Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 1415 Layout of the Power Vacuum Period ([-])

October 1665, 10, the 7th anniversary of the East Coast Founders' landing.

Ding Yiyu, the president of the Caribbean Shipping Company, arrived in the capital in a hurry and intercepted Guo Zili who had just returned to the capital's Dongfang Port.The ship that carried him back was the "Malaysian Island" class sail escort gunship "Swordfish" that was half-sold and half-sold to Air Canada after being retired from the Navy. Those who were ill and returned to China for recuperation returned to their homeland, and by the way, they escorted three 650-ton flute-shaped transport ships ordered by Air Canada at the Dayuhe Factory to return to the Mobile Commercial Station.

Returning to the capital after several years, Ding Yiyu hardly felt that the capital had changed much compared to before, except for the gas lamps in the water and the newly built fine gravel roads, everything else was the same as when he left.This may be due to the gradual relocation of many enterprises out of the capital over the years, the outflow of personnel and funds, and the reduction of economic investment.Alas, the capital is gradually falling behind. After all, the foundation is poor. Looking at the wide and straight stone road on the Expo Street in Qingdao County, the capital is not even a meter long. It's really bad.have to!This place is indeed not suitable for carrying too much population. Tens of thousands of people have reached the limit. In the future, we, the capital of the Great East Coast, may have to find another place. The La Plata Great Plain is very good, and the foundation of Wangba !

Guo Zili, who came back from a walk in Nanzhuo, looks very good, probably because he is in a high position. His brows and eyes, which looked passionate and sharp in the past, are now much rounder, and they are no longer as aggressive as before. heroism.Ding Yiyu thought about it, it seems that years and power can really affect a person's character. Guo Zili, who was so radical back then, has gradually become a bit of a sophisticated bureaucrat, which made Ding Yiyu confident about his trip. It dropped a few more points.

"Old Ding, it's rare to come back, why are you so cautious." Guo Zili personally served Ding Yiyu a cup of tea, then sat next to him, and said with emotion: "It's been 35 years. The old brothers have passed away, retired and retired, and there are not many who are still jumping on the stage. You must have something to do when you return to the capital this time. Tell me, I will do it if I can. , are all old brothers."

Ding Yiyu didn't expect Guo Zili to say these words, and he felt a little bit emotional for a while. After he calmed down a little, he said, "Okay, then I won't talk nonsense. I'm going back to the capital this time. Simply put, it's actually La Here comes the sponsorship. Yes, that’s right, it’s really hard for us to beg for Caribbean Shipping.”

"Stop, stop! Old Ding, I know what you mean this time." Guo Zili sat down on a grand chair, comfortably took the pipe lit by the secretary, took two puffs, and then used the full He said in a tired tone: "Did you hear something when you came back? The idea of ​​those old escort gunboats under the name of the First Fleet? Let me tell you, old Ding, we have already promised fifteen old ships to the Dutch." , I sold you a few frigates that are about to be decommissioned at a low price. There are really no extra ships. After all, the navy has to live, and the replacement star light cruisers and solar-level frigates are still preparing wood I don’t even know when it will be handed over to the navy, so I really can’t help you any more. In terms of the ship, you should give up your mind, really.”

In fact, Guo Zili has been putting a lot of pressure on this matter recently.In fact, the East Coast Navy has been following the route of elite soldiers for many years, that is, to maintain an efficient and capable small and medium-sized professional fleet. The number of warships is generally not very large, and the number of reserve civilian ships that can be converted into warships is also small. There are not many, so its strength is more than self-preservation and less aggressive.

