1635 Han style rises again

On October 1672, 10, Chang'an (now Toowoomba, Australia), the Dutch Legation in Qi State.

"There is no latest news from the people of Qi." Andris Nopert, the chief commercial representative of the Dutch East India Company in Chang'an, shook his head and said, "But I think the situation in Europe is extremely pessimistic. Except for France People invaded the mainland of the Republic from the south, and the Archbishop of Münster and the Archbishop of Cologne attacked us from the east. In addition, the British and French navies will threaten the southwestern coastal area of ​​the mainland from the sea. It can be said that our Republic is facing siege from all sides , A sinister situation that will be destroyed at any time."

"No, the free people of the Netherlands will not submit, let alone put their lives and wealth under the autocratic rule of the French." Vincent Jansen, the ambassador of the United Provinces Republic to Qi, looked gloomy and gritted his teeth Said: "We will repel the French attack on land, and we will also smash the sea attack of the British and French coalition forces at sea. 100 years ago, in order to fight for independence and freedom, our Netherlands resolutely launched a rebellion against the decadent and brutal Spanish rule. , after a long and valiant struggle, we have obtained what we have now. Now, in the face of the military threat of the French, we can still achieve the final victory. . . . For freedom, we will give all."

"Mr. Ambassador, although we all have sincere love for the Republic and are full of yearning for freedom. But it is undeniable that our Federal Republic is currently facing the biggest crisis in more than 100 years." Andris Nopert is somewhat pessimistic He said: "The strength of the French is stronger than that of Spain, and they obviously launched this war with the purpose of annexing our federal provinces. Louis XIV's hegemony over the entire European continent and his endless claims for territory , he has made no secret of his greed to seize and control all our wealth."

"..." Vincent Jansen looked at Nopert coldly when he heard the words, "Have you lost confidence in the Republic? Have you also been frightened by Louis XIV's 10,000+ army? In comparison, the confidence that the people of Qi have in our inter-provincial republic is extremely firm and persistent!"

"Ah?" Nopert was a little stunned, "...what did they say?"

"Qi Guo believes that European countries will certainly not ignore France's hegemony ambitions. Especially when it comes to their own territorial security and huge economic interests, they will definitely intervene." Vincent · Jansen said quietly: "Do you think the Spaniards will allow the French to seize the southern Netherlands and remain silent? Will the Habsburg dynasty of Austria watch the French extend their sphere of influence to the hinterland of the empire? Brandon Will Den Burg-Prussia, the Principality of Lorraine, and the Principality of the Palatine watch helplessly as a powerful France devours our inter-provincial republic before targeting them?"

"..." Andris Noppert.

"There is also Britain, which is selfish and has repeated positions. Do you think that after being attacked by our federal navy, it will still stand firmly on the side of the French? Heh heh..., Sweden, Archbishop of Münster The Archbishop of Cologne and the others can be bewitched and bought by the French, so why can't they be bought by our Federal Republic with a lot of money?"

"The French dispatched an elite army of 10,000+!... Can we stop their attack and wait for the situation to change?"

"It must be possible." Vincent Jansen said: "We have built countless forts in the border area of ​​​​the Federal Republic, which could resist the Spanish invasion decades ago. At this time, it must also be able to block the French. ambition. Even in the worst situation, we still have a powerful weapon that can be used as a last resort."

"What weapon can stop the ambitions of the French?"

"The sea dams we've been building for hundreds of years!"

"This..., this is to prevent the invasion of the French by cutting through the sea-blocking dam?" Andris Nopert's face was pale, "Then even if the French are forced to retreat, then our entire Netherlands will still be defeated." What can be left?"

"...freedom and faith!" Vincent Jansen said firmly: "I believe that even if you encounter all kinds of hardships and hardships, it is far better than the end of being a slave."

"However, this price is too high!" Andris Nopert shook his head and said: "I think, in the face of the mighty power of the French, in addition to the necessary strong counterattack, our Federal Republic should also try to fight They made peace. Maybe we can make some concessions to them to avoid a worse situation."

