The Rise of the European Emperor

Regarding the arrangement of these immigrants from the Netherlands, Marin was also very decisive-throw it away for training first. The same recipe, the same traditional training methods to identify spies.

However, Prince Philip seemed to be less shrewd than his father, so he didn't send any spies. Instead, a baron in the Netherlands sent a foolish spy over to find out the secrets of the high grain production in the North Sea.

But this rogue-eyed guy didn't even need military training, and he was immediately recognized. Before the punishment was used, they were all recruited.

Marin was speechless, didn't say anything, and asked his subordinates to hang the man publicly. The emperor and his son want to give him face, but how dare you stretch out your hands like a baron? Therefore, Marin is completely welcome. However, because it was the first time, Marin didn't want to make too much trouble, so he could only execute the man as a warning. After all, he still has to accept more immigrants from the Netherlands. It would not be worthwhile if he engages in that baron now and arouses hostility from the lords of the Netherlands. Therefore, hanging the spy is the most appropriate way. He not only showed his toughness, but also did not hit the door, embarrassing the nobles of the Netherlands.

As for how to arrange these people after the military training is over, Marin thought about it and decided—to arrange all of them to go to the seaside fishing village and learn to fish!

Well, the Dutch, that is, the Dutch, don’t they engage in sailing? But most of these people come from farming households and are not good at fishing. So, give them an adaptation period first.

For example, in the coastal area of ​​the North Sea country, after these immigrants from the Netherlands were arranged, they would be arranged to learn to fish and herd sheep at the same time.

Yes, herding sheep!

The coastal beaches have high salinity, and many of them are not suitable for arable land. Unless there is a river estuary in the local area, the fresh water can't stop flushing to reduce the salinity of the coastal soil and make it suitable for farming.

However, there are still many grasses that can grow on the coastal beaches. For example, some salinity-tolerant thatch, etc., these grasses absorb some salt, and the salt content is higher than that of ordinary grasses. Although these grasses are not as nutritious as alfalfa, sheep also like to eat them. After all, sheep also need salt intake.

The only trouble is that the sheep drink fresh water as much as possible. Therefore, near the coastal pastures, there are generally rivers that flow into the sea, which is convenient for drinking water.

The arrangement for immigrants from the Netherlands is specifically that young people and children learn to swim and sail and fish. Practice in the offshore and inland rivers first, and then go to the deep water area.

As for the middle-aged and elderly people in the Netherlands, because of their age, it is difficult for ordinary old farmers, except for old fishermen, to learn to swim and drive a boat. Therefore, they will herd sheep near the fishing village, and learn to milk the sheep and make cheese. In this way, all immigrants are taken advantage of. Although the old people can't catch up with the flock, but there are shepherd dogs to help. And the old people, as long as they take good care of the shepherd dogs, they can easily drive the sheep.

For young people and children, Marin was less polite. If you can't learn to swim and sail, you can only eat the lowest standard Kohler bread with 30% grass bran. Only young people and children who have learned to swim and sail, or who are making good progress in their studies, can eat whole grain black bread, with salted fish and vegetables as side dishes.

Inspired by this reward and punishment system, young people and children are also very motivated to learn swimming and sailing. They thought that Marin wanted them to go fishing in the future. But in fact, Marin intends to train them as crew members. After all, there will be a huge shortage of sailors for large-scale navigation and colonization in the future.

As for safety during training, Marin also attaches great importance to it. Everyone is equipped with a life jacket, an inflatable bladder sewn and glued together with leather, similar to a soccer ball. After inflating, the life jacket is put on, and it is not easy to sink and drown.

For young girls and little girls, Marin gave another training direction - learning to shear sheep, milk sheep and make dairy products. After all, the young men in this group of Dutch immigrants will go out to be sailors in the future. Women are at home and cannot do heavy work. Therefore, like the old people, using sheepdogs to herd sheep and produce wool and dairy products is a good way to make a living. Even if a man dies at sea, with this skill, he will not starve to death.

From the point of view of earning a living, in fact, raising dairy sheep—Dongfuli raw sheep is the best choice. This milk sheep can provide enough goat milk for making dairy products, which can provide ample food. Moreover, it can also produce wool. Although the quality of wool is average, it is still enough to weave poor-quality woolen wool. The most important thing is that with the help of shepherd dogs, many of them can be raised.

However, although raising milk sheep is beneficial to the people, it is not conducive to official tax collection. Because dairy sheep are more versatile and mediocre. Moreover, the price of dairy products in Europe is not as good as that of woolen textiles, which are cheap commodities and can generate relatively little tax. However, growing grain and raising wool-producing sheep have higher output value and more taxes can be obtained.

Therefore, Marin generally does not allow farmers to choose whether to raise sheep or farm. All land must follow the official plan. You can open up more fields for growing food, but you are not allowed to change farmland into pastures casually.

