Not only Eastern Europeans such as Maozi were interested in this spirit, but even the Spaniards began to place large orders with the Chamber of Commerce in Marin.

Of course, the Spaniards are not addicted to spirits. The reason why they are willing to order spirits in large quantities is actually to blend fresh water......

Previously, Marin had told Ferdinand II about the "secret" of the Great Voyage - to carry spirits on ships. Spirits do not spoil easily, while fresh water stinks within seven days. When you are in the middle of the sea, if the fresh water stinks, you can top it with spirits, after all, it is also water.

In fact, Marin didn't use this method at all. Marin's men use fresh water preserved by the canned heating method, that is, the fresh water is steamed and "cooked" like canned, then covered with cork, and pasted with mud and dried to achieve the effect of isolating the air. In this way, fresh water can be kept like canned food for several months. When you need to drink water, just pat open the mud. Of course, after opening the fresh water bucket, the water will also deteriorate within a few days. But in any case, as long as it is not opened, it can be stored for a long time like the original can.

And the liquor law, in fact, Marin fooled the Spaniards. Of course, it's not a fool. Because, this method really works. In the 17th and 18th centuries, before the invention of the English to dripping lemon juice for fresh water, Europeans did carry a lot of spirits with them. And that spirit, called rum, was a favorite of the crew and pirates.

Rum is made from sugar cane, which is made from sugar cane molasses to make a shochu with a variety of flavors (in fact, it is a shochu with a pot head and tail, which has a more punchy taste), and then it is made in oak barrels and brewed over many years.

Of course, this is made in oak barrels, which actually uses the special substances of oak barrels to affect the quality of the wine. At the same time, let the more flushed parts of the head and tail of the wine decompose and change, and then make the wine more mellow.

This is the same as the second pot head, the second pot head is directly avoiding the part of the pot head and the pot tail that is more rushing, as long as the mellow part of the second pot. Rum, on the other hand, is a special ingredient that uses time and oak barrels to dilute the stronger parts of the pot and tail.

Therefore, although the brewing time of the second pot head is not long, the taste is no worse than that of rum brewed for one year, especially after adding black sugar, even the caramel sweetness of the rum is gone.

The Spanish admirals, after tasting the second pot head, praised it and highly recommended it to Ferdinand II, believing that it was very beneficial for the great voyage to India.

Ferdinand II was counting on the Indian route to make a fortune, so he naturally attached great importance to it. As a result, as the king of Aragon and the regent of the Kingdom of Castile, Ferdinand II personally ordered a large number of Erguotou from the Chamber of Commerce sent by Marin to Spain to sell Erguotou. However, Ferdinand II demanded that the wine be made stronger. In this way, the sailors get drunk earlier, and they can also save some alcohol......

For Ferdinand II's request, it was easy to do. Because, the second pot head was originally brewed to more than 50 degrees, and later in order to adapt to the taste of Europeans, it was lowered to 40 degrees with boiled water. Since Ferdinand II had a request, he would not sell it to them with water......

As for the price, it is not as high as selling it to Maozi. The second pot head is sold to Maozi, which is a bottle (one pound) of 1 gold coin, that is, 60 pfennig. Sold to Spain, it was a barrel (200 pounds, a barrel custom-made for liquor) for 80 gold coins, which was three-fifths cheaper than selling it to Maozi. However, there are still several times the windfall profits.

In France, where brandy has not yet appeared, and Scotland's whisky production is low due to limited food, although the price is high, the Spaniards can only pinch their noses to bear it......

Moreover, through the sale of Erguotou, Marin found a good way to make a fortune. If the sale of rye in large quantities might attract other attention, I must not be noticed if I sell wine in large quantities, and sell it in such faraway places as Russia and Spain? Moreover, it is very profitable to sell spirits like Erguotou. Sold to Maozi, there is more than ten times the profit. Even if it is sold to the Spaniards, there are several times the windfall profit.

If the brandy comes out, it's a big deal to reduce the price of competition. Anyway, no matter how it falls, how can it have twice the huge profits, right? It's much more cost-effective than just selling grain......

At the same time, the need for large quantities of cork stoppers led to a boom in the Portuguese and Spanish cork harvesting and processing industry. In addition, in areas of Portugal and Spain that are suitable for cork planting, many new cork-producing seedlings have been planted. For this line of work, Marin can't interfere even if he has an idea. Cork trees are adapted to the kind of climate in Portugal and parts of Spain, which the Grand Duchy of North Sea cannot learn.

In fact, it was in the mid-to-late 16th century that Dutch merchants discovered that French wine was prone to spoilage if it was not careful. So, they simply reprocessed the low-proof French wine into a 40-proof spirit – brandy. Then, it's easy to save......

But it was only the beginning of the 16th century, and the Dutch merchants had not yet risen. The current hegemons of the European business world are the Hanseatic and Venetian merchants. So, brandy will not appear in the short term. As for Scotch whisky, it is limited by the scarcity of grain production in Scotland, and it is completely unable to compete with Marin, which has plenty of food. Therefore, Marlin can enjoy a high-price monopoly for a period of time.

Of course, distilled spirits technology is not too difficult to use. Marin estimated that after touching Maozi and seeing his huge profits, he would definitely blush, and try to make a similar spirit. When the time comes, he will have to reduce the price. However, relying on the advantage of the good taste of the second pot head, Marin was still able to maintain a high price. At the very least, double the profit can be guaranteed. Other spirits want to compete? Yes, it has to be left for several years to eliminate the ingredients that affect the taste, and the cost is completely different......

The case of the Spaniards ordering a large number of rye two-pot heads gave Marin a great inspiration - since the Spanish voyage required a large amount of spirits, then the Portuguese could also ask for it...... In addition to the Portuguese, it seems that the Venetian can also develop into customers......

The premise, of course, is that they know the benefits of carrying a lot of spirits on the voyage. Then, Marin can expand the market and make a lot of money......

So Marin sent people to Portugal and Venice to teach them how to carry large quantities of spirits to deal with the smell of fresh water. Then, when the time comes, sell them the second pot head......

In this way, the billions of pounds of rye in the granary of Marin will have a way to be sold, so as not to mold in the granary. Moreover, it is much more cost-effective to sell the second pot head for huge profits than to sell grain.

If a large amount of grain is sold, it will not only be easy to expose the secret of high grain yield, but it will also be easy to impact the decline in grain prices. But selling spirits in large quantities is much more hidden. Moreover, it is sold to Maozi, as well as Spain, Portugal and Venice, and does not attract the attention of neighboring countries at all......

While making a lot of money yourself, you can also greatly increase the cost of sailing for big sailing opponents (after all, the price of the second pot head is higher, and the demand on the sailing ship is large and stable), it is simply killing two birds with one stone......