After Amerigo returned, Marin began to prepare for the colonization. After all, the route has been discovered, and there are no hostile Indian tribes in the target area, so colonization is still very easy.
The only problem is the boat problem. Because, to establish a colony, not only a large amount of materials must be transported there, but also a lot of people must be transported. However, the number of people on board is limited. Therefore, Marin needs enough ships.
Take the "Mayflower" Galen ship in the previous life as an example. The displacement of this ship is 180 tons, and it is already the limit to carry 104 people. Even the most practical 250 model in Marin's hands will not carry more than 150 people.
It is estimated that it will take more than two months to three months to go from East Frisia to North America, and it will take more than a month to come back. So, calculated, a 250-level armed merchant ship can only transport 150 immigrants in half a year, and can only transport 300 people in a year.
To immigrate 10,000 people, 34 ships have to make two trips... Poor Marin only has a few 250-class merchant ships in his hands, which is not enough at all...
Therefore, Marin felt that the research and development of 500-ton merchant ships needed to be put on the agenda as soon as possible. Because the 500-ton battleship has been successfully developed, it will be enough to reduce some of the ribs of the ship. After all, merchant ships are not warships, and there is no need to consider the ability of the ship's side to resist shelling. However, if you want to mass-produce, you still have to go to America to log. After all, North American wood is cheap. Unlike in Europe, it is difficult to find the large materials needed for the main keel alone, and the price is high.
After thinking about it, Marin finally decided to buy 10 ships and make do with it. God knows it will be the year of the monkey when the shipbuilding starts at home. Moreover, because the price revolution has not yet been experienced, prices are not high. The price of a 200-ton ready-made merchant ship is only 3,000 gold coins. 10 ships, only 30,000 gold coins. But now Marin's profit from cooking salt has reached 400,000 gold coins per year, which is completely affordable. Although it cost too much money to feed 10,000 troops, build a new city, and reclaim wasteland, the Duchy of Saxony sent a war reparation of 1 million gold coins in a blink of an eye, which made Marin's bottomed-out finances refill immediately.
"The Duke of Saxony is such a good man!" Marin thought silently.
What Marin didn't know was that just two days before Christmas, Albrecht, Duke of Saxony, passed away due to illness. Before his death, the Duke of Saxony kept cursing Marin, the "bad little brat". It's just that Dresden is far away in the southeast of Germany, while East Frisia is in the northwest of Germany, so the news hasn't come yet.
Because the emperor asked for help, Marin had to send 2,500 people to Switzerland to help the emperor fight. But in this way, the regular army under Marin's command was reduced from 10,000 to 7,500. This scale is definitely enough for the princes who are content with the status quo, but it is too much. But who is Marin? Career! With 7,500 people, Marin always felt that it was not enough.
Therefore, these days, in addition to arranging for people to buy 10 merchant ships to transport colonists and supplies to the American colonies, Marin spends most of his time thinking about expanding the army.
However, what troubled Marin was that it was not so easy to expand the army. It's not that Marin has no money to expand the army. After all, to feed an army of 10,000, regardless of the consumption of gunpowder, the annual salary expenditure is only 200,000 gold coins. Marin now holds the 1 million gold coins paid by the Duke of Saxony, and there are hundreds of millions of pounds of grain in the granary, so there is no financial problem in expanding the army.
But diplomatically, that's not realistic...
The German region is a very peculiar region. Here, if the vassal states want to survive, in addition to their own strength, diplomacy is also very important. Even, if diplomacy is done well, a weak country can still thrive.
Because, the German region, and even the entire European region, has many countries. Moreover, in the German region, there are basically no superpowers that completely crush other countries. If such a force existed, I am afraid that the unification of the German region would have been completed long ago.
It is precisely because there is no such a dominant superpower that the German region has maintained a state of fragmentation. Moreover, the vassals are also very smart. Once any power has the signs of rising to become a super power, other powers will huddle together and fight against it together. Even, before this super power grows up, we will suppress it together.
