Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 1389 The smell of gunpowder ([-])

More than ten classic 650-ton flute-shaped transport ships are moored in a row on the east coast of Paria Bay.

Due to the narrowness of the dock in Port of Spain, only four ships can be parked at a time. Therefore, each ship can only berth in deep water offshore, and use small boats to communicate with the dock and replenish supplies.Of course, it’s okay if you’re too lazy to get off the boat, because at this time some mestizo people in the bay are paddling canoes to sell fruits, bananas, vegetables and fresh water—unfortunately no coconuts, I don’t know why the Spaniards didn’t This crop was introduced from Southeast Asia - but if you want to buy meat, you have to pay them a deposit first, and then send it in a canoe after they have slaughtered the livestock on the shore. After all, this is a tropical area, and meat cannot be preserved for a long time Yes, even pickled foods.

Captain Cai Anguo asked his first mate to lead merchants to purchase supplies, while he sat on the bridge to direct the overall situation.This time to escort this merchant fleet to the United Provinces, the Ministry of the Navy dispatched a total of four sail escort gunboats, all under the command of Captain Cai Anguo, the captain of the "Big Red Squid" - as can be seen from the number of escort ships, Dong The people on the shore didn't think that this voyage was too dangerous. The reason why they deployed four warships was only to drive out the pirates. If the British were determined to detain them, Captain Cai Anguo and others would be unable to resist.

It is said that their fleet originally did not plan to resupply in Port of Spain, but before departure, people from the Immigration Department and the National Development and Development Bureau came to the door together and stuffed a 1150-ton immigration transport ship in. A large number of necessary materials for settling down and [-] immigrants, of which Dan people from Guangzhou, immigrants from Huai'an and second-generation nationals each accounted for one-third, and they were going to Trinidad for "investment and business".

Naturally, this matter was also informed to Mr. Balboa, the special envoy of the Kingdom of Spain who was still in Buenos Aires. After hearing this, this gentleman was naturally extremely helpless. The island of Trinidad had not been officially granted to the east coast. And people (not yet activated the trigger), they are eager to occupy there, greedy heretics.

However, Balboa, who has been in the Spanish court for nearly 30 years, did not directly reject the request of the people on the east coast. He said that if only a small number of people went to Trini Island to invest in business or agriculture, then there would be no problem.In addition, the Governor of New Spain has been reporting to Madrid for the past two years, requesting that the fleet of the East Coasters be moved out of San Juan Port, because the threat of the local British is no longer great, but the East Coasters have made trouble in Puerto Rico. It is "a miasma", so the Governor of New Spain hopes that Madrid can find a new foothold for this group of heretics, and continue to contain and sweep away foreign fleets or pirates, and it can also be a little farther away from the core city of Havana. .You know, their gunboats often sail into the port of Havana for no reason to "smuggle smugglers". They are very arrogant and have caused dissatisfaction among many people, because too many people's interests have been damaged.

Taking these factors into consideration, the special envoy of Balboa, in the name of King Philip, finally allowed the East Coast Republic of China to send a team of "appropriate size" to Trinidad Island to invest in business or planting. The port was moved from San Juan to Port of Spain.The east coast side naturally understood this, so a mixed immigrant team of 600 people and a small number of local cadres were freshly baked, and then the immigration department and the State Development Bureau prepared a large amount of supplies and a large ship for them, followed The fleet bound for the United Provinces arrived in Trinidad.

The officials of Trinidad Island got the news one step before the arrival of the people from the east coast. Although the nobles and priests in the city were not very happy, it was a done deal, and their opposition was useless, so in the end they could only hold their noses and accept this reality—— —Of course they don't know the existence of "Eastern Secret Covenant", otherwise, I'm afraid they would still be jumping in a hurry.

It is worth mentioning that although the Navy’s Caribbean Task Force—which has few ships—has agreed to move its nest to Port of Spain, it already has a certain fleet size and its business is spread across the five major customs offices. The Caribbean Shipping Company, however, rejected a request to relocate the Governor to Trinidad.They still insist that it is more appropriate to set up their headquarters in Mobile Port, perhaps because there are many cotton plantations and logging camps they opened around. Trade with the Black Eight Banners of the Free State nearby. In short, they are determined to take root in the North American continent, and they don't want to come to Trinidad for the time being.

Regarding the choice of Air Canada, the government did not force it. They just reminded that its headquarters can be protected more safely. After all, Trinidad will inevitably undergo massive immigration and construction in the future.But since they—or the Navy—have their own ideas, the executive committee won't interfere, it's just corporate behavior.

Port of Spain, the capital of Trinidad at this time, has a small population, but mostly whites and mestizos.They live on traditional agricultural planting, but the strange thing is that there are very few sugarcane plantings that are very popular now, which seems to be due to the shortage of labor force.It can also be seen from this that the Spaniards on this island are generally not rich, because they do not even have the ability to invest in large-scale projects, and they are also "powerful".Of course, the more likely reason is that they know that even if they buy black slaves from the Dutch, and then invest huge sums of money to start plantations, they may not be able to compete with others in the end. In addition, the Spanish Hidalgos naturally despise planting and handicrafts It is not surprising that Trinidad is guarding Jinshan and begging for food.

