Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 1137 Opportunity ([-])

Just when South Africa was planning to send the Black Eight Banners to the North American continent, on September 9, Baron Raul Bravo, the Spanish special envoy, received an order from Lima, so he hurriedly met with Mo San, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the East Coast Republic of China, Discuss the major changes in Europe today.

"So, what happened in the Canary Islands is true?" Mo San had just returned from morning exercise and met Baron Bravo in his private house, only to hear him say: "How big is the loss? Is it convenient to say? It helps us do some assessments, don't worry, we have goodwill towards your country."

Baron Bravo looked at Mo San without speaking.

"Okay, don't tell me, I can guess." Mo San laughed, threw the towel to the servant, and said: "Most of the goods lost are merchants, but your government will also lose a fortune. Income; some losses of gold and silver bars are private remittances, but the majority of the amount is from the government. There may be some casualties of ships and personnel. The total is quite a lot. As far as the government is concerned, I think it is 600 million pesos Left and right, up and down will not exceed 50. Well, well, in fact, these are not important, what is important now is how to prevent such things from happening again."

"The shipyards in Cadiz, Seville, Havana, and Veracruz have been working day and night, and our lost ships will be restored soon." Baron Bravo said with a straight face, "We now need It is to curb the increasingly rampant piracy and smuggling in the Caribbean. I believe your country has the same attitude towards this, right? Every time a smuggling ship brings in a shipment of goods, you will sell one less shipment of goods on the east coast. There are great interests in this, I believe you will not turn a blind eye."

"Let's be honest, Baron Bravo, now that the situation is like this, how does your country want to solve it?" Mo San took another wet towel and wiped his face, saying: "The British can be the first You can do it the second time, maybe you will think that this time it was bad luck that the whereabouts of the fleet were leaked, but can you guarantee that the whereabouts of the fleet will not be leaked next time? And your country's poor coastal defense facilities and poor quality, combat Can the gunners who don't want to guarantee that your country's treasure fleet can be sheltered in the port?"

The clumsy performance of the Spanish coastal defense fort made the world "admired", and Mo San even wondered what would happen if all the battleships on the east coast rushed into the port of Callao without fear of casualties during the second East-West War?Maybe, like the British, they can capture a large number of Spanish ships transporting gold and silver, right?It's a pity that history doesn't assume...

"King Philip has seen the crux of the problem. He ordered to update the old sea artillery in major ports, and at the same time eliminate unqualified gunners to improve combat effectiveness in an all-round way. Therefore, we need your country's help." Baron Bravo said today The first requirement is to purchase artillery, and it is a coastal defense long-barreled artillery, not an army light artillery included in the loan agreement between the two parties.

"Long-barreled heavy guns are not cheap. How many guns does your country need to buy? Three hundred or five hundred? What caliber? Of course, these are nothing. The most important question is whether your country has the ability to pay for the goods?" Mo Sanca After finishing his face, he said: "We will not make any more loans. The land loan at 42 degrees south latitude paid to your country has caused serious problems for our economy, which cannot be digested in the short term. Maybe you can make money in our country's financial market. Publicly issue bonds to raise funds, but the question is why are we doing this? What benefits can you give?"

"The West India Affairs Council has officially agreed to open the markets of Peru and New Spain to your country. Please note that your country is the only country other than ours that publicly enjoys such an honor. This is already our great sincerity." Raul. Bravo said with a bad face.In fact, the West India Affairs Council was able to make such a decision. He knew with his ass that he had gone through a political struggle, and he certainly didn't know how many people in the country opposed this kind of thing.Especially those "Hidalgos" who have inextricably linked with foreign manufacturers must do everything possible to tell the king not to open this hole, and the reason is mostly to protect the Spanish national industry (of course this is a bit ridiculous, because Spain has almost no decent industry), and the West India Affairs Council was able to make this decision under heavy resistance. It is obviously impossible without the support of the king behind it, and this also illustrates the predicament that the Kingdom of Spain is facing today.

Mo San was silent for a while, and then said: "Well, you follow me to meet Chairman Qiang, well, there may be some officials from the industry, commerce and trade departments of our country, let's sit down and discuss this matter together, how about it? "

"It should be so," Baron Bravo said.

