The salt and iron monopoly system, in the hands of Marin, became the salt and coal monopoly system. When it comes to iron, Marin doesn't pay much attention to it. Why? Because the Chinese feudal dynasty monopolized iron, to a large extent, because it was afraid that the people would rebel with iron swords.

But Marin's army has now entered the age of firearms, and cold weapons are no longer very important. Therefore, the monopoly of iron, it doesn't matter. Just like the current Ming Dynasty, it also opened up the iron part (the iron trade was forbidden to the grassland peoples, because the cavalry using cold weapons was also fierce). Because the Ming Dynasty is also a dynasty that attaches great importance to firearms, the control of firearms is stricter, and it does not pay much attention to civil cold weapons, and only restricts the smuggling of iron weapons outside the customs. Only the Manchu Dynasty, for fear of Han rebellion, forbade the people to carry swords, and issued a ban on martial arts many times.

Therefore, Ma Lin intends to learn from the Ming Dynasty, only ban firearms and high-powered crossbows among the people, and no matter what else (the Ming Dynasty actually banned armor, the ancient Chinese Dynasty seemed to prohibit the people from owning armor, and the famous general Zhou Yafu of the Han Dynasty died because of the crime of hiding armor. But it is not realistic in Europe, and the city of Milan has even made Milan plate armor into an industry, and there is a lot of private trading, which is not good to prohibit). As for the American colonies, because of the threat of wild bears, Marin can partially liberalize the control of firearms, but only the more restricted firearms such as arquebuses are allowed, and they must be smoothbore guns, and it is absolutely forbidden to wind up flintlock pistols, etc., and also prohibit rifled arquebuses, otherwise they will be killed if caught. In this way, even if the militias of the Americas rebelled a hundred years later, they would not be able to defeat the regular army with advanced weapons.

Marin, who knows the future, knows that coal is more important than iron ore in order to develop industry and economy. Iron ore can be imported, but coal can be ...... Most of the coal in the coal-producing areas is self-used and rarely exported. Only a resource-rich country like Australia, which lacks labour, is willing to export coal on a large scale.

Moreover, steel products can be reused, while coal is a one-time consumable that is consumed every day. After imported iron ore is smelted into steel, it can be used repeatedly. As for imported coal, it will be gone as soon as it is burned, and then it will have to continue to be imported in large quantities......

As a result, the centers of the steel industry in later generations were often close to coal mines rather than iron mines. Because, importing coal is really not cost-effective.

Speaking of which, the development of Huaxia in later generations is also thanks to the coal resources in Shanxi and other places. If there are no coal resources, it will be difficult for Huaxia industry to get up. The take-off of China's economy has always been accompanied by the black smoke of coal-burning chimneys. Without the energy source of coal, the so-called Chinese manufacturing is simply the moon in the mirror.

You see that Brazil and Argentina in later generations are quite big, right? The land is fertile and the population is quite large. But why can't it become a manufacturing powerhouse? Because these two countries lack coal resources. Brazil is the worst, there are so many iron ores, but there is a lack of coal. Therefore, I had to sell the iron ore to others to make steel. Argentina is even more frustrated, because there is a shortage of coal and iron ore, so it has to focus on beef from the pampas, as well as football. If you want to engage in industry, you don't have the resources......

South America is a strange region, and although the Andes Mountains are rich in precious metals, most of the region is severely short of energy. Only Venezuela to the north has oil, and Colombia has coal. Other countries seem to be quite short of energy. Therefore, it is difficult for South America to give birth to a world-class superpower. The three big and powerful countries in the world all have rich coal resources. Even the third brother has coal and iron. If it weren't for the third brother's bad brain, he firmly believed in the Asan Sect, which divided people into three, six, nine, and so on, and his development potential might not be worse than that of Huaxia.

Strange to say, Western Europe is so big, but there are not many places with rich coal resources. Needless to say, France is full of tears when it talks too much, don't you see that future generations can only play nuclear power? Italy and Spain, which looked at the scenery in the early days, fell behind when it came to the Industrial Revolution. No way, no coal...... Only Britain and Germany, which are rich in coal, have also developed strong industrial systems......

Most of Germany's coal is concentrated in the Ruhr area. In addition to the Ruhr area, there seems to be a Saarland canton, which is also an important coal producer. In fact, the geographical location of Saarland is stronger than that of the Ruhr region. Why? Because the Saarland not only has its own coal, but also is particularly close to Luxembourg, which has iron ore, and also relies on Lorraine, which is more rich in iron ore...... Therefore, when it comes to the development potential of the steel industry, the Ruhr area has to bow down. Because of the abundance of coal, the French tried to annex the Saarland twice after World War I and World War II. After all, France is too short of coal...... Luxembourg's subsequent development into a rich country dominated by the steel industry is inseparable from the coal-producing region of the Saarland canton......

