Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 1366 It is about the layout of the future

The peace negotiations with the Kingdom of Portugal were successfully concluded, and Zheng Yong was also greatly relieved.This war lasted for four years from the beginning of the middle of 1660 to the end of the middle of 1664, and if the armistice order was sent to the front line, the end of the war may continue to be extended.

In this war that was not very intense but spread to half of the world, the East Coast Republic of China died of more than [-] people (not meaning cannon fodder such as Yongjun and Black Banners) and more than [-] people were injured or ill due to battles or diseases. It looked extremely shocking.As their opponent, the statistical data of the Kingdom of Portugal is difficult to have an exact figure, but the people on the east coast shelled its headquarters for several years, killing and looting thousands of people, not to mention There were many battles on land and sea, and the total number of deaths, injuries, and illnesses was likely to be astronomical-this four-year-long war has greatly weakened the already modest Portuguese kingdom. The family property, as a pioneer of sailing, has squandered most of the family property accumulated so far. The Portuguese royal family owes a lot of debt to the bankers. The commercial interests of overseas colonies can only be taxed domestically. This will undoubtedly continue to aggravate the suffering of the Portuguese people, but what does this have to do with the people on the east coast?

A total of 250 million Cruzados (including the Almeida family’s fine, approximately 244.6 million East Coast silver dollars) will be transferred to the accounts of the East Coast people through the Bank of La Plata in the next few months. .This money, together with the hundreds of thousands of cruzados grabbed by the East Coast Navy’s trip to India, will be mainly used to repay the huge due debt principal and interest that will be faced in the next few years-of course, before that, this money It can be used first to purchase various materials and recruit personnel abroad to support domestic construction. Anyway, the government will allocate money from the financial budget to repay the debt at that time.

After receiving a large amount of compensation, occupying a large area of ​​land, and improving a large part of the international status, the war initiated by the people on the east coast is not a loss in general.There may be economic losses due to the heavy expenditure of military expenditures and pensions, but the money basically stays in the country—as the so-called meat rots in the pot—it has no negative impact on future economic development. big.

And as the Principality of Courland, which was reluctantly drawn into this war by the people on the east coast, now that the dust has settled, its mood may be very complicated.Among them, the secret joy and worry should be divided equally. First of all, the war was won, and the opponent was a once-famous sailing pioneer. This undoubtedly greatly enhanced the self-confidence and international status of the Courlandians; , This time, together with the pagan country on the east coast, they declared war on the Catholic country Portugal (the Principality of Courland also believes in Catholicism). This is always unattractive to many people in the Old World, and the Courlandians are also afraid of being branded as an alternative Labels—Although France also messes with the Ottomans, they are a big and powerful country with a population of 2300 million, and the population of Courland is less than one percent. If religious sentiments attack Courland, it will be enough to destroy it. Therefore, the Courlandians are now extremely low-key and do not have the power that the victorious country should have.

Zheng Yong could see this contradictory attitude from the moment Prince Frederick entered the door.The young heir to the principality had once been to New Courland on the battleship "Mitao", and then even took time to visit the "big cities" such as Dongfang Port and Qingdao Port. After returning, he was deeply shocked.But in any case, he is always a young man who believes in Catholicism. Although he does not dislike making money with people from the east coast, he always feels a little guilty about bullying Portugal, which is also a Catholic country, with pagans. What's more, the people on the east bank did not win enough benefits for the Principality of Courland in this negotiation.

Yes, perhaps this is also one of the important reasons why the Courlandians are unhappy. They originally thought that the Principality of Courland could also get some monetary compensation in this war (the guilt towards the Portuguese will not be mentioned at this time. Yes, the so-called slut is hypocritical) to subsidize the duchy's financial difficulties in recent years.But who would have imagined that Mr. Zheng Yong, the special negotiating envoy of the people on the east bank, did not know how to do it. He squeezed more than 200 million Cruzados from the Portuguese for huge compensation, but the Principality of Courland failed to get even a little bit of it. Maravidi's compensation disappointed them greatly, and they felt that the people on the east coast must have sacrificed the interests of Courland (such as compensation) in exchange for the Portuguese's concessions in other areas.

