Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 1475 Delicate East-British Relations ([-])

"The dreary city is shrouded in smog and exudes a foul smell. I want to go to the fields full of morning dew and breathe the fresh air. At my feet, the dewdrops are dripping everywhere. I walk through the reeds, through a green The labyrinth, towards a wall of roses." Beautiful poetry singing sounded in the distance, Major Jiang Yaohui, the commander of the Spanish Provisional Task Force, stopped and listened to this poem warmly praising the rural scenery of England for a while, and then lightly sniffed the fresh morning The air mixed with the smell of lakes, meadows, and forests made him enjoy it very much, so he said after a while: "London with a population of 40 is filthy, but people are flocking there. Enclosure The rise of the movement has made more and more people no longer content with the simple life of the past, and of course this is an inevitable historical development.”

"I haven't been back to England for many years. To be honest, the countryside of Dover is almost the same as it was 30 years ago. What has changed is probably those cities." Major Ston is now a prominent figure on the East Coast, It’s not the man who went to sea to fight for two money back then, but he spoke from a new height: “However, I heard that the rural enclosure movement in the north and west is relatively strong now, and many people have lost the land that their ancestors depended on for survival. Even the church, under the pressure of businessmen and factory owners, has stopped giving farmers long-term land leases. You must know that many leases used to be for a lifetime, and everyone can live in the countryside with peace of mind, but not now It's..."

"However, reclamation is still going on. I heard from my friends that the arable land and pastures in England are less than half of the country. There are large herds of wild deer wandering in the forest." Major Ston continued: "Take a southern area like Dover as an example, there are bison in the forest. I just don't know who won the enclosure movement or the reclamation movement, or whether Is it a win-win?"

"Let's not talk about this. The development of England is changing with each passing day. I saw that the ship repair shop in Dover used a lot of machines imported from our country. Of course, they also made their own reference facilities. In short, industrial productivity has made great strides over the years. It is undeniable that the country has made progress, and this is undeniable. In addition, in the past ten years or so, the overseas colonization of the British has become more and more prosperous. The industry has been greatly developed, and the development of these industries needs to devour a huge population." Major Jiang Yaohui said: "So you can see that even if tens of thousands of people died in this plague in London, But there are still people adding to this huge city, because most of the country's commercial and trade institutions are concentrated there, and other industries such as shipbuilding are also quite prosperous, so it has a continuous and huge attraction. One thing is very different from our country.”

With almost all of the more than 20 ships of the East Coast Fleet stationed in the Port of Dover, this small town that was originally a bit mysterious to the people on the East Coast has shed its veil, especially since it gathers most of the shipbuilding industry and ships. Docklands including repair workshops.The people on the east bank saw here that the drainage and pumping facilities in the dock have been replaced by steam water pumps, and they seem to be working well-although they are larger, heavier, less efficient and expensive than the steam pumps on the east coast Some, with a higher failure rate, but it is indeed a considerable improvement from before - and the number of equipment is also large, which seems to indicate the acceptance of this new type of machinery by the English industry, which may help them The steam engine performance has been improved.

In addition, don't think that the current application of the steam engine in England is limited to marsh drainage, mine or dock pumping, etc. Just like the ironworks invested by the Dutch in Sweden, the English are now gradually using steam breakers, Steam forging hammers are used in mining and iron smelting industries to replace those old-fashioned hydraulic breakers and hydraulic forging hammers.

Although the reliability of this steam machine is not very high, and the price is relatively expensive, many people are unwilling to purchase and use it.However, due to its ability to operate normally in dry seasons and the abundant and cheap coal resources in the UK, some businessmen still purchased such machinery so that their own factories could start work in winter and spring, which undoubtedly further promoted the development of steam machinery. The development in England was the same as the development of the steam engine in Sweden and northern Germany (the use of steam engines in the northern German city-states was still learned from Dutch merchants in Sweden).

Machinery—especially steam machinery—although the proportion of machinery in European countries at this time is still extremely small, far from being comparable to hydraulic, wind or animal power machinery, it is slowly spreading everywhere. It has been promoted, such as Portugal, England, the United Provinces, Sweden and North Germany.England and the United Provinces, in particular, had the best understanding of the steam engine, the most yearning for this new type of machinery, and also possessed certain technical conditions, so they developed rapidly.Although it is still a small fire, it may not be able to develop into a prairie fire in the future. It is estimated that there will not be too many years when people on the east coast enjoy the convenience of steam engines alone. Of course, this is also a historical necessity.

After Jiang Yaohui and Sidun visited the countryside in the early morning of late spring in England, they turned back to the fleet's berth.In all fairness, the British put a lot of effort into "receiving" the arrival of the East Coast Fleet. For example, they moved some of their own warships to be repaired in the port in advance, so as to free up all the limited berths for ship repairs. Carry out maintenance for ships on the east coast (of course, this is also related to the fact that the British navy is short of funds at this time, unwilling to continue fighting, and is seeking peace with the Netherlands); Canvas, cables, gunpowder, shells (temporarily processed according to the caliber of the artillery on the east coast) and so on related to the war are in sufficient supply, which greatly facilitates the people on the east coast; finally, the price of the materials they supply to the people on the east coast , The cost of repairing and maintaining ships and the fees for using ports and wharfs are slightly more expensive than the charges for domestic ships, but they are not much different. This is equivalent to the goodwill released by the British, especially when they are with Compared with what the United Provinces, its own quasi-ally on the east coast, have done, it is even more impossible to say.