Of course, this is local policy. But in fact, there are basically no homeowners in the local area, and they are basically aristocratic fiefdoms and Junker manors. This policy is basically aimed at the manor owners, and the serfs have no right to speak. But in Colonial America, it was different. Because the Americas have too much land and too few people. Therefore, in addition to some necessary arable land, it is also allowed to vigorously develop the sheep breeding industry. After all, sheep farming requires less population and higher land utilization.

...

In fact, in the history of European colonialism, land was not the primary goal of the colonists at the beginning, but trade profits were. For example, Portugal's activities on the coast of Africa are mainly based on trading to obtain sands. Although most of Africa was divided from the "Treaty of Tordesillas", their core interests are still in India and China. why? Trade between India and China is highly profitable! Spices from India, silk and porcelain from China are the core points of maritime trade.

Another example is the Dutch. Historically, after the Dutch occupied the Spice Islands and Java Island, they actually sent the navigator Tasman in the 17th century to explore the Australian mainland in the south of the East Indies and discovered Tasman named after him. Manya Island. However, the Dutch found that there were no people on the Australian mainland, and the aborigines could not produce any valuable goods. Therefore, this continent has not been occupied.

Later Britain, the core of its colonial empire, was also populous India. The African colonies are more like black and white who will divide the territory, first occupy the territory and then talk about it. However, it has not been well developed.

Not to mention Spain, which occupied the Americas, but was obsessed with finding gold and silver mines, but refused to cultivate the land properly. Only in Cuba, because of the high profits of sucrose, can it be considered a good land for farming.

The French are even more bizarre, having set foot in Canada very early. However, the Frenchman is in the fur business and has no interest in developing the Canadian industry. French farmers would rather plant a small piece of land of one or two hectares (20 to 30 acres) in the country, rather than own a large piece of land in the colonies.

Of course, after the founding of the country, the old United States developed and used land to attract immigrants, which was very attractive. For example, the "Homestead Act" promulgated by Lincoln was so generous that any immigrant who ran to the west could enclose 160 acres of land and cultivate it himself. Don't pay any money, just cultivate for 5 years first. 160 acres! That is 971 mu, 64 hectares of land!

In ancient China, a hundred acres of fertile land was considered a small landlord, and a thousand acres was considered a medium landlord. The big landlord Liu Wencai only has 12,000 mu of land.

But what is strange to Marin is that before the United States recruited immigrants, Europeans were not keen on going to the Americas to buy land and cultivate it. It was because the old Americans did not live in Europe and advertised in newspapers, which attracted many immigrants. As for the rural areas, it is the German peasants who attract the most. Therefore, there were more old Americans and Germans than British Americans. Especially in the Midwest, German farmers are even more dominant. Strangely, the millions of Irish who fled to the United States because of the Great Famine before the Homestead Act was enacted were not keen on running farms in the Midwest, but preferred to stay in the city as coolies.

...

For the colonists, Marin's approach was actually not in line with the colonists' profit-seeking criteria. Because there is really no profit in developing land. However, in the long run, Marin's approach is the most strategic. After all, the land is developed and the plate is very large. For example, in the later Laomei, the eastern part of North America was developed, and the agricultural output value alone was astronomical.

According to the economic data of the Confederate States of America in the South during the Civil War, the total economic output of the 13 southern states in 1860 was 150 million US dollars. Among them, the industrial output value is only 20 million US dollars. The pure agricultural output value is 130 million US dollars! At that time, the population of the Confederacy was 9.1 million. Moreover, the value of the U.S. dollar at that time was very high. One U.S. dollar was equivalent to 1.6 grams of gold, which was equivalent to 0.45 ducats. In other words, the total agricultural economy of the 13 southern states with a population of 9.1 million at that time was 58.5 million gold coins! At that time, the main labor force of the southern plantations was actually 4 million black slaves. Therefore, on average, each slave can create an output value of 14.625 gold coins. Moreover, these 4 million slaves also include the elderly, women and children.

In general, as long as you occupy and develop the best land in North America, you can easily get an output value of tens of millions of gold coins. If the agricultural population exceeds 10 million, it is also possible for the output value to reach hundreds of millions of gold coins.

This is a question of the colonial route. As long as the agricultural land in the Americas is well developed, the plate is very large, much larger than gold and silver mining. What's more, the Appalachian Mountains have massive coal mines, and the Great Lakes region has rich iron ore. The potential of industry and agriculture is so huge, no wonder it has become a superpower.

However, Marin is also worried that if he really wants to develop North America, then the weak will be strong, and the mainland will not be able to control America. Just like the United Kingdom, the thirteen North American states became stronger, their wings became stiffer, and with the instigation of France, they separated from the United Kingdom.

Of course, that is something that future generations should worry about. When Marin was alive, it is estimated that America had not yet developed to that height. When he was alive, the colonial route was - develop, develop, develop! As for the problem of the colony surpassing the native, leave it to posterity. If it doesn't work, you can shift the focus to America...