Because of the exploration of the Grenada route, while arranging spring plowing work, Marin also arranged for the shipyard to continue building ships. Because the old Portuguese designer Valado was very stubborn, Marin planned to build some "250" class armed merchant ships for merchant ships.
Therefore, in the end, Marin split the original Tejorenche Shipyard into two parts-Valado, the old Portuguese designer, is still in the Tejorenche Shipyard and continues to build 250-class armed merchant ships. The other half of the craftsmen, under the leadership of Bovani, the most outstanding Venetian shipbuilder, came to Emden to build a new shipyard, and began to manufacture British ships with double-layer artillery decks according to Marin's "design". Galenic ship.
In addition to the top deck, this new type of Galen ship has windows that can be closed on the lower deck to facilitate naval battles. Moreover, its aspect ratio was determined to be 4:1. Moreover, Marin made it bigger this time, and directly launched a 500-ton class. Not only that, Marin also requested to strengthen the thickness of the side of the ship to meet the needs of naval warfare and make it a professional warship.
Of course, he didn't expect to build it anytime soon. Anyway, as long as this 500-ton British Galen ship is built within this year, it will be fine. As long as the first ship is built and experience is gained, more ships can be built smoothly in the future. The biggest difficulty was that the first ship was not easy to build. After all, there are currently very few 500-ton ships in Europe, let alone a brand-new British Galen ship.
As for the old Valado, they will continue to manufacture 250-level armed merchant ships. This kind of merchant ships already has mature manufacturing experience, and two ships can be started together. It is estimated that in a few months, the two ships will be launched. Moreover, Marin also allocated 500 skilled carpenters to join the Te Horenche Shipyard to participate in the needs of two 250-level armed merchant ships and cultivate their shipbuilding experience. After the training is mature, Marin will transfer them to the new shipyard in Emden to participate in the manufacture of the 500-ton British Galen warship.
As for what ship to use after recruiting Amerigo, Marin thought about it, and decided to let Amerigo use the two small warships of more than 100 tons eliminated by Columbus.
Because, exploring Grenada is not too difficult. After all, Columbus left behind a full set of navigation materials. Amerigo only needs to follow the "strategy" left by Columbus, follow the map, and directly follow the mature route to reach America without any brains. Moreover, Amerigo is also an "old driver" in the nautical industry. As long as there is a full set of information and Marin's direction, exploring Grenada is not a problem at all...
On this day, Marin was signing and stamping important documents delivered by Jeffrey in the palace, when suddenly a guard came to report—an Italian who claimed to be Amerigo Vespucci clamored to see Marin...
Marin's face was full of astonishment, the gold and silver used for stamping fell to the ground and almost hit Marin's feet...
"What's the situation? It hasn't been long since I sent someone to Italy to look for this guy, why did this product just come to your door?"
In fact, Amerigo didn't intend to find Marin on this trip. His original goal was to find Columbus who served Marin...
After meeting Columbus in Genoa more than two years ago, Amerigo, who loves sailing and exploration, soon went to Spain to find opportunities.
But he was very unlucky. After he came to Spain, he found that Spain lost interest in continuing to explore the wild continent (America), and he did not form a fleet to continue exploring America. Therefore, Amerigo had to stay in Spain first.
When Marin presented the information on the Indian route this time, Spain finally began to form a long-distance fleet. Amerigo originally wanted to squeeze into this fleet and travel to the legendary India.
It's a pity that this time, because of the ready-made navigation information and the old driver Columbus leading the navigation, it can be said to be foolproof. Therefore, this voyage to India is very popular in Spain. Many noble children, in order to gain credit, found connections and squeezed into the fleet. It doesn't matter if they are poor, because they just need to follow the old driver Columbus's boat...
Therefore, in this case, Amerigo, an Italian, was naturally brushed off mercilessly. Because, such a good thing as "discovering India" in a relatively safe way is not the turn of a foreigner who is not valued by him...