……

"Then, it was agreed that the Spaniards should take the ten cities of Maureen, Valparaíso, Lima, Guayaquil, Panama, Acapulco, Cartagena, Veracruz, Havana, and St. At the same time, the customs tariffs of these ten cities will be mortgaged, and financing will be conducted publicly in the Qingdao and West Lake two-level markets. The amount is limited to no more than 300 million yuan, and the shortfall will be made up by the Chinese government—the Second Fleet of the Navy will be used The batch of African gold that was just sent back, the precious trophies such as ivory will be sold as soon as possible, and the output of Tieling Gold Mine this year has increased by 12.5% ​​compared to last year, so it should be able to support it." The lengthy meeting lasted until [-] o'clock in the evening For many minutes, in the conference room of the Executive Committee’s administrative building, the members of the Executive Committee were still discussing the request for assistance from the Spanish envoy. At this time, it was basically coming to an end, so Qiang Quansheng began to summarize everyone’s opinions.

Since the Spaniards have opened up all the markets to the east coast—anyway, most of those markets are concentrated in the hands of smugglers, and they can’t even collect a dime in tariffs. They might as well open up to the east coast, and the government can impose tariffs Income—then the Executive Committee is not polite, and put forward the request of opening ten port cities in one breath, and the appetite is not small.In exchange, the Spaniards can go to the east coast market to raise up to 300 million silver dollars, and the interest rate is quite low, which is more cost-effective. Of course, this requires them to mortgage the customs revenue of these ten commercial ports until all debts are paid off.

This agreement can be said to be a win-win for both the Spanish government and the East Coast government. As for who suffers, it is of course the smugglers from various European countries and the Spanish comprador nobles who colluded with them.If the East Bank wants to develop, it is necessary to grab food from these people, and it is necessary to face difficulties.

"Second issue, the Spanish envoy also asked us to send a fleet to the port of San Juan, Puerto Rico, to help them eliminate pirates, and if possible, to help them defend the waters in the controlled area. For this reason, they are willing to let our capital Entering the Viceroyalty of Peru and New Spain, and at the same time acquiring some of their industries and developing some mines, about the specific details, Mo San has already introduced to you just now, do you have any questions?" Qiang Quansheng picked up the The second document was consulted with everyone.

"Chairman Qiang, the Spaniards have recently bankrupted a lot of plantations. It is a good thing for us to buy them. But the question is, will Spain allow us to import its own population? For example, the Immigration Department has always wanted to get the Turtle Island Islands, because that island is on the South Pacific immigration route. Then, can we migrate a large number of citizens to settle on that island in the name of fishery development? Another example, we believe that California, which is nominally under the Governorship of New Spain, has development value, and then establish many companies to develop it , and introduce a large number of foreign labor, does the Kingdom of Spain allow this kind of thing? If it is allowed, then I think it is possible to agree to the request of the Spaniards, if not, then the value of this condition will be greatly reduced, we are only for the Spaniards at most Suppress the rampant local pirates (and also for the East Coast itself, because pirates and smugglers are often the same thing), as for helping to defend Cuba, Hispaniola, Mexico, Florida, etc., we I don’t have that much energy.” Mo Ming, the Chief of Staff of the National Armed Forces, suddenly asked, and his question was also the question of some other committee members, so it attracted everyone’s attention.

"Old Mo, write it down, go back and talk to Baron Bravo, and you must obtain this condition. In fact, the Spaniards in those places don't care too much. Let's talk about it first. Whether it will be developed or not is a matter for the future." He turned his head towards Foreign Minister Mo San and said.

"Chairman Qiang, Commissioner Mo, let me interject here again. The current situation is very favorable to us. The Spaniards are a bit at the end of their ropes. If they can't survive this crisis, then the mainland will definitely be ceded. This point I believe Spain will not be willing. Now we sell them coastal defense artillery, allow them to come to our financial market for financing, and at the same time send out warships to help them fight against pirates and stabilize the situation in the sea area. The attraction to the Kingdom of Spain is not ordinary. Great." Mo Ming finally said, "Commissioner Mo, the initiative is actually in our hands now, and we can sell it for a price, but the Spaniards can't afford to wait, so we have a chance to take advantage of them ...Well, Commissioner Mo is an old diplomat, and he is better than me at this point, but I have said more, ha ha."

"Okay, I will talk to the Spaniards. This time is indeed a good opportunity. Taking advantage of Spain's troubles, it is indeed shameful for us not to take advantage of it. I will have an appointment with Baron Bravo tomorrow. I believe They don't have much capital to refuse." Mo San raised his head from the document and said with a smile.

(End of this chapter)