King of German Mercenaries

By the end of April 1496, agricultural activities on Texel Island had basically ceased, spring ploughing had basically ended, and only sporadic land reclamation had occurred. But even if the land is cleared, it is not in the planting season. Therefore, the reclamation of new land is not urgent.

After developing boiled salt and innovating agriculture, Marin planned to visit the fishing ports of Thorunche and Odesschild to see how the fishing industry on Texel Island was developing.

Marin attaches great importance to fishing, not to say that he attaches great importance to fishery production. Instead, Marin pays special attention to the young fishermen who have grown up in fishing activities - these people are the best reserve sailors...

As a sailor, in addition to being able to control the sails, you must also adapt to life at sea for a long time. On ocean-going ships, sailors often stay ashore for months at a time. It's really unbearable for someone who is used to living on land. It is these fishermen's children who fish at sea every day. They are very suitable for long-term life at sea, and they are less likely to get sick during long-distance voyages.

Seeing that the era of great sailing has begun, Marin said that he didn't want to take a share of it, which is definitely a lie. Spain and Portugal have not yet become a climate at this time. If they join earlier, they can also rise to a strong position.

You know, conquering the new continent and opening up Indian routes are actually not difficult. The Spanish conquered the Aztec Empire in Mexico with less than 1,000 men. Pizarro conquered Peru with only 180 men...

Maybe Pizarro didn't have the luck Marin had when he met the brain-dead Inca King, but Marin could easily do it with thousands of people. Moreover, Marin has studied in his previous life, the reason why Cortez and Pizarro were able to achieve success, the knight and the musket have a lot of credit.

Plate knights, swept into the rubbish heap by muskets in Europe. But in front of the native turtles of the American Indians, they are very useful.

The Incas had never seen a horse and did not know what a cavalry was. The Aztecs committed suicide by themselves, and there was a myth of the white god. Plus cavalry and muskets terrified the Indians. Therefore, conquering this group of uncivilized Indians is still easy and pleasant.

The point is that people of this age don't know the depths of the Indians. Cortes attacked the Aztec Empire purely because of greed, but he did not expect to succeed. Pizarro is a desperate gambler, but in the end he won...

Marin didn't need to gamble, he fully knew the weakness of the Indians. At that time, just send a group of knights to crush the group of Indians and capture them. You know, Pizarro overwhelmed the thousands of horsemen brought by the Inca king with just a few dozen plate cavalry. Obviously, the Incas were scared to collapse by the cavalry, not really beaten...

Therefore, Marin has no shortage of information and knows that many opportunities lie ahead. But first, he had to have boats, and skilled, loyal sailors.

Although Marin could hire sailors from other countries, he did not intend to do so. Because, hiring sailors from other countries is prone to the danger of leaking secrets. If other powerful countries know that they have dispatched hundreds of people, they have conquered a wealthy country, and they will not send an army to grab business?

Therefore, for early colonization, it is best to use trusted sailors and soldiers. In the later stage, when I become stronger, I am not afraid of coveted by other countries, and there is no problem in recruiting sailors from other countries.

And a trusted sailor, is there more reliable than a fisherman under his own control? The family is all under their own hands to make a living, who dares to betray at will? Dare to betray, the whole family will be hanged...

With the thought of caring about the origin of sailors, Marin took his men to cordially condolences to the fishermen of the two fishing villages of Thorencher and Odesilde...

The two fishing villages are small, with only a hundred people in each village. The two villages add up to about 200 people. And there are no more than 30 young fishermen available...

To Marin's delight, many of these fishermen were Frisian. There are many Frisians along the coast of the Netherlands, many of whom are engaged in fishing. Two villages, with more than half of the fishermen,

All are Frisian. All Frisians speak Frisian, and Marin happens to know it. Therefore, it is more convenient to communicate with the fishermen than with the townspeople and farmers on the original island. Marin could not understand the language of the island's Dutch, and often took the island's priests as translators. The priests speak German and Latin, otherwise, Marin would not be able to communicate with the local Dutch.

