Having just finished the war and seven thousand soldiers were sent to Italy, Marin felt that he could still honestly develop the economy recently.
Among them, the development of the textile industry has been put on an important agenda. You should know that in Europe, the textile industry is definitely one of the important industries to increase fiscal revenue.
The Flanders region became an economically developed region in Europe because of the wool textile industry. In Flanders, many women engaged in the wool textile industry and earned no less money than men. In many families, men had nothing to do and took care of their children at home, while women went to the wool textile factory to make money to support their families.
Moreover, whether it is operating a wool spinning factory, exporting wool cloth, or even importing and exporting wool, it can generate tax revenue. It is precisely because of the developed wool spinning industry in the Flanders that the Flanders became a famous and wealthy area in Europe at that time. Of course, it also attracted the covetousness of Charlie, the father-in-law of Maximilian I, and was annexed.
Moreover, after Maximilian I's son Prince Philip inherited Burgundy, he stopped living in the deep inland Burgundy, but moved his residence directly to Ghent, the city of the most developed wool-twisting industry in the Flanders region.
At this time, Ghent had a population of 55,000, making it the fourth largest city in the Holy Roman Empire, second only to Milan (100,000), Prague (70,000) and Geneva (58,000). It was the textile capital of Europe at this time. The 55,000 residents in the city were mostly related to the textile industry.
Every year, taxes collected from the Flanders account for more than half of the Netherlands. Unfortunately, Prince Philip was separated from his father since childhood and was not very close to Maximilian I. Therefore, the famous handsome King Philip, the husband of the crazy girl Juana, was unwilling to fully support his father Maximilian I, but instead intercepted most of the fiscal revenue and maintained his luxurious life. If this were not the case, Maximilian I would not be financially short of money.
However, Maximilian I had no choice but to do so. After all, the Duke of Burgundy was his son Philip, not him. Therefore, Maximilian I could not fully utilize the financial power of the Netherlands region. Moreover, the Dutch Parliament has always encouraged Prince Philip to go against his father. Prince Philip was separated from his father since childhood and grew up in the palace of Ghent. Those who accompanied him were the members of the Dutch Parliament. Under their influence and instigation, Prince Philip had a weak relationship with his father. However, Maximilian I did not mind his son's selfishness. After all, he was just such a son.
In fact, the crazy girl Juana is still a good person until now. However, she was later furious and crazy by her affectionate husband Philip.
Of course, we will not discuss the selfishness and indifference of the "Handsome King" Philip. The main discussion here is the developed wool industry in the Flanders region.
Originally, there were two factors that the wool textile industry in the Flanders region was so developed. First, the local textile industry was full of talents. In addition to various craftsmen who were good at making textile machines and handling wool (mainly removing oil and removing mutton smell), there were also a large number of women who were proficient in spinning and weaving; in addition, the Flanders region was right by the North Sea, facing the UK. At that time, Britain was a major wool exporter. Moreover, the British wool was fine wool, and the wool quality was excellent. In the whole of Europe, the British wool ranked second, and the Spanish merino ranked first.
However, the Spanish merino sheep were regarded as national treasures and were forbidden to flow out. Even the wool of the merino sheep was only circulated in southern Europe such as Spain and Italy, and could not be circulated in the Flanders region at all.
Moreover, other countries have not tried to secretly introduce merino sheep. However, merino sheep have a characteristic, that is, they like the sunshine and dry climate in Spain very much, and are not adapted to humid climates.
For example, in history, merino sheep were introduced to North America, but failed. Because merino sheep, which was used to dry climate, was prone to slag-rottening disease when they arrived in humid North America. However, after being introduced to the dry continent of Australia, it developed rapidly, creating Australia, a "country that rode on the back of the sheep."
With the same difficulty, other European countries, especially northern countries, cannot support them even if they introduce Merino sheep. Because they are not suitable for the local environment.
However, Marin has a solution...
This countermeasure is to use ewes to find the ram of the merino sheep to "borrow seeds" and create mixed-race breeds...
As long as the mother is a native sheep from Northwest Europe, the offspring produced by combining with the Merino rams will most likely be able to adapt to the humid climate of Northwest Europe and will not suffer from slags.
You should know that the animal's body develops in the mother's body. Its physiological characteristics are also closer to the mother. Therefore, Jews have ways to determine Jewish descent based on their mothers.
Therefore, if you want to introduce excellent foreign livestock breeds and are afraid that foreign species will not adapt to the local climate, the best way is to introduce foreign male animals to make local female animals pregnant.