The reason for this is probably because the British were a little bit overwhelmed in the long war with the United Provinces at this time. Although they had achieved a lot of victories tactically, the Dutch lost far more than them, but strategically. In an extremely passive situation, because they have never been able to defeat the wealthy and powerful rival United Provinces, not to mention the mass death and subsequent chaos caused by the introduction of the London Plague from Amsterdam.

It can be said that England is now more eager for allies than ever before. They had wooed Denmark before, but were pulled over by the United Provinces with a silver bullet offensive.Later, he also funded the Bishop of Munster, and achieved considerable success for a time. The army recruited by His Excellency the Bishop of Munster easily defeated the Dutch Army (it makes people unable to complain...), and advanced into the southeastern part of the United Provinces, but With the participation of [-] French troops, the [-]-strong Münster army was defeated, and then disbanded by the Dutch with a large sum of money, once again saving the day.

The failure to recruit allies twice did not make the English give up. At present, although Charles II requested peace talks with the Dutch because the Congress did not honor the appropriation for the navy, his envoys have never stopped traveling to various countries in the European continent. Whether it was Spain, Sweden, or any other country, they all rejected the English's proposal to jointly attack the Netherlands, because they obviously did not want to offend the United Provinces, which are in full swing.

This time, King Louis XIV of France waged war on his brother-in-law for his wife’s inheritance, which made the people on the east bank automatically join the war—Li Qing’s special envoy declared war through an Italian businessman who invested in Lyon more than two months ago The book was forwarded to Paris—which opened the English eyes to another possibility.Of course, the people on the east coast clearly expressed their position and attitude (that is, only aimed at France) before the British test, which made the British give up some unrealistic fantasies. Build a good relationship. After all, Japan will last forever. No one can say what will happen in the future. What if the East Coast and Britain come together for a certain strategic goal in the future? European history has proved this countless times.

In order to achieve the purpose of deepening the relationship with the East Bank, in addition to providing the above-mentioned facilities, the British also made an understanding with the East Bank on the issue of the British South African colony that had been pending before, that is, they agreed to the renunciation proposed by the East Bank people. The right of first refusal to New Netherland in exchange for an offer from British South Africa.

This proposal has been dragged on for a long time before, and has not made much progress. Apart from involving many interests and being relatively complicated, it is more likely that the British have no intention of considering this aspect at all.In addition, they felt that after dispatching so many army soldiers, and the Portuguese East African colony provided some supplies, they should not fall for a while, so the matter was delayed.

But after fighting for so long in British South Africa, the situation is already in jeopardy. The Portuguese took pictures of the fierce flames of the Dutch East India Company and cut off their support to British South Africa. This made their situation even more difficult-to say the least If it weren't for the help from the people on the east coast, this group of people would have been unable to persist.However, if this is the case, the patience of the East Bank is almost exhausted. I believe that if the British procrastinate and disagree this time, it is estimated that the East Coast people will activate the landmines buried in the British army.At the same time, Captain Yang Liang Yang will also lead his troops into Fort Charles on the grounds of "finding missing soldiers", formally take over British South Africa, and pull teeth from the Dutch jaws.It’s just that if you do this, you will look a little ugly. Now that the British are willing to exchange it, it’s great. Legal principles and reasons are in hand, and it’s justifiable to take over.

Of course, this land belongs to the British East India Company, and theoretically the British government has no right to dispose of it.But you must know that the colony has never been a private matter. If the colonial company sells land without government approval, it has always been an empty talk.In addition, the current situation of the British East India Company is not very good. The Far East has been suppressed by the Dutch East India Company and has no choice but to keep warm with the Portuguese; The wealthy members of the East India trade who made huge profits from the East India trade were chasing after them. Many people turned over the old accounts of the Cromwell period and clamored for liquidation. Their ultimate goal was to achieve the restructuring of the British East India Company so that they could join in. Take a share.Therefore, their life is quite difficult at present, and they urgently need the support of King Charles to clean up the stains on themselves during the Cromwell period. Finally, the British South African colony was sent to the arms of the people on the east coast.

It is reported that Special Envoy Li Qing has signed a tripartite agreement with King Charles II of England and representatives of the British East India Company, formally demarcating the ownership of the British South Africa colony, and at the same time officially announcing that the East Coast Republic of China has given up its claim to New Netherland. The right of first refusal does not care how the land is disposed of on the East Bank.

In order to express his gratitude to the East India Company, Mr. Li Qing, the East Coast Plenipotentiary Envoy to Europe, also expressed that he would give the British East India Company a one-time financial subsidy of [-] East Bank silver dollars to compensate for their losses in South Africa. Good relations, further deepening the meaning of bilateral trade.After all, the dominance of the Dutch family in the East Indies area is not in the interests of the East China Republic. In fact, everyone knows this very well, so there is no need to say much.

On June 1667, 6, under the command of Lieutenant Commander Jiang Yaohui, the Spanish provisional task force, which had rested and replenished for a week in the port of Dover, all set sail.After sorting out the formation in the open sea, this huge tonnage fleet slowly left the Strait of Dover and headed eastward to the French fortress of Dunkirk, intending to annihilate the main force of the French navy and make it a The toothless tiger can no longer pose too much threat to the people on the east coast in a short time.

On June 6, after escaping a sudden storm, the Spanish temporary task force, which had gone a long way, suddenly appeared in the sea off the port of Dunkirk, and intercepted several French ships that were cruising out to sea and failed to evade. Ships, the first battle between the navies of the East and France, suddenly started on this otherwise unremarkable afternoon.

(End of this chapter)