King of German Mercenaries

After Marin and his family left Markburg, they did not go directly to find the fief address, but first brought the documents sent by Markburg Palace back to Hoffman Manor, and served them deliciously.

Then, Marin and his family discussed the option of adding new fiefs. Originally, the old Hoffmans planned to choose farmland. However, they must also listen to Marin's opinion.

Because, in the final analysis, John II’s willingness to promote Adler as a knight in advance this time, and to reward the Hoffman family with a fief, was actually for Marin’s sake. Otherwise, how could John II be in the mood to pay attention to a small knight family like the Hoffman family?

Marin wanted to choose a coal mine, the old Hoffmans and the Adlers naturally had to agree...

So, Marin sent someone to invite several prospecting engineers from Dortmund to start exploring the coal mines near Hoffmann Manor...

At first, Marin asked prospectors to prospect around the Hoffman estate. Because the anthracite produced by Hoffman Manor is of very good quality and is also very suitable for fuel. The point is, anthracite has less smoke and less air pollution than bituminous coal. You know, when the bituminous coal burns, it not only emits thick smoke, but also emits a pungent odor, which is very polluting to the air.

Therefore, if the prospector can find the direction of the veins of the anthracite coal mine in Hoffman Manor, it is also a good choice to take down the anthracite coal mine as a whole.

However, several prospecting engineers have been exploring for several days, and with the help of workers, they have looked a lot, but they have not found any major coal mine veins around. In other words, even if the coal mine extends underground to other places, it is still deeper underground. At least, you can't see it by punching holes on the ground. Because, these days, drilling is done manually, not by machine, and it is good to be able to dig a dozen or twenty meters deep. With such depth, I can't see any results...

Of course, for Marin, this depth is enough. Because, mining open pit mines and mining deep mines, the difficulty and cost of mining are completely different.

In this era, coal has not been taken seriously by people, and most coal mines have not been developed, including many open-pit coal mines. Therefore, Marin does not need to spend high costs to mine those deep underground mines, but can give priority to those that are shallowly buried or are open pit mines.

Also, deep coal mines are dangerous. If you are not careful, there will be a gas explosion or something. Because the flammable gas accumulates in the well, it is easy to explode when encountering an open flame. However, in a deep coal mine, it is impossible to not ignite, otherwise there will be no light. Because there are no miner's lamps these days, only torches are used for lighting. This torch encounters gas...

In open-pit coal mines, there is no such danger. Above the open-air, or if buried very shallowly, those combustible gases are easy to dissipate and will not gather together to detonate. In addition, the mining difficulty is different, and the cost is different. Therefore, as long as you are not a fool, you must understand that it is better to select open pit coal mines than deep well coal mines. In the Ruhr area of ​​this era, many open-pit coal mines have not yet been mined, and they are also regarded as rotten land because they cannot be cultivated...

Marin took a few prospectors and began to search around Hoffman Manor on horseback. Of course, they have the exploration permit document issued by the court of the Earl of Mark. Otherwise, in some places, the landlords won't let them in...

As for the place found on Marin's side, if there was an original owner, John II promised that he could exchange it for another piece of land that was no worse than the original one and had more arable land.

In this way, Marin took a few prospectors and a group of strong serfs who were responsible for digging holes and ran on the land belonging to the country of Mark in the Ruhr area, looking for the legendary open-pit coal mine...

In other words, there are many coal mines in the Ruhr area, and Marin and his team actually discovered several open-pit coal mines nearby. But what makes Marin depressed is that the two best open-pit coal mines are in the hands of local nobles. Nobles are not commoners, and they have the confidence to refuse to exchange land. John II promised Marin,

If you find coal mines, you can exchange farmland for them. However, that was for civilians. Besides, civilians dare not refuse John II. However, the aristocracy is different. The ancestral fiefs, even John II, cannot be disturbed without sufficient reason. If people are not willing to change places, John II cannot force chaos.

The other three open-pit coal mines can be replaced. However, Marin took the craftsman to investigate and found that the quality of the coal was not good. Simply put, these three open-pit coal mines are not anthracite, but bituminous coal.