This time the Dutch Navy was hit by the British off the coast of Bergen, Denmark. After suffering heavy losses, it began to frantically increase its military expenditure by 1200 million guilders (100 million guilders more than in history), preparing to rebuild the navy. Continuing the struggle with the English.In the planning of the three-level parliament, the new United Provincial Fleet, some warships are self-made, and some warships are purchased from other countries' ready-made ships. The former may be easy to achieve, but the latter may be a little more difficult.Therefore, it is normal for them to find the people on the east coast and request to directly purchase the active escort gunships of the east coast navy while ordering new ships. The people on the east coast have already promised fifteen old ships to the Dutch, and But the escort gunboats should not be moved lightly. After all, there are many sea missions to be carried out on the east coast. It is impossible to send big guys like the "August [-]th" class or even the "Executive Committee" class out every time, right?That's not realistic at all!Therefore, when Guo Zili saw Ding Yiyu, the president of Air Canada, coming to his door, he thought that he had heard some news and came to ask him for a used boat, so he refused.

When Ding Yiyu heard Guo Zili's random mention of the ship, he was stunned for a while, and then he said with a smile: "Chief of Staff Guo, what are you talking about? Of course, we are in urgent need of ships at Air Canada, but we We can also tell the difference. With the current state of the country, we will naturally not come up with unreasonable demands. There are two things I want to say this time, both of which are related to Trinidad. First, The first one, I heard that the higher ups intend to let Air Canada move its headquarters from the Mobile River to Trinidad? Our mother's family of Air Canada, you must help us with things..."

"Although Air Canada briefly set up its headquarters in Puerto Rico in the early years, the company's headquarters has been set up there ever since it spent a huge amount of money to build the Mobile Commercial Station/Fortress and the attached river port docks and forts. It has never changed. Moreover, the commercial station has been operating very well, and the relationship with the surrounding Indians is not bad. Many plantations are also surrounded by the commercial station, and the local population is quite large. Now you let us How is it possible to relocate the headquarters to the remote island of Trinidad! Not only do I disagree with this matter, but the company's shareholders will also not agree, do you really think we can cover the sky with one hand?" Ding Yiyu continued to complain, The discourse was full of confusion about the "brain-dead" decision of the executive committee.

"Hehe, why are you so excited? Isn't that just a saying? It's not written at all, and I'm afraid of Mao." Guo Zili responded with some embarrassment when he heard the words, "Actually, this is because the executive committee is poor now. It’s all about developing Trinidad Island with the help of your Air Canada company’s funds. Since you don’t want to, then let’s let it go. In fact, I raised objections during the discussion at the meeting, but the members of the executive committee still want to Just listen to your company's opinion, if they really feel that the burden is heavy, then they are also willing to subsidize your company with 5-10 yuan in the form of materials..."

"No, really, my company has no interest in moving the headquarters to Trinidad. The current Mobile store is doing well, and the family business is here. It has nothing to do with the Free State. It's also more convenient to connect, so I don't want to move." Ding Yiyu immediately said without hesitation: "Chief of Staff Guo, you have heard about our company's current financial situation. There are too many places to spend money. Ah, and the higher-ups are pressing us to transport the Black Banners officers and soldiers and their families to North America, which is a huge expense. If the higher-ups continue to do this, I don’t think the prestigious Caribbean Shipping Company will do it. Plan it, plan it, declare bankruptcy directly, save trouble!"

"As for this, old Ding." Guo Zili laughed, crossed his legs, and said with a smile: "The second thing you mentioned is also related to Trinidad Island? Haha, I think I have already You probably know what's going on. Why, you guys are also eyeing the star light cruiser that the navy is building, and want to get sponsorship from the Ministry of the Navy?"

"That's right, Lao Guo!" Ding Yiyu, who was already a little gray at the temples, slapped his right thigh with his right hand and said with a smile, "I've been thinking recently that European countries are paying more and more attention to the Caribbean Sea, and investment is also increasing. The behavior is also becoming more and more frequent, which has brought great negative effects to our company and even the business community of our country. In the face of such a situation, our Air Canada company's existing strength alone is very powerless, so , Should the Ministry of the Navy and even the executive committee have some policy inclinations for our company, such as imitating the old practice of the Okhotsk Sea Squadron of the Third Fleet in the Blackwater Region of the Far East, leasing some 'unnecessary' star light cruisers Give it to my company to fight against piracy and smuggling in the Caribbean Sea, maintain normal commercial order, and grab a share of the benefits for our company and the business community of our country."

