Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 1764 South Africa and the United Provinces ([-])

The former East India Company governor in Batavia, Joan Matesolko, came to discuss the status of the Dutch South African colony with the East Bank.This gentleman had been staying in the Port of Cape Town before, with three or five entourages, and seemed to be doing nothing all day long. They would only board the ship when the Dutch East India Company's ship requested to call at the port, and they didn't know what they were busy with.

And just when everyone on the East Bank was not surprised by this, one day an official from the local Ministry of Foreign Affairs came over with "Shang Ming", and then had a secret talk with Bai Yutang, an official from the diplomatic system, all afternoon. .The next day, the two announced that they would start negotiations on the status of the Dutch South African colony on behalf of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the East Coast Republic of China and the plenipotentiary representative of the Dutch East India Company, Joann Mattesorko.

Negotiations lasted for almost two months.During the period, we talked on and off and on and off, and I don’t know how many times the ink was written. Finally, an agreement that both parties can barely accept has been initially formed. It has been written down and handed over to the native land for review and stamping. .

The contents of the agreement roughly include the following items. The first item—and at the same time the most critical one, on which all other contents are based—is that the Dutch East India Company confirmed that the former Dutch South African colony (including the Cape London, Stellenbosch, Bredasdorp, and seven towns and their affiliated lands) are permanently "transferred" to the government of the East Coast Republic of China at a transfer price of [-] dong, and this road is also supported by the United Provincial Government William III, Prince of Orange, who is also the governor of the United Provinces and the governor of Friesland, the Netherlands and other provinces, also signed and confirmed this.

This clause written on the first page of the agreement is not an easy decision for the Dutch, especially for the Prince of Orange.This young nobleman turned the tide and rescued the League of Seven Provinces from the iron heel of the French army. Lin, Austria, Spain, etc. have stood with themselves and jointly declared war on France. At the same time, some states in England, Switzerland, and Italy have actually stood on the side of the United Provinces, and provided a lot of help, both openly and secretly. It makes everyone more confident to fight against the powerful French.

Therefore, the current William III, Prince of Orange, has such a resounding reputation in the United Provinces and even in the whole of Europe that the backbone of the Republican faction, including the DeWitt brothers, who are currently living in seclusion in the Southern Netherlands, are all overwhelmed. Sad, I feel that even if they return to the United Provinces in the future, it will be difficult for them to fight against William III, because his prestige is so high that if there are no major mistakes, no one can shake him in his life Yes—this can be seen from the current political situation in the United Provinces. Many republican MPs who are rich businessmen are also forced by the general situation in the country. They have to bow their knees to the Prince of Orange, and even work together. Their former spokesperson has been ruthlessly abandoned now, and they don't know if they still have a chance to make a comeback.

Therefore, we can see how such a powerful national leader, a star of word-of-mouth courts in European courts, and the number one organizer of the anti-French alliance, could easily accept the fall of the Dutch South African colony?You know, at the moment when the country he led was victorious, regained all lost ground, and entered the southern Netherlands to confront the French, the loss of the Cape Town colony was nothing more than a slap in the face to him, making him The glorious image of the Prince of Orange was slightly gloomy, so he was unwilling to accept this matter at first anyway. Even though the East India Company was already willing to face the reality of losing the Cape Town colony, the Prince of Orange was not. He ruthlessly dismissed the Committee of 17's request to keep negotiating with the East Coasters.

But how can the East India Company talk to the people on the East Coast?The purpose of the people on the east coast is so clear, that is, they want the Cape Town Colony. If the East India Company does not give it, everything will be impossible to talk about. Therefore, the negotiations between the two parties were really ineffective at the beginning, and both sides were wasting saliva. At one point, it was interrupted for a long time.

