Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 1111 The Good Times of Diplomats ([-])

November 1656, 11, Amsterdam, Little Snow.

Zheng Yong sneezed unconsciously.Maybe it's because the weather is getting cold too fast, he thought, don't catch a cold, in this era of lack of medical care and medicine, a bad thing is a big trouble.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Balboa, I'm late." After handing over his cloak to his followers, Zheng Yong sat down by the warm fireplace at the invitation of his master.In front of him was a low table with two steaming cups of coffee on it—not a trendy thing in Europe at this time.

"I heard that Jamaica is a very good coffee-producing area." Zheng Yong took a sip, and felt that it was better than Xinhua's Tacheng coffee-maybe there should continue to improve the variety-the aroma is strong and the quality is good, but it is not good. I don't know where it is produced, but most of them should be in the Spanish mainland (that is, the area around New Granada) or the West Indies.

Baron Balboa, who was sweetening his coffee (he had just been made a baron in recognition of his "excellent diplomatic skills"), kept his voice as if he hadn't heard anything. Stirring the coffee with a spoon, he said after a long time, "Don't try to ridicule me, Zheng, we are all the same kind of people. Under the witness of God, we can say anything face to face."

Zheng Yong smiled after hearing this.He used to joke that in 1655, the island of Jamaica, which had been run by the Spaniards for many years, was conquered by 2500 British navy and army soldiers who were plagued by diseases such as dysentery (of which there were only a few hundred in the army).After this incident, the weakness of Spain’s ruling order in the Americas has become known to the world. It is likely that more than one country wants to jump out to follow the example of the English and challenge the Spaniard’s Caribbean hegemony. During this time, Spain is full of power Must have been under a lot of pressure.

However, if the fall of Jamaica Island is called a shock, then in the waters off the port of Cadiz, the treasure fleet returning from the Americas was intercepted by the British Navy and lost a lot of property. It can almost be called an earthquake in the upper layers of Spain. up.Because this means that the Spaniards were slapped in the face by the British navy, and they were robbed off the coast of their own port, which is a shame.But fortunately, most of the ships had already sailed into the port and completed unloading at that time, so the loss was still within a controllable range. Otherwise, the Spanish Kingdom's finances might collapse immediately.

But at the same time, this incident also sounded the alarm for the Spaniards. The British do not know when and where your treasure fleet will depart, but they can wait halfway or at the end. At worst, send more ships to patrol and try their luck. Forget it, come a few more times, maybe your Spanish fleet will be caught. This interception off the coast of Cadiz Port is an example.

And because the matter was so sensational, it spread to the whole of Western Europe in just two months. The incompetent Spaniards almost became the object of ridicule by the people of all countries, and their international prestige fell again. The image in the eyes of others has risen again—as expected, the superior is to constantly step on other people's faces.

Zheng Yong is in Amsterdam, where the news spreads in all directions, so he has naturally heard about the Spaniard's scandal, and thinking about the part of the conversation record with the Spaniard sent by the mainland last month, he wonders why Baron Balboa invited him to visit him. I have a little understanding of it—maybe it’s the old story again and I want the East Coast Navy to dispatch to help them clear up the pirates in the Caribbean, but I don’t know what conditions they will agree to.The last time Qiang Quansheng said that the cession of the land between the south of the Negro River and the 42 degrees south latitude is purely asking for a lot of money, but the Spaniards don’t think so. Maybe they have seriously considered this feasibility. Let's see what they say now.

"The last time I was in the capital of your country, Tartar Port—sorry, it was Oriental Port—the special envoy of our country, Baron Bravo, had a sincere discussion with the **** of your country, mainly on the issue of Pirates of the Caribbean. Yes, this is the specific content, if you don’t know it yet, you can take it and have a look.” After speaking, Balboa signaled his entourage to hand over a document.

Zheng Yong took it lightly, flipped through it casually, and found that the content was almost the same as what he knew, so he closed it, and then asked: "Then what does your country think? No one can get something without giving something. What you want, even the darling of God should not be like this. What is your country prepared to pay? You know, we are very sincere. Now that the pirates off the coast of La Plata are extinct, this is entirely due to the credit of our navy. The system of reporting to our navy through the Strait of Magellan has effectively reduced the risk of pirates mixing into the coast on the other side of the mainland from the Atlantic Ocean. This is already the greatest goodwill released by our government out of consideration for the relationship between the two countries, and these So far it's been free."

"Thank you for everything that your country has done for this. The Lord will not miss everyone with a kind heart, even if he is not the Lamb of the Lord." Baron Balboa said a few words of "nonsense" before entering the topic. Said: "The importance of the Caribbean Sea, I think even your country, which is located in the South Atlantic Ocean, is well aware of it. The land surrounding it is rich, beautiful and rich in products, which has created its unique status as a golden water area. , but now all this has been destroyed. The shameless British openly invited pirates to attack our territory in the Caribbean Sea. This completely disregard of reputation and decency has almost challenged the bottom line of the civilized countries to deal with pirates that was agreed many years ago. It's..."

