Chapter 875： Portuguese in Africa

After Kohler received the order, he quickly sent a messenger to change horses along the road. He quickly went to Portugal and contacted the long-term partner Jorge de Rencastre, Duke of Coimbra, to ask for the purchase of African cattle.

"What? Duke Marin wants to buy the African oxen of the Mali Empire? Why?" Jorge de Rencastre, Duke of Coimbra, was so confused that he didn't understand what madness Marin was going to buy. Cows, aren't European cows bad?

The messenger Karen did not hide, but said honestly:

"This is the case. Lord Duke, the island of Cuba under the rule of Duke Marin, the hot weather this year has occurred, and most of the cattle have died of heat. Obviously, European cattle are not well adapted to the hot climate of tropical regions. This has affected Cuba The island ’s sugar cane is planted, so Dagong sent me to order African cattle from you. Presumably, with the Dagong ’s power in Africa, is it not difficult to get some local cattle from the indigenous people? ”

Jorge de Rencastre, Duke of Coimbra, did not immediately answer Karen, but suddenly realized:

"I said that my horses and cattle breeding in Sao Tome Island are always hot. It turns out that the cattle and horses in Europe are not suitable for the hot climate of Africa!"

"Master Duke?"

Jorge de Rencastre, Duke of Coimbra, also reacted at this time, responding:

"What you said about buying oxen in the Mali empire, I can indeed get you some, but the amount is not guaranteed. Because, the Kingdom of Portugal is currently fighting the Mali empire!"

"Battle?" Karen was dumbfounded.

"Yes, fighting! And, the reason for the war was caused by your Grand Duke Marin!" Then, Jorge de Rencastre, Duke of Coimbra, introduced Karen in detail.

It turned out that in order to divert the attention of Spain and Portugal, Marin specifically told the two major gold producers in Africa-Timbuktu and Great Zimbabwe. Portugal has been assigned to Timbuktu, so it is natural to act.

The Portuguese first did business with merchants along the coast of the Malian Empire Guinea, and paid money to bribe those merchants to inquire about Timbuktu.

Timbuktu was once a territory of the Mali Empire, and was not taken away by the emerging Songhai Empire until 1468. Therefore, the Malian businessman naturally knows the news of Timbuktu. Under the Portuguese buy-in, the Malian businessman happily disclosed the news to the Portuguese, and confirmed that Timbuktu is the gold capital of Africa.

This time, the whole of Portugal was a sensation. Portuguese King Manuel I and his ministers immediately made a strategy of sending troops to Guinea, first occupying the Mali Empire, and then marching into Timbuktu.

Today, the Portuguese army has occupied the coastal area of ​​Guinea and is launching an attack on the interior of Guinea. However, things did not go well.

As predicted by Marin, the declining Malian Empire army cannot resist the Portuguese army. However, the hot climate in Africa has become the enemy of the Portuguese army.

At present, the Portuguese army has only occupied the coastal areas of Guinea. But if they want to go deep inland, the soldiers are very unacceptable. Guinea has a complex terrain and dense tropical rainforest. The Portuguese army opened its position, although it was able to defeat the regular army of the Mali Empire. However, in the tropical rainforest, the battle of the Portuguese did not work. Especially cavalry, it is completely useless. The most powerful cavalry force in Portugal is useless. Because if a knight puts on a full set of plate armor, he will get heatstroke ... let alone a knight, a warhorse with a horse armor will also get heatstroke in the hot climate of Guinea ...

Therefore, the Portuguese's offensive progress is slow, basically the feeling of moving forward step by step. That is, every time you hit a place, repair the castle first, and then repair it. Then he enslaved the local blacks to cut down the jungle and open up the road ... until the road was repaired, and then continue to attack forward ... In this way, the progress became very slow ...

However, this has nothing to do with Jorge de Rencastre, Duke of Coimbra. Because, in this operation, Portuguese King Manuel I did not take him to play ...

why? Because Jorge de Rencastre, Duke of Coimbra, and Manuel I are not the same people. Jorge de Rencastre, Duke of Coimbra, is the illegitimate child of the former King of Portugal, João II. After the genuine son Prince Alfonso accidentally fell and died while hunting, Joao II personally went to Rome to ask the Pope for permission to let his illegitimate son Jorge de Rencastre, the duke of Coimbra, inherit the throne, But failed. And it was Manuel I who finally won the Portuguese throne, so Manuel I and Jorge de Rencastre, Duke of Coimbra, are not the same people. Moreover, that year, Joao II personally ordered the execution of Manuel I's brother Diogo, Duke of Viseu. Therefore, the two are really not dealing. Had it not been for Joao II ’s conditional on the succession of the throne, Manuel I refused to let Jorge de Rencastre become the Duke of Coimbra, and he also made the Madeira Islands and Sao Tome The rights of the island were given to him.

Therefore, in this action to seize the gold capital of Timbuktu, Manuel I attracted many nobles, except that he did not play with Jorge de Rencastre, Duke of Coimbra, so the Duke Adults are very depressed.

Because of this, Jorge de Rencastre, Duke of Coimbra, said he could not guarantee how much he could make. After all, Portugal now only occupies the coast of Guinea, and there are certainly not many African cattle available. Moreover, the Portuguese forces occupying the coast are not all along with Jorge de Rencastre, Duke of Coimbra. Jorge De Rencastre ca n’t guarantee how much he can make.

As for trade with the Malian empire for the African ox, it might be possible before the war. But now that the Portuguese and Malian empire are torn, it is impossible for the other to sell cattle to the Portuguese ...

...

Karen suddenly had a hard face, but the task could not be completed. So he tried to ask:

"Then, Duke, can you get African cattle from other African countries? Whatever his cattle, heat resistance!"

Jorge de Rencastre, Duke of Coimbra, thought about it and said:

"You said that, but I remembered that my territory, Sao Tome Island, is not far from the Kingdom of Congo, but I can go to the Kingdom of Congo to buy cattle. Does the Congo know? The king who converted to Christianity!"

Last year ~ www.novelhall.com ~ The newly inaugurated Congolese King Alfonso I (who did n’t know the name originally, changed it after converting to Christianity) converted to Christianity, making the Kingdom of Congo the first Christian country in West Africa ( Congo is not the first Christian country in Africa, Ethiopia in East Africa converted to Christianity very early, but it is an Orthodox church), the first Catholic country in Africa.

And Portugal took the matter to hype, advertised its credit for spreading Catholic glory, and demanded more colonial authorization. If it were not for Spain ’s previous credit for the elimination of the country of God, the Portuguese, it is estimated that the Portuguese would have their tails up.

The Duke of Coimbra, Jorge de Rencastre, has a close relationship with the Kingdom of Congo, because most of the slaves in his hands were obtained through the Kingdom of Congo. The Kingdom of Congo waged war against the surrounding tribes, arrested slaves, and sold them to Jorge de Rencastre, Duke of Coimbra. Therefore, the two sides have a close relationship and it is no problem to buy African cattle from the Kingdom of Congo.

"That's right, there is the Kingdom of Benin!" Jorge de Rencastre added after thinking about it. Benin is also a partner of the slave trade of Duke Jorge de Rencastre of Coimbra, and belongs to the "supplier". There is no problem buying African cattle from Benin. In this way, the supply problem of African cattle is solved ... ()