Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 1670 Rising Wind and Clouds (Fifteen)

This year's heavy snow came a little later, and it was not until the beginning of November that the heavy snow covered Ezoji Island.

In the most luxurious three-story stone building in Kushiro Port, Wei Boqiu has been ill and bedridden for many days.It has been 43 years since Wei Boqiu, a doctoral student at Shanghai Jiaotong University, is already 69 years old. Because of the negative impact of the heavy labor and relatively low medical environment in the early hard years on his body, and the painstaking efforts after coming to the Far East "Do business", Deputy Commander Wei's health is not as good as he imagined, he even has a premonition that maybe he has entered the last period of his life.

And in the living room separated by a wall from Wei Boqiu's hospital bed, Chen Shuo, who had been the general manager of the East Coast Japan Company for many years, was talking in a low voice with several colleagues.Present here are Changchun, the commander-in-chief of the God's Help Army, Hua Bende, the commander-in-chief of the God's Help Army, Ricardo who took over as the general manager of the East Coast Japan Company, and Yuan Jia, who was in charge of industries (mainly coal mines, wood processing factories, brick kilns and shipyards). Chen Qian, a ship repair technician at Midi Port, is basically an upper-level figure in Wei Boqiu's department. became the backbone of Wei Boqiu's forces.

These people gathered in Kushiro County today, not specifically to visit Wei Boqiu's condition, he just felt unwell and had to rest in bed, the news didn't spread so fast.Their gathering here is actually just a routine gathering. According to the rules set by Wei Boqiu back then, they gather once a quarter, so that the subordinates stationed in various places can have time to exchange views.

"Now our side has almost become the milk cow of Commander-in-Chief Liao!" Wei Boqiu's student, his closest assistant, the current general manager of Dongan Korea Company and the vice president of Heishui Transportation College Chen Shuo leaned on the sofa chair , crossed his legs, and said with a smile in a teasing tone: "Since this year, a total of 20 yuan in cash has been withdrawn from Japanese companies and North Korean companies. It is said that they are for purchasing iron materials, gunpowder, grain, arrows Arrows and medicinal materials, Song Shiyeol was a master of Confucianism in vain, and the children he educated all seemed to be in the eyes of money, and at least a quarter of the North Korean company's trade volume was related to their family."

"The three major vassals and the Qing Dynasty fought to death, but the money flowed into North Korea like water. These bastards, I don't know how much money they have earned in the past ten years. I see, someday I have to discuss with the North Koreans again." For a moment, the purchase price of the three major commodities of iron, grain, and gunpowder will be reduced by 20%, grandma, otherwise the trade will be in deficit, how can we do it?" Li Kaduo, general manager of the East Coast Japan Company and a retired soldier, echoed. Chen Shuo said in a helpless tone: "I see, if we continue to trade with North Korea for another [-] years, I guess this country can implement currency reform and use silver as the main currency in circulation instead of using bulky Copper coins. Think about it, the Dutch brought so much silver from Europe and traded it to us, and then we transferred most of it to the North Koreans. This business should not be too easy. To put it bluntly, now The entire North Korean Kingdom is probably following us with all their hearts, and it would be difficult for the Qing Dynasty to lure them over there!"

"Don't say that, the North Koreans have also served a lot of military supplies to Commander Liao, and also sent many soldiers to Liaodong to help in the war. Although the battle was a mess, this attitude is very correct, right? Besides, we On this Ezo Island, there are also thousands of North Korean criminals (both real criminals and criminals who have failed in the political struggle and their family members) digging coal, logging, quarrying stones, digging rivers and so on, which are quite important. This North Korean Wang Guo, it is indeed on the road, when Commander Shao Shude and Shao advocated sending troops to conquer the court, now it seems that he has made a lot of money and is right!" The secretary who had just finished communicating with Wei Boqiu in the room came out and heard Chen Shuo, Li Kaduo After the conversation between the two, they immediately said with a smile.

"That's right, Japan's trade is getting less and less bright now, and North Korea still has potential to tap, so we really should hurry up." Seeing what the secretary said, everyone laughed and said in a hurry.

