Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 1737 Business against the law

On September 1676, 9, two 15-ton flute-shaped transport ships belonging to the Nanhai Shipping Company sailed into Haji Port, and at the same time brought Li Qing a lot of documents that he needed to handle personally, including the legal relations.

To put it simply, both the East Coast and France now have the impulse and intention to establish a relatively normal relationship (compared to the cold or even hostile relationship before), and to develop trade and commercial exchanges.Compared with the embarrassment that the people on the east coast wanted to go to Paris many years ago, the French are now much less arrogant. This change in attitude is undoubtedly related to the growing national power and influence of the East China Republic. Not open.

Once upon a time, the Kingdom of France was the largest sales market for industrial products on the east coast—especially textiles, dyed leather goods, and metal agricultural tools—bigger than the Ottoman Empire, whose annual trade volume was stable at more than 200 million yuan.However, the intention of the French to develop industry is also quite obvious. Whether it was the Mazaran era or the Colbert era, a large number of workshops including textile factories were built. It's very general, that is, they survive on the large population of France and the vast market. If they go abroad and sell into other countries' markets, that doesn't exist.

But even so, the French domestic market is indeed dominated by a lot, especially the bulky textiles, ironware, leather products, etc. exported from the east coast, which overlap with French self-produced products, and the degree of competition is very high.On the contrary, the United Provinces, because of the large number of product categories, have a lot of trade turnover with France every year and make a lot of money. Of course, after the war broke out, this kind of trade gradually stagnated, and it was replaced by products from Britain, Italy and Germany. massive influx.

This time the French took the initiative to ease relations with the East Coast, which actually started more than two years ago.Although a lot of goods were sold on the east bank at that time, and two battalions of mercenaries were sent to the United Provinces, this was not a problem in the eyes of the French, and it had little impact on the war situation. Therefore, under Colbert's strong suggestion In the end, King Louis XIV of France finally agreed to contact Li Qing, the special envoy of the East Coast to Europe, and then reached some agreements on the opening of some commodity import cooperation. After the inheritance transfer war, the East Coast people obtained some commodities in the French market On the equal tariff (Britain, Netherlands, Spain, Portugal, the average tax rate of the four countries), but quota restrictions still exist, which makes the export there is no small obstacle.

After clearing these obstacles this time, the commercial exchanges between the two countries naturally started slowly.The first thing to resume is the export of woolen cloth. Because the export to the United Provinces was blocked, the people on the east coast are now looking for sales all over the world. The raised woolen textile industry should not shrink too much in scale.Among these potential consumers, the Russians are one and the French are another.

As we all know, the climate of France is mild, humid, and the soil is fertile. It is a good farming area and has a high population density. It is impossible to have large pastures for sheep like England and Spain.Therefore, for many years, the French have been importing wool and woolen products from England, Spain and the United Provinces to meet the needs of the domestic market.

However, after the outbreak of war with the United Provinces and Spain, two of the three major import channels for French woolen products were cut off, and only the English continued to supply France, and they were also limited because of their limited production—the English were in this war After earning enough benefits and occupying many markets, the supply of woolen goods could not keep up with the demand for a while-and the price was raised for the French, which made the French very angry. You must know that they had betrayed their alliance with them because of the British. Maintaining the so-called neutrality has caused troubles, and now you are doing this again, the French are naturally very upset.

Moreover, from the perspective of war, it is a very taboo thing to import important materials such as ironware, textiles, and ammunition from a single source.Because no one can tell whether the British will form an alliance with the United Provinces when they wake up. This is hard to say, so what will the French do then?Imported from Germany?Imported from Italy?Can the production capacity keep up?What if they were also threatened by the Dutch?Therefore, there are many practical considerations to strengthen commercial cooperation with the East Coast, and the French are very aware of the pros and cons.

Therefore, last year (1675), the French government invested a huge sum of money to build a large-scale and beautiful Golden Lily Shop in Qingdao Port, the largest city on the east coast, and leased it to a relatively low price. There were many French merchants or captains who wanted to develop ocean trade with the east coast.

