Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 1296 Promoting Peace by Fighting ([-])

On November 1661, 11, when the east coast escort convoy was sailing through the Strait of Messina, a galley belonging to the Doria family came up with a white flag and bluntly said that it had something important to discuss with the people on the east coast.Lieutenant Colonel Wang Tiehammer, who got the news, thought for a while, and felt that the Doria family, as one of the most powerful old political and economic families in the Republic of China, must have something important to do in such a hurry, so he ordered the entire fleet to launch He entered the port of Messina, which was deeply influenced by the Japanese, for a supply rest, and he was going to meet with the Doria family to see what was going on with them.

"The Portuguese want peace talks." The first words of Alessandro, who represented the Doria family, even surprised Wang Tiehammer, but it was normal after thinking about it. no more.It is estimated that the grandsons of Portugal must have run into a wall in other countries, so they gave up and turned to the people on the east coast for peace talks—that’s right, who has the time to come out for Portugal, a poor family, and to provoke them? Do the regional powers in the South Atlantic think they have enough troubles?

"Peace talks are predictable, but what conditions are they going to offer? Alessandro, you are also an old friend of our East Coast people, and you know what we want. Can they really meet our requirements?" Wang Tiehammer and others The man sat in a tavern in the dock area, and the followers of both sides also rushed in, making the tavern very noisy.The boss, who was mostly bald, took a look, ended the business decisively, and then gave the space to the big shots for discussion. Of course, before leaving, he didn't forget to ask his subordinates to send a few bottles of fine wine and some exquisite wines to everyone. food.

"Their emissary told me that last year King Alfonso authorized Duke Mallor, um, a young nobleman who had just been promoted, to levy 240 million cruzados across the country - don't be nervous, it's not golden cruzados This is the second time since the recovery of Portugal. The last time was when their king was just on the throne. It was to deal with the Spaniards. Do you know what this means? 240 million grams Luzardo is equivalent to 10% of Portugal's national personal property. In terms of amount, it actually far exceeds the tax during the reign of King Philip, but last time the Portuguese paid this tax without complaint for the independent owner; Although there was a lot of dissent, the noble council passed the resolution because it was strongly promoted by Queen Luisa de Gusmão (the mother of Alfonso VI, who was regent for a long time because of her son's disability) It has been approved by nobles and clergy such as the Duke of Mallor, the Marquis of Villareal, the Duke of Caminha, the Count of Amamar, the Bishop of Braga, and the Chief Magistrate of the Lisbon Inquisition." Allais Sandro Doria stood up and opened a bottle of wine from the Po River Plain, poured a glass for each of them, and said: "To be honest, the current situation is a bit unfavorable to the Portuguese, but their attitude still seems to be Very tough, probably because you bombarded their port last year. They want peace talks, but they don't want to pay too many conditions, for example-they only want to recognize your occupation of the area south of 24 degrees south latitude, and then demand You are returning lost towns and captives in Mozambique, Angola, etc., and you don’t seem to be planning to pay any compensation. Isn’t it hard to accept?”

"This is completely unacceptable!" Hearing this, Wang Tiehammer also laughed. The Portuguese are still holding unrealistic fantasies. It seems that it is necessary to make them sober.

"Portugal's army looks very good now. They have repeatedly defeated Spain and occupied many Spanish territories. However, I heard that since King Louis married Princess Teresa, the French no longer intend to continue to assist Portugal. Now, His Majesty Alfonso VI has turned to England for help from his traditional trading partner. Charles II, who has already enthroned as king, agreed to the Portuguese's request, expressly stating that as long as the Kingdom of Portugal continues to deepen the trade between the two countries, he will spare no expense And military assistance, of course, the war is more dependent on the efforts of the Portuguese themselves, anyway, they have a lot of money, hehe." Alessandro talked about the recent developments of the Kingdom of Portugal to King Hammer, and It is very interesting to clarify who is the supporter behind the Kingdom of Portugal, and finally point out that Portugal is not short of money at all.

"Is it possible for Spain to defeat Portugal on land?" Wang Tiehammer asked again.

"It may be very small." Alessandro replied succinctly. "When the Spanish army suffered repeated defeats, everyone said that after the end of the war with France, they would be able to spare their hands to deal with Portugal. What happened? Spain has lost more than 600 soldiers. They can't even defeat the weak Portugal. So what else is there to say? Now many people are eyeing Spain, because they are too Weak! Of course, the Portuguese are not without foreign aid. Last year, the Duke of Shishuangberg brought more than [-] experienced elite non-commissioned officers to Portugal, but I don’t know how much they played. I tend to think that the Portuguese Army itself The combat effectiveness is extremely strong. Spanish military officers commented on their Portuguese opponents as 'brave', 'tactful', and 'full of fighting spirit'. Now that there are a large number of experienced foreign aid veterans, it is very easy to fight against Spain. , I even once doubted whether Valladolid and Madrid would fall."

