Chapter 1289： Baron Rafi

After leaving Simon's ill-rested yard, Marin went to arrange spying for France. After Kohler's selection, he finally chose a spy named John and asked him to go to France to offer a "vote" in exchange for a knighthood.

John Ben was one of Kohler's spies arranged in Münster City, and his career on the bright side was also in line with Marin's requirements-a big wine seller in Münster City.

Because of the agency and sale of high-quality wines from Burgundy, John was very popular with the church tycoons in Münster and became the guest of the Conrad. After all, in the bishopric of Münster, the richest must be some bishops and other church leaders. And these church gangsters do not drink beer, but like to drink red wine. They call drinking red wine "drinking holy blood" and they have a sense of religious ceremony.

Moreover, these high-level churches are rich and naturally pursue high-end wines. As it happens, John is the agent and sales of high-grade Burgundy wine. In order to open up the market and take advantage of the opportunity to get close to those high-level churches to gather information, John often used high-grade aged wines as gifts for those church leaders. Then, Bishop Conrad, who loves to drink high-end red wine, will lead him as a guest, often inviting him to chat and brag about Münster Cathedral. And John is also very sensible, bringing a bottle of high-grade aged red wine with him every time he goes, which naturally pleases Bishop Conrad. Before Bishop Conrad burps, John, with the support of Bishop Conrad, squeezed out several other competitors and became the largest wine merchant in Munster City.

Although John did not hold an official position in the South Münster area, he often went to and from Münster Cathedral to accompany Bishop Conrad to brag about it. This is known to many people in Münster City and can withstand investigations.

Moreover, the identity of John's wine merchant is also very helpful for his acquisition of Lafite. After all, if someone who has nothing to do with the wine industry suddenly wants to buy a winery, it will definitely be doubtful.

In addition, one of the important reasons for choosing John is that John often speaks French because he often goes to the wineries in Burgundy. This is very beneficial to his integration into the French aristocracy.

"Is this guy reliable?" Marin asked Kohler before making his decision.

"Absolutely reliable! He was one of the earliest spies with me. He was loyal. Moreover, my family also gave me hostages."

"Then he can't go to France by himself?"

"It's okay, the one who pretended to be his wife and son is also my spy!" Kohler said from himself.

Marlin immediately accepted-Nima, his wife and children are all fake, and they are all spies.

In this way, Brother John, with his wife and children posing as spies, took the opportunity of the chaos in Münster after the death of Bishop Conrad, quietly left Münster and went to Paris, France ...

...

"What are you talking about? A wine merchant named John asked to see me? Every businessman who wants to see me can see me? No!" Louis XII waved impatiently. He is the strongest king of the French kingdom in Europe. Who wants to see him?

But the bodyguard continued:

"He said he came from Münster City, knew the reasons why several princes attacked the Grand Duchy of the North Sea, and was willing to present this secret in exchange for His Majesty's reward!"

"Confidential? Isn't it because of the civil strife in Beihai's military, how many princes want to take advantage of the opportunity? Well, I suddenly became interested, and asked him to come in!"

So John was taken into the palace, and his nominal wife and children were waiting outside the palace.

"See Your Majesty!" After seeing King Louis XII, John came directly to kneel on one knee.

Louis XII looked at him with interest, saying:

"You're not my vassal, why do you behave like you, kneeling?" In Europe, citizens don't have to kneel when they see the king, they just take off their hats and bend to bow.

"Because I came to work for your Majesty!" John said very seriously.

"Effect me? But what I need is a knight with a military role, not a merchant." Louis XII disdain. He is the king of France, not everyone is a cat or a dog.

"I know, but the secret I am going to tell you can add a lot of money to your majesty. So, is it a military role? After all, fighting for war requires a lot of money."

"As far as I know, France has a large population and Europe ranks first. If it were not for lack of money and food, it would be okay for His Majesty to use more than 100,000 troops. However, because food was not enough, each time a war was fought, the maximum was 30,000 or 40,000! "John said confidently.

Louis XII heard this and was silent for a while. He had to admit that what John said made sense.

