Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 1401 Right of First Refusal and South Africa ([-])

Compared with the harsh and barren land in the north, Qingdao Port, which is far away at the mouth of the La Plata River, is undoubtedly extremely lucky.

The people here live in a beautiful area, well irrigated - water from the streams that criss-cross the nearby valley - well-connected, and the climate is favorable.It is true that it does not have such a large forest as in North America, nor does it have such a vast expanse of forest sea, but the small streams everywhere in the hinterland and the dense shade of trees on both sides also give people great pleasure.Coupled with the persistent transplanting of a large number of oak trees, peach trees, plum trees, pear trees, metasequoia trees, ginkgo trees and other trees by the people on the east coast for 30 years, this place has undoubtedly become a particularly livable spot on the east coast prairie. one of the cities.

People living here live well, eat well, earn good income, and have a rich commodity market, including buildings, villas, farm houses, Chinese-style courtyards, and Western-style manors.People treat each other friendly, cheerful and hospitable, dress gorgeously, and speak confidently, which amazes every old continent businessman or sailor who comes here for the first time—this is the best window for the Chinese East Coast Republic to display and publicize .

……

In May 1665, a merchant ship flying the flag of the English East India Company quietly docked at a certain berth in Qingdao Port after going through heavy wind and rain and struggling in the dark.

Josiah Child carefully climbed down the deck along the rope ladder, and then went down to a small rowboat. After receiving the order, several sailors rowed the boat with all their might, and sent Childe and his two entourages to the boat. On the shore, they were soon to go to the Golden Deer Shop to find Mr. Charles.

A lamp was lit at intervals on the street. Child stared blankly at the bright flame inside the lampshade. He didn't know what kind of lighting facility it was, but it was really bright. An East Coast invention?Thinking of this, Chard was already helpless. The novelty inventions of the people on the east coast followed one after another, but the English have not yet fully understood the steam engine technology they invented.

No, it should be said that there is no difficulty in the principle, and everyone can understand it. Now the problem still lies in the cost and manufacturing process.The few steam pumps currently in use at the Newcastle Mine are without exception very expensive, prone to failure and inefficiency.Although the actual use is more efficient than the animal-driven water pump (after all, it can work 24 hours in theory) and the cost is lower, but it has not shown a decisive advantage, which makes some mine investors slightly Some hesitated, and did not immediately place an order to purchase this new machine-they wanted to wait and see, hoping that someone would improve this technology again, and then use it again, which should be much safer.

If the people on the east coast know all this, they may feel a little bit of a sense of crisis, because the English people are indeed on the right path, and they are moving faster than others.You must know that it was not only the English family who introduced steam technology from Lisbon back then. The United Provinces, France, Venice, and even some German businessmen all paid for the research results of the Almeida family.It's just that their progress seems to be limited so far, and the English have taken the lead in making a breakthrough relying on their relatively deep industrial foundation and the attention of investors.

After rushing across the street illuminated by gas lamps, Josiah Child and others finally knocked on the door of the Golden Deer Shop after being interrogated three times by the patrolling police.After a while, they were led in.

"Mr. Child, what happened? Why did you come to the east bank at this time?" Mr. Charles, who was dressed, came down from the second floor, ordered the servants to make coffee, and asked in a low voice: "Where are you?" Where did you come from?"

Mr Charles had several contacts with Josiah Child, but that was in London and this was the first time the parties had met overseas.I had already learned from a friend's letter that Josiah Child had gone to the East Indies once, and then I hadn't heard from him for a long time, but this time he suddenly appeared in front of me, so Mr. Charles asked.

"I came from the East Indies." Josiah Child and his entourage changed their wet raincoats, and then sat in front of the fireplace that never went out all night, and said while warming the fire: "The people of the Dutch East India Company attacked us. Merchants who purchased spices in Banten caused many casualties and a ship was detained. The stewards of the company are currently confirming whether the Dutch East India Company intends to officially go to war with us—at least it was true before I set off here—they are The war more than ten years ago was brooding, and I was very dissatisfied with the fact that Chinese merchants could freely buy spices in the East Indies as stipulated in the "Westminster Peace Treaty", because this prevented them from completely monopolizing this profitable industry. business, so they have every reason to attack us. Lord Essex believes that the Dutch East India Company is likely to make a big fuss by taking advantage of the tension between the two countries. Their power in the Far East is very strong. I must return as soon as possible. Go to the mainland to report to the gentlemen."

