Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 341 Return ([-])

"By the way, did the Dutch have any negotiations with us recently?" Li Yi suddenly thought of this, and immediately asked with great interest.

"Why not? In April, that shitty Earl of Recife sent several representatives to Port Orient once. These people claimed to be able to represent both the Dutch East India Company and the West India Company, and even to some extent On behalf of the Dutch government. Guys, they are the first to question us, accusing us of violating the principle of free trade and imposing high punitive tariffs on Dutch goods. They demand that we immediately cancel this discriminatory policy, And compensate the Dutch merchants for their losses." Shi Qinjie poured himself another cup of Xiangshan dry red wine, and said to Li Yi.

"What happened later?" Li Yi asked.

Afterwards, of course, nothing happened. Anyway, the so-called punitive tariffs for people on the east coast came into effect in January, and it was already April at this time, and it had almost expired.Now that the Dutch sent people over to talk about it, the people on the east coast happened to be on their way.

Moreover, according to Schinger, those Dutchmen themselves are also very guilty. I heard that the Brazilians over there have been lucky recently, and they have gained the upper hand in several small-scale battles in a row, which makes the Dutch very distressed.No way, who let the Brazilians have more cannons than you and better than you, and almost all of them are equipped with excellent flintlock rifles?Not to mention that they still have the high-quality, light and strong bulletproof plate armor. The Dutch mercenaries have been fighting with them for so long before they retreated, and they are already worthy of the salary they received.Therefore, after these Dutch people yelled about tariffs, they changed the subject and began to ask the people on the east coast to completely cut off their arms aid to the Brazilians, otherwise they would "seriously hurt the feelings of the Dutch West India Company."

Dutch West India Company sensibilities are something East Coasters don't care about.They only cared about whether they could get what they wanted. When they asked whether the fleet of the people on the east coast could sail and anchor freely near Ceylon Island and Malacca, the Dutch refused the request without even thinking about it.They have a natural hostility to any outsider who tries to get involved in the spice trade, and even if this person promises not to engage in such trade, they cannot completely reassure them.What they want to do is to completely dominate the Spice Islands, Aceh, Ceylon and parts of India, to protect their trading bases, and to block the eyes of all pretenders.

"In the end, the negotiation also broke up unhappy, and the two sides did not agree on the date of the next negotiation. It seems that the negotiation has completely collapsed." Shi Qinjie finally concluded, "But the situation is not that serious. The Dutch are in our hands. The problem is not small, and after we opened up the eastern route, the role of Malacca has been greatly reduced. Therefore, in fact, we can adjust our policy in Brazil. The only thing we need to consider is to pick a good time and see if we can To wring some oil out of the Dutch and force them to make concessions in certain areas."

"This kind of diplomatic means of walking a tightrope and playing with fire is very dangerous!" Li Yi commented directly, "This requires a person who has a deep understanding of the international situation and a clear judgment on the strength of the enemy and us to lead. I really doubt that the group of people in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs have I don’t have this ability. If I don’t tease the Dutch to get anxious, this tiger is going to eat people! In the end, it’s not us soldiers who wipe their butts? Forget it, it’s useless not to talk about it, one step Let's take a look. Old Shi, you have to be careful here, the strength is not enough? If the Dutch suddenly break out, the connection between the mainland and this side will probably be cut off. Can you hold on independently? Don't take it for granted, the war says It may not be over for a while, you have to be prepared to be besieged for a long time."

"The newly built material storage and transportation center here is almost completed, and the material reserves are not small." After thinking for a while, Shi Qinjie said: "To put it bluntly, the basic living materials that maintain the operation of our colony, such as cloth, salt, The reserves of paper, wine, building materials and other materials are quite sufficient, and it is not a problem for the existing personnel of the colony to use them for a few years. Moreover, the local coal, timber, and fishery resources are abundant, and the food production is also good. You can eat and drink without worrying about the blockade of the Dutch. The amount of gunpowder is less. Once the war starts, the consumption of the three forts is estimated to be a bottomless pit. This must be resolved as soon as possible. In general, Xinhua Fort is not afraid of the Dutch blockade, but Tacheng is very dangerous. The construction there It has only just been launched, and the defense force is also very weak. If the Dutch come with enough troops, I guess it will be difficult to defend."

What Shi Qinjie said was not pure nonsense.Now Xinhua Fort is really ready for everything. Not only has the 36 coastal defense artillery positions at the mouth of the bay been completed, but even the land defense fortress has been basically completed.Not only that, the slave workers are also planning to build a huge lighthouse on the high ground of the North Cape.Large concave concentrating mirrors brought in from home are used in the lighthouse, which can provide clear indications to passing ships even on the darkest nights.Of course, its more important job is to provide sufficient light for the night observation of the coastal defense artillery.

