Chapter 292： I almost forgot, I'm still a great chief

The weather in August is relatively hot, although East Friesland is not very hot in summer due to its proximity to the North Sea. However, it is also compared with the summer of China. In summer in China, high temperatures of 35 degrees and 6 degrees are common, and 38 and 39 degrees are not unusual. Such a high temperature is a real death, and dare not go out.

The summer in the German region belongs to the heat during the day and the night is cooler, which is equivalent to the heat of the "autumn tiger" in China in June or September. Anyway, although not particularly hot, it is definitely not cool.

In such weather, Marin transferred a batch of saltpeter from the arsenal, played the "peter ice", and made several cream ice creams. Although the workmanship is very rough, but because he made it by himself, Marin was also happy to eat it. On the side, Angela, Felice and Little Caesar also had a good time. Only Robert, because he is too young to eat anything too cold.

While Marin took his wife and his two sons to eat ice cream, a guard came to report that the Sami people in northern Norway sent representatives to come to offer tribute to their chieftain ...

"The great chief ..." Marin was stunned for a moment, and then remembered Miquel's wonderful document ...

"It seems that I am really the chief of the Sami Arctic Circle ..."

So, Malin reluctantly put down the spoon for digging ice cream, wiped his mouth, went to the front hall of the palace, and met the Sami messenger ...

Then, in the front hall of the palace, Marin saw a bearded Sami in red animal skin and a red cap ...

Seeing the other person's shape, Marin blurted out:

"Santa Claus?"

Although the other party is not wearing winter clothes, the full set of red leather clothes, plus the little red hat that resembles a Santa hat, and the gray-white beard with a full face, really look like Santa Claus.

The most important thing is that this cargo is holding 9 reindeer ...

However, the legend of Santa Claus was spread throughout the Western world in the 19th century with the rise of fairy tales ...

However, Marin remembered that it seemed that in the fairy tale, Santa Claus came from Norway and northern Sweden. Probably, those fairy tales were fabricated based on the Sami people ...

"Hello, dear chieftain, I am your faithful servant Klaus ..." the old bearded Sami said humbly in less skilled German.

"Klaus? What's really Santa's name ..." Marin wanted to laugh.

After holding back the smile, Marin put on a majestic face and asked:

"Hello, Klaus, where are you from? Also, how do you speak German?"

"Dear Chieftain, I come from a small seaside fishing village called Narvik in northern Norway. As for my German, I learned it from a priest who came to our mission."

"Narvik?" Marin was stunned. Wasn't that the port where the Kiruna iron ore was exported in later generations? At this time, there is no city there. However, this guy said that it was a small fishing village, which was reasonable. After all, the construction of the port will definitely be given priority in places where there are people. Moreover, Narvik is indeed a fishing port, and it is a non-freezing port.

These words of Claus made Marin suddenly have the idea of ​​establishing a city in Narvik in advance. At the same time, the idea of ​​developing Kiruna iron ore also took root in Marin's heart.

It's just that from Kiruna to Narvik, it seems to be over the mountains of Scandinavia ...

However, later generations could build a railway from Kiruna to Narvik at the end of the 19th century, proving that this road is not that rugged. At least, in the northern part of the Scandinavian mountains, there must be a mountain pass that connects Kiruna to Narvik.

However, there is a way back, there is a way to build a road from Kiruna to Narvik, that is by no means a simple matter. Even for cement roads, that difficulty is against the sky.

However, if there is no road, how to transport Kiruna's high-grade iron ore?

Marin remembered a documentary film watched by future generations-"The Train on the Edge of Europe-From Kiruna to Narvik". In the documentary, Marin left a deep impression on the plot of a 50-carriage train carrying iron ore walking on a desolate wasteland full of snow ...

"The wasteland ... snow ... hey? I really want to use a sled to transport ore ..."

In the Scandinavian mountains in the polar regions, although the terrain is complex, road construction is difficult. However, during periods of heavy snow and snow, the sleds were free to enter and exit.

Because the thick snow covers up the roughness of the road, allowing the sled to move freely on the snow and overcome some terrain difficulties.

