What is the prospect of being able to get at least hundreds of thousands of pounds a day, and being able to extract one or two pounds of saltpeter? But Marin wouldn't say it, but pretended to be bitter and cried something to everyone.

"Alas, Your Majesty the Emperor, my business is not profitable at all!"

Maximilian I was not so easy to fool, so he asked rhetorically:

"Why are you so active in this if you don't make money? Don't fool me......"

At this time, many monarchs and nobles on the side also pricked up their ears to hear how Marin explained......

Marin naturally had a way to deal with it a long time ago, he coughed pretending to be embarrassed, and then explained:

"His Majesty the Emperor is really wise, and he can see the problem at a glance......"

"What, it's very profitable?" Maximilian I came interested. For the impoverished emperor, there is nothing more attractive to him than making money.

Marin shook his head and explained:

"Not for money, but for another important material." After saying that, he also gave the emperor a "you know" look.

"You mean...... Saltpeter? The emperor guessed the "answer" according to Marin's assumption. Of course, that answer is not wrong.

Marin hurriedly coughed and motioned to the emperor, "You have talked too much......

But many of the nobles present heard it, and the smarter ones immediately showed a look of sudden realization. And those who don't understand, ask those colleagues who "suddenly realized".

Frederick III, Elector of Saxony, explained to his colleagues:

"What Marlin means is that he collects so much manure, not for profit, but so that he can collect enough saltpeter......"

"Why is that?" Anthony, Duke of Lorraine, asked, puzzled.

Frederick III went on to explain:

"You may not know, but I heard that Marin could have purchased hundreds of thousands of pounds of saltpeter (220,000 pounds (220,000 pounds or 100 tons) a year from India. Later, however, Spain and Portugal jointly divided most of the saltpeter in India, leaving only a small share of Marin. ”

"But everyone knows that Marin's Beihai State army, with a high proportion of muskets and artillery, consumes a lot, and it is definitely far from enough. Therefore, I guess that Marin's army must be very short of saltpeter, so he buys so much manure at any cost to extract enough saltpeter ......"

"I see......"

"Lord Frederick is as discerning as a torch......"

The melon-eating nobles immediately understood, but in fact, this was what Marin wanted them to know.

In fact, after the development of Chilean saltpeter and the beginning of the purchase of saltpeter from the Ming Dynasty, Marin was not short of saltpeter. However, Chile's saltpeter mines need to be hidden so that they don't band up for it.

Moreover, the cost of water transportation is not high, and you can also get a lot of nitrogen fertilizer and saltpeter, why not?

In addition, this can also create a false impression for other countries - heck, the North Sea country is now short of saltpeter, so wouldn't those guns become decorations? So, let's do a vote?

But they didn't know that Marin was trying to make the outside world misunderstand that he was short of saltpeter. Otherwise, other countries are frightened by his military strength and dare not take the initiative to provoke, how can he stand on the side of reason and annex other countries?

This is Marin's obscene strategy - to show weakness and attract others to provoke him. Then, "with righteous words and above board", they annexed the territory of those provocateurs......

There is no way, Germany is prone to group fights in recent years. If you want to annex others, you run the risk of being beaten up in groups. Unless, you are on the side of reason, and people can't find a reason to beat you......

Of course, the next wars of religion don't need to be so troublesome. As long as you stand on the side of the "orthodox" of the Holy See, you can openly engage in those "rebellions" and annex them.

……

While negotiating the purchase of "saltpeter raw materials" (manure), Marin also negotiated with many "customers" about transportation. Transport containers, for example, have become a very important issue......

Marin drew on the spot and "designed" an oak toilet resembling an oil drum for the shipment of "goods". In view of the amount of at least hundreds of thousands of pounds per day, Marin proposed that Party A's Blackwater Company would provide 10,000 oak toilets to Party B that provided "saltpeter raw materials......

For some ulterior motives, Marin gave orders for 10,000 oak toilets to the Netherlands and France......

Needless to say, the order to the Netherlands must have been to support the Emperor of the Poorlands. Thousands of oak toilets are also quite profitable. Moreover, Marlin is guaranteed that there will be a follow-up.

And the order for several thousand oak toilets to France, ostensibly to curry favor with the "first power in Western Europe", is actually ......

The reason is simple - Marin wants to consume the shipbuilding potential of the Netherlands and France......

