Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 1119 The Good Times of Trade ([-])

"Section Chief Chen, please speed up the matter of grain export. The Kingdom of Spain needs these grains. For the sake of the traditional friendship between the two countries, please deliver them as soon as possible." In Qingdao Port, Baron Bravo, the Spanish ambassador The attendant, Thiago from Andalusia, said with a serious expression.

At this time, they were walking on the freight yard by the pier, next to the train station, and a train from the direction of Meilin County had just brought a whole carload of flour in barrels—all of which were to be shipped to the port of Cadiz, Spain. of.In the Iberian Peninsula of Spain today, due to the chaos of order and the collapse of agricultural infrastructure, grain production has suffered year after year, and nearly one million people live on foreign bread.That is to say, a quarter of the bread everyone eats is of foreign origin—from 1656 Spain’s large imports of foreign grain (and of course from its Italian dominions) and the high price of grain on the market show that, without Foreign food, how serious the situation will be.

Fortunately, today's Spanish economy and trade are in a mess, the voice of the miller is very weak, and there are not many merchants or nobles advocating trade protection. Otherwise, such a huge amount of foreign flour pouring into the Spanish market will inevitably arouse huge waves of opposition— ——How does the high-cost Spanish flour compare with the cheap East Coast flour?The extremely efficient steam mill and cheap and abundant coal are much lower than their cost even if the shipping fee of about 7 yuan per ton is included, not to mention the difference in quality and appearance.

"Mr. Thiago, please don't worry too much." Chen Ke, who came to coordinate with the National Grain Reserve on behalf of the Ministry of Agriculture, comforted, "Our country is sympathetic to the Kingdom of Spain and has always regarded your country as a It is a reliable partner. Since the first batch of 1655 tons of wheat was shipped in 2.7, we have shipped [-] tons of various grains to Cadiz within one year. And this year’s first batch of [-] tons of grains also It is ready to ship. Next, our shipping capacity will be stronger, and we will ship more food to your country to ensure that there will be no humanitarian disaster in Castile. You know, in order to raise ships for your country to transport food, we will Not only have I leased a number of Dutch sea ships at high prices, but I have also paid for the construction of many new transport ships. Our country’s friendship with the Kingdom of Spain is unquestionable.”

"This is the truth." Thiago nodded, and said solemnly: "Our government will pay 60% of the freight we pay according to the agreement, please rest assured. In addition, the butter, cheese, and cured meat in the agreement must also be delivered as soon as possible. Shipment, which is also important to our country, and the duty-free allowance we promised is also in effect."

Chen Ke sneered while nodding when he heard this.The Spaniard is now hungry and finally thinks of the East Bank. It seems that when the sun was good a few days ago, it was not so smooth to sell the food on the East Bank. I still remember that it was the comprador who monopolized the Spanish market back then. Butter, prosciutto and bacon, East Coast goods were levied high tariffs.But now the Spaniards have granted a 500-ton duty-free quota for cheese produced on the east coast (this is the figure determined by the Spanish government after consultation with the compradors), which is really 30 years in the East and 30 years in the West.

But also thanks to the living example of the Kingdom of Spain. Their status quo has been silently warning people on the east coast, never sink yourself into the quagmire, stand on the shore and watch others struggle desperately in the quagmire, and then carry With a stick, smashing or pulling, you can definitely get a lot of benefits.

Chen Ke himself naturally does not have a good impression of Spain, but the executive committee decided to give Spain a certain degree of assistance, such as exporting arms to help Spain fight wars, exporting food to help Spain alleviate famine, and sending some agricultural technicians to help Spain resume deportation The previous agricultural level of the Moors - although this was rejected by the proud and stupid Catholic King Philip IV - all in all, the Executive Committee spared no effort in aiding Spain, and they even asked the Netherlands to export more food to Spain through diplomatic channels ( Of course, the Netherlands also wants to do the same), and also asked their own ships to reduce the import of high-quality Saxony selected wool and buy more Spanish wool (of course, the quality of Spanish wool is also quite good) to support the Spanish to continue the war.

What should be done and what should not be done is done on the east coast. For this reason, the English and French are even faintly offended. Although Spain's failure is a high probability event, it is good for them to contain the British for a while.

"Don't worry, we will deliver the goods on time. Moreover, the goods carried by these ships are all insured at Qingdao Port. Once they are damaged due to accidents (such as the sinking of the ship), the insurance company will be responsible for paying for part of the loss, and the Chinese government will also Actively purchase re-shipped ones in China." Chen Ke invited Thiago to sit on a rail carriage together.This kind of carriage is driven by two horses and runs on the light rail line of the first ring road of Qingdao Port all the year round, which brings great convenience to residents' travel.