As for the gunpowder problem mentioned by Shi Qinjie, there is already a preliminary solution.The North Gunpowder Factory in Jushu Township, Ping'an County, has just arrived with a group of technicians. They will train talents in the New China area and open a new gunpowder factory - Xinhua Gunpowder Factory.The factory is located on the peninsula across the sea in the northwest of Fort Xinhua. At present, a large area of ​​trees in the local coastal area has been cleared out. Workers have built two wooden trestle bridges there, and a large number of building materials are being Send to the coast by fishing boats and canoes.

This gunpowder factory is large in scale, estimated to cover an area of ​​more than [-] mu, and has three workshops: a pig raising workshop, a nitrate workshop, and a gunpowder workshop.The pig farming workshop will raise pigs, an animal that can produce a lot of manure, and the collected manure will be sent to the nitrification field to be nitrified by nitrifying bacteria to make nitrate.Finally, the nitrate will go through the final processing procedure in the gunpowder workshop and be processed into gunpowder.The entire production process is the same as the Northern Gunpowder Factory in Jushu Township, both in terms of production technology and processing process.The technicians from the local area optimistically estimated that with such suitable temperature and humidity conditions on the New China side, the output of this nitric soil should be much higher. What about exporting nitrate?

The only worrying possibility is that the sulfur needs to be imported from the mainland, or they can also buy it from the Dutch nearby.However, considering that the trade line may be cut off during the war, it is necessary to store a large amount in advance, so as not to have enough sulfur when gunpowder is urgently needed.The reason why this gunpowder factory was built on the peninsula in the northwest is mainly to reduce the pollution of nitrifying bacteria to the nearby soil, and the smell is relatively strong, so it is more reliable to be far away from the main city.

In order to build this gunpowder factory, Shi Qinjie even suspended the construction of residential houses in Xinhua Castle and the construction of the trade square outside the city, in short, everything made way for the strategic material gunpowder.After all, what is business compared to a possible war?

"The Xinhua Castle is getting more and more prosperous now, and the population of free citizens has reached more than 2000. There are all kinds of factories, which are stronger than the industrial foundation of the Fort in the River, haha." Li Yi finished the second meal of the day. Lobster wiped his hands with a napkin, and said with a smile, "That's good. We will ship supplies to the Far East in the future. Many things can be shipped directly from you, which is much more convenient than transporting from the mainland."

Li Yi and others did not plan to stay in Xinhua Fort for a long time. After all, they had heavy responsibilities and had to rush back to the mainland to report to the Ministry of the Navy and the Executive Committee in order to decide the next step as soon as possible.However, considering that the brothers had been wandering at sea for more than half a year, they were exhausted physically and mentally, so they decided to stay in Xinhua Castle for two more days to maintain the ship by the way.

On October 1642, 10, the two ships of the expedition fleet after the maintenance of the ships left the Xinhua Port, which had been lingering for three days. They were accompanied by a 10-ton flute-shaped transport ship manufactured by the Xinhua Shipyard. ——This ship is fully loaded with construction materials and transported to Tacheng Port.This kind of flute-shaped ship has a large cargo capacity and requires a small number of sailors. Although the speed is relatively slow, it is very suitable for the current national conditions on the east coast, so it is still being built in large numbers in China.

This ship is the first large ship produced by the newly established Xinhua Shipyard (not counting fishing boats). The wood used is all local red sandalwood, and it belongs to the also newly established East African Shipping Company.The company is affiliated to the Ministry of Communications, but also accepts the leadership of the Madagascar pioneering team. It is mainly responsible for the transportation tasks between the New China Colony and the South African River Fort, Xinhua Port-Tacheng Port, and Xinhua Port-Suez Port.Of course, the company currently only has one bare ship, and both the transport tonnage and the number of sailors need to be expanded urgently.

The ship has already made several round trips between Tacheng Port and Xinhua Port, and its quality seems relatively reliable.Encouraged by the successful construction of this ship, Xinhua Shipyard is currently recruiting new apprentices while starting the construction of the second ship, hoping to form a certain scale for the fleet of the East African Shipping Company as soon as possible.

The three ships broke up at Tacheng Port. The "Chopper" and "Breaking Waves" pulled a pile of timber. After hastily adding some coal and fresh water, they went south on the Mozambique warm current, heading for the South African River. China and Hong Kong sailed.

On October 10, the East Coast Expedition Fleet successfully docked in the mid-spring port of South Africa.After a brief reminiscence with the main local military and political officials, the two ships unanimously set sail again, and finally berthed in the military dock of Dongfang Port on November 30, successfully completing the expedition mission of the southern Indian Ocean route.

(End of this chapter)