Zhao", the prince was relieved...
Although he is relatively simple, he is not stupid. Faced with the benefits of more than one million gold coins (Spain can make the scale bigger), the prince certainly wants it.
So, before arriving in Spain, Prince John has accepted the idea of pounding Marin's blame under the bombardment of Marin's views. Moreover, this blame is on the back, although there are troubles, but the profits will make any monarch in Europe very excited...
After arriving in Spain, Marin unloaded the 100,000 pounds of spices promised to the prince in Cadiz, and then Columbus's fleet returned to East Frisia under the leadership of Draka and several other captains, while Marin brought With Columbus, I went to Toledo, the capital of Spain, with the prince...
"Father, mother, lend me money!" As soon as the prince returned to the palace, he directly found the Spanish twin kings who were chatting, and yelled for money. He asked for the money to pay for the 100,000 pounds of spices Marin gave him.
"Need money? John, didn't I ask you to inspect the Canary Islands? Why do you suddenly want to borrow money? Did you cause trouble?" Ferdinand II scolded with a straight face.
"No, no, I want 140,000 ducats and 100,000 pounds of spices!"
"140,000 ducats? Can you buy 100,000 pounds of spices? John, are you being scammed? 100,000 pounds of spices should be worth 200,000 ducats, right?" In Europe, the Venetian ducat is a common gold coin, so Spain People use this too.
"No, Marin sold it to me at a low price, and let me make money together!" Then, Prince John told about waiting with Marin for the Columbus fleet, and explained that Columbus was the first to discover India and Things to buy back a lot of spices. Feeling the importance of the matter, the two kings quickly summoned Marin and Columbus...
"Your Majesties are well!" Marin and Columbus saluted.
"Are you Columbus?" The Spanish King looked curiously at Columbus wearing a Zorro mask.
Columbus took off his mask, revealing the face that was caught, but through the silhouette, the two kings still recognized Columbus who played for them...
"By the way, Earl Marin, you and John said that you would dedicate the blueprint of the Indian route to us. Why is that?"
"Your Majesty, the profits of the Indian trade are frighteningly high. I can't bear such a huge profit with my small arms and legs!"
"Is there anyone who thinks there is too much money?" Isabella I asked with interest.
"It's not that it's too much, but that I'm afraid that I will spend my money..." Marin smiled wryly.
"how to say?"
"I sent 4 ships to India this time, bringing with me more than 20,000 gold coins. But do your Majesties know? This time, I can earn millions of gold coins!"
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