The Rise of the European Emperor

The weather in August is still relatively hot, although East Friesland is not so hot in summer due to its proximity to the North Sea. However, that is also compared with the summer in Huaxia. In the summer of China, high temperatures of thirty-five or six degrees are common, and thirty-eight and thirty-nine degrees are not uncommon. That kind of high temperature is really hot, and people dare not go out.

The summer in Germany is hotter during the day and cooler at night, which is equivalent to the heat of the "autumn tiger" in June or September in China. Anyway, although it's not particularly hot, it's definitely not cool either.

In such weather, Marin transferred a batch of saltpeter from the arsenal, played "saltpeter ice-making", and made some creamy ice cream. Although the workmanship is very crude, because it is made by himself, Marin is happy to eat it. On the side, Angela, Ferris and Little Caesar were equally happy. Only little Robert, because he was too young, could not eat something too cold.

While Marin was eating ice cream with his eldest wife and two sons, a guard suddenly came to report that the Sami people in northern Norway had sent representatives to present gifts to their great chief...

"The Great Chief..." Marin was stunned at first, then remembered Mikel's bizarre official document...

"It seems that I am really the great chief of the Sami people in the Arctic Circle..."

So Marin reluctantly put down the ice cream scoop, wiped his mouth, and went to the front hall of the palace to meet the Sami messenger...

Then, in the vestibule of the palace, Marin saw a bearded Sami man in a red fur coat and a red cap...

Seeing the other person's appearance, Marin blurted out:

"Santa Claus?"

Although the other party is not wearing winter clothes, the full red leather jacket, plus the little red riding hood that looks very much like Santa's hat, and this guy's gray beard all over his face, really looks like Santa Claus.

The most important thing is that this guy leads 9 reindeer...

However, the legend of Santa Claus only spread to the western world with the rise of fairy tales in the 19th century...

However, Marin remembered that in fairy tales, Santa Claus came from Norway and northern Sweden. Probably, those fairy tales were made up based on the Sami people...

"Hello, esteemed High Chief, I am your faithful servant Klaus..." The bearded Sami old man said humbly in his unskilled German.

"Klaus? It's really Santa's name..." Marin wanted to laugh.

After holding back his smile, Marin put on a dignified face and asked:

"Hello, Klaus, where are you from? Also, how do you speak German?"

"Dear Chief, I come from a small seaside fishing village called Narvik in northern Norway. As for my German, I learned it from a priest who came to us as a missionary."

"Narvik?" Marin was stunned. Wasn't that the port where the Swedish Kiruna iron ore was exported in later generations? At this time, there is no city there. However, this guy said it was a small fishing village,

It's also reasonable. After all, the construction of the port will definitely give priority to the place where there are people. Moreover, Narvik is indeed a fishing port, and it is an ice-free port.

After Klaus's words, Marin suddenly came up with the idea of ​​establishing a city in Narvik in advance. At the same time, the idea of ​​developing Kiruna Iron Mine took root in Marin's mind.

It's just that, from Kiruna to Narvik, it looks like you have to cross the mountains of Scandinavia...

However, later generations were able to build the railway from Kiruna to Narvik at the end of the 19th century, proving that the road is not so rough. At least, in the northern part of the Scandinavian mountains, there must be a pass that connects Kiruna to Narvik.

However, there is a road to a road, and it is by no means an easy task to build a road from Kiruna to Narvik. Even on a concrete road, the difficulty is sky-high.

However, if there is no road, how to transport Kiruna's high-grade iron ore out?

Marin was reminded of a documentary he had seen later - "Train on the Edge of Europe - From Kiruna to Narvik". In the documentary, a 50-carriage iron ore train walking on a desolate snow-filled wasteland left a deep impression on Marin...

"The wasteland... Snow... Huh? I really wish I could use a sled to transport ore..."

The Scandinavian mountains in the polar regions, although the terrain is complex, road construction is difficult. However, during the period when the mountain was blocked by heavy snow, the sleds could come and go freely.

Because the thick snow covers the rough road, it can make the sled move freely on the snow and overcome some terrain problems.

