Speaking of which, South Africa's gold reserves are even larger, with a total gold reserve of about 53,000 tons in the Rand gold mining area alone. However, the taste of the gold mines over there is not low, but it is not high either. To extract that much gold, it takes a lot of manpower and material resources.

But the problem is that South Africa is a barren land now. And the Rand gold mine is deep in the inland area, even if Marin colonizes South Africa, it is very troublesome to build a stronghold on the coast of South Africa (such as the Cape of Good Hope) first, and then send troops deep into the interior to find gold mines.

And even if a gold mine is found, not to mention that other European countries will scramble for it, the investment of manpower and material resources alone will be very troublesome. Needless to say, material resources have to be transported from the mainland. Manpower too, mines require a lot of manpower to mine. And to protect gold, you need a large number of troops. Otherwise, the gold mined will be easily robbed. In later generations, Marin did not watch less movies such as "The Great Gold Robbery". South Africa is a landlocked country that is vulnerable to looting.

Moreover, in this era, an important method for refining gold and silver ore was called the "mercury mixing method". It is to mix mercury, water and gold and silver ore together and grind finely, so that the mercury wets the surface of the metal particles and further diffuses to the inside of the metal to form amalgam (amalgam), thereby separating it from the ore mineral. After that, the amalgam is heated and evaporated to obtain the precious metal or its alloy. This method is mainly used to deal with ores of gold and silver, two precious metals, because the price of mercury is also very high, and if it is used to deal with cheap metals, it will be lost.

If you want to build a gold mine in South Africa, you will definitely consume a lot of mercury. Generally speaking, it must have been shipped from mainland Europe. However, if a large amount of mercury is purchased from Europe, it will definitely attract the attention of various countries, and it will be difficult to keep it secret.

Historically, Spain was able to mine gold and silver in large quantities after the occupation of the Americas, which also had an important relationship with the fact that Spain was a major producer of mercury. Because, Spain itself is one of the largest producers of mercury in Europe, and there is no need to ask for help. If Marin wants mercury, he has to purchase large quantities of mercury from European countries and regions such as Spain and Italy, which is not cost-effective and easy to expose.

Moreover, although Marin knew that later generations used more cyanide, he only knew a little about chemistry and did not know how to produce cyanide. Therefore, he can only continue to use the amalgamation method to produce gold and silver.

Of course, in this era, China and Japan were actually big producers of mercury. For example, the Ise Province of Japan is rich in mercury. As for Huaxia, that's funny. Because Taoist alchemy requires a lot of quantity, the production of mercury is also very large, and it can be easily bought.

Marin had originally intended to purchase mercury from China and Japan, which would then be shipped to South Africa for gold mining. However, when I thought about it later, isn't Ryokari Kanayama in Osumi Province? Iwami Ginzan is also in western Japan, and it is very close. Rather than traveling thousands of miles to South Africa and the Americas to mine gold and silver, it would be better to mine it locally in Japan.

Moreover, there is a great benefit to mining gold and silver in Japan. That is - Japan is very rich in human resources!

Japan currently has a population of 17 million, the third largest in the world after the Ming Dynasty and India, and 2 million more than France. With such a large population, labor is naturally worthless. In addition, Japan has a large grain production, and there is no shortage of food sources in the mines, which is convenient for miners. Not only that, but the Japanese peasant class was more obedient and easier to manage than the Chinese peasants.

In this way, the nearby mining of gold and silver in Japan, whether from the perspective of manpower or material resources, can be solved nearby, the cost is very low, and it is very convenient to mine gold and silver. Coupled with the fact that the taste of the Ryokari gold mine is so high, it is not to mention.

When the time came, Marin planned to drive tens of thousands of Japanese farmers and craftsmen to mine the Ryogari Gold Mine and Iwami Silver Mountain, not believing that there would be enough gold and silver to be mined.

……

Just as Marin was planning in the secret room to plan a large-scale mining of the Ryogari Gold Mine and Iwami Silver Mountain in the future, urgent information suddenly came from Wittenberg......

It turned out that the alias Calvin James. Bond (formerly known as Jim, the ace spy, whom Marin deliberately renamed), had been lurking around Martin Luther, influencing him to think of the Reformation more quickly.

In James. Under the influence of Bond, Martin Luther really germinated the idea of the Reformation earlier than in history. Of course, it is still in its infancy and has not yet taken shape. However, Martin Luther had now made his mark in Wittenberg, the capital of the Electorate of Saxony, and was valued by Frederick III, Elector of Saxony.

Today, at the age of 29, Martin Luther has become a famous doctor of theology in Wittenberg and has been declared the next abbot of the monastery by Wittenberg Abbot Staupitz.

Frederick III, on the other hand, also valued Martin Luther, a young man of religious circles, and often invited him to the royal palace in Wittenberg to discuss theology. And James. As Martin Luther's close friend, Bond often followed Martin Luther in and out of court.

It should be pointed out that Frederick III, Elector of Saxony, was not an ordinary secular prince, but a secular prince held by a monk. In other words, Frederick III was actually a monk, but because of his brother's lack of ability, he became the Elector of Saxony. Moreover, his younger brother is also his heir. Therefore, Frederick III was interested in theology, but he was disgusted by the tyranny of the Holy See. That's why he gradually became a supporter of the Reformation.

It just so happens that Martin Luther's ideas have the content of the Reformation and opposition to the domineering of the Holy See. Therefore, Martin Luther was favored by Frederick III and invited him to the court many times to discuss theology.

……

And this time the intelligence is James. Bond discovered it when he followed Martin Luther into the court to discuss theology with Frederick III. Because, the sharp-eyed Bond found that on the wall of the living room of Frederick III's royal palace, a Swiss military map was actually posted. This aroused his great interest.

So, taking advantage of the opportunity of Frederick III inviting him, Martin Luther and Dean Staupitz to dinner, Bond used the excuse of going to the toilet, and suddenly flashed into Frederick III's study, and saw a document on the table - it was Frederick III's plan to secretly contact the princes of various countries to attack Baden, and take the opportunity to enter Switzerland to intervene in the Swiss war.

After receiving the information, Bond immediately left. That night, he contacted the people at the North Sea State intelligence station in Wittenberg and sent the information back......

……

Marin was also surprised when he received the information, because he didn't expect those princes to deal with him instead of him, but to deal with the emperor...... Earlier, he had received news that the princes had threatened the Count of Baden, and he thought that the princes were trying to bolster the Duke of Lorraine. Unexpectedly, their ultimate goal was the Habsburg army in Switzerland......

"It seems that this result is not bad......" Ma Lin also didn't want the emperor to be too powerful. If the Habsburgs lose again, it seems to be good......

However, Marin quickly reacted - if the emperor was crippled this time, then the arrogance of these princes would be even more arrogant. Perhaps, with high morale, they will think of coming to their own trouble. So, this time the emperor can be lost, but not lost. The best-case scenario is - both sides lose......