Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 1467 The curtain rises

Santo Domingo, Cape-de-France, French, February 1667, 2.

After a heavy rain, the blue sky was very clear and clear.A group of guests came down from a two-masted medium-sized sailboat that had just returned from Xinjing Port in the Free State. To be precise, they were more than a dozen whites and several black servants. The large four-wheeled carriage, and then staggered into the city on the broken and muddy dirt road.

"Victor, how do you feel when you go to Xinjing Port this time?" Claremont, the newly appointed governor of the French King Louis XIV, welcomed several of them into his official residence, and then asked with a smile: "I heard some businessmen ( Mostly smugglers) said that the southern island of Trinidad has now been occupied by the people from the east coast, and they have stationed some troops there. A few rash boys who want to go to make a fortune are out of luck, and now they are all gone. Working in a logging camp of the Easterners in shackles. Hehe, this group of heretics is becoming more and more powerful in the Caribbean Sea, which is really worrying.”

"Now we need to worry about the spread of paganism." Victor is a Catholic priest. At this time, he first crossed his chest devoutly, and then said: "Now the Paganism in the Free State near the mouth of the Mississippi River The number of followers is also increasing. These people believe in Taoism, the founder is Daokiun. ), this religion does not allow killing, because they think that the souls of their ancestors may reincarnate to these irrational animals, but there are really few such people, because there are too few people in the Free State who can insist on not killing, And they love meat, which is expensive and not very common."

"These Taoists recognize that there is a God who lives in heaven and can see everything. But their understanding of God is really limited. They don't know if God is still alive. They always say that God is everywhere. Their clergymen It’s ridiculous to bow and offer incense once in the morning, noon and evening, but don’t know the existence of the Holy Trinity.” Father Victor laughed and said, “Now it’s worth noting that a new sect has emerged in the local area, and Because of the status of these people, it developed rapidly, and mainly took the upper-level route. Many officials and nobles have become believers in this sect, and the future prospects are limitless. Well, this religion was formed by some thinkers based on the writings of Confucius. sect, who claim to be apprentices of Mencius."

It is said that since the Executive Committee of the East Coast Republic of China made the decision to exile undisciplined Ming Dynasty scholars to the Free State many years ago, after so many years, the total number of Ming Dynasty scholars who have been exiled there has been quite a lot. It looks like there are about 800 people.Because these people can read, write, and speak Chinese (which is also the official language of the Free State), they have a lot of knowledge and a high level of education, so they are very popular in the Free State. First class.If you add that their skin color is the same as that of the East Coast nation, so it is easier to win the favor of the free state dignitaries. You must know that the fear and awe of the Black Eight Banners towards the East Bank are deep in their bones, so When facing these scholars of the Ming Dynasty, they were naturally treated with extra courtesy.

From the perspective of these scholars of the Ming Dynasty, when they were taken away in the Ming Dynasty (basically they all came from Huai’an Prefecture, because of the prosperity of the local economy, there were many sons of gentry, wealthy merchants, and official officials. Of course, there were also many active officials. Because there are too many local yamen), they thought it was a dead end, but later they were transported across the sea to the east coast thousands of miles away, which made them no longer know what to say or what to think.

After coming to the east bank, some people quickly recognized the reality. After a painful life gap and transformation, they gradually integrated into the new life of the east bank. Although they were not used to it and were unhappy, they could only That's it.Of course, there are more people who can't turn the corner and always make such and other problems, so I'm sorry, they can only be exiled overseas, so as not to cause trouble for themselves in the country-if their family members If you voluntarily follow them to the place of exile overseas, then the government also agrees, and this kind of family exile generally accounts for the majority.

When the scholars who were exiled in the past came to the Free State, they could only rely on those high-ranking officials and dignitaries to do the work of aides, masters, and paintings in order to make a living.Fortunately, they are also very good at this kind of paperwork, and they handle it in an orderly manner—especially those active or retired officials and their children—it really effectively improved the administrative efficiency of the Free State.

Later, these people took the initiative to participate in government affairs, helping the big bosses of the Black Eight Banners to clarify the official system, tax system, and military system, and created a system that combined the Ming and Song dynasties of the East Bank and the Central Plains, such as Liang Xiangjian's The official position of the commander of the Fengtian City Horse Infantry Army, the mixed-race black son Liang Zan, was like this. It was the "capacity" of these scholars who stunned the officials of the Executive Committee who heard it for the first time.

"Tell me about the situation in Xinjing, Father. You know, as a loyal servant of His Majesty the King, I am obliged to report this information to him. Now that the fleet and personnel of the East Coasters are marching into the Caribbean Sea, I am always very disturbed. Because it threatens the interests of the king." The governor listened patiently to the priest about the "evil deeds" of the heretics, and then made a cross on his chest to express his repentance, and finally said to the priest.

"Well, um, how should I put it, for a period of time in Xinjing Port, Captain Henry and I have been trying to figure out a problem, that is, how many people does their country, which is only composed of two city-states, have? People can tell me the exact number, some say a few thousand, some say 1, but I think it should be around [-], no more, because their economic strength cannot support too many people.” Father Victor said, "I tried to visit their capital more often to learn what I wanted to know, but it was terrible and failed twice. You know, because of our looks, there are a bunch of people everywhere we go." Boys surrounded us, maybe they thought we were some kind of weird animal, they threw stones, sand and dirt at us, we had to struggle every time to get rid of these nasty 'followers' Even so, we took our limited chance to figure something out—”

"I saw on the outskirts of the city that both sides of the road were covered with rice paddy, water lilies and a plant that the locals call a sagittarius—well, oval, not much bigger than a potato. There are also some coconut trees near the coastline , I don’t know how they got it, because it is said that this kind of tree is only found in Asia, maybe it is the seeds brought by some local New China Malays. It is worth mentioning that the main ethnic group in the Free State is black. They don’t know how to grow rice, in fact they are best at dry-fed plants such as sorghum, peanuts, sesame, watermelon, because they have grown these plants for hundreds of years in South Africa, but they are very good at raising livestock.”

