Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 1652 Struggle and Preparation ([-])

"Under pressure, Speaker John DeWitt has officially announced his resignation at this morning's meeting, and is currently going through the formalities. The three-level parliament has sent representatives to Amsterdam to invite Prince William of Orange to serve as the governor of the United Provinces. And here In the past, the provinces have also appointed the Prince of Orange as the governor of the province, and now the overall situation has been settled." Inside the East Bank Commercial Station in Amsterdam, the secretary of Li Qing, the special envoy to Europe, is holding a document and submitting it to her " The boss" reported: "The republicans have lost their power! Although they have great potential power in the United Provinces, those businessmen are actually the most realistic. They used to be able to push Devitt to power, and now they can Abandoning him, this is very common. Special envoy, shouldn't we adjust our policy and discuss with the Orange faction again whether there is room for cooperation?"

In fact, the contact between the East Bank and the Orange faction is not rare, but there has been a lack of substantial breakthroughs.When the Orange faction lost power, they also had some contact with the East Coast people through channels such as the Tripp family-this family bet on the Republicans and the Orange faction. The people from the shore also responded positively, but there was always no substantive breakthrough afterwards, so the relationship has always been so lukewarm.

The reason is that the relationship between the East Coast people and the republicans is too close. They are intertwined and bound by economic interests, and they are naturally joined by the old-school aristocrats, conservative businessmen, and religious figures of the Orange School. Enmity is far from something that can be resolved by some superficial contacts.Therefore, the people on the east coast also understood the joints, and did not try to develop any unreasonable relationship with the Orange faction, because this might affect their own impression in the minds of the republicans.You must know that when the world is peaceful, the republicans will always have the upper hand in the political arena. They formulate national policies and implement various laws and trade agreements. From the perspective of practical interests, people from the east coast are more cooperative with them. Space.

This situation has continued for 20 years.In the past 20 years, the people on the east coast have reaped countless benefits. Domestic industry, commerce and even agriculture have achieved long-term development with the help of the Dutch. In addition to returning many urgently needed materials such as livestock, labor, and minerals, it has also greatly nourished all walks of life, causing more and more people to start businesses and research technologies, which can be called a textbook-like virtuous circle.

Of course, this cycle may be facing crisis now!Although the Dutch signed a series of trade agreements with the East Coast before the outbreak of the war, giving a shot in the arm to the development of industry and commerce on the East Coast, how long the effect of the shot will last is also a question.After all, Speaker De Witt is about to step down now, and before he stepped down, the Orange faction had already gained an advantage in the three-level parliament, and William III even included the governing powers of seven provinces, including the Dutch province. Title, just one step away from the coveted position of governing the United Provinces.

After this person came to power, it is conceivable that many policies of the United Provinces will undergo tremendous changes!For example, many policies against Britain formulated during the republican period must be abolished, because William III himself has a good impression of Britain, and he also wants to win him out of the French camp, so it is inevitable to ease relations with Britain.But to make friends with the British and make them stand on their side to deal with the French, then the United Provinces must provide some substantial benefits, such as commercial benefits.

If you think about it in this way, it becomes clear that the Dutch have signed an agreement with the East Coast to reduce the import of woolen fabrics from the UK and vigorously import coarse wool from the East Coast.After the war broke out, the Dutch completely stopped importing British woolen cloth, and instead obtained various kinds of woolen cloth from the east coast and Italy. This made the development of this industry on the east coast enter the fast lane, and Patagonia also welcomed There came wave after wave of economic booms.

Similar to woolen, there are many other industries. The Dutch really tried their best to win over the east bank to send troops. Unfortunately, the people on the east bank only want to reap benefits, but don't want to fall into a pit, so some troops came to fool people. Lest the Dutch babble.Now that the Dutch want to win over the UK, it is conceivable that these projects will encounter a great crisis. Li Qing can even boldly predict that some or all of them will be overthrown by the government led by the Prince of Orange. This is unavoidable, and it is what people on the East Coast have been worried about for a long time.It is also because of this that Li Qing's secretary just reported the news of Chairman DeWitt's resignation to her "boss" as a key point, because there are too many things behind it.

