While Marin was busy signing the "Non-Aggression Pact" with his neighbors, Hans, the Danish king who was supposed to leave, did not leave, but went to find his brother-in-law, Frederick III, Elector of Saxony.

Seeing this brother-in-law, who had caused him to lose a large part of his territory and needed to pay millions in compensation, Frederick III, who had always been well-cultivated, almost lost control of his emotions and sent someone to beat King Hans.

However, Frederick III endured. After all, a fight won't solve the problem, and you'll lose an in-law ally.

King Hans told Frederick III of his doubts, and he was alarmed by Marin's sudden overtures, and always suspected that the cunning Marlin had some kind of conspiracy.

But Frederick III was much smarter than he was, and when he heard this, he just thought about it and understood:

"Don't worry, brother-in-law, it's a good thing this time. This shows that Marin's little fox is not at ease with Sweden! ”

"Not at ease with Sweden? What do you mean? ”

Frederick III rolled his eyes - no wonder you always lose battles, with this IQ, you need to top up......

He patiently explained:

"After these two wars, Denmark was weakened. However, after Sweden gained independence, it surpassed Denmark in terms of land area and population. So, I guess that Marin kid should be worried that Sweden will swell up and destroy Denmark! ”

"Will he fear the destruction of Denmark?" King Hans was a little curious.

Frederick III rolled his eyes and said:

"Of course, if Sweden eliminated Denmark, it would be about the same strength as the Kalmar alliance before the loss of Sweden, and it could be regarded as a strong country. Marin apparently feared that the powerful Sweden, after annexing Denmark, would claim Jutland. ”

"Oh, so he's supporting me now?" King Hans said in confusion.

"No, that won't fully support you. He supports you now, but he is afraid that you will be destroyed by Sweden. If you become strong and destroy Sweden's momentum, he will definitely turn to Sweden! Frederick III must have said. As one of the best politicians in Europe at the moment, he knew much more than King Hans.

King Hans was not a stupid man either, and after thinking about it, he understood Marin's sinister intentions. For now, though, the best option for Denmark is to accept Marin's kindness.

So, before leaving Worms, King Hans of Denmark approached Marin and wanted to negotiate a deal with Marin......

"What? You said you were going to sell me wood? Marin looked at King Hans in amazement.

Actually, the idea was given to Hans by Frederick III. He knew that King Hans was going to exploit the forests of Norway's southern coast. Because these forests are close to the sea, the large amount of timber that has been cut down can be sold as a commodity.

After all, there is less and less good timber in Western Europe because of too much development. However, Norway's forests are not highly developed because of their small population and low deforestation. Now, taking advantage of the opportunity to develop the southern coast of Norway, Denmark simply sells a handful of timber in order to get some money to pay off its debts and develop the area.

According to ancient European law, forests and minerals were the property of kings. Then, the wood that was cut down was naturally Hans's. If you sell the wood, you can sell it for a lot of money.

Although Hans could also find the Hanseatic merchants of Lübeck and Hamburg to buy them, Frederick III believed that the Hanseatic merchants of Lübeck and Hamburg were too shrewd and cunning to undercut the price and not give Hans a good advantage.

But Marin is different, and Marin now needs to support Denmark against the rise of Sweden. Therefore, the sale of timber to Marin must have been relatively lighter than the merchants of Lübeck and Hamburg.

As Frederick III had expected, Marin thought it would be a good idea to buy timber from southern Norway. Although Norway has a high latitude, due to the influence of the North Atlantic Current, there are still many broad-leaved trees, such as oaks, in the area south of 60 degrees north latitude. At that time, the canoe of the Vikings was made of the tall and straight oak trees in the area, and directly chiseled into a dragon-headed canoe, which was rampant along the coast of Western Europe......

So, if you are serious about developing southern Norway, there is no shortage of oak oaks. Also, there are a lot of pine trees in the area. Pine is an important piece of furniture wood and can also be used to make decks and masts. Therefore, if you cut down the forests of southern Norway seriously, you can sell them for a lot of money.

