Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 1108 The Good Times of Human Traffickers ([-])

Just as the battlefield of the Ming Dynasty in the Far East gradually fell into a brief silence, the war on the Baltic Sea coast on the other side of the earth has just reached its climax: Sweden, Russia, Poland, Brandenburg-Prussia and even the Kingdom of Denmark, They all joined this increasingly large-scale battlefield one after another. A total of 30 soldiers from various countries fought selflessly on the land of Poland. While causing tragic casualties, it also caused a serious collapse of the local order of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth... …

"The recent humanitarian disaster has become more and more serious." - This is the consistent caliber of the East Coast Commercial Station in Riga; "The recent business is getting better and better, please send money quickly! The following is the account number of the Amsterdam Exchange Bank ..."——this is what Gao Wengang, the head of the Riga Commercial Station and a young up-and-comer, gloated in his internal letters; no matter what the words are, they all mean the same thing, that is, Poland has been smashed, and this country is like a A weak pigsty was savagely slammed into it by a few wild boars, and it was basically about to collapse.

Isn't it!Since King Karl X of Sweden led an army of 1655 troops to intervene in the war (attacking Poland from Livonia) in the summer of 9, the Polish army that had just stabilized its front line in Lithuania immediately collapsed across the board, and the Swedish army divided into three groups began to attack Poland. Marching in the heart of Poland, they came all the way to the Vistula River, met with little decent resistance: in the first week of September, Warsaw surrendered; after part of the Polish main force was defeated at the Battle of Zarnenov, the Swedish army besieged Its capital, Crankow, lasted eight weeks and was finally conquered. The Polish king fled in embarrassment to Silesia for refuge, and the royal palace, Wawel Castle, was occupied by Karl X.

At this point, many people believe that Poland has collapsed, and Karl X, who also did not expect to march so smoothly, suddenly swelled up. Now he lives in Poland and he doesn't want to leave. He even has the idea of ​​​​letting Poland cede territory or even surrender ——This idea seemed natural to him and the Swedes, but to the Tsar who had claimed the title of Duke of Lithuania, to the Dutch who watched the situation in the Baltic with anxiety, to the Danes who had a feud with Sweden Come on, in the eyes of the ambitious and speculative Elector Frederick, this is unacceptable!

"The Swedes must stop their steps immediately and return Krakow and Warsaw to King John Casimir of Poland. This is the final attitude of the three-level parliament of the United Provinces. If Sweden does not obey, the United Provinces will take action." Gao Wengang Staring blankly at Mathias De Haer, the old man's impassioned words were still echoing in his ears. What made him feel even more lost was that the old man also brought Zheng Yong's diplomatic order from Amsterdam, asking Gao Wengang to cooperate. The United Provinces diplomats represented by the De Haer family made every effort to promote the formation of the anti-Sweden alliance on the southern coast of the Baltic Sea.

This alliance includes Brandenburg, Denmark, Russia, Poland and even Crimea (the Tatars sent thousands of cavalry to help in the Battle of Warsaw). Influence, because this makes the Netherlands, which is mainly commercial, feel threatened. In any case, they do not want a political and military power to appear in the back garden of the Baltic Sea.

In fact, neither Zheng Yong nor Gao Wengang has the slightest interest in this anti-Swedish alliance. They just have to cooperate with the Dutch at a certain pace because of their sympathy or the good relationship with the Netherlands at the national level. Persuading the Russians to declare war on Sweden, such as inviting the Tatars to send more cavalry into Poland to help in the war, such as selling the weapons and military supplies in the Wendau warehouse to the Poles to help them recover their combat effectiveness, etc.The condition is that the Netherlands mobilizes some spare capacity to Riga or Wendau, and transports some refugees to New Courland or the east coast, with a number of no less than 3 people, and it will be completed in two years.

To be honest, this condition really moved Zheng Yong, so he readily agreed to the Dutchman's request and instructed Gao Wengang to make every effort to cooperate with the several groups of diplomatic envoys sent by the three-level council of the United Provinces, and De Haier was obviously one of them. .

"Yes, Mr. De Haier, what you mean now is my will, and I will fully cooperate with you, because my superiors have given me orders." Although Gao Wengang is young, he is still somewhat organized, what can be done , What can’t be done is very clear, so I just heard him say: “There is indeed a batch of ordnance in Wendao’s warehouse, enough to arm more than 7000 people. At present, the Swedish army has entered the Principality of Courland, but they are just passing by and have not yet responded This country has officially declared war. The ruler of Courland, Grand Duke Jacob, also led his well-equipped standing army (which has expanded to more than [-] people) to guard the largest port in the country, but I hope you will do it as soon as possible and move the warehouse Move away the military supplies and send them to those who need them, the Swedes may attack Courland at any time..."

