Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 1780 Kill the chicken to warn the monkey

In mid-November 1678, less than a month after the negotiations with the Buenos Aires Procuratorate District of Spain were settled, Li Qing, the new head of the East Coast diplomatic department who had just returned from Europe, He is receiving a group of special guests in the capital Dongfang Port—envoys from the northern Portuguese Brazil.

The envoys did not come alone. In fact, they were a large-scale envoy group. There were about 10 people in the entourage. The leader was Francisco Garcia de Noroni ya.It can be seen from his surname that this gentleman is a descendant of a famous family, because the surname of Noronha is well-known in Lisbon. In the history of his family, there have been five governors of Portuguese India, namely the 16th, the 22st The 24th, 44nd, [-]th and [-]th Governor Generals, and all of them received the honorary title of "Honorable Governor General of India" after their term of office.

Francisco is one of the outstanding young people in this generation of the family. Although he is not as good as his cousins, he graduated from the Seminary with rich knowledge and eloquence, and he has created another sky in Portuguese Brazil. Quite surprising to the older generation of the family who put the main force in India.This time he was ordered by the governor of Bahia to lead a team to Dongfang Port to contact the people on the east coast. In terms of specifications, it was the highest after the end of the East-Portuguese War, which shows how much he is valued in the governor's heart.

Speaking of the trip to the east coast of the Portuguese mission, we have to mention a series of incidents caused by the people on the east coast in La Plata, including the harassment and attacks of the so-called "horse bandits" in the early stage, and the In the later period, a large-scale military operation of three mixed battalions and one cavalry battalion was dispatched.There is no doubt that these actions are very shocking, not only the Spaniards who are facing the pressure are very shocked, but even the Portuguese Brazil who is watching from afar is very upset , because God knows when the people on the east coast will use these methods on them.

The Portuguese have reason to be so afraid, because no one knows what kind of policy the new government of the people on the east coast will have, and what kind of preferences the leaders have. hands on.Therefore, in order to avoid tragedies in the future, the Portuguese sent an envoy to Taojin, the capital of the people on the east coast, in advance to check the direction of the wind.

The foreign affairs department on the east coast did not receive the mission at first, leaving them waiting in the city for more than a week.For more than a week, the Portuguese were not restricted from moving, so their group members wandered around. On the one hand, they inspected the customs and customs of the east coast, purchased special products, and on the other hand, they also wanted to understand the movements of the east coast, although this sounds difficult. .

Francisco Noronha also took a letter of introduction and visited some old relationships established in long-term business cooperation. The background of tropical dried fruits, high-grade wood and other specialty commodities cannot be underestimated, and they are the best sources of information.

The young Noronha spent a week visiting a total of five business partners, and all had a deliberate conversation on the current situation in South America.Among the five people, some were unwilling to talk to him, and some talked about their views candidly, which benefited Noronha a lot and obtained a lot of information that was difficult to collect normally.

Every time after talking with someone, Noronha would return to the hotel he rented, discuss with several colleagues, and then record his feelings and conclusions one by one, planning to wait until he returned to Bahia. Presented to His Excellency the Governor.At the end of the week, after visiting the last business partner, Noronha almost had a relatively clear feeling in his heart, that is, the actions of the people on the east coast seem to be only aimed at the Spaniards. It's just to seize part of the Pampa Plain, and it doesn't matter to Portuguese Brazil, at least it seems so right now.

This conclusion made everyone in the envoy very excited.To this day, especially after experiencing the tragic blow of the last war, every Portuguese knows in his heart that their former navigating pioneer is now gradually unable to maintain, no money, no one, but a huge role in colonial and commercial How can this not make those latecomer countries feel jealous?To be honest, if they hadn't seen the opportunity early and invested in King Charles II who had just ascended the throne, they might not even be able to keep their current interests. You know, in Cape Verde, the Gulf of Guinea, Angola, and Mozambique , Mombasa, Mogadishu, India, Ceylon, the East Indies, and Macau, the Portuguese colonial empire, all of which had land or commercial interests, was insanely large, and too many people had such huge interests in them Feel dissatisfied.That is to say, the relationship with the British is good, the French are just starting, and the Dutch didn't try their best to deal with them (because the Dutch are also full, so there is no need for it), so they can sustain it and will not collapse across the board.

Therefore, in the past few decades, the Portuguese have deeply understood that if maritime powers like England, the United Provinces, and the East Coast want to deal with them, it will be a breeze, and large and vast colonies will be lost in the blink of an eye.Especially the pagans on the east coast who threatened them from both sea and land at the same time were irresistible to them. Now that the east coast republic seems to have no intention of using them as a sacrifice flag, I don't know how happy I am.

However, the people from the east bank did not touch them this time, so how could they know that they would not have similar thoughts in the future?Therefore, if we can better communicate with the East Coast side and clarify their ideas and needs, will it be better for the future of Portuguese Brazil?And this, in fact, is also the request of the governor of Bahia, and it is also one of the most important tasks for the Noronia mission to come to Dongfang Port.

Li Qing, who had dealt with the Portuguese many times in Europe, basically understood the intention of the Portuguese's visit.Therefore, during the first meeting between the two parties, he proposed to strengthen the strategic mutual trust between the two countries and achieve mutual benefit and win-win results.If this opinion is analyzed in detail, it is that Portuguese Brazil continues to lower the tariff rate on industrial products on the east coast, reduce the size of the garrison, reduce hostile propaganda, etc., basically making further modifications to the previous policies, and the range is not very large. , It is expected that the Portuguese will not be difficult to accept.