In desperation, Amerigo thought of Columbus in East Frisia. Amerigo and Columbus have a little friendship. Therefore, Amerigo rushed to East Frisia by land, hoping to squeeze into Columbus's fleet and go to India for a look at his previous friendship. By the way, in the nautical chart, also record a little precious nautical information, publish it to earn fame, or sell it to those who need it...
Unfortunately, his arrival was very unfortunate. When he arrived in East Frisia, Columbus's fleet had already set off south...
In desperation, Amerigo broke his heart and simply ran to the Palace of Aurich, begging to see Marin, hoping to find a good job with Marin through "self-recommendation"...
Unfortunately, Amerigo did not understand German, and the palace guards did not understand Italian or Latin. Therefore, Amerigo had no choice but to talk to the guards anxiously...
Fortunately, Amerigo was well dressed, and the guards thought he was a nobleman, so they didn't make things difficult for him. Otherwise, he would have been thrown out a long time ago—how could the princes of a country be seen by ordinary people whenever they want to
Fortunately, when Amerigo was arguing with the guard at the gate, a guard who came to change shift heard Amerigo calling himself "Amerigo". Coincidentally, Marin ordered someone to go to Italy to find Amerigo that day, and the guard was standing guard on the side. So, the guard ran back quickly and reported to Marin...
When Marin heard it, he was stunned for a while, and then hurriedly ran directly to the door...
Marin thought while running - Amerigo, come to my bowl quickly...
Then, Marin saw Amerigo, who was blushing and arguing with the guards at the gate. However, what made Marin amused was that Amerigo used Latin, which is commonly used in European aristocratic circles, and how could the guards at the gate understand such a high-level language? One of the two spoke in Latin and the other in German, talking non-stop there. But in fact, no one understands what the other is talking about...
Fortunately, the guard on guard has a good temper. If he had been replaced by a more irritable guard, he would have kicked Amerigo away in anger...
Marin hurried forward and asked in Latin:
"Excuse me, is this Mr. Amerigo Vespucci?"
Amerigo froze for a moment, turned his head, and saw Marin. However, because Marin didn't wear aristocratic formal attire, Amerigo didn't know that the Earl Marin he was looking for was right in front of him. Of course, Amerigo was very happy that finally someone could communicate with him in Latin. So he asked back:
"I am Amerigo, may I ask who you are?"
"I am Marin von Hoffmann, Mr. Vespucci, welcome to East Frisia!" Marin extended his hand of friendship...
"You are Earl Marin?" Amerigo looked surprised. After all, he had never seen Marin before. Seeing that Marin was so young, wearing ordinary woolen clothes instead of the gorgeous silk robes that nobles like to wear, he thought Marin was a Latin translator... However, seeing the The guards on board saluted Marin one after another, and soon believed it.
"Yes, I am, Mr. Vespucci, this way please!"
After Amerigo was surprised, he followed Marin into the palace...
Amerigo is actually a person who is keen on fame, otherwise, he would not have traveled thousands of miles from Italy to Spain to look for opportunities.
He was born in a wealthy merchant family in Florence, Italy, and his father was a wealthy bank notary. Because of his good family background, Amerigo received a very good education when he was a teenager, and he also learned Latin, which is commonly used by nobles and missionaries. In addition, he is also a person who has a lot of research on astronomy. Originally in history, before his death, he became the royal astronomer of King Ferdinand II of Spain.
Of course, in this era, every outstanding navigator is an astronomer. Because navigators need to use the sun, moon and stars as a reference to determine the position and direction of the ship. Over time, every navigator's astronomy level is very good.
After all, in this era, without telescopes and sextants, navigators sailing on the sea can only rely on their own naked eyes to judge and calculate. Those who can become navigators are not idle people.
However, after all, Amerigo was just a commoner. But Amerigo envied Columbus for obtaining titles and fiefdoms through sailing. He also wanted to learn from Columbus and obtain a noble title through sailing. No baron, just a jazz is enough... That's why he left Italy and went to Spain to find opportunities, eager to be awarded for meritorious service. Seeing that Spain has no chance, I ran to East Frisia again...
