Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 1060 Chaos and Business ([-])

Negotiations with the East India Company were not very smooth, which made Zheng Yong not able to relax until late February.

But today, the position of the Dutch East India Company in Southeast Asia is becoming more and more stable, and it is not too taboo against the entry of outsiders.Furthermore, the just-signed Anglo-Dutch "Westminster Peace Treaty" clearly stipulates that Britain enjoys the same privileges as the Dutch in the East India region, which means it is self-evident.In other words, it is impossible and unnecessary for the Dutch to stop others from going to the East Indies now, so it is better to be a favor to the people on the east coast.

Zheng Yong finally reached a rough agreement with the Dutch, in which the people on the east coast recognized the sovereignty of the Netherlands over the East Indies, Malabar, India, and the island of Ceylon, and also made it clear that they would not go to the above areas to colonize or Do business (unless allowed by the Netherlands); in return, the Dutch East India Company allows ships on the east coast to call at major ports in the East Indies, Ceylon, India and Formosa, and they will also cut off all ties with the Qing Dynasty. Trade (provided that the people on the east coast provide some raw silk and green tea at an appropriate price every year), and allow the spices of the East India Company to directly enter the east coast market for sale.

Overall, it's a deal where both parties get what they want - at least for 20 years (the agreed term is 20 years), as to how things will look after 20 years, that's another story up.After the agreement is signed, it will be submitted to the governments of the two countries for approval before it can take effect. There is probably no problem with the Dutch three-level parliament, and there should not be any major obstacles in the East Coast Republic. I believe that if you act quickly, Before the end of 1655, this agreement must be able to formally take effect and begin to be implemented.

And at the moment when the two parties reached an agreement, an official of the Dutch East India Company seemed to have inadvertently revealed to Zheng Yong some news that they had just received, that is, they heard that the British sent a fleet to the Caribbean Sea last year. , The purpose is still unknown, but it is very likely that it was directed at the Spanish colonies.Zheng Yong, who got the news, thanked the East India Company official seriously, and then sighed in his heart: It is said that the Dutch three-level parliament is like a sieve in front of foreign spies, but he did not expect that the Dutch are also very insightful about some situations of the British. No hero or country in the world can be underestimated. If you underestimate something based on history or stereotypes, then you will probably be the one who suffers the most.

In mid-February 1655, Zheng Yong, who had finished his work in the Netherlands, took another boat to the port of Dunkirk, which was still under Spanish control, and wanted to visit the Spanish envoy Balboa who had invited Zheng Yong to meet last month. ya.Reluctantly, Balboa went to England temporarily, as if he had something to deal with, and the return date was unknown.After thinking about it, Zheng Yong felt that it would be useless to stay longer, so he took a boat to the Mediterranean Sea, and arrived at the port of Livorno, which was deeply influenced by the Genoese, in late March 2, and then moved into an east coast warehouse opened here. .

Except for a few fairly clean offices and bedrooms, the rest of the warehouse has been turned into a warehouse, where a large number of textiles, leather goods, steel bars, mechanical parts and other commodities are piled up in different categories.Of course, due to changes in European trade policies in recent years, as well as factors related to the religious sentiments of Italians, the sales of goods on the east coast in North Italy, headed by the Duchy of Tuscany, have become increasingly sluggish, and have even reached Florence. The business station is no longer profitable - the meager profits made by the business station (about [-] yuan a year) are basically spent on collecting information, recruiting talents, making friends with nobles, etc., which makes people extremely helpless .

Of course Zheng Yong knew the current business situation of the Florence Commercial Station (the warehouse in Livorno Port was attached to the Commercial Station), and he also knew the reasons for these difficulties: nothing more than the poor self-esteem of the Italians, religion, economy, etc. The xenophobia caused by factors, maybe the Venetians are also behind it, but it doesn’t matter, anyway, the East Bank is not interested in taking care of it for the time being, and everything is left to the Genoese, who are experts.

Of course, although most of the business here is handed over to the Genoese, Zheng Yong does not intend to completely close the Florence trading station. After all, it is still a very useful "tool" for now, such as collecting Intelligence in Northern Italy, such as recruiting local stonemasons, carpenters, blacksmiths, coopers and other craftsmen in various industries, such as transporting local officials to strengthen the influence of the East Bank, etc.; in addition, Castelli, Torricelli (did not die of typhoid as in history), Viviani and others can occasionally come here to seek financial help to sponsor some talented scholars to go to the east coast, in short, the effect is still quite large.

During the few days in the port of Livorno, Zheng Yong found several familiar Genoese businessmen, and then they secured a local loan of about 200 million bank liras, intending to transfer the money together with The trade balance of the Riga Merchant Post was remitted to Grand Duke Jacob together, and used as the cost of collecting, resettling, and transporting refugees promised by the people on the east bank—the credit of the people on the east coast in northern Italy is still quite good, which means Financing has become quite convenient.