In addition, Li Qing focused on issues related to India and Ceylon.Xinhua Island and the Second Fleet of the Navy had previously sent some agreements reached with Portuguese India back to the mainland, and they were unanimously affirmed by the members of the Executive Committee.In the middle of this year, the Executive Committee had instructed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to submit a documented plan of "in-depth cooperation" with the Portuguese in the Indian Ocean to the Lisbon court to see what the Portuguese thought.

When Li Qing left, she had not received any confidential diplomatic documents in this regard, and it was estimated that Gao Wengang, the new special plenipotentiary stationed in Europe of the East Coast Republic of China, would handle it by then.Li Qing didn't think that the Lisbon court would reject these proposals of the people on the east coast, because the Governor of Goa, Pedro Portugal, must have contacted the real power figures in the court before, and there should be no principled obstacles.

Therefore, Li Qing mentioned the matter about India and Ceylon, just to further remind the Portuguese that after receiving the cooperation agreement proposed by the foreign department on the east coast, they should approve it as soon as possible—of course it is an affirmative answer—don’t Try to procrastinate, because it won't help.

Francisco Noronha was a little surprised that the two countries had reached such a package agreement in Goa, especially since their family has been running India for a long time, so he was more concerned about it.And he didn't have the courage to refuse Li Qing's emphasis again. He repeatedly stated that he would report to the governor of Bahia as quickly as possible, and strongly suggested that the mainland agree to this package of business cooperation agreements.

Li Qing is very satisfied with the attitude of the Portuguese. She didn't expect that the gang of rude warriors from the Ministry of the Army would have such an unexpected harvest this time on the Pampa Plain. They are also Portuguese. If you are timid, you will sit in your seat at the slightest sign of trouble without being scared, and you will be in constant fear.Of course, this also shows from the side that the war that lasted for several years left such a deep impression on the minds of the next generation of Portuguese elites that they were habitually forced to do everything. Looking at the faces of the people on the east coast, there was no one there.

It was only at this time that a senior "white shirt" like Li Qing would feel that sometimes a war that was fought to the bone could bring miraculous results.From this point of view, the costly East-Portuguese war was really not in vain, and it has been used to this day.And by analogy, the two east-west wars should not have been fought in vain, otherwise, why, now that decades have passed, the people on the east coast only put on a tough stance in La Plata and sent a A few thousand soldiers and horses can bring huge benefits to the country and the people.

"Perhaps, an impressive war at the right time will save the country a lot of unnecessary troubles. As the saying goes, 'one punch will save you from a hundred punches'. Our country, since the last war Afterwards, it has been peaceful for decades. Is it time for a war to fight for more benefits for the country? It’s a pity that the Spaniards seem to be surrendering again this time. Otherwise, they are quite a good The target of bullying." After sending Francisco Noronha away, Li Qing, the head of the new generation of the East Coast diplomatic system, thought so.

While negotiating with the Portuguese Mission, the East Coast Army Department, Immigration Department, National Railway Administration, and the Ministry of Industry and Commerce are also doing a series of follow-up processing in an orderly manner.First, officials from the Ministry of Industry and Commerce arrived at Nancun Port to discuss with Spanish trade officials the resumption of trade between the two countries. The war had been interrupted for a long time before, causing many unnecessary losses to both sides. Nancun, Rosari Business in Austria, Santa Fe, etc. has been dying for a while, and it's time to end it all.

In addition, after this operation, the State Administration of Railways has gradually become less secretive.For example, the train station on the outskirts of Buenos Aires used to be a commercial station as a cover, but now there is no need to build the train station in a grand manner. After this time, the Spaniards don’t have the guts to stop it up.Moreover, the construction of the Yanbu Railway may pass through the private territories of some Spanish manor owners, and there may have been some obstacles in land acquisition. Now in this atmosphere, these people must not dare to entangle too much, and they should be very happy Give the land to the East Coast people for construction.

As for the troops of the Ministry of War, according to the latest deployment of the country, they are not in a hurry to retreat for the time being.It's rare for these ready-made armed forces to come to the Pampa Plain once, so it's not clean. Plow quickly the few planned settlements!Especially those areas that have always had many rebellious Indian activities, it is even more necessary to send out elite troops to sweep them, so as not to cause trouble for the large number of reclamation and pioneers who are about to arrive.

Of course, the Spaniards may have different opinions on this, but it's all over, who cares about their opinions!No matter how frightened you are, how terrified you are, and how much you urge the people on the east bank to withdraw their troops quickly, you have to bear with me for the time being until they complete their mission.What's more, the attitudes of Lima and Madrid are still unclear. What if they are dissatisfied with the agreement reached between the Buenos Aires Prosecutor's Court District and the East Coasters and veto it?Therefore, considering this risk, it is still necessary for the people on the east bank to continue to keep a part of the garrison on the Pampa Plain until an agreement is formally reached between the two countries, otherwise who knows if you will renege on your debt!

The rest of the work of the immigration department is naturally to transport immigrants to the south bank of the La Plata River and both sides of the Yanbu Railway in an orderly manner.In addition, in order to speed up the progress of resettlement, the Ministry of Finance also allocated additional funds to squeeze out a considerable part of the monopoly income from cigarettes, matches, and special spices to purchase materials in Qingdao County, Shangcheng County, Jingjiang County and other places to ensure The pioneering work of the immigrants can proceed smoothly.As for the proposal made by some people to resettle some immigrants in the Chaco area, it was rejected by the executive committee after discussion. One is to make the food look less ugly, and the other is to consider that the Hejian area is still sparsely populated. Well, to colonize the Chaco Plains westward across the Paraná River is a bit exaggerated.

But no matter what, Chaco, the "hunting country" in the eyes of the Quechuas, will sooner or later fall into the hands of the people on the east coast.In this matter, no one will have doubts, because it is really only a matter of time.

(End of this chapter)