According to the previous agreement with several lords in the Breschgao region, half of the 103,500 Gulden gold coins paid by Marin this time are subject to grain and other supplies. For example, sucrose produced in Cuba and dried ginger produced in Grenada.
Whether it is sucrose or ginger, they are all luxury goods that are popular among the nobles. Especially ginger, which is currently classified as spices, is mostly imported.
In fact, Europeans do not know that ginger can actually be grown in southern Europe. Because ginger can survive in subtropical climates. Only the northern region has a high latitude and the temperature is not enough to meet the requirements for ginger growth.
However, the lifts and drops they imported were basically dried ginger, so they naturally didn't know how to reproduce and cultivate them. They thought that like spices such as pepper, they were tropical specialties. Only the traveler Marin knew that ginger could be grown in the Yellow River Basin. For example, Shandong in later generations was an important ginger production area.
Of course, it seems that in the 16th century, Europeans also mastered the technology of ginger cultivation. In the late 16th century, the queen invited ministers to eat ginger cakes. At that time, the price of ginger had dropped to 2 shillings per pound, which was a little more expensive than sugar. Pepper, cinnamon, nutmeg, etc. were still expensive because these could not be cultivated and grown locally in Europe.
Now, it has been a few years since Europeans found the Indian route. Therefore, ginger has not been found to be grown in Southern Europe. Therefore, the price of ginger is still very high, reaching 8 shillings per pound. In particular, after Marin rescued Juan III with ginger sugar water, ginger was popular. Especially in Spain, the price once rose to 12 shillings per pound. However, as Spain took over the Indian route from Marin, a large number of dried ginger flowed into Europe, and the price returned to 8 shillings per pound. However, due to the domineering effect of ginger sugar water, although the purchase volume of ginger increased, the price did not drop. Therefore, Marin used dried ginger to recharge part of the cash, which was still very popular.
Since Juan III was infected with wind and cold and was rescued by ginger candy water, the current European nobles often felt uncomfortable and brought a bowl of ginger candy water, which made ginger and sucrose more popular.
Moreover, after Marin introduced sugar-boiling workers from the Ming Dynasty, he not only created yellow mud-based frosting sugar, but also produced brown sugar that was more advanced than the popular brown sugar in Europe. This time, Kohler brought all the brown sugar. Brown sugar with dried ginger slices, and a bowl of them would come when they caught a cold, which often prevented colds. Colds were a serious illness in Europe and might kill people. In ancient China, it was probably the popularity of ginger sugar water, so people were not prone to accidents.
In addition to dried ginger slices and brown sugar, Marin also brought sugar ginger slices marinated with cane sugar. This thing was promoted once in the army when attacking the Republic of Siena and was very popular. This sweet and spicy taste seemed to fit the taste of Europeans in this era. After all, Europeans in this era ate bread with pepper, and the spicy ginger was exactly in line with their taste.
Nowadays, senior officers and nobles of Beihai Country fall in love with this kind of candy ginger slices and use them as snacks. Seeing that candy ginger slices are so popular, Marin naturally wants to open up the foreign market. So, this time, he asked Kohler to bring 1,000 packs of candy ginger slices sealed in oil paper bags, and he came to try the waters.
At present, the Beihai Kingdom only has a ginger planting area on Grenada Island, with a planting area of ​​only 1,000 acres. However, because of the use of modern fertilizers, the yield per mu of ginger is as high as three to four thousand pounds. Although it is less than half of the 8,000 kilograms per mu of later generations (mainly a variety problem), the total output is also very scary. 1,000 acres is 6,000 acres, and even if the average yield per mu is calculated as the lowest yield per mu of 3,000 pounds, the total output is 18 million pounds. With such a high yield, the Beihai Kingdom cannot consume it at all. Therefore, selling it is the best choice.
However, in order to avoid stimulating Spain and Portugal, which monopolizes the spice trade (including ginger), Marin endured it for 10 years before starting to open up the European market. After all, it sounds reasonable to open up a ginger planting base in the Americas after another 10 years of buffering.
Moreover, the Portuguese seem to have also developed ginger planting on the island of Sao Tome in Africa (the Portuguese do not know that they can actually plant it locally, and they only think that they can only plant it in the tropical area). However, Marin's spy in Portugal inquired about it. The Portuguese planted technical garbage and could not fertilize, and the yield per mu was only 500 pounds.
But with Portugal's own planting, it is not conspicuous to plant ginger in Marin. The only question is whether so many goods can be sold. After all, the price of ginger has not yet fallen. But with the success of the Portuguese planting, ginger will definitely fall in the future.
Marin's plan was to make a profit before the price of ginger fell. For this reason, he planned to control sales and ship slowly to avoid affecting the price. After all, if 18 million pounds of ginger suddenly poured into Europe, it would be difficult for the price to not plummet. But even if it fell to 2 shillings per pound in the Elizabeth I period, Marin would make a fortune. After all, this thing is not expensive.
However, what is popular in Europe is dried ginger, not fresh ginger (mainly a preservation problem). After drying fresh ginger, most of the weight will often be lost. For example, 18 million pounds of ginger are only a few million pounds left after drying. But even if 1 million pounds of dried ginger are sold, the total price is as high as 1.6 million gold coins. However, in order not to let the price of ginger slices plummet, Marin initially only planned to take out 100,000 pounds of dried ginger to test the water. Look, several lords of Breschgao were the first targets he tried in the German region...
...
In Freiburg, the largest city in Breichgou, Kohler arrived at Breisah on the Rhine west of Freiburg with a fleet full of food, and brought 1,000 bags of candy ginger to the city of Freiburg and met several local lords.
Although Freiburg is not the territory of several lords, Freiburg is a city that can be seen in Breichgao. Therefore, the negotiations of this meeting were arranged here. After all, the lords also had to be pompous. The manors in their countryside were a bit low, so they chose to negotiate in Freiburg.
Before the negotiation, Kohler smiled and sent two hundred packets of candy ginger slices to each lord. The lords were a little confused, so Baron Detrich, who led the lead, took the lead, took the lead and turned the candy ginger slices in confusion and asked:
"Sir Kohler, what is this?"
"Sliced ​​sugar ginger, slices of ginger marinated with cane sugar!" Kohler said concisely.
Several country lords were surprised - how luxurious it is to pickle ginger slices with sugar...
For several country lords who only rely on farming to obtain rent and tax, neither sucrose nor ginger can be squandered, they can only eat it occasionally.
However, when thinking about the upcoming transaction, several people were confident again - after this transaction, I can eat ginger for a long time...
Baron Detrich followed Kohler's instructions and tore open the packaging of the oil paper bag and saw the golden candy ginger slices inside. Then, he hesitated...
"Is this something really edible?"
As soon as he finished speaking, Kohler took two slices, threw them into his mouth, and started chewing them. While eating, he was still vague (there were slices of ginger in his mouth). The first one said:
"Of course it can be eaten, it's delicious. Tell you, this thing is so popular in Beihai Country..."
Chapter completed!