Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 1011 The British in Qingdao ([-])

On March 1653, 12, Qingdao Port.

Hill, who has just been here for a few days, woke up very early today, but in the captain's cabin on the third floor of the ship's poop, there are people who got up earlier than him - Mr. Charles from the mainland has already sat down and worked. It's been a long time.

"Good morning, Mr. Charles." John Hill carefully put a cup of tea on the coffee table on the right. The weather is fine today, and the sea in Qingdao Bay is calm. On the berth, this can be seen from the tea on the table.

"Good morning, John, I have been working for an hour." Charles glanced up at Hill, and then continued to lower his head to write his own materials: "By the way, John, thank you for your hospitality, the breakfast is rich, I like it very much. Have you got everything you need?"

"Most of them are ready. Soda ash, soap, high-grade leather goods, machinery, etc. are all things that are urgently needed in the country." John Hill said calmly after taking a sip of tea.Many of the commodities he mentioned were imported from the Mediterranean in the past, but due to the outbreak of the war, the Dutch fleet had a great advantage in the Mediterranean, and England’s Mediterranean trade was almost cut off, so now they can only import from other countries. The place figured out a way.The East Coast Republic in the New World is precisely known for being able to provide the above-mentioned commodities at a low price, so Captain Hill came here to purchase commodities.

In fact, the East Coast once discussed whether to implement a comprehensive trade blockade against the United Kingdom in order to more effectively support the Dutch war. In the end, the voice against the trade embargo prevailed. According to some people's sarcasm It's just that "the stupid executive committee seems to want to save the impression of the East Bank in the minds of the British people", so Captain Hill rushed to the Qingdao Port Market to sweep up the goods - all he bought were temporarily unavailable in the UK Homegrown (or very costly) Mediterranean traditional goods.

"Have those 'things' been hidden?" Charles paused with the pen in his hand, then looked up at Captain Hill.

Captain Hill's face was a little nervous, and he looked out the window subconsciously—there was a blue sea and blue sky—and then whispered: "There are three big bags of knives, which the people on the east coast call 'carbon steel knives. ', have been hidden, very hidden, absolutely impossible to be discovered."

"Perhaps this matter has caused you a lot of trouble, John." Charles said unhurriedly, "but I hope you can understand that the country really needs this batch of high-quality processing tools. I don’t hesitate to pay a huge fee of more than five hundred pounds. You know, this is not a small sum, and it is enough to buy a steam engine that is not too bad on the east coast, isn’t it?”

"Yes, thanks to those greedy heathen merchants, we are able to buy this kind of export-restricted goods, which is really great." Captain Hill echoed, and then added: "Of course there are those Very durable machine parts. I heard that the Dutch buy a lot and like to use them very much. To be honest, many machines in Birmingham are now designed according to the East Coast standard in order to be compatible with their parts. This time These cutter heads and parts bought back will surely bring great help to England's industry."

Charles nodded upon hearing this.Speaking of using the spy network lurking in the east coast this time, and then buying a few unscrupulous east coast business owners, and smuggling a batch of high-quality machine tool heads in the name of scrapping, the British are actually quite hardworking.Of course, what the British pay more attention to is not the cutter head or mechanical parts of the East Coast. What they want to collect is the latest machine tool design of the East Coast people-they are going crazy thinking about this, and it seems that even if they are in an ignorant I understand England in the early days of industry, and I also understand the extreme importance of this kind of industrial mother machine-it's a pity that this kind of design has always been the focus of the people on the east coast. The British have been tossing for several years, and only got some bits and pieces. If you want to fully present the whole picture of the East Coast steam machine tool technology, I am afraid that you have to continue to work hard.

"There are also some Dutch ships in the port, about five or six." Captain Hill talked about what he observed, "But I don't think they came from Amsterdam, maybe they were from Cape Cape Town, and more likely Batavia, as Cape Town obviously doesn't have such a large fleet."