In the fluent Frisian language he learned from Mrs. Mary (actually similar to English, of course, Medieval English, not the modern English that Marin learned), Marin had a cordial conversation with the fishermen...

Aben (a certain Frisian fisherman), is it usually hard to fish? Marin asked kindly, patting a young bald fisherman who looked like Robben on the shoulder.

Aben, who was only 20 years old, but his hair fell out, said shyly:

Go back to Lord Baron, fishing is hard work, but if you don't go, you will be hungry...

How many fish can you catch that time?

Every time I go out to sea, I come back and finish sorting, there are probably hundreds of pounds of fish...

Sort?

Just keep the fish that can be eaten, and throw away the ones that cannot be eaten... The fish in the sea are not edible, some are poisonous...

Marin nodded, it was like a puffer fish, a poisonous fish that cannot be eaten.

There are other fish, although they are not poisonous, they are hard to eat, and no one will buy them...

Oh... by the way, why do you only catch a few hundred pounds per boat? As far as I know, if you go down a net and exclude the inedible fish to be sorted out, at least one or two hundred pounds, right? Do you catch two or three nets a day?

Hehe, Lord Lord, it's not that we can't fish more, nor that we don't want to. It's...

What is it? Let's hear it...

We don't have enough salt! The young Aben touched his bald head and sighed...

Salt? Speaking of salt, Marin laughed. However, he suddenly remembered that the salt produced by his salt cooking base was basically sold to the Wiggins Chamber of Commerce, and only a part was kept for himself and the army. It seems that there is no preparation for the residents of the island... Thinking of this, Marin smiled awkwardly...

Yes, salt! Your baron, salt is expensive now, five or six shillings for a quarter of salt. We fishermen are poor, where can we buy much salt? It is useless to catch a lot of fish. Because, no With enough salt to pickle, the excess fish will rot and stink...

Selling salted fish also makes money, right? Why don't you buy more salt with the money you earn? Because of Catholic fasting, Europeans are not allowed to eat meat for a lot of time. Therefore, salted fish has become an important food during fasting.

Lord Baron, the profit of salted fish is very low. Don't look at the price of salted fish. However, because the price of salt is high, the cost of salted salted fish is also high. In addition to the transportation cost of salted fish, it is necessary to sell salted fish. Fish, it doesn't make much money at all. But if the price of salt drops a shilling or two, we can still make a profit.

That is, if the price of salt dropped to four shillings, your profits would be much higher?

Yes, if the price of salt dropped to four shillings, all the fishermen would be much better off!

Well then, I've set up a new base for boiling salt, and I'll let them expand their production. In the future, I'll sell sea salt to you at 4 shillings per quart. You should be able to live a lot better, right?

Of course, thank you Lord Lord! However, the benefits will not be reflected in a short time. Because we can't spend too much money to buy salt for the time being. The bald Aben said honestly.

It's okay, I can lend you salt, you sell the salted fish, and then return the equivalent coins!

Thank you, Lord! Aben hurriedly bowed and thanked him.

Don't be too busy, by the way, do you have any problems with your fishing boats?

Yes, my lord, many poor fishermen can't afford fishing boats. Even those who can afford fishing boats, like our family, can only use small boats to fish in shallow waters like the Wadden Sea with less wind and waves. If there are big boats , we can go to the big fishing grounds in the North Sea. There, a big boat can go once and bring back a full warehouse of fish...

Full warehouse? Marin also has some longing...

Yes, there are far more fish in the North Sea fishing grounds than in the Wadden Sea, but the wind and waves are bigger, and a big boat is needed...

Okay, I can set up a fund and lend it to you. You can join forces to buy a medium-sized fishing boat and go fishing! What's the point of a few hundred pounds of fish? Gotta go home full!

That's a real thank you, sir! Aben and other Frisian fishermen thanked them one after another.

You're welcome! Marin responded humbly, but he was thinking in his heart - I'll sell you a quarter of salt for four shillings, and I won't lose any money. The profit is still huge. Moreover, without supporting the development of fishermen, where will the sailor reserves come from?

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