"Child, I think there are some things you haven't figured out yet. You've been away from London for too long..." Mr. Charles sighed deeply, and then said: "The year before last, the Duke of York's Royal Explorer Africa Do you know that the trading company captured Cape Cos and Goree Island of the Dutch West India Company, and swept away more than 2000 black slaves and a large amount of gold imprisoned on the island?"

"Of course, I was still selling a batch of goods in Norwich at that time, and I heard about it." Josiah Child nodded and said with a serious look on his face. He already had a premonition that things were different.

"Later, the Dutch admiral Druitter led his army to recover Goree Island, and then attacked Barbados Island, while our fleet forced the Dutch in New Amsterdam to surrender, and then, with the cooperation of the New England Army, occupied the The whole of New Netherland, and then our people in Guyana also acted, conquered the local Dutch colonial institutions, and controlled the whole of Guyana." Mr. Charles greeted everyone to drink steaming coffee, while trying to use short and concise language to explain Tell Childe the events of the past year.

It was undoubtedly the first time for Josiah Child and his entourage to hear such explosive news. At the same time, they also understood that the attack by the Dutch East India Company on the British merchants who purchased spices in Banten Island was definitely not groundless, so the matter really happened. Trouble!

"Has the United Provinces declared war on us?" This is a question that everyone is very concerned about, and Childe asked it directly.

Mr. Charles shook his head and said: "Actually, I don't know either, because no news has come through yet. But I can tell you responsibly that war between the United Provinces and England is inevitable. This point, in the slightest There is no need to doubt, this is bound to happen, but sooner or later!"

As soon as this was said, everyone fell silent.After all, no one likes war, especially those merchants of the British East India Company. The state of war with the United Provinces and the brutal commercial competition in reality all give the Dutch East India Company sufficient reasons to expand their operations in India and Ceylon. And the East Indies, provoke a war game against the British East India Company, and this game may even spread to South Africa-the ships of Josiah Child and others once stopped in South Africa for supplies , According to their understanding, the situation over there was indeed very tense, and war might break out, so they didn't dare to stay for long and left in a hurry.

"Yes, according to what you said, war is actually inevitable." Josiah Child murmured, "Actually, Sir Montagu of South Africa reminded me once on the way here. He recently They are collecting food, livestock, fuel, strengthening fortresses, training soldiers, and stockpiling ammunition—by the way, I heard that the people on the east coast sold us a considerable amount of military supplies, food, medicine, and daily necessities? This is very unusual, isn’t it? Are the heretics going to join England in this war, which is contrary to their long-standing policy!"

"How is it possible?" Mr. Charles was amused by this remark, then shook his head and smiled wryly: "It seems that you haven't got the latest news, Childe. In fact, just last week, the diplomats from the East Coast sent a diplomatic The document was handed over to me, and I hope that I can convey the content of the document to the Parliament in London and His Majesty King Charles. The content of the document is very long, so I will not describe it in detail, but there is only one central idea, that is, the relationship between the United Provinces and the East Coast. There was an agreement reached between China and the United Provinces to give the East Coast Republic of China the right of first refusal of New Netherland."

"Right of first refusal?" Childe whispered this somewhat awkward and unfamiliar phrase, and said puzzledly: "I've never heard of this name before, what does it mean? The Dutch sold the New Netherland ?"

"Not only do you not understand, but in fact I also figured out the meaning after carefully asking the envoys of the people on the east coast. Simply put, if the Dutch sold the New Netherland colony to China, then the people on the east coast would be Priority is given to the object, and the price has been agreed, 300 million dong. That is to say, only when the people on the east coast expressly renounce the right of first refusal, will it be the turn of others to deal with the land. Now New Ned Netherlands is under the control of our army. In the future, if we want to negotiate with the United Provinces to determine the ownership of New Netherland, people from the East Coast will also be one of the parties involved. This cannot be avoided because they have the right of first refusal .”

