Marin's plan to keep the lancers in the Canary Islands was difficult, as the Spanish kings were not convinced that Marin was attacking Laayoune in order to raise horses. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 info

Ferdinand II believed that Marin may have taken a fancy to Morocco and used Laayoune as a springboard to move north to conquer the southern Atlas Mountains of Morocco.

Actually, Ferdinand II was wrong, how could Marin have such a big appetite? No matter how weak Morocco is, it still has tens of thousands of cavalry. Even if Marin wants to fight Morocco, he doesn't have that condition now. Moreover, Morocco has nothing else to attract Marin except apatite. With Spain and Portugal competing to colonize the Moroccan coast, Marin is even less likely to intervene. If there were ambitions for Morocco, they could be met with the combined hostility of Spain and Portugal.

And if he controls Laayoune, Marin will already have the apatite he wants, and he will not have to expand northward at all. Although, there is more apatite on the territory of Morocco. However, most of the apatite in Morocco is found inland, near the Atlas Mountains. If you want to control there, you need to send a lot of troops and horses to control many places in Morocco, the investment is too large, and the transportation is also troublesome. So, Marin didn't have much interest. Anyway, Layoune's apatite mine with hundreds of millions of tons of reserves is enough.

Marin sent a letter to the Spanish kings, swearing that he had no intention of coveting Moroccan territory. Then, he also selected three horses from the Arabian Mali he bought and gave them to the Spanish kings and Prince Juan.

After receiving Marin's assurance, receiving the Arabian horse from the steed, and Prince Juan saying good things on the side, the Spanish kings reluctantly agreed to Marin's request to borrow the Canary Islands.

However, due to their ambition to bring Morocco under Spanish rule, the two kings demanded that Marin occupy Laayoune in the name of the Spanish Count, not in the name of the Count of East Friesland. In this way, Calculating, Laayoune is also Spanish territory. Although, Marin didn't need to pay tribute to Spain because of Laayoune.

Marin then attacked Laayoune's forces, and the kings demanded a landing on the island of Fuerteventura, closest to Laayoune, and prepared for an attack on Laayoune. And Las Palmas, the largest port in the Canary Islands, was not allowed by Marin's troop carriers.

After receiving the approved reply, Marin arranged for the ship to transport people to the Teutonic State. It just so happened that a new batch of 250-class armed merchant ships was launched, a total of 5 ships. Each boat can carry 150 people at a time, or 50 people + 50 horses.

These ships were not enough, so Marin rented five Kirk galleons from the Hanseatic League to help transport troops and horses.

This transportation is not only 1,000 lancers, but also their war horses, plus a lot of equipment and supplies for people and horses, the transportation volume is not small. Moreover, Marin had to bring 1,000 elite infantry and guns himself, resulting in a larger volume of transportation. But Marin was not in a hurry to attack, but let the people who arrived in the early stage first get used to the local climate first......

The climate of the Teutonic country is completely different from that of the Canary Islands. One in colder Eastern Europe and one in sunny Canary Islands. One is cold and damp, the other is warm and dry. Therefore, Marin did not immediately order the troops, but let everyone get used to it for a while. It just so happened that he also had to accompany Angela and Little Caesar for a while. As for the war, there is no hurry.

In order to confuse the Spanish kings and conceal their true intentions, Marin also sent two ships with great fanfare, passing through Spain, stopping at the port of Cádiz and continuing eastward. While staying in the port of Cádiz, Marin's subordinates made a big deal about going to Egypt to buy Arabian horses and put them in Laayoune to raise. Because the climate of Laayoune is close to the living area of Arabian horses, it is perfect to raise horses there.

In this way, everyone in Spain believes that Marin is indeed hot-headed and wants to raise horses in North Africa. Of course, even if you are suspicious, it is impossible to guess that Marin went to mine apatite. Because, in this era, no one (except Marin) has realized the value of apatite. According to the original history, it was not until the mid-19th century, when the fertilizer was invented, that people did not realize the value of apatite.

