"Millions of gold coins..." The two kings gasped at the same time. Although Prince John introduced it just now, he didn't give too much details. They knew that Marin made a lot of money this time, but they didn't expect so much, which was more than Spain's annual fiscal revenue.
"Yes, this is more than the total annual income of the kingdoms of Aragon and Castile. Can a young count like Chen afford it?"
"Well—" the two kings nodded at the same time, agreeing with Marin's statement. Such huge profits, plus Marin is just a tiny little earl, it's no wonder that he is not jealous of others. It's Shuang Wang himself, and now he's starting to get jealous...
"The most important thing is that the fleet led by the Portuguese Da Gama set off with Chen's fleet..."
The twin kings were startled:
"You mean, the Portuguese also discovered the Indian route?"
"Yes, Columbus's fleet secretly followed their fleet across the coast of Africa. Then, they found an outstanding Arabian navigator as a guide, and arrived in India first..."
"You are really cunning, but if the Portuguese find out, they will definitely want to kill you..." Ferdinand II laughed.
"However, Earl Marin, if we in Spain accept your dedication, we will turn against the Portuguese..." Isabella I worried.
"May I ask Your Majesty, isn't it worthwhile to turn against Portugal for 1 million gold coins?"
The two kings fell silent...
"Besides, I only sent 4 ships and earned millions of gold coins. What if your Majesty sent 8 ships or even more?"
It has become a little difficult for the Spanish Kings to breathe... 8 ships... Don't they want to earn 2 million gold coins? In the eyes of the two kings, only gold coins were left tumbling violently...
"As long as you have a few million gold coins, your Majesty can hire tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of troops to take over the entire kingdom of Naples. Even if you have the money to form a new crusade, conquer Jerusalem and become the protector of the Christian world... "Marin continued to bewitch.
He knew that Ferdinand II and Isabella I were both devout Catholics. Given their strength, the couple would never mind organizing another crusade. Thinking that a holy city like Jerusalem is under his control, the two kings have difficulty breathing like an asthma attack...
"As long as there are a few million gold coins, your Majesties can not only conquer Grenada, but also hire hundreds of thousands of troops to sweep across the strait to Morocco and take a large piece of Morocco's territory as their own. Even, advance eastward and conquer the entire North Africa, Expand the territory like the Roman Empire..." Marin continued to confuse and confuse...
"Conquer Morocco..." The two kings looked at each other - it is indeed possible...
You know, there are only tens of thousands of Arab scimitar cavalry in Morocco. Spain can only pull up a total of 30,000 to 40,000 troops now, and it is fine to occupy a few pieces of land along the coast of Morocco, but it is difficult to go deep into the interior. In the wilderness, the same number of infantry is no match for cavalry.
However, as Marin said, if they earn a few million extra gold coins, they are fully qualified to pull up hundreds of thousands or even two hundred thousand troops, launch a war of extermination, and completely conquer Morocco. In that way, the territory of Spain will nearly double in size.
Moreover, Ferdinand II was indeed very interested in the Kingdom of Naples. If he had millions of gold coins in hand, it would be no problem for him to recruit tens of thousands of troops to compete with the French for Naples.
Not only that, Marin was right. If you have hundreds of thousands of troops in your hands, it is not a problem to win all of North Africa, let alone Morocco. Even, he is fully qualified to take down the holy land of Jerusalem and become the patron saint of the Christian world. It was definitely too tempting for this devout Catholic couple.
Originally in history, after Spain became rich, it was because it was ruled by the Habsburg family. The attention of the Habsburg family has always been on the frequent wars in Germany, and they are keen to fight each other with the extremely powerful France, which consumes a lot of strength. If the Spaniards were not under the rule of the Habsburg family who are keen on the European hegemony, but expanded southward pragmatically, and used the hundreds of thousands of troops invested in the European hegemony to conquer Morocco, they could take the whole of Morocco...
"But, Earl Marin, what about the Portuguese's reaction? You know, our navy is not their opponent..."
"Your Majesty, on the way, I once told Prince John such an ancient war story of the Eastern Empire..." Then, Marin told the story of "surrounding Wei and saving Zhao" to the Spanish double kings.
"You mean, we can't beat Portugal at sea, but we can put pressure on Portugal on land, and even surround Lisbon to threaten them?" Ferdinand II quickly reacted.
"Yes, no matter how crazy the Portuguese are, their roots are still in the mainland, in Lisbon. It is impossible for them to abandon their homeland and go into exile in the colonies. Therefore, as long as His Majesty is willing to send tens of thousands of troops to threaten the Portuguese mainland, they will have to give in!"
"But, in this way, haven't we violated the "Treaty of Tordesillas" signed with the Portuguese?" Isabella I frowned.
"Your Majesty, I remember that the "Treaty of Tordesillas" divided the colonies, but did not mention the right to trade..."
"You mean we go to India only for trade and not colonization?"
"That's right! India is not a Portuguese colony now, why is Spain going to trade? As long as you ask the Pope for a trade license, what can Portugal say? It didn't grab his territory..."
"What if the Portuguese occupy India and don't allow Spain to trade there?" Ferdinand II frowned.
"Haha, Your Majesty, to put it bluntly, even if Portugal has been around for hundreds of years, he will not be able to occupy the whole of India, at most a small piece of land there!"
