Chapter 2002： Layout South Africa

It's not that those old ministers of Joao II were unlucky enough to eat, but that they had no future. As a noble, they still have at least land in their homes, so they do n’t worry about food and clothing. However, don't want to hold any position, can only nest in the countryside as a rich man. Because they are members of the hostile faction of the current Portuguese king.

Just like Magellan, a big navigator, why go to Spain to mix? It was not because he used to be the servant of Queen Joao II. If Prince Alfonso, the crown prince of Joao II, succeeded to take over the throne, as his mother's servant, Magellan could definitely be considered "his own man" and the future was bright.

Unfortunately, when Prince Alfonso went out to hunt, he accidentally fell from the running battle and died. Moreover, Prince Alfonso is the only legal heir of Joao II. As for the Duke of Coimbra, Jorge Deren Castre, is just an illegitimate child. If Joao II tried his best after the death of Prince Alfonso, he could not allow the Holy See to recognize his heir to the throne.

Here I have to mention the problem of the struggle between Joao II and the domestic aristocracy ...

Portugal is a small European country, but it has a history of hundreds of years, and there are many nobles in the country. The great aristocrats in Europe are not only distinguished, but their power is also strong enough to compete with the king.

Joao II was a promising monarch. He inherited the legacy of his uncle prince Enrique and vigorously developed his nautical career. The famous Dias, under his support and command, actively explored the west coast of Africa and found the Cape of Good Hope. Later, the journey of Dhaka to explore the Indian route was actually the result of the early preparations of Joao II. Joao II died in 1495, and Dagama's voyage began in 1497. Obviously, exploring the Indian route is not ready in a day or two. It was only when Joao II laid the foundation during his reign that he opened up the Dhaka's India route.

Therefore, in the eyes of the Portuguese of later generations, Joao II was the real promoter and decision maker of the Portuguese voyage. And Manuel I was just sitting on it. Therefore, Manuel I has another nickname of "lucky one".

At the beginning, in order to develop the nautical career, Joao II had a fierce battle with the domestic noble forces. In order to suppress the big noble class, support businessmen and navigators to engage in maritime trade and explore new routes, Joao II raised a butcher's knife against the big noble class. This is very rare in the battle of aristocrats in Europe, and was killed by Joao II as a head bird. It was precisely Diogo, Duke of Viseu, the elder brother of Manuel I.

Diogo and Manuel I are both cousins ​​of Joao II. Diogo is also the leader of the conservative and stubborn large aristocracy in Portugal.

At that time, Portugal was not a sea-based country, and the large aristocracy also valued land rather than sea. In order to promote the voyage, Joao II raised his butcher knife and carried out a brutal cleaning in Portugal. Not only did he kill the cousin Duke Diogo, he also killed a large number of big nobles who were against him, confiscated their property, and forced many old Portuguese nobles into exile.

After cleaning up the great aristocracy, Joao II naturally needed a lot of manpower to help himself. Therefore, a large number of low-level nobles entered his realization and were promoted and appointed. The reason why Magellan was able to enter the Portuguese court was also related to Joao II ’s policy of promoting and reusing low-level nobles. Otherwise, how could a little knight family like Magellan have the chance to let Magellan enter the palace as a servant?

You know, in Europe, the children of the royal family have always been able to serve the royal family. Even as a servant, they were selected from the children of the noble family who had no inheritance rights. After all, the servants who served as kings and queens also belonged to the close ministers, and they were more likely to be promoted and appointed in the future. No matter how bad it is, he is also a child of a middle-class noble family.

However, Joao II and the Portuguese nobility completely turned their backs, even pulling their swords against each other, and engaged in a major cleansing. Therefore, it is unlikely that Joao II will let the children of the Chou family enter the palace. Then, Magellan, a knightly child, had the opportunity to enter the palace as the queen's boy.

Developed according to the normal plot, Magellan and a large number of low-level nobles will have a bright future, and will replace the previous large noble class and become the new upstart in the Kingdom of Portugal ...

