Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 1025 Returning ([-])

Balboa got up and walked over, looking at the hand-drawn map in front of Mo San, speechless for a long time.

The people on the east coast must have conducted a detailed investigation of the local terrain, products, climate, soil, and inside information of the barbarians, otherwise how could they come up with such a map?Hmph, these heretics really have ambitions for this land, Balboa's heart turned rapidly, and he said: "As far as I know, the Southern Railway Company of your country has already carried out fruitful development in some areas there. They successfully opened up a large number of grain planting areas, raised a large number of cattle and sheep, and also started fishing and hunting sea animals for fur. In short, the income is quite good, is this not fake?"

"Maybe so, but it's nothing compared to our huge investment." Mo San pointed to the map with a pencil, and said: "Your country thought of colonizing Patagonia in the early years. , but what was the end result? Yes, your colonization in Punta Arenas and other places ended in failure. The environment there is by no means friendly to outsiders. Mr. Balboa, stop This is nonsense here, south of 45 degrees south latitude, it is only worth 300 million! If you want more loans, please increase the value of the collateral, such as expanding the scope to 40 degrees south latitude or even 35 degrees south latitude, how about it?"

Following the guidance of Mo San's pencil, Balboa glanced above the 45-degree line, and then stopped near the 35-degree line. Temuco, Corral, Valdivia, and Osorno are marked on the map. , Puerto Barrios (Puerto Montt) and other city names hurt his eyes.

"God, if I dare to mortgage the land south of the 35th south latitude to the people on the east coast, the king will definitely think that I have been bewitched by the devil, and he will really order me to be tied to the stake for purification!" Balbo Asia sighed inwardly.Everyone knows how fertile this piece of land between 35 degrees and 40 degrees south latitude is. There are large mountain valleys here, with vertical and horizontal rivers, mild climate and suitable precipitation. The early immigrants from the peninsula have opened up a large area of ​​vineyards here. , Wheat fields, and pastures for raising livestock have been built.Every peninsula person who has been there is full of praise for the beautiful and comfortable environment of the local area, and at the same time is surprised by the hospitality and simplicity of the local civilized people—that is obviously a courtesy based on a very rich social and economic foundation— ——He didn't have the guts to mortgage such a piece of land worth thousands of dollars to the people on the east coast. Even the king didn't dare to do so, because it would obviously disappoint the proud nobles.

"It's absolutely impossible to go south of latitude 35 degrees south." Balboa said firmly, it's really not up to him to decide.

Mo San put down his pencil and looked at him without saying a word, as if he was asking him if he was not sincere, so what is there to talk about.

There was an awkward silence in the living room.The Spaniard was sitting on a chair with his eyes drooping slightly, and he didn’t know what he was thinking. Mo San drank his coffee and looked at his secretary in blank dismay. The Spaniard was really stubborn. Is it so hard to give up?

Yes, the agricultural conditions there are particularly good - the valleys are full of breathtakingly beautiful vineyards, the mountains are full of golden wheat fields, the hills and slopes are full of cattle and sheep, and there are countless bamboo pods along the coast Fish, the river is clear and sweet and a breeding ground for trout, and the dense forest on the horizon in the distance brings fresh air to the village - but so what?Is all this really more important to the Spaniards than Franche-Comté, Alsace-Lorraine, Naples and the Southern Netherlands?

"That's right, maybe the gold and silver associated mines in Valdivia (there are several small silver mines in the nearby inland area) are hard for the Spaniards to abandon." Mo San thought to himself, "These stupid Spaniards It’s really black-eyed silver that can’t be seen in vain. The silver production in Valdivia and other places is actually not too high. Is it so difficult to give up? Why don’t you just sell it generously, and you can still give the money to The Jewish repayment can also reduce some financial burdens in the future. It’s really boring to procrastinate like this. To put it bluntly, if you don’t sell it now, if the two countries go to war again in the future, it may be a penny. We can’t even get it anymore. Now we are willing to buy it because we think highly of you, help you, and support you, so we’re still reluctant, so what would you like? A dog biting Lu Dongbin doesn’t know a good heart?”

15 minutes passed.Mo San put down the coffee, motioned to the secretary to roll up the map, then stood up, ready to go out.

"It may be possible to move the line of latitude slightly to the north, but 35 degrees south latitude is certainly impossible. As far as the current situation is concerned, no one dares to make such a decision, not even the king!" When Mo San got up and was about to go out, Balboa suddenly spoke with difficulty.And after he spoke, the Spaniards who came with him instantly "lived", and it was obvious that they were all depressed just now.

