King of German Mercenaries

"One million gold coins..." The two kings breathed a sigh of relief at the same time. Although Prince John had introduced it just now, he didn't say it too concretely. They knew that Marin made a lot of money this time, but they didn't expect so much, more than Spain's annual financial income.

"Yes, this is more than the total annual income of the kingdoms of Aragon and Castile. Can a small count like Chen afford it?"

"Well—" The two kings nodded at the same time, agreeing with Marin's statement. Such a huge profit, plus Marin is just a small earl in a small place, it is strange that he is not envied by others. It's Shuangwang himself, and now he's starting to get jealous...

"The most important thing is that Hechen's fleet set off together with the fleet led by the Portuguese da Gama..."

The twin kings were surprised:

"You mean, the Portuguese also discovered the Indian route?"

"Yes, Columbus's fleet secretly followed their fleet across the coast of Africa. Then, they found an excellent Arabian navigator as a guide and arrived in India first..."

"You are really cunning, but if the Portuguese knew about it, they would definitely want to kill you..." Ferdinand II laughed.

"However, Earl of Marin, if we in Spain accept your dedication, we will have to turn against the Portuguese..." Isabella I worried.

"I dare to ask Your Majesty, isn't it worth it to turn against Portugal for 1 million gold coins?"

The twin kings were silent...

"Also, I just sent 4 ships and earned a million gold coins. What if the two majesties sent 8 ships or more?"

The Spanish twin kings have become a little difficult to breathe... 8 ships... Isn't it worth 2 million gold coins? In the eyes of the two kings, only the gold coins were tumbling violently...

"As long as there are a few million gold coins, the two His Majesty can hire tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of troops to seize the kingdom of Naples. Even if they have the money to form a new crusade to conquer Jerusalem and become the protector of Christ's world... ..." Marin continued to bewitched.

He knew that both Ferdinand II and Isabella I were devout Catholics. Given enough strength, the couple would never mind organizing another crusade. Thinking that a holy city like Jerusalem is under his own control, the two kings have difficulty breathing like an asthma attack...

"As long as there are a few million gold coins, the two majesties can not only conquer Grenada, but also hire hundreds of thousands of troops to sweep across Morocco across the strait and occupy a large area of ​​Morocco for themselves. Even, advancing eastward to conquer the entire North Africa, Expand the territory like the Roman Empire..." Marin continued to bewitch and bewitch...

"Conquer Morocco..." The two kings looked at each other - it's quite possible...

You know, Morocco is only tens of thousands of Arabian machete cavalry. Spain can only pull up a total of 30,000 to 40,000 troops now, and it can occupy a few pieces of land on the coast of Morocco, but it is difficult to go deep inland. In the wilderness, an equal number of infantry is no match for cavalry.

However, as Marin said, if they earn a few million extra gold coins, they are fully qualified to pull up an army of hundreds of thousands or even 200,000, launch a war of annihilation, and completely conquer Morocco. In that case, the territory of Spain will be nearly doubled.

Moreover, Ferdinand II was indeed very interested in the kingdom of Naples. If he has a few million gold coins in hand, he can recruit tens of thousands more troops to compete with the French for Naples, which is completely fine.

More than that, Marin was right. If there are hundreds of thousands of troops in hand, let alone Morocco, it is not a problem to win all of North Africa. Even, he is fully qualified to win the holy land of Jerusalem and become a figure like the protector of the Christian world. It was absolutely too tempting for this devout Catholic couple.

Originally, after Spain became rich, it was because of the rule of the Habsburg family.

The Habsburg family's attention has always been on the war-torn Germany, and they are keen to tear each other up with the tyrannical France, which consumes a lot of strength. If the Spaniards were not under the rule of the Habsburg family who were keen on European hegemony, but pragmatically expanded to the south and used the hundreds of thousands of troops who had invested in the European hegemony to conquer Morocco, they could have won the entire Morocco...

"But, Count Marin, what about the Portuguese's reaction? You know, our navy is not their opponent..."

"Your Majesty, I was on the way, and I once told Prince John such an ancient war story of the Eastern Empire..." Then, Marin told the story of "surrounding Wei and saving Zhao" to the two Spanish kings.

"You mean, we can't beat Portugal at sea, but we can put pressure on Portugal on land, or even surround Lisbon to threaten them?" Ferdinand II quickly reacted.

"Yes, no matter how crazy the Portuguese are, their roots are still in the mainland, in Lisbon. They can't abandon the mainland and go into exile to the colonies. Therefore, as long as His Majesty is willing to send tens of thousands of troops to threaten the mainland of Portugal, they have to surrender!"

"But, in this way, haven't we violated the Treaty of Tordesillas signed with the Portuguese?" Isabella I frowned.

"Your Majesty, I remember that the Treaty of Tordesillas divided colonies, but did not mention trade rights..."

"You mean we go to India only to trade and not to colonize?"

"That's right! India is not a Portuguese colony now. Why should Spain go to trade? As long as I ask the Pope for a trade license, what can Portugal say? They didn't steal his territory..."

"What if the Portuguese occupied India and did not allow Spain to trade there?" Ferdinand II frowned.

"Haha, Your Majesty, you're welcome, given Portugal for hundreds of years, he will not be able to occupy the whole of India, at most a small piece of territory there!"

"Why?" The two kings frowned at the same time.