"Do you think, with the arrogance of the French, they will agree to our peace request?" Vincent Jansen said with a wry smile: "A week ago, the French mission arrived in Chang'an, and the arrogance it showed Even the people of Qi couldn't bear it, so that their emperor never received their plenipotentiary ambassadors, and deliberately put them aside. If our inter-provincial republic wants to make peace with Louis XIV, I'm afraid it will be met. More merciless humiliation and ridicule. I am sure the French will do the same."

"Oh, God! The greatest misfortune of our federal republic is that it is too close to France and does not have a vast land depth." Andris Noppert sighed sadly: "Then, the state of Qi will What kind of assistance is given to us?"

"In addition to giving us 300 million Hanzhou silver dollar loan aid from the Federal Republic, they also put forward some suggestions on how to combat the overseas trade between Britain and France." Vincent Jansen said with a complicated look: "And, once these suggestions are implemented , will also greatly promote the development of your East India Company."

"The suggestion from the people of Qi is..." Andris Nopert immediately showed great interest when he heard this.

"The Qi people want to use your Dutch East India Company to establish a new trans-ocean trade route."

"... a new trans-ocean trade route?"

"Yes, the Qi people want to bypass the traditional North Indian Ocean route and directly transport the goods they produce and control to South Africa, and then transfer them to the European continent by your East India Company." Vincent Jansen said: "In this way, the distance of your original trade route can be shortened by thousands of kilometers, and the time can be saved by more than two months. What's even more rare is that your East India Company can use this route to attack and weaken Britain and France. The trade with the East greatly reduced the profits of tea, porcelain, cotton cloth, sugar and other commodities they shipped back to the European continent, and even became unprofitable.”
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"Thirty years ago, we Qi State made an improved version of the hydraulic spinning wheel according to the pictures and texts in the "Nongshu", which increased the weaving efficiency by more than two times. In less than five years, we changed the manual spinning machine and completely changed it. Driven by water power, the spinning efficiency has been increased by 30 times. 15 years ago, after continuous upgrading and transformation of the hydraulic loom, the work efficiency of weaving has been increased by 20 times. When the high-efficiency doffer came out ten years ago, The entire upstream and downstream of the cotton textile industry has basically realized mechanized large-scale production."

"With the rise of the textile industry, higher requirements were put forward for the power system. The steam engine, which was originally only used for mine pumping, was improved and upgraded and then used in the textile industry. In the 20th year of Qianwu in Daqi (1662), Jianye City The first steam spinning factory was established. After that, steam engines were used in metallurgical industry, railway transportation, machinery manufacturing, steam ships and other fields. By the first year of Hanxing (1671), the number of domestic steam engines had exceeded [-]. From mines to factories, from land to sea, machines are roaring everywhere, machines are turning everywhere, machines are running everywhere.”

"With the continuous expansion of the large machinery industry, Qi State not only basically got rid of the shackles of traditional handicraft industry in the textile industry and realized mechanization, but also realized the replacement of humans by machines in many fields such as transportation, metallurgy, and machinery. Our Qi State Relying on large-scale machine production, with a population of less than 600 million, it has created wealth and materials that are even greater than the tens of millions of people in Ming Dynasty. From this point of view, the wealth of our country Qi can surpass the world."

Cabinet Vice Premier Qi Yuanshan raised his head and looked at the more than 20 family members of major domestic commercial companies present. His face did not show an excited look, but a bit dignified.

"In the future, the industrial scale of our country will become larger and larger, and more and more goods will be manufactured, and the market we need will become wider and wider. Countries and regions such as Japan, North Korea, and Indochina Peninsula, with the development of Ming Dynasty Productivity is gradually recovering, and the market dominance we once occupied will face severe challenges; with more than 30 years of development and operation in the Southeast Asia region, its market is becoming increasingly saturated; the Mughal Empire in India is also due to trade deficits and cotton competition. And began to set restrictions on our country's products; the markets in Arabia, Ottoman and other regions have yet to be further cultivated."

"Everyone, the world is very big, but the market that can accommodate goods is actually very small. Europe as a whole has a population of nearly [-] million, and also has a certain basic handicraft industry and machinery manufacturing industry. France, Britain, Spain, the Netherlands and other countries are even more They are among the most powerful countries in the world today, and their maritime power is no less than that of our country. At present, the products they produce not only firmly occupy the Atlantic coast, but also go deep into the east coast of Africa, Arabia, Persia and India. Compete with us in the commodity market of Qi."

