Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 1375 The Morality of the Shit Stirring Stick ([-])

"Mr. Charles, what you said is true? It's unbelievable..." In a secret office on the second floor of the Golden Deer Commercial Building at Qingdao Port Wharf, Harrison from London said in a tone containing complex emotions: "What are the people on the east coast trying to do? Haven't they always been captives of the Dutch money? How could this actually show support to us in the direction of South Africa? How could this be?"

Today is the end of September 1664, and the entire China East Coast Republic seems to be winding up, and intense work and production have begun.Not to mention other places, but as far as Charles is familiar with Qingdao Port, this port with the best conditions on the entire east coast has now entered a busy period. Gein had a businessman from England complaining to him yesterday, saying that it was a lot of trouble. A large amount of lead-tin ore and dozens of Shire horses brought in from the mainland had to wait on the pier for three days before it was their turn to unload, which made people speechless.

What's more, because a considerable part of the wharf is being remodeled—wooden ones are changed to masonry permanent ones—ships have to line up when they enter the port. If you really can't wait, then you can anchor in the sea. Then put down the boat and go ashore to purchase supplies or contact buyers. The Qingdao Port Authority has no time to greet you. Of course, the customs officers will not forget to ask you to collect taxes.

Living in seclusion on the east coast of the New World is so comfortable, so comfortable, and so prosperous now, who kept them away from the huge cesspit of the Old World?According to more and more news, the situation between the United Provinces and England is on the verge of breaking out—no, to be precise, these two countries are actually at war, but they haven’t officially declared war on each other yet— —Embassadors from England and the United Provinces frequently appear in Paris, and the whole of Europe smells the heavy smoke between these three countries. Some good people predict that before the end of 1664, the declaration of war of the Kingdom of England will be handed over to The Hague by Sir Downing In the hands of Speaker DeWitt of the three-level parliament.

"I don't know why the people on the east coast would do such a thing. It's a little puzzling." Mr. Charles said with a solemn face, holding up a cup of green tea: "The only explanation is that they don't want to see the gang of Dutch The influence of the people in South Africa will increase, because this will narrow the gap between them and the people on the east coast in South Africa. If this is the case, then we have to say that this is our luck. The cubs of Asia should thank the East Coasters."

What Charles and Harrison are talking about now dates back to more than a month ago. At that time, the English business representatives who stayed at the Golden Deer Commercial House tentatively made a request to the East Bank to purchase some armaments. At that time, they did not hold They had hoped so much, but it turned out that it was actually allowed, which made them both surprised and happy.Surprisingly, at what time is this, the people on the east bank actually exported to them all the equipment and ammunition used by the army. Are they really determined to be a real neutral country instead of being sidelined? The good news is that since they are willing Sell, then we just buy, flintlock guns, artillery, ammunition, spears, bandages, medicines, ammunition bags, all of them, and even these people finally bought a hundred war horses, and all the money was pre-stored by the Golden Deer Shop Transfer from the Qingdao Commercial Clearing Bank's fund account, and then ask the East India Company for reimbursement. I believe they will not refuse.

Now that there are armaments and enough troops (10 English soldiers will set off from Bahia to the British South African colony by the end of October), then the South African side does not need to worry so much.Although they are still far inferior to the Dutch in terms of strength, at least they are not without a fight. If Governor Van Riebeck wants to do something during the outbreak of war between the two countries, they should have these experienced soldiers. It won't break with one blow, right?

Some people may say that the current situation in South Africa is dominated by the East Coast, and the United Provinces, England, and Karma Kingdom are not their opponents. The Dutch East India Company may not necessarily fight against the British East India Company.Generally speaking, this statement makes sense, but you have to consider the situation in the Far East, that is, the Dutch East India Company was very angry for many years that they could not monopolize the spice trade in the East Indies (this was the first Anglo-Dutch war stipulated in the treaty signed by the two parties).Once the war breaks out this time, they will naturally find a way to attack the British East India Company to take all of the lucrative spice trade, and then achieve a monopoly position, otherwise it will not be the Dutch East India Company known for its vicious methods—see Look at what they did when they competed with the Portuguese for the dominance of the spice trade in the Far East?Fighting from the southeastern coast of China and Japan to the Philippines, from the Bay of Bengal to Ceylon, from the Coromandel Coast to the Malabar Coast, and from the Arabian Sea to Mozambique, it is a war on the whole map, except for the activities of the West India Company Except for the Atlantic Ocean (Angola and Brazil) within the range, the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean have been fought all over. It can be seen that the ferocity of these lunatics cannot be guessed by common sense.

"The situation in South Africa is a little more reassuring now. How is the situation in Guyana? It's a piece of fertile land. Except for the lack of development, everything looks very good." After talking about South Africa, Mr. Charles changed the topic and asked Arrived in Guyana, a sugar producing area that has gradually risen in recent years.

It is said that the area of ​​Guyana is still quite large, and the forces involved are quite complicated, but generally speaking, there are three relatively large forces.One of them is the French, who are mainly the descendants of the remaining colonists who withdrew from the Marañon General District after they failed to compete with the Portuguese for Brazil. high-quality wood), while growing tobacco and sugar, the business is still so-so, and in recent years, with the sharp rise in the price of sugar in the country, capital and immigrants from France began to flow into Guyana at an accelerated rate, so the population and economic strength of French Guiana began In addition to slowly increasing, it has gradually gained a firm foothold.