After 100 immigrants from the east coast arrive here, they will settle down in the suburbs of Port of Spain. Then, like the successful experience of the Southern Railway Company in Maolin City, they will plant grains, vegetables and fruits in the suburbs to supply the east coast ships that will surely increase greatly in the future.And when their number reaches a certain level, they will gradually advance south along the west coast, open up more land, build more towns, and completely bring this island under the rule of the Eastern China Republic.In order to protect their safety, Air Canada had to send a team of 200-[-] people (a part of the Cannon Fodder Protectorate Army) to Port of Spain to deter Spain and possible pirate forces. So that they can survive the initial difficult time safely.

There were already some officials from the East Coast who had arrived earlier in Port of Spain to welcome these officials. Captain Cai Anguo glanced at them with his binoculars at random, without paying much attention, and began to think about other things in his heart.Today is January 1665, 1. The United Provinces and England should have declared war. The news I got before is that the English are still confirming whether the Dutch have attacked Goree Island, Cape Cos and Barbados. Once confirmed If so, then Charles II will declare war on the United Provinces without hesitation.The gentlemen of the parliament also have the same attitude towards this. They are very supportive of the king's move to go to war, and they said that in the next three years, the king will be allowed to collect a quarterly subsidy of no more than 10 million pounds to support this war. Of course, I don’t know if they will repent in the future. Businessmen always don’t have the courage to break the boat, and they are quite easy to be shaken. Everyone knows this.

From this point of view, the English should have declared war on the United Provinces, and the Dutch should have no choice when the West African trading post and New Netherland were both attacked. If you don’t want to fight anymore, you can only support the call of the main fighters to declare war on England. Therefore, this war should be about to break out in full swing. Maybe the navies between the two sides have already done one or two battles. It's just that the news hasn't arrived in time.

Taking ten thousand steps back, even if they have not officially declared war at this time, it is not far away. Perhaps by the time the transport fleet of the East Coast Republic arrives in the North Sea, the navies of the two countries will have already fought hard, right?I just don't know if the British navy will dare to take action against this fleet of people from the east coast at that time?Thinking of this, Captain Cai Anguo was a little uneasy, but there was even a faint sense of crazy excitement, which was determined by the nature of soldiers and had nothing to do with reason!

"The Spaniards on the island don't know what to ask. I asked a lot of people, and only one businessman seemed to be well-informed. I bought some information from him for 50 yuan, but it didn't seem to be very important, but this is also expected. Among them, this place is really far away." Second Lieutenant Zhang Zhijun rowed back from the shore in a small boat, went to Captain Cai Anguo and reported: "They said that Curacao Island and St. Eustatius Island The number of Dutchmen on the island has recently dwindled, because the rocks of the island cannot provide suitable soil for plantations, and only a few slave traders are left at present; There is a possibility of attacking the Caribbean colonies of the United Provinces, because the Governor of Jamaica, Thomas Modyford, likes rough pirate attacks. Of course, it is no pity to lose those islands. The Dutch have very little capital on them; in the end Last year, Druiter led a fleet of the United Provinces to attack the British's most important stronghold in the Caribbean, Barbados, but was easily repelled by the British. It is said that they then went north to New Netherland—— Of course, this is just speculation—but it is estimated that they can only return in vain, and they have nothing to do with the English on land..."

In fact, to a certain extent, the United Provinces have such a huge enterprise as the West India Company in the Caribbean Sea, but compared with the British, they are in a very passive situation almost everywhere, and they have a great influence on the Caribbean Sea. The intensity of investment is not as good as that of the British.For example, the British had 1663 tons of merchant ships serving overseas colonies in 12.6. In 1664, more than 45 ships sailed to the Caribbean in London alone, and a large amount of sugar, tobacco, cotton, wood, and dyes were shipped back to the country. , created unparalleled economic benefits, and this is why the merchants dared to provide Charles II with a large amount of military expenses. Obviously they thought that defeating the Dutch would allow them to earn more-there is no doubt about this, the Caribbean Sea The profits of the islands are astonishing, and the profits they bring to Britain each year have even surpassed that of the huge North American colonies (North America can only bring about [-] pounds a year to the British). On an island.

In today’s Caribbean, apart from the Spaniards, the English are probably the most powerful. The Dutch West India Company originally occupied the first position, but it has been concentrating on entrepot trade for many years, and has rarely thought about colonization (of course, investment in colonial activities It is huge and the risk is not small. It is understandable that the businessmen of the United Provinces who are used to short-term and quick money do not want to do this), so now they are obviously at a disadvantage and gradually unable to compete with the British here.

