Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 114 Cotton Cloth Market ([-])

The climate in Dongfanggang in September is still very cold, and the bitter southwest wind often reaches level 9 or above.Even if you are wearing the warmest Army 6-year winter jacket in the East Coast Republic of China, you can still feel the biting chill that seems to be everywhere in the cold wind.

This is not a season suitable for long-distance voyages, whether it is for merchant ships coming from afar or for the warships of the East Coast Republic itself.But there are always exceptions to everything. In today's Dongfang Port No. 1 Military Dock, a tall double-decked warship is quietly docking.

A group of officers from the Admiralty walked up and down the deck, lovingly stroking the side railing from time to time.After nearly 18 months of hard work by hundreds of shipyard craftsmen and twice as many shipyard workers, the first ship of the "August 34.5th" class battleship was named "August 9.5th". The [-]-meter-long, [-]-meter-wide double-deck battleship was finally completed.

该舰共有四桅，航速6节，排水量为920吨，战舰吃水深度约为4米，整个水线以下部位覆盖着铜皮。全舰定员为350人，装备有16门32磅长管重炮、16门24磅长管重炮、16门18磅长管/短管炮、12门12磅长管/短管炮、6门8磅短管炮，一共66门全钢制火炮。

Whether it is the tonnage and speed of the battleship, or the number, caliber and range of the artillery, this battleship is second to none in the South Atlantic and South Pacific regions.In order to gather the artillery needed for the battleship, almost all arms exports have been suspended again in the past few months, and most of the steel production has been used to cast cannons.

Compared with the battleship "August [-]", the Spanish Peruvian fleet's "San Lorenzo" and "Cádiz Rock" are both eclipsed. In addition to the tonnage of the battleship, they are also in terms of speed and firepower. All failed.

There is no doubt that the captain of the ship is Lu Ming, who has just been promoted to lieutenant commander, while the first mate, second mate, navigator, bosun, gunner, and junior officers in various positions under the captain are in the navy. Fierce contention arose among the officers and soldiers and a group of staff officers of the Admiralty, and the position has not yet been settled.Moreover, the 350-person quota for this battleship is not easy to get in place, because this almost makes the navy expand its military by about half.

At present, the only way is to recruit skilled sailors from each ship, add some identified and more reliable defected pirates, and recruit some newcomers for the rest, so as to strengthen training and strive to form combat effectiveness as soon as possible.As for the vacancies formed after the transfer of personnel from each battleship, new recruits can only be recruited for retraining.

"66 cannons, how spectacular would it be to fire a volley." This is a first-class staff officer of the Admiralty who has fallen into fantasy.

"It's such a cool thing to drive such a powerful warship to block people's ports, so that their small sampans dare not leave the port." .

"Do you know how much it costs to shoot a volley?" Someone poured cold water on it, "Brother, you can't beat it with 30 yuan or 100 yuan. Damn, it costs more than [-] yuan to shoot five rounds of volleys. Generally speaking, the five rounds If the volley is unlucky, it may not even hit them a few shots. This cannon, it really is money."

"What are you afraid of spending money?" Some people were not convinced. "With such a powerful warship, don't be too sharp to snatch those merchant ships. The firepower is so strong and the speed is so fast. It is impossible to miss any ship."

"Don't talk nonsense, look, the national flag and naval ensign are hoisted on the mainmast flagpole for the first time today, everyone is silent."

……

This is what Julian Pasquale saw when the armed merchant ships "Butterfly" and "Nightingale" of the Pasquale family entered the commercial dock of Dongfang Port under the control of the pilot.In fact, not only he saw it, but almost all the crew and passengers on the two merchant ships saw it.

Seeing the towering deck, huge sails, densely packed gun ports, and brightly colored flags, Pasquale couldn't help but sigh from the bottom of his heart. Even in France, there are probably only a handful of such powerful warships.Perhaps, France simply does not have such a powerful double-decker battleship.Julian suddenly felt that the country in front of him, which exudes vitality everywhere and is thriving like the sun, is not something he can easily bargain for.

At this time, the three of Xu Xin were standing on the front deck of the "Butterfly" extremely excitedly, raising their heads and paying attention to the "August [-]th".After being alone for several months, they understood more than anyone how important it is to have a strong motherland as their backing.The battleship, the most important weapon of the country, is a direct manifestation of the country's strength.

