Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 1524 Sphere of Influence ([-])

Li Qing had just returned to the United Provinces from Spain, and there were many warships transferred from the mainland with him.

There are ten warships in total, they are the "Lichun" and "Yu Shui" of the solar-level frigates, the "Proxima", "Arcturus", "Sirius", and "Canopus" of the star light cruisers, and Two ammunition supply ships, a fresh water supply ship, and a repair ship are used to replace some of the ships that have been fighting abroad for a long time and return home for rest.

Of course, the "August [-]th" class battleships had nothing to replace, so they could only be wronged to continue serving outside until the end of the war.There is no other way. There are only two ships of the same type in the country. In addition, the "Executive Committee" and the "Dongan Ren" are not easy to move, so they can only stay in the country to guard, so that's the only way to go. .

Speaking of these warships, the East Coast Navy has retired some early fast cruisers, frigates and miscellaneous ships over the years. At present, the number of ships of various sizes is 95 (including 25 inland shallow water gunboats), and the total tonnage is about It looks like 5.6 tons.Among them, the number of combat ships (excluding inland river shallow water gunboats, including armed transport ships) is 50, and the remaining 20 are auxiliary ships and miscellaneous ships. Not too bad in size.

But you must know that, unlike Britain and the Netherlands, which recruited a large number of sailors and ships (and also started to store warships) before the war, almost everyone in the East Coast Navy is a standing army. If you count inland shallow water gunboats, 95 ships are perennial The practice of training and fighting is quite different from that of other countries who abolished a large number of ships and demobilized personnel as soon as the war ended.Therefore, this has led to extremely large naval maintenance costs, of which personnel salaries alone cost more than 100 million yuan in finances each year (this is not counting the maintenance costs of a large number of coastal defense fort officers and soldiers also under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of the Navy). The cost of training is also extremely high, not to mention the annoying maintenance. In short, the navy's expenditure has reached an astonishing 250 million yuan a year, 50 more than the army, and has become an important financial burden for the government.

What is even more frightening is that the navy is still clamoring to build more warships, to develop new types of battleships, to build the third "Liberator" of the "Executive Committee" class, and so on. Push to death.However, the reason for the navy is also ready-made, that is, the sea power of the people on the east coast has now expanded to the entire Atlantic Ocean, the Western Indian Ocean, the Southeast Pacific Ocean, and the Northwest Pacific Ocean. China, South Africa, Xinhua Island, Australia, Rabaul, Tahiti, and the Far East have strongholds, and a large number of naval vessels are needed to maintain the safety of these routes.The current size of the navy on the east coast is far from enough to accomplish this task, so it is necessary to continue to build warships and expand the navy.

The executive committee simply sneered at this argument of the navy, and immediately vetoed it (doesn’t veto it...), and said that even if it was like Portugal back then and the United Provinces now, it is very important for the maritime security of most overseas colonies. It is also laissez-faire, because no one can afford to support an overly large standing navy to maintain the safety of the above-mentioned routes, which is impossible!They believe that the most important thing for overseas colonies to do is to tighten their own fences, build more strategic reserve warehouses, and repair more city defense facilities, so that they can hold out for as long as possible when attacked by the enemy, and finally wait until the navy comes to relieve the siege.

The game and debate between the Executive Committee and the Admiralty lasted for a long time, and finally ended with both sides taking a step back. This prompted the executive committee to make limited concessions—the Navy abandoned its previous plan and instead accepted the plan proposed by the executive committee to develop a new generation of battleships and build no fewer than 20 large and small warships in the next ten years.It is worth mentioning that the executive committee also put forward the request to reduce the size of the navy in peacetime, seal up some warships, and abolish some personnel, that is, some warships will be decommissioned and sealed up to reduce daily maintenance and maintenance costs. Core officers and some key positions (up to [-]% of the ship's rated personnel), and the rest of the personnel will be abolished to minimize expenses.

In addition, the navy also needs to go out from time to time to make some "extra money" to subsidize the increasingly huge military expenditure.There is no doubt that these extra money income is extremely unstable, and many occasions require the cooperation of the army (which means sharing the benefits to the army), but it is more or less a subsidy, and the amount cannot be said to be small in the long run.And only after doing so, the executive committee will agree to the new warship research and development and construction plan. After all, they have to consider whether the country's finances can bear it.

This time, the ten ships that arrived in Europe from the mainland were locked and replaced. After returning, they will be assessed by the Ministry of the Navy, and some of them will be sealed up according to the situation to reduce expenses.Of course, this kind of sealing is not immediate sealing. In principle, the process of sealing up warships and laying off personnel will not start until new warships enter service. Before that, they will continue to serve in the navy.

For ships to be stored, the preferred storage location is the dry dock, which is the lowest maintenance method, and of course requires good infrastructure; if the dry dock is insufficient, it will be moored in the two naval military bases of Zhenhai Port and Hailing Port , except for regular maintenance work, it will be anchored for a long time to reduce expenses.

Major Jiang Yaohui, the commander of the Spanish Provisional Task Force, and a few other high-ranking officials already knew the news, but the majority of middle and lower-level officers and ordinary naval officers and soldiers still did not know their future fate.They will be in Enkhuizen Port-the port designated by the Dutch for the East Coast Navy. This port is mainly for trade with Russia, and also berths some whaling ships. It is usually relatively empty, so it is assigned to the East Coast. Of course, it may not take long. While doing the handover work with the newcomers, he enthusiastically boasted about his "great achievements" in the French coastal waters in the recent period. The atmosphere was very happy , apparently during this period of time they did not make trouble for the Frenchman.

