"Your Majesty, the Pope has disclosed such news before. He said that he intends to let Spain and Portugal divide the two gold-producing countries in Africa equally..." Marin said softly.
"Oh, how do you divide it?" Ferdinand II asked with interest.
"Those who obtain Zimbabwe will also gain the right to own Morocco. But those who obtain the Sanghai Empire will not."
"That's the balance?" Ferdinand II, as a veteran politician, naturally understood the truth.
"Your Majesty, in fact, this is not a balance. Because, after all, the Holy See once assigned Africa to Portugal. Spain can obtain one of the two major gold-producing countries, which is actually considered to be cutting off the Portuguese... In addition, India wants to share half of Spain, I guess His Majesty Manuel I, the King of Portugal, wants to kill you..."
"This... is not wrong. At the beginning, we misbehaved Columbus and thought that the wild islands were India, so we signed the stupid treaty of the Treaty of Todd Silas... Alas, I really want to beat Columbus again..." Columbus, who was at home in East Friesland, suddenly felt his anus tightening...
"Your Majesty, this is your excuse!" Marin took the opportunity to fool him.
“How to say it?”
"Did Spain have discovered India?"
"Yes, we thought Columbus had discovered India..." Ferdinand II said honestly.
"Why that's all? As for this repentance, you say that Columbus deceived Spain, the Holy See and the Pope. In fact, the premise of signing the Treaty of Todd Silas is that Spain has discovered India..."
"Yes..." Ferdinand II slapped his head and agreed with Marin's statement very much.
Since the prerequisite for signing the Treaty of Todd Silas was that Spain had discovered India, then the Spanish demand for rights in India this time was simply justified and should not be afraid of the Portuguese. Thinking of this, Ferdinand II's rocker became even more straight.
"So, what reason should I use to interfere in African affairs? Even if I want to obtain Zimbabwe, the Portuguese would not agree, right?"
"This is simple. You announced that you would exchange it with the Portuguese with the Wild Continent, wouldn't it be enough?"
"What if the Portuguese refused?"
"Then you just give up the wild continent and announce the division of Africa with Portugal?"
"Give up the wild continent? I'm so reluctant..." Ferdinand II was a little reluctant.
"Your Majesty, you occupy the wild continent at the same time and want to divide Africa with the Portuguese. Do you think this is reasonable? If you really want to do this, you will ignore it and the Holy See will not support you. In addition, the Portuguese will probably be so angry that they want to kill you..."
"That's true...but, Zimbabwe's gold is not as much as the Sanghai Empire..." Ferdinand II still couldn't bear to see the gold of the Sanghai Empire.
"Your Majesty, don't look at Zimbabwe's gold as much as the Sanghai Empire. However, Zambia, in northern Zimbabwe, is the place with the most copper in the world..."
"The most copper? How much?" Ferdinand II was a little confused.
"According to my teacher's estimate, here, the plateau area north of the Zambezi River, the total copper reserves may reach 30 million tons... well, that is, 66.1 billion pounds..."
"66.1 billion?" Ferdinand II thought Marin was talking about 6.61 million at first, and then he suddenly jumped up with excitement:
"What did you say? 66.1 billion pounds?" Ferdinand II was so scared that he almost fainted. This number was so scary.
Previously, the 33,000 pounds carried by Mansa Musa, the "Golden Sultan", scared Ferdinand II, not to mention the 66.1 billion pounds.
Although the price of copper is far less than gold. However, in Europe at this time, 180 pounds of copper can be exchanged for 66.1 million pounds of gold. Wouldn't it be exchanged for... Well, I'll do it... Ferdinand II spread out the parchment paper on the spot, dipped it ink with a quill, and began to calculate. In the end, he got a terrifying number - equivalent to 367 million pounds of gold...
Ferdinand II almost failed to sit firmly, and Marin helped him in time.
"Too...too exaggerated...so much copper..."
"Your Majesty, if so much copper is really mined, I'm afraid the copper will depreciate..." Marin reminded.
"It's okay, it's just depreciating by 100 times, and there are 3.67 million pounds of gold, which is much more than the 33,000 pounds that Mansa Musa carried back then..." Ferdinand II's mathematics is very good. It seems that it was not taught by the physical education teacher...