On March 3, accompanied by his entourage and guards, Zheng Yong arrived at the East Bank Commercial Station in Florence in a carriage.After checking the accounts, he also flipped through the letters or official documents from Istanbul, mainly Li Qing, who had recently taken charge of the overall situation there, and Ma De, who was in charge of slave procurement.

The documents Li Qing sent were nothing special, they were mainly news related to the Ottoman court, perhaps because of his unstable relationship, the quality of these news was far worse than when Mo San was in charge, and it seemed that he had to continue to work hard.As for the letter from Ma De, who has been sitting in Kaffa Port all year round, after routinely explaining some trade details and account transactions, he focused on some recent events that happened on the South Russian Plain.

In 1653, Khmelnytsky, the leader of the Cossack Emirate, faced strong domestic and foreign pressure, and finally could no longer maintain his rule.He wrote letters to the rulers of Russia, Ottoman, and Crimea, pretending to submit, and asking these countries to send troops to help him resist Poland. Of course, he did not forget to ask the Poles for peace, but the effect was very bad.

By the end of 1653, after much deliberation, Russia finally agreed to accept the Ukrainian emirate as a whole and merge it.But Khmelnytsky’s behavior did not get the consent of all Cossacks, and the Ukrainian emirate inevitably fell into a split. Some Cossacks joined Russia, some fell into the arms of Poland, and of course some insisted on independence.

In 1654, as Tsar Alexei led an army of 4 troops into Lithuania, the Polish-Russian War officially broke out.The main force of the Russian army, more than [-] people, attacked on the northern front, and about [-] people from the southern front entered Kiev. Their task was to block the Polish and Tatar coalition forces (the Tatars were afraid of the rise of Russia and resolutely joined the Polish side), and to fight for the north. Create favorable conditions for the advancement of the main road force.

Made’s letter detailed all the news he had inquired about. There were many sources of news, including Tatars, Turks (Ottoman also sent a small amount of cavalry to help Poland resist Russia), and Cossacks, but they should be all precise.All these news pointed out that the coalition forces composed of Poland, Tatars, and Turkey had gained a great advantage on the southern front. fierce offensive.

Of course, the tragic war that took place in the South Russian War was not the focus of Mader's attention, so he quickly wrote in the back of the letter that the Tatars were plundering, and they plundered every place they attacked, Countless Ukrainian civilians were captured as slaves and brought back to Crimea for sale.The Polish royal army advancing with them hated the capricious Cossacks deeply, and on the other hand wanted to win over these steppe cavalry, so they turned a blind eye to this. Therefore, these Tatars gained a lot during the war.

Made thought that by the summer of 1655, a large number of Ukrainian slaves would flood into the Kaffa slave market like a tide, so he asked Zheng Yong for permission to mobilize and store them in Burgas, Kaffa, Smyrna, and Salo. Nika and Suez and other commercial stations, and through the Azov Sea Chamber of Commerce to guarantee financing to the local Jewish merchants in Kaffa, in order to eat as many Ukrainian slaves captured by the Tatars as possible—of course, priority is given to buying those who are of childbearing age women.

In addition, he also asked Zheng Yong to find a way to contact the ship immediately, because these slaves might not be transported much by relying on the fleet of the people on the east coast. This made Zheng Yong suddenly think of the Dutch who have many ships idle now— ——Of course, the Frenchman Didier Flores, who is used to transporting slaves to the people on the east coast, must not forget that he also has a lot of ships under his command. Yes, let's book it first!

"I find that I am getting more and more depraved, and I actually like the flames that are burning everywhere..." Zheng Yong sat in a beautifully decorated office, poured himself a glass of wine, and thought a little pretentiously: "The timing of the Russian war was really good. 10,000+ troops (including tens of thousands of Cossacks who surrendered) rushed into Poland with lightning speed and caught them off guard. There are only 6 troops in Poland, and They were still scattered everywhere, and the nobles didn't react, so they were stunned. Haha, that's good. The longer we fight, the more benefits we get. Cossacks, Tatars, and Turks are not moral The longer they fight, the more slaves they can bring back. Haha, fight hard!"

"All parties involved in the war consume a huge amount of military resources. Almost all of our military resources stored in major commercial stations have been emptied, and what we get back is a lovely Ukrainian woman. Haha, hundreds of thousands of troops are fighting for us on the east coast. It’s a good fight! It’s a good fight!” Zheng Yong drank the Genoa wine in his glass with his neck up, and thought happily: “Keep fighting!”

(End of this chapter)