In a flash, Marin made the decision to develop the Kiruna iron ore, mine the ore in summer, store it up, and then in winter, transport it to Narvik by sleigh, ship it for transportation ...

The reason to choose mining in summer and transportation in winter is because the land is frozen in winter, and the ore can not be digged, but only in summer. However, in summer, transportation is inconvenient because of the rugged mountain roads. Therefore, the best solution is to mine in summer to accumulate iron ore. Then, in the winter, when the snow closed, the ore was transported out with a sled.

From Kiruna to Narvik, only 166 kilometers. It is not difficult to transport ore with a sled. Moreover, Kiruna's iron ore taste is very high, as high as 70%. The transportation of such iron ore is actually not very different from the transportation of iron ingots.

Originally, Marin planned to introduce Erha from Siberia to engage in dog sledding. However, Klaus told Marin that it was completely unnecessary.

Because, the Sami people generally use reindeer to pull the sled. Klaus said that dog sledding generally requires several dogs, and reindeer sledding can be done with just one end.

Moreover, reindeer feed better than sled dogs. Because reindeer is vegetarian and eats moss, leaves, and grass. The dogs that sled dogs are carnivores. Therefore, in terms of economic cost, reindeer sledding is better. A sleigh pulled by a reindeer can easily drive two people. If you need to pull the ore, just add two sets of reindeer.

After solving this problem, Marin was happy. So he asked about Claus's intention. So, Claus told Marin why he came to Marin.

It turned out that the Sami people not only domesticated reindeer, but also the Sami people who fished by the sea. The fishing village of Narvik, for example, is a village that takes care of fishing and raising reindeer.

However, after Denmark ceded the Arctic Circle land to Marin last year, the Norwegian authorities have little control over the Sami area.

Because, in the eyes of the Norwegians, the Sami region has little oil and water, but it is still a burden, and it is good to throw it to Marin.

Especially the Norwegian fishermen feel that the Sami fishermen are robbing them of dried salted fish. Therefore, after the official announcement to cede the Arctic Circle to Marin, the Norwegian fishermen raised their hands in favor. Moreover, they also pressured the Norwegian authorities to ask the Norwegian authorities not to sell salt to the Sami people, nor to buy salted fish from the Sami people. In this way, Norwegian fishermen have fewer competitors.

Under pressure from Norwegian fishermen, the Kingdom of Norway has been ceded in the Arctic Circle region. At the beginning of this year, it finally stopped supplying salt to the Sami people and stopped buying Sami salted fish.

In this way, the Sami people in the Arctic Circle were hit hard. Especially for the Sami people on the North Sea coast of Norway, because they cannot introduce salt, the fish they caught cannot be marinated to make salted fish, and they themselves lack salt intake, making life difficult.

As a result, the Sami sent people to Oslo, the capital of the Kingdom of Norway, to request the resumption of the trade of salt and salted fish. Www.novelhall.com This problem should be solved by Marin ...

So, as a representative of the Sami people, Claus, who understood German, took a fishing boat and came to East Friesland to ask the "big chief" Marin for help, and also presented 9 reindeer as a "tribute" ...

What the Sami people lack most is table salt and the sale of salted fish. As it happens, Marin needs to develop Kiruna iron ore. Moreover, East Friesland is also rich in table salt, that is, the construction of a few more salt pots. Therefore, as the "big chief" of the Sami people, Marin agreed to provide a large amount of salt to the Sami people. Of course, it was exchanged with salted fish or reindeer fur.

Klaus heard that Marin could provide a lot of salt, and he was naturally delighted. As for exchanging reindeer fur for salt, it is justified. Moreover, the Sami are not short of reindeer leather.

So, Marin's "big chief" and the Sami representative Klaus quickly reached a win-win trade agreement-Marin will send someone to build a trading station in Narvik to sell salt to the Sami people , Acquisition of reindeer fur and dried bacon, and salted fish and other commodities ...

As for the development of Kiruna's iron ore and the transportation of iron ore, Krauss said that as long as the "big chief" is willing to trade with them, these are trivial things, and the Sami people must fully support ...