The Rise of the European Emperor

"By the way, Your Majesty, since the lease is decided, what about the plan you mentioned before to send people to establish the Mauritanian Sultanate north of the Senegal River?" Kohler asked.

Marin thought for a while and said:

"Together! We only need the Senegal River Basin for about 10 years. However, I also hope to plant a seed in the local area, an independent seed, to awaken the independent consciousness of the local people in the future and give the Portuguese Dig a hole."

What Marin meant was that after the tropical cattle trade on my side was completed, the group of desert cavalry that surrounded the trade route remained behind as the core force against Portuguese rule. Then, build a country, confront the Portuguese, and prevent the Portuguese from taking advantage of it easily.

Obviously, after the end of the lease period, the Portuguese may come to take over the best overland trade route to Timbuktu. Marin didn't want to take advantage of them, so he planned to train military leaders among the indigenous people, especially cavalry leaders. Then, after he withdrew, he encouraged He to support the indigenous leaders to use cavalry as capital to publicly turn against the Portuguese, lest the Portuguese take advantage of this trade route.

In other words, even if Marin returns the Senegal River Basin to the Portuguese 10 years later, because of the emergence of this indigenous force, the indigenous cavalry will make the Portuguese feel ashamed. Because the Portuguese Army was already scumbag. In addition, this group of indigenous cavalry must have received training from officers of the North Sea State, and they will become extremely difficult to deal with.

"Choose a suitable candidate and be the leader of this emerging force. Remember, you must be obedient and don't lose control." Marin waved his hand and asked Kohler to send spies to select a suitable candidate. This candidate will be selected among local blacks or Egyptian slaves bought in Egypt.

While Kohler went to investigate and select suitable candidates, Sauer rushed to Lisbon with the mission. As for the envoys sent to Lisbon first, they were stopped by Marin's men with pigeons. The speed of the carrier pigeon is faster than the speed of people on the road. After receiving the order, the first batch of envoys went back directly and let Sauer go to Lisbon as the new envoy.

"What? His Majesty Marin wants to lease the Senegal River Basin with me? Why? Doesn't he have a vast and wild continent... Ah no, is it America? Why do you want to lease the Senegal River Basin?" Manuel After I heard about Sauer's intentions, his face was full of disbelief.

Sauer put on a helpless look and said:

"Your Majesty doesn't know something. Our North Sea country can import tens of thousands of cattle from Eastern Europe (Crimea) every year. However, those cattle are cold-resistant cattle on the Eastern European prairie, but not heat-resistant. Those who can endure the cold Eastern European cattle, in the hot and humid tropical jungle, have difficulty adapting to the local climate and are prone to heat death.”

"Before, we also entrusted Portuguese businessmen to help us purchase a batch of African cattle that are not afraid of heat.

However, the quantity is too small and the price is still very expensive. Our Majesty thinks it is not cost-effective. Instead of this, it is better to rent the grassland in the Senegal River Basin and directly graze the heat-resistant African cattle! "

"Raising cattle in the Senegal River Basin? Is it suitable for raising cattle there?" Manuel I asked curiously.

Saul nodded and said:

"Of course it is suitable, especially for African cattle that are adapted to the tropical climate. Because it is relatively dry over there, the grassland is the main body. And the grassland is not as terrible as there are so many poisonous insects and mosquitoes in the tropical jungle. It is safer. Therefore, the trees are very The grasslands in the Senegal River Basin are very suitable for grazing heat-resistant African cattle! After these cattle are raised, they can be transported to the tropical rainforests of America as cattle..."

Manuel I asked with interest:

"Can't you raise them yourself in the native jungles of America? Do you have to go to Africa to raise them?"

Sauer pretended to be helpless, and replied:

"In the Americas, there are mostly hot and humid tropical rainforests. The most important thing is that there are many poisonous insects and mosquitoes in the forest. If you don't cut down the trees and live in it, it is easy to be tortured to death. Raising cattle in the local area is not a problem, the key People are very dangerous. In the Senegal River Basin on the west coast of Africa, our boat docked and checked, and found that the local area has a savannah climate, close to the Sahara Desert. There are few trees in the area, and most of them are dry grasslands. Cows are not only convenient, but people are also safer than in the tropical rainforest. After all, mosquitoes mainly live in the humid and dark jungle..."