The domestic merino sheep from later generations was made of mixed blood from Australian male merino sheep and local fine wool breeds such as local fine wool sheep. German merino sheep was also obtained by breeding local ewes and merino rams.
British fine wool sheep, produced from the humid British Isle, naturally will not suffer from slag-rotten disease. The British climate is very similar to the coastal areas of the North Sea in Germany. Previously, Marin quietly created a large number of British fine wool sheep from the UK by offering high prices, preparing to use it as a parent, introduce the excellent genes of merino sheep, and create a new breed of sheep.
After integrating the characteristics of merino sheep and British fine wool sheep, the final variety, wool quality will exceed the wool of British fine wool sheep, but it is worse than purebred merino sheep.
Marin also plans to develop the wool textile industry locally, but the wool textile industry also needs enough wool. Moreover, it must be good wool.
Europe is not short of wool, but European sheep are mostly coarse wool, similar to North Africa and West Asia. Coarse wool is available everywhere, not rare, and cannot be sold at high prices. The fine wool is mainly Spanish merino wool and British wool. These two high-end wools are in short supply.
The current silk production in Europe is very low and the quality is not good. Even so, only rich nobles can wear silk clothes. Generally, people with better economic conditions at home cannot afford silk, but are not willing to wear thick wool clothes like ordinary people. Therefore, high-end wool wool wool textiles have been widely sought after by the wealthy European class.
Therefore, in the European trade market, Merino wool and British fine wool are now "hard to find a penny". After Henry VII came to power, British officials have now cracked down on wool exports and instead supported wool textile exports. This is mainly because the taxes received for exporting wool textiles are higher than those for exporting wool. Moreover, the development of the wool textile industry can also generate a large number of labor positions.
Therefore, in recent years, the economy of the Flanders region has actually suffered a certain blow. Because they can obtain less and less high-end British wool. Therefore, many wool spinning factories have gone bankrupt. Even if they have not gone bankrupt, they have to change to medium- and low-end wool spinning with coarse wool as raw materials. However, this way, the profit is much lower.
Marin went through a lot of hard work and spent a lot of money to get 1,500 female British fine wool sheep from the UK in a few years. Now, he plans to ship these British fine wool sheep to the Oasis of Ayuen in Western Sahara to breed those merino rams. Then, he brings these pregnant ewes back to East Friesland. After the ewes are produced, he will select some varieties that are most suitable for the local climate and the best wool quality, and then reproduce. In this way, he can obtain high-end fine wool sheep with quality exceeding the British fine wool.
Before, although when 100 pairs of merino sheep were introduced from Spain, Marin was forced to promise to the Spanish Kings not to take the merino sheep out of Western Sahara. Now, Marin did not violate the agreement with the merino kings. He just brought a bunch of "British girls" from the sheep world, and then took the merino rams with the purebred merino rams. Even if the Spanish Kings knew about it, they could not blame Marin. Because the lambs born from the British fine wool sheep were no longer considered merino sheep, but a new breed. Moreover, it was a new breed that could adapt to the climate in Germany.
Although the quality of this new variety of fine wool is not as good as that of Spanish merino sheep, it is more than that of British fine wool. British fine wool is still in short supply in the European market. The export price of British wool is about 2,000 pence per bag and weighs 360 pounds. Adding the heavy tax of 400 pence per bag makes the export price of British wool as high as 6.66 pence per pound.
If East Friesland then cultivates a new variety of sheep with better wool quality than British fine wool. At that time, will the wool still worry about sales? The price will not be low...
At that time, breeding of such high-quality fine wool sheep will become a high-yield industry. Exporting wool or processing it into high-end wool and then exporting it is a very good choice.
Moreover, this new breed of sheep can generally adapt to the climate in the Americas (British sheep are more adapted to the climate in North America). How big is the territory of the Americas? At that time, the sheep farming industry will be developed in North America, and the sheep farming industry that raises new wool quality that exceeds that of the UK will not defeat the British sheep farming industry?
The sheep farming industry is different from agriculture, because arable land, sowing and harvesting require a lot of manpower, material resources and animal resources. Therefore, without enough population, no matter how much land is, it cannot be developed.
But the sheep raising industry is different. As long as there is enough land, herders can raise a lot of sheep. Especially if there is a help from sheepdogs, the family can raise a lot of sheep.
For example, the large New Zealand ranch that Marin saw on the Internet in his previous life was as big as 100,000 acres, and raised 28,000 sheep and 26,000 cattle. However, the ranch had a total of 7 people and 40 sheepdogs.
Therefore, in the absence of labor and the absence of advanced agricultural machinery, the best way to develop a land of North America is to raise more sheep, cattle and horses and make full use of the land.
Chapter completed!