Previously, Marin had sent people to the Netherlands to set up a furniture factory, which consumed the oak resources of the Netherlands and reduced the shipbuilding potential of the Netherlands. At the same time, he also sent John. Lafite went undercover in France to promote wine in oak barrels, also in order to deplete France's oak resources and reduce its shipbuilding potential.

But that wasn't enough, and Marin later realised that oak barrels weren't just for wine, but could also be used for other things. For example, flour, cane sugar, salt...... Even feces – like toilets......

Moreover, these wooden barrels for carrying daily necessities are in greater demand than those of the furniture and wine industries.

It should be noted that in this era, Europeans used to use barrels to load things. Oak barrels are used not only for bulk materials such as wine, salt, grain, and cane sugar, but also for loose commodities such as salted fish, bacon, plant ash, whale oil, resin, and mineral sand.

Only goods that can be stacked in bundles and without the risk of leakage are shipped in wooden crates and bags. For example, wool and fur......

As for trade, bulk materials such as grain and salt are very dependent on barrel transportation. Even, in this era, the measurement of grain in Europe was not calculated by weight, but by volume. Rather, quartes and bushels are used to measure grain. Because, when we ship materials, we often use buckets to measure them directly, and we are too lazy to weigh them.

Of course, this is a large transaction, and the retail sale of loose goods, such as grain, is often measured in pounds. After all, ordinary people buy small quantities and don't need such large quantities of containers. However, when some wealthy households with better economic conditions buy grain, they also use the volume to measure it, and when they buy grain in a bushel style, they use the container that measures the volume.

In fact, even the contemporaries of Oriental China were accustomed to using containers to measure grain. For example, use a bucket to measure rice. Rice shops sell grain, and they often count it for a few dollars of rice. Of course, there are also those that are weighed by the pound. But in ancient China, grain was cheap, and even ordinary people had the conditions to buy rice in buckets.

In Europe during the same period, because the price of grain was too expensive, the people at the bottom worked for a day, and their wages were only enough to buy two or three pounds of grain, which was not comparable with China in the same period.

However, the transportation of bulk goods in the West is still very dependent on wooden barrels. Even if ordinary people don't use so much, people still use a lot of wooden barrels for transportation. So, the barrel business is big business.

This time, when Marin ordered thousands of oak toilets from the Netherlands and France, he had already set his sights on the cooperage industry in the two countries.

After all, barrels were very versatile in ancient Europe, and Marin planned to invest heavily in the establishment of cooperages in these two countries and regions, specializing in harvesting local oak wood for the manufacture of oak barrels in large quantities. Moreover, he stared at the tall old oak tree suitable for keel. As long as you are willing to give money, there is no old oak tree that cannot be cut down......

His Majesty the Poor Emperor and the French envoys didn't know, and thought that Marin's purchase of oak toilets from the two countries (regions) was an act of goodwill. How could it be that Marin was digging the foundation of their voyage......

"Your Majesty, I will definitely send someone to invest in the Netherlands to build a few more cooperages to produce oak barrels. When the time comes, the cooperage will be proactive in paying taxes to the government! Marin said solemnly to Maximilian I.

"Good, good, good!" Maximilian I was also very pleased to hear it. Although most of the Dutch tax revenue was squandered by his uneasy son. However, it was still possible to support the Habsburgs in their struggle for hegemony. Marin has this heart, and he is also pleased. Although it was not pleasant for Marin to curry favor with France at the same time. But he also knows that this is the way for small countries to survive - left and right......

Turning his head, Marin clinked glasses with the French envoy Duby again, and said:

"Baron Dolby, please believe that the Kingdom of America and the Grand Duchy of the North Sea are more than willing to establish good relations with the mighty Kingdom of France. These thousands of barrels are just the beginning, and I intend to send people to set up several cooperages in France. When the time comes, these coopers will actively pay taxes to the French royal family after selling the barrels to create value......" Marin had a very friendly face, a friend's face.

The French envoy Dolby was also very useful, and said in his heart, "The strength of France is indeed very useful", and then said reservedly:

"I will convey the goodwill of His Majesty Marin to His Majesty François, and I wish the friendship between the two countries to last forever!"

It's just that he doesn't know that Marin has already made a ruthless plan to set up a number of oak barrel factories in France with huge output, and God knows how many old French oak trees will suffer......

However, later the French were still willing to eat it. Because these cooperages do pay a lot of taxes to the French treasury......