This kind of understanding made Prince Frederick sullen all the time, until he saw Zheng Yong, he forced a little smile on his face, which made Zheng annoyed and funny: "Unfortunately, Prince Frederick, this time The peace negotiations of the United States failed to give your country reasonable war reparations. Although we strongly demanded, the Portuguese always refused. In the end, they only agreed to cede all the land within ten leagues south of the Congo River to your country (this kind of private Where is the Kingdom of Congo in the act of dividing the colonies...), it is tantamount to allowing your country to take the entire Congo River Basin, which is finally a blessing in misfortune."

Prince Frederick twitched the corners of his mouth when he heard the words. The young man was not good at hiding his true feelings, so he said in a helpless tone: "We are very satisfied to be able to stand up and fight with your country. Because this means that the relationship between our two countries has deepened to a higher level, of course, if your government is willing to share more benefits of the war with us next time, that would be great."

When he said this, the prince himself was constantly complaining in his heart. In order to deal with this war with the Portuguese, Governor Hewitt de Beveren of New Courland sent a large-scale musketeer unit Attack Angola and stay for two years.In the past two years, the Courlandians not only suffered war losses (but not many), but also suffered a large number of attrition due to illness, because the environment in Angola was too harsh, and not only did malaria threaten people's lives. Health, and other extremely lethal tropical diseases are also common, causing Courland to lose more than [-] personnel due to illness. The First Mixed Battalion of the East Coast Army saw that the situation was not good and even withdrew early to Hezhong County for rest , and let the Black Eight Banners cannon fodder come over to top the tank—Governor Beveren and Prince Frederick must have collapsed when they saw this number.

But the loss is so great, but the gains are pitifully small. Except for the people on the east coast who promised to help Jacobsport build water pipelines and sewage treatment facilities (which are extremely important in tropical areas), there is only one that was ceded by the Portuguese after the war. The so-called land within ten leagues south of the Congo River.What kind of compensation is this?The Courlandians were a little disappointed. They were just some wild lands, not worth mentioning, and their value was not even as good as those sanitation facilities such as water and sewage.

"That's wonderful, Prince Frederick." Zheng Yong immediately said approvingly, "Yes, that's right, the East Coast Republic of China and the Duchy of Courland have formed a relatively deep friendship in recent years. This kind of The friendship has been greatly strengthened by this war with the Portuguese, and we stand the test more than ever, Frederick, Courland and the East Coast, and it should go on like this."

Prince Frederick nodded helplessly when he heard the words. He couldn't deny the fact that New Courland had become more and more dependent on the people from the east coast, and he couldn't open his eyes and talk nonsense about the rapid development of Wendau, Mitau and other cities after the war. The restoration has nothing to do with overseas trade, but this does not mean that the Courlandians are the lackeys of the people on the east coast. This is impossible.

Zheng Yong understood the thoughts of the Courlandians more or less at the moment, so after considering his tone a little, he said: "Prince Frederick, the efforts of the Principality of Courland in this war are obvious to all, and People on the east coast never treat their friends badly. For some losses of your country during the war, we will also compensate you as appropriate..."

Speaking of which, Zheng Yong asked his entourage to take out a document from his bag, which was probably some help he drafted to give the Courlandians: for example, two low-interest loans totaling no more than 15 yuan, such as helping them transfer the Duke The town's water and sewage facilities have also been built (technical guidance fees are deducted from the loan), such as giving the Principality of Courland [-] places to study on the east coast, and increasing the export of various medicines to New Courland by one-third Quotas and more.

