Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 1043 Argument and Compromise ([-])

"The loan of 500 million yuan is already an extremely heavy burden for our government." Mo San commented on the Spaniard's plan.In fact, he was right. If a loan of 500 million yuan is provided to the Spaniards, of which 200% is cash and 50% is goods, the cash alone will have to take out 1650 million, which is now stored in the vault of the Army’s No. 60 Prison. The silver coins of various countries in the country are only about 65 yuan, plus the 80 taels of silver that Shao Shude sent back from the Far East at the end of [-] (about [-] yuan if impurities, wear and casting losses are removed). As for the gap of [-] yuan, the state finance has to pay for it—even if it is paid in three years, it is not a small burden.

"But you still want to increase the quota now, which is too much." Mo San cried out, "So, how much do you really want?"

"At least 1000 million yuan, we are spending a lot of money every day, and war is a bottomless pit of gold." Baron Bravo said, "I know this is difficult for you, but I think you can use more supplies Deduction, of course, maybe the materials also need money to produce, but it should make you more cost-effective."

"In addition, regarding the scope of the mortgaged land, I don't think it can be further north than 42 degrees south latitude. This is the best condition I can give within the scope of my authority. However, considering your strong demands on Chiloe Island, I I think I can apply to the Governor and His Majesty the King for fine-tuning, that is, to add the entire Chiloe Island and its affiliated islands to the mortgage, which should make you more satisfied, right?"

"There is also the question of interest. The term of the loan is no problem, ten years is neither too long nor too short, just right, but is 15% interest per year too high? If it is a total loan of 1000 million yuan, then when we After paying off all the principal and interest, you may need to pay 500 million yuan, which is too exaggerated. I suggest that the annual interest rate be lowered to 10%, which will be more acceptable to people.”

"Let me respond to you one by one, Your Excellency the Baron." Mo San said immediately after listening, "1000 million is impossible, that is too much, and we are unable to pay such a huge amount of money, 500 million is already ours. The greatest sincerity. Considering the actual difficulties in your country, I can also increase the amount of 30 yuan for you within the scope of my authority, but please note that this is also the last concession, and we must distribute the country's fiscal revenue reasonably , it is impossible to spend unrestrainedly. Moreover, the increased 30 yuan will be offset by grain, how about it? If you can accept it, you can accept it. Do you care about it (the subtext is that you can’t pay it back anyway)? The annual interest on the loans you borrow from Portuguese Jews and Dutch bankers is generally between 15% and 20%. It is very kind for us to take the lower limit. How about this , 10% is definitely unacceptable, let’s make a compromise, 12.5% ​​is good, the interest will be calculated based on the actual disbursement time of each loan, for a period of ten years, and the principal and interest will be repaid once after ten years. As for the collateral you mentioned The area, I agree, let’s settle it, but please don’t adjust it arbitrarily, our patience is limited.”

Baron Bravo is caught in a dilemma.The feeling during the negotiation process told him that the people on the east coast had really reached the limit of their patience, and it is estimated that they would not get much benefit if they continued to negotiate. It is difficult to satisfy him, and we must find a way to let the people on the east coast continue to increase their stakes, otherwise the negotiations during this period of time may still be in vain.

"I still insist on lowering the loan interest rate and increasing the total loan amount. In this way, your total interest income may not decrease, and at the same time meet our requirements. Isn't this the best of both worlds?" Baron Bravo He planned to make one last effort, so he tried his best to fight for Mo San: "1000 million yuan is not an unbearable burden for you, and we can even consider further reducing the proportion of precious metals in the loan and increasing the proportion of various materials. , so that you can further save some costs, how about it?"

In fact, strictly speaking, reducing the proportion of precious metals and increasing the proportion of materials is not necessarily a bad thing for the Spaniards.Gein and the others were unanimously considered by businessmen to be "stupid people with a lot of money", so when they went out to buy things, they would naturally be slaughtered.What's even more frightening is that in many cases, there is no chance of being slaughtered because there is a shortage of goods in the market. In this way, the people on the east coast directly produce and supply materials according to the needs of Spain, which saves the Spaniards a lot of money. What about purchasing costs?