"I heard that a small French fleet was ambushed at sea and two French warships were sunk. What a lucky fellow. Well, maybe not so lucky for some people, after all, no one knows if they will take off tomorrow The military uniform may be transferred to the sealed ship to serve as the 'land navy'." Li Qing took a last look at the place where the fleet was parked, and then drove directly to Amsterdam with her entourage, and returned on August 1668, 8. The east bank is set up in the merchant house there.

This trip to Spain has been fruitful for Li Qing.Because Li Qing advocated protecting the interests of the Kingdom of Spain in front of the French, and spared no effort in the activities of the Spanish Temporary Task Force along the coast of France—they even concentrated their elite ships on the Mediterranean at the request of the Spaniards to help Spain, which was weak in combat power. The Mediterranean Fleet stabilized the situation-the Spanish court had a very good impression of the people on the east coast, although the people on the east coast were all heretics in their view.

The Queen Mother of Spain and Prince Don Juan, on behalf of Prince Carlos, who was sick and bedridden, expressed their gratitude to the East Coast people for their "just act", and at the same time promised to advance and retreat with the East Coast Republic in the negotiations with France - of course This point has aroused opposition from some pro-French Hidalgos in Spain. There may be repeated policy in the future, but judging from the gesture shown by the Spanish court, it is indeed very good-no party will make peace with France first.To this end, the Kingdom of Spain will send Balboa, an old diplomat familiar to people on the east coast and the favorite of the late King Philip, to Amsterdam to exchange views on the situation of concern to both parties and formulate strategies to deal with the French.And only when the two sides agree, will they leave for the neutral site Aachen-a small German border town trembling under the French army-to start formal talks with the French.

On August 8, the second day after returning to Amsterdam, before Li Qing had time to go to the residence of Balboa’s special envoy, Alessandro, an old friend of the people from the east coast and from the Adoria family in Genoa, suddenly He came to the door, which made him have to temporarily change the itinerary to see what the Genoese people were doing here.

It is said that the east coast, Spain and France are at war, and the Italian capital represented by Genoa has taken great advantage.Due to the continuous blockade by the navy on the east coast, the cotton textile industry in northern France and the silk textile industry in the south fell into a great depression. Many of them work part-time, otherwise they would not be able to survive); although the silk industry in the south, centered on Lyon, is not in short supply of raw materials, due to the continuous blockade of ports such as Marseilles and Montpellier, export commodities cannot be shipped. Get out, which again leads to extremely serious problems, and many of the effects can be far-reaching.

And when the French textile industry was about to collapse due to the war, the Italian textile industry, which had been in decline for many years, seemed to be back again. A large number of cotton textiles, linen fabrics, and silk fabrics (Italian silk fabrics were probably the most competitive in this era) The strongest, even the United Kingdom imports a large amount every year) flooded into the market lost by the French - except in the Spanish market because of the competition from the cotton textiles on the east coast, they were disadvantaged in sales in England, Germany, etc. He played triumphant songs frequently and made a lot of money.

It can be said that in this French-Spanish war that broke out due to inheritance, the Italian capital headed by Genoa did not let go of a single shot, and grabbed a lot of benefits by selling textiles and lending to Spain. It can be described as a veritable winner. .For this, Li Qing also expressed her admiration. Italian businessmen have been famous in Europe since ancient times.

However, even if they hope that this war will last longer because of commercial relations, the Italian elites still have some sense after all.After seeing the viciousness of the French, they also worried that Louis XIV would one day want to annex Italy, so they had no reason to stand idly by in this war. It was a matter of lending to the Kingdom of Spain before, and now they are looking for news on the east coast. Whether it can help is another matter.

"The war should not be delayed for too long, I think you should also feel this." After Li Qing figured out the intention of the Italians, she said directly to Alessandro: "Now the United Provinces Intervened in the mediation, coupled with the opposition of England, Sweden, Denmark and other countries, Austria should not agree, so the French are somewhat unable to bear the pressure. No matter how arrogant Louis XIV is, he has to weigh his own national strength. Sweeping the above-mentioned countries, if you can, you don’t need to say anything, if you can’t, then it is normal to transfer the main battlefield to the negotiating table.”

Hearing that the views of professionals like Li Qing also coincided with his own, Alessandro also smiled, and then said in a slightly envious tone: "Your country has made a big splash in this war. The fleet crossed the coast of France for a year, and they never dared to go to war. The trade was greatly affected, and the shipping was almost at a standstill. It is really majestic. Moreover, through this negotiation, your country has greatly consolidated the friendship with the Kingdom of Spain. This is especially enviable. I heard many people talk about the deeds of your navy in Cadiz, and now Cadiz, Seville, Madrid, Valladolid, Zaragoza, Santander, etc. There are more and more Hidalgos who have a good impression of your country, although they used to look down on your country because of religious factors, the benefits of this will be reflected in many ways.”

Alessandro Doria's words were cryptic, but Li Qing still understood.He is envious of such a small country on the east coast. To some extent, he can divide Spain into his own sphere of strength like a beast protecting his food. Not retreating, this is a height that small countries like Genoa* will never be able to reach, unless they can unify Italy—at least it is possible to swallow Sicily, which they have cultivated for many years—but it is so difficult.

"France's aggression is unjust, but it is just for us to send troops at the invitation of our allies. There is no doubt that justice will prevail over injustice! The French are almost unable to hold on now. What they are waiting for is just a It’s just a decent opportunity. If you don’t believe me, you can just wait and see, the Aachen Peace Conference will start soon.” Li Qing said confidently.

"But now that King Carlos is seriously ill, this is a major change..." Alessandro paused for a while before hesitatingly stated his real reason for coming today.

(End of this chapter)