The Rise of the European Emperor

The local side is counting the data of the autumn harvest. At the same time, the autumn harvest of the North American Twin Islands and Cape Breton Island has also ended. Albert sent three shipments of grain back.

Two of the ships, 200 tons of soybeans, were for war horses. The other ship is 100 tons of wheat. Wheat, needless to say, must be used to make white bread for Marin and others.

Instead of praising Albert, Marin wrote a letter criticizing him. why? At the end of last year, due to the lack of time, the North American Twin Islands did not grow much wheat. This year, Marin had originally planned to expand the wheat acreage. However, this guy Albert actually brought back most of the wheat for credit. This made Marin unsatisfied, because Marin believed that those who really have a long-term vision should give priority to collecting good wheat seeds for the next year, rather than transporting them back for credit. After all, wheat cultivation in the North American Twin Islands has just begun and needs to be vigorously developed.

In addition, the variety of European wheat is also a big problem. In this era, the varieties of European wheat were inferior and the growth cycle was very long. It was planted in November of the first year and could not be harvested until October of the second year. The growth cycle is about a year.

Of course, Marin equips the North American Twin Islands with potash, which shortens the growth cycle. But not every wheat plant has the same shortened growth cycle. Some wheat genes are good, and after applying potassium fertilizer, the growth cycle is greatly shortened. It is said that the first batch of wheat was harvested in mid-August. At the latest, it will not be harvested until the end of September.

Before, Marin didn't think about breed improvement. Now, he suddenly remembered - he should have told Albert earlier to collect the batch of wheat harvested in mid-August as seeds. Because that batch of wheat seeds, after being planted, may be harvested in mid-August under the condition that potassium fertilizer is continued, and even some excellent ones will be harvested earlier. The wheat varieties of later generations were improved bit by bit, generation after generation.

It's a pity that Marin didn't tell him before, and Albert naturally wouldn't think of this. Therefore, after the wheat is harvested, the early harvesters and the late harvesters are basically mixed.

Marin thought about it and gave up. Because, he had a better idea - to send someone to buy the wheat seeds of the Ming Dynasty from the Daming Empire...

The wheat of the Ming Dynasty was generally either planted in spring and harvested in autumn, or planted in winter and harvested in summer. The growth cycle was much shorter than that of European wheat. In fact, it is not surprising that the Chinese people applied manure very early and used plant ash. And plant ash is a low-grade potash fertilizer. Although it is not as pure and large as Marin's potassium salt, it is also a potash fertilizer, which can also promote the early maturity of wheat. It has been improved from generation to generation, and the harvest period of wheat is naturally much shorter than that of European wheat.

As long as Marin sent a fleet to the East to get in touch with Daming, he would have everything like wheat seeds, silk, and porcelain, as long as he gave money. Moreover, Marin is not worried that the Ming Dynasty will not accept him. As long as you throw out a big killer like sweet potatoes, you won't kneel if you don't believe in the Ming Dynasty.

Two thousand catties of sweet potatoes per mu,

It can make Man Qing come out in a prosperous world, and it can also make Ming Dynasty feel refreshed. Maybe, the disaster at the end of the Ming Dynasty can also survive. After all, the yield per mu of sweet potatoes is ten or twenty times that of rice and wheat. As long as there is food to eat, ghosts are willing to rebel.

Now, Marin is waiting for good news from Panama. Once Gollard had a firm foothold on the Panama side and cut down trees to open up the road to the Pacific coast, Marin would immediately send road engineers and a lot of cement to the Panama side to guide and Supervise the black slaves to build concrete roads. Once the cement road from the Caribbean Sea to the Pacific coast was built, trade routes to Ming could be opened.

However, building roads is a big project and requires a lot of manpower. But Marin didn't plan to send too many construction workers from the local area, but only planned to send a group of construction engineers to guide those black uncles to build the road.

After all, the local poisonous insects and mosquitoes in Panama are terrible, and sending too many local workers can easily cause a large number of deaths. The black uncles are different. They are used to the climate of the tropical rain forest, and they are also somewhat immune to the poisonous mosquitoes and insects in the tropics.

Marin sent a small number of construction workers over, and they were able to save their lives by providing mosquito repellent toilet water. If too many people are sent over, the mosquito repellent toilet water may not be enough.

It's just that in this way, the black slaves over there are a little less...

So, Marin thought about it and decided to send someone to Portugal again to find Jorge de Rencastre, Duke of Coimbra, and place a large order for 5,000 black slaves. The unit price, the old price, is still 40 gold coins. Moreover, only young men.

This is a super large order of 200,000 gold coins. The territory of the Duke of Coimbra, aside from African trade, may not have so much revenue in a year. Therefore, Marin is not at all worried that the Duke of Coimbra will not accept this list. He is just worried, when will these 5,000 black slaves be in place...

After all, the Portuguese also need to place orders with the black chiefs in Africa, hoping that they will defeat their opponents and capture enough prisoners. Moreover, those prisoners have to be trained well. Otherwise, the disobedient black uncle is not good. If it hurts the buyer, it will hurt the reputation.

Therefore, in order to improve efficiency, Marin directly advised the Duke of Coimbra in his heart - don't be foolish to wait for others to start a war on their own. If necessary, you can spend money to encourage those powerful black tribes, take the initiative to attack those weak tribes, and capture enough black slaves...

This kind of trick was very common in Africa after that, and the Portuguese colonists also played very slippery. However, it is only 1505, and the slave trade in Portugal has just started. It is still in the stage of waiting for African chiefs to take the initiative to deliver goods. It has not yet developed to the point of encouraging those cooperative chiefs to take the initiative to fight. Therefore, Marin gave the Duke of Coimbra a move in his heart in advance, so that he could collect 5,000 black slaves as soon as possible. Otherwise, God knows when the roads in Panama will be repaired.

Of course, it's not enough to just count on Uncle Black. Marin decided to do both, using the same tricks to deal with the local Indians in Panama.

For example, win over a powerful Indian tribe, exchange slaves with goods that interest them, tempt those local Indian tribes to launch tribal wars, and provide some Indian slaves for road construction sites.

Needless to say, these native Indians in Panama must be very adaptable to the local climate and will not die of illness due to acclimatization.

Although it is said that Indians are definitely not as good as blacks. But, after all, there is the ability to work. One more person, more power. This concrete road connecting the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean could also be completed a day earlier. And Marin can also open up the Pacific trade route to Daming as soon as possible...