France has a population of 15 million, five times that of Britain and double that of Spain. However, although France has more cultivated land, its grain output is very low. Even King Louis XII had little food in his hands.

In particular, the French knights that the French are proud of consume more food. Because the food consumption of war horses is five to six times that of humans. For each plate armoured knight, two horses are to be taken. Therefore, a plate armor, including its two horses, consumes at least 11 people's food per day during wartime (when the war is not fighting, the horse consumes less physical energy, consumes less food, and can add some forage. But the wartime horses To wear a knight wearing a plate armor, it is physically exhausting and can't sustain it without eating food).

Well, France dispatched 10,000 plate armoured knights, and daily food consumption alone can reach the standard of 110,000 people ...

Therefore, there are so many plate armour knights in France, but they cannot be dispatched frequently. Because, the consumption of food can make the Dharma King poor. After all, European food prices are too expensive ...

Marin chose to use Cossack cavalry and Eastern European Mongolian horses for the same reason. Mongolian horses are resistant to rough feeding, even if they are charged with cavalry during wartime, they consume a lot of energy and do not need to feed all the concentrate. Instead, they mainly eat grass and then supplement with some fried soybeans. Therefore, during the war of resistance against Japan, even if you could not afford new clothes, you could get a lot of cavalry. After all, Mongolian horses are well fed. If like a precious European horse, you can only feed the concentrate, the Eighth Route Army can't afford it.

But French knights can't save food. The high-ranking horsemen of the French knights are big food consumers. Without enough food, the cavalry cannot pull out to fight. Like the eight thousand knights of King Charles VIII, the reason why the North Italian infantry was stopped in the battle of Fornovo was because Charles VIII sent troops to grab the food separately, which was a delay. Otherwise, how can the two legs of the Italian mercenary surpass the four legs of the French cavalry warhorse?

...

Louis XII is obviously not a fool, he also knows the importance of food. If there is enough food, the French knight can cross Europe. So he asked Shen Sheng:

"Can you really increase my money? One-time or long-term?"

"In the long run, the grain output doubles!" John calmly said.

"Come here, clear the field, ban idlers from waiting!" Louis XII immediately stood up and ordered a close friend to clear the field. All non-faithful personnel were expelled from the hall. Outside the hall, guards were also placed.

Then he said to John with a serious face:

"I hope you don't lie to me, otherwise you will die!"

John nodded and said:

"Of course, you are the king of the most powerful country in Europe. However, if I really provide a way to double the grain output, what does your majesty reward me?"

After thinking about it, Louis XII asked:

"what do you want?"

"I want Chateau Lafite, and a large block of land. I wonder what title Your Majesty can give me?"

After thinking about it, Louis XII said:

"Château Lafite? I remember it was a winery in Bordeaux? Remember that the red wine produced there is of good quality, but not as famous as Burgundy ... As for the title ... I can only give you a baron. After all, you are a foreign Merchant, give you too high a title, the nobles will not accept it. "

"Can't Viscount? After all, that's the secret of doubling grain production!" John asked reluctantly ~ www.novelhall.com ~ By the way, France has viscounts.

"No, it's already the limit to give a hereditary baron. After all, you weren't even a nobleman before! However, I can give you more land! I can also buy and give you Lafite winery, as for the baron , Just call Baron Rafi! "

...

"Your Majesty Xie, but the minister has another request!"

"You said!"

"I hope that Lafite winery can get a big order from the palace in the future. Anyway, the consumption of royal wine is very large, and Lafite red wine is already of good quality. Why not give Lafite wine a chance?"

After thinking about it, Louis XII said:

"Yes, I can give you some orders! After all, I have to take care of Burgundy's emotions!" Burgundy was robbed by the French royal family from Maximilian I. In order to appease the other side, Louis XII had to take care of it a little more. Moreover, Burgundy wines are indeed of good quality.

"At least one-third!" John offered.

"No problem, can you speak now?"

Seeing that Louis XII agreed to his terms, John finally spoke about the so-called "confidentiality" ...