And as a Warcraft player in his previous life, Marin wanted to complain about the names of glass slag - Sal, Arthas...... Aren't they all German place names...... Can you imagine a certain Chinese game company naming important people as Funan and Hu Jian? Doesn't that sound weird?

For Saarland, Marin is not without ideas. However, the Saarland region is too far away from Marin's territory to reach it! Moreover, the situation over there is complicated, there are many princes, and it is very difficult to take there......

……

Shortly after Marin ordered the formation of the North Sea Salt Company and the North Sea Coal Company, former Danish Prime Minister Mikel, who was originally based in Schleswig province, also arrived from the east to report on the work.

For the former Danish prime minister, Marin has always been very important. Even, at one time, there was the idea of correcting him as prime minister and replacing Jeffrey. However, after seizing the Duchy of Schleswig from Denmark, Marin feared that the people there would not obey his rule, so he left Mikel in Schleswig. And after snatching Jutland from Denmark, it will be even more inseparable from Mikel's sitting. After all, Mikel is a Dane, a former Danish prime minister, and has a high prestige among Danes. With him in charge of Jutland, he will definitely be able to maintain local stability and appease the Danes.

In fact, the fruits of the autumn harvest in Schleswig and Jutland had already been reported to Marin by the emissary. However, Mikel did not come to talk about the autumn harvest this time, but it was also related to agriculture......

"What? You're saying you're in favor of horse farming? Marin was a little surprised.

Mikel nodded solemnly......

"Don't you know that the cost of a horse is four or five times that of a cow? Don't tell me you don't know the price of oats......," Marin said in surprise.

Mikel nodded, but shook his head again:

"Grand Duke, you have only calculated the cost of raising horses, but have you ever calculated the efficiency of horse farming?"

Marin nodded and said:

"I know that it costs four or five times more to raise a horse than a cow. A horse is two or three times more efficient at plowing the land than an ox. In this way, it is still cost-effective to use ox ploughing! ”

Mikel nodded and said:

"That's not wrong, but, Grand Duke, have you thought about the cost of manpower?"

"Labor costs?" Marin was stunned.

"Yes, the cost of manpower! Now there is so much land in Beihai Country, but our population is only a few hundred thousand people, and there is a serious shortage of labor force at all. Therefore, in the case of a shortage of labor, horse farming is the best choice. ”

"However, the cost of raising ......"

"Grand Duke, you are a monarch, not a merchant. It's not just the cost that you have to think about, it's the total amount you have to think about! ”

"That's right, in terms of the cost of breeding, raising horses is indeed expensive. However, you must also see it. If you use horse farming, the number of fields that your population can cultivate will more than double the size. As for the cost of feeding, do you really think that raising horses is four or five times higher than raising cattle? ”

"What do you mean?" Marlin was a little confused.

"Grand Duke, you have the most advanced agricultural technology in Europe. So, is the yield of growing oats twice as high as that of other countries? ”

Marin nodded, indeed, the yield of oats in Beihai is as high as 300 pounds per mu, while the highest yield of oats in other countries is not more than 150 pounds. That's the difference with new agricultural technologies.

"Yes, in that case, is the cost of oats in Beihai half lower than in other countries?" Mikel said excitedly.

Marin thought about it, and it was really the case, so he nodded again......

"In this way, we can't use the market price to calculate the cost of raising horses. We should use the cost of Beihai to calculate the cost of raising horses, so that it seems that the cost of raising horses is two or three times that of raising cattle! Mikel danced excitedly.

Marin was stunned for a moment, as if it was really true......

"When the cost of raising horses is only two or three times that of cattle, and the land can be cultivated more than twice that of cattle, is the ratio of cost and benefit very close?"

Marin nodded again......

"In the case of a similar ratio of cost and benefit, double the amount of arable land, Dagong, you calculate, which is the best deal?"

"Horse ploughing!" Marin said without hesitation.

"That's right! Therefore, we should keep horse farming and focus on cultivating it. Especially in a sparsely populated place like Jutland, and in the more sparsely populated colonies of the Americas......"

Marin was silent for a while, then said:

"Well, you convinced me! But, Mikel, have you thought about it? We can buy a lot of cattle from the Crimean Khanate. But where can we buy a large number of suitable strong horses? ”

Mickel was dumbfounded......

As Marin said, it's easy to buy a cow, but you can buy a suitable horse......

The Crimean Khanate was able to supply a large number of horses, but the Mongol-descended country also provided horses of medium size. After all, the Crimeans do not farm and do not breed horses.

Therefore, even if Marin had money, he could not buy large quantities of horses suitable for arable land. Therefore, no matter how right Mikel is, there is no wrong way......

"Alright then, we'll have to coexist with horse ploughing and ox ploughing first......"

"That's what I think too......" Marin nodded.

……