Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 1575 Commercial Vacuum

Sir Charles, England’s ambassador to the East Coast—no, it should be called the former ambassador, because he will relinquish his duties today—has come to the Golden Deer Commercial House, which has been repatriated by the East Coast government and has undergone extensive construction. Will meet the new ambassador, Baron Cecil, here before waiting for the ship to return to England.

To be honest, being an ambassador is actually quite leisurely, and the climate on the east coast is mild and sunny, unlike London, which is always cold and humid. Sir Charles has lived here for many years, and overall he enjoys it quite a bit, otherwise he I will not take over my wife as well.Not to mention, the rich and varied food, modern living facilities, and clean and hygienic environment on the east coast make every foreigner living here feel very comfortable. This may be why the east coast is so attractive to those rich Italians. One of the reasons for it.

Since the establishment of formal diplomatic relations between the East Coast and the United Kingdom, Sir Charles' main task is probably to act as a "business broker" between the two countries.As an enthusiastic supporter of the East India Company, Sir Charles has been urging the company for many years to open up a triangular trade between India, the East Coast and mainland Europe, that is, when ships depart from the mainland of England, they carry commodities that are needed on the East Coast and that are abundant in Britain, such as High-quality white coal (needed by the navy), lead-tin mines, Sharma, etc., go to the east coast to exchange some cash and develop guns and ammunition, medicines, food and a few industrial products that India urgently needs, and finally return to the UK with full of specialty products from India (halfway Some Indian specialties can also be sold on the east coast) - such a trade model can more effectively increase the profit margin of the East India Company, so Sir Charles has also received a lot of praise, and now his eldest son has entered the company in London The headquarters is doing things, and the future looks good.

In addition, Sir Charles also wanted to find ways to purchase all kinds of machinery, parts, raw materials and so on for the local industrial capitalists in England.Some of these things are legal, such as steel bars, gears, hardware tools, soda ash, dyes, etc.; connecting rods of steam engines, etc.); and some are completely contraband, such as "scrap" carbon steel knife bits, steam engine parts, etc.

In order to purchase these materials urgently needed by England's industries, Sir Charles did not know how much energy he spent and how many risks he took. It was simply a thriller.If he hadn't been more cautious and more clever, he would have been arrested and imprisoned by the East Coast people like that stupid Sir Fox, and he would have no other way but to die. The people on the east coast asked for the release of Sir Fox, saying that he was a nobleman who could pay a ransom to redeem him, but the officials of the Bureau of Statistics and Investigation of Syphilis Patients of the people on the east coast were extremely tough, and they directly sent Sir Fox and Mr. In addition, they also executed some "scumbags who betrayed the interests of the country" in their own country. All the executions were carried out in public to play a deterrent effect.

Sir Charles had nothing to do about it, and he had nothing to say. After all, he was lucky not to be involved, so what else could he think of?Sir Charles's only gain from all his travels is probably to get the Golden Deer Shop back for the Kingdom of England. In fact, this can also be regarded as a charity from the people on the east coast, because they disdain those popular and ugly nobles in the old continent Their act of extortion.

After the Golden Deer Commercial Building was returned, Sir Charles made the decision and hired someone to redecorate it on the east bank, and bought a piece of land next door in the Qingdao Port Wharf area, where the land is very expensive. It was really expanded, and then the land was built into a tavern and hotel for British businessmen or sailors who came and went.As for the original building of the commercial hall, it is still used as a contact place for government or private organizations including the British royal family and the East India Company, that is, only big businessmen, officials or captains with certain status are allowed to enter here.

It is worth mentioning that after the last espionage incident, the Golden Deer Store is really "clean" now, and there are no more messy intelligence personnel involved in it-well, at least when the British rebuild the intelligence network It was clean before—the British merchants and captains living here have now collected information from published publications or market rumors, which shows how cautious they are.

Sir Charles is also very helpless about this situation, because Major General Harrison, who was originally in charge of intelligence affairs with the East during the Cromwell period, has now become a running dog of the East Coast May Agency. People's faces are also very familiar.With such people, intelligence work is really too difficult to carry out, unless you can directly buy some heavyweight east coast talents, but it is so difficult.

After shaking his head and not thinking about these annoying things, under the guidance of his servant, Sir Charles went to a room on the left side of the second floor, and then he saw a middle-aged man with a beautiful mustache copying something , that is Baron Cecil, who is about to hand over his duties.

Baron Cecil was of well-born descent, with ancestry dating back to the Duke of Normandy's conquest of England.At that time, his ancestors (that is, the family of the Marquess of Salisbury) were the most outstanding knights before the Duke of Normandy along with Thatcher, Montagu, Montgomery, Chamberlain, and Churchill. The knights he conquered Britain naturally all received their own rewards, and they have enjoyed the country to this day.

Today, hundreds of years later, the Cecil family has developed into a relatively large political and economic group. Some members of the family became officials in the court, some ran land and business, and of course some went out to hold important positions, such as today Baron Cecil, an offshoot of the family, will formally hand over his duties to Sir Charles.

After Baron Cecil, who was copying the document, heard the movement, he looked up and saw Sir Charles coming in. He immediately put down a handmade pen (original pen) from the east coast in his hand, stood up and said to Sir Charles: "Sir, I am very happy Seeing you. As a figure who is also well known in London, sir, I have great admiration for what you have done for England. Here, please allow me to express my heartfelt tribute, which is well deserved .”