In a split second, Marin made a decision - to develop the Kiruna iron ore, mine the ore in summer, store it up, and then transport it to Narvik by sled in winter, and ship it...

The reason why we choose to mine in summer and transport in winter is because the land is frozen in winter, and the ore cannot be digged, so it can only be dug in summer. However, in summer, the transportation is inconvenient because of the rugged mountain roads. Therefore, the best solution is to mine in summer and accumulate iron ore. Then, in winter, the mountain was covered by heavy snow, and then the ore was transported out with a sled.

From Kiruna to Narvik, only 166 kilometers. It is not difficult to transport ore with a sled. Moreover, the iron ore grade in Kiruna is very high, as high as more than 70%. Transporting such iron ore is actually not very different from transporting iron ingots.

Originally, Marin planned to introduce Erha from Siberia to engage in dog sledding. However, Klaus told Marin—not at all.

Because, the Sami people generally use reindeer to pull the sled. While dog sleds generally require several dogs, Krauss said, only one can be done on a reindeer sled.

Also, reindeer are easier to feed than sled dogs. Because, reindeer are vegetarian and eat food such as moss, leaves and grass. The dogs on the dog sled are carnivores. Therefore, in terms of economic cost, it is also better for reindeer to pull sleds. A sleigh pulled by a reindeer can easily drive two people. If you need to pull ore, you can set two more reindeer.

After solving this problem, Marin was happy. So, he asked Klaus the purpose of his visit. So, Klaus told Marin the reason for coming to Marin.

It turned out that the Sami people not only domesticated reindeer, but also fished by the Sami people at the seaside. Like the fishing village of Narvik, it is a village that combines fishing and raising reindeer.

However, after Denmark ceded land in the Arctic Circle to Marin last year, Norwegian authorities did not care much about the Sami areas.

Because, in the eyes of the Norwegians, the Sami area, without much oil and water, is still a burden, and it is better to leave it to Marin.

Norwegian fishermen in particular feel that the Sami fishermen are robbing them of the dried salted fish business. So after the official announcement of the ceding of the Arctic Circle to Marin, Norwegian fishermen raised their arms in favor. Moreover, they also put pressure on the Norwegian authorities to stop selling salt to the Sami people or buying the salted fish produced by the Sami people. In this way, Norwegian fishermen have fewer competitors.

Under the pressure of Norwegian fishermen, the Kingdom of Norway finally stopped supplying salt to the Sami people and stopped purchasing salted fish from the Sami people at the beginning of this year when the Arctic Circle had been ceded.

In this way, the Sami people in the Arctic Circle have been hit hard. Especially the Sami people on the coast of the North Sea in Norway, because they could not introduce salt, the fish they caught could not be marinated into salted fish, and they themselves lacked the intake of salt, which made life difficult.

Therefore, the Sami sent people to Oslo, the capital of the Kingdom of Norway, willing to ask for the restoration of the trade in salt and salted fish. However, Oslo Convenience responded that the Sami area has been ceded to Marin, and this problem should be solved by Marin...

Therefore, Klaus, who knew German, as a representative of the Sami people, took a fishing boat and came to East Frisland to ask the "Great Chief" Marin for help. Moreover, he also presented 9 reindeer as a "tribute"...

What the Sami lack most is salt and the sales of salted fish. As it happens, Marin needs to develop the Kiruna iron ore. Moreover, East Friesland is also rich in salt, which means building more salt cauldrons. So, as the "big chief" of the Sami people, Marin agreed to the request to provide the Sami people with a large amount of salt. Of course, in exchange for salted fish or reindeer fur.

Klaus was naturally overjoyed when he heard that Marin could provide a large amount of salt. As for exchanging reindeer fur for salt, that's right and proper. Moreover, the Sami have no shortage of reindeer hides.

As a result, Marin "Great Chief" and Klaus, the representative of the Sami, soon reached a win-win trade agreement - Marin will send someone to build a trading post in Narvik to sell salt to the Sami , buying reindeer pelts and bacon jerky, as well as salted fish and other commodities...

As for the development of iron ore in Kiruna and the transportation of iron ore, Claus said - as long as the "Great Chief" is willing to trade with them, these are trivial matters, and the Sami people must fully support...