Chapter 2685 North's Plan (Part 1)

Since the 13th century, Pomerania has been a large-scale grain production market, but the arrival of the Black Death not only caused a sharp drop in population, but also caused a large number of farmers to immigrate to Prussia and Poland, making these two countries gradually become large-scale Center of grain production.

After the Battle of Greenwald in 1410, thousands of soldiers fought for 7 hours and finally freed Prussia from the control of the Teutonic Knights, which enabled the development of Danzig on the Vistula River.

By 1464, Danzig had no tariff barriers, and local commerce developed rapidly. Until the outbreak of the Thirty Years War, Danzig exported 200,000 tons of grain. Later, it and Lübeck became Center of the Hanseatic League.

In the Mediterranean, everything that can be transported by ship is worth a lot, even to the point where it is not worth mentioning compared with its selling price.

However, if the grain is transported by ships in the Mediterranean, the price of the grain will generally increase by about 4 times. Just like in ancient Greek legends, the heroes who sailed to Troy to recapture Helen sometimes encountered calm weather, so merchant ships in the Mediterranean at that time had to have oars in addition to sails.

The North Sea and the Baltic Sea are not short of wind. The Kirk ships used by the Hanseatic League not only have super carrying capacity, but also only need a few sailors to operate. The cost of transportation is not worth mentioning compared to the value of the goods. .

In addition to the weather conditions that affect the European grain market, the war will also cause adverse effects. The grain that should have been harvested is left in the field because the farmers have run away, or they want to wait until the end of the war to return to continue farming, or even simply in other places. The place is settled.

Portugal and Spain do not rely on Hansa's grain, they will trade with the Ottoman Empire, unless there is a problem with the Nile, the Ottoman Empire will generally not ban grain exports.

While Italy and the Mediterranean countries tried to get involved in the trade of the Hanseatic League, the Hanseatic League also tried to get involved in the trade of the Mediterranean, but they were never successful.

One is because with the discovery of the New World, corn was introduced to Europe, which seriously affected the Hanseatic grain trade, and the trade center moved from Denmark to the western coast, and the other was because of the grain support from Egypt, but when both of them had problems , then famine will be unavoidable again. Corn needs a lot of heat, and persistent rains and cold in the 16th century severely damaged corn harvests. The people were so desperate that they would eat any animal, the Ten-member Council of Venice sent an emergency purchase of Polish wheat, intending to ensure food supplies at all costs.

This batch of wheat was sent by sea and land. The road conditions on land were very bad, so the price more than quadrupled after arriving in Venice. It was slightly cheaper to go by sea, but one ship sank and caused great damage.

As for the Genoese, at that time they were busy transporting silver coins from South America back to Europe with the Spaniards. Since the Venetians united the Ottoman Empire and drove the Genoese out of the East-West trade, allowing Venice to monopolize its benefits, and the Hanseatic League in the north, they could only develop westward.

However, a large amount of precious metals shipped from the Americas did not bring huge wealth. The reduction in food production met with excessive inflation, even if it was silver dollars instead of paper money, it would still be inflated.

But this is not the worst, as Pope Alexander VI awarded the Spanish king the title of "Catholic King", they began to expel the heretics in the territory, and the properties of these heretics were seized to ensure that their debts could be paid off. On the surface it looks like a good deal.

These expelled people include many elites in water conservancy. They are often intellectuals dedicated to spreading Arab civilization, as well as businessmen and bankers with international networks. The small increase also had a considerable impact on the loan business of Genoese bankers, but these losses were overshadowed by the discovery of gold and silver in the American continent.

All conquerors will take the opportunity to plunder other people's wealth. The wealth here refers not only to gold, silver and jewelry, but also to those extremely intelligent talents.

If Louis XIV reused Prince Eugen instead of letting him go to Austria, perhaps France would not have lost the War of Spanish Succession and the territory of Italy, completely disintegrating the power that France has operated in Italy for a hundred years.

A wise monarch should be a person who cherishes talents, and does not hesitate to bestow honors and rewards on those who have made outstanding achievements in a skill.

Look at those Guardsmen, they looked like beggars when they crossed the Alps, how respectable they are now.

There is also Napoleon's survey of the Suez Canal. If this can be done, ships going to Europe will not have to circle the Cape of Good Hope. The influence on the world is comparable to that of Columbus discovering the New World.

If Georgiana hadn't experienced it before, she would almost have thought that these Genoese people were "really" warm and hearty, and they were full of praise.

Ferrier stood aside, she had a cold face and said nothing, and the others pretended that she didn't exist, and continued to brag about Georgiana. First, she praised her beauty as usual, and then said that she was a generous patron who helped young people realize their dreams.

Ah, who is Miss Campini? I didn’t know each other, and then followed this topic to chat about how Miss Georgiana helped Ms. Chevigny keep the principal of the Paris Opera House, and praised her as a person who really knows how to appreciate art.

Regardless of Georgiana's previous mood, she couldn't help laughing now.

For the Genoese, there are almost no prejudices, making money is the first.

In order to avoid internal strife, the Genoese will hire outsiders to serve as governors, judges, and administrators, while the affairs of the Republic of Venice, which is also dominated by merchants, must be participated by members of the local aristocracy.

This is like a family business hiring a CEO. In order not to hurt the harmony of the family, if an irreconcilable conflict occurs, the foreign CEO will be fired. Of course, it is basically difficult for the externally hired CEO to communicate with other people in the family business, and he left after working for a year.

Although it is a small country, Genoa is also a country of immigrants, and Greeks, Armenians, and Tatars can all become their citizens.

At present, there are still many French people in France who do not speak French. These Genoese speak their own mother tongue, and later they also spoke English with Georgiana.

In short, the Genoese have the habit of absorbing successful or promising newcomers, honor is obtained by success, and they will do everything possible to achieve success.

They are not like the Venetians, they only do sailing business.

Nor is it like the Florentines, who rode horses through every city in Western Europe.

They did seaborne trade because the price of sea freight was cheaper, but they still established the oldest and most powerful mule driver's guild in Europe on land, collecting information while doing business.

Business has always been inseparable from espionage. Whether it is silk or the Spanish cochineal, it was once a secret, and it was not deciphered in the end.

The word patent comes from the Latin "litterae patentes", which means public letters and documents, which were used by medieval monarchs to issue various privileges, and later became a certificate of exclusive rights signed by the King of England himself.

Then it was introduced to Venice, Italy, and Venice promulgated the world's first patent law. After that, the patent system began to consolidate and develop, becoming a worldwide intellectual property protection system.

But how much "protective power" is this thing?

Voltaire once said: Although it is an unpleasant experience to have doubts, at least it is not as absurd as deep belief.

She doesn't believe that the people of Genoa are really monolithic. With so many people involved in the conspiracy, no one can tip the news and reap the benefits?

The premise is that these people don't believe in magic, and they collectively forgot about witnessing the Sphinx. Otherwise, apart from being betrayed, what reason would there be for Ferrier to stand here?