living in 16th century england

Chapter 25 The British Don't Use Iron Pots

Back to Plymouth, already two days later.Of course there was a plan to get five captains out.

In this era, information is extremely blocked, and if you want to know information from afar, you can only run to see it.Matthew doesn't even know the price of coal mines in the UK.In the past, I bought second-hand goods. It is fine to use a small amount, but to use a large amount must go to the place of production.

Chatting with someone is the slowest way to gather information.But the price is something that businessmen like to keep secret.

The first is Captain Jack, who will go around the British Isles and stop at all the coastal towns and ports.The collection of commodity, price and various output information is handled by the accountant on board, and Jack is free.

At this time, Ireland only surrendered in name, saying yes and stabbing a knife in his hand.Only Dublin is in actual control.But it is rare to embarrass these merchant ships who send them money.After all, everyone has to live.

The King of Scotland married Henry VIII's sister, so it should be fine for now.But what Matthew didn't know was that the fight would start in two years.

It's just a war, and even a history professor may not remember such trivial things.What about Matthew?
Then there is Captain Mike, who is very familiar with Northern Europe.He followed the French coast via the Netherlands to Prussia, ending in Danzig.

Captain Anthony offered to go south because he could speak Spanish.Matthew told him to follow the coast of France to Seville, Spain and then turn back without entering the Mediterranean Sea.

The reason why British merchant ships can travel freely in Europe is thanks to Henry VII's diplomatic skills.

He signed commercial treaties with Denmark, Florence, France, Spain, the Netherlands and many other places.The thinking of using the power of the national government to obtain a favorable position for businessmen in trade can be said to be leading the world.It was much more advanced than the bureaucratic monopoly of the monarchy and lord monastery that was common at that time.

As for why there is Danzig, a Polish port 1600 kilometers away in a straight line?Because Mike has been there and claims that the food there is extremely cheap.

At Hawkins Manor, Matthew's primary concern was food production.Think of the special products of the New World, which are potatoes and corn.I didn't think of such a thing as coffee.It can be seen that he will let people go to see it no matter what.

Historically, Danzig's food was one of the main sources of British military rations during the 1542 War.

Seville also has a place that must be visited, and that is the "House of Indies Trading".

The so-called Indian Islands, is the New World.

After discovering the New World in 1502, Spain set up a market here, specializing in the specialties of the New World.

In other words, before Spain conquered the Americas, trade was the first to start.Except for the Caribbean, the Inca Empire in South America ended in 1532.By the way, it practiced feudalism.

The most important thing is...they have no writing, this is a lame...several-legged empire, and it will die sooner or later.

Without words, there is no culture, and there is no identity.The leading party is bound to run rampant.Of course, they all died in the end, leaving only the women who improved the Spanish race.

Is Spain just Spanish?No, in this day and age they are first Catholic and then Spanish.It can be understood as... a person from a certain province in a certain country.It was Catholicism that really destroyed the Inca Empire.Their supreme leader is called the Pope.

A pan-European feudal religious empire that collects taxes extensively in Europe, owns one-third of the land, owns one-fifth of the wealth, can appoint and remove the king, can decide whether the king's marriage is legal, and can decide whether the king's heir is orthodox.

Once a king is declared a heretic, the best thing for that king to do is to go barefoot in the freezing cold and beg the pope for forgiveness.He looked as embarrassed as a dog.

However, later generations did not feel the historical role and existence of religion.No one thinks it is ridiculous to say that Spain is what it is?
Someone has already written the ironclad evidence: a sword in one hand, a Bible in the other.

Probably many people really think that the Bible is used to influence "savages".But the original meaning of the Bible here is: Anyone who does not believe in me deserves to die.

In this era, Europeans have no national consciousness.So you will see that a British king can inherit more than half of the French territory through the feudal hereditary system and the approval of the Pope, turning the French king into a small landlord.

I guess, this situation was deliberately done by the Holy See.That's why the King of France fought against the Holy See.

Henry VII is the product of the French strategy.Support a pretender to the throne, the Red and White Rose War, and finally overthrow England.

lore.

