After clearing his throat, John asked Louis XII:
"Your Majesty must have heard of the legend of the Golden Basin in Sicily?"
Louis XII nodded:
"Yes, of course I know. The land in the Golden Basin is fertile, the climate is warm, and it is rich in wheat and olive oil. It is said that the yield per mu of wheat in the Golden Basin can reach an astonishing 3,000 pounds per mu (Bonniers, medieval French land area unit, about 1 hectares, totaling 15 mu) is about 3,000 pounds (legal pounds, more than 489.5 grams), which is twice the yield per mu of wheat in other regions! But what does this have to do with the secret you are talking about?"
John smiled and said:
"Of course it has something to do, and it's a big relationship! Because Marin, the former great master of Beihai, discovered this secret and applied it to the agricultural production of Beihai. In his name, the method he learned from the Sicily Golden Basin was basically used, so that the rye produced by each Bonhai land can reach more than 3,000 pounds. Each pound of rye is worth 1 Finney, and 3,000 pounds of rye is 3,000 Finney, equivalent to 50 gold coins. 100,000 Bonhai is 5 million gold coins..."
"What?" Louis XII was so scared that the wine glass fell to the ground. However, the wine glass was made of gold and could not be broken.
"5 million gold coins...5 million gold coins...no wonder, he can pull up the standing army of 6 10,000 troops! I can't do this financial power..."
These days, the country with the strongest financial resources in Europe is Venice, with annual fiscal revenue of about 1.65 million Ducat gold coins. France is second, with annual fiscal revenue of about 1.2 million gold coins.
However, Venice relies on taxes for navigation trade, while France relies solely on the king's fiefdom and a small amount of commercial taxes and import and export trade tariffs.
But what did Louis XII hear? A mere North Sea Duchy, Marin's fief output reached an astonishing annual income of 5 million gold coins... No, I have to drink a little wine to suppress my shock...
So Louis XII picked up the wine glass, poured a glass of burgundy wine, and drank it in big gulp...
"Your Majesty, 5 million gold coins are just the total output, but in fact only half of the amount you can get..." John reminded.
In fact, it is not the case at all. John's statement is the companionship of other European countries. Because the royal territories of each country are managed by nobles who are loyal to the royal family or nobles in the royal family branches. These nobles naturally have to pluck their hair and fill their own pockets. Therefore, half of the output is good to be produced in the hands of the king.
The Beihai Kingdom is different. The predecessor of the Beihai Kingdom, Dongfriesland, was built on the premise that Marin had bloody pillage of the old nobles. In the Beihai Kingdom, there were not many nobles. Therefore, Marin generally appointed a large number of civilians as the manor managers. However, Marin did not trust them completely, but also sent Kohler's spies to monitor them to avoid corruption. Therefore, most of the output of Marin's fiefdom can be safely stored and avoided corruption by his subordinates. Although corruption cannot be eliminated, at least there is no big problem in the overall situation. Unlike those old countries, the personnel relations in the territory are complicated and there are many greedy people. In the end, half of the part that comes to the monarch is good.
Louis XII, whose emotions calmed down slightly, exclaimed:
"Even if it is only half, it will be 2.5 million gold coins, more than twice the income of the French royal court! No wonder, a mere Beihai country dared to pull up an army of 60,000 and make trouble everywhere. People with food and clothing are willful!"
"Now I offer this secret to Your Majesty. Do you think there is too much baron?" John asked with a smile.
"It's not much! But I really can't give you a viscount, otherwise those nobles will make a fuss!" Louis XII said seriously.
John nodded and said:
"I understand, so I hope that Your Majesty will take care of my winery business in the future. Also, I can give my subordinates more opportunities to enter the palace to make friends with big people!"
"This is natural!" Louis XII nodded and said:
"Now, you can tell the specific secret, right?"
"As for your order, your majesty!" John saluted and continued:
"It's like this. While leading troops to Italy to fight a war, the late North Sea Kingdom Malin chatted with a mercenary from Sicily. He accidentally learned a secret - the volcanic soil on Sicily is very fertile. He farms on it and produces very high yields!"
"So he had a whim - since the soil of the volcanic ash is fertile, why not dig the ash back as fertilizer to fertilize the arable land? Then, he sent his important minister Kohler to Naples, Italy to buy a volcano, dig the ash there, and transported it back as fertilizer and sprinkled it in the fields. Later, he achieved high yields..."
"Volcanic ash? As fertilizer?" Louis XII was stunned...
"It's that simple?"
John nodded:
"Yes, that's that simple..."
Louis XII suddenly felt like he was fooled and wanted to refund the ticket:
"I feel like someone has cheated a baron and left..."
"Your Majesty, I haven't lie to you. You think, I'm simple to say it, but who has thought of this for thousands of years? Only the former genius like Marin, the Grand Duke of Beihai, would make such a weird attempt. In the end, he succeeded! Moreover, if I don't come and tell Your Majesty, Your Majesty will never know!"
After Louis XII heard this, it was true that if John didn't come and tell him, he wouldn't have thought of this even if he wanted to break his head.
