Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 1624 Split and Judgment

In mid-December 1672, Li Qing had to interrupt her diplomatic and business activities in the Ottoman Empire for half a year, and returned to the United Provinces on a ship from the Amsterdam Mercantile Station.

The Ottoman army finally entered Poland in October, and immediately besieged the first stumbling block Kamenica Fortress encountered.There are not many Polish soldiers guarding the fortress, only more than 10. In addition, there are a few German mercenaries and temporarily recruited farmers and soldiers. Therefore, although the fortress is quite strong, the Ottoman army of nearly 1000 did not take much effort. It took just over a week to completely storm the fort and then razed it to the ground.

After occupying this fortress, Lublin, an important town in eastern Poland, was completely exposed to the peak of the Turks, and there were no established resistance forces around it. It can be seen from all the wars since this century that Poland is a A country in a state of disunity and no standing army, so in the early stages of the war, the enemy is always driven straight in. This is the case with the Turks, as was the case with the Russians and Swedes back then, and the Brandenburg-Prussians with low combat power even "sealed" The state of Poland can’t even beat——According to the news Li Qing received before leaving Istanbul, the army forward led by Grand Vizier Ahmed has advanced to occupy Lublin, an important city, and the southeast of the entire Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in three months The Ministry has basically fallen, and the tens of thousands of cavalry from the Crimean Khanate, like tigers and wolves breaking into a flock of sheep, started a big robbery, and this is also what the Ottoman Sultan and Grand Vizier promised to Kerry A "gift" from Grail Khan of Mia, as a reward for sending troops to help them fight.

For this, Li Qing is happy to see the success.He doesn't have a lot of Madonna complex, and he doesn't have much touch on the so-called humanitarian disasters in southeastern Poland. Compared with these, he is more concerned about whether the Crimean Tatars are strong enough and whether the Poles Before reacting, enough people were collected, and then they were unified and sent to Hagi Port on the Crimean Peninsula to be delivered to the people on the east coast.

These labor forces are still very important to the future development of the east coast, because domestic lumber mills, mines, brick kilns, quarries, farms, plantations, construction teams and other institutions are now hungry for labor!Restricted by policy factors, they can't do anything to the large number of Ming and Qing people who immigrate to the east coast every year, but they don't have the slightest psychological pressure on the black slaves and white slaves who came from the trade. .

Li Qing estimated that the first batch of Polish slaves had already arrived in the Crimea Peninsula.He was relatively at ease with Gao Wengang and Malati, two capable subordinates who were there to handle the slave delivery, and generally nothing would be missed.As for himself, he should return to Amsterdam as soon as possible. In the next period of time, this will be the center of the storm in the whole of Europe, and he cannot be absent.

After arriving in Amsterdam, Li Qing was immediately informed that Mr. John DeWitt, the speaker of the three-level parliament, wanted to meet him and talk about the position of the East Coast Republic of China in this diplomatic crisis. Li Qing accepted the invitation happily. And on December 12, he drove to the residence of the DeWitt brothers in Amsterdam.

The recent political atmosphere in Amsterdam is a bit dignified, and Li Qingfu knew it when she came to Hong Kong.His subordinates told him that there had been a lot of debate in the city lately about some of the works published by John Delacourt, which were complex but central to the position of the "ruler" of Holland (generally owned by the House of Orange). person in charge of) storage and disposal.Delacourt made it clear in his writings that the existence of the office of government would corrupt republican thought and be a threat to liberty.He believed that liberty was best served by the rulers of the cities, who were the strength of the provinces, because they were accountable to the citizens.

Therefore, Delacourt insisted that the principle of the independence of the provinces established by the Utrecht Union must be further emphasized, and that armed citizens are the best defense force-because they are in order to protect their lives and properties. Fighting on one's own soil - the existence of the "dictatorship" position of ruling seriously hinders the future development and free spirit of the United Provinces and must be abolished.

Undoubtedly, Delacourt's works were dug up because of the push behind the scenes, and the spearhead was definitely pointed at the Orange family, which has recently become more popular.However, perhaps because of a miscalculation of the situation, or because the Orange family has accumulated a lot of money over the years, the result of this debate is obviously not conducive to the republicans. People who support the Orange believe that: based on pragmatism or history The principle of lessons learned, the republic cannot exist without a "key leader" who is in charge of the country, especially the army.

For the Orangemen, the history of the republic had demonstrated the validity of this view, and it had been further confirmed by events following the uprising against Spanish tyranny.The leadership of William of Orange, as well as the military achievements of Morris and Frederick Hendrick, provide ample evidence of this.

What was more, some said emotionally: "We owe a great deal to the House of Orange-Nassau, and for these reasons young William III deserves the The Chongzhen post of the United Provinces - the governing of the United Provinces."

The republican party feels a great headache about all these remarks, and with the increasing pressure from the French, these remarks will surely increase with the development of the situation, and finally make the current provinces of Friesland and Groningen provinces. The ruling William Frederick entered The Hague and assumed the governing position of the United Provinces, ending the 20-year rule of the republicans headed by Speaker de Witt.

This is not sensational, because recently there have been more or less activities in support of the Prince of Orange in various provinces and cities of the Netherlands.For example, the militiamen in the city of Zwolle asked the Prince of Orange to come out of the mountains to help them. These middle-class citizens from the middle class wore orange ribbons on their muskets for a military parade, and the rulers of the city also approved it.

The significance of this matter is extremely far-reaching, because it shows that the city councils that constitute the power base of the United Provinces have begun to have their own tendencies, that is, many cities have begun to move closer to the Orange family, hoping that the young William III can revive the family's reputation , to shelter them in the coming war.For this reason, even if he bowed his knees to him and sent him to the throne of the actual ruler of the United Provinces, he would not hesitate.Therefore, after learning about the current political trends in Amsterdam and even the Dutch province, Li Qing had an understanding of the current situation of Speaker DeWitt in her heart, and this also made him use the wording in the meeting between the two of them the next day. I know what I know.