The second is naturally the power of the English. Most of them came here in the form of companies or partners to colonize and develop. They also mainly export tobacco, sugar and dyes (Brazilian mahogany), with a large number of people and strong strength; One group is the plantation owners who signed an agreement with the Dutch West India Company. They are mainly distributed in some estuary alluvial deltas, mainly planting sugar cane. In recent years, their scale has continued to expand. Together with many local English planters This is evident in the sale of about 2500 tons of sugar to the West India Company.However, they are not comparable to the British immigrants in terms of numbers or combat effectiveness. Once a conflict breaks out between the two countries, defeat is inevitable. Just like New Amsterdam, which has [-] residents, surrendered to a mere four British warships. Same.

Therefore, when Harrison heard Mr. Charles mentioning Guyana, he immediately raised his beard and said with a smile: "Haha, don't worry about it at all. In fact, I just came from there. Maurice Stone Tucker The company has a large tobacco plantation and logging camp there. I stayed there for about a week and conveyed the opinion of the King and Parliament that as soon as the news of the outbreak of war came, they would immediately take action and occupy Holland. All the lands, towns, plantations, sugar mills, and other establishments that people have in the area, and the whole Guyana is brought under the Kingdom of England, except the land of the French. I think this is not a difficult task, our people must It can be done relatively easily, so that more than half of Guyana, which has huge sugar potential, will fall into our hands, which is really something to celebrate.”

Mr. Harrison is right in saying that once the English really control Guyana, which has a production capacity of 2500 tons of sucrose, plus Jamaica and Barbados, which also produce a large amount of sucrose, the sucrose production they control will really be a few. Not a lot.Considering that Brazil's sucrose production capacity is recovering slowly, once it recovers—it doesn't need to recover to the level of more than 2 tons at its peak, it only needs a few thousand tons—it will be controlled by English merchants. The sugar production is quite terrifying, enough to have a major impact on the pattern of the national sugar market, and this may be what many members of the English Parliament are after. The reason for collecting a huge subsidy of 250 million pounds from the whole country is because everything is a benefit!

And if the British are really allowed to achieve such a goal, Xinhua Island, which has a production capacity of [-] tons of sucrose, and New Spain, which also has a considerable production capacity, will surely become popular in the market. Those dissatisfied with the British and Portuguese merchant groups Powers - such as the Dutch West India Company - will come to the door one by one, and the benefits are self-evident.At the very least, the sugarcane planting industry in the area around Hue Port (that is, the General District of Rio de Janeiro) should enter the fast track of development, which is also beneficial to the East Coast Republic of China.Of course, the premise of all this is that Britain wins this war. If it fails, then sorry, the United Provinces will probably not give up on Guyana.

Mr. Charles immediately felt relieved after hearing what Harrison said.This person is a member of Congress and a confidant of Mr. Morris Thompson, the top rich man in London. He has multiple identities. He said that Guyana would do something at any time, and he would really do it!Moreover, the strength of the Dutch over there is really not strong, and the number of people is not dominant, and those German farmers who are suffering may not necessarily move towards the United Provinces. They will basically collapse when they are beaten by the British with strong cohesion and centripetal force—— Taking the whole of Guyana, something that can be done in a very short period of time, is awesome, God bless England!

Thinking of this, Mr. Charles is really excited!Although South Africa may be at a disadvantage, there will be no worries in a short period of time. Guyana and New Netherland will be defeated in one go. Jamaica and Barbados, two islands that are crucial to the kingdom, cannot be captured by the Dutch, so what else is there to do? worried?England's navy, as long as the funds are sufficient, the Dutch have no chance of winning at all, so this can be called the victory of the Second Anglo-Dutch War. Of course, Charles is essentially right, but he ignores many unexpected factors , and the gang of wealthy people in Parliament are really willing to fulfill their promise to pay the full tax of 250 million pounds within three years?But that's all for later...

After the two communicated about this issue, Harrison mentioned that King Charles intends to appoint Mr. Charles as the ambassador of the Kingdom of England to the East Coast, and the two countries have since established diplomatic relations at the ambassadorial level. This is also expected by Charles, because now There is no other person in England who has studied the East Coast for so many years.Perhaps there are some people in the Golden Deer Merchant House who have good "Dongxue" attainments, but they are not as proficient as Mr. Charles, so it is inevitable that he will be the ambassador.

On September 9, Mr. Charles, accompanied by Harrison and the staff of the business hall, came to the headquarters of the Qingdao Commercial Clearing Bank and transferred the payment for the weapons to the accounts of the people on the east bank. Then, officials from the State Intelligence Bureau came to talk to They contacted secretly, saying that the ordnance had already started to be shipped, and the pick-up location was at the Hailing Port Naval Base in the South Cone, so that the British could arrange ships to go there as soon as possible.

Charles and others expressed their admiration for this, and at the same time expressed their admiration for the determination of the people on the east coast to balance the situation. They all said that the British like to balance the situation on the European continent. I did not expect the people on the east coast to balance the British and the European continent together. Nima Is this the performance of standing on a higher level of the food chain?But in any case, this matter is beneficial to the United Provinces, because without the support of the weapons and ammunition from the people on the east coast and the veterans sent to Brazil by mistake, it is estimated that the British South Africa will be lost in this war, so Charles and others are still very grateful for the "help" given by the East Coast people in this matter-of course, it turned out that they overestimated the integrity of the big shit-stirring stick on the East Coast.

That night, Mr. Charles dispatched two experienced, honest and reliable captains from the Golden Deer Merchant Hall, and asked them to set off for Hailing Port in the southern cone immediately to transport the two ships of military supplies promised by the people on the east coast to South Africa.So far, their task has not been completed, and they have to go to the Zambezi River area to buy some food and daily necessities from the local Portuguese, and transport them to South Africa for storage in case of emergency.

So far, all the preparations they can make have been made in advance, and they just waited for the Portuguese to arrange ships to send the veterans as soon as possible. possible.That's enough, the brave Royal Navy will do the rest!

(End of this chapter)