The carriage slowly walked along a light rail line, and there were still many dock workers busy packing goods in the freight yards on both sides.These workers—well, there seemed to be a variety of races, but there was no doubt that the majority were white and black.The whites may be Italian poor ghosts from the overpopulated Savoy, Piedmont, Naples, well, there may be a lot of Poles and Lithuanians now; and the blacks are obviously from South Africa, I heard people from the east coast There is a large stronghold there, specializing in slave hunting (of course, this is a misinformation that the Spaniards listened to); these so-called "non-national laborers" composed of black and white people are now engaged in the most basic and hardest work on the east coast , the dirtiest work, widely active in mines, farms, logging camps, construction teams, wharfs, brick kilns and lime cement yards, etc., and made great contributions to the construction of the east bank.

At this time, these workers were packing and shipping some meat products. Thiago had sharp eyes and found beef tongue in those pickled products. Of course, the largest quantity was still canned lamb.These meat products will be sent to the dock after packing, and will be transported across the ocean by the legendary "refrigerated ship" on the east coast (historically, only in 1880 did the British have a refrigerated ship to transport a shipment of frozen mutton from Australia to London), although The shipping cost of this kind of ship is as high as 20 pesos/ton on the east coast, but in Thiago's view, everything is worth it. The army fighting in the southern Netherlands needs these. There are tens of thousands of Spanish troops there, and there are also many Austrian troops. The reinforcements sent by relatives had just defeated the French army and captured the French marshal a while ago, which greatly gave Spain a face.

As if he had noticed Thiago's gaze, he only heard Chen Ke say: "Our country's mutton production has been increasing day by day. After the Patagonia development plan is on track, I believe we will produce more mutton. As long as the Kingdom of Spain has Need, of course we can export to your country, provided that you can pay enough consideration.”

After hearing this, Thiago's expression was quite complicated.Because anyone who heard that Patagonia, which was originally thought to be a desert, was well organized by the people on the east coast would not feel too comfortable.Thiago even had some doubts, whether the omniscient and omnipotent God had abandoned the pious Castile, otherwise, how could these pagans be so good at farming and running the country?It is hopeless that what was true of the Moors of old is true of the pagans of the East Coast.

The car stopped in Xinxiang Township, and then the two of them boarded a train heading for Meilin Port together with more than ten entourages.Everyone boarded the train at the last passenger car. After the train started, it quickly increased its speed to more than 30 kilometers per hour, which was almost the speed of sprinting on horseback.

The Qingmei Railway (Qingdao-Meilin, the original Luomei Railway extending to Qingdao) which has just been opened to traffic is extremely stable, and the scenery along the railway is beautiful and beautiful.Although I have heard all kinds of legends about the "train" on the East Coast in the old continent, and even saw the image of the train drawn by an artist, Tiago was still very shocked when he took it for the first time. God, there is such a transport With Niliki's huge vehicles, can the people on the east coast transport hundreds of tons of materials to a place 500 leagues away in a day and night-provided that their railway line has been laid there?

Now that they have come to this point, should the Kingdom of Spain cooperate more deeply with them?Now the British are coveting the kingdom's colonies in the New World. They first entered the Gualai mission area to compete and fight with the Spaniards, and then brazenly sent troops to capture the island of Jamaica. Now it is said that they are also eyeing the island of Hispaniola. However, his own country was in a quagmire and could not resist the enemy.Then, perhaps bringing in the East Coast heathens to counter the English heathens would be the most appropriate, since they seem capable enough to handle the Brit challenge.

Of course, Thiago also knows that the people on the east coast have ambitions for Spain's territory in the New World, but compared to the British, they are not interested in the sultry and humid but extremely rich Caribbean, New Spain and New Granada. So far, what they have obtained is only half of the eastern coast grassland, most of the Patagonian desert, and the extremely cold Tierra del Fuego and the Salmon Islands.Perhaps only half of the east coast grassland can be regarded as an area suitable for agricultural production—well, Chiloe Island, let’s count—the rest of the area is either arid or cold, and the sum is not as good as being taken by the British. to the island of Jamaica.

Then, according to the old saying of the people on the east coast, the lesser of two evils, and wooing the people on the east coast to fight against the English is something that His Majesty the King should seriously consider.Anyway, after King Philip resolves the war with France, England, and Portugal and frees up his hands, the country will definitely become prosperous and strong in a short time, and it is not impossible to expel the people from the east coast by then.

"It seems that I should seriously advise His Excellency Baron Bravo. From the current point of view, it seems that it is beneficial to the country to use some bargaining chips to attract people from the east coast to fight against Britain." Thiago thought quickly.

(End of this chapter)