Chapter 1975： Transportation problems

"Alas, farming cattle is a big problem!" Malin sighed deeply when he stopped the pen to write the plan.

The Philippine population is not lacking. Not to mention that the 10,000 or 20,000 Chinese immigrants, who are indigenous, are estimated to be 560,000. Most of them are concentrated on Luzon Island. At that time, as long as the island's aboriginal warriors are dispatched to use good weapons and armor, it is still easy to catch.

But some people are useless, arable land, still have to rely on cattle. Don't look at people can plow the land, but how many farmers can really eat bitter plowed land? Even the most able-bodied Chinese farmers, if the family does not have cattle, it will weigh a dozen acres at most. No matter how much, people can't eat it.

Cultivating land in tropical rainforests requires not only cattle but also buffaloes ...

If you just need a cow, it is too easy for Marin, go to Eastern Europe to buy it! Today, the Crimean Khanate is tempted by Marin to become a cattle breeding professional country, which can supply tens of thousands of cattle every year. At the same time, on the Ukrainian prairie, which is currently part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, local people also raise cattle and sheep on a large scale, and can provide tens of thousands of cattle every year.

But it is a pity that these cattle are yellow cattle, which are not heat-resistant and moisture-resistant, unable to adapt to the tropical rain forest climate, and even unable to cultivate paddy fields ...

Therefore, what Marlin lacks is not ordinary cattle, but buffaloes that can adapt to the tropical rainforest climate and can cultivate paddy fields. Or, the Indian Zebu.

However, it is very difficult to obtain a buffalo or an Indian zebu. Water buffaloes are scarce. The East Asia and Southeast Asia regions are affected by the Chinese farming civilization. Most of the water buffaloes are captured and domesticated by the locals. Large-scale bison only exist in the overseas islands like Maldoro, which has malaria and is prone to malaria.

As for the Indian tumor cow, if it looks white, it is the holy cow of India. It cannot be moved easily, and it is impossible to buy it. Therefore, Marin can only find a way to buy or exchange Persian cattle for non-white tumor cattle, and it is also more troublesome. Marin estimated that even if things were to succeed, it would be scary for him to get thousands of zebu from India every year. Moreover, it is estimated that it is still a few thousand heads small, not a few thousand heads large.

How to get a large number of cattle suitable for tropical areas? Malin thought about going ...

He thought of Madagascar, which was called the "kingdom of cows" in later generations. However, according to reports from spies passing by Madagascar, the local cattle are indeed zebu. However, it seems that the number is not much. At least, there are not many coastal areas.

In fact, Madagascar has not many cattle at this time, but the main part is not on the coast. In this era, Madagascar mainly emerged as a national prototype mainly in the central plateau and southeast coastal areas. The development of agriculture is also mostly in the central plateau and southeast coastal plain.

'S men, while passing through the Strait of Madagascar, scouted the west coast and north coast of Madagascar. They did not go to the southeast coast to see it, nor did they have the conditions to go to the inland mountains to scout. Therefore, Marin did not know that there were already many cattle in the central highlands of Madagascar.

Madagascars are of Indonesian descent. The ancestors were probably Indonesians who drifted in a canoe and combined with native Africans to form the Madagascar ethnic group with less dark skin.

The island's zebu, probably brought by Arab merchants from India. After all, Arab merchant ships have travelled to and from India very early, and it is quite normal to get some rumen. Moreover, Arab merchants also brought rice from India.

However, the island of Madagascar is a tropical island, the northern coast is relatively humid and hot, and the environment is not very good. The western coast is not only hot, but also a bit dry.

Only the middle part of the island and the southeastern coastal part have a better climate. After all, the middle part is a plateau and the climate is a little cooler. The southeast coastal part is more suitable for survival because of the higher latitude.

In the later generations, Madagascar is known as the kingdom of cows. On average, every two people own a cow, with a total number of more than 12 million heads, which is very scary.

But in this era, the western coast of Madagascar was basically not developed, and the northern coast was less developed. Therefore, the number of cattle does not seem to be large. It is an inland plateau area, because the climate is cool and pleasant, the population is concentrated, and the scale of cattle raising is also large. It is estimated that there are hundreds of thousands of zebu cattle.

However, Marin doesn't know. After all, his fleet can only stop along the west coast and north coast of Madagascar, not knowing the situation inland.

Without knowing it, Marin had one option left—Buffalo in West Africa!

Specifically speaking, West African buffaloes were introduced from the Mali Empire and the Songhai Empire in West Africa for cultivation in tropical regions.

Cows in West Africa are domesticated from African buffaloes. They are smaller than Asian buffaloes, but they are well adapted to tropical climates. Although the north of West Africa is desert, the south is still very humid. The cattle in West Africa are domesticated from buffalo. Therefore, local cattle are very suitable for the use of tropical regions.

Once, Marin bought many local cattle from West Africa through the Portuguese. However, the price given is high. There was no way. At that time, the grassland cattle in Eastern Europe happened to be in a lot of heat and died because of not adapting to the Cuban climate. Marin could only buy African cattle from the Portuguese at a high price.

Today, the Ayun colony under Marin has established a solid trade relationship with the Songhai Empire. It is still easy to buy cattle from the Songhai Empire. But it is not easy-how to transport the purchased cattle ...

Know that the trade route of the Ayoun colony and the Songhai Empire follows the Sahara well route in later Algeria. It ’s no problem to walk a camel, a water buffalo ... the problem is very, very big ...

This sahara route, camels must adapt. If you wear a white robe and a water bladder, you will naturally be able to support it ~ www.novelhall.com ~ and the buffalo cannot pass it. After all, buffaloes love water and are afraid of dryness, and they are not adapted to the tropical desert climate. In addition, the color of the African buffalo is black, and it absorbs sunlight very much ... Black cows across the Sahara desert are easily killed by the sun and thirst ...

So, what Marin is most worried about right now is how to transport African cattle bought from the Songhai Empire to the seaside ...

The Songhai Empire is obviously not short of cattle. In the war between the late 16th century and the Moroccan mercenaries, the Songhai Empire once wanted to use 1,000 cattle as a vanguard to attack the Moroccan front. . But the Songhai people did not expect that there was a musketeer across from them, and when the musket rang, these cows ran back in fear, and disrupted their front ...

This can also be proved from the side, the Songhai Empire has a lot of cattle. If you just fight a battle, you can drive 1,000 cows to use as cannon fodder ...

It's just that the Songhai Empire does not depend on the sea. Its transit is mainly in the territory of Niger, a properly landlocked country. Between the Songhai Empire and the sea, there is a declining Mali Empire ...

The Mali Empire and the Songhai Empire are dead enemies. After all, the Songhai Empire defeated the Mali Empire and snatched Timbuktu to establish a country. Even if enough African buffalo can be bought from the Songhai Empire, the Mali Empire will not let go. What's more, the climate there is also very complicated. Especially the tropical rain forest in Guinea is very difficult to walk, and the forest is still very dangerous ...

Therefore, Marin is worried-can buy cattle, but it is difficult to transport to the beach ... Therefore, the transportation problem of cattle is the biggest problem for Marin to get enough tropical cattle ...