"Is Lan Fei's No. [-] mixed battalion still in The Hague?" Li Qing thought for a while, then suddenly asked this question.

"It's still there. So far, it has been tasked with guarding the offices and residences of important republican missions, including Speaker DeWitt. Well, the city government of The Hague and the provincial government of the Netherlands paid for it, but I don't think that in Oran After Prince Zhi formally takes power, they will continue to pay, and it will be good if they don’t drive out the First Mixed Battalion.” The secretary understood what her boss was asking, so she immediately replied: “Their relationship in The Hague has been handled very well. However, relations with the militia groups were especially bad, because they were said to have whipped the proud bourgeoisie and threatened with bayonets the petty officials or civil servants who lingered in front of DeWitt's residence, so they were viewed from top to bottom. Not very good. Maybe from next month [September] the Dutch will stop paying them altogether."

"Do you think we should withdraw the First Mixed Battalion?" Li Qing asked while smoking a cigarette.

"Yes, I think so, Special Envoy. There is no need for the First Mixed Battalion to stay in the right and wrong place in The Hague. Not only will it not bring any benefits to our country, on the contrary it may cause a lot of trouble. Therefore, I solemnly suggest that from the moment the Dutch stop paying their employment fees, they should be evacuated to the Southern Netherlands immediately, anyway, the Spanish Privy Council has promised us that we can take refuge there." The secretary replied immediately.

"Look at this item first." Li Qing shook her head noncommittally, then threw an open letter on the desk to her secretary.

This letter was written by Chairman John DeWitt to Li Qing, so it can be regarded as a personal letter.In this letter, Speaker De Witt frankly asked Li Qing to order the First Mixed Battalion not to leave The Hague in a hurry, and to continue to protect some crucial republican figures and their families, because Speaker De Witt Suspected that William III wanted to put them to death.

This concern is not unfounded, because in terms of recent news, it is likely to come true: According to the news from various parties, the brother of Speaker DeWitt, Cornelis, entered the Gwanganport Prison and accepted the news. After the investigation of Dr. Keeler's flawed allegations, the courts and prison systems controlled by William III frantically tortured him-many of which were even imposed by people with the identity of Admiral Cornelis DeWitt. Unheard of—in order to force Cornelis himself to confess to the so-called "murder of the Prince of Orange" charges imposed on him.

However, the admiral himself is also a tough guy. According to some rumors that are not true or false, the admiral himself endured various punishments and recited Horace's "Integrity and Obstinacy" aloud in extreme pain. The Possessor" poem: "The sea is galloping, and the huge waves are raging. Neither the savage rioters nor the arrogant tyrant can shake a heart that has a firm, pure, and loyal..." To motivate myself, I never admit that I have done nothing to him accused.

It is said that there is nothing the Gwangenboud Prison and the Dutch Provincial Court can do now, because the material evidence provided by the accuser is full of loopholes, inconsistencies, a lot of jokes have been made, and the admiral himself has refused to plead guilty, so this matter is very serious. Difficult.According to the regulations, it can only be handed over to the top, that is, the provincial court of the Netherlands will hand over the ruling of the province-that is, Prince William III of Orange will determine whether Cornelis himself is guilty.

This matter is very sensitive. Although the Prince of Orange is now enjoying a high reputation among the Dutch people and gradually gaining the upper hand in the political arena, he cannot categorically convict Cornelis in the absence of sufficient evidence.What's more, he is still the party involved in this matter, so it is not difficult to mess around at will. You must know that the republicans are only losing power, but they are not completely dead.

However, although the Prince of Orange was unable to convict and execute Cornelis—this is what he had dreamed of doing for many years, because their family had been mistreated by these two brothers, and they almost never had a chance to turn around—but now The political climate in the United Provinces is very unfavorable to the Republicans, but there is no need to hide it. Anyway, anyone with a wink can see it. For example, the few nephews of the Tripp family who were originally close to the Republicans are all wolf Ben Bao suddenly packed his bags and went to Sweden to run the family business, and he was replaced by people from the family of Louis Tripp, because they are related by marriage to Falconer, one of the confidantes of the Prince of Orange, which is suitable for them Come out for activities.

