Continental Warriors Yoo Ma

The land of the nobles is in the countryside, and the taxation of the Champagne market also falls into the hands of the Count of Troyes, so they don’t care about the rise and fall of Troyes, but only symbolically express that they want to donate the total price of “up to "Three hundred livres of food to help the victims to show their piety and kindness.

However, a few nobles who were officials in the champagne market, whose interests were deeply bound to the city's trade, had donated five hundred livres.

Then came Francesco di Antonio de' Medici.

He was the largest businessman in Troyes, and he had also been the mayor, so he was naturally qualified to speak on behalf of the third class.

As expected before, Francesco proposed to organize businessmen to raise funds, donating at least [-] livres to help the disaster victims survive the winter, rebuild the city, resume trade and production as soon as possible, and allow the count to have business Taxes can be drawn.

Of course, the premise is that the market stall fee is halved, and the most critical point is to deprive the lord of the right to increase taxes at will.

After Francesco finished speaking, he returned to his seat.

Then came the Count of Troyes.

All eyes were on him, and the air in the entire venue instantly condensed.The priests prayed that the lords and the merchants would reach a compromise as soon as possible, so that the city of Troyes would not freeze to death a few victims in winter, so that they could explain to the Holy See and the Seven Saints.

Most of the nobles have the mentality of eating melons.As a middle power, the more fiercely the lord above fights with the citizens below, the better chance they have to gain.

The merchants, on the other hand, straightened their backs and geared up for a fierce battle with the Count of Troyes and his minions, and finally forced the other party to agree to their demands.

"Father, what chance do you think we have?" Vera whispered.

Although she got Yoof Ma's promise, she didn't know how far the other party's support would go.Whether to stay neutral and stand by, or help the Medici family put pressure on the Count of Troyes.If pressure is applied, to what extent?

The intelligence was limited. Although she knew that the Count of Troyes would obey Ma Youfu to a certain extent, she did not know how much influence Ma Youf had on the Count of Troyes.

"Eighty percent... it's..."

Hearing her father's absent-mindedness, Vera asked, "Father, what are you thinking about?"

"I was thinking about the 'North France Trading Company'."

"Isn't that a pretense that Yofu Ma came up with temporarily and wanted us to bribe him?" Vera dismissed it.

Francesco laughed without saying a word.Although her daughter is very smart, she still lacks the experience accumulated over the years and often cannot see the essence of things.

At this time, the Count of Troyes spoke up.

"Well, that, I agree with the proposal of the representative of the citizens. Well, that's it, let the Count of Rouen speak."

What?

That's it?

We haven't made a move yet, so you're going to lie down on your own first?

Vera's cherry lips parted slightly, and the whole person fell into a sluggishness.There were also many businessmen in the venue who had a similar reaction to her. They couldn't figure out what was going on, and they felt a sense of emptiness in their hearts.

After a while, the dark elf girl came back to her senses.

She recalled the various reactions of the other party when she visited Yoo Ma, and suddenly realized that Yoo Ma really didn't seem to care about the power game between businessmen and lords in Troyes.

I really think too much.

Embarrassed and annoyed by her misjudgment, Vera stomped her feet hard: "I'm so pissed off, I feel like I've lost hundreds of millions!"

Chapter 84 Troyes is over

Youfu Ma glanced at the eldest Medici family, who was close to him, and found that she seemed to be sulking.

He smiled and walked up to the stage.

"I'm very pleased to see you all working together to rebuild the city. But is this level of hard work and solidarity enough?" Youfu Ma paused, seeing that most of the people's eyes were looking over, before casting a ball Blockbuster, "In this way, Troyes, it's over!"

Before everyone could recover, he continued: "Troyes, a beautiful and rich city, arose because of trade. The champagne markets that connect all parts of Europe have brought countless wealth here. But Now, this international trade market is in an unstoppable decline!"

What Yooff Ma said is true.

Although the champagne market is still prosperous on the surface, people come and go, and commodities from all over the world gather together, but many people in the know understand that under the bright and beautiful appearance, there is a base that is decaying and collapsing.

The Count of Troyes, whose business tax is declining steadily every month, has the most personal experience.

"It's because of the war. As long as there is peace, the champagne market will be reborn again!" retorted a businessman.

"Lord Count of Rouen, with your advice and the leadership of the Saintess, France will definitely be able to defeat England and retake our land!" Someone flattered Yofu Ma.