Therefore, in addition to obtaining some precious metals to pay mercenaries and officials, the Spaniards should prefer food, ammunition, daily necessities and other materials-of course, the people on the east coast also like this. This is not only a matter of profit, but also in the In the process of producing a large amount of materials for the Spaniards, domestic industry, agriculture, and commerce on the east coast were all mobilized, and a large amount of funds (or high-quality funds raised in the domestic "capital pool") were invested in these fields. Farmers, workshops, craftsmen, and even large and medium-sized enterprises are involved, and the industrial base will continue to grow in the process, which is much more beneficial than simply lending money to the Spaniards.

But no matter how great the benefits are, Mo San, who knows that if he borrows the money, he will never get it back, and he will never allow the Spaniards to borrow 1000 million yuan from him—in fact, even if he agrees , this is definitely not acceptable at the executive committee - so, I saw him first shook his head firmly, and then said regretfully: "Mr. Bravo, I am very helpless. Both parties have tried their best, but the differences are too great. This is not something that you and I can make up for. It's really a pity. Let's do this, the negotiation can't continue effectively at this point. I think it's better that we will The results are recorded, and the two report to our respective governments to see what the big shots above say, after all, they are the ones who make up their minds now."

What Mo San said basically means that within this year (1654), it is impossible to reach a substantive agreement with the Spaniards on land mortgage loans, because with the painful communication efficiency at this time, no one It is basically impossible to hear from the old continent in half a year.And even if the King of Spain paid more attention to this matter, the Viceroyalty of Peru sent a special ship to deliver diplomatic letters back and forth. This matter would take half a year at the earliest, so this year is actually hopeless.

But before Baron Bravo leaves the east coast (he will disembark in Santa Fe by boat, then deliver the letter to the local courier, arrive in the Pacific Ocean by land, then hand it over to the Governor of Lima, and finally deliver it to the Spanish mainland by boat , extremely troublesome), Mo Sanye and his colleagues in the executive committee had some earnest discussions, and finally decided to use another flexible method, to give the Spaniards some extra money.

To put it bluntly, this so-called workaround is actually very simple, because according to the mortgage rules, the Spaniards even mortgaged the land south of 42 degrees south latitude (but including parts of Chiloe Island north of 42 degrees) to the east coast People, the ownership of this land is still in the hands of the Kingdom of Spain, and the mortgage will not be transferred to the east bank until ten years later.

But the members of the executive committee have now decided to give the Spaniards an annual "development fee" of 10 yuan, a total of 100 million yuan for ten years.After paying the development fee, the east bank government will be able to organize people to open up wasteland, farm, mine and log, fish and hunt on this land (that is, the mortgage) at will, in short, it doesn’t matter even if it builds a town—— This is actually turning "mortgage" into "pledge", that is, the vast land south of 42 degrees south latitude can be handed over to the government of the East Coast Republic of China from the day the first loan is issued .

In this way, the total development fee plus the loan has reached 630 million yuan, which is definitely the biggest concession that the East Coast people can make.If the Spaniards are still unaware and insist on asking for an outrageous sum of 1000 million yuan, then the negotiations can only end in a breakdown. Mo San believes that this is absolutely what the Kingdom of Spain does not want to see.Therefore, he also has considerable confidence in the final offer collectively given by the executive committee, and believes that the possibility of the Spaniard accepting it is very high.

After Baron Bravo received the final offer from the East Coaster, he had a private conversation with Mo San for more than two hours, and then he did not stay in the Oriental Hotel, but took a boat to the Paraná River An important port city of Santa Fe.He will set off from there and go to Lima in person to discuss these extremely important negotiation agreements with His Excellency the Governor, and then the Governor will submit a document to the Spanish mainland and hand it over to King Philip.

He had already decided that, while in Lima, he would try to convince His Excellency the Viceroy that this agreement would bring great benefits to the Kingdom of Spain.After all, their external situation is quite bad now, and a careless country may fall into disintegration, so it is better not to delay, try to reach an agreement with the people on the east coast, and get this crucial loan. Because this can quickly stabilize the already boiling situation in the country.

And after Baron Bravo left, Mo San and other executive committee leaders were also a little excited. They believed that when the British attacked Spain more and more frequently, their king would definitely make up his mind and make a decision. A decision that conforms to the will of the East Coast.South of 42 degrees south latitude, ha, what a vast piece of land, maybe the surname will be changed next year, it's exciting to think about it!

(End of this chapter)