This is similar to selling heads to aid the United States.

England was dealt with, the French turned against the Holy See, and the Italian war broke out.Under the call of the Pope, the "princes" from all over the country raised troops to "King Qin" and launched a siege to France. The main force was Spain and the so-called "Holy Roman Empire".

Note that before 1492, Spain was not unified.There is still a religious war with the Arabs who have ruled the Iberian Peninsula for 800 years, the battlefield ~ Spain.You will be vaguely told that it was the "Christians" who waged a religious war against the Arabs.

Then King Carlos I of Spain was a "fanatic Catholic". He quickly mastered 27 kingdoms, 13 duchies, 22 counties and nine feudal lords because of "blood problems", controlling four quarters of Europe one of the population.It has become the strongest "country" in Europe.

Incredible?It's normal, because behind him is the Habsburg dynasty.

Under a series of intrigues and various battles. In 1516, France successfully forced the Holy See to sign the Bolognese Treaty:
French archbishops, bishops and other senior clergy are appointed by the king, and most of the income of the French church belongs to the king.

The King of France also made some concessions to the Pope. The treaty did not mention the rights of religious councils, and the Pope could get part of the income of the French Church.

You see, everyone is doing it for the small bucks.

Obviously, this is a war of pure feudal kingship against Catholicism.However, the war is far from over.Compromise, just to catch my breath.

Those who look at the history of the end of the Middle Ages with modern thinking are all sticks.This cannot be blamed on them, because Catholicism is still there, so it must still have influence.

Intentionally or unintentionally tampering and deleting history is the usual practice in the world.

There is a common sense in management: people can be taught.

Under the influence of clever training techniques or the cognition formed by some reason, you don't even feel that you have been trained and misled, you will think that it is your original thinking and understanding.If you can't understand this, you can refer to the plot about the color of the sweater in "The Devil Wears Prada".

Or... do you know the three islands in the British Isles?
The answer is, there are only two islands.

So ~ is your cognition really in line with reality?
The two pirate captains were more unlucky.They do nothing but run around the world, buying iron ore, coal, and the like.Turn back when full, and the on-board accountant is the planner of the itinerary.Become a well-paid driver.

Collect information on prices and specialties across Europe.Is there anyone doing this in this day and age?In fact, there are. Don't underestimate the wisdom of the top families and wealthy families in this era. They can even enter the Holy See.

Matthew didn't have the conditions to do this before, but now he has ships, people, and money.There's no reason not to.

Do you still remember that the roads in Britain at this time were very bad, the kind left in the history books.So Matthew gave up the idea of ​​large-scale land transportation after a short investigation, and went directly to London.

Who the hell would play horse-drawn carriages in an island country in the Age of Discovery?

The young attendant led the horse in front, and Matthew sat on the horse's back and covered his nose with a handkerchief.

The man in black: "...does it smell so bad? I think it's much better than London."

Matthew looked at both sides of the street vigilantly: "...you are right."

The man in black: "..."

Someone saluted Matthew on the road, and more people offered to make way for him.Even the noise is much smaller.

The man in black snorted: "Do you really enjoy being a nobleman?"

Matthew: "...you're right."

The man in black choked: "... Faced with this kind of questioning, shouldn't you defend yourself?"

Matthew was a little annoyed: "To be honest...what's the problem?"

The man in black: "..."

Suddenly a bucket of unknown liquid poured out from a doorway. The horse was not stupid at all, and kept raising his feet to avoid it.The man in black robe immediately stabilized his figure so that he didn't fall off.

Matthew said with a smile: "If I were the sheriff of Plymouth, I would definitely tear it down and rebuild it, and then fix a sewer for them."

The man in black was silent, and then he asked: "What is a sewer?"

No matter what the history books say.It wasn't until the 19th century that large-scale sewers appeared in Europe. Of course, the people in black don't understand it now.

Matthew: "...Well, just dig a ditch in the ground so that the sewage can flow elsewhere. Cover it and it won't smell so bad... It's very simple."

The man in black sneered: "Who would spend money to repair such a thing?"

