How expensive were blue dyes in ancient Europe? It is said that there was a pigment called ultramarine (dark blue) in ancient Europe, which was widely used and often used in oil paintings. However, this pigment was very expensive in ancient times.

How expensive is it? Ultramarine pigments of the same weight are five times that of gold. Moreover, there was only one source of ancient European ultramarine pigments - lapis lazuli produced in Afghanistan. As for the blue of indigo grass, it is close to cyan, just like the blue on the Scottish flag in later generations, which belongs to blue. Prussian blue is dark blue, similar to ultramarine (ultramarine is also dark blue).

Because ultramarines are too expensive at present, they have to be imported from Afghanistan. Therefore, the cost of oil painting is quite high now. After all, ultramarines are an important raw material for oil painting. It is said that Michelangelo gave up his creation because there were not enough ultramarines.

Later, after the appearance of Prussian blue, a dye with stable color, many painters began to switch to the lower-cost Prussian blue to replace the expensive ultramarine. After all, ordinary painters cannot afford Afghan ultramarine, which is more expensive than gold.

Generally speaking, ultramarines are exported from Central Asia to West Asia, and then sold to Venetian merchants at high prices. Venetian merchants say that after the ultramarines are shipped back to Europe, the price is more expensive than gold.

Moreover, in oil paintings, ultramarine is the special color of the Virgin Mary, which is very noble. In fact, it is mainly because ultramarine is expensive. As expensive things, they are naturally used for noble objects...

Although the Prussian blue that appeared later was different from ultramarine. However, because they were all dark blue, it was adopted by many poor painters and replaced ultramarine. The main reason is that it is cheap...

Nowadays, dark blue is a symbol of high quality in Europe, representing expensiveness. Marin suddenly didn't want to promote dark blue clothing in the army so early. If it was a military uniform, it would be a bit of a down-to-earth situation. So, it's better to take advantage of the expensiveness and make more money...

...

Here, Marin had a headache for Angela who likes to walk in the rain. Angela has been pregnant for several months and is now a big belly. But this woman especially likes to walk in the rain, which is very poetic...

No matter whether it is poetic or not, he only knew that this woman had children in her belly. If she was walking on the rainy day, she had a windbreaker-shaped raincoat, so she didn't worry about getting wet. However, the road was slippery on the rainy day. If she accidentally fell down, she might at least take her life away. Either the big one or the small ones, she might take her away together...

So, next, Marin forced Angela to go crazy when she was rainy. This woman is so big that she can't even use her waist, but she likes rainy days. Although she promoted her raincoat, Marin attaches more importance to the children in her belly...

In the medical department, the side cutting technology of natural delivery has been developed, and has been upgraded from delivering animals to being used for humans. By the time Angela produces, it can be almost used. Then, something with low technical content of forceps has also been developed. In short, Angela's production this time should have a lower risk factor...

...

Just when Marin was busy making raincoats and paints, the southern European side was full of clouds. Gonzalo de Cordoba was the first Spanish general. After learning that the French were preparing to defend Naples to seek a decisive battle, Gonzalo de Cordoba adjusted his tactics and planned to transfer the French army, or some of the French army from Naples first...

After all, the French army was stationed in a strong city like Naples, even if Gonzalo de Cordoba claimed to be a famous general, he was helpless.

Therefore, Gonzalo de Cordoba intends to take some actions to distract the French and force the other party to divide the troops...

...

Then, Gonzalo de Cordoba contacted the Aragonese Navy and asked them to block the maritime traffic line of the Kingdom of Naples. Then, the Aragonese Navy attacked the Port of Marseille and acted as if he wanted to attack the Port of Marseille. The purpose was to "surround Wei and save Zhao" and force the French army to divide their troops.

However, what made Gonzalo de Cordoba depressed was that Louis XII seemed to be unwilling to care about the dangers of the port of Marseille. The Spanish bombarded and harassed Marseille, but they failed to separate the French army in the city of Naples. Obviously, Louis XII was determined to fight the Spanish in Naples this time. As for Marseille, he really didn't care...

The only thing that Louis XII cares about is the safety of Paris. However, Louis XII accepted the suggestion of John Lafite and arranged 20,000 militias to pretend to be defenders in the military camp outside Paris. However, because of the good confidentiality work, except for Marin, other countries really thought that France had left more than 20,000 people to guard Paris. Therefore, no one would have the idea of ​​Paris.

Therefore, Gonzalo de Cordoba's plan to "surround Wei and save Zhao" failed...

...

In desperation, Gonzalo de Cordoba had to withdraw the Spanish troops and warships that surrounded and siege the illusion of siege. Then, the Spanish army began to land at the port of Salerno, not far from the capital of Naples, the capital of the Kingdom of Naples.

This place is not too far from Naples, and it is only a dozen kilometers away from Pompey. After landing here, you can reach Naples in just over a year, which is quite convenient.

Gonzalo de Cordoba had realized that the other party clearly wanted to fight the Spanish in Naples this time. He had no choice but to send troops to surround Naples first. At least, he had to cut off the French supply source...

After all, Gonzalo de Cordoba is not a fool. Facing a larger number of enemies, the siege will not only suffer heavy losses, but may also fail due to this...

...

This is a national war, the top national war...

The total size of the troops of both sides has more than 100,000 troops. Remember, it is a real army of more than 100,000, not the kind of fake army that uses grain to transport people to make up for the numbers.

Here, no one can afford to lose. Because once a side loses, the price you pay is too high. The most direct thing is to lose the Kingdom of Naples.

This is still light. Losing the Kingdom of Naples is just losing territory. But if tens of thousands of troops are destroyed in Naples, then what is destroyed may be the fate of the country...

The fate of a country is often associated with the outcome of a war. If a war wins, the country will prosper and become stronger. If a war loses... the country may also be in a slump...

...

Whether it was King Louis XII of France or the Supreme Commander of Spain, Gonzalo de Cordoba, they dared not joke about the future and destiny of the country.
Chapter completed!