After sending the messenger to Lisbon, Kohler suddenly found Marin and stopped Marin's approach:
"Your Majesty, don't apply to Portugal for the right to trade in the Senegal River!"
"Why?" Marin didn't react.
"You forgot about the Far East? You cheated the Portuguese. Once the Portuguese knows about the Far East, they will definitely find fault..." Kohler reminded.
He was talking about Marin asking Conte to help the Ming Dynasty fight against Dagama's expeditionary force. Marin provided the Ming Dynasty with the casting technology of 12-pound cannons, which was equivalent to the enemy who was invested in Portugal. Therefore, once the Portuguese land received the news of the defeat of the expeditionary force in the Far East and knew about the news of the 12-pound cannons in the Ming Dynasty, he would definitely blame Marin. At that time, even if the Portuguese did not go to war with the Beihai Kingdom, he would definitely take back the trade rights of the Beihai Kingdom at the mouth of the Senegal River. At that time, Marin would be doing useless work.
"What you said makes sense, okay, I'll send someone to get them back immediately!" Marin said after thinking for a while.
"But this is very important to us. Do we have to do it so secretly in the future?" Marin said unwillingly.
Kohler suggested:
"You can learn how to hunt rhinos on the Dakar Peninsula of Senegal before, and cooperate with the Duke of Coimbra!"
Kohler talked about Marin's previous attempt to ask Jorge de Renkastre, Duke of Coimbra, to help him with cover and establish the Senegal company.
The Duke of Coimbra was the illegitimate son of the previous Portuguese king Joao II. He once fought for the throne with the current king Manuel I. The two were mortal enemies, and the enemy of the enemy was friends. Therefore, Marin and Joao II had a good relationship.
Before, Marin relied on the cover of the Duke of Coimbra to launch a hunt for rhinos and elephants in the Senegal region. Then, the rhinoceros leather made of armor belonged to Marin, and the elephant skin also belonged to Marin. The rhinoceros horns and ivory, which are luxury goods, belonged to Jorge de Renkastre, Duke of Coimbra. Over the years, the cooperation between the two sides has been pleasant, and they are considered to be necessary.
Thinking of this, Marin said distressedly:
"If you just hunt some rhinos and elephants, the Duke of Coimbra will definitely have no objection. However, if there is a large number of oxen and black slaves transit, the Duke of Coimbra will definitely not sit idly by..."
The reason is very simple. Marin sent people to hunt rhinos and elephants in Senegal. Among them, the most precious rhino horns and ivory belonged to Marin. The Duke of Coimbra naturally had nothing to say.
However, if Marin transported large quantities of oxen and slaves here, the Duke of Coimbra would definitely not be happy. Because this huge benefit was not his share. In this case, he would definitely not do it.
After all, the Duke of Coimbra and Marin are only business partners, pure partners in interests, rather than loyal allies. It is better not to involve interests, but to involve conflicts of interest, and there is a great possibility of turning against each other.
Especially the black slave trade, which is a typical profit-making industry. It would be strange if he knew that Marin had left him alone and did not turn against him. After all, when he asked Marin for a black slave, he had a price of up to 40 gold coins, and he was dying.
If he knew that he could obtain a large number of black slaves from the Sanghai Empire at a cheap price, he would definitely be jealous...
"Let's have a meeting, let's discuss it."
Then, Schwartz, Schall and Stadt three absolute confidants were called in. As for the other absolute confidant Kahn, he had already gone to the American Colony to play an orc. Even if he was at home, Marin would not call him. Because, in terms of giving out ideas, Kahn was just a decoration...
After Marin explained the situation, everyone found it very difficult. Finally, Saul gave a suggestion:
"Your Majesty, since you want the purpose of the Senegal River Basin to be for the tropical African oxen, why don't you, take advantage of the Portuguese's failure to react and knock them out at a high price and buy the development and trade rights of the Senegal River Basin directly?"
"What do you mean, while the news from the East has not been sent back, use a high price to tempt the Portuguese to sell us the Senegal River Basin?" Marin thought about it.
Saul waved his hand and said:
"No, your majesty, we don't need to buy it, we can rent it. I understand what you mean, that is, you want to buy oxen and black slaves from the Sanghai Empire. I estimate that it will be almost done in 10 years. Within 10 years, the Portuguese will probably have to fight Timbuktu. So, it doesn't make sense to be too long. Moreover, after you bought tens of thousands of African black cows from the Sanghai Empire, you probably don't have that much demand. At that time, it doesn't matter whether you want this land. So, my suggestion is - hurry up and grab the time, spend a lot of money, and rent the Senegal River Basin from Portugal for ten years. For the reason, you want to raise tropical cattle on the grasslands of the Senegal River Basin to supply the needs of tropical regions in the Americas. After all, the fact that temperate cattle are not suitable for the climate in the tropical rainforest areas has been sent back to Europe by the people of the survey team."
"Lease the grasslands in the Senegal River Basin for 10 years to raise African cattle?" Marin thought for a while and thought it was a good idea. After all, this reason makes sense.
Although the Senegal River Basin is a tropical region, it has a tropical savanna climate, not a tropical rainforest climate with many poisonous insects and mosquitoes, and is very suitable for grazing. Marin said that it is reasonable to rent a place to grazle African cattle that are adapted to tropical climates.
"However, we almost turned against the Portuguese because of pirate issues. Will they agree to the loan request?" Marin was a little worried.
Kohler, who has been in charge of money, smiled and said:
"Your Majesty, no one can get over money..."
When Marin thought about it, he decided to send someone to Lisbon to discuss the loan of the Senegal River Basin.
Lease is not a purchase, it does not involve sensitive sovereignty issues. Besides, Portugal actually does not regard African land as a territory, but a sphere of trade influence. Portugal has too little domestic population, so local is enough to develop, so how could he think of developing Africa?
Don’t say that renting out a piece of African land that is not operated is normal even if it is sold. However, if you want to buy ownership, the asking price will definitely be higher. If you rent it, you can spend a lot of money.
Marin did not think about occupying the Senegal River Basin for a long time, but just used this area as a trade channel. Therefore, it is reasonable to rent it for 10 years.
Originally, Marin wanted to send Kohler, but Shaul wanted to make a contribution and took the initiative to take over the matter. After all, Kohler, Schwartz and Kahn were already counts, and Shaul was still a baron because of his lack of credit, so he naturally wanted to make meritorious and promoted to catch up with his friends.
Chapter completed!