"Your Majesty once said that in the future global hegemony, Europe will inevitably be our strongest opponent, and it will also be the biggest obstacle to the expansion of our Qi country's products. For this reason, our Qi country must plan ahead and plan early. In this world of great competition, occupy A first move. Fortunately, there are endless wars and disputes in Europe, which created an extremely favorable opportunity for us to deploy.”

“Nanyang Trading Company, Bangladesh Trading Company, Indian Trading Company, and Persian Trading Company will continue to cultivate the local area, expand the market, and strive to enhance their own competitiveness. business power."

"On the basis of consolidating and expanding the trade market in the Red Sea and the Egyptian region, the Ottoman Trading Company will actively expand its commodity sales channels in the local area and the Mediterranean coastal areas with the help of the friendly and cooperative relationship between Qi and Ottoman."

"In addition to accelerating the colonization of South Africa and the islands in the Indian Ocean, African trading companies should also actively establish a direct route to the Indian Ocean, and fully cooperate with the Dutch East India Company to transfer a large number of our country's industrial products, especially cotton textiles, to China. Breaking into the West Coast of Africa and Europe..."

In view of the cotton disputes between the Mughal Empire and the Qi State, there may be unpredictable risks to trade in the entire Indian region.The State of Qi began to prepare for the expansion of direct shipping routes in the Indian Ocean, starting from the southwest and northwest regions of Hanzhou, exporting industrial products such as cotton cloth to South Africa, and then relying on the transportation resources owned by the Dutch East India Company to relay the commodities to South Africa. Shipping to Europe.

Of course, with the gradual increase in the number of merchant ships in Qi State and the growing influence in Europe, it is not ruled out that the Dutch will be left alone in the future, and many domestic products will be exported to various European countries and regions.

"In the face of the discriminatory trade policies of the Mughals, the cabinet government and our Bangladesh trading company have the same response strategy, that is, if we can not turn our face, we will not turn our face. Everything is based on peace, and does not affect our products. In the case of imports, try to adopt a gentle and patient attitude. After all, the trade scale of our two companies in the entire Indian region is close to 2000 million Hanzhou silver dollars, and the market position is very important. Hehe..., none of us can make things difficult for money, right? ?”

After the meeting, Wang Boxiang invited Cao Ning to take a carriage to the "Baoxuan Building" in the city for a small gathering to discuss how the two companies should deal with the trade restrictions imposed by the Mughal Empire.

In Wang Boxiang's view, since the Bengal trading company was separated from the Indian trading company seven years ago (1665), it has developed rapidly by virtue of the rich Bengal region and Ceylon. In less than a few years, the trade volume of the trading company To achieve 800 million Hanzhou silver dollars, there is a great tendency to surpass Indian trading companies.

Therefore, when Wang Boxiang learned of the news that the Mughal Empire had imposed high tariffs on the cotton cloth of the Qi State, he expressed his anger at the first moment, but did not react too violently. He and the stewards issued instructions not to act to stimulate the Mughal Empire government because of this, for fear of losing the current good development situation.

"Treasurer Wang, do you think the cabinet government will just watch the Mughals boycott the cotton cloth produced by us in Qi? tools, or even all commodity categories, what should we do?” Cao Ning sneered and said, “I know that your Bangladesh trading company can shift its cotton cloth sales channels to Ceylon and Arakan under the high tariffs imposed by the Mughals. As well as the Taungoo Dynasty, they can also make a lot of profits. Therefore, you can ignore the Mughal boycott measures for the time being."

"Look, when the market layout in Persia, Arabia, the Red Sea, the Mediterranean, and the Ottoman region is completed, and the newly opened two-ocean trade routes are put into operation, there will be a temporary replacement for the products we are selling to the Mughal Empire now. market, it must be time to deal with it.”

"The Mughal Empire is a big country with a population of tens of millions, and an army of millions. If our country Qi is going to make an expedition, it may not be a good deal!"

"We are not going to conquer or destroy the Mughal Empire." Cao Ning said with a smile: "We just need to hurt it. Knowing how powerful our country is, we can force it to let go of the market gate. Besides, Your Majesty After proclaiming the emperor, there is no better way to demonstrate the emperor's illustrious martial arts than defeating a huge empire."