The reason why Maximilian I was hostile by most of the German princes was because Maximilian I revealed his ambition to unify Germany. Moreover, after winning the Principality of Burgundy through marriage, the strength of the Habsburg family has indeed been greatly improved. If the Habsburg family had only one piece of land in Austria, it would be about the same strength as other electors. But because of the possession of Burgundy, especially the financially sound Netherlands (mainly the Flanders with a developed textile industry), the Habsburg family has already possessed more strength than other electors. Therefore, this caused the princes to target the Habsburg family in the Imperial Parliament. When Maximilian I sent troops to Italy, in the imperial parliament, the princes tried their best to hold back the emperor, but they refused to approve tax collection, which made the emperor lack of military expenses. When the Italian coalition forces fought against the French in Fornovo, the emperor was still arguing with the princes in the Imperial Parliament of Worms for money, which made the emperor's army miss the battle.
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Therefore, if Marin wanted to expand his army, he had to ask the princes around him whether to agree or not. If it arouses the backlash of the princes, Marin is very likely to be beaten by the princes in groups.
Therefore, blatantly expanding the military is very risky. You know, the neighbors around Marin are not good. For example, the Earl of Oldenburg, although it is a war scum, has the Nordic overlord Denmark as its backer; the Bishop of Münster is also backed by the Archbishop of Cologne, one of the seven elector states, which is also very powerful; As for Saxony in the west, needless to say, the Saxon family... only the Archbishop of Utrecht in the southwest, with no background, but it is also considered a power of the Holy See, so it should not be easily offended...
In other words, if Marin wants to forcibly expand the army, it may attract the rebound of the Nordic overlord Denmark, the two electors and their affiliated forces, and the not-so-weak Archbishop of Utrecht.
Although there are four forces, each force is a group, not just one country. If they are offended, the four major forces can at least call on twenty or thirty vassal states to gang up on East Frisia.
Therefore, Marin dare not directly and blatantly expand the army...
However, Marin now urgently needs to expand its army. why? Because, Marin's father-in-law, Archbishop Rovere, needs it...
Although, according to history, Archbishop Rovere became Pope after the death of Alexander VI. But the existence of Marin has changed history.
For example, the Spanish prince Juan, who was supposed to die of illness, survived because of Marin's shot, and gave birth to a little prince with Princess Margaret. What made Marin speechless was that Prince Juan's son was also named Marin. As for why this is so, it is said that Prince Juan was grateful for Marin's life-saving grace. If Marin hadn't saved him, the little prince would never have been born. In this way, the king and grandson of Spain also named Marin...
Similarly, Princess Isabel, the eldest sister of Prince Juan, the queen of Portugal, did not die of dystocia because of the "flapping" of Marin's "butterfly wings", but gave birth to the little prince smoothly...
Marin's greater influence lies in curbing the spread of syphilis with the help of the Holy See. In Europe, syphilis has been brought under control because of papal bans. Although not completely extinct, it is rare.
Marin can't guarantee that his father-in-law will safely ascend to the Pope's position in the future. You know, Caesar, the illegitimate son of the current Pope Alexander VI, is a ruthless man who dares to kill his own brother. He will never show mercy to his political opponent, Archbishop Rovere.
Moreover, Caesar is now the supreme military commander of the Papal State. In the original history, Caesar and Alexander VI were poisoned by "Cantrella" together, which caused him to lose his ability to move for a long time and could only lie on the hospital bed, so he failed to prevent the rise of Archbishop Rovere .
Now that the situation has changed, if Caesar was still alive and kicking when Alexander VI died, he would definitely use the Papal State army to intercept and kill his political opponent, Archbishop Rovere.
Therefore, Marin needs to prepare a large army to escort Archbishop Rovere to Rome after the death of Alexander VI to avoid accidents.
As for the size of this army, Marin believes that at least 5,000 people are needed, and 10,000 is the best. In this way, with the protection of this army, Archbishop Rovere will not be afraid of any threats and changes.
However, Marin is also difficult now, and cannot blatantly expand the army. Moreover, he did not dare to dispatch all the troops to Rome with Archbishop Rovere. Because the Counties of East Frisia also need to defend themselves. The surrounding area is full of wolves and hungry tigers. If the army leaves, Marin may be taken to his lair...
Marin thought of Blackwater Company, and thought of those big companies in later generations...