"So that's how it is..." Manuel I was thoughtful. However, Portugal does not appear to have plans to develop local land in Africa. Therefore, the knowledge introduced by Sauer is just a joke.

"However, at this price..." the Portuguese Lion opened his mouth...

After some intense bargaining, Sauer negotiated an agreement to lease the Senegal River Basin for 10 years at a high price of 10,000 gold coins per year, with a total rent of 100,000 gold coins. For such an undeveloped "wild land" in the Senegal River Basin, it is simply astronomical.

However, when Sauer signed the contract, he wrote in the contract-"lease the Senegal River Basin, as well as the large grasslands and deserts nearby..." The second half of the sentence can be considered as a foreshadowing for Marin to send troops eastward in the future. The business route of the Songhai Empire has left a legal basis. After all, from the map, the Songhai Empire is indeed a "nearby" area...

Moreover, Sauer stated in the contract that during the lease period, the North Sea Chamber of Commerce that leased this land will have the right to trade with Africans in the Senegal River Basin and nearby... The Portuguese did not know that the upper reaches of the Senegal River The border of the Sea Empire is not far away, otherwise, they would definitely not agree to add this clause... No way, they don't know the inland situation of Africa...

Then, the two parties formally signed the agreement and asked the envoys of other countries to notarize it to make it reasonable and legal.

...

While Sauer was negotiating with the Portuguese, Kohler was also very busy, and sent someone to contact the African colony of Laayoune with a carrier pigeon to see if there were any suitable talents available there.

There are currently 500 Egyptian slave cavalry in the Laayoune colony. Kohler asked Laayoune to select some obedient ones and transfer them to the grasslands on the banks of the Senegal River to take charge of the new Egyptian slave cavalry. Because, Marin placed an order for 500 Egyptian slave cavalry from the Mamluk dynasty of Egypt.

However, during the investigation process, good news suddenly came from Dakar, Senegal—it seems that the 60 eunuchs who were good at riding and shooting were sent to Senegal that year. Huge local power...

Before going to Daming, Marin sent 60 eunuchs who were good at riding and archery to the Dakar Peninsula in Senegal to guide the local blacks on horseback and archery. Then, fortunately, a strong black nomadic regime was established locally to fight against the Portuguese colonists who would intervene in the local area in the future.

Over the past few years, the 60 Maozi who were good at riding and archery died of illness, and a dozen who could not adapt to the local savannah climate, but the remaining 46 people were all out of control...

And among the surviving Eunuch Mao, the leader named Puginsky became a powerful local cavalry leader...

Puginsky and his 45 partners took thousands of black teenagers as disciples in Senegal and taught them horseback riding and archery. Over the past few years, thousands of black teenagers in their church have grown up. Moreover, they all obey the orders of Pujinsky and others. In other words, there are thousands of black horse archers under the command of Pujinsky and other eunuch Mao...

These thousands of young black cavalry archers are not only good at horseback riding and archery, but also use sabers for close combat. They are already pretty good Tatar-style light cavalry.

Perhaps, thousands of black cavalry archers are not a very strong force in Europe or Asia. However, in Africa, especially West Africa. Except for several powerful countries such as the Songhai Empire and the Mali Empire, those scattered black tribes are by no means their opponents.

It is said that Puginsky and his father-in-law Mao and his partners have led thousands of black disciples to take the initiative to attack and easily conquer more than 30 indigenous tribes on the Senegal grassland with the Mongolian cavalry style of warfare. Up to more than 12,000 people. Moreover, they are still planning to march inland and expand their territory.

For this reason, the leader Puginsky has already applied to Eschwein, the head of the Senegal region of the North Sea State, for more weapons and equipment. After all, bows and arrows consume a lot in war. The locals do not have the ability to produce weapons and armor, so they can only rely on Eschwein to provide them.

After hearing the "surprise" brought by Mr. Mao reported by Kohler, Marin was overjoyed:

"Very well, he is the leader I am looking for..."