Speaking of which, South Africa's gold mine reserves are even larger. In the Rand Gold Mine area alone, the total gold reserves reach about 53,000 tons. However, although the gold mine there is not low, it is not high. To mine so much gold, it requires a lot of manpower and material resources.
But the problem is that South Africa is now a barren land. In the deep inland areas of the Rand Gold Mine, even if Marin colonizes South Africa, he must first build strongholds along the coast of South Africa (such as the Cape of Good Hope, etc.), and then send troops deep into the inland to find gold mines, which is very troublesome.
Even if you find a gold mine, not to mention other European countries will be jealous of fighting, it will be very troublesome to invest manpower and material resources alone. Needless to say, material resources have to be transported from the local area. Human resources are the same. The mine requires a large amount of manpower to mine. To protect gold, a large number of troops are required. Otherwise, the gold mined will be easily robbed. In later generations, Marin has watched many movies such as "The Golden Robbery". In the south of South Africa, it is also inland, and it is easy to be robbed.
Moreover, in this era, an important method for refining gold and silver ores was called the "mercury mixing method". It was to mix mercury, water and gold and silver ore together to grind it finely, so that the mercury moistened the surface of the metal particles and further diffused into the metal inside to form amalgam (ammortal), thereby separating it from the ore minerals. After that, the amalgam was heated and evaporated to remove mercury, which was to obtain precious metals or their alloys. This method was mainly used to treat ores of gold and silver, because the price of mercury was also very high, and if it was used to treat cheap metals, it would be detrimental.
If you want to engage in gold mines in South Africa, you will definitely consume a lot of mercury. Generally speaking, you must have been transported from Europe. However, if you acquire a large amount of mercury from Europe, it will definitely attract the attention of all countries, and it is difficult to keep it confidential.
Historically, Spain's ability to mine a large amount of gold and silver after occupying the Americas was also an important relationship with its own mercury producer. Because Spain itself is one of the top mercury producers in Europe and does not have to ask for help. If Marin wants mercury, he has to purchase a large amount of mercury from European countries and regions such as Spain and Italy. This is not cost-effective and easy to be exposed.
Moreover, although Marin knew that cyanide was more used in later generations, he only knew some fur about chemistry and did not know how to produce cyanide. Therefore, he could only continue to use the mixed mercury method to produce gold and silver.
Of course, in this era, China and Japan were actually major mercury producers. For example, Japan's Ise country produced a lot of mercury. As for China, it was funny. Because Taoist alchemy requires a lot of mercury, the output of mercury is also very large and can be easily bought.
Marin originally planned to purchase mercury from China and Japan and then transport it to South Africa to mine gold. However, later he thought, wasn’t Rikikari Kaneshiro in Osumi Country? Ishimi Ginshan is also in western Japan, and they are all very reliable. Instead of traveling mercury thousands of miles to South Africa and the Americas to mine gold and silver, it is better to mine it in Japan on the spot.
Moreover, there is another great benefit in mining gold and silver in Japan. That is, Japan has a lot of human resources!
Japan currently has a population of 17 million, second only to the Ming Dynasty and India, ranking third in the world, with 2 million more people than France. With such a large population, the labor force is naturally not worthwhile. Moreover, Japan has a large grain output and does not lack food sources in mines, which facilitates the lives of miners. Not only that, the Japanese peasant class is more obedient than the Chinese farmers and is easier to manage.
In this way, the mining of Japanese gold and silver nearby can be solved nearby, whether from the perspective of manpower or material resources. The cost is very low and it is very convenient to mining gold and silver. In addition, the taste of the Ryukari gold mine is so high, let alone.
By then, Marin plans to drive tens of thousands of Japanese farmers and craftsmen to mine the Hibiscus gold mine and Ishimi Yinshan. He does not believe that he will not produce enough gold and silver.
...
Just as Marin was planning to mine the Rikikari gold mine and Ishimi Yinshan on a large scale in the future, emergency information suddenly came from Wittenberg...
It turned out that James Bond (that is, the previous ace spy Jim, who was specially renamed by Martin), has been lurking around Martin Luther, influencing Martin Luther, so that he could think of carrying out the Reformation faster.
Under the instigation of James Bond, Martin Luther indeed had the idea of ​​the Reformation earlier than in history. Of course, it is still in its infancy and has not yet taken shape. However, Martin Luther has made his mark in Wittenberg, the capital of the Saxony Elector, and has won the attention of Frederick III, the Elector of Saxony.
Today, Martin Luther, who is only 29 years old, has become Wittenberg's famous doctor of theology and has been declared as the next monastery of Wittenberg, and has a prominent position.
Frederick III also valued Martin Luther, a young junior in the religious world, and often invited him to enter Wittenberg's palace to discuss theology. James Bond, as Martin Luther's close friend, often followed Martin Luther to go to the court.
It should be pointed out that Frederick III, the Elector of Saxony, was not an ordinary secular prince, but a secular prince served by a monk. In other words, Frederick III was actually a monk, but because his younger brother was not capable enough, he served as the Elector of Saxony. Moreover, his younger brother was also his heir. Therefore, Frederick III was very interested in theology, but he was disgusted with the domineering power of the Roman Catholic Church. Therefore, he gradually became a supporter of the Reformation.
Just so happened that Martin Luther's thoughts included the Reformation and opposition to the domineering power of the Roman Catholic Church. Therefore, Martin Luther was favored by Frederick III and invited him to the palace to discuss theology many times.
...
This time, James Bond discovered when he followed Martin Luther into the palace to discuss theology with Frederick III. Because the sharp-eyed Bond discovered that a Swiss military map was posted on the wall of the living room of Frederick III's palace. This aroused his great interest.
So, taking advantage of the opportunity when Frederick III invited him, Martin Luther and Dean Stopitz to have dinner, Bond suddenly flashed into Frederick III's study on the excuse of going to the toilet and saw a document on the table - it was Frederick III's secretly contacting the princes of various countries to send troops to attack Badenberg, and taking the opportunity to enter Switzerland's plan to intervene in the Swiss war.
After receiving the information, Bond left immediately. That night, he contacted the people from the Beihaiguo Intelligence Station in Wittenberg and sent the information back...
...
Marin was also shocked when he received the information, because he did not expect that the princes would not come to deal with him, but to deal with the emperor... Before, he also received news that the princes threatened Badenberg, and he thought that the princes were to support and cheer up the Duke of Lorraine. Unexpectedly, their ultimate goal was the Habsburg family army in Switzerland...
"It seems that the result is not bad..." Marlin also didn't want the emperor to be too powerful. If the Habsburg family suffers losses again, it seems to be good...
Chapter completed!