These conditions were carefully designed by Zheng Yong. He felt that they were extremely important to New Courland, and that the Courlandians could not refuse them at all. The Portuguese gave up their sovereignty over San Antão Island) and the disguised compensation should be able to satisfy them-it is worth mentioning that the people on the east coast gave the Principality of Courland [-] places to study on the east coast (tuition fees from the east coast shore, mainly to learn some superficial economics, management, finance and foreign language knowledge, which is slightly more advanced than the mainstream courses in Western Europe, but it is also limited), which seems to mean a major change in the foreign policy of the East China Republic, that is, they are trying to start from the exert their influence in all aspects.

The Courlandians are a poor and backward country in the Baltic Sea. The upper class speaks German and has a certain culture, but from the middle and lower classes, the cultural level of people including many nobles is extremely low, which also led to their colonial management. Rough and inefficient, otherwise they would not have rushed to the Portuguese cultural people who were exiled on the east coast. It is really a lack of talents.Well now, the East Coast Republic of China, which has always been known for its advanced technology, perfect system, and leading knowledge, has opened its doors to you and is willing to provide thirty free places for studying abroad to enter Qingdao Accounting School, Dayuhe Cadre Training School, University Yuhe Youth Cadre School and other institutions to study, so why do you hesitate?Hurry up, it's a rare opportunity, if you miss it next time, you may not have such a good thing!

Prince Frederick really attached great importance to this matter. Gein, including him and Governor Beveren, had already received training from the East Coasters on the plantation management system. Afterwards, it was found that the effect was excellent, and the work efficiency of the slaves also improved after the gradual implementation, which made everyone extremely satisfied.This time, the people from the East Coast actually offered [-] higher-level places to study abroad, which surprised Prince Frederick a little bit. The previous unhappiness has faded a lot. Sure enough, the benefits are the best glue!

Of course, the Courlandians felt that it would be beneficial to send the children of nobles or merchants to study on the east coast, but why didn't the people on the east coast think it was a great thing?After all, during the study period of these Courland students, through various subtle influences, shocking and reshaping their three views, deepening their favor for the East Bank, and even implicitly propagating some republican ideas are all part of the problem. meaning.Moreover, this so-called "reward for studying abroad" will continue to be carried out in the future. When these people form a relatively large group of returning overseas students in New Courland—these people must be part of the ruling class if nothing else happens. Members—how dare Courland dare not say in the future, it must be increasingly difficult for New Courland to escape the control of the people on the east coast. This is undoubtedly in the interests of the Eastern China Republic.

After seeing off Prince Frederick—he is about to sail to Genoa* to discuss some tobacco business—Zheng Yong chatted with some Italian businessmen who came after hearing the news.The businessmen in Italy, who have paid more attention to this war from the beginning, finally couldn't bear it after waiting quietly for several months, and plan to choose an opportunity to enter the east coast, an investment that is becoming more and more irresistible. depressions to reap stable profits in the future.

Zheng Yong is naturally extremely polite to these people. He generously invites these businessmen who have spare money but nowhere to invest, why not go to the east bank for a walk and have a look, and then communicate with Genoa Africa Company, Shareholders of Delta and St. George's got to know it before deciding whether to invest.

As for those who have already invested heavily in the east coast (mostly in Xinhua Island), Zheng Yong's conversations with them are much more in-depth.For example, he suggested that these people could form a large-scale sugar syndicate in due course to compete with merchants in England and the United Provinces in the Mediterranean.These merchants span across Savoy, Genoa, Milan, Lucca, Parma, Tuscany and other large and small states. At least in the Western Mediterranean, their power should not be underestimated. The Genoa Africa Company and the Delta Company united them to some extent, and their voice and capital strength have been greatly enhanced, and they can already challenge the businessmen of the United Provinces and England to some extent.

The increase in the strength of the Syndicate, which specializes in selling New China's tropical specialties, is of course beneficial to the people on the east coast.Taking advantage of the great opportunity when Britain and the Netherlands are about to fight each other, taking the opportunity to grab a large share of the market and changing the sugar sales pattern in the Mediterranean—at least the Western Mediterranean—was Zheng Yong's plan that had been in the works for many years.

(End of this chapter)