Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 645 Rebalancing the Situation in Brazil

"Where is Mr. Hamel's special envoy?" After reading the contents of the letter, Gao Mo asked seriously while sitting upright.

"Mr. Hamel's special envoy is on my ship. Your Excellency Hamel told me before departure, if you read the letter and don't ask Liaison Officer William anything, then Liaison Officer William will return to Recife the same way. ; On the other hand, if you decide to have a proper discussion with Liaison Officer William, then I will introduce him to you." Captain Couette looked straight into Gao Mo's eyes and said very bluntly.

"You are wrong, my friend." Gao Mo stood up, walked around the room for a few steps, and then said: "In fact, it is not that I want to see Mr. Hamel's special envoy, I am not going to see him, because I At this moment, it is not an official diplomatic staff of our country. Mr. Hamel can exchange views with me on some international situations in private, but if this exchange is to be further sublimated to the level of specific cooperation, it still needs professional government personnel Let’s deal with it. Well, I will introduce Liaison Officer William to my students—he is currently serving as the deputy director of the American Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of our country. If there is any matter, it is better for them to discuss it in detail, and I will not get involved.”

Captain Couette nodded. Gao Mo is definitely a senior figure in the diplomatic circles on the east coast. He is proficient in English and French, and later taught himself Portuguese and Spanish. His students are all over the diplomatic, trade and even intelligence circles.Although he has withdrawn from the political front due to rules and regulations, how can he just turn 50 years old and sit at home reading books, fishing and playing cards to waste time?

Among other things, when many cross-travelers went to Brazil to buy cotton plantations, they relied on Gao Mo to thread the needle. Otherwise, the Brazilians might not have sold the plantations to the people on the east coast; The establishment of commercial offices and bank outlets in Nigeria and Nigeria even entrusted Gao Mo's old relationship in the Hanseatic League to help, otherwise this matter would not be so easy at all.Therefore, although Gao Mo, a senior diplomat, is retired at home, he still has great energy and influence due to his extensive contacts and numerous connections.

From this point of view, Hamel, the governor of the Dutch West India Company, first contacted Gao Mo privately through the channel of Captain Couette, and then tested the ideas of the people on the east coast. It might not be a wise move.Because if they rashly go directly to the diplomatic department on the east bank to negotiate, then if there is any twists and turns, there will be no room for maneuver, which will greatly damage the relationship between the two parties.Especially those shareholders in the West India Company who want to fight for dominance, they are holding a magnifying glass to look for the mistakes of Governor Hamel and others who represent the interests of the existing board of directors, so that they can attack at any time.

But now communicating through private channels is less of a hassle.Because if the people on the east coast reject the request of the Dutch West India Company or they simply have no interest in stabilizing the situation in Brazil, then Liaison Officer William can return to Recife again. There is no formal contact between the two parties, and naturally there is no damage What a bilateral relationship.And if the people on the east coast are willing to have a discussion with Liaison Officer William, then things are obviously possible, because it means that they are not very satisfied with the current one-sided situation in Brazil, so that the two parties have a basis for negotiation.

"How is the situation in Brazil now? I mean the situation of your West India Company? Is it bad?" Gao Mo asked casually at this time, obviously he also heard about some major changes that have taken place on the Brazilian battlefield today , but he obviously wanted to hear the first-hand information from Captain Couette.

"It's terrible." Captain Couette sighed, and then said helplessly: "The Portuguese have just won two great victories against the Spaniards. The Spaniards suffered heavy losses. A large number of elite troops were wiped out in the western region. Lia Peninsula, the Portuguese army has even invaded the territory of Spain, and the Spaniards will not be able to hold on. Under such circumstances, the Portuguese king felt that he could turn part of his energy to Brazil in the New World. Before he The colonial army of the West India Company suffered consecutive defeats and lost a large area of ​​​​territory, but now he wants to change this situation, so he mobilized a considerable number of reinforcements from the mainland to Brazil this year. He and Scotland have recruited a large number of mercenaries to serve him. As a result, the pressure on the West India Company has suddenly increased unprecedentedly, and it has already suffered some losses in the last few battles."

In fact, Captain Couette really took care of the face of the Dutch West India Company by saying this.Because of the fact that the Dutch were beaten to the ground by the newly reinforced Portuguese army, several large-scale battles were suffered disastrously, and a large number of men and weapons were lost.At present, the Dutch army has basically retreated to some large and medium-sized cities such as Recife, and a large number of wild sites have been lost, especially those cotton, tobacco or sugar cane plantations that are of economic value. Now a considerable amount has been lost to the Portuguese. .In addition, Vieira, a sugar magnate in northeastern Brazil, also publicly accused the Dutch of inappropriate colonial policies, which made some people with a keen sense of smell smell an unusual political smell.