Speaker DeWitt is quite worried now, worried that some old brothers who have followed him for many years will be killed by the narrow-minded Prince His Royal Highness.In the past, he might still have fantasies, but when he had already experienced an assassination and his brother was still tortured in prison, he no longer had any fantasies about the prince's character. Therefore, he wrote to Li Qing, the special envoy of the East Coast in Amsterdam, requesting him to order the First Mixed Battalion to continue to protect the important figures of the republicans, even if they paid for them personally—the republicans are big businessmen and big bourgeois For them, money is not a problem at all.

Li Qing has not yet made up her mind about this request from Speaker DeWitt.Although logically speaking, each of the characters mentioned in DeWitt's letter has brought considerable economic benefits to the East Coast Republic in the past 20 years, and it is reasonable for the East Coast people to protect them.Not to mention that these people are also well-known people in the United Provinces, and their families also run a lot of industries-for example, one of them is one of the twelve large wholesalers in the Amsterdam Grain Market, because he offended him a few years ago. William III's father, Frederick, is in danger - if the East Coast people give them help at this time, how can they not reciprocate and give you benefits in the future?It must be known that Feng Shui will take turns, and the Orange family can turn to power. In the future, can't the republicans gradually regain their advantages in the parliament, and then fight against the Orange faction?You know, during the peace period, the political situation in the United Provinces has always been dominated by the republicans, after all, they know how to deal with the economy.

But—let's say no—Li Qing also had some scruples about Prince Orange's thoughts, and she still didn't dare to make up her mind.However, after the conversation with the secretary just now, he changed his mind again. He felt that the people on the east coast should indeed give shelter to these republican congressmen who "made outstanding contributions" to the economic development of the east coast, at least To protect the lives of themselves and their families.

This is done not only to show everyone the "benevolence and righteousness" of the East Coast people towards their old friends, but also to bet that these people will make a comeback in the future. A group of people, but they didn't intend to give you a good look at first, did they?

Therefore, Li Qing has already planned to write a reply letter to John DeWitt in the next two days. The meaning is very simple, that is, for the sake of the "Republic", he will order the First Mixed Battalion to stay in The Hague to protect them , Even if the United Provinces government stops paying their employment fees, they will not withdraw.Of course, he also suggested that Speaker DeWitt could gather key members of the republican faction who he thought would be impacted and temporarily live in The Hague for the convenience of nearby protection.

Li Qing believes that people from the east coast are so clear-cut in protecting the republican parliamentarians that they will definitely gain a certain amount of favor among the Dutch business community.And when the war in Holland and France ceases and peace is restored, there is a high probability that the republican faction will make a comeback. Although it may not be as strong as before, it will somehow bring back the situation, and the people on the east coast will definitely not suffer much. up.

The secretary also fell silent after reading Chairman DeWitt's letter. In fact, he had the same idea as Li Qing, that is, he didn't want to get involved in this kind of thing, and he was afraid of offending the Orange faction.However, the speaker's letter also made him realize that if you rush to distance yourself from the republicans now, not to mention whether it will make people feel cold, but only in terms of interests, the Orange faction will really do it because of you And look at you differently?I'm afraid not!

So, at this time, he was also in a mess, not knowing what to say.Li Qing looked at him, put the letter away, and then frowned again, the old god asked on the ground: "I heard that the gallows at the gate of Gwanpot Prison has been built, more and more The mob started to gather there, is there a thing at all? Is there anyone instigating or spreading messages. Uh, well, I am asking this for nothing, and with the usual methods of the Prince of Orange, it is almost certain. Well, from this point of view, the pressure on the First Mixed Battalion is not small. How about this, you can return to The Hague now, convey the meaning to Major Lan Fei, and let him take care of it. The smell of the building makes me always feel that something big is going to happen."

(End of this chapter)