In fact, there is not only a large amount of gold in Zvoongombe, but also a lot of copper ore, which accumulates like mountains. After all, Zimbabwe is not only rich in gold, but also copper.
However, the Kalanga people did not know how to smel copper. The reason why gold was found was that most gold mines were monomers and had few compounds. Otherwise, the Mutapa Kingdom would not have obtained so much gold.
Although the Kalanga people did not know how to smel copper ore, the Arab merchants, who used to trade, understood it. They brought the copper ore back and handed it to professional craftsmen to smel it into copper, and the profit was also very high.
However, this time, the number of mules brought by Cortez's expeditionary force was insufficient, and it would be able to carry away gold mainly from the sand and could no longer take away the mountain of copper ore. Therefore, if you are working on copper ore, you can only wait for the next time.
Once the news that the Mutapa kingdom produced gold and copper mines was sent back to the local area, Cortez believed that he could not escape the title of a nobleman. He was lucky and might be able to get into the baron. After all, he opened up the colonial route and seized so much gold...
When he returned to the New Spain Fortress at the mouth of the Save River, Gonzalez had already returned. He heard that Cortez sent troops without authorization, Gonzalez was so angry that he planned to order the arrest of Cortez.
But when Cortez came back, he not only brought back the exact news and specific route of the gold country Zimbabwe, but also brought so much gold back. In this way, Gonzalez couldn't blame the other party.
Then, Gonzalez sent a clutch to the country to report the specific results of Cortez's operation to the Spanish court. At the same time, he also objectively reported the fact that Cortez sent troops without authorization. As for how the Spanish court finally judged it, it had nothing to do with him...
In Fort New Spain, Cortez began to report the information obtained this time - most of which were provided by the captured prophet elder.
At this time, the northern border of the Mutapa Kingdom was the Zambesi River. The northeast border was probably in the Tete area of ​​Mozambique in later generations. To the east, Taite was the control area of ​​the Swahili people who were mixed with Arabs and blacks.
Many of these Swahili people know Arabic and are the best intermediaries between Arab merchants and Mutapa Kingdom. Many times, Swahili people also serve Arab merchants and earn commissions.
As for the southern border of the Mutapa Kingdom, it can even reach the vicinity of the Limpopo River. However, the southern border is unstable. Sometimes there are tribes willing to join the Mutapa Kingdom, and sometimes they will take the initiative to leave. However, the Mutapa Kingdom does not care. They only care about the tribes that own gold mines. Extorting the Sands from small tribes that own gold mines is the most important financial source of the Mutapa Kingdom, and it is also the most important reliance for the Mutapa Kingdom to trade with Arab merchants, which is more important than ivory and copper ore.
However, according to Cortez, the information provided by Marin before was incorrect. Because, at this time, the main business road in the Kingdom of Mutapa was not along the Save River, but along the Zambezi River...
Following the Save River, you can only find the Great Zimbabwe Stone City, which has been abandoned for decades. Only by following the Zambezi River can you find the current capital of the Mutapa Kingdom, Zvoongombe.
Moreover, Arab merchants and Swahilis mostly moved along the Zambezi River and contacted the Kingdom of Mutapa.
If they want to drive away Arab merchants and monopolize the benefits of the gold and copper mines in the Kingdom of Mutapa, Spain must send troops to occupy the estuary of the Zambezi River and cut off the Arab trade routes.
Unfortunately, the Zambezi River is a step-like river. There are two waterfalls with huge drops in the river, which divides the Zambezi River into three sections. Otherwise, the Spanish merchant ships could directly flow up and arrive in Zvoongombe to do business.
After thinking about it, Governor Gonzalez decided that the Spaniards would enter the inland and still take the old route. However, they would ask the country to send a fleet to block the estuary of the Zambezi River and prevent Arab merchants from robbing business.
This is because if Spain should go up the Zambézi River to find the wooden towers and fear the kingdom, it would have to start from scratch. God knows how long it will take, so it would be better to use the route that has been opened now.
Of course, another team of people can be sent to the Zambezi River to follow the river and use the method of transportation of elephant groups to make a passageway. When the road on the Zambezi River is opened, the trade route on the Save River can be considered to give up. But before that, the Spaniards could rely on this road to invade Zimbabwe.
...
"So, Governor, what should we do next?" Cortez asked. Although the Clippers were sending the message, it would still take more than a year to run back and forth to the local area. Therefore, Cortez had to listen to Gonzalez's next.
Gonzalez thought for a while and said:
"According to the elder, most of the gold in the Mutapa kingdom was exchanged for Arab merchants for goods such as cloth, glass and iron. In this way, we might as well replace Arab merchants to assume the identity of traders..."
Cortez immediately said dissatisfied:
"Why do we trade with them? Isn't it better to send troops to occupy them directly? In this way, you can get all the gold without spending money!" This is a typical invader's idea and the mainstream colonial thought at present.
However, Governor Gonzalez doesn't think so:
"Silly! You know how to fight and fight all day long! Think about it, the gold mines in the Kingdom of Mutapa are scattered all over the country. Such a large territory is larger than Spain. If we destroy the Kingdom of Mutapa, then we have to manage the gold mines and protect the gold mines. Think about it, such a large territory, how many troops do we need?"
"If it were the big gold mine that was concentrated in Stone City in the past, we would just snatch it up. However, the gold mine in the Mutapa Kingdom today is too scattered, inconvenient to manage, and the management cost is too high."
"Instead of this, we might as well keep the Mutapa Kingdom and let them manage the black tribes to continue mining gold. Then, we exchange gold with valuable cloth, glass and iron. In this way, we can save a lot of management costs..."
It can be said that Governor Gonzalez's idea is close to the 19th century's colonial management concept. This is also the bloody lesson learned by European colonists two or three hundred years ago. Because if you go into battle personally, you will need a large number of troops and you will need to invest in and mine gold. The cost is huge. It is better to support the puppet regime to help you mine gold...
However, this is also Gonzalez's idea. What will happen in the end depends on how the Spanish court decides.
Chapter completed!