But people are not as good as heaven, who knows that Prince Alfonso, the only legitimate son of Joao II, will fall to his horse and die? Then, Magellan and a large number of quasi-upstarts who had a promising future were instantly returned to their original form. The successor to the throne happened to be the brother of Manuel I, the brother of Duke Diogo, the former leader of the nobility ...

In other words, after the succession of Manuel I, the authority of Portugal was again controlled by the conservative shortsighted nobleman. Otherwise, Portugal has a first-mover advantage, but then how can it be so bad? Obviously, the upper level is not strong ...

Originally, since acquiring the colonial power of Brazil, the Portuguese aristocracy actively sent people to Brazil to farm. As for maritime trade, they acted pretentiously and were not aggressive. Instead, they were robbed of a large share by the later British and French. Later, it was even snatched a lot of shares by a rising star like the Netherlands.

Even with the opening of the Indian route, the large group of conservative large aristocrats in Portugal also almost stopped them. It was Manuel I who was greedy for the huge profits of India's spice trade and insisted on continuing to implement Joao II's original plan to find an Indian route before it had the prosperity of Portugal. In other words, after the death of Joao II, the comeback of the Portuguese aristocracy was not only the driving force for the advancement of Portugal, but also a great obstacle.

...

Of course, these are not problems that Marin has to worry about. In fact, the stupidity and short-sightedness of the Portuguese aristocracy are more beneficial to Marin. Otherwise, how can he have the opportunity to **** the benefits?

After the great noble class made a comeback, those capable little nobles who had been promoted by Joao II would all suffer. Among them, only a small number of them succeeded in turning to the blindly noble class or the monarch of Manuel I. A part of them also turned to Jorge Deron Castre, Duke of Coimbra, but because of the suppression of Manuel I, the Duke of Coimbra could not support too many people. Therefore, there are still most capable small nobles who had mixed well during the time of Joao II.

Therefore, in order to be rich, capable people like Magellan were forced to risk their lives and ran to Spain to seek support for nautical exploration. There is no way, in the country did not make it early. As an old minister of Joao II, he is destined to be suppressed ...

Marin was very interested in the news provided by Magellan. So he asked:

"How many are the old ministers of your Majesty João II who are capable but suppressed in Portugal?"

Magellan thought about it and said:

"There are many people who are suppressed. Among them, there are capable ones. There are still hundreds of people ..."

"Then can you persuade a few to come and serve me?" Marin asked.

Magellan's heart tightened, worried that introducing so many people would **** his job, so he became a little squeaky.

Marin seemed to see his thoughts and smiled:

"I just want to find a few people to help me hunt rhinos on the African grassland to get hides. What are you thinking?"

It turned out that Marin had a new plan after learning of the existence of such a group as "Old Minister of João II" in Portugal ...

In any case, those old ministers of the lost Joao II were also Portuguese nobles. Manuel I and the Portuguese aristocracy simply let them stand sideways, and did not deprive them of the title.

As Portuguese nobles, they may have difficulty getting opportunities in their homeland. However, if asked to go to Africa to do business and open up trade points, the Portuguese court will not refuse. After all, no matter what they do, if they want to get authorization, they have to give the royal family benefits. After all, Africa is theoretically the site of the Portuguese royal family. If you want to run trade on it, you must give the royal family benefits.

Moreover, because Africa is the site of the royal family, the opening of a new trading area does not require the consent of the large aristocracy. It is only necessary to negotiate with the royal family. After all, the undeveloped land in Africa is owned by the royal family, not the big nobles.

Marin had previously cooperated with Jorge, Duke of Coimbra, but after all, Duke Jorge was a big noble, and even if his IQ was not good, there were a large number of think tanks to advise him. Therefore, it is difficult to take too much money from the Duke of Jorge.

But the old ministers of the ruined Joao II are different. Many of them are inferior nobles, and they don't have so much attention. Marin can find a low-ranking nobleman, such as a knight or something, Xu Yili, let them apply for a license with the Portuguese royal family, and go to Africa to hunt rhinos. Of course, Marin will send the manpower for hunting rhinos. However, it needs a clear cover.

And the next area where Marin has targeted rhino hunting is South Africa ...