"Because there are so few Portuguese! It's just a small country with a population of one million. Do your two majesty know how many people there are in India? One hundred million people!"

"So much?" The Spanish kings were frightened. You know, Spain's population is only a few million people.

"Of course, in Portugal, it's great to be able to pull up 20,000 troops, right? But if you pull this number to India, you won't be able to make waves at all. Because India can mobilize hundreds of thousands of troops..." There is one more point. The important thing is that in this era, muskets were not yet popular in Europe, and the army also used broadswords and spears. Weapons of the same level are naturally more powerful in India, where there are many people...

"Hundreds of thousands of troops..." The two kings of Spain were so frightened that their legs were weak.

"Of course, my teacher Einstein said that he had been to the East and knew that there were two great empires in the East, one is China and the other is India. The Indians can make up hundreds of thousands of troops, while the Ming Empire in China has a total army of even more. It's over a million, more than the Portuguese..."

"Huaxia? Then, Earl of Marin, can we go to Huaxia to trade? Buy silk and porcelain there?" Isabella I said with bright eyes.

"I'm afraid it's difficult. My teacher said that India is an open country that allows foreigners to trade. China is a closed country and doesn't like contact with foreign countries. Moreover, their emperors look down on other countries. Say something rude. In the eyes of the Huaxia Emperor, there is no difference between the Spaniards and those savages who drink blood... Two Your Majesty, in the eyes of the Huaxia Emperor, they are no more than the chieftains of the barbarians..." Marin is not talking nonsense, he is absolutely speaking Is the truth.

"How dare they?" Both kings were a little angry at this time.

"There's nothing to dare, just because they have a million army in their hands..."

The two kings were immediately speechless...

"So, only India's trade is more realistic. If you want to go to China to trade, there is only one possibility..."

"What is possible?"

"Submit to the Huaxia Emperor, willing to kneel in front of their emperor..."

"X... I don't want to take this anger! It's enough to have India's trade!" Ferdinand II said angrily.

"Your Majesty said that China does not produce spices, only India does..."

"Then go to India to trade!"

"Well, what we want is spices. By the way, what conditions do you want, Earl Marin, in exchange for Columbus's nautical chart?"

"First, I hope that the Spanish fleet going to India will be able to bring a few small boats of the minister..."

"You still want to get involved in Indian trade? Didn't you dedicate Indian trade to us?" Isabella I's character of eating alone appeared immediately, this woman is not easy to mess with...

"Your Majesty, this minister is not to buy spices, but to purchase other materials... As for spices, I will not buy more than 50,000 pounds each time, just to supply the country's needs..." Speaking of which, Isabella I's His face just got better. 50,000 pounds, not much. Because the two kings of Spain have planned to buy more than one million pounds of spices every time, or even two million pounds... but they don't know that if they buy too many spices, because the amount is too large, the price will drop. In addition, India may not have so many goods for export, and Europe may not have such a large market...

"Agree, what about the second rule?"

"I hope that there will be more colonies in the wild continent, and the area restrictions will be looser..."

"How much area do you want?" Ferdinand II frowned.

"Your Majesty, don't worry so much. I'm just a small earl, how many subjects are there? How many people can I immigrate? It's scary to occupy a few counties. Besides, it's all wild..."

"That's true. Anyway, I'll give you 15 colony points. How big the colony point is depends on the scope of the immigration activities of your subordinates!"

And just like that, Marin was granted a colonization license for a total of 15 colonies, with no size limit. In the eyes of the two kings of Spain, under the rule of Marin, the population was at most tens of thousands. There are at most 10,000 people who can immigrate to the wild continent. How much space can a million people occupy? The territory of a county or two is amazing. As an island, it can only occupy one or two larger islands.

However, the Spanish kings forgot that Marin had the entire German region behind him. East Friesland has a population of only tens of thousands. However, Germany as a whole has a population of tens of millions. Moreover, Germany is poor and there are many people. Marin wants to get hundreds of thousands of immigrants, but it is not frivolous...

The two sides soon signed a document, and Marin got the American colonial rights and the right to follow the Spanish fleet to India to buy copper, saltpeter and other materials. Then, Marin promised, he would present a nautical chart. Plus, on the next voyage, Columbus' fleet will personally lead the way for the Spanish fleet...

After the document was signed, the Spanish kings rushed to send someone to Rome before the news spread, and agreed to the terms of the trade authorization proposed by Alexander VI two years ago. They were afraid that Alexander VI would take the opportunity to raise the asking price after learning about the huge profits of India's trade...

At the same time, the two kings also agreed, officially admitting that Columbus first discovered the Indian route. Moreover, the two kings also agreed with Marin, insisting that Columbus was instructed by Spain to explore the Indian route, not Marin's instructions...

In this way, because of having the right of first discovery, Spain has the qualifications and basis to intervene in India's trade...

On Marin's side, he was eager to throw the blame. So, of course, he was very willing, and he stroked the "Bible" on the spot and swore to keep it secret...

In this way, through a private transaction with the Spaniard, Marin successfully dumped the pot. At the same time, it also shifted the attention of the Spaniards from the Americas to the lucrative Indian routes...

Then, after purchasing a large amount of lead and sulphur with the payment of 140,000 ducats paid by Prince John in Spain, Marin boarded the ship in the port of Cadiz and returned to East Frisian...