Final answer:
Vasco da Gama came up with a plan to create a trading system within Asia to finance the European spice trade. He successfully established a trading route to India, enriching Portugal.
Step-by-step explanation:
Vasco da Gama is the European explorer who came up with a plan to create a trading system within Asia to finance the European spice trade. After the fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Empire in 1453, European access to the known routes to spices and other goods in Asia was limited. Seeking new routes, da Gama set out to find an oceanic route to India in 1497, successfully establishing a trading system that enriched Portugal.