"But, so much copper cannot be mined in one go..." Marin reminded.
"That's true...but as long as this place is occupied, it will be enough to mine copper worth 33,000 pounds of gold every year..." Ferdinand II still remembers the amount of gold Mansa Musa carries.
"Your Majesty is wise!" Marin was actually laughing in his heart. Seeing Ferdinand II agreeing to give up the "terrifying" wild continent, Marin was so happy.
Where is it so easy to mine copper ore in hot Africa? Moreover, this data was explored in later generations. With the current Spanish technology, it would be good to explore one-tenth of copper ore. Then, it is very difficult to mine.
This series of exploration and mining can steadily drag Spain to Zimbabwe and Zambia. Then, their eyes were all turned to the north, and naturally they would not pay attention to the South African region south of the Limpopo River.
In South Africa, what Marin wants to take. Not only does it have a massive amount of gold ore, but it also has huge reserves of chromite, which has great industrial significance.
So Marin threw out Zambian copper to attract the Spanish's attention and let them put their manpower and material resources to the north, rather than the South African region south of the Limpopo River.
Moreover, with the technical strength of the Europeans in this era, it is not realistic to mine copper on a large scale without machines. It is scary to produce thousands of tons of copper every year. At most, the price of copper dropped. However, it is still impossible to make Spain soar.
This chapter is not over, please click on the next page to continue reading! After all, that is a pit, the pit that drags down Spain's national strength is even more pit than Zimbabwe's gold...
However, it was such a big pit that ignited Ferdinand II's passion...
Ferdinand II felt like he was about to burst. He walked around excitedly, then stared at Marin and asked:
"Malin, are you sure there is so much copper in that place?"
"I'm sure and sure, and I can swear!" Zambia's copper future is very famous, and Marin did not lie. However, Marin cannot guarantee whether all copper mines can be found in Spain in this era...
Moreover, the Zambia region is almost as big as 750,000 square kilometers. Even if you explore the plateau region, it will take decades. Anyway, this pit is extremely large, just waiting for Spain to jump...
"Your Majesty, even the coastal areas of Mozambique are very rich and can develop sugarcane cultivation." Marin pointed to the Mozambique part of the map and said to Ferdinand II.
“There is also tropical over there?”
"Of course, and your Majesty can buy black slaves directly locally for plantations."
What Marin said is true. African tribes often fight and capture each other as slaves. Buying black slaves in the local area is very cheap. Moreover, long-distance transportation is not required. In fact, Marin is very strange. Since the climate of Africa and the Americas is similar, why don’t they build plantations locally in Africa?
Later, I realized that Africa was the territory of the Portuguese. The Portuguese were weak chickens on land and were unable to conquer the black tribes on land. Therefore, they could only use trade to buy prisoners of war with the black tribes as black slaves to sell them, and were unable to conquer the black tribes in Africa.
Therefore, African plantations did not develop until the 19th century after the Europeans invaded Africa in full swing. Now, the Portuguese seem to have only opened sugarcane plantations on the island of Sao Tome.
The Spanish army was much stronger than Portugal, especially after the Spanish phalanx appeared, Spain was rushing to the continent for a hundred years. It was not until the line formations of Morris and Gu Erye that the Spanish army began to decline. However, it was not a problem to use the Spanish phalanx and to attack those African indigenous tribes.
Use the Spanish square to stroke the black tribes on the fertile land by the Great River in Mozambique and occupy good areas. Then, use cheap goods to buy tamed prisoners of war from other black tribes as black slaves, and develop sugarcane plantations and even spice plantations on the spot. Don’t be too promising...
Marin explained this idea in detail with Ferdinand II. Ferdinand II became even more ignited, and he kept walking around the room to relieve his excitement. Then, he growled:
"I want Zimbabwe, Zambia and Mozambique! I want gold, and a lot of copper... well, and plant sugarcane..."
However, in Marin's eyes, Ferdinand II, who was walking around excitedly and roaring from time to time, was so like Teacher Fan Wei who "try two steps"...
Chapter completed!