Suddenly, Louis XII raised his head and asked in confusion:
"So, how did you know this secret? As far as I know, you are a wine merchant in Münster City, and Münster City is not under the jurisdiction of the North Sea Kingdom. Logically, you shouldn't know this secret..."
John had expected this question long ago and replied calmly:
"Your Majesty doesn't know that the seven princes jointly sent troops to the Beihai Kingdom this time to seize this secret. Later, John, Earl of Ritterberg, also joined in with the introduction of his younger brother Bishop Conrad. I had a very good relationship with Bishop Conrad, who likes red wine, and I accidentally heard the princes discuss this secret. The eight princes shared the secret that they had robbed, and I was fortunate to hear..."
This chapter is not over, please click on the next page to continue reading! "And you come and tell me?"
"Naturally, in terms of Europe, who can be more powerful than the French Kingdom? Moreover, France has a lot of arable land, and with this secret, it will naturally be like a tiger. If there is enough food, the French cavalry can be dispatched without restrictions. Let me ask, who can stop it in the world?" John flattered.
"You can see clearly..." Louis XII said proudly.
Because John was right. If there was enough food and could feed those war horses, the French could not touch the plate armor heavy cavalry, but more than 20,000 people. Because the total number of French plate armor knights was definitely more than 20,000. However, once the plate armor heavy cavalry was dispatched, the food consumed huge amounts, especially the war horses were too edible. The food was so expensive that the French could not afford it. Therefore, France would rather recruit Swiss mercenaries to fight than use the plate armor heavy cavalry across the country. Because even if the commission was given to the Swiss twice, the cost would be much smaller than the heavy cavalry. After all, Swiss mercenaries were mainly infantry. And two heavy cavalry horses could eat 10 people's food a day...
Thinking through this, Louis XII began to look forward to the bright future of the French cavalry to push the European continent. However, he suddenly remembered that it was not right, the Kingdom of Naples and Sicily, which seemed to be volcanic, were all in the hands of the Spanish...
So he raised his own question...
John had a solution:
"This is simple. Your Majesty can arrange for his merchants to go to the Kingdom of Naples to buy a volcano, and then send someone to dig volcanic ash to transport it back to the country as fertilizer! It is said that this is what the Beihai Kingdom does."
"This is a good idea. Do you have any recommendations to buy a volcano? Also, will the locals oppose us digging volcanoes? After all, you also said that volcanic ash is fertile soil, and they can let you dig fertile soil?"
John replied:
"Volcanic ash is fertile soil, but it must be spread on the plains to become fertile soil. And those mountainous areas with rugged terrain cannot farm even if there is volcanic ash. We cannot farm on the mountain, right? We are not digging fertile soil of the volcanic ash on the plains, but sending people to dig volcanic ash in the mountainous areas, which no one cares about."
"It makes sense. Do you have any recommendations for which volcano I bought?" Louis XII said with satisfaction.
John spread out the map directly and pointed to a volcanic path along the coast of the Gulf of Naples, the Kingdom of Naples:
"Your Majesty, this is Mount Vesuvius, have you heard of it?"
"I have really heard that it is said that in the Roman era, this volcano erupted and buried several cities."
The ancient city of Pompeii has long been forgotten by Europeans. It will take until 1594 that someone will dig out a stone engraved with the word "Pompeii". In the 18th century, archaeologists dug out the ancient city of Pompeii, which caused a sensation all over the world. Before the ancient city of Pompeii was unearthed, Mount Vesuvius was not so famous. Louis XII could know it and be considered erudite.
John nodded and said:
"I went to Italy in business. An Italian scholar said that the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD buried three ancient Roman cities - Pompeii, Herculaneum and Stabia. It is said that before being buried by volcanic ash, the ancient city of Pompeii was the second largest city of the Roman Empire, second only to Rome, with a population of 25,000..." In fact, this was all what Marin told John. Of course, these are common sense of history in later generations.
"What? There are such cities?" Louis XII was shocked. You should know that the population was 25,000, and by 1512, it would be considered a big city. You should know that Vienna, the capital of Austria, only has 20,000 people.
"Yes, I think if the area under Mount Vesuvius was excavated in the name of archaeology would be unobtrusive? Moreover, if the ancient city of Pompeii was dug out... it was a prosperous city in the ancient Roman era, and there might be many treasures..."
"Okay, that's it! I'm going to dig out the ancient city of Pompeii!" Many antiques from the ancient Roman era had appeared in Louis XII's eyes...
But he didn't know that this was a big pit left by Marin for him...
The ancient city of Pompeii naturally exists, and the antiques inside are also priceless. But the problem is - that is the territory of Spain...
If the Spanish knew that the French were digging Pompeii on their territory... I didn't say anything, I'll fight first...
Once the battle starts, the French plan to use volcanic ash to fatten fields will be dashed. In order to seize enough volcanic ash, the French had to send troops to seize the Kingdom of Naples again. And Spain will not show weakness... Let the two countries make their brains...
Of course, Marin will not intervene in the early stage, and always let the French taste some sweetness. When they enjoy a wave of benefits, they will attract the Spanish to criticize them...
Chapter completed!