Black Corporation: Joseon

Chapter 854

Episode 854: Their Ambition (5)

Calais.

This port and the surrounding area, located in northern France, were a place that must be recaptured by France.

Calais has been an English territory since it was occupied by England at the beginning of the Hundred Years’ War.

Calais was also an important area for England.

It was England’s only gateway to mainland Europe and the famous export port for England’s wool.

By order of Edward III, those who wanted to import or export wool from England could only do so at Calais.

Therefore, in addition to the problem of territorial recovery, France had to take Calais in order to tighten the economic stranglehold on England.

On the other hand, England had to protect Calais for the opposite reason.

And the Medici did not want either England or France to gain the upper hand.

* * *

Cosimo continued, looking at Lorenzo and Giovanni.

“As Giovanni said, if France starts a war to take Calais, we will have to spend an unexpected amount of money. That’s more than we can do. And you won’t even be able to receive the principal properly, let alone receive the interest. “This is absolutely not what we want to do.”

Giovanni and Lorenzo nodded at Cosimo’s words.

“That’s right.”

When the Medici Bank lent money to the king and nobles, the repayment period was at least 10 years. And I thought there was little chance of getting the principal back within the repayment period.

What the Medici wanted were their rights and interest as creditors.

Of course, the interest was also an invisible interest, not a visible gold or silver coin.

The best examples of this were the alum mines of Volterra and the loans of Edward IV.

* * *

Alum was an essential ore for the key industries of Italy at the time: glass making, leather processing, and textiles.

And at that time, this album was imported from the Ottomans. However, the Ottomans controlled exports and Genoa exercised a monopoly.

But things changed when an alum mine was discovered in Volterra. The Vatican promoted the project first, but the Medici Bank subsequently decided to invest.

It was a natural decision for Medici.

Volterra’s location was important right away. Volterra, about 50 km southeast of Florence, was a subsidiary city controlled by Florence. Therefore, it was necessary to prevent the Pope’s influence from reaching the area.

Secondly, it was possible to give a shit to Genoa, which exercised monopoly rights.

In the process of taking Suez, Cosimo joined hands with Mehmed II. By joining hands with the Ottomans, Cosimo requested that Genoa’s monopoly be abolished. However, Mehmet II expressed reluctance.

“It is a policy that has been handed down since our ancestors, so I cannot change it arbitrarily.”

However, both Cosimo and Mehmet II knew well that this was an excuse. Nevertheless, Cosimo had no choice but to retreat. This was because the Ottomans were a strong opponent that Cosimo could not help with his strength alone, and Suez was at stake.

To properly deal with the Ottomans, at least a crusade had to be organized, and if that happened, Cosimo would have had to give up his interests in Suez.

However, with the discovery of the alum mine in Volterra, it became possible to give the Genoese a big deal and the Ottomans a little bit.

In order to obtain the Volterra mine, the Medici bank bribed the Pope and the Vatican and made additional loans.

Finally, the Pope, who accepted the condition of providing alum produced at the Volterra mine with a fee, banned the import of alum from the Ottomans by papal decree.

* * *

Cosimo continued talking to Lorenzo and Giovanni.

“It might sound like an old man’s nagging, but I have no choice but to keep talking. “It’s for the survival and glory of our family.”

Cosimo gave teachings to Giovanni and Lorenzo based on his own experience.

-Never lend money to only one party. If we do it wrong, that money can come back as a knife aimed at our heart.

To prevent that, the borrower must also lend money to the borrower’s competitors. Even if you cannot lend the same amount, you should lend enough to maintain a good relationship.

If we do that, they will become a shield to protect us.

-Do not stop borrowers from being extravagant. The more extravagant they are, the more we can have.

Cosimo, who continued to give various other pieces of advice, took a sip of the wine he had left next to him and finished the conversation.

“…As for the extravagance of the borrowers, this would be a reason to lend to not only the king but also the nobles. “This is well demonstrated by the example of Edward III of England.”

In order to establish England’s woolen industry, Edward III adopted several policies, one of which was to ban the import of woolen fabrics produced in mainland Europe into England.

However, discrimination existed in this policy as well.

Woolen fabrics intended for commoners were completely banned, but the import of high-quality woolen fabrics used by nobles was permitted to some extent.

This was an unavoidable decision by Edward III, who was concerned about opposition from the nobles. This was because if the nobles rose up immediately, their power would become unstable.

This was the same for Edward IV and Louis XI, who were actively seeking to strengthen the royal power. Even those who were evaluated as having overwhelmingly strong royal authority compared to previous kings sometimes made concessions to nobles in some areas.

“Lorenzo.”

“yes.”

As soon as he was nominated, Lorenzo straightened his posture and looked at Cosimo.