"Has Spain rotted to this extent?" Wang Tiehammer was a little disbelieving, and even more depressed, because now it seems that Spain really can't afford it. The Portuguese army is occupying it, and it is already good if I insist on not cede territory to Portugal, and I really can't ask for more.

"It's really bad." Alessandro made no secret of his bad impression of the fighting power of the pampered Castilian Legion in Spain, which is simply a piece of shit.

"Okay, let's not talk about this." Wang Tiehammer gulped down half a glass of Po wine with Alessandro's twitching expression, then hiccupped and said, "Alessandro , why did you find me?"

"This is because you came from the mainland and may have brought the latest diplomatic instructions. This is in line with your practice. I'm just here to try my luck." Alessandro shrugged and said indifferently: "If you have nothing If I want to talk, I will go to Lisbon, and Earl Maior invited me to go there for a detailed discussion. Then, I will go to The Hague to meet Mr. Zheng Yong, your country's plenipotentiary diplomatic envoy to the Old Continent. He will be in charge. Well, regarding the location of the negotiation, I suggest setting it at the port of Livorno, where we know each other very well, and it is also a necessary place for merchant ships of your country to pass through, and it is also good for passing news, how about it?"

"I have no objection. I am not in charge of this matter." Wang Tiehammer waved his hand and said, "But you are really right to come to me. Next, I will arrange people to go to The Hague with you, bring my personal letter, and hand it over to Special Envoy Zheng Yong. Well, do you need to send a warship to escort it?"

"That's the best." Alessandro smiled and expressed his thanks.

"Then let's talk about it when our escort fleet returns. You and your people are waiting in Sicily first. Anyway, this matter is not urgent." Wang Tiechui stood up and said while putting on his coat with the help of his adjutant.

"Yes, we are not in a hurry. The Portuguese seem to be patient enough, so let's start when you return." Alessandro nodded, and got up to pack his things and prepare to leave. His son, Paul, followed behind him. He had just been introduced to Wang Tiechui and others, and he joked that he was getting older, and in the future, more sons might be asked to come out to move around and maintain relationships for the family.

……

On December 1661, 12, due to bad weather, the huge east coast convoy—1 ships had left for southern France, Italy and the Balkans—arrived in the Ottoman Empire a little later than expected. Sea (Aegean Sea), as many as 11 merchant ships on the east coast, escorted by frigates, went to Smyrna, Thessaloniki, Alexandria, Burgas, Kaffa, Haji and other places in batches to carry out their respective trades Task.

Wang Tiechui and others landed in Smyrna, the largest port of the Ottoman Empire as usual. When the mighty and majestic battleship "Executive Committee" tried its best to enter the dock for maintenance and supplies, the Ottomans felt that their eyes were not enough.Especially when the "Executive Committee" was lined up with many other main battleships, the majestic figure, densely packed gun ports, and the super-large mainsail woven with the pattern of double-sword goshawks all impressed Osman. People leave a strong sense of visual impact.

The news that the navy on the east coast bombarded the Portuguese town had already spread to the Ottoman Empire. The Turks always talked about any incidents in which the Kingdom of Portugal, one of the die-hard Catholic countries, made a fool of themselves, because these damned heretics used to be in East Africa, The Red Sea and even the Persian Gulf have caused too much trouble for the Ottoman Empire—the East Coast Republic, which has a good relationship with Ottoman, can teach them a lesson, and the Turks are also honored.

It's a pity that the empire's finances are really embarrassing, the political situation is also very turbulent, and the Koprulu family in power also doesn't pay much attention to the navy. This is doomed that the Ottoman Empire cannot rebuild the powerful navy of the 16th century with the help of the east coast.Except when Istanbul was blocked by the Venetian fleet - which directly led to the downfall of the previous two prime ministers and a series of political reshuffles in the Ottoman court, which indirectly enabled Koprulu to come out of the mountain - Koprulu had tried to increase the navy In addition to investing and breaking the enemy's blockade, the rest of the time, the vision of this army-born person is always limited to the land, more precisely, it is limited to Austria, which is really a pity.

Although the army is very important, although the border area has not been peaceful recently (Ottoman and Austria are fighting sharply on the Transylvania issue), and although the empire is still at war, these are not reasons not to develop the navy!Is it true that the weak navy was beaten up by the Venetians in the past few years, the supply of Crete was not delivered, and the blockade of Istanbul led to the famine epidemic, have they been forgotten so quickly?Anyone who is interested in developing the navy of the Ottoman Empire, whenever he thinks of these things, will always feel the pain and shame from his heart, but the current navy Pasha is a person who does not understand the navy at all, and he is also a lackey of the Koprulu family. It was so frustrating.

What the Turks think is not what Wang Tiechui cares about. Although he is a navy, he is not a businessman.He only needs to successfully complete the escort mission, and formulate a plan to bombard the coast of Portugal's mainland, and cooperate with the mainland to promote peace. The rest is none of his business?That's something that Gao Wengang and others should worry about!Therefore, Wang Tiehammer has been sitting in the East Coast Commercial House in Smyrna Port since he landed, waiting for the return of transport ships going to various places.