After the two French merchant ships docked at the commercial pier, Pasquale and others went to the commercial hotel outside the pier, waiting for the reception of the diplomatic officials of the Republic of China on the East Coast.On the way to the hotel, two dangling corpses on the gallows on the side of the road caught the attention of Julian and others.After questioning, it was learned that these were two Spanish spies who wanted to spy on the intelligence of the Chinese East Coast Republic's arsenal.They were hanged for espionage by the Dongfang County People's Court, and the execution had just been completed three days before their arrival.Hearing this, the faces of Julian and others became even more gloomy.

Xu Xin and the other three went straight to the administrative building to report to their respective departments.

The three-person business delegation brought back a large amount of valuable first-hand information on business, agriculture, and society from Bordeaux. The Ministry of Industry and Commerce, the Ministry of Trade, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the National Intelligence Agency jointly sent personnel to participate in their work reports. And obtained a lot of valuable information, so that people across the world have a certain understanding of the current social ecology of Southwest France, at least the Gascony region, which is a very useful reference when the Government Council and the Executive Committee make corresponding decisions .

After the work reports of the three of Xu Xin, the members of the Executive Committee gathered together again and held a temporary meeting to discuss the information they brought back.

France's complex social ecology and local economic model have greatly impacted the thinking of members of the Executive Committee.It turned out that although everyone also realized that it might be difficult to sell cotton cloth there, they never thought that the local situation was so complicated.A simple business is mixed with too many factors, making it almost impossible for foreign goods to be stubbornly blocked by the developed small-scale peasant economy, closed tariff barriers and strong local protectionism.

To break this barrier, it is necessary to use a large number of cheap and high-quality goods to break through and disintegrate the original local economic order with the cooperation of local agents. However, this will also cause serious social problems, which will inevitably lead to French Attention and hostility from upper-level officials.

On the other hand, this kind of area with a large population and strong consumption power is the dream of dumping goods for the East Coast Republic.The Gascony region alone has a population of about 100 million, and France has a population of nearly 2000 million. It is no exaggeration to call it the largest country in continental Europe.Such a market has been well grasped. Theoretically, the annual consumption of cotton cloth is between several million to 1000 million pieces, and the total profit during this period is unimaginable.

"How is it? Let's talk about it. Anyway, I think the risk is not small, but the reward is also amazing." Ma Ganzu looked at the other committee members and said first.

"What else can we do? Let's go straight ahead!" said Vest, the Prime Minister of the Government Affairs Council known as "Ma Dapao".He was one of the members of the Central Committee who advocated the development of the textile and leather processing industries before. Now the leather processing industry has not improved due to the lack of raw materials, but the textile industry, especially the cotton textile industry, has risen with a clear trend. Naturally, he is also extremely happy.

"What can we lose?" Said the vest. "Faced with a market with a conservative consumption of 30 pieces of cotton cloth every year, why do we have any hesitation? If we don't fight, we will never have a chance. If we win, then naturally Needless to say, the huge profits every year can feed our entire country; if we fail, we will not lose anything, at most the market is temporarily closed to us, and we can just pat our asses and move on Continue to do business elsewhere."

"I agree with Vest." Tang Yuan, who was in charge of finance, was the first to respond, and he had always spared no effort to support such things that could make a lot of money. "However, I would like to add that the French must not agree to visit the factory and build a joint venture with us. This is our golden rice bowl to make money, and there is no room for negotiation. If they steal our technical information, then Our current comprehensive strength may not be able to compete with them."

"Naturally." The other committee members also nodded.

"I also have something to add." Xiao Mingli, who is in charge of civil affairs, said, "Xiao Xu from the Ministry of Trade and the French discussed the emigration of bankrupt French textile workers before. This matter should be cautious. There are more than 5000 employees, even if there are only three If one of them is willing to come to our east coast, it will also greatly damage our current population structure. We must be cautious about this matter, we cannot accidentally create a certain ethnic group with a large population, so that It's going to be troublesome."

"We now have a total population of more than 9800 people in the country, of which the number of Charuya and Guarani people is close to 2500. It has reached the danger line and must be controlled. In the same way, the immigration of these bankrupt workers from France must also be cautious. Repeat the same mistakes." Xiao Mingli continued.

"Ahem, don't digress." Ma Ganzu coughed and said, "I think everyone's opinions are also very unified, so let's deal with this matter like this, Lao Gao, you are responsible for this matter, and have a good talk with the French , Dispel their unrealistic thoughts."

Gao Mo nodded.

(End of this chapter)