This year, the first batch of French merchant ships returned to ports such as Bordeaux, La Rochelle, and Nantes from the east coast with full cargo. British 80 pounds), 6mm (British 105 pounds), 8mm (British 120 pounds) and many naval and military artillery and many supporting ammunition. The difference between the actual calibers of the two artillery pieces is very small, which makes large-scale standardized and low-cost production possible, so the calibers of the four commonly used artillery pieces are fixed.However, there is actually a difference between this caliber and Europe. For example, the caliber of the 12-pounder guns cast in Britain or Germany is generally 135 mm, but the caliber of the east coast is only 18 mm, which makes customers who buy weapons on the east coast It is also necessary to import a large amount of ammunition and reserve it, and then slowly modify the old domestic molds to be able to produce ammunition by itself.

Most of these weapons are long-barrel cannons, which are used to replace the old bronze cannons in French ports to consolidate the security of their country's sea frontiers.You must know that Dutch warships still appear from time to time in the North Sea, the Bay of Biscay, and the Mediterranean Sea. This poses a big threat to the safe navigation of French merchant ships, and at the same time makes its harbors in an unsafe state.For example, once before, Dutch Admiral Druyter led a fleet to appear in the area of ​​Toulon and Montpellier. As a result, several provinces in southern France were frightened. Not bad” long-barreled artillery were sent to the port of Toulon, the base of the Eastern Fleet, to strengthen the defense here, so as not to be forcibly attacked by the Dutch fleet due to weak firepower.

Therefore, don't look at the majesty and majesty of the French Army on the battlefield.However, in front of the Dutch, who are known as the coachmen of the sea, the two major French fleets shrank honestly in the ports of Dunkirk and Toulon. Fight it head-on.This time, the French realized the weakness of their coastal defense forces, so they spent huge sums of money to import a large number of 105mm guns from the east coast (cannons of this caliber are not equipped as standard coastal defense turrets on the east coast, because the Ministry of the Navy thinks they are not powerful enough ), 120 mm, 135 mm high aspect ratio, long barrel artillery, security in Toulon, Marseille, Montpellier, Bordeaux, La Rochelle and other places (Dunkirk's defense is already relatively good, temporarily There is no need to add artillery), to prevent the sea raids by the Dutch from causing a series of embarrassing incidents like the coast was bombarded and plundered by the East Coast Fleet.

After this successful arms transaction, East and France, with a certain basis of mutual trust, intend to further conduct trade cooperation. Therefore, the French government found a temporary residence in Spain through the Doria family in Genoa, the middleman. As a result, Li Qing had already set off for the Black Sea, so these business documents were sent to Haji Port again, and several French envoys came with them.

Li Qing first asked people to settle down these French people, and then called Gao Wengang and Malati, the two generals of Heha, and held a small meeting with them, just to discuss these business documents—the documents. The content had already been translated by the people from Cadiz in advance. Li Qing quickly scanned through the content. It was probably the Kingdom of France's request for more in-depth business cooperation with the East Coast Republic of China.To put it more bluntly, the French asked the people on the east coast to supply France in large quantities and stably at a discounted price, including arms, textiles, metal agricultural tools (including blades), leather, spices, tobacco, sugar, and swords. Although the total amount of dozens of commodities including hemp has not been estimated, it is definitely not small.

To be honest, it is normal for the French to make such a request. After all, there is a large demand, and it is reasonable to give some discounts. However, he still needs to communicate with the local people to a certain extent to confirm every purchase that the French are looking for. Whether the goods can be supplied in sufficient quantities can be negotiated with the French in the next step.Of course, for some things that are obviously overproduced in China, he can now decide to sign a supply agreement with the French.

