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Chapter 1004 Privateer License

Villiers reached out to smooth his hair that was messed up by the sea breeze, picked up the teacup and took a sip, letting the hot cocoa tea flow over his tongue and fully release the aroma before swallowing it.

Cocoa tea, as a product from the Ming Empire in Asia, was introduced to Europe not long ago, only more than ten years ago, but it quickly occupied a place in the court recipes of various countries.

The special aroma can permeate the entire palace after being brewed with hot water, and the addition of white sugar, which is also produced in Asia, will make the taste more mellow. Some people like to add some milk, but that may affect the taste and is not recommended.

Villiers had heard of Asia, a continent thousands of miles away. The useless people of the British East India Company, with the authorization issued by the king, had been struggling for more than ten years, but could neither fight against the Dutch nor the Portuguese, and could only stay in the Indian Peninsula to do some dye and cotton business.

Compared with the spice trade, dyes and cotton cloth were just pocket money. Since cocoa tea was introduced to Europe and was sought after by the court, Asia has gained another highly profitable industry, and the trade volume of white sugar has also doubled. Unfortunately, the British East India Company still had no share, and the Dutch and Portuguese divided it up again.

The biggest trouble facing the young Charles I at the moment was his poverty. He had no money and could neither send troops to suppress the Scottish peasants nor gain anything on the European stage, thus losing the support of Parliament.

As the king's most trusted minister, Villiers naturally had to share the king's worries, but also to fight for himself. If the parliament continued to put pressure on him, the king might not be able to bear it one day, and the Duke of Buckingham would no longer exist.

But where can we get money? As the Minister of Naval Warfare, the first thing that comes to mind is the navy. Since James I advocated peace and did not pay much attention to naval construction, the English navy completely became a cash cow for the previous Minister of Naval Warfare, Charles Howard, Earl of Nottingham.

The count, in collusion with the naval surveyor, sold the best wood purchased from Norway to merchants and the rest to the navy. He also accepted bribes during the ship construction process and enriched himself.

As the saying goes, "If the top beam is not straight, the bottom beam will be crooked." With the Minister of Naval War as an example, the naval captains followed suit. They reported that the personnel were fully staffed, but when they actually arrived on the ship, they found that at least 30% of the personnel were missing, and the money was pocketed by the officers, which was called phantom salary.

After taking office, he immediately set up a 12-member committee to strictly control the navy's income and expenditure, reducing annual expenditure from more than 5 pounds to 3 pounds, and to a large extent preventing the continued breeding of corruption.

But after decades of neglect, the navy was in a state of disrepair. Of the 41 ships in total, 12 were scrapped due to substandard wood, and 23 needed major repairs, all of which required money!

Charles I certainly could not come up with the money, so Villiers thought about it and finally found inspiration from the notes of Charles Howard, Earl of Nottingham, the former Minister of Naval Warfare: a privateering license!
This policy of issuing licenses by the state to allow domestic civilian ships to legally and reasonably rob foreign merchant ships has a history of hundreds of years. It is not only in the UK, but also in the Netherlands, France, Denmark and Spain.

It will record the name, size, armament and personnel configuration of the applicant ship, and will also specify the operating waters and target countries for plundering, with the aim of cracking down on the maritime trade of hostile countries.

At that time, European countries had just started large-scale maritime trade, and their naval construction was very imperfect, and they were unable to protect their own merchant ships. Spain, because it started the earliest, had the strongest maritime power, and occupied the largest share, aroused the envy and jealousy of other countries.

But in the case of the British, the navy had only a few dozen ships, large and small, and could not compete head-on with the Spanish fleet. However, they coveted the high profits from maritime trade. What should they do? In one word, rob! If the navy was not enough, they would mobilize civilian ships to join the battle, and the goods they robbed would be sold by the navy. The royal family would take about 15% as a license fee. The navy would take about 10% as a handling fee, and the rest would be freely distributed by privateering captains and sailors.

Being targeted by so many people, biting them today and tomorrow, it was really hard to defend against. The powerful Spanish navy and maritime trade routes were the ones that gnawed the privateers of these countries to pieces.

But everything has at least two sides. Privateering did help Britain, the Netherlands, France and other countries narrow the gap in maritime power with Spain, but it also gave rise to another problem that could not be effectively restrained.

Many privateers not only rob ships of hostile countries, but also rob their own ships when they cannot find suitable targets. They have become true pirates and have had a negative impact on maritime trade.

But in the era of James I, Britain and Spain signed an armistice and made peace, so privateers were no longer needed. As a result, his relatives were robbed by privateers many times, so he simply banned privateers in anger.

But in private, the Minister of Naval Warfare, Charles Howard, Earl of Nottingham, still had connections with some privateering captains, allowing them to continue plundering and gaining a lot of benefits from it.

In fact, behind almost every pirate gang or privateer captain there are politicians and nobles from various countries. It is a semi-open secret that they treat piracy as a business, invest in building ships, recruiting sailors, and then divide the spoils. Even members of the royal family are involved.

Villiers felt that privateering licenses were a good business that made money quickly, and that as long as the designated location was changed to Asian waters, it would not have much impact on the maritime trade of European countries.

In Asian waters, the number of Portuguese and Dutch merchant ships accounted for more than 99% of the total. Letting British ships rob them and then sharing the profits with the royal family and the navy could not only solve Charles I's urgent need for money, but also earn a large sum of money for the navy, thus achieving the best of both worlds.

Charles I was also very interested in this suggestion, and specially squeezed out 2000 pounds for the Duke of Buckingham as start-up capital, allowing him to do it boldly. As long as it can reverse the economic difficulties of the royal family, the privateering license can be issued immediately, and the parliament will be dissolved directly if it dares to oppose it. No one can stop the king from making money!

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With the king's permission and sponsorship, Villiers did not immediately recruit privateers. After all, he had been in the court for so many years and generally had some political acumen.

If only Britain did this, it seems that its strength is a little weak, and Portuguese merchant ships are involved. If things really get out of hand, it may lead to another war, which would not be cost-effective.

So he went to Madrid in person, found Count Oliveriz, a favorite of Philip IV, and told him the general plan, intending to bring Spain into the group.

(End of this chapter)