And the Japanese trade they mentioned just now is actually very simple to put it bluntly, that is, after the people on the east coast have been lying on Japan for many years and crazily sucking blood, life may be more difficult now, because the shogunate has made a move!

Perhaps it is the so-called "Sandan trade" that has been sidelined for many years, which has gradually made the shogun Tokugawa Iezuna impatient, and began to strictly investigate the so-called "barbarian goods" in the country-Japan has always regarded Shandan people as barbarians, and their The goods are naturally barbarians—as a result, the sales of many armor, knives, muskets, cannons, clocks, dyed cloth, silk, high-grade furs and other commodities smuggled from the east bank suddenly dropped sharply, making the east coast Japanese The company lost a lot of trade income in vain.

In addition, the counterfeit money trade, which had always been one of the biggest income earners on the East Coast, has been curtailed a lot under strict investigation by the shogunate.In addition, the East Coast has supplied enough fake money to the Japanese market over the years, so this part of the income began to decline year by year, which made Chen Shuo and Li Kaduo, the two generations of general managers of the East Coast Japan Company, very sad and made money. Difficult!

What made the Japanese companies on the east coast even more angry was that the shogunate not only strictly checked the barbarian goods, but also strictly checked the silver, gold, copper pieces, and grains that flowed out through the Shandan trade. On the human side, each of these things made the Japanese company extremely angry. If Wei Boqiu didn't allow it, they might have to directly mess with the shogunate, although it doesn't seem to be of much use.

Therefore, under such circumstances, one can imagine how much trade with Japan will decline!Compared with the sluggish Japanese trade, the East Coast Korean Company, which was originally inconspicuous, has started to develop steadily with the increasing trade volume of the Eastern Korea over the years, and finally developed into a company that surpasses the East Coast Japan today. Company, a large syndicate enterprise in the Far East second only to Bank of Taiwan.

More importantly, the people on the east bank have enough influence on North Korea. Not only do they have leases and garrisons in Busan, but at the same time, Gangwon Province in North Korea also has a force that obeys the orders of the people on the east bank, that is, the soldiers and horses of Gangwon Province. More than 1 horses under the command of Quan Fengzhu.This guy who was born as a bandit rose up during the battle of Shao Shude. Because of his correct team and strong thighs, he was recruited by the Korean government after the war. He became a de facto separatist warlord and accepted the East Bank People's triple assistance in politics, military affairs and economy is a sharp weapon to influence and even control North Korea.

Therefore, relying on the east bank economically, fearing the east bank militarily, and internally having nails planted by the east bank, the Korean kingdom really has no other choice but to follow the east bank all the way to the dark, the difference from independent Japan It is indeed quite large - of course, the strength of the two countries is also very different. North Korea has only a few million people, Japan has 2000 million, hundreds of thousands of troops, a unified regime, and a positive learning attitude. It is indeed not as good as North Korea. control.

"If you want me to say, what kind of Japanese general conquering us is doing this to us, we should send troops to suppress those bastards as before." The commander-in-chief of the Tianyou Army (of course the official name is the independent first garrison brigade) Chang Chun carelessly Said: "What a big deal! We could do it when we went to Tanegashima, Kii Fan, and Wakayama, and we can do it this time! Who is Tokugawa Yoshinobu? Kii Fan is also a famous shogunate, not a foreigner. Such a daimyo, we can still go ashore to trouble them, this time we are afraid of being a bird! The shogunate will not allow business, so we will harass them along the coast until they can't bear it!"

It is said that the disaster in Shandong lasted for several years, hungry people were everywhere, and the food for the disaster relief prepared by the people on the east bank was seriously insufficient. Nosuke and Hashiguchi Ya’s relationship in the Satsuma domain, they recruited some poor ronin, and then harassed around the southeast coast of Japan, robbing gold, silver and grain to supplement the food gap in Shandong. There are countless living people.And from that time on, some people became fascinated by these real piracy, thinking all day long about how to do it again, but unfortunately there was no chance afterwards, firstly because the shogunate strengthened its vigilance, and secondly It was also because Wei Boqiu didn't allow it.

