Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 2071 The Benefits Of Staying Outside

"Here's a copy of "New World News". This is money." Outside the London Iron Mansion, Xu Zhilong, a diplomat who was recently transferred to the UK, had just returned from visiting some businessmen, and bought a copy of a newspaper that is very popular in the UK now.

It should be said that such things as newspapers are still a novelty in Britain today.You can only see five or six kinds of them all over the country, and most of them are related to business, which is determined by the national conditions of the United Kingdom.However, I heard that King William III and his wife of England have just promulgated a series of new policies, among which there are policies to vigorously develop the printing industry and encourage the publication of newspapers and books. This seems to have injected a new impetus into the development of the British newspaper industry.

Newspapers currently on the British market, such as "New World News", "Standard", "London Post", "Weekly Newsletter", etc., more or less imitate various newspapers on the east coast. Reporting methods, etc., are almost all borrowed, reflecting the faltering development level of the British newspaper industry.

However, as far as people on the East Coast have been observing for a long time, the newspaper industry in England is almost the most developed in Europe.There are many factors for this, not only because the British paper industry and printing industry are one of the seven pillar industries (the seven pillar industries are textiles, shipbuilding, construction, paper printing, leather, glass, and machinery manufacturing), but also because The British political system is related to a relatively enlightened atmosphere.

The United Kingdom is followed by the United Provinces.The development of the newspaper industry in this country was actually earlier than that of England, because they had earlier contacts with the East Coast, and it was a republic, and the country’s foreign exchanges far exceeded that of England.However, due to various negative factors in the past 20 years, the development of the publishing and printing industry in this country has fallen into a disadvantage. Not only has it been surpassed by England, but even some city-states in North Italy and North Germany with loose management, developed commerce, and enlightened customs have surpassed them. It can be seen the degree of decline of this country-the publishing and printing industry is actually just a microcosm of the overall decline of this country.

At the beginning, the newspaper "New World News" mainly reported the colonial history, business trade, product information, and anecdotes of the New World as its main selling point, and was very popular among the middle class and some wealthy people in London.Later, the newspaper established a solid cooperative relationship with some merchants or sailors who often went to the east coast for trade, and got a lot of first-hand news from them, so the newspaper began to include a lot of news from the east coast.

Later, with the increasing national power of the East Coast Republic of China and its increasing influence in Europe, the content about the East Coast on the page of "New World News" increased again and again, involving the technological development of the East Coast, trade policies, Art and culture and many other aspects, and has been enthusiastically sought after by people of insight in London.

Everyone is neither a fool nor a blind person. We know that the country on the east coast is not comparable to Britain today in any aspect.They controlled most of the foreign trade of the two viceroyal regions of Peru and New Spain in the Kingdom of Spain. They also occupied a considerable market share in the Iberian Peninsula, the Apennine Peninsula and the Ottoman Empire, and their influence even reached North Africa. envious.

Therefore, the English really want to copy everything that the East Coasters have.From their science and technology, education system, cultural knowledge, clothing, music and even political system, the British scholars who have studied them really don't know many things.In particular, the foreign policy on the east coast is highly appreciated by researchers, who feel that their policy of containment of land powers is really a stroke of genius, and it is very worthwhile for the UK to learn from.They used to have only some vague instincts in this regard, and they have not yet reached the theoretical stage, but after studying the relevant policies and theoretical support on the east coast, the British pierced the window paper at once and knew what to do What a "shit stir stick".

"The number of English ships going to the east coast to report their entry into Peru is increasing...", "Pirates on the east coast of the Caribbean attack Port Joaquin...", "The wheat harvest in the Pampa Plain has been bumper, and grain prices on the east coast continue to fall..." , "The East Bank government announced that it will increase some drug export quotas this year...", "Advertisements on the East Bank to attract immigrants...", "The latest Shandong cuisine recipes..."

