Thinking of this, Marin pondered for a moment and asked Magellan:

"Ferdinand, do you recognize any Portuguese nobles who are completely dead to the Kingdom of Portugal, and who are more committed and strict-mouthed?"

If you want to find a spokesperson, you must not only have a suitable identity, but also your personal character is also very important. Keeping promises and being strict are basic qualities, and if one does not keep one's promises or has a big mouth, the Portuguese will definitely learn the details and stop them.

Magellan thought for a moment and said:

"But there is such a man, and his name is Ferreira. Lavra, is a baron in the Porto region. At the same time, he was also the chief of guard in the palace of His Majesty João II, and the person who introduced me to the palace as a knight and a boy. ”

"Originally, he was the trusted person of His Majesty João II, and if Prince Alfonso could succeed him, he would definitely have a bright future, but ......"

Magellan shook his head, clearly thinking of himself. He then went on to explain:

"Baron Ferreira is not very talented, his brain is not very smart, and his martial arts are not particularly good. However, he was very loyal to His Majesty João II and, as a result, was trusted back then. ”

However, after the death of His Majesty João II, he was liquidated, driven out of Lisbon and forced to return to his homeland. It is said that a close confidant of His Majesty João, like him, and the status of a baron is not low, he should take refuge with the Duke of Coimbra. However, he was more rigid-minded, and did not recognize the Duke of Coimbra, the illegitimate son of His Majesty João, as the young master, and only recognized the dead His Royal Highness Alfonso. So, annoyed the Duke of Jorge. Then, he was neither liked by the great nobles of His Majesty Manuel I, nor by the opposition of the Duke of Coimbra, and became a loner, having to return to his Barony of Lavra as his country lord. ”

"Some time ago, I heard that there was a food crisis in the Barony of Lafra, and Baron Ferreira even personally took people out to sea to fish in order to get enough food......"

"Fishing? His fiefdom is by the sea? Marin asked with interest.

Magellan nodded:

"Yes, the Barony of Lavra is not far north of Porto, by the sea, with only a few coastal villages, barren land and insufficient food production. It is said that the cultivated land over there has been soaked in seawater and has a salty taste...... Therefore, the grain production is very low, and the life of Lord Ferreira is naturally not good......"

When Marin heard this, he immediately knew in his heart - this is clearly the coastal saline-alkali soil soaked by seawater! In the future, there may be many solutions. For example, water pumps are used to pump groundwater with a high salt content and discharge it into the sea. At the same time, it will not take many years to divert fresh water from rivers to wash the land. Or, plant salt-absorbing plants cultivated by experts in later generations to absorb the salinity of the soil and even the salt in the groundwater, and reduce the salinity. Of course, this approach is slow to work.

However, in this era, coastal saline-alkali land is really a difficult problem to solve, and there is no solution at all. No way, Portugal faces the Atlantic Ocean, the winds are high and the waves are high, the tides are frequent, and it is normal for the coastal land to be impregnated by seawater.

Baron Ferreira was unlucky, although there were more than a dozen villages in the barony, but they were all somewhat salinized coastal saline lands, and the output was very low. Therefore, he had to let the two villages closest to the sea get fishing boats to go out to sea to fish. However, because the peasants could not afford to buy fishing boats, he had no choice but to pay out of his own pocket, buy two fishing boats, and personally lead the team to go to the sea to fish to subsidize the food shortage in the territory.

In fact, it was also this Baron Ferreira who was stiff-minded. As a coastal barony close to Porto, if it was to develop trade, it would have been issued a long time ago, so why go out to sea to fish? Obviously, Magellan commented on this guy's rigidity, and that is appropriate.

However, this kind of rigid-minded person happens to be the person Marin needs very much. Because, they value commitment and do things at a glance. As long as you promise yourself, you will basically not regret it.

Marin then directly instructed Magellan:

"Give you a task, you go to this person and sign a secret agreement with him, asking him to apply to the Portuguese royal family for the development of rhinoceros and elephant resources near the Cape of Good Hope, and to establish a trading point in the Cape of Good Hope, and obtain the exclusive right to operate the local animal resources......"

Magellan was puzzled when he heard this:

"It's okay for him to organize a team to hunt rhinos and elephants at the Cape of Good Hope, but it's very difficult to get the exclusive rights there. After all, people in the royal family don't recognize money but not people. If you want to buy exclusivity, you need a lot of money. But with so much money, who is going to develop that kind of wild land? ”

Marin thought for a moment and said:

"In this way, you let him promise that all the rhinoceros horn and ivory hunted will be sold by the royal family at a very low wholesale price."

Magellan grew his mouth:

"Isn't this a part-time job for the royal family?"

Marin nodded and said:

"Yes, I'm afraid that's the only way for the Portuguese royal family to grant such rights to a former minister of João II. Anyway, my purpose is not rhinoceros horn and ivory. You can ask him to write this into the contract of exclusivity, such a harsh condition, I'm afraid no one will be willing to snatch it. Moreover, it is not worrying that Manuel I did not agree. ”

After a pause, Marin continued:

"You tell Baron Ferreira that he doesn't have to go to the Cape of Good Hope himself, but only has to send a butler to make a show. I sent people to set up a trading post at the Cape of Good Hope and to organize teams to hunt rhinos and elephants. In return, not only will I give him the money from the annual sale of rhino horn and ivory to the Portuguese royal family, but I will also give him another 5,000 gold coins every year! ”

This condition is definitely a very generous treatment for Baron Ferreira, who is so poor that he leads his team to go fishing by himself. Because, according to this contract, Baron Ferreira, a poor baron, definitely earns more than 10,000 gold coins per year. Where can I find such a good thing?

Moreover, the Portuguese royal family earns more. Because, if those rhino horns and ivory are sold at a high price on the European market, they will only make more profit than Baron Ferreira. Therefore, there is no reason why Manuel I should not agree to such a pie-in-the-sky contract.

Sure enough, after Magellan returned to Portugal to talk to Baron Ferreira, Baron Ferreira, who was already so poor that he didn't hesitate to agree. Moreover, he also planned to send his second son, Eduardo, who had no right of inheritance, to the side of the North Sea Kingdom, a certain origin.

Eduardo was 21 years old, reaching the age when a knight had finished his studies. However, due to his status as a "former minister of João II", Eduardo had little chance of getting a chance in Portugal. His eldest son, Louis, was able to inherit the barren villages of the Barony and become a country landowner. However, the second son has no future. Therefore, sending it to Beihai Country may be a way out.

Magellan asked Marin through the carrier pigeon, and Marin thought about it and agreed to accept Eduardo. Anyway, he has a lot of colonies in his hands, and when the time comes, get a colonial fief for Edward Duobei. In this way, it can be regarded as an exchange of interests with Baron Ferreira.

As soon as the two parties reached an agreement, Baron Ferreira set off for the Royal Palace of Lisbon and submitted a request to hunt rhinos and elephants at the Cape of Good Hope, and asked for exclusive access to the development of local resources.

When Manuel I learned of Baron Ferreira's offer, he almost wondered if Baron Ferreira's brain was broken. However, this is in his favor, and he does not need to pay half a copper coin, and he has no reason to refuse.

Eventually, Manuel I personally gave instructions to Baron Ferreira to receive exclusive rights to the development and trade of the Cape of Good Hope area for 20 years. However, the management of the gold and silver mines in the local resources needs to be returned to the royal family, and the rest can be given to Baron Ferreira's family......