On December 12, ships heading for Albania, Thessaloniki and other places returned to the port of Smyrna. They brought back a large number of horses, camels, olive oil, cheese, dried fruits and other commodities, as well as a large number of border crossings The total number of Christian slaves caught in the friction should be around 6, and they are estimated to be Croats - of course this is done in secret, after all, the two pagan countries (the Christians and the Taoists) openly traded Christians , It is really a matter of hatred. Even in merchant countries like the United Provinces and the Communist Party, people may feel a little upset when they hear it.

Of course, these countries in the Christian world are not pure white rabbits themselves. For example, the Christians have been collecting Italians and South Germans via Egypt to the East Coast through various tricks and abductions. (Thousands of people have been transported so far, and the total number is still increasing slowly), and their actions may not be much nobler than those on the east coast who openly traded.But there are some things that others can do, but you may not be able to do them. They can pretend not to know when they buy cheap Slavic slaves, but if they are Austrians, it is a bit of a hindrance, so it is better to cover it up a little bit.

On December 12, two transport ships headed for Egypt returned smoothly. In addition to carrying a large number of horses, camels, dates, raisins, blankets, and raw silk as usual, the ships also helped to clear a batch of pepper, Cane sugar, coffee and other special products of New China were brought to the port of Smyrna, where they were handed over to the local east coast commercial station for wholesale to agents.In recent years, Xinhua Island has exported more and more commodities to Ottoman and the Middle East, but the largest quantity is still the above three, namely pepper, sugar and coffee, which are all produced by local plantations and are very profitable. At the same time, it has further promoted the development of these local industries, and of course it has also promoted the military operation to capture the natives of New Huaxia Island. After all, plantations need a lot of cheap labor!

At present, this trade route is quite mature. The East African transportation company will transport all kinds of special products to the two major trading ports of Suez and Basra in the winter and spring every year (that is, from mid-to-late October to early-to-mid-April of the next year), and then via The overland caravans were transported to the wealthy Alexandria, Baghdad, Aleppo, Damascus and even Anatolia and the Balkans for sale.A while ago, Gao Wengang was entrusted by the New China Development Team to go to Istanbul several times to see if he could get the Ottomans to approve the construction of a horse-drawn wagon track between Suez Port and Alexandria Port to improve transportation efficiency.

It’s just that the Ottomans’ work efficiency is low, and the situation in the court is turbulent. No one cares about this matter, so there has been no progress, but Gao Wengang has not given up. He plans to go to the Ottoman capital for activities after a while, mobilize more old connections, and give Let’s draw a picture and see that this light rail line can’t be repaired in a hurry, so that the transportation efficiency will be greatly increased, and the commodity export of Xinhua Island will also usher in spring. Naturally, the economic development of the island will also enter a period of prosperity. Expect.

On December 12, a large number of merchant ships returned from Kaffa, Burgas, Haji and other places.In particular, the ships returning from Haji Port, a port exclusively for people on the east coast, carried a large number of Ukrainian and Polish female slaves, as well as a few Moldavian prisoners of war, but there may be fewer and fewer in the future, because Gao Wengang has successfully Bringing together Italian merchants from Japan, Tuscany, Lucca, Parma, etc. to start grain trade with them - even under the operation of these supernatural merchants, these grains are not without The possibility of transporting it to the Spanish market for sale, after all, there is also a shortage of food there-the Crimean Khanate has newly opened a large number of plantations on the northern shore of the Black Sea, and the overwhelming number of male slaves in the country finally have a "useful place". And this obviously made the East Coast people breathe a sigh of relief.

The domestic policy is really too tight!The Executive Committee no longer wants to import many male slaves (of course, it does not refuse those who pay their own travel expenses), and even female slaves are reducing their imports year by year. Therefore, it is very important to help Crimeans implement economic transformation. Their contact with the grain sales market is the first step. Of course, in the process, the people on the east coast took the opportunity to gain a certain influence over the Black Sea and the Western Mediterranean. The hidden benefits are also self-evident, and this will be reflected in all aspects.

On December 12, after counting the ships and the number of people, the trade fleet completed delivery with the Smyrna trading station, and then left the port one by one under the order of Lieutenant Colonel Wang Tiehammer. After forming an array, they left the Ottoman Empire and sailed towards Sicily .

On January 1662, 1, the convoy contacted the Doria family in Sicily, then sailed west together, and crossed the Strait of Gibraltar on January 2, arriving at the port of Cadiz, Spain.After the Alessandro father and son said goodbye to the people on the east coast, they took their offshore galley to the mouth of the Tejo River, preparing to meet the Portuguese officials.And after they leave, the people on the east coast will also pull anchor and set sail for Portugal, but they don't go with friendship, but with cannons!

To promote peace by fighting, the main point is to fight!This is the understanding of the officers and soldiers of the East Coast Republic Navy.

(End of this chapter)