Marin thought that rhinoceros leather armor was purely improvised, and even leather armor made of rhinoceros leather was not very useful in Europe. Because, the musket rhinoceros leather armor really can't be stopped.

However, the colony can be used. Although the rhinoceros leather armor could not withstand the muskets, it was absolutely fine against the weapons of the natives. How to say it, the Native Americans have no metal weapons, and warriors wearing rhinoceros skin armor can definitely run rampant in front of the natives.

Moreover, from rhinoceros skin, it is also possible to make horse armor, that is, the armor of war horses. The war horse is a highly mobile animal, and if the horse is dressed in the metal horse armor used by European knights, the horse's running ability will immediately be greatly reduced. Moreover, it also affects flexibility.

However, if you make horse armor from rhinoceros skin, it is much lighter than metal horse armor. Although the horse armor made of rhinoceros skin could not withstand the musket, it may resist the indigenous stone weapons and bows and arrows.

The conquest of the Americas is certainly inseparable from the long-distance raid of war horses. And for long-distance running, it is natural to use Eastern European Mongolian horses. Because, Mongolian horses in Eastern Europe have strong endurance and are adapted to long-distance travel. However, the Eastern European Mongolian horse is a medium-sized horse, and it cannot be loaded with the metal horse armor of the European knight's war horse. But if you don't wear any armor, your horse will also be hurt by the bows and arrows of the natives.

Therefore, strictly speaking, the significance of rhinoceros leather armor to war horses is more important than people. Because, as a history college student, Ma Lin remembers that once in class, the professor said that the chariots of the pre-Qin era, the horses that pulled the chariots, were also wearing chariot vests made of rhinoceros skin. Because, in the chariot of the pre-Qin Dynasty, the horses were at the forefront, and they were also the most vulnerable. If the enemy attacks the horse and kills it, the chariot is useless.

The chariot armor made of rhinoceros leather is much lighter than the steel horse armor, but the protective power is also enough to resist the weapons of the natives, and it belongs to the best war horse armor.

And for cavalry, the safety of the horses is very important. Without the cavalry of war horses, even infantry is inferior. And if you want to charge into battle, the protection of the war horse is also very important. As for the lifeless fighting style of modern cavalry, it is based on the mobilization of the whole people, and it does not care about casualties. But the problem is that in modern times, the population of European countries was tens of millions, and they were naturally not afraid of casualties. But Marin has a population of only 1 million or hundreds of thousands, so where can he afford casualties? And as an elite class of cavalry, casualties are even more unacceptable.

And the casualties of the cavalry are inseparable from the safety of the horses. Ma Lin clearly remembers the ancient poem he memorized in his previous life - "Shoot the man before the horse, capture the thief before the king"......

In this era, Swiss spearmen also used a spear of several meters to stand diagonally on the ground to poke the knight's horse. Once the war horse hits the spear array, the horse must be turned on its back. And the knights who lost their horses could only be killed by the Swiss infantry with "can openers" such as tomahawks and war hammers.

Of course, the Swiss spear array could not resist even the knightly horses wearing steel horse armor, and the horses wearing rhinoceros leather armor could not bear it.

However, Marin did not intend to use a war horse wearing rhinoceros skin armor to attack the Swiss spear formation, but to use it to attack the Native American army. With a war horse protected by rhinoceros leather armor, you can safely attack the battle formation of the Native Americans and easily win.

In this way, Marin could easily defeat the armies of Native American forces such as the Inca Empire and the Aztec Empire without the need to dispatch Plate Knights. After all, the weapons of these indigenous armies are difficult to break through the defenses of rhinoceros leather armor.

In addition, if you wear rhinoceros leather armor, the Cossack cavalry does not need to wear chain mail, and the safety can be guaranteed.

After all, rhinoceros leather armor has been verified by ancient China. Armor made of rhinoceros skin could indeed block swords and bows and arrows from the Bronze Age (with the exception of heavy crossbows). In order to obtain rhinoceros skins for armor, rhinos in the Central Plains of China and even the Yangtze River basin were killed and exterminated...... It is said that the reason why Qin conquered Bashu first was that in addition to the relatively weak Bashu, there were also many rhinoceros in the Bashu region at that time. After all, at that time, the development of Bashu was far less than that of the Central Plains.