"So, where are you going to move to? Let me declare first, even if you move to the 35th parallel south latitude, a huge sum of 2000 million yuan is impossible. I can't be the master, and this is too absurd!" Mo San did not sit down, but continued to stand there, looking at Balboa and the others and said.

"Perhaps we can move this line to 43 degrees 50 minutes south latitude." Balboa also took a hand-drawn map from his entourage, and then gestured on it with his fingers and said: "From this line to the south, all I can mortgage it to you for a period of ten years and borrow 1600 million yuan, how about it? This is already the biggest concession I can make."

Mo San didn't speak, but walked a few steps slowly, looking at the map that Balboa spread out in his hand: This is a rough map drawn by Spanish navigators, in Mo San's opinion, it is actually quite inaccurate .Mountains, rivers, island groups, and coastlines are not very accurate, just a rough prototype.Of course, as far as the level of surveying and mapping of this era is concerned, this is actually an average level, but it cannot be compared with the more accurate maps of the people on the east coast.

If it is 43 degrees and 50 minutes, it basically includes the Salmon Islands (Jones Islands), that is, the southern edge of the Guafukou Strait and the vicinity of Montessori Port set up by the Southern Railway Company.At present, the South Railway has set up three settlements in the Salmon Islands: Montessori Port, Blue Whale Port, and Qingfeng Port. There is a whaling base, a salmon experimental farm (preparatory stage), and a botanical garden focusing on potato cultivation. The investment is also considerable. Not too small.In the not-too-distant future, the company also plans to develop the coal mines on Lesko Island in the south of the Salmon Islands and near the Strait of Magellan, as well as the surrounding island pastures. At the same time, it will also carry out hunting of sea animals and develop the fur processing industry.Although Mo San has been in Europe for so many years, he has heard about these things, so now that Balboa has thrown out this mortgage plan that covers almost the entire Salmon Islands, he is still a little tempted—but let’s be tempted. The price that should be cut must still be cut, especially the loan amount of 1600 million yuan is too nonsense.

"43 degrees 50 minutes? 1600 million yuan? No, no, it's impossible!" Mo San shook his finger sarcastically, and said with a smile: "Mr. Balboa, please swear to God by touching your conscience, you Do you think that such a barren land can be worth 1600 million yuan? It is impossible! 400 million yuan, no more! Please put away some unrealistic fantasies!"

"400 million is impossible! This is an insult to us! This amount of money is only enough to maintain the salaries of our army in the Southern Netherlands for up to four years, not to mention the massive consumption of war materials! Envoy Mo, you should be very happy Know the end use of our loan, yes, war! Damn war! A damn war started by the French!" Balboa's emotions suddenly became agitated, perhaps from old Castile He hates France's intention to split Spain, and perhaps he is worried about the future of Spain, which is still in a multi-line combat situation, so he cannot accept the ridiculous price of 400 million yuan offered by Mo San.

The southern Netherlands is being attacked by France, and cities such as Lille and Dunkirk may fall at any time.The tens of thousands of Spanish troops stationed there are particularly in need of this money at this moment, but Castile, which has financial difficulties, is really powerless. In other places, there is no extra oil and water (the Spaniards are notorious for not being good at running their own country), and the mercenaries who are owed military salaries may mutiny at any time (the Genoese stopped paying military salaries after the Spanish government defaulted on them, and immediately The rebels "raised their own pay" and looted commercial cities such as Antwerp), and Castile's own army may also be unstable (they have also been owed military pay for eight months), which is not true for every old Castilian what the Leahs would like to see.

And once the Southern Netherlands is lost, the Castilians will be hit hard - both militarily and psychologically - with this example, wouldn't the Catalonian uprising that had just been quelled be revived ?Won't Naples and Sicily demand independence?The lords in Franche-Comté, Alsace-Lorraine and other regions who are devoted to His Majesty Philip IV must be extremely disappointed and find their own way out, right?Such a result is really disastrous!

"Our money didn't come from the wind, Mr. Balboa, please understand." Mo San couldn't help sighing, then stepped forward to hold his hand, and said, "Perhaps you should convey my words to His lord King Philip will report, and he will have a new assessment of the current situation."

After finishing speaking, Mo San released Balboa's right hand without waiting for Balboa's answer, and then turned and left.His next destination is Lisbon, a famous city at the mouth of the Tejo River.Invited by the Portuguese, he will stop by here for a few days on his way back home, and have an in-depth exchange with the Portuguese on the situation between the two countries.

(End of this chapter)