Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 1193 News

"So, Cousin Ginette, do you mean that Prime Minister Mazaran intends to improve relations with our country?" Although it was introduced by his mother, Yu Xingguo, who grew up on the east coast, did not think much of this cousin from Bordeaux. A cold, but the cousin seemed to be bringing great news on behalf of some great people in France.

Genet Pasquale was much older than Yu Xingguo, and looked like a middle-aged man.This time, he and Frank, the son of the Baron of Toulouse, an old friend of the Chief of Staff Mo on the East Bank, followed the will of some upper-class figures in Paris, and went to the East Bank to conduct some diplomatic explorations through unofficial channels.Now Frank has gone to Chief of Staff Mo to "reminisce about the old days", and he himself, of course, came to visit his aunt's house.

As for what they came to the east coast for?In fact, it is very simple. After seeing the dawn of the end of the war with Spain (last year in the Southern Netherland), Prime Minister Mazarin of the Kingdom of France finally began to face up to the influence of the East Coast Republic, a new continent country-the fact There is no way to ignore it. Although the sales of East Coast textiles in the French market are sluggish, they have achieved great success in the Great Spanish market, the Ottoman Empire, Livonia, Brandenburg-Prussia and even the relatively remote Russia. Not a bad result.With the help of the Italians and the Dutch, their commercial tentacles began to conquer cities and territories in more places. At this time, the Kingdom of France could no longer turn a blind eye.

Of course, to some extent, the above is all "bullshit"!What really made the French pay attention to the pagan country on the east coast was the ten-year aid to Spain by the people on the east coast. However, the assistance of the people on the east coast did cause them a lot of trouble, because it was likely to delay the end of the war.

This is not alarmist talk!Don't look at the fact that France is doing well in the Southern Netherlands now, but that is based on the alliance between Britain and France. The British navy helped the French defeat the Spanish Southern Netherlands Fleet and blocked this part of the coast, making The ordnance, reinforcements and the most important military pay in Spain could not be transported there in time - the efficiency of land transportation is too low - but now Cromwell, who insisted on fighting against the West, has died, and the country is in chaos. The regiment, the bourgeois congressmen, and the royalists fought extremely fiercely, and there was even the danger of a civil war. This made the French feel a little uncertain about the future.

Once Britain makes a separate peace with Spain and withdraws from the war, what will France do?Although the navy of the Kingdom of France has acquired certain strength after years of building, can it win against Spain?If not, then the Spaniards can continue to transport troops and supplies to the Southern Netherlands, and the main French army will continue to be trapped there, unless they reorganize more troops and go south to cross the Pyrenees to attack the Spanish mainland. In that case, the financial difficulties will be very great, and France may not be able to afford it!

Especially now that the Spaniards have stabilized the domestic situation by using the food obtained in exchange for land pledge loans-of course, the food loans on the east coast only account for a small part. Corps - Although their combat effectiveness seems to be very weak at present, at least it is a lot of trouble for the French.Moreover, how do you know that the people on the east coast will not continue to aid the Kingdom of Spain?You know, these two countries have gotten closer recently, and God knows what will happen in the future.

Therefore, after discovering that the Spanish representatives were not completely groveling during the peace negotiations, the powerful Prime Minister Mazaran immediately felt troubled. They cut off aid to the Spaniards-of course this is difficult, because France probably doesn't have enough bargaining chips to impress the people on the east coast.

In fact, as early as the second half of last year, the French had already contacted Zheng Yong, the special envoy of the East Coast stationed in Amsterdam, through some secret channels, and asked if the East Coast people could stop aiding Spain, but Zheng Yong was very straightforward. refused.No, the French did not give up. While fighting with Spain (in fact, they were talking while fighting), they also sent members of the Pasquale family and the Baron family of Toulouse who were closely related to the east bank to the east bank to conduct a war. Some diplomatic tentativeness in hopes of getting some favorable results.

"The news was delivered by the financial director Nicolas Fouquet through an intermediary. My father didn't dare to neglect the news and immediately asked me to pack up and go to the east bank." Ginette Pasquale said calmly, "And I also I only know my aunt’s family, so I came here. But I guess your government may already know part of the news, because Mr. Frank is also one of the secret messengers.”