……

It's just that what Marin didn't expect was that the Duke of Coimbra, Jorge. Morality. Redondo, the commercial representative of Lencestre's men, refused to open a new trade route in order to obtain rhinoceros skins. The reason is that they feel that the market prospects for rhinoceros hide may not be good.

And Marin couldn't clear his intention to tell the other party that he was going to use rhinoceros leather to make horse armor and leather armor, so naturally he couldn't easily impress the other party.

In addition, Marin did not dare to increase the price indiscriminately. Why? Because rhino skin is in high demand, if you rush to open a high price, the cost will be greatly increased. Because, once the army is installed, the rhinoceros leather armor needed may be thousands, or even tens of thousands. If you bid an extra gold coin for each set of leather armor, the cost may increase by tens of thousands of gold coins, which is a huge amount of money......

……

"What should I do?" Marin was a little distressed. He did not want to tell the Portuguese what the rhinoceros leather was really for, because he was afraid that the Portuguese would follow his example and use armies equipped with rhinoceros leather armor to conquer the natives. But if you don't tell them, you won't be able to convince them to help you get rhinoceros skin.

You must know that most of Africa is colonized by Portugal, and it is not good for you to rashly go to Portugal's sphere of influence to buy rhinoceros skins. Otherwise, it will be considered a serious provocation and even provoke a war. But to give up the rhinoceros leather armor, Marin is also unwilling......

At this time, Redondo chattered about Marin, and what was "happy cooperation" in the slave trade. And in the cork trade, the cooperation between the two sides is also very smooth. After all, Portugal is the largest producer of cork in Europe. The single-headed bullets made by Marin need to use cork imported from Portugal as the stock......

Marin listened boredly as Sir Redondo bragged about the good relationship between the two sides, and he almost yawned. Because, he knew that the other party was in such a big circle, but in fact, he was still drinking silk for porcelain......

But when he heard Redondo say, "We, the Duke, hope to have further cooperation with you, the Grand Duke", Marin suddenly had an inspiration......

"Further cooperation?"

Redondo was stunned for a moment, but still said:

"Of course!"

"So, how about the two of us working together to buy rhino hides?"

Redondo shook his head and said:

"Grand Duke, as I said before, we are still interested in the trade of rhino horns, and the trade of rhino skins is too low, I'm afraid our Grand Duke will not agree! Because, this investment can lose money! Moreover, the natives did not have sharp blades, how to collect rhinoceros skins? ”

Marin paused for a moment and said:

"What if I pay for this rhino skin?"

"You want to get involved in the Portuguese colonial business?" Lei Dong was surprised, this is a very taboo thing.

"No, I mean, I'm going to pay for it, but I'm still doing business in partnership with your duke."

"You know, Africa is Portuguese territory, and I can't just go in. However, I was interested in rhinoceros hide. Therefore, I propose that I pay for it, and your Lord Duke authorizes me to engage in the purchase of rhinoceros skins in the West African steppes...... In this way, even if you lose, it will not affect your duke's ......"

"Well......" Sir Redondo thought for a moment. Then, he asked:

"So, what do we Lord Duke get?"

Marin thought for a moment and said:

"The rhinoceros skins purchased by my men will naturally belong to me, and the precious rhinoceros horns will be handed over to your Duke at a low price. What do you think? And we, as long as you Duke name us and give us the qualifications to go to the West African grasslands to buy rhinoceros skins, we don't need to pay any price. Moreover, the rhinoceros horn with the highest profit will also be dealt with by you dukes, and we don't want any of them! ”

"Is that so?" Redondo fell into deep thought, it seemed that this business was worth doing......

After a long while, Redondo replied:

"Personally, I approve of this cooperation, but, as you know, I am only a subordinate. The final decision on whether to cooperate or not depends on the decision of the Duke! Well, when this auction is over, I'll go back to Lisbon and ask our Lord Duke for instructions! ”

"Okay, happy cooperation!"

……