"Everyone, the reason for the decline of the champagne market is not just the war." Ma Youfu poured cold water on the confident businessmen.

"I landed in Europe from the Adriatic coast and knew very well what was going on in Venice. Now, the Venetian government has opened a new route, starting from Italy, through the Strait of Gibraltar, and heading north to England and Flanders. The Venetian government built a new fleet of galleons for this route. These ships were fully armed and not afraid of pirates. And they carried a lot of cargo. Merchants leased space on the ships from the government to carry cargo.”

Listening to Yofu Ma's remarks, the businessmen began to think about the pros and cons of this business model, and then one by one, they showed an ugly look.

This officially established fleet, with its large scale, low cost and strong anti-risk capability, will definitely be very popular.

This means that the Champagne market's trade route to Italy and the East will face fierce competition from the Venetians, and the result is very likely to be its own defeat.

Youf Ma continued to stab the Troyes merchants.

"In addition, the Hanseatic League in the north is also expanding to the land. They have opened up a land trade route to Italy. Today, merchants from Venice and Genoa, after crossing the passes of the Alps, can go to Ulm and Austria. Gesburg did business. Even these German-Italian merchants extended the maritime trade route to Rouen."

The decline of the champagne market is the general trend. It has indeed happened in another world, and it is also happening in this world.So when Youfu Ma said this, he immediately plunged the venue into discussion and thinking.

Even the clergy and the aristocracy benefited from this prosperous international trade fair, and were reluctant to see the future Ma Yofu said become a reality.

But Ma Youfu did not stop, and continued to use the sharp language of the heart of the Zatrois.

"What's more..." Youf Ma paused, "Let me state first that I have great respect for the king and have no dissatisfaction."

Then, he continued: "What's more, even if the war is over, will the situation of the Champagne market get better? What will His Royal Highness do after the British have been completely driven out of the mainland? What's the impact? You should understand."

Although Ma Youfu didn't point it out, people who are sensitive enough to politics have already thought of a lot of things.

What will Charles VII do after the Hundred Years' War?

Of course, it is to strengthen the centralized rule.

So what happens to the champagne fairs that rely on local counts to maintain their trade routes?

If the power to levy business taxes is withdrawn by the king, the local earls will obviously lose their motivation to maintain the market.And Charles VII had to take into account the interests of the entire kingdom, so naturally he would not pay too much attention to the Champagne region.

Perhaps, those foreign businessmen who have obtained the royal charter will also come to share a large piece of the local cake.

And the strength of several Champagne cities such as Troyes alone is obviously impossible to pit the king.What if all of a sudden Charles VII was about to go to war - which is a certainty - and then tax Troyes?

What if the booth fee is increased?

All of the above are big things that can completely destroy the foundation of the champagne market.

How do you say that?

A speck of ash from the king's body fell on the merchants' heads, and it was a mountain.

Yoof Ma's vision was too real, and businessmen were frustrated.Even Francesco is considering whether to start preparations and move to Ghent.

However, although the Medici family has a strong foundation, it will still suffer serious losses if they rashly abandon the old nest that has been in operation for many years.

Yo-Fu Ma's pessimistic outlook is not in vain. He definitely has a solution.Francesco has already gotten some information from her daughter.

So he decided to take it for a spin.

The Italian stood up and asked, "Lord Count Rouen, what can you do?"

Youfu Ma raised his hand, clenched his fist slowly, and said, "We must unite, concentrate our strength, and expand outward. To this end, I am going to set up the North France Trading Company..."

After explaining the details of the company's establishment, someone asked: "Lord Count Rouen, if the company successfully raises a total of [-] livres of start-up capital, what will it do with this huge sum of money?"

"Go to war!" Youfu Ma looked serious.

A trading company that does not wage war is not a good trading company.

"I will use this money as a military expense, and then, under the banner of Jeanne Dauc, I will gather soldiers who are willing to fight and march on Paris. After the capture of the city, we will be able to get a lot of spoils, which will be the first time for the company. A dividend."

The city of Paris, which was very loyal to King Henry VI of England, did not like the French king down to the ordinary French soldiers.Yofu Ma would neither take all the Parisian men who had voted in England to be shot, nor would he take the Parisian women who slept with the English soldiers to have their heads shaved. He just charged some hard money for the recovery of the city, and there was no psychological burden at all.