But now the shogunate has made it clear that it has greatly offended the people on the east coast. As the saying goes, cutting off people's wealth is like killing their parents. If you don't allow business, we can't help it!And once we can't bear it, we will go to your house to collect our belongings!What I'm talking about is the mentality of Chang Chun, Hua Bende and other warriors at this time. They will not fully consider the political, economic and military variables involved in this move, but will only observe the problem from their own perspective.

Speaking of this, I have to mention that when the people from the east coast went to the Satsuma domain, they took away many Japanese craftsmen and their families on Tanegashima by means of half coaxing and half coercion, and then concentrated them in Akkeshi Port, where they were secretly transported to the west coast of the North American continent. .

On the experimental field of democracy and freedom designed by Wei Boqiu himself, these artisans who usually make matchlock guns have successfully transformed into manufacturers of agricultural tools, knives, and common tools, and established dozens of large and small workshops. Strong support for local construction and foreign conquest and expansion, for the country that now has a population of nearly 3—naturalized some North American Indians, and the North American Democratic Freedom Federation has experienced wars, epidemics, and cold waves. The slow growth, coupled with Wei Boqiu's lack of population resources, and even having to send the Ainu to emigrate in the later period, there is no one else—the construction has played an unparalleled role.

At present, the North American Democratic Freedom Federation can be said to be relatively stable in the local area. Although the level of material civilization is still relatively low, everything is finally developing in a good way, although this speed is very slow.

According to some information you have, Wei Mingxing, the son of Wei Boqiu, has taken the lead in the local area, worked tirelessly, and has a high prestige. He has successfully served two terms as president and one term as prime minister. The "transitional" president Zhao Tianri "camped" back to the prime minister), and once again led this weak country to move forward: multiply more people, produce more food, conquer more land, and spread the concept of democracy and freedom to the world. further afield.

As Wei Boqiu's most valued disciple, Chen Shuo, who has participated in most of his confidential affairs, is probably the person most familiar with the inside information of the North American Democratic Freedom Federation.Even Wei Mingxing wrote to him last year, asking him to search for some Han people in mainland China and send them to Hope Island. Handicraftsmen can also increase the strength of their country, which can still be called a "nascent" country. At the same time, it is also to prevent the country's culture from going astray and the level of civilization from declining. After all, what are the Indians and Ainu worth mentioning? civilization?How can savages be assimilated without the existence of a sufficiently large civilized population in an advanced social form?Wei Mingxing remembers the story of the Spanish sailor who fell into the water being rescued by the Indian tribe and successfully assimilated by the other party.

However, Chen Shuo didn't have a good solution to Wei Mingxing's request for a while.The current economic strength of Ezoji Island is good, but the population is really insufficient. The three counties of Kushiro, Akkeshi, and Nemuro (which were newly established a few years ago and are located near Nemuro City in Hokkaido later) are only more than 5000 in total. How could the immigrants from Qingzhou Prefecture and Jinan Prefecture in Shandong still have the energy to export people abroad?It's impossible!

Therefore, Chen Shuo is really having a headache now, and he has more sympathy for the seemingly ill-fated and dismal management of the North American Democratic Freedom Federation. The cost is an astronomical figure) The difference is that the congenital deficiencies of the North American Democratic Freedom Federation make them extremely limited in both the source of immigration and the scale of immigration. (For example, Ma Wanpeng, the former captain of the New China Pioneering Team, who is now one of the top executive committee members), the development of this country may be slower and more difficult.

We can only make up for it after the situation improves in the future!This is Chen Shuo's true idea, and Ezodi really can't give them much help now.

Chen Shuo, Li Kaduo, Chang Chun and others chatted softly for about an hour, and then went to the bedroom to visit Wei Boqiu and listened to Wei's latest instructions.Then everyone went straight to the cafeteria, had a sumptuous feast together, and then dispersed.All the people present are busy people, and there are a group of people working under them, so it is really impossible to stay outside for a long time!

(End of this chapter)