Speaking of which, if the iron and steel industry is to be developed, bituminous coal is an indispensable raw material for coking. However, this year, you have vigorously developed the steelmaking business, and who do you sell the steel you make?

You know, right now is the age of agriculture. Even if a lot of steel is made, it can only be used for farming tools and weapons. In other respects, it has very little use. Unlike in the industrial age, it took a lot of steel to make machines.

Therefore, these days, the iron and steel industry does not need to spend so much effort on it. If you want to do it, you have to wait until the steam engine is invented...

In other words, in this era, anthracite, which is more suitable for fuel, is more important than bituminous coal...

As for Marin, which is also a bit higher, the small-scale steel industry needs some bituminous coal. Marin doesn't have to worry about this. Because there is a bituminous coal mine in Gelsenkirchen, where his sister-in-law Liv's family is located. If you need bituminous coal, you can buy it directly from the Hamler family, and it's still a friendly price.

So, what Marin needs now is anthracite, not bituminous...

In desperation, Marin continued to lead the team to survey, and gradually moved away from Hoffman Manor...

Finally, half a month later, Marin found a large open-pit coal mine in the southwest of Bochum, and it was a high-quality anthracite coal mine...

This place belongs to a local gentry family. This gentleman is actually a descendant of knights, but he is not the eldest son. He has lost his aristocratic status and has become an ordinary country gentleman.

Moreover, this large coal mine, the family has not developed and utilized, but just digs some coal for their own use, such as burning fire for cooking or something.

When the court document of the Earl of Mark expressed his willingness to exchange the cultivated land by the Ruhr, the gentry immediately agreed.

In fact, this gentleman is not unaware that coal can be sold for money. But the big question is, who are you selling to?

In this era, few people bought coal, and the Ruhr area was full of coal mines. Therefore, even if you own a coal mine, it is difficult to sell it if you don't have access to it. Coal can't be sold, and it can't be exchanged for money if it is thrown into the hands. Therefore, it is better to change the farmland. After all, there is no such thing as unsellable food...

In this way, Marin successfully obtained a large coal mine that produced high-quality anthracite coal much larger than the coal mine of Hoffman Manor.

This coal mine is located in the southwest of Bochum City, only seven or eight kilometers away from the Ruhr River, and it is easy to pull coal to the Ruhr River. Of course, the premise is that Marin has to build a gravel road to the river first. Then, build a wharf to facilitate the loading of coal...

However, Marin is in no rush to develop the mine. Because, although he has expanded the number of salt cauldrons in Yancheng, he needs more coal. However, the coal mine of Hoffman Manor recruits more miners, and the output can still be supplied.

After all, the coal mine of Hoffman Manor has already formed production, and various facilities are relatively complete. Recruiting more miners can increase production in a short period of time. Unlike the newly won coal mine, it will take at least a few months to build production, including paving roads and developing mines. By then, the day lilies are cold.

Therefore, for now, it is better to let the family's coal mine increase production first. As for this newly acquired coal mine, it can be occupied first and then developed when needed. Of course, the construction of roads and docks can be done in advance, and the development of coal mines can be discussed later.

Moreover, this new fiefdom, which was named "Mrs. Mary Manor" by the old Hoffman because he pleases his wife, also has 100 Ugrams of arable land. Moreover, the country gentleman who had moved away also left behind a row of houses. However, he took all the serfs with him. If you want serfs, you have to recruit them yourself. But now the German region, the most lack is the surplus population. Otherwise, the German mercenaries will not develop.

However, the time has entered March, and the spring ploughing has begun. Whether it is Hoffman Manor or the newly purchased Mrs. Mary Manor, spring ploughing must be carried out. Therefore, Mrs. Mary's recruitment of serfs really has to be rushed.

As the owner of the Wadden Islands, Marin must also rush back to the Wadden Islands to supervise the spring ploughing. So, after confirming the new coal mine, Marin paid the reward, sent the prospector away, returned to Hoffman Manor to pack up, and was ready to return to the Wadden Islands...

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