“What I have said so far is limited to Europe. No, broadly speaking, it extends to the Ottomans. However, be sure to keep in mind that this does not work with the countries of the East, the Empire, and Ming and Japan. In particular, the Empire and Ming are countries that can encompass all of Europe with just one country. If we use foolish tactics for no reason, our family will be exploited. Keep this in mind.”

“yes.”

He answered, but Lorenzo’s expression was not good. Cosimo, seeing that expression, turned to Giovanni.

“Giovanni, you know because you’ve been through it, right?”

“Yes, these are the people you should never let down your guard against. “Even the Japanese merchants, who are the weakest among them, are people who can never be underestimated.”

Giovanni shook his head slightly as he answered, probably recalling bad memories. This was because none of the transactions made between the Empire and the Ming and Japan were easy.

Among the Empire and Ming Japan, the one that suffered the most was by far the Empire. In other countries, all you had to do was deal with merchants. As long as the officials took a little extra care, everything went smoothly.

But the empire was of a different level. The merchants were so cunning that even the Jews cried. And the imperial officials were playing on the merchants’ heads. Bribery didn’t work there either.

It was because of that damn ‘recorder’.

Cosimo, who was looking at Giovanni, looked at Lorenzo again.

“I’ve been hearing that you’ve been hanging out with delusional people lately.”

“They are patriots, not delusions.”

Cosimo snorted at Lorenzo’s answer.

“joy! Isn’t the ‘unification of Italy and the revival of Rome’ a delusion? If that’s not a delusion, what is a delusion? People flying in the sky? ah! This is not a delusion. “Because the empire has already put people in the sky.”

Despite Cosimo’s criticism, Lorenzo expressed his opinion.

“Italy must become one. Otherwise, you will just become food for other countries! “Survival is impossible with the current city-state system!”

Cosimo responded to Lorenzo’s protest with a serious expression.

“Your perception of the situation is not wrong. Certainly, looking at the current situation in Europe, it is difficult to survive as a city-state.”

“That’s right! Therefore, unification must be achieved!”

“Whoa~.”

When Lorenzo raised his voice, Cosimo sighed and muttered.

“I heard that the emperor who founded the empire clicked his tongue whenever he saw his ministers during his reign. I understand how he felt. Tsk!”

Cosimo clicked his tongue and began barraging Lorenzo with questions.

“Not long after I went to study abroad in the ‘Land of Flowers,’ there were people among the professors at the University of Florence shouting nonsense like you. There was something I asked at that time. Please answer too. First, how many Italians today are aware that they are Italian? Everyone starts by naming the city where they were born, such as ‘I’m from Florence’ or ‘I’m from Genoa.’ Do you think there will be unification in this situation?”

“First, we need to unify and then educate.”

“With education?”

“Yes, the first thing is to make people aware that they are Italian. “Homecoming comes next.”

“Do you think it is possible?”

“If we look at the example of Japan, I think it is possible.”

“Hmm…”

After hearing Lorenzo’s answer, Cosimo stroked his chin and was lost in thought.

After the passage to the East was opened, much information from the East came into Europe to the Medici. For other European monarchs, it was only a satisfaction of curiosity, but for Medici and Cosimo, it was the most important information.

In particular, stories and information related to the war that broke out again between the Ming and Joseon empires after the war between the Ming and Joseon Dynasties stimulated the young people of the Medici family and young intellectuals in Florence.

“A weak country gradually strengthened its power and overcame the great power that was oppressing it?”

“That was possible?”

The young people of the Medici family and the young intellectuals of Florence simultaneously thought of the same topic when they realized that what they thought was impossible was not impossible at all.

“then?”

Young people began to consider the possibilities of Florence as an empire. But soon the young people became frustrated.

“The situation is so different. Although the ‘Land of Flowers’ is a small country, it is several times larger than Florence. “I can’t ignore this part.”

Even if you combine the population of Florence and the areas subordinated to Florence, including Pisa, the population was much smaller than when the empire was in its heyday.

Intellectuals who dreamed of unification could not help but be frustrated in a reality where everything was so small except for financial power.

However, it was Japan that brought these frustrated people back to their feet.

To be more precise, it was Ouchi’s unification of Japan.

“The monarch who unified Japan and his family started out as one family?”

Those who were stimulated by Ouchi’s unification of Japan began to look closely at Ouchi’s process of unifying Japan.

“This is the answer!”

Those who were researching and analyzing like crazy cheered as if they had seen a ray of light in the darkness.

Convinced that the answer they wanted was found in Japan’s unification process, they dug deeper and more passionately.

And those who dug in like that placed their hands on their foreheads.

“Is it the ‘Land of Flowers’ and its emperors again?”