"Cape Town is a big trouble." Mr. Charles said with a serious face, "Dutch ships can supply, repair and even take refuge there at any time, and then they can wait for an opportunity to attack our ships passing nearby. This is very important for Eastern trade. It is very unfavorable. Now there is a voice in the country that we also go to South Africa to find a colony as the foothold of the Republic of England in that key sea area. Difficult. But this time when I return to London, I will visit several key figures, and I must promote the local colonization of South Africa, otherwise our future will be very passive."

"In addition, the relationship between the pagan country on the east coast and the Netherlands is getting closer and closer. This is also a big worry." Mr. Charles's eyebrows were all frowned at this moment, and he only heard him say: "As you said Yes, the ships from Batavia have now started to purchase supplies on the east coast. Weapons and ammunition, medicines, wine, mozzarella, canvas, boats and other commodities that cannot be produced in the Far East. I am afraid that the Dutch in the East India The cost of colonization will also gradually decrease, because they have too many things that can be purchased nearby on the east coast. This will obviously form a fierce competition for the operation of the East India Company in India. We must take countermeasures for this, I The Portuguese, who are fighting with the Dutch in Ceylon, India, and the East Indies, is a potential partner, and I must report this to the gentlemen as soon as I return."

After Charles finished speaking, he fell silent, and Captain Hill kept his head down drinking his tea, not knowing what he was thinking.

But their silence didn't last long, and Mr. Charles said again: "Tell me something happy, John, I heard that another fleet set out from New England recently captured more than 20 Dutch fishing boats off the northeast coast? "

"Yes, I've heard about it. It's the fleet led by Sir Montague. They have rich experience and admirable courage. The Dutch fishing boats are completely irresistible, and they are all detained in Plymouth. Basically all of them were auctioned off, and the proceeds were used to support the war.” John Hill became a little happy when he said this, and only heard him say: “So far, I heard that we have captured more than a thousand Dutch ships in total. Oh my God, what an incredible asset. Also, the Dutch have lost so much of their fleet that they seem to have lost all confidence in fighting us, and it's great that General Black gets a victory every time he strikes gone."

What Captain Hill said was basically true.The Anglo-Dutch war came to this point, and the loose system of the Netherlands and the nature of businessmen who like to compromise made them more and more likely to lose the war.This matter is not nonsense, because as early as earlier this year, the Dutch had signaled the end of the war to the British through various channels more than once, but they gave up because the British asked for too high a price——British Wanting to merge with the Netherlands into one country naturally touched the bottom line of the Dutch, so the war can only continue to be fought helplessly.

And in June of this year, it may be the reason why the Dutch fishing boats were attacked in large numbers - the Netherlands has sent 6-1500 ships to fish in the waters near the UK all year round, with more than 2000 crew members. Millions of pounds in proceeds - again the Dutch were eager to make peace.This time the British gave up some unrealistic things and turned to seriously discuss the conditions with the Dutch. Of course, during this period, the war between the two sides continued. The Dutch ships passing through the Strait of Dover and off the coast of Scotland are extremely profitable.

Therefore, England in the past two years has actually been in an extremely excited "golden age".Perhaps for the British Republican government, the war has made the country heavily indebted (currently 100-200 million pounds in debt), but the capitalists have made a lot of money. Among them are the Birmingham military manufacturing owners who provide weapons, and some Merchants who provided ship gear and general supplies, in addition to nautical capitalists who bought a large number of cheap ships, in short, the overall wealth of Britain has increased rapidly (because most of their war expenditures are still spent at home, the so-called meat is rotten pot), there is no doubt about that.

"The lads did a great job on the battlefield, there is no doubt about it." Mr. Charles stopped writing anything at the moment, and only heard him say in a passionate tone: "But it is ridiculous that there are still some unscrupulous people in our country." Uneducated guy, what are you talking about all day? Our country has suffered heavy losses and lost a lot of wealth because of this war, because the government has not only spent all the coins on hand, but also owed a large debt, so The Dutch offer should be accepted, and the field should be ended quickly, and peace restored. For only peace can bring wealth to the country-coins, of course. Humph, this is absurdity, absurdity! Come, dear John , look at what I have written, I hope you can give me some advice, which I have written to refute these fallacies, and I will take them to London to the gentlemen of the House of Lords soon, so that they can be corrected. A wrong perception."

(End of this chapter)