Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 1446 The Big Winner ([-])

"Important news! The British and Dutch fleets fought fiercely in the Shetland Islands. The outcome was evenly divided, but the losses of both sides were extremely huge." In mid-July, in a shop of the Doria family in the port of Cadiz, A young man hurriedly stepped into the door of the business hall, and then announced loudly to the people who were chatting in the inquiry room.

His loud voice successfully attracted the attention of many people, which made him feel a little satisfied, so after clearing his throat, he continued: "The large fleet led by Monk gathered the main force in order to intercept the merchant ships of the Dutch East India Company. Shetland Islands area, and successfully intercepted the traces of the Dutch. At this time, Druiter also led the large fleet to respond, and the two sides launched a fierce battle in this windy and rough sea. Because the wind and waves were too strong, The effect of the line artillery battles that the British are good at has been greatly weakened. On the contrary, the melee battles that the Dutch are good at can exert the greatest effect, and the Dutch rebuilding fleet includes many heavy warships, and they are no longer afraid of deep sea navigation as before. The British did not take advantage of the naval battle. The two sides lost about ten ships each, and the number of injured ships was also more than ten, with varying degrees. The above is the closest agreement between the United Provinces and the ports of England. That, gentlemen, I think comes closest to the truth."

Speaking of this, the young man who delivered the message glanced quietly at Li Qing, the special envoy of the East Bank who was drinking tea with her head down, and said in a raised voice: "There are a lot of gunboats on the East Coast in the Dutch formation, and it is obvious that the East Coast The republic's active ships, rather than newly ordered ones, greatly angered the British, who might want to accuse the East Coast. There is no doubt that the presence of these warships greatly increased the strength of the United Provinces. The outcome of the Battle of Shetland was less bleak to the Dutch than it had been at the Battle of Bergen."

After the young man finished speaking, Li Qing sighed softly, and helplessly put down the white porcelain teacup in his hand. He already felt that many people were looking at him, which included surprise, gloating, and sympathy. More praise, in short, it is very complicated, just like the identities of many businessmen sitting in the lobby of the business hall at this moment.

"It's just a normal business behavior." Li Qing explained a few words lightly, and said: "Just like other commodities we sell to the United Provinces, wine and cured meat are commodities, as are warships and artillery, and they are all normal businesses. Behavior. You know, our government has always adhered to a free trade policy, and we have no reason to refuse a republic like the United Provinces to conduct normal trade with our country. This is the case with the United Provinces, and the Republic of Genoa is the same!"

Li Qing's words aroused the admiration of many people, and they all raised their wine glasses to pay tribute to Li Qing. Obviously, in this shop run by the Doria family, businessmen from Genoa still accounted for the majority of.

"In addition, a large-scale plague broke out in the United Provinces and London. Many people have died so far. It is really terrible. Especially in the United Provinces, it is said that more than 4 people died of illness nationwide, of which Amsterdam accounted for one-third The epidemic in London is equally terrible, because it has a larger population, and the consequences will only be more serious. If you are going to Amsterdam or London for trade, I have to remind him to be careful and careful. Really, there is nothing more terrible than this It's over." The young man finally added another sentence, and then went straight up to the second floor, not knowing what to do.

The news of the outbreak of the plague in Amsterdam and London, the two pearl cities of Western Europe, shocked all the businessmen present, and then sat up straight involuntarily, and discussed with their friends nearby.Many of them originally had a lot of trade between the United Provinces and England, especially after the outbreak of the Second Anglo-Dutch War, whether it was England or the United Provinces, silk, cheese, and ham from Italy , butter, wine, olive oil, as well as munitions, boats and other commodities are in great demand, while Italy has a great demand for woolen goods, salted fish, paper, leather, dyes, ironware and tropical goods from England. There is also a considerable demand for grains in the United Provinces (of course now supplemented by Crimean wheat), seafood, salt, timber, etc. Therefore, in this deformed economic prosperity spawned by war, many people are More or less going to the two main commercial ports of Amsterdam and London for trade, it is a bit of a headache to think about it - which is more important, life or silver coins, this may be a problem.

People from the east coast also have huge trade with these two countries, especially the United Provinces. The huge order of 2000 million dong is not for nothing. Although it will be divided into several years, the annual share is not small It is enough to make the major domestic manufacturers eat their mouths full of oil.And such a strong and intoxicating market demand has naturally made Nanhai Shipping Company spend money to order new ships again and again. The 650-ton flute-shaped transport ships are launched one after another, and the shipyards of the three major countries are also building military ships. Ordered by Renhe East Coast Admiralty) and building civilian ships, it is simply too busy. The private Xinxing Shipyard and the Pacific Shipyard under the Southern Railway have eaten some leftovers, and they are also very happy.

Therefore, this year, the number of merchant ships sent to Europe via the ports of Dongfang, Luoqia, Qingdao, Shangcheng, Jingjiang, and Daxing will increase by more than 90% compared with previous years, and more than [-]% of the new capacity will be sailing to Amsterdam and Forli. For the ports of Sinn, Hollen, Enkhuizen, London, Bristol, etc.Li Qing suddenly became a little worried now. Will the sailors on these merchant ships inadvertently bring this terrible plague back to the New World, and then spread it in the east coast?Although the health and disease control measures of the East Coast Republic of China are not comparable to those of the countries in the Old Continent, what if the disease is more severe and causes huge damage in the East Coast?Li Qing couldn't bear this responsibility, he felt obliged to remind the crew of these merchant ships, so he immediately called a confidant, whispered a few words to him, and asked him to handle this matter immediately.