South Africa here is not Africa of the Ministry of Guides, but specifically refers to the later Republic of South Africa. In later generations, South Africa is the world's largest rhino country, with more than 80 rhinos in the world.

Even in the global environment that protects rhinos in later generations, more than 1,000 rhinos are hunted and horned every year in South Africa, and the total number of rhinos is more than 10,000. In the 16th century, the locals had not developed much, and Europeans using muskets had not yet entered. The local black natives are not able to provoke powerful rhinos. Therefore, in this year, there are tens of thousands of wild rhinoceros in South Africa. Want rhinoceros? Hunting on the grasslands of South Africa is ...

...

Marin's plan was actually to recruit a few not-so-smart old ministers of Joao II and keep them in front of them as a guise. But in fact, it was Marin who sent his men to establish a trading port in South Africa. Then, send a musketeer to ride on the grassland to hunt and hunt rhinos to obtain rhinoceros. As for the rhino horn, it was used as a cross to meet the Portuguese royal family. Anyway, Marin is not interested in things made by animal bones such as rhino horns and ivory, so it is better to fool the Portuguese. Then, he took the rhinoceros leather himself, made light armor, and obtained real benefits ... As for the trading port, Marin planned to build at the Cape of Good Hope ...

Moreover, Marin chose to send people to South Africa to hunt rhinos, in fact, he was also preparing to capture South Africa later. In the future, Marin must be in control of South Africa, the world's largest gold producer. However, South Africa ’s gold mines are deep inland and not easy to find. Therefore, this requires Marin to send manpower in advance, first find out the local terrain, and find the road to the inland. When one day, Marin obtained the South African site from the Portuguese, he could quickly send people to the area where the gold mine is located.

Not to mention, Marin may not be familiar with other parts of South Africa, but because of the World Cup in South Africa, Marin is very clear about the coordinates of Johannesburg, South Africa. Because, Johannesburg ’s Football City Stadium is the common venue for the opening and finals of the World Cup in South Africa. As a half fan, Marin has a deep memory of Johannesburg. Out of the habit of geography enthusiasts, he jotted down the latitude and longitude of Johannesburg. At that time, as long as the hunting team opened the road to the Johannesburg area, people could be sent to develop the gold mine at any time. And Johannesburg, which happened to be based on the South African gold mine, is where the gold mine is located.

In other words, Marin sent people to South Africa to hunt rhinos, which is actually a very clever layout. First of all, South Africa is a place where there are many rhinos. Send a hunting team to hunt enough rhinos. Secondly, through the hunting of rhinos, the hunting team must definitely go deep into the grassland of the South African plateau and reach the area near Johannesburg. In this way, Marin has not only obtained sufficient rhinoceros, but also opened up and explored the road to the area where the gold mine in South Africa is located. Going, just send someone to develop the gold mine ...

And ~ www.novelhall.com ~ South Africa is not only rich in gold but also extremely rich in chromite, even accounting for 72% of global reserves. The chromite deposit in Cuba is too small to be used. That is to say, Marin's demand for stainless steel is small. If it is industrialized later, the demand for chromium will be very large. Stainless steel requires chromium and nickel, and the nickel laterite in Cuba alone is sufficient. However, there are few chromium in Cuba. If you want to engage in a large amount of stainless steel, you have to find a lot of chromium resources. As it happens, South Africa is the region with the largest ferrochromium reserves in the world. Winning South Africa not only won the world's largest gold mining area, but also the world's largest ferrochromium resource.

In addition to the two strategic resources of gold and chrome ore, Marin is also very interested in South African cattle. Marin, who has a very good history and geography in past life, remembers that the Zulu people in South Africa, including the Bantu people who are the source of the Zulu people, like to raise cattle. Moreover, when men marry their wives, they must use cattle as a gift. Generally speaking, if you want to marry a woman, you need to pay a dozen cows as a gift. The more cattle there are, the more wives you can get in exchange ...

Marin is not interested in those black girls, but he is very interested in the cows used for black girls. After all, having cows means having the animal power of arable land. No matter how bad, you can kill beef ...

In short, South Africa is a treasure. The sooner you lay out here, the sooner you can get huge benefits ...

()