Of course, we must not forget the French, a major continental country whose rise is now irresistible. After Colbert improved his finances, he now also set his sights on the colonies of the New World.Although half of their eyes are on the cold Quebec, the other half of their eyes are always on the Caribbean Sea, and the government has also introduced a series of policies to encourage the development of navigation——Last year (1664) Colbert presided over a The results of the nationwide maritime survey are gratifying. Although the strength of the Royal Navy is ashamed, the size of the merchant fleet is indeed not small. From Saint-Malo, Nantes, Le Havre, La Rochelle, The main ports of Bayonne, Bordeaux, Dunkirk and Marseilles sailed to the New World with a total of 380 ships (329 in the same period in history), all of which were so-called "heavy cargo ships" over 100 tons.

In addition to these heavy cargo ships, there are also a large number of ships with a displacement of less than 50 tons or even less than 1664 tons that are active between the mainland and the New World all the year round. I have to marvel at the courage of the French captains and sailors. It is not included in the statistical data in the maritime survey, but it has to be admitted that they have been playing a huge role, because their number far exceeds that of the so-called heavy cargo ships, and the total transport tonnage cannot be considered small.

At present, there are about 8000 French people in Guadeloupe and Martinique, 1500-2000 white people in Santo Domingo, and about a thousand French people on Saint Christopher Island. There are many Englishmen, but they are all ruled by the French at present.All in all, their strength is still quite large, and it is no wonder that they have kept these territories for so many years and have not been snatched by pirates or other countries.Moreover, King Louis XIV of France has ordered the establishment of the French West India Company to reduce import and export duties on goods between the Caribbean islands and the mainland, and to sponsor merchants who order ships in their own country and foreign countries. This shows that the will to promote the pace of overseas colonization is quite firm. ——Although it is a mainland country, after all, it has a population of 2300 million and an annual financial income of more than 1.2 million livres. Even if only a small part of attention is devoted to the New World, it is enough to trouble other countries that are going all out to manage the New World Yes, this is the crushing of strength, nothing else.

Generally speaking, there are actually only a few powers in the current Caribbean Sea. There are five powers in the UK, France, Holland, West, and East. Other business powers in Genoa, Lübeck, Hamburg, Denmark, and Sweden Not on the stage, not worth mentioning.

As an officer of the national navy, Captain Cai Anguo naturally received instructions before leaving to pay more attention to collecting overseas intelligence. Therefore, after hearing the report from his adjutant, Second Lieutenant Zhang Zhijun, he immediately asked him to record it one by one, and hand it over to the country after returning. A professional from the General Intelligence Bureau, he then said with emotion: "The Caribbean Sea looks very big, but it is actually very small. There are countless countries or organizations involved in it, and conspiracy and killing are staged every day. The competition for interests is a tragic one. Especially at the moment when the Anglo-Dutch war is about to break out, the smell of gunpowder here is even stronger. Hehe, Druiter attacked Barbados last year. It was when their strength was dominant. At this time, it may not be a bad thing for us to be far away from Puerto Rico, at least we are far away from the center of the whirlpool. The Caribbean Shipping Company is still too weak and its financial situation is not good. The big development has been made, it is best not to get involved in the powder keg between Britain and the Netherlands, Jamaica may attack Curacao at any time."

"That's right. Air Canada's fleet of old and new fleets is really dangerous." Zhang Zhijun also nodded in agreement, and then said thoughtfully: "Sir, our fleet has 16 merchant ships. Loaded with high-grade flour, cheese, butter, wine, dried fruit, dried meat, grease, soap, medicine, textiles, leather goods, dyes, soda ash, weapons and ammunition, etc., will some unscrupulous people come and rob us? You understand I mean, I'm talking about British, Dutch or Spanish warships disguised as pirates."

"Don't you know the strength of the Spaniard's Windward Fleet?" Cai Anguo glanced sideways at his adjutant, and said in a joking tone: "They are not even good at fighting pirates, otherwise they would not ask us to stabilize the situation , so they can be completely ruled out, so the rest are actually the two of Britain and the Netherlands. The strength of the Dutch West India Company is limited, its financial situation is also very bad, and it is currently working hard to restore its business in West Africa, so it cannot draw much strength. Here, besides, they have a relatively good relationship with our country. Although the possibility of them secretly attacking is not ruled out, the possibility is very low. After all, the British have both motivation and strength, but why should they? ?At the moment when the smell of gunpowder is getting stronger and stronger, we are far from being the priority target of the British, that is the 'treatment' that the Dutch will get..."

However, although Captain Cai Anguo said so, he was still a little worried. Early the next morning, he bid farewell to the immigrant ship and the officials and people on the east coast on the shore, and then set sail to leave Port of Spain, following the ocean current. Heading for the North Atlantic.Their next destination is the Port of St. Augustine in the Havana Prosecutorial Court District of the Governorate of New Spain. After the last supply there, they will cross the Atlantic to Amsterdam, which is also the final destination of their trip.

(End of this chapter)