What really accelerated the negotiation process was actually the changes in the international situation.It is said that the war between the Anti-French Coalition and the French in the past few years has really been full of ups and downs and twists and turns.First, in the middle of 1676, Viscount Turenne, one of the French commanders who shocked the Rhine, led his troops to attack Strasbourg (also the general logistics base of the Germans) occupied by the German coalition forces, and met Montecuccoli. tenacious resistance.The battle between the two sides lasted until the end of the year, and finally ended in the complete defeat of the Germans. However, the dramatic thing is that the Viscount Turenne also suddenly fell ill in the winter of that year, and died. In one fell swoop, it occupied some land west of the Rhine.

Of course, their good times didn't last long.In the spring of the second year, King Louis XIV of France urgently dispatched Prince Condé to the Rhine theater, and then restored the situation through a series of beautiful battles, expelling the German army from the area west of the Rhine. For this reason, Li resigned sadly, returned to his hometown for retirement, and devoted himself to the compilation of military works with full enthusiasm.

The successor to Montecuccoli was Charles V, Duke of Lorraine, nephew of the former Duke of Lorraine IV who had just died of illness.This person first played against Prince Kong Dai several times, and his record was not ideal.However, Prince Condé was old, and after working so hard on the Rhine for a year, his physical condition was not as good as before, so Louis XIV transferred the Duke of Buteville to take his place as the French army on the Eastern Front. Group commander.

The Duke of Buterville is also a veteran on the battlefield. Although his level is not as good as his elder brother (he was adopted by the mother of Prince Condé) and Viscount Turenne, Charles V is not a military god, so the two sides basically win each other Unfortunately, Philipsburg, the general logistics base of the French army, was once conquered by the German army, but the [-] troops led by Charles V were also defeated by the Duke of Butteville, and they were always blocked from his hometown and the family fiefdom of the Duchy of Lorraine.

The younger brother of Louis XIV, Duke of Orleans, Philip I, who succeeded the Duke of Luxembourg as the commander-in-chief of the French army on the northern front, this Prince of France, who liked to dress up as a woman and determined his sexual orientation very late, showed a good art of war command , through a series of battles launched by himself, he captured a number of towns in the southern Netherlands, including Valenciennes and Gonde, severely damaged the West, Holland, and German coalition forces, and made him lead the Prince of Orange in disgrace and panic for a time At a loss, he almost gave up the long-running Meuse River defense line and returned to the United Provinces.

And if the various failures on land made the Dutch feel a little uneasy, then the defeat of Admiral Druiter in the coastal waters of Spain shocked the Dutch even more.In this battle, although the French Eastern Fleet led by Duquesne was repulsed, they fought bravely and fired a lucky shell. The commander-in-chief of the United Provincial Fleet, Admiral Drew, who will stand on the deck and command the battle Ittle hit, forcing him out of the fight injured.

This accident dealt a heavy blow to the morale of the Dutch navy, because not only did they fail to win a close sea fight, but they also lost their own commander, a well-known naval commander in Europe - it is conservatively estimated that they will have to rest for half a year or even a year , Maybe he retired directly like the disease-ridden Prince Kong Dai-how can this be accepted by them?

Of course, the above-mentioned things have happened one after another in recent years, and some even happened only in the first half of this year.However, it is an indisputable fact that the overall situation has tilted towards the French since Montecuccoli retired. Therefore, the attitude of the Dutch has actually softened a long time ago, but it has not been shown until everything reached its climax this year.

Now, the United Provincial Government, which has integrated all kinds of situations, has indeed felt that the situation is quite bad, and has begun to consider whether to continue to use diplomatic skills to reverse the current unfavorable war situation.Of course, before that, quickly reaching an agreement with the people on the east coast, and first getting rid of a quagmire that might plunge them into war, has become a top priority for the United Provincial Government.And it was also under such circumstances that the arrogant Prince of Orange was able to bow his head a little bit, and instructed the 17-member committee in Amsterdam to talk to the people on the east coast, quickly clarify the status of the Dutch Cape Town colony, and take care of the place. of everything.