Xu Zhilong flipped through the newspaper casually, and found that most of the content was not very time-sensitive, which highlighted the dilemma of "New World News" without a resident reporter.It seems that this newspaper with good sales is currently mainly buying news from merchants and sailors, buying some old newspapers and magazines published on the east coast to obtain information, and then sorting it out and publishing it in its own newspaper.

I have to say that the early days of the newspaper’s founding was a smart way, because at that time they had no money, no relationship, no connections, and it was really difficult.But "New World News" is now a big newspaper, and they can sell thousands of copies in London and its suburbs every half a month, and the number of users is still growing, and the profit is still quite good.In addition, there are more than ten or twenty ships going back and forth between London and the East Bank almost every month, and the communication interval is greatly shortened. If they send a reporter on the East Bank to collect information, then the content of the newspaper report should be able to To reach a new level, it depends on whether they have the ambition and want to do it.

"British people are really happy. They fought life and death on the European continent, but they hid aside and studied everything in the society on the east coast. They are so self-willed when they stay out of it." With the two mighty and majestic guards at the gate of the Iron Mansion—this is from the fire The Ona people, the aborigines of Didao, are more than two meters tall, and they are very powerful after wearing military uniforms. They have always been the best candidates for the guards of embassies on the east coast. Go straight to Ambassador Cai Zhenguo's office.

"Ambassador, I just came back from visiting Mr. Hicks and Mr. Spencer. I have something to report to you." Xu Zhilong said after patiently waiting for Cai Zhenguo to finish processing a document in hand.

"Sit down, let's listen." Cai Zhenguo first ordered the secretary to quickly bring a pot of milk tea for the two, then pointed to the chair opposite, and said.

"Mr. Hicks imports all kinds of mechanical parts from our country all the year round, and he is deeply dependent on our country, so he will not hide some things from us. Mr. Hicks believes that England has no possibility of joining the war now. It turns out that No, not now." Xu Zhilong thanked the secretary for the milk tea, and then reported to Cai Zhenguohui: "Mr. Hicks said that when the former King James II was still in power, the French King Louis XIV secretly approached them King of the United Kingdom, asked to sign a covenant together to deal with the United Provinces and Austria. Louis XIV played both emotional and religious cards against James II. The emotional card was that James II had served under the French Marshal Viscount Turenne, friends There are many; religious sects are naturally all Catholics, and they are obliged to let Protestants have the correct beliefs. James II was very tempted, but he couldn't pass the Congress because he had no money, so he gave up. Now Orange Prince William III came to the throne, and the Kingdom of England's position began to turn anti-French. The possibility of union with France no longer exists, but it is unlikely that they will join the war, because MPs are very cautious, thinking that this will hollow out England for many years. The accumulated wars are not worth the cost.”

"Mr. Spencer believes that although England is not yet ready to join the war, it is still very likely to join in the future. The main reason is that Louis XIV's attitude towards the domestic Huguenots and the German Protestants in the occupied areas The brutal persecution has aroused anxiety among many people, and they are worried that this kind of thing will happen to them in the future.” Xu Zhilong added: “Another point is that it seems that the French army is currently in full swing in the Rhine Valley, Philipburg, Cologne, Bonn, Mainz, Mannheim, Trier, and Heidelberg have all fallen, and the jurisdiction of the bishop of Münster may fall to Louis XIV at any time. It seems that the French will win an easy victory. And this is undoubtedly If it is not in the interests of the Kingdom of England, it must be intervened. The main reason why they have not taken any action so far is internal disunity. Many members of Congress just want to do their own business with peace of mind and sell everything including weapons and ammunition to the warring parties. Commodities, to make war fortune, do not want to be involved in a war with an unknown future and huge costs, thinking that it will seriously damage their own interests.”