"I guess, the reason why these people can grow rice crops is probably because of the Ming prisoners who have been exiled here for many years from the east coast. Of course, those Malays who were exiled here from Xinhua Island will also grow this crop. grow crops.” Father Victor continued: “These people don’t need to feed their cows because they run on pastures all year round. They also rarely keep cows at home because only a small number of people need milk, butter. And cheese, not like us in the Old World, maybe because of the difference in living habits."

"People in this country cook very simply. Instead of bread, they eat rice. They boil the rice in water, let the water run off, and eat the hot rice that has expanded. I have seen freedom on the docks The scene where the people of Bang eat, they sit in a circle on the ground, and then fill a bowl full of rice from a wooden barrel, and then fill it again and again after eating, and eat some other dishes at the same time. Only some have People of status have tables, tablecloths, napkins, and decent utensils, and their meat and fish are cut into small pieces and placed in plates or pots, and they drink some bad wine or tea brewed by themselves... "Father Victor continued, not noticing His Excellency Governor Claremont's increasingly dark complexion.

"Come to the point, Father! How many armies do they have, how many cannons? How effective are they? I need to know that first, not about boring pagan religion, food, or culture, and you might be able to share this experience with yourself when you go back. Write it as a travel book and publish it, but please tell me what I want to know first, understand?" Governor Claremont finally couldn't bear it anymore, and interrupted the priest who thought he was feeling good.

"Well, you are always so impatient, Your Excellency Governor." Father Victor was stunned for a moment when he heard the words, and then said helplessly: "It is said that their army is large, no less than 2000 people, this should be related to their population results, Young and middle-aged people accounted for the majority. It is worth mentioning that these people have more or less experience in war. To be precise, they have sacrificed their lives for the people on the east coast and went to the battlefield. Those people always say so when they brag. But What kind of battle they fought and how fierce it was is hard to judge, because no one ever saw them fight, although it is said that they fought well against the Indians. Ha ha, Indians, ha ha, and again It can be explained, but nothing can be explained.”

"Some Indian tribes are still brave and difficult to control. Forget it, let's not talk about it for now." Governor Claremont waved his hand and started pacing in the room. Xu looked even more upright, and he said after a long while: "Now I am very worried about a problem, that is, once the people on the east coast turn against us, these black soldiers may be sent to fight against us. Father Victor, even if we With the guidance of God, but can the whole of Santo Domingo be attacked by two thousand black soldiers armed with cannons and with some combat experience?"

"It's really unlikely, unless we can stop their ships at sea." The priest responded truthfully.

"Once these blacks come and attack Santo Domingo, it means we are in full-scale war with the East Coasters, and their warships stationed in Trinidad will crush our ships out of port, I'm sure. "Governor Claremont said, "This is really a troublesome question, not to mention that the people on the east coast themselves also have a garrison on Trinidad."

"Why are you so worried, my lord, we seem to be in a state of peace with the people on the east coast right now? Why would they attack us for no reason, even though they are all damned heretics?" Father Victor was a little puzzled .

"It doesn't hurt to tell you this question, because Paris has received news that the Spaniards may have signed a military alliance with the pagans on the east coast, which may be detrimental to the great France. The accuracy of this news is very high , as we have heard this statement from more than one Spanish Hidalgo, and it seems to be true on the whole, so His Majesty the King informed it to the principal officials of the various overseas colonies, and this is why I sent you to go with the ship. The reason why the Free State inquired about the news is that I must be aware of the situation of the enemy."

"This is really bad!" Father Victor exclaimed, "Then since His Majesty the King knows the news, why does he insist on going to war against Spain?"

"It can't be stopped anymore." Governor Claremont said in a complicated tone: "The 20 army did not happen overnight. Now that they have been armed, the war machine can no longer be stopped. Nobles and generals have requested His Majesty the King gave them the opportunity to show their valor, and His Majesty is also willing to expand his reputation and prestige by conquering the Southern Netherland, Franche-Comté, Lorraine, Strasbourg, etc. It is impossible to stop All this, otherwise the king will lose face, and the reputation of France will be seriously damaged. Besides, compared to capturing the above-mentioned places and spying on the rich United Provinces, are some overseas colonies really that important? Even if the St. A place as big as Domingo is not as big as Lorraine or Strasbourg!"

This sentence is true. In the eyes of a land power like France—although the country has begun to implement a five-year construction plan for 65 heavy warships—the status of the Caribbean overseas colonies is the same. In order to successfully seize the Southern Netherlands So what if all the overseas colonies are lost in this kind of land that kings and nobles dream of?

And it was precisely with this kind of thinking that on February 1667, 2, King Louis XIV of France rushed to the front line in person, and then led the most elite 20 people into the Spanish Netherlands, which was a long time earlier than in history. It looks like three months.So far, the war between Spain and France has officially broken out, and the secret military alliance between East and West has been officially activated!

(End of this chapter)