After understanding the bottom line of Amsterdam, Joan Matesolko, who was ordered to negotiate, immediately accelerated the negotiation process with the people on the east coast, and reached an agreement with the people on the east coast in the shortest time.No, after learning that the Dutch had accepted the reality of permanently ceding the Dutch Cape Town colony, the foreign affairs department on the east coast immediately took action, sending representatives to accompany them to Cape Town, and launched the final consultation on some details.

Now, the final result has finally been settled. The East Coasters have acquired the Cape Town Colony at a very small price, and the Dutch East India Company has obtained the free opening of Cape Town Harbor to the company's ships. The capital city of the former Dutch South African colony has become a spy against the Dutch East India Company, which is not bad.

In addition, in the view of Joan Matesolko and others, another major victory for the Dutch is that the new Dutch churches in Cape and Pingyu counties (that is, the former Dutch South African colony) can continue to be preserved. , priests can still continue to preside over religious activities and develop believers, provided that they accept the leadership of the Religious Affairs Office of the East Coast Republic of China.

To be honest, in order to win this right, the Dutch paid a lot of other prices to exchange.Because in their view, even if Cape Town has become a capital city, if there is no heart church and pastor in the city, it is still an extremely failed and unimaginable thing for them, so after repeated efforts to obtain For a time, people on the east bank were still very confused by this right, thinking that these people were really religious lunatics, which was a bit unreasonable.

However, although the Dutch East India Company lost the Dutch South African colony that had been operating for many years, there were still strongholds such as the Mascarene Islands, Cape Town, West African Colonies, and the Eastern Cape Verde Islands on their routes to and from Europe. In essence, there is not much loss, because it is obvious that they continue to do business and the market is not lost, so what is there to doubt?What?East Coasters Might Close Cape Town Port in Wartime?Come on, nothing is smooth sailing, why fight the East Coasters?Isn't it good for everyone to make a fortune together?

Another so-called victory for the Dutch was the right to invest in South Africa—note, the whole of South Africa, not just Dutch South Africa.This right is highly valued by the Dutch East India Company. These guys who love to pursue commercial interests don’t particularly value the land to be honest. Many times, in their opinion, if the land is lost, it will be lost, but it must be lost. Have a business!The pursuit of commercial interests has almost become a deep-rooted instinct of their bones, so even if they give up some rights and interests in land, they will not hesitate.

This kind of attitude or philosophy of life of the Dutch, people on the east coast don’t like to judge whether it is good or bad, but from the beginning, the people on the east coast who have worked hard to strive for more land under the sun for future generations do not agree with these, At least not fully agree!Because they obviously value land resources more, especially in South Africa, a region with a critical geographical location and rich resources, there is absolutely no reason to let it out.

After Joan Matesolko negotiated with the representatives of the east coast, he returned to Amsterdam at the end of January 1678 on a merchant ship sailing from Batavia.And Bai Yutang hurriedly returned to Hezhong County after he dealt with the diplomat from the mainland, and continued to work on what he cared about most, namely, the construction of the South African Railway.In his opinion, this negotiation is just a small episode. Regardless of whether the Dutch agree with it or not, the two counties of Cape and Pingyu have long been the territory of the East Coast Republic of China in his opinion. This procedure just makes the people on the east coast more justifiable. After all, the legal right to rule a piece of land is sometimes very important.

The Dutch East India merchant ship that Joan Matesolko was on board quickly went northward along the cold Benguela Current, cutting through the waves all the way, and finally crossed the turbulent North Sea at the end of April 1678, and detoured to northern Scotland (in order to avoid The French Western Fleet, which may be operating in the Strait of Dover), returned to Tethel, the outer port of Amsterdam.

At the end of last year, Li Qing, the East Coast Plenipotentiary Envoy to Amsterdam who was invited back from Cadiz, Spain, by the Dutch at the end of last year, also learned the news that the two sides had reached an agreement on the Dutch South African colony, which made him very relieved. There is something on my mind.

(End of this chapter)