Through the conversation, Marin discovered that Amerigo was indeed a sailing talent. Therefore, Marin strengthened his determination to recruit Amerigo:
"Mr. Vespucci, you have stayed in Spain, you must know that I have 15 colonies in the wild continent?" The news that Marin was named the count of the Spanish wilderness and had the colonial rights of 15 colonies, in After Columbus presented the nautical chart, it was specially publicized by the Spanish royal family. Its purpose is to occupy the "right of first discovery" so as to find an excuse to intervene in India's trade. Although Portugal was angry, Spain frightened Portugal with 20,000 soldiers on the West-Portuguese border. In desperation, Portugal had to acquiesce in the fact that Spain participated in the Indian trade. After all, on land, Portugal is really weak. So what if the Spanish fleet can be killed at sea? People can besiege your capital from land...
Moreover, in order to emphasize its right of discovery, Spain specifically emphasized that Columbus was specially sent by the Spanish royal family to find India in the propaganda, but it did not drag Marin into the water. Therefore, the Portuguese did not know that Columbus was actually sent by Marin. This blocked Marin's disaster, otherwise, Portugal's anger is not something that Marin can bear now. Of course, insiders like Amerigo who once joined the official Spanish navigation agency still know the fact that Columbus is actually a member of Marin now. Therefore, this time Amerigo will find East Frisia.
"Well, I did hear about it when I was in Spain." Amerigo Vespucci nodded. This incident can be said to be the biggest news in Spain in the second half of 1499. As long as the news is not too closed, everyone will hear about it.
"Now, Columbus has gone to lead the Spanish fleet, and he won't be back for two years. I need a navigator who will go to America... oh no, go to the barbaric continent to find a suitable settlement..."
"My lord, what do you mean?" Amerigo became excited. You don't even need to open your mouth, the earl just opened his mouth to solicit himself.
"I would like to invite you to join the East Frisian Navy, and go to the wild continent for me to find a suitable island as my first colony point!"
"Island? My lord, since it is a barren continent, why not colonize it directly? Isn't the land area larger?"
"Mr. Vespucci, you don't understand. Tropical areas... well, middle-aged and hot areas. Europeans will be very uncomfortable there. Living there for a long time, they are prone to serious diseases, such as malaria. Such a Come on, the death rate is high..."
"Moreover, in the land area, the local aborigines have a lot of influence. Establishing a colony on land is easy to be attacked by the local aborigines..."
"My lord, the natives are so ignorant and backward, shouldn't they be able to stop our European army?" Amerigo asked back.
"Having said that, however, we have to gain a foothold first and let my men adapt to the subtropical climate. For this reason, I have chosen a very nice small island..."
"What kind of island?" Amerigo asked with interest.
"This small island, which I call 'Grenada', is not a big island, but it has an advantage that other tropical areas don't have—no poisonous snakes and poisonous insects..."
"There are no poisonous snakes and poisonous insects?" Amerigo didn't quite understand the relationship between poisonous snakes, poisonous insects and diseases. He is not a time traveler, how did he know that many tropical diseases are spread through poisonous insects...
"Well, you don't need to understand this, as long as you know it, so that people are less likely to suffer from tropical diseases such as malaria..."
"Oh... It's not easy to get tropical diseases, it looks pretty good..." Now the great voyage has just begun, and the Europeans haven't suffered from tropical diseases yet. Therefore, Amerigo obviously doesn't know enough about the horror of tropical diseases...
"Then, Mr. Vespucci, are you willing to discover this island for me? In return, if you succeed, I am willing to knight you and give you a fiefdom..."
"I am willing, Lord Earl, Amerigo Vespucci is happy to serve you!" Before Marin finished speaking, Amerigo, who is keen on fame and fortune, agreed...
When he learned that Columbus had left a complete set of navigation materials, and he only needed to take the fleet to a place called "Windward Islands" along Columbus's route, and then go south to find a small island close to the mainland. When, I was even more surprised. Because, this is simply too difficult to challenge. Even the strategy has been given in advance, what difficulty can there be
In this way, Marin and Amerigo quickly signed an employment agreement and a confidentiality agreement. After that, Amerigo stroked the Bible and swore allegiance to Marin... So far, the second master navigator has become Marin's general...