"As for Russia and Crimea, I will send someone to do it, but I can't guarantee whether it will be successful. I privately think it is unlikely. The biggest enemy of the Tatars is Russia, and Russia is afraid of Sweden. But I will try it, and I hope our luck is good.” Gao Wengang said, “Also, Mr. De Haier, please send a ship to Wendao Port as soon as possible, this small city is currently being occupied by Polish and Lithuanian refugees (Lithuanian The Vonia refugees were sent to the African colony by Grand Duke Jacob), we need to evacuate them to the New World as soon as possible. By the way, please send a few ships over for food, well, we are also urgently contacting the merchants in Hamburg to purchase Food, I hope in time. Remember, Mr. De Hale, the evacuation of refugees to the New World is our greatest and only requirement, and the more people the better, I mean it, we can eat it!"

It is said that since Sweden invaded Poland, due to its poor military discipline (the Swedes looted the Polish people and defiled the Catholic Church), after Lithuania produced a large number of refugees, Poland also produced many refugees.These Polish serfs who were originally bound to the land suddenly discovered that the underlying social order had collapsed, and the basis for their survival no longer existed due to the turbulent situation, so some of them joined the noble army and attacked the scattered Swedish army everywhere (The Swedes lost nearly 1656 troops in the first half of [-]); and a larger number of people became refugees, and then poured into the surrounding areas that seemed to be relatively stable. The Principality of Courland was undoubtedly one of them. The country that made all preparations accepted tens of thousands of Polish and Lithuanian refugees, and then tried every means to transport them to the New World for resettlement. Ireland) is undoubtedly a huge fortune.

The only thing they are worried about now is that the lack of transportation capacity has caused a large number of refugees to stay in Courland. Wealth, let them arrive in the New World as soon as possible and start creating wealth with their own hands-now that the Dutch are rushing to help transport people to the east coast, so what else can Gao Wengang say?Of course, they went to help the Dutch without any nonsense, and the Dutch have always had a good reputation. They said they would help transport at least 20 people to the east coast, and then they would really be honored, so just do it!Anyway, they are not afraid of offending Sweden. At worst, the Riga Commercial Station is closed, what else can they do?For a population of tens of thousands, the gains and losses of a mere business station are nothing!It is now May 3, and many things must be hurry up!

So, after leaving a special person to urge the De Haier family to mobilize ships to transport people as soon as possible, Gao Wengang sent many diplomats, under the protection of the officials of the Principality of Courland and some elite troops, to go deep into Poland, which was in chaos, and try to contact the Russians. , At the same time, he also sent a small boat to the port of Archangel. While lucking out with some supplies, he also wrote a letter asking the station master Schneider to contact the Russians to see what they really thought. After all, these Russians Should pee less than a jug with a Swede.

In July, Russian troops conquered parts of Estonia, while advancing deep into Karelia and, in fact, occupying much of Sweden.At this time, the several groups of envoys sent by Gao Wengang and others have not even met any senior Russian military officers. I just don't know if the Dutch will continue to credit this "credit" to the people on the east coast in the future, because they Almost without doing anything, the Russians launched a war against Sweden by themselves (Mao Zi fought on multiple fronts, which is also sturdy enough).

In late August, tens of thousands of Russian troops appeared on the outskirts of Riga, the second largest city in Sweden, and successively captured several small and medium-sized fortresses on the outskirts, forming a siege of Riga. At this time, the main force of the Swedish army was still in the Warsaw area. , in the face of the pressure of the Polish king who has assembled 8 to [-] cavalry, but their allies are only a few thousand soldiers in the Brandenburg area (fortunately, the combat power is stronger), and it is impossible to divide troops to rescue Riga, which makes the city Riley suddenly became panicked.

The turbulent hearts immediately caused most people to instinctively speed up the outflow, especially those refugees who entered Riga to avoid the war. Almost as soon as the rented ships from the east coast or Courland docked, the captains shouted a few words on the pier, Countless refugees flocked here, voluntarily signed the "promotion agreement" of indentured slaves, and then boarded these ocean-going ships empty-handed, and set sail for the New World.During this process, Swedish officials turned a blind eye to the whole process. On the one hand, they have received a lot of benefits from the people on the east coast, and on the other hand, it is because Sweden has no shortage of people (although Sweden has a small population, the land cannot carry In addition, the Polish refugees transported away from the east bank can also reduce the hidden dangers of Riga (who knows if there are any spies in it), so the two sides almost hit it off, and everyone is happy.

And throughout May to August, more than [-] people were sent to the New World by boats departing from Riga alone—the chaotic situation was really the favorite of traffickers!

(End of this chapter)