"The French recently sent troops to occupy half of Santo Domingo Island, which was lost in the last war. They sent a small fleet from Bordeaux, carrying hundreds of army soldiers. The Spaniards are really useless. Lost the western half (this part was occupied by Spain during the inheritance transfer war, in exchange, Strasbourg and four nearby free towns were ceded to France), and then in the next two months In the meantime, they lost the eastern half, and now the entire island of Santo Domingo has been occupied by the French, and the district of the Santo Domingo Prosecution Court was forced to move to the Spanish mainland.” After the meeting was held for a while, because Li Qing asked, and Gao Wengang recounted part of the recent French battlefield situation: "The above is what the people from the Caribbean Shipping Company told us. They once received an invitation from the Spaniards to send troops, but they politely declined. In addition, how many The news that Bago Island was occupied by the French has reached Amsterdam. It is said that the Dutch are already dispatching ships and personnel, planning to sail to the Caribbean Sea to retake the island. The West India Company is really lucky. The financial situation is not very good. As a result, the cost of seizing the island was directly borne by the United Provinces government. I don’t know if the Prince of Orange is showing favor to these business leaders and Republican leaders. If so, the problem will be complicated. He is currently in exile in the South The influence of DeWitt and others in the Netherlands will also be further reduced, it seems that we should contact them again and think of a way."

"Don't go so far for now, let's settle the matter with the French first." Li Qing waved her hand, stopped Gao Wen from continuing, and then continued to talk about the trade between France and the East: "Although the French occupied Santo Domingo Island, and Martinique, Guadeloupe, St. Lucia, St. Christopher, Tobago and other islands are also controlled in their hands, but their naval strength is not strong. The threat of the Dutch is also real. This time the Dutch lost Tobago Island carelessly, and they will definitely find a way to recover it; They will ask the Dutch navy to send troops to recover together. At that time, the French on the other islands may not be able to keep it, so it should be difficult for them to obtain stable tropical commodities, namely sugar, dyes, cotton, coffee, cocoa, The import of commodities such as tobacco, this is our opportunity, and the business of Caribbean Shipping Company will usher in a major turning point."

"The opportunities of Dayuhe Machine Textile Factory, Huangyang County United Textile Factory, and even Ping'an Weaving Factory have also come. The French are short of both cloth and cotton. Of course, we may have to face the English and There is fierce competition from the Italians, but we have certain advantages." Gao Wengang also echoed: "All kinds of metal utensils and agricultural tools produced by Dafeng Agricultural Machinery Factory and Dayuhe Armory Factory should also have a good market, and the trade volume along the coast of France Now it has been reduced by more than [-]%, and many businessmen dare not take the risk of being robbed by the Dutch fleet to trade. This is our opportunity. Haha, I can’t imagine that the trade agreement torn up by the Dutch has been made up for by the French. Although It’s impossible to fill that big hole completely, but it’s pretty good, and the Dutchman’s face will be very exciting when he knows.”

"I don't have any opinions. These things are very beneficial to the industry and commerce of our country. We have no reason to refuse." Malati, who had been silent before, also said at this time, and the opinions have basically been unified so far.

"By the way, can the French be more involved in the Black Sea? I heard that France's domestic grain harvest has not been very good in recent years, and the trend of famine has gradually become obvious. Grain is imported from the outside world. So when it is difficult to transport grain from Russia and Poland to France, is it a good choice to find another way to import grain from the Ottomans and even the Crimean Khanate? Especially on the scale of grain plantations on the northern coast of the Black Sea The increasingly large Crimean Khanate, now the Venetians and Genoese import a large amount of grain from here every year. If France also comes to sign a certain amount of import contracts and gradually form a practice, it will be very important for Crimea. The future of the Khanate may not be a bad thing, right? At least, when the Russians plan to go south to invade or even annex this country, things will become more complicated, and the resistance may be greater.” Malati suddenly raised such a question to everyone The suggestion, not surprisingly, aroused the thinking of Li Qing and Gao Wengang. There is no doubt that this is a topic worth discussing, and the thinking is also very broad. It is worth a try. After all, there is no risk, is there?

(End of this chapter)