In the past, Denmark occupied the Øresund Strait, an important transportation artery from the North Sea to the Baltic Sea, and vigorously developed maritime trade, so naturally there was no shortage of money, so there was no need to cut down trees and sell them for money.

However, now the Danish fleet is gone, and the Øresund Strait has been occupied by Lübeck and Hamburg, and the most important source of maritime income has been lost. In this case, cutting trees and selling timber is really a good way to make money......

Marin, on the other hand, is now short of wood. If nothing else, let's talk about shipbuilding, you need a lot of oak, and pine can also be ordered. Even if you don't build a ship, you need a lot of wood for domestic construction.

Although, after Marin occupied North America, he could cut timber from North America for free. But the problem is that it doesn't cost money to cut wood in North America, but it can be shipped back to Europe, which is expensive......

If you want to build a ship, you can directly set up a shipyard in North America and use local materials, which can greatly reduce costs. However, if you need a lot of furniture in the process of building a country, you can't always ship it back from North America, right? This back and forth, it takes several months, and the transportation cost is not lower than buying timber from Norway.

Moreover, the southern part of Norway and Jutland are separated by the sea, so the distance is very close, and the cost of freight is of course low. In the future, if Marin wants to develop Jutland, it will definitely need to use a lot of wood. But Jutland has low forest cover, and good timber must have been cut down long ago, not as much as in Norway to the north. Therefore, it is a good choice to import wood from Norway to build houses and furniture.

Of course, when it comes to shipbuilding, you must still choose to build shipyards in North America, using local timber to build ships in large quantities. Especially those keel timber tens of meters long, it is very difficult to move, it is better to lay the keel on the spot locally, and then match the ribs and other wood.

Moreover, Denmark cut down trees and sold them this time, not for a long time, but because of the need to develop mountain forests. When southern Norway is developed, they may not continue to cut down trees and sell them.

Anyway, he wanted to support the confrontation between Denmark and Sweden, so Marin agreed to the request to trade timber with Denmark, and agreed to send people to build a warehouse terminal in the area of Kristiansana in southern Norway, which was about the future, and was specially used to purchase timber cut down in Norway.

The reason why the dock was built here is because Marin remembers that Kristiansand seems to be a Danish pirate base and shipbuilding base in the future.

It is mentioned in the history books of the previous life that in 1685, the Danish king authorized the 69 captains of Kristiansand to allow them to rob the merchant ships of England and Sweden, which were hostile at the time. Since then, Kristiansand has become a well-known pirate and shipbuilding base in Denmark.

Marin feared that the Danes would follow the old path and turn Kristiansand into a pirate base and shipbuilding base, as they had historically been. The Danes were beaten so badly by themselves, if they engage in piracy in the future, who will they plunder? It must be me......

Therefore, Marin simply built a cargo station and a wharf in Kristiansand to buy the best timber from Norway, especially for shipbuilding. Even if you don't need it yourself, you can give it to someone else. Anyway, they didn't keep it for Denmark, lest they engage in any privateers and affect their own maritime trade......

Moreover, taking advantage of this opportunity, Marin intends to build a bridgehead base in Kristiansand, and even plans to build a castle along the coast. If the Danes were not honest, Marin could have used Kristiansand as a landing springboard to transport troops to land in Norway and teach the Danes a lesson......

Anyway, this timber trade can be regarded as a win-win situation. Denmark received much-needed funds, while Marin received the timber it needed. Even if you don't need it, you won't smash it in your hands. Because, this year, the demand for wood in Europe is huge. Timber was one of the most important commodities traded by the Hanseatic League. Marin buys timber cut down by the Danes in Norway, even if he doesn't need it, mainly oak, even if he has enough for himself, he can give it to someone else, and he won't smash it in his hands......