"You're right..." Guo Zili laughed when he heard the words, "What is an unnecessary star light cruiser? Let me tell you the truth, President Ding, the Navy also needs a large number of star light cruisers. Others Not to mention, the country's coastline is so long, and a large number of such ships are needed to fight smuggling and pirates in the offshore, so it is not useless at all, because the number of dozens of ships we are going to build is just enough to meet the needs of the local people. It's just a need."

"Wait, don't interrupt, wait for me to finish." Seeing that Ding Yiyu was in a hurry, Guo Zili waved his hand again and said to him: "But what you said about Western European countries accelerating their deployment in the Caribbean Sea is also true! The English, in particular, have grown in strength in recent years, expanding extremely fast in the Caribbean, Barbados, Jamaica, St. Kitts, Bahamas, etc., and even Guyana in South America. With the help of sufficient Dutch capital, the investment is also quite large, and it has gradually become an extremely powerful force in the Caribbean Sea. This can be seen from the fact that they have a squadron stationed in Jamaica Island, not to mention the number There are so many official and semi-official pirate privateers. The expansion of the British in the Caribbean has injected huge profits into their business. At the same time, it has also objectively promoted the industrial production of their country, which does not benefit the country as a whole. Said. Therefore, we should really face up to the expansion behavior of the Europeans in this fertile sea area, and actively wedge in, act as a shit stick, and at the same time safeguard our own commercial interests. After all, the Kingdom of Spain has five Caribbean ports The opening of the port was given to us, if we don’t make good use of such conditions, we will be blind.”

"Therefore—" Guo Zili took out a document that looked like an investigation report from the drawer, threw it to Ding Yiyu, and said: "The members of the executive committee have also reached an agreement this time, that is, starting from the second half of 1666, Deploy four star-rated light cruisers in Trinidad to replace some of the original old ships and return to China. In the future, two more star-rated light cruisers will be sent there every year to strengthen the protection against local smuggling ships and pirate ships. The strength of the attack. Well, the upper limit of the squadron in Trinidad is tentatively set at ten star light cruisers, and the key targets of the attack are the British smuggling ships that compete with us. The British have no reason to complain to us , as they are likely to be doing the same to our merchant ships."

Ding Yiyu flipped through the investigation report in front of him. It was issued by the General Administration of National Intelligence. It mainly analyzed the goods carried by several lost South China Sea Transportation Company merchant ships and some news circulating in Europe. They judged that these merchant ships might have been captured by the British Pirates have been attacked, the probability is as high as 50%.And considering the inextricable connection between the notorious British pirates and their government, it is natural to retaliate and attack the British in the Caribbean, and it is still aboveboard. Fight against smuggling, you British say not come out.After all, the Spaniards awarded the trade concessions of several major ports to the east coast (an extension was recently negotiated), not you!If you don't want to be caught by the latest high-speed light cruiser on the Great East Coast, then it is best to give up the markets of the two viceroyalties of New Spain and Peru as soon as possible-of course, this is impossible for the British.

"Four ships will be in place before the end of next year..." Ding Yiyu closed the investigation report at hand with some helplessness, and after thinking for a while, he said: "It's okay, it's better than nothing. It's really hard to rely on our company's ships to fight smuggling now." The smuggling ships of those unknown countries are really all-pervasive and hard to guard against. Many ships are faster than ours, which really blows people's lungs! If there are star-rated light cruisers from the Navy to join, then this kind of The efficiency of combating smuggling will be greatly enhanced, which means economic benefits."

"That's natural." Guo Zili took a puff of cigarette and said complacently: "Now the British and the Dutch are fighting and fighting like that. After a few years, they will decide the winner. We are in the Caribbean. The layout will also take shape. A new player has been added to the chess game in the Caribbean."

I was officially discharged from the hospital today, and I will rest at home for a while, and I will keep updating during the period, thank you for your support.

(End of this chapter)