"However, considering the energy of Prince William III of Orange, the British will eventually be inclined to join the war and fight against France." Xu Zhilong added: "I have to admit that William III has been very good at managing his image for many years. The word of mouth among the British is very good. Moreover, this person has a good speech ability and a certain charisma, so under his constant activities, more and more members of Congress will definitely turn to support the launch of the anti-France War. This person doesn’t know how he did it. He has a great hatred for the French, as if he was born to fight against the French, and he is everywhere linking up countries against France. Now he is the king of England, although he was picked for nothing. Power has been greatly restricted, but he still wants to use England as a tool for his madness against the French. Poor British people, originally wanted to stay out of it like us, but with such a master, I don’t know how they can be How long will you hold on to the shore?"

"Don't speak in such a frivolous tone, Xiao Xu." Cai Zhenguo rubbed his hands, took a sip of milk tea, and then muttered: "It seems that the possibility of the British joining the war is increasing. There are no other factors. It's only related to the situation on the battlefield and Britain's grand strategy. The existence of the Prince of Orange just speeds up the process. When the situation is critical, even if there is no William III, Britain will dispatch its navy to attack the French Fleet, this is almost a certainty. The geographical location of the British determines that they can’t really stay out of it and be indifferent like us. In fact, their elites have been closely watching the situation in Europe. If they make a mistake, they will end up in the war. In this case, I am actually relieved, how can this game of chess lack the role of the British guy?"

After Cai Zhenguo listened to Xu Zhilong's report, he found that it matched the information he had obtained from various sources, so the problem would not be a big one.I heard that the French are now marching into the depths of Germany, and their arrogance is very arrogant. In desperation, King Leopold of Austria organized a coalition of tens of thousands of people, and handed it over to Charles, Duke of Lorraine, who had been lost by the French. V led, went to stop the French.He will dispatch troops and generals later, especially to bring back the elite troops who have won a big victory against the Ottomans on the Eastern Front, and then fight the French to the death.

It can be said that the current situation in Europe is very tense.If the British do not want to be dominated by the French in the future, then joining the Anti-French Alliance is the only option!

"How about the Spaniards? I heard that their unworthy king also wants to join the anti-French alliance and fight the French. What is he thinking? Is he still sane? Who are he around? Are they some ignorant charlatans? To encourage a country whose national strength is extremely weak to join a large-scale war, do you think that you don’t die fast enough?” After talking about Britain, Cai Zhenguo mentioned the current situation Debate in the court of Madrid, that is, whether the Kingdom of Spain responded to the request of the relatives of the Austrian Habsburg family to join the anti-French alliance, and then invaded its hinterland from the south of France to relieve the pressure of Austria, Prussia, Sweden and other countries fighting on the Eastern Front .

In fact, matters related to Spain should not be in Cai Zhenguo's hands.But who made it possible for Special Envoy Gao Wengang to be transferred back to China at any time, and then he, someone Cai, would take over?Special Envoy Gao Wengang had already hinted in his letter that he would recommend Cai Zhenguo to succeed him as Special Envoy Plenipotentiary, and asked him to pay more attention to collecting diplomatic information from other countries so that he knew what to expect.Therefore, Ambassador Cai is very conscious now, and he usually pays close attention to news from France, Spain, Italy and other places, and often spends time on research.For example, what he was reading just now was a copy of the business report sent back from the Ceuta Commercial Station in North Africa, which can be said to be very serious.

"Haven't the Spaniards just wanted to avenge their shame for many years? Although the French did not attack the Southern Netherland this time, they are probably also worried, so they took advantage of the anti-French alliance to join in and gamble. It is still very tempting for the Spaniards to completely destroy France." After thinking for a while, Xu Zhilong said: "But this may not be a bad thing for us. Spain must not be able to defeat France, but the forces of the anti-French alliance this time Not weak, the French may not aim their main firepower at Spain in more than a dozen countries. As long as the French do not use their main force to attack Spain, then this is not a bad thing for us, on the contrary it may be a big one Good thing because we can negotiate terms with the Spaniards again."

"That's the reason." Cai Zhenguo nodded slowly, and said, "But it still depends on the further development of the situation."

(End of this chapter)