Matthew: "...me."

The man in black didn't give up: "...the soil will collapse in a short time."

Matthew: "It's fine to build a passage with bricks."

Repair this kind of thing with bricks?The man in black couldn't help shouting, "How much does this cost!?"

Matthew smiled and said, "Money is not worth much. Sewers are worth more than bricks."

The man in black disdains: "Huh?...Stop talking nonsense."

Today's job is to inspect the newly opened weapon shop and the production progress of the shipyard.

The smithy was gone, it was a complete shop.In addition to the sword, there are iron pots, iron nails and the like.It even sells shells and Francine guns.

The man in black was surprised: "...you...you are actually selling artillery?"

Matthew wondered, "Can't you?"

For a long time, there was no talk of control in Britain. It was not until the time of Elizabeth I that the production capacity of British artillery was excessive and even sold to enemy countries, and the Tudor dynasty controlled it.

However, after the constitutional monarchy, shameless capitalists preached freedom of trade.It became the norm for British merchants to sell weapons to the enemies of Britain, which is where the sale of hanging ropes came from.Really free enough.

The man in black: "The artillery should be used first on the king's battleship."

Matthew smiled and said: "These are experimental in nature, the performance is not good, and they are not suitable for new warships. Don't worry, I will only sell them to Englishmen with clear identities."

The man in black: "...what is clear identity?"

Matthew said casually: "The kind that won't treason, such as those MPs in Plymouth."

The man in black: "Businessman? Wouldn't they be treasonous?"

Matthew: "No, merchants are more prone to treason. But it shouldn't be at the moment."

The black-robed man was so surprised that he couldn't help asking, "Easier to treason? I don't study much, so don't lie to me!"

Matthew ignored him. Instead, he picked up a grape bomb, looked at it, and threw it back.He asked with a dark face, "Why is there no price tag?"

The clerk was frightened, and hurriedly said: "It was just shipped yesterday, and the brand is not ready yet."

Matthew was furious: "What brand do you want? Have money but no place to spend it?"

After speaking, he found a piece of black charcoal and wrote on the outside of the box:

"Five pennies, large quantity is favorable."

Throwing away the black charcoal, he asked, "How are the sales of the iron pot?"

Clerk: "Only sold three."

Matthew: "...what's the reason?"

Clerk: "...all say it's too expensive"

Matthew wondered: "Impossible, this is already very cheap."

The man in black sneered: "Idiot... English people are not used to using iron pots."

Iron was a luxury in Europe before the 15th century, which is why medieval knight equipment was so expensive.In the early days of the Industrial Revolution, even iron pots were not popular in Europe.In the Southern Song Dynasty, the export of iron pots was almost equal to that of porcelain.

Without an iron pot, hot water cannot be boiled.So burning stones and throwing them into water has become a custom in some places.

Matthew does not make salt for the time being. Apart from the cost, another reason is that the iron pot is very expensive, fuel is not a problem, and sea water is not expensive.As long as the iron pot can be self-produced on a large scale and the cost is low enough, the cost of salt production can be reduced.

This is a chain, and without one of them, you can't make a lot of money.

Because every 500 pounds of fish requires at least 20 catties of salt, and a gold coin can only buy a little over 50 catties.

How much salt does 26 pounds of fish need?It costs 264 gold coins to buy!That's why stinky salted fish is so expensive! ! !
Matthew is actually quite irritable. Nima, if everything is so troublesome, when will he become a millionaire with gold coins?
The man in black had a dark face: "You spend very little of the king's money on battleships and too much on messy things. Baron of the Isles of Scilly, I want to warn you that the king's money is not so easy to get .I have reported everything about you to Greenwich."

"I guess you must not know how your fief came about."

The sale of the iron pot was not good, and Matthew had nowhere to vent his anger. This guy was nagging endlessly every day, and it was annoying to death.This time, he actually called him a fool this time?

His evil thoughts suddenly arose, revealing his true colors.Turned around and punched him right on the chin.Before the black-robed man had any reaction, he was punched hard, and immediately fell down, unconscious.

(End of this chapter)