"After the capture of Paris, English rule in North France will collapse quickly, and we can easily take Normandy. When Rouen is recaptured, the waterway from Champagne to the English Channel is opened. What does that mean, gentlemen Should know better than me."

The blueprint drawn by Yoof Ma completely moved the people in the conference hall.When they were discussing, Ma Youfu threw another sentence, "The first round of investment in North France Trading Company has only eight places, and each shareholder needs to pay [-] livres."

Before everyone came back to their senses, Youfu Ma left first, leaving behind an increasingly boiling city hall.

Chapter 85 Italian Cannon

After the third-level meeting, in the evening, Francesco came to the manor in person to meet with Mayoufu.

After paying [-] livres of share capital to Youf Ma, he joined the Nord France Trading Company as a shareholder, and on behalf of the Medici family, he gave Youf Ma a "private sponsorship fee" of [-] livres.

"The Count, the representative of the Medici family's North France trading company, will be my daughter Vera. She said that the last meeting with you was very pleasant, and she is looking forward to further cooperation between the two sides."

Ma Youfu recalled that after the third-level meeting, Vera's behavior was a bit strange, she seemed to be making trouble and deliberately avoided herself.However, he didn't have the time to guess the girl's mind, playing the sweet and sour love game, and ended the topic with the polite words "I'm looking forward to seeing Miss Vera too".

Afterwards, Francesco asked again: "Sir Count, forgive me for asking a presumptuous question. Why are you only recruiting eight shareholders? Shouldn't the more funds be raised, the better?"

"Because [-] livres is enough to launch a large-scale battle. Now that the company is starting up, I have to centralize power and build a framework. When I counterattack Normandy in the future, there may be a second round of fundraising."

"Very prudent decision." Francesco was a little disappointed, but did not show it.

For the Medici family who opened the bank, what was lacking was not money, but the opportunity to invest.If he could, he would even be willing to take another [-] livres as shares.

With the Medici family taking the lead, the offering went well.A week later, Yofu Ma received [-] livres in stock.

Among the eight newly added shareholders, except for the Medici family who opened the bank, the others were all big businessmen or big workshop owners, and only one of them, Gosselin, was a noble.

In addition to the fact that the nobles have no active businessmen and are unwilling to take risks, another reason for this situation is that the nobles have too little cash.

Gosselin still mortgaged several estates before borrowing [-] livres to become a shareholder of the company.For this reason, his wife, who was said to be very sturdy, also had a fierce fight with Gosselin.

When attending the third-level meeting, the injury on Gosselin's face was proof.

After finishing the affairs of the North France Trading Company and selling all the spoils, Ma Youfu continued his journey north.

His ranks swelled by another 3000.

These people are disaster victims.Most of them are urban civilians who can only work in low-end jobs, but there are also some craftsmen who have mastered production skills, and educated staff.They lost all their property because of the fire, and Troyes saw no hope of recovery in a short period of time, so they accepted the employment of Ma Youfu.

After arriving in Reims, Mayouf found Jean Bouroux, who had arrived earlier, and divided the craftsmen among him.The civilian staff who can write and calculate will be arranged by Juvenier.

After settling in, Ma Yofu couldn't wait to go to the artisan camp to check the artillery he bought from Italy.

"My lord, please take a look." Jean Bro introduced to Ma Youfu like a few treasures, "This is a composite cavalry gun with a cast iron core and a bronze body made according to your requirements. The total weight is 310 kg, 25 times the diameter, Fires a 6-pound shell with an effective range of 450 meters."

There is nothing mysterious about this iron core copper cannon casting technology.It is nothing more than taking advantage of the lower melting point of bronze than iron, first casting the iron core, and then pouring copper liquid onto the iron core by the mud mold method to make a cannon.

In order to make up for the shortcomings of metallurgical technology in this era, Jean Brooke even spent a lot of money to invite mages who are good at fire spells to increase the temperature of the furnace, and hired dwarf rune mages to use "mud shaping" spells to improve the quality of mud molds and reduce trachoma. with air bubbles.

Due to the principle of thermal expansion and contraction, when the outer copper shell cools, a compressive stress will be applied to the inner wall to increase the strength of the gun barrel.

This is the self-tightening technology necessary for modern high-bore pressure artillery. The master craftsman has not yet fully understood it, so that tank guns can only import German goods in oil paper.