It was the first time for Josiah Child to hear such a thing, and he just felt a little weird, because no one had invented the definition of "right of first refusal" before, but now his reason told him that it was all true.If the Kingdom of England wants to swallow the New Netherlands, then it cannot ignore the people on the east coast, otherwise it is very likely to cause bad consequences-the current England is not ready for two-front warfare, and the scale of the people on the east coast Once the not-so-small fleet enters the war, the English will face a very unfavorable situation, which is almost certain.

"Then, they must have a plan to favor us so much in South Africa?" Josiah Child sat down and took a sip of coffee, and said thoughtfully: "They don't want us to be crushed by the Dutch, and then Annexing the entire South African colony, in that case, the Dutch will have great influence here, which is what the people on the east coast do not want to see, but how can this be related to New Netherland's right of first refusal? "

Mr. Charles looked at Childe and the others, did not speak for a while, and finally said: "Mr. Josiah Childe, it is because you are senior employees of the East India Company that I will be honest and open to you. .In fact, when the people on the East Coast handed me the document on the right of first refusal, they also asked once whether our government or the East India Company would sell their South African colonies? If so, we can contact them as soon as possible They are willing to take over this piece of land that is being eyed by the Dutch. I have also reported this to London. Mr. Hampton’s merchant ship just set off a few days ago, and the messenger is also on board. I believe the gentlemen at your company’s headquarters are very happy. You will learn about these situations soon. Of course, after you go back, you can also—of course you must—report this news, because it is very important.”

"Sell South Africa?" Childe frowned suddenly, and said, "As far as I know, the company has no plans for this at the moment? The importance of the South African colony is now more and more widely recognized by more people. Everyone feels that it is very important to maintain a supply and maintenance port between the Atlantic Ocean and the Indian Ocean. Therefore, unless there are very good reasons, the company will not sell this key colony."

"Is there a good reason? Does war count?" Mr. Charles has already figured out the cause and effect in the past few days, so there is no sense of stagnation in his thinking when he talks about it. He just said: "If the South African colony is in the Netherlands Is it at risk from a human attack? What if it is about to be taken by the Dutch? In that case, Mr. Child, is there any possibility of the South African colony being sold? You know, as you told me before, The strength of the Dutch East India Company is extremely powerful, far surpassing your company, and they have already shown their malice in Banten Island, so please tell me, will this Dutch company, which has always wanted to monopolize the spice trade, take the opportunity to annex you? The company's assets in South Africa as a bargaining chip to blackmail you out of the spice trade in the East Indies?"

"This is very likely to happen..." Having said that, Josiah Child was also a little uncertain.That's right, if the company can't stand it in South Africa, it's better to sell it directly to the people on the east coast for a sum of money. Of course, this needs to be approved by His Majesty the King first.Well, the king and some gentlemen in Congress might try to add other things to this deal, such as asking the people on the east coast to declare a permanent waiver of the right of first refusal to the New Netherlands, just so that the East The Indian company should not even think about selling this land for any price, maybe it will be free!This is not impossible.

"It seems that I need to return to London as soon as possible. I need to sort out the news and report it to the company's senior management." Josiah Child finished his coffee and said with a sad face: "I will stay here for a few more days. The owner of the merchant ship on board intends to dispose of the pepper, nutmeg, fennel, opium, benzoin, and Punjab raw silk in Qingdao Port, and then buy some mechanical parts, soda ash, knives, steel bars, soap, Rubber products, this may take some time, I hope you can tell me more about the requirements and plans of the people on the east coast in the past few days, I am very grateful."

"There is no problem, Mr. Josiah, you will get what you want." Mr. Charles said: "I have always maintained that the East India trade has brought unparalleled benefits to the Kingdom of England. The benefits are extremely astonishing. For such an extremely important enterprise, it is reasonable and necessary for the Parliament and His Majesty the King to pay more attention, otherwise the distance between us and the United Provinces will be further and further apart. I will do my best to help you, Mr. Josiah."

(End of this chapter)