"I moved to The Hague in 1647 and practiced as a lawyer. My father was extremely opposed to this. He wanted me to develop in my hometown of Dordrecht, because he had served as the city's lawyer for six consecutive terms. Mayor, and gained great prestige and connections. But I refused, because I didn’t want to start from a city councilor step by step under the protection of my father, and I would be gossiped by too many people.” A room with ordinary decoration In the living room, DeWitt carefully made a cup of coffee for Li Qing, and then said in a somewhat disappointed tone: "But I still couldn't persuade my father after all, and the lawyer's business was light at that time, so I finally left in 1650. I returned to Dordrecht in [-] and served as the chief judge of the city at the end of that year, and at the same time served as a member of parliament for the city of Dordrecht in The Hague. Due to my outstanding performance in parliamentary work, I was eventually appointed as a third-level The Speaker of the Parliament shoulders the heavy responsibility of leading the United Provinces to glory."

"I have led a government of vigor and capacity. I refrained from excessive and wasteful spending left over from the old days, lowered interest rates on government loans, refurbished warships, built better and more merchant ships, and attracted more capital and talents. , all these make the United Provinces continue to move forward on the right path. In 1658, 1663 and 1668, I was elected as the speaker of the three-level parliament three times, which is the affirmation of my government work. My wife has a huge Wealth is enough for me to live an unimaginable luxury life for ordinary people, but I don’t have it! I would rather live in an ordinary villa than show off my wealth, it’s pointless.” Speaker Devitt continued softly: “But Why are so many people against me now? Even many of my former friends are, they foolishly think that a 20-something young man with no experience at all can lead them through and to victory, which is ridiculous. Reason What is it? Is it because he is the heir of the Orange family in Nassau, and he has the blood of William Silent? This is ridiculous. In what age, there are still people who are superstitious about this kind of thing that obviously violates the republic and free thought. Stuff. I'm disappointed, really, Mr. Lee, I'm very disappointed."

In fact, the current situation in the Netherlands is quite chaotic, not only in the military, but also in the political field.That is to say, many people increasingly distrusted the government led by De Witt, and felt that they might not be able to make a strong resistance in front of the French, so they turned to the Orange faction, which represented the military aristocracy and the traditional land aristocracy. The ups and downs caused the power of the republicans to decline.And as the pressure from the French increases, the Republicans will only lose more power, and the Orange will only gain more power.

"Don't be too disappointed, Mr. Speaker. At least in the province of the Netherlands, there are still many people supporting you. As long as the province of the Netherlands is stable, at most there will be another province of Zeeland. No one can interfere with your work anymore." Li Qing gave a few words of comfort, then changed the subject and said, "The most important thing now is actually to solve the sword of war hanging over the head of the United Provinces. The root of all troubles. If the threat of war cannot be properly resolved, you will definitely encounter even greater troubles in the future. The people of the Orange family are also very good at playing tricks, and they are good at this."

"I love peace and I don't like war, but my neighbors in the United Provinces are not good brothers. They are trying to unite and destroy our peaceful, rich and prosperous republic by force. This is really a complete tragedy." Speaker de Witt responded: "France, Sweden, Münster, Cologne, and maybe England, these countries are eyeing the Netherlands, wanting to carve up our land and wealth, and enslaving our people, we will fight them to the end .”

"As one of the few republics in the world, on behalf of the East Coast Republic of China, I would like to support your country's just act of resisting aggression." Li Qing said immediately: "For this reason, our government has formally decided to accept your country's proposal, Send part of the army to join your country in the form of mercenaries to fight and defend the republic. In addition, the supply of materials will also be open, and the price will be fair, and we will do our best to protect your country's material reserves."

"Thank you very much for your country's help." Speaker De Witt had a smile on his face: "You have lived in the Netherlands for many years and know some things about our country. It was originally a civilian soldier in the army during the period of rebelling against the Spanish rule. Now Their combat effectiveness is indeed not as good as before. Maybe they are still loyal and enthusiastic, but there is no doubt that their fighting will and fighting skills have degraded a lot, and they are no longer enough to go through high-intensity wars. Therefore, your country's help is just a timely help , very timely and it would be great if they could arrive as soon as possible."

"You are the employers, you have the final say." Li Qing laughed and said, "Anyway, you are the ones who are paying the expenses from the day of departure. Since I have decided to let them arrive in the United Provinces quickly, I will arrange for someone to write a letter there immediately." , I believe that in the spring of next year, they will be able to arrive in the Dutch province in batches. However, Mr. Speaker, I hope that when our army arrives, a small part will be allocated to protect the safety of you and your family. I have noticed , you go out and about in the street either alone, or with a servant or two, which is not enough. You know, because of your 20 years of hard work in the United Provinces, you have a great reputation. You won't be able to sleep if you take it down. It's so hard politically because you can come back even if you lose for a while, so they don't always feel at ease, so these people may make some desperate moves , endangering your life safety. Please believe me, Mr. Speaker, I am thinking about you and your family, because you are our old friend and it is worth it for us to do this."

"Then you are judging that someone is going to harm me?" Chairman DeWitt whispered to himself, he didn't expect to get any answer from Li Qing, in fact, he knew very well that the only one to deal with him was that family.

"Thank you for your reminder, I will pay attention. But these are not important in the short term. The most important thing now is how to deal with the war that seems to be imminent." Speaker DeWitt finally said.

(End of this chapter)