This time he went south, and Marin still chose to bring about 300 cavalry to escort him. Pen? Interesting? Pavilion wWw. ｂiquge。 info Karn and Sauer also accompanied him, and Karn took 100 master guards with him as the main force of the guard. Sauer was accompanied by 100 of his best scouts, scouting the way for the team and scouting the enemy.

As for the other 100 people, they were all black-shirted knights, who specialized in shooting and intervening knights. After all, a strong team of 300 people like the Marin Belt cannot be stopped by the infantry, only the knights, and there will be a threat. Even if Karn were to fight with his elite guards, he would have suffered huge casualties if he encountered a large group of knights. But when the black-shirted knight came out, he could torture and kill the pursuing plate knight, and there were no casualties. As for the hussars, Karn and his 100 plate guards would have worked it out.

In order to speed up the journey, Marin and his entourage were all one person and three horses, one war horse and two pack horses. Soon the team arrived in the city of Münster, where they were warmly received by the Bishop of Münster, Conrad.

Although this year's autumn harvest still belongs to the original owner of the land, after the autumn harvest, about 80,000 eugrams of land in the South Münster region will be temporarily under the management of the Ritberg family. With hundreds of thousands of gold coins every year, Bishop Conrad is dying of beauty in his heart. So, when receiving Marin, it was also very welcoming.

Marin was passing by this time, but he had something to discuss with Bishop Conrad. Specifically, the construction of a canal that I had mentioned to Bishop Conrad to connect the Lippe and Ames rivers was mentioned earlier.

Seeing that winter is approaching, the farmers will be very idle until March of the following year. But Ma Lin remembered that in China, except for the bitter cold land in the north, winter has always been a good time to build water conservancy. Therefore, it is best to dig a canal while the winter is not working.

In addition, in winter, except for the humid coastal areas, the inland areas are generally drier and have lower water levels, which are also very suitable for deep river digging. In the summer, when the water level is high, it is not suitable to dig too deep a river at all. Because, the underground water seepage is too bad. In addition, if it rains a lot, the excavated ditch is prone to flooding.

Therefore, the best season for digging a ditch is actually winter. Of course, not at high latitudes. Because those areas are so cold, the soil is frozen, and there is no way to dig at all.

Marin meant that he hoped that Bishop Conrad would organize the serfs of South Münster in the winter to start digging the canals. During the excavation of the canal, Marin will provide food and bread throughout the process. Also, shovels will be provided. After the excavation, the serfs could bring the shovels back to their estates.

Bishop Conrad agreed without hesitation, anyway, such a thing would not do him any harm, only good. Moreover, the canal passes near the city of Münster, which will become a hub for water transport, which is good for the local economy, so why not?

Although, the excavation of this canal may take several years, Bishop Conrad may not live long enough to see the benefits it brings. However, the cost of digging the canal is not for him, but for Marin. Therefore, Bishop Conrad has no reason to object to this.

As for why Marin asked Bishop Conrad to do this? It's very simple, Marin has promised that the South Münster area will be managed by the Bishop Conrad while he is alive, and if he wants to dig a canal in the South Münster area, he can only ask the Bishop Conrad to do it.

Moreover, the canal that Marin wants to dig is not a super grand canal like the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal in later generations, but a small canal that is only slightly larger than the irrigation river.

Its width, Marin, is set at about 15 meters, and the depth is only a few meters deep. In this way, the amount of work is greatly reduced. That is, the level of a larger irrigated river.

The reason for making this choice is because of the practical needs. After the canal was dug up, the ships that passed through the canal and carried the largest amount of goods were probably grain and coal.

However, limited by the current industrial level and economic level, in general, the volume of goods in and out is unlikely to be too large. So, an inland ship with a displacement of a hundred tons, it is enough. And a 100-ton inland ship is not 7.5 meters wide. Digging 15 meters wide, it is definitely enough for two 100-ton ships to meet.

Moreover, inland waterway transportation may not use such a large ship. Probably only when transporting grain and coal did 100-ton ships be used. Ordinary small merchant ships, more than a dozen tons and dozens of tons are enough. Even a rowing boat with a displacement of less than ten tons is very suitable for sailing on such a small canal. Make a mast on the rowing boat and hang a Chinese hard sail that can be used to wind on eight sides. When it's windy, sail with sail drive. When there is no wind, the oars move forward. Although the speed is a little slower, the cargo capacity of the ship is also several tons, which is equivalent to the cargo capacity of a small truck, but the speed is slower.

When Marin took control of the Ruhr area, it was possible to load the steam engine on a hundred-ton transport ship, making the canal transportation more convenient. Or, when the time comes, just get out of the truck and transport it by rail.

Either way, water transport is the most economical mode of transport. In later generations, Germany built several canals in the country for transportation. Of course, those are all large canals with large cargo ships of more than 1,000 tons. Unlike the canal built by Marin, it is only larger than the irrigation river, and it can run cargo ships of up to 100 tons.

Marin wanted to dig the canal because he felt that it would be too inconvenient for coal and iron ore ships to pass through several other countries. Moreover, it is easy for people to intercept the ship and delay things. If a coal ship or a ship carrying iron ore is impounded, it can delay the operation of the steel plant. You know, the blast furnace of a steel plant cannot be stopped casually. If the furnace is stopped, it will hurt the furnace.

Once the canal was built and the Ruhr area was annexed, the coal ships would go across their borders. Buying iron ore from Luxembourg is not a big problem, although it has to pass through other countries. Because, the countries along the way are basically friendly. Even if he is not friendly and dares to intercept the ship transporting iron ore, it doesn't matter, he will beat him - isn't this just an excuse for Marin to send troops......

The meeting with Bishop Condra went very well, and Bishop Conrad was also very attentive to the excavation of the canal, which made Marin very satisfied.

The only thing that worries Marin is that Bishop Conrad is too healthy and his face is red. Marin had agreed to let Bishop Conrad continue to administer the area of South Münster, on the basis that Bishop Conrad would only live until 1508. If Bishop Conrad had lived ten or eight more years because he was happy, Marin would have cried......

So, after thinking about it, Marin decided to wait until 1508. If by the end of 1508 Bishop Conrad was still alive, he would have sent someone to kill the old fellow quietly. Of course, the technique has to be hidden. Otherwise, the impact will be too bad......