Hearing what Captain Couette said, Gaumo felt dazed for a while.Once upon a time, when the East Coast Republic and the Dutch East India Company were at odds, a group of executive committee members used to support the Portuguese colonists in Brazil against the Dutch invaders as a big bargaining chip.At that time, the Ministry of the Army even seriously considered the feasibility of sending part of the army to fight in Brazil, and the Brazilians did make similar requests at that time, but due to various concerns, the people on the east bank finally gave up directly intervening in the situation in Brazil Instead, he indirectly participated in this colonial war aimed at fighting for a rich Brazil by selling war materials much cheaper than Europe to the Portuguese.

But now the situation has clearly reversed.Ten years ago, the Portuguese may have been the weaker side. The people on the east bank transfused blood to them in various ways, and the Portuguese also gave back to the people on the east coast by exporting various materials and providing low-interest or even interest-free loans. The two sides cooperated for a while very smoothly.But today, at the end of 1647, the Portuguese, whose military strength has been greatly strengthened, have gradually regained the initiative on the battlefield. How to choose at this time will test the courage of the rulers on the east coast.

According to the geopolitical theory believed by the rulers on the east bank, the people on the east bank certainly do not want a powerful unified country to appear in the north of their country, even if this country does not exist yet, it is just a colony of another country. But people on the east coast still don't want to see this vast land of Brazil controlled by one country.Although this country now seems to have a good relationship with the east coast, it seems to be a rare Catholic country that shows goodwill towards the east coast, but from the perspective of the long-term interests of the country and the nation, it is still an intolerable thing to allow Portugal to monopolize Brazil.

Therefore, after careful consideration, Gao Mo decided to introduce the envoy sent by the Dutch West India Company to the government's diplomatic department.The military strength of the neighboring country in the north has been greatly enhanced, which is worthy of the government's vigilance. The Dutch West India Company has now shown a clear decline, and Brazil's original balanced war situation has been broken. At this time, it is urgent to rebalance.

"I'll arrange Liaison Officer William to go to the capital immediately." Gao Mo didn't make Captain Couette wait too long, and soon he made a decision under the captain's expectant eyes.

On December 12, William, the special envoy of the Dutch West India Company, arrived at Dongfang Port and formally conducted secret consultations with officials from the American Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Chinese East Coast Republic as a diplomatic envoy.In order to restore the situation in Brazil, the Dutch decided to open the markets of West Africa, North America and the Caribbean, which had been controlled by them before, to the East Coasters, allowing the East Coasters to sell goods not represented by the Dutch West India Company to these regions; The people on the shore will greatly increase the quota of some commodities such as steel bars exported to the Americas, Africa and Europe through the Dutch West India Company-this is actually saving the West India Company's own finances; finally, they will follow the example of the Dutch East India The company fully opened their ports and cities in West Africa, the Caribbean, Brazil, North America and other colonies, allowing ships on the east coast to berth and replenish freely-of course, the east coast will also open its overseas colonial ports to ships of the Dutch West India Company.

Although what the Dutch put forward was not very satisfactory, for the purpose of balancing the situation in Brazil, the officials of the foreign affairs department on the east coast still released great goodwill under the instruction of their superiors.First of all, they agreed to increase the supply quotas for more than ten kinds of commodities monopolized by the Dutch West India Company-in fact, they were eager to do so. Because of the opposition of some shareholders of the West India Company, this has not been done before. There are strict restrictions on the quantity of goods such as , steel bars, and leather.

Secondly, the government of the East Coast Republic decided to sell the ordnance produced and stored in large quantities due to the war to the West India Company at a preferential price, and the Dutch could even delay payment.These things include 32 8-C flintlock rifles, 16 field infantry guns of various types under [-] pounds, [-] sabers, and [-] pairs of armor. In addition, there are a large number of spare ammunition, parts and hemostatic bandages Waiting for odds and ends, you can almost arm two or three Spanish infantry regiments.

In the end, the people on the east bank also rejected the Dutch's request to hire an east bank army to fight in Recife and other places.Just kidding, it's one thing to hide behind the scenes and balance the situation through a series of means, but it's another thing to fight with your own sword.That would completely tear the face off with the Portuguese. It is obviously extremely unwise to do so when the long war with the Spaniards has not yet ended.

(End of this chapter)