"But your Windward Fleet is not strong enough to take care of the entire Caribbean Sea, so you need the help of our navy, isn't that right?" Zheng Yong said the second half of the sentence for Balboa very "understanding".In fact, the so-called Windward Fleet of the Spaniards is small in scale, old in type, and unsatisfactory in quality of soldiers. It is not in line with the facts to call them the Navy or the Fleet, so it is not difficult Understand why they suffered a disastrous defeat in the battle with the British Navy-in fact, they can also fight pirates, and if there are many pirate ships, they will not dare to go forward. Everyone has been familiar with it for a long time. As long as they are not so unlucky that they are bumped into by the main force of the treasure fleet every year, the pirates will have nothing to do in the Caribbean, and they can rob merchant ships from various countries as much as they want.

Well, maybe there are some years that are dangerous for pirates too, like the years when some New World nation's navy pretends to be a pirate to make some extra money.You know, these guys who should be cursed to hell a hundred times robbed merchant ships and pirate ships together. They really don't follow the rules. It's just hell. Have you ever seen a double deck equipped with dozens of various types of artillery and their shooting skills are first-rate Pirates?Are you bullying my IQ?I dare to swear to the Virgin Mary, their shooting skills even surpassed the Portuguese navy, which is famous for its accuracy, and the number of shelling trainings conducted every year is absolutely heart-shattering.

Such people also come to the Caribbean Sea to grab food, just like a tiger breaking into the sheepfold, suspected of destroying the local ecology-the merchant ships have been robbed, so what do the pirates eat?Fortunately, there are not too many years like this, and everyone can finally survive, otherwise, I am afraid they will have to go ashore and rob the Spanish towns to make a living. This undoubtedly means great risks and casualties, and no one will do it unless it is absolutely necessary. .

It is conceivable that if the East Coast Navy dispatched some main and auxiliary ships to the Caribbean Sea at the invitation of the Spaniards, and then used this as a base to eliminate pirates, I dare not say how great the achievements will be, at least the maritime security situation will definitely improve.But in this way, it is bound to offend the British even more secretly, which requires the Spaniards to show some sincerity to appease, otherwise why let others use it as a shield for you?

"Your country can properly send some elite fleets to the island of Puerto Rico. Regarding this point, it has been approved by His Majesty the King and the West Indian Affairs Council. The geographical location here is excellent. To the west is the rich Hispaniola, Cuba and Mexico. , the southeast is the Windward Islands and the Leeward Islands, the northwest can reach the coast of Florida, and the south is the famous cocoa, coffee, dye and gold producing areas. The San Juan Port on the island is rich in products and has a large population. The navy provides sufficient material supplies and ship repair services, and it is undoubtedly very suitable for your country to place the fleet here." Baron Balboa took out a framed glass lens from his pocket and put it on his right eye, and then After carefully examining the hand-drawn map of the Caribbean Sea handed over by the entourage, he finally confirmed: "This is the right place. If your country can agree, then the benevolent King Philip will allow your country in the two viceroyalties of Peru and New Spain. Designated ports for trade, of course, your country’s goods must be sold to our designated merchants. After all, your direct entry into these two major markets will inevitably damage the commercial interests of many people, and they must be compensated.”

"This condition is not very generous." Zheng Yong looked at the map handed over by Balboa while drinking coffee, and said: "If it is just such a condition for opening the market, then our navy will only help your country at best. Eliminate piracy and do nothing else. That is, if the main fleet of the British Navy comes to attack your Caribbean territory, then we are free to choose to fight or not to fight."

"Zheng, I think you missed the point. Our treasure fleet is huge and we are not afraid of any pirates, and the pirates are not capable of looting ships that are not alone. At best, they can only pick some weakly defended colonies on the coast Attacks on towns. If your country just wants to fight pirates in the Caribbean (maybe there are countries smuggling merchant ships, which is actually the point?), then this is meaningless to our country, and pirates have no ability to occupy any place for a long time. Towns, but the British will! So what we need is your navy to help us defend against the British, and the fight against pirates is just incidental.” Balboa’s tone was a little hasty, and it was obvious that he was very excited.

"The conditions are not good enough, it's not enough to persuade us to tear ourselves apart with the British." Zheng Yong shook his head resolutely, stood up and said, "If Your Excellency the Baron has nothing else to do, I will take my leave first, and I have to go to The Hague as soon as possible , Some old friends there invited me to meet, sorry. Oh, by the way, I forgot to congratulate you, you fought well in the Southern Netherlands, the French army can be defeated by you, amazing."

Zheng Yong was talking about the Spanish army in the southern Netherlands and northeastern France in July this year. The Spanish army commanded by Prince Condé defeated the troops of the French Marshal Raferté (Tirenne also participated in the battle). He also captured Marshal Raferté himself, and rescued the important town of Valencienne in the southern Netherlands, which was in crisis.This is the first important victory for Spain in the confrontation between the two armies since the end of the civil strife in France. Lost five important military towns within a year), but also boosted the morale of the soldiers, giving them a certain degree of confidence to continue to deal with the French army.

(End of this chapter)