"Why?" The two kings frowned at the same time.
"Because Portugal has few people! It's only a small country with a population of one million. Do your Majesties know how many people there are in India? One hundred million people!"
"So many?" The Spanish double king was frightened. You know, the population of Spain is only a few million people.
"Of course, Portugal can mobilize 20,000 troops, isn't it? But it's impossible to attract such people to India. Because India can mobilize hundreds of thousands of troops..." Another important point The strange thing is that in this era, muskets were not popularized in Europe, and the army also used broadswords and spears. The weapons of the same level are naturally more powerful in India with a large number of people...
"Hundreds of thousands of troops..." The Spanish kings were a little weak in fright at this time.
"Of course, my teacher Einstein said that he has been to the East and knows that there are two great empires in the East, one is China and the other is India. The Indians can gather hundreds of thousands of troops, while the total number of troops of the Ming Empire in China is even greater. It’s more than a million, more than the Portuguese…”
"Huaxia? Then, Earl Marin, can we go to China for trade? Buy silk and porcelain there?" Isabella I said with bright eyes.
"I'm afraid it's difficult. My teacher said that India is an open country that allows foreigners to trade. China is a closed country and doesn't like contact with foreign countries. Moreover, their emperor looks down on other countries. Say something rude , in the eyes of the Chinese emperor, the Spaniards are no different from those savages who drink blood... Your Majesty, in the eyes of the Chinese emperor, they are just like those barbarian chiefs..." Marin was not talking nonsense, he was absolutely telling the truth .
"How dare they?" Both kings were a little angry at this time.
"There is nothing to dare, just because they have millions of troops in their hands..."
The two kings immediately had nothing to say...
"So, only India's trade is more realistic. If you want to trade in China, there is only one possibility..."
"What's possible?"
"Surrender to the Emperor of China, willing to kneel in front of their emperor..."
"X... I don't want to be angry with this! India's trade is enough!" Ferdinand II said angrily.
"What your Majesty said is that China does not produce spices, only India produces..."
"Then trade in India!"
"Well, what we want is spices. By the way, Earl Marin, what conditions do you want in exchange for Columbus's nautical chart?"
"First, I hope that the Spanish fleet going to India in the future can bring some of my small boats..."
"You still want to meddle in the Indian trade? Didn't you dedicate the Indian trade to us?" Isabella I's character of eating alone appeared immediately, this woman is not easy to mess with...
"Your Majesty, I am not here to buy spices, but to purchase other materials... As for spices, I will not purchase more than 50,000 pounds each time, just to supply the needs of the country..." Speaking of this, Isabella I's face is bright better. 50,000 pounds is not much. Because, the Spanish kings have planned that they will purchase more than one million pounds of spices, or even two million pounds each time... But they don't know that if they buy too many spices, the price will drop because of the large amount. In addition, India may not have so many products for export, and Europe may not have such a big market...
"Agreed, what about the second one?"
"I hope that there will be more colonies in the wild continent, and the area restrictions will be looser..."
"How big an area do you want?" Ferdinand II frowned.
"Your Majesty, don't worry so much. I'm just a little earl. How many subjects do you have under him? How many people can you immigrate? It's scary to occupy a few counties. Besides, it's a wild land..."
"That's true. Anyway, I will give you 15 colonies. The size of the colonies depends on the scope of your immigration activities!"
In this way, Marin obtained a total of 15 colonial licenses, and there is no limit to the size. In the view of the Spanish double kings, under Marin's rule, there are at most tens of thousands of people. There are at most ten thousand people who can emigrate to the wild continent. How much space can ten thousand people occupy? A county or two is a lot of territory. Counting it as an island, it can only occupy one or two larger islands.
However, the Spanish kings forgot that Marin was backed by the entire German region. East Frisia has a population of only tens of thousands. However, the whole of Germany has a population of tens of millions. Moreover, Germany is poor and has a large number of people. Marin wants to get hundreds of thousands of immigrants, but it is not light...
The two parties quickly signed a document, and Marin obtained the American colonial rights and the right to follow the Spanish fleet to India to purchase copper, saltpeter and other materials. Then, Marin promised that he would present the nautical chart. In addition, on the next voyage, Columbus's fleet will personally lead the way for the Spanish fleet...
After the signing of the document, the Spanish kings hurriedly sent people to Rome before the news spread, agreeing to the terms of the trade authorization proposed by Alexander VI two years ago. They were afraid that Alexander VI would take the opportunity to raise the asking price after knowing the huge profits of Indian trade...
At the same time, the two kings also agreed, officially acknowledging that Columbus first discovered the Indian route. Moreover, the two kings also agreed with Marin, insisting that Columbus was actually under the instruction of Spain to explore the Indian route, not Marin's instigation...
In this way, because of having the first discovery right, Spain also has the qualifications and basis to intervene in India's trade...
On Marin's side, he was eager to throw the pot away. Therefore, he was naturally very willing, and even held the "Bible" on the spot and swore to keep it secret...
In this way, through a private transaction with the Spaniard, Marin successfully dumped the pot. At the same time, it also shifted the attention of the Spaniards from the Americas to the profitable Indian route...
Then, after purchasing a large amount of lead and sulfur in Spain with the payment of 140,000 ducats paid by Prince John, Marin boarded a ship at the port of Cadiz and returned to East Frisia...