"The fierce war had a huge impact on the traditional economic order, and many countries and businessmen were involuntarily involved. However, for your country, which is far away from the old continent and outside, it should be regarded as the biggest war in this war. It must be one of the winners. There are more than a dozen active escort gunboats. If I remember well, they should be of the Falklands class. Hehe, what a great deal. You are officially betting on the Anglo-Dutch War. Believe it, whether it is Speaker DeWitt or King Charlie, they can see clearly." Mario Doria sat down beside Li Qing, smiled at him and said, "Next, you may still There is a good thing. There is news from Madrid. Recently, the special envoy of Paris has left Spain and returned to France to report to Louis. Before leaving, there was a lot of trouble, almost to the point of sword tension. Many people predicted that France is likely to deal with the Spain has declared war. They have always had a strong interest in places such as Franche-Comté, Lorraine, Strasbourg, and the Southern Netherlands. Their determination to annex these places is very strong, especially the always rich South The Netherlands. Spain only has [-] soldiers stationed there, and they are either new recruits or defeated by the French in the past. They can withstand Louis' army for two or three weeks. Envoy Li Qing, yours The opportunity has come, and the Madrid side has implicitly expressed to me that they hope to have a secret meeting with you..."

In fact, Mario was a little puzzled. Why did the Spaniards look for the East Bank at this time?borrow money?buy weapons?Or ask for mediation?He feels that there are possibilities, but he also feels that even so, they can't stop the French, because with the current strength of the Spanish army, they can't even beat the Portuguese army trained by Britain and France. How can they defeat the French army? Army, forcing them to give up their ambition to invade Spanish land?It is impossible to think about it.

Li Qing knew the meaning of the Spaniard's move in her heart, and she also guessed the content of the upcoming so-called secret meeting. Mobilization, because it is likely that the Spaniards already felt that war was inevitable and imminent.

If it is speculated in this way, it should be possible for the French to hoard war supplies in the country at this moment, and call the disbanded soldiers for training.These things cannot be kept from others for a long time. The Kingdom of Spain must have spies in France who can obtain some key information. Therefore, Li Qing estimates that the war may break out at the beginning of next year, and it will not exceed the first half of the year at the latest.

Well, it should have been prepared earlier!It will take three months for the news to be transmitted back to the mainland, and it will take time for the local to hold a meeting to discuss and make a decision.After making the decision, it is necessary to adjust the military deployment, deploy troops, and mobilize supplies, personnel, and ships. This also takes a lot of time, and then it sets sail to leave the port, ready to fulfill the secret agreement with the Spaniards, and declare war on the Kingdom of France.

Some people may ask, why not send a diplomatic note to France in advance, indicating that there is an obligation of military alliance with the Kingdom of Spain to prevent the French from invading Spain?Uh, are you an idiot?If the French were intimidated and did not dare to attack Spain, how could the East Coast people justifiably receive the river area and other possible future interests?Of course, the greater possibility is that the French will not pay attention to you at all. They are still a continental country after all, and they have always been extremely paranoid about expanding their territories. What's more, the southern Netherlands and other places are very rich, and they are not harmful to France's finances. Xiaobu, then the choice is very clear - the French are determined to win the Southern Netherland and other places. If you Spain fight this battle, you have to fight it, and you have to fight it if you don't fight it, unless you declare now that the land requested by the French Give it away, but that may cause more serious consequences, and the Netherlands, England, Sweden, Austria and other countries probably will not agree.

Fulfilling the secret agreement with Spain and going to war with France is also a decision finalized by the previous government. This is related to the expansion of the East Coast Republic in the South American continent, and it is also one of the core interests of the country.However, although it has been decided to fight the French, how to fight and how large the fight is is also very particular.The people on the east bank fought this battle simply to fulfill their treaty obligations, and then received Hejian as a reward. Therefore, if a large-scale army was dispatched to land in the Southern Netherlands to help the Spaniards resist the French army, that would be a **** thing. matter!In fact, the people on the east coast only need to dispatch the naval fleet to block and intercept French ships going overseas for trade, and capture their overseas colonies (this can depend on the situation, if it is profitable to fight, it is not profitable), and then think of a way Shelling the coast of France to shake their will to fight is basically done, and the Spaniards can't make any criticisms about it. Generally speaking, this battle is relatively easy.

Of course, the military aspect is easy, but the economic loss is not small.In recent years, although the French government has imposed various restrictions on goods from the East Coast—this may be biased, because the French also restrict goods from other countries—the people on the East Coast can still earn 30 million yuan from the French market every year. profits, which are mainly concentrated in Gascogne, Languedoc, Haut-Gallon, Provence and other regions.In addition, smuggling by many agents on the east coast along the coast of France is also very popular, and the scale has become larger and larger in recent years. Once the war between the two countries begins, it is difficult to guarantee that the French government will not take a heavy hand against these smugglers. Knowing that France is a highly centralized country, many things should not be too convenient.

In short, these economic losses are not small, and if the war lasts for many years, the losses will be added up, conservatively estimated to be more than 100 million yuan.Therefore, how to calculate this part of the loss has to be clarified with the Spaniards. No way, you have to make a fuss about land or commercial interests, otherwise the devil will fight for you!The Kingdom of France is the most powerful country in Europe, with a large population and a vast market. It is unwise to declare war on others, and it must be reasonably and adequately compensated.

"I will have a meeting with the envoy of the Kingdom of Spain as soon as possible, and the venue will need to be arranged by Mario." Li Qing thought of this, and immediately responded politely to Mario: "Our government has a strong relationship with the Kingdom of Spain. We are sympathetic, and regret this possible war. We hope for peace very much, but we are also aware that this may not be controlled by anyone. Mario, your family can also start preparations now, Sifa The war will also greatly affect the trade pattern in the Western Mediterranean, so please seize the opportunity."

(End of this chapter)