In addition, in order to further confuse the Spaniards, Marin also applied to the Spanish kings to raise the Merino sheep, a national treasure of Spain, in Laayoune......

Marin's reason for applying was simple - he liked to eat merino lamb......

In fact, in this era, the export of merino sheep was strictly prohibited in Spain, and violators were executed. Of course, the king is not under the jurisdiction of this prohibition.

Although Marin is not a Spaniard, he has the title of Count of the Spanish Barbarians. Therefore, it is also half of his own people. Therefore, Marin's application for the introduction of Merino sheep in the name of the Spanish Barbarian Count is not a violation.

"Haha, I see! This cunning boy, raising Arabian horses is simply an excuse. His real intention was to raise merino sheep! Ferdinand II "came to his senses" after Marin's request......

"Merino sheep?" Isabella I was a little puzzled.

"Of course, my dear, the Merino sheep are the treasure of Iberia. Its wool quality is the best in the world, and the meat tastes very good, which can be said to be the most precious sheep breed in the world. Marlin, a bad boy, clearly has a crush on Merino sheep......"

"Then shall we give it to him?" Isabella I frowned.

"Yes, merino sheep are precious, but that's it. The Indian trade we get is worth a lot of money. However, it cannot be left unlimited. For example, we can ask that Merino sheep should never be allowed to be raised on European soil, but only on the nominally Spanish colonies. In this way, the Merino sheep will not be considered to have left Spain......"

"What if he disobeys?"

"Then let's reduce the number of colonies on his Savage Continent as punishment......"

"Good idea......

In this way, the Spanish kings agreed to give Marin a hundred pairs of merino sheep, but demanded that they should only be raised in Laayoune and not to be raised in other regions without approval. In addition, it is absolutely forbidden to bring it back to Europe for breeding. If violated, the number of colonies in the Savage Continent will be reduced......

Marin scoffed at this request, and in fact, the merino sheep were largely solicited to confuse the eyes of the Spanish kings. Moreover, although the Merino sheep is good, it is not suitable for North America.

History proves that after Merino sheep arrived in North America, they were prone to rot hoof disease and did not adapt to water and soil. Because merino sheep are more suitable for warm, dry climates, such as the Iberian Peninsula, Morocco, and later Australia, the "arid continent" with the most merino sheep.

In humid regions like eastern North America, purebred merino sheep are not well suited at all. Therefore, Marlin did not plan to introduce merino sheep to North America.

Of course, this refers to the fact that purebred merino sheep were not intended to be introduced to the Americas. However, there were plans to cross Merino sheep with English sheep.

The climate in the UK is humid and foggy, and the sheep there are well adapted to the humid climate of North America. Moreover, the wool quality of English sheep is also good, just a little worse than the wool of Merino sheep, but better than the wool produced by sheep in other European countries.

Marlin can use the rams of merino sheep and the ewes of English sheep to cross to obtain mixed sheep adapted to the climate of the Americas. In this way, it is not considered a violation of the ban of the Spanish kings. After all, a mixed-breed breed looks more like its mother, but incorporates the father's excellent genes. To be sure, the wool of this sheep may not be as good as that of purebred Merino sheep, but it is certainly finer and better than that of English sheep. In later generations, countries around the world often introduced the genes of merino sheep to improve local sheep to get better fine wool sheep. For example, in China, later generations have introduced Australian merino sheep rams, and crossbred with the local new Xinjiang fine wool sheep and the ewes of the military reclamation fine wool sheep, and cultivated Chinese merino sheep......

This new breed of merino sheep with a merino sire and a British sheep dam will be closer to English sheep in appearance. In this way, even if the Spaniards saw it, they would not think it was a merino sheep. At that time, Marin will not be considered a violation of the ban......

In this way, while plotting to seize Laayoune's phosphate mines, Marin placed the Spaniards on the Merino sheep. Who gave him the title of Count of Spain......