"This really flatters me." Sir Charles immediately said after sitting on an oriental style chair under the guidance of a servant, "Mr. Baron, regarding the handover of duties and documents..."

"No, there's no rush for that right now, we can finish it later." Baron Cecil waved his hand as soon as he heard it, sat opposite Sir Charles, looked at his face, and said, "As someone who has never lived on the East Coast Sir Charles, I need your help now, can you tell me what is my main job?"

"Of course." Sir Charles smiled and took a cup of coffee brought by the servant. After clearing his mind, he said, "Mr. Baron, as far as I am concerned, as an ambassador to the east coast, the most important thing is to In addition to normal contact and exchanges with people on the east coast, the main work is to collect intelligence and purchase materials. You should pay special attention to building a good relationship with the East India Company, which will have the most direct impact on your tenure. "

"East India Company?" Baron Cecil frowned and asked, "I know that many of England's foreign policies or actions are accomplished by authorizing the East India Company. Moreover, this company was under investigation by Congress two years ago, and now The reorganization has been completed and many new investors have been absorbed. What, is this company acting very domineering?"

"No, no, you misunderstood, Mr. Baron." Sir Charles immediately shook his head when he heard the words, and then explained: "In fact, the East India Company headquartered in London is very organized and will not treat you Work causes any trouble. I mean, the East India Company, as a collection of investments by many powerful merchants in the country, is now playing a more and more important role. Mr. Baron, your family may mainly invest in the land of England itself. , relying on collecting rents and opening handicraft workshops as the main source of income, so the background of such overseas trading companies is not very clear. But what I want to say now is that His Majesty the King has re-granted the East India Company charter and asked us to give this I think you must have received such instructions before leaving London, right?"

Seeing Baron Cecil nodded slightly, Sir Charles immediately said: "That's right. In fact, in a secret domestic order I recently received, it contained the content of fully assisting the East India Company, because whether it is the king Your Majesty or the gentlemen of the Congress feel that after attracting a large amount of new capital, it is time for the East India Company to take some new measures to repay the trust of investors. As far as I know, the East India Company is currently planning to Two major strategies were implemented, one was to strengthen trade along the coast of Malabar in India and Bangladesh, strengthen ties with the Portuguese, and jointly resist the squeeze of the Dutch East India Company; the other was to increase trade in the coastal waters of China, namely Relying on Macao to conduct trade with southern China, using the vast sea area that the Chinese call "Qingshui Ocean" as a cover, avoiding the eyes and ears of people on the east coast, and establishing trade links with the Tatar regime in northern China."

"It's really a grand strategy." Baron Cecil expressed a little surprise at the right time, and then asked in a puzzled tone: "So, Sir Charles, I heard that people on the east coast have always regarded mainland China as their own back garden. , and their warships once intercepted our country’s merchant ships in the South China Sea, will they really turn a blind eye to the actions of the East India Company? If they can know in time.”

"This is indeed a problem, but for the East India Company, trade with China is also inseparable." Sir Charles spread his hands and said, "Let's put it this way, Mr. According to the news obtained by the province, in China now, except for these two countries that are conducting open or covert trade, there are basically no merchant ships from other countries going there. If you ignore the number of Portuguese merchant ships that have been greatly reduced. In other words, this It is a commercial vacuum, especially the Tatar Kingdom, which occupies more than half of China's land. They have a lot of special products we need on hand, and they have a demand for military supplies such as muskets, artillery, plate armor, and telescopes produced in our country. It is huge, as can be seen from the fact that the Dutch always take a large amount of the above-mentioned goods from Birmingham and Wales and ship them to China. Therefore, the senior officials of the East India Company believe that the future of this trade is very great. If it is well developed, now It can bring the company an annual trade volume of more than 50 pounds, and it is likely to be even higher in the future. This is really a huge business, and no one can ignore it, Your Excellency the Baron."

"50 pounds..." Baron Cecil is not a close member of the family, and his succession to the title is based on his own rich knowledge and his father's shadow, which is not too different from the huge family of Cecil. In addition, he has lived in the countryside of Salisbury for many years to study knowledge, so he is not very clear about the ownership changes, policy changes, profitability, and strategic choices of the East India Company over the years. .Simply put, since the company rarely raised money by issuing shares in the open market (shares were always bought and sold among the rich and powerful in Parliament), our Cecil of the Marquess of Salisbury The husband was a little shocked when he heard the figure of 50 pounds.

"If the trade volume can increase to 100 million pounds per year, it will really be worth anything we do." Baron Cecil muttered to himself.

"This day will not be far away." Sir Charles said firmly: "Of course we can carry out the preliminary preparations in secret now, and it is best not to let the people on the east coast know. Really, the land of China is now a commercial vacuum zone, a big gold mine. Mine, whoever can take the first step will have the upper hand. I heard that those Tatars are very eager for military talents and various military technologies. We have recruited a considerable number of experienced army officers and veterans in the country this time. They were sent to China to work, and these impoverished people also agreed. I heard that the Dutch sent a German named Reizenstein to work in Beijing before. Together with hundreds of his colleagues, he was arrested by the Qing Dynasty The emperor was incorporated into an organization called the Eight Banners, and also obtained an official position of Niulu'ezhen. I think that when our people arrive in the Qing Dynasty, if there is nothing else, they should also be quickly reused, and then help A strong link was established between the East India Company and the Tatar regime in Peking."

"I understand, and I will give the East India Company all necessary assistance." Baron Cecil immediately said after hearing this: "Because this is a matter of the overall situation!"

(End of this chapter)