"Company... company... branch... oops!" Marin suddenly slapped his head and thought of a good idea...
In his previous life, Marin worked in a big company, of course, he worked in a branch. When Marin thought of this passage, he happened to think of the Blackwater Company. Then, an idea formed in his mind...
"Since I can't expand my army in East Frisia, why can't I expand my army overseas in the name of a branch of the Blackwater Company?" Marin thought excitedly.
At present, if Marin wants to add 10,000 troops to the territory of East Frisia, it will frighten the surrounding countries. However, if the army is developed far away from the Counties of East Frisia, the surrounding neighboring countries will be less sensitive.
So, where to open the "branch"? Marlin began to think...
At first, Marin wanted to get people to North America. However, to transport 10,000 troops to North America, Marin obviously does not have that kind of transportation capacity. Moreover, in that way, the logistical pressure is also enormous. After all, the North American colonies have not yet been developed and do not have the ability to produce food. If all the food is shipped from Europe, the cost will be too high.
Then, Marin thought of Cork, Ireland. Now, there is also secretly controlled by Marin. However, putting 10,000 troops there would also frighten the princes on the island of Ireland. After all, the island of Ireland is now torn apart, and everyone does not have many troops. Generally, the small princes only have one or two thousand troops. If you let 10,000 troops go there, aren't those little Irish princes scared to pee
They were scared to pee, but Marin was not worried. However, I am afraid that they will report the matter to Henry VII...
When Henry VII heard that there was an army of 10,000 on the island of Ireland, didn't he die nervously? Perhaps, Henry VII will strike first. Marin is not afraid of Henry VII, but he is also the king of England, so he can still use an army of 10,000 to 20,000. Even if the 10,000 people under Marin's command did not fail, they would still suffer huge losses. At that time, Edward will take advantage of it for no reason. Therefore, it is unrealistic to put 10,000 troops on the island of Ireland.
So, in the end, only the Teutonic Kingdom is the most suitable... Marin thought...
The Teutonic Kingdom is not a small country, with an area of about 30,000 to 40,000 square kilometers, more than ten times the size of East Frisia. Moreover, now that the Teutonic country is the boss of Marin's ally Philip, Marin still has the opportunity to secretly put an army there.
In fact, Marin also heard that Prince Philip is now integrating the forces of the Teutonic Kingdom. Philip did not trust the original army. Because, the Teutonic army is still a feudal army. The knights usually run their own businesses, and when fighting, they will gather with their private soldiers. However, Prince Philip does not have much control over such an army. Therefore, before Prince Philip sent 20 trustworthy young knights to learn from Marin the experience of the "Marin Phalanx".
In other words, Prince Philip intends to build an army of his own in order to complete the control of the Teutonic state. At this time, Marin can completely place the 10,000 troops in the territory of the Teutonic State through Philip.
As for the price to pay, it is very simple. Marin intends to directly send officers such as Schwartz and a large number of grassroots officers to train these 10,000 people. At the same time, he also helped Philip train the new army. With the help of experienced hands such as Schwartz, it is easier for Philip's new army to train.
As for the names of these 10,000 people? Marin decided to start a new company directly, called "White Water Company", and let his own uncle Yule act as the legal representative on the surface.
Jule himself was a high-ranking official of the Teutonic Kingdom. He built an army, and people thought it was Philip's influence. No one would disgrace him. After all, Yule is now the number one celebrity under Philip's command.
Moreover, the situation of the Teutonic State is quite special. It is now facing the joint oppression of the Poles and Lithuanians. With one more army, even those knight lords would not object too much. Because, the Teutonic state may go to war with Poland and Lithuania at any time.
Even Marin thought about it. Not only did he want to train mercenaries in the Teutonic country, he also planned to let the old Swedish ruling Sten Sturley also send a group of officers to train with the new army and learn the "Marin phalanx" together. When the old Sten Sturley launched an independent uprising, these officers could also command the army to use the advanced Spanish phalanx to resist the Danish suppression.
In this way, opening a mercenary company branch in the Teutonic country is not only beneficial to Marin himself, but also beneficial to the Teutonic country and Sweden. It can be said to be a win-win situation for all three parties, and everyone is happy...