"To be honest, Cousin Ginette." Yu Xingguo shook his head and said, "Even if I don't participate in political affairs very much, I know that this kind of thing is very difficult. Because France lacks influence on the east coast, especially in the Today, when the bilateral trade volume is only a few 10 yuan, France really has no bargaining chip to make the East Coast attractive."

"Maybe, but who cares." Ginette shrugged and said, "Anyway, my mission is to bring the news, and I don't have the status of an official diplomatic envoy. Once your government refuses, then Paris They will not admit that they have communicated with your country through us. The faces of Prime Minister Mazaran and King Louis are more important than anything else. They would rather continue to collect [-] million livres in the country to maintain war expenses than Honor is tarnished."

"However, His Excellency Fouquet, the financial director, is also very interested in the machinery and equipment produced by you. He hopes to import some and ship them to France, because the Dutch and the British have bought some more or less, and the facts have proved to be very useful. "Ginette Pasquale finished talking about one thing, and then mentioned another thing: "Of course, if there are craftsmen or scholars on the east coast who are willing to work in France, Your Excellency Fouquet is also very welcome."

"Don't think about it, my dear cousin." Yu Xingguo was surprised when he heard the words, and immediately dissuaded him: "This kind of thing is very taboo on the east coast. It's okay if it's an ordinary craftsman. If you are a worker in a sensitive machine factory, then you will probably be arrested by the Syphilis Patient Statistics and Investigation Bureau, and your life will be worse than death. You must not try this, because it will probably ruin our family. bring disaster."

"Of course I won't do this." Ginette immediately said, "If the craftsmen are not good enough, then we can only import some machinery and equipment, and my cousin needs your help. Uh, some of the equipment is from our family. It is also necessary, you may not know, my father’s textile factory in Bordeaux has started work again, but the equipment is aging and the cost is too high, and there is an urgent need to purchase a batch of high-quality East Coast machines to improve efficiency.”

"Want to buy textile machinery?" Yu Xingguo was taken aback for a moment, and soon realized that his cousin was referring to the hydraulic or pedal textile machinery exported to the Netherlands from the east coast. The reliability is beyond the existing equipment in Europe, and the efficiency is slightly higher. This kind of equipment is not in the ranks of export prohibition, so he immediately replied: "Of course there is no problem. There are many in Leiden, the Netherlands. Textile factories use our machines, of course they mainly use them for wool spinning, cousin, do you want to buy cotton spinning machines?"

"Yes, it's a cotton spinning machine, that's right, it's very popular in France now." Ginette became a little excited when he said this, and only heard him say: "Now the civil strife in France has subsided, and the main force of the Spanish army has also been severely damaged. , Prime Minister Mazarin intends to restart the cotton textile industry that has been delayed for many years, many of which were created during Prime Minister Richelieu's tenure."

When Yu Xingguo recalled a little, he remembered that Richelieu had established 12 textile factories in Paris, which had been circulated in the east coast.At that time, the East Bank was very frightened, but with the privateering activities of the East Coast Navy in the Caribbean and the strong control over the source of cotton, coupled with the financial difficulties of France in the 30-year war, the cotton in Paris The textile factory has never been able to get up, and has been struggling under the protection of state subsidies and high tariffs.

But now the French actually want to restart this plan, which is to invest huge sums of money in the development of the textile industry. It seems that after the 30-year war, the Fronde rebellion and the Franco-Spanish War, the Kingdom of France, whose domestic political situation has become increasingly stable, has gradually turned its energy to Construction—in fact, it is understandable when you think about it. Without construction, how can there be sufficient national strength to support large-scale wars in the future?Mazaran wanted to develop French industry, which was actually the unanimous interest of the French gentry, and generally speaking, it was also in line with the national interests of the Kingdom of France.

The Kingdom of France, which has 2300 million cheap livestock (the population may continue to rise after the annexation of some Spanish territories), is also a separatist prince that has just been wiped out, tax cards and barriers in various provinces and regions in the country have been gradually removed, and a unified market is about to be formed. A powerful country in Western Europe, and it is still a country with an absolute monarchy, this is indeed scary enough to think about!Once the powerful Prime Minister Mazarin (and the future pro-government Louis XIV) made up his mind to develop certain industries, the localities can really carry it out well. Perhaps the French textile industry—at least its silk industry with traditional advantages ——It’s really about to rise...

(End of this chapter)