Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 1821 Europa Universalis ([-])

And just when Gao Wengang was drinking and chatting with the Russians in Amsterdam, Wang Wei, who was far away in Madrid, was also welcoming a wave of guests from Italy.

Wang Wei is the new ambassador of the East Coast Republic of China to Madrid, succeeding the former ambassador who just died of tuberculosis.To be honest, the name Wang Wei is actually quite unfamiliar in the diplomatic circle. This gentleman was originally the county magistrate of Chenggao County in Yicheng District. Wang, who worked under him, entered the diplomatic system with the help of the elders of the family, and won the relatively important position of ambassador to Spain, which can be regarded as a new start.

Because he is a novice in diplomacy, there are many things to learn, so Wang Wei has basically been quiet in the past two years, boldly delegating power to his subordinates, allowing them to use their talents, so the general work is maintained. not bad.After studying for a year or two, Wang Wei now believes that he has a certain understanding of foreign affairs, so he began to slowly come to the fore and participate in some diplomatic affairs related to the Kingdom of Spain.

Today, two guests who came to visit the embassy on the east coast are from the Italian peninsula—because the King of Spain also owns a large territory in Italy, so the diplomatic and commercial affairs of Italy are also under the jurisdiction of the ambassador in Madrid——Dolly Paulo, the head of the new generation of the subfamily, and Sergio Rivera, the emissary of the Grand Duke Cosimo III of Tuscany.

It is said that the original old men of the Doria family, an old political and business family in Genoa that has cooperated with the East Bank for many years, have passed away one after another, including the two brothers Alessandro and Mario who are very familiar to the people of the East Bank. died of illness, and the latter sank with the ship in the Mediterranean Sea.As a result, the family is now officially in the helm of Paul Doria, assisted by his talented brother Simone, who has studied abroad for several years on the East Coast.

As for the Principality of Tuscany, Cosimo, who was still a prince and prince, is now the lord and duke. Although the territory is not very large, the Medici family has been operating for hundreds of years and has produced many popes. The world's influence is huge.What's more, in the past 100 years, their family married their daughters to the French kings (Henry II and Henry IV) twice, and extended their business into the powerful French Kingdom. It seems to have declined, but it is still not comparable to ordinary nobles.

Doria and members of the Medici family came to visit together. Although it was out of the way, everyone did have some issues to discuss, such as business matters, such as the future of Italy, such as the management of Spain, and so on.

"The business of Xinhua Island has steadily increased our income. Although we are facing fierce competition from English, Dutch, Spanish and even French businessmen, we still have a solid position in the traditional sales market. And with commercial trade With the prosperity of the country and the development of the social economy, people’s demand for sucrose is also increasing day by day, so this is a good business that can be operated for a long time.” Paul Doria has been in charge of the family business for several years, which is quite a saying The sense of being a strategic place has already begun to consider issues from the perspective of overall market demand and economic development.

Of course he was right.In recent decades, sucrose has indeed entered a long-term bull market. With the increase in production, the drop in price, and the improvement of the living standards of ordinary European residents, sucrose began to slowly get rid of the label of luxury goods and gradually entered the Among thousands of households, the total market value is naturally increasing day by day.

You must not underestimate the charm of sucrose.Europeans had been flocking to spices before—including now—and when the Dutch East India Company made spices into cabbage prices, the total market value began to increase dramatically, and the East India Company made a lot of money.This fully demonstrates that the market for a commodity can grow big only if its price is close enough to the people to become a bulk consumer product.

Doria, Rivera and others are all experts in the old business, so they are naturally very clear about the twists and turns. At the same time, they also think that sucrose is obviously the next spice with a bright future, so they are determined to invest more.Let me add one more thing here, don't look at Genoa Africa Company and Delta Company as a competitive relationship, but in today's market situation and national environment, there are also many cooperations between them, that is, there are both competition and cooperation relation.Needless to say competition, when it comes to selling cane sugar, it is natural that friends will not die poor people, and if they catch their opponents, they will go to the dead. Get more benefits.

Wang Wei listened carefully to their requests, and finally concluded three points, namely: [-]. Continue to lease the land to the two companies at a preferential price, preferably a large piece of contiguous land, and the people from the east bank are responsible for these lands The elimination and expulsion of the aborigines; [-]. Make every effort to ensure the daily operation of the two companies. People on the east coast are not required to provide loans, but the supply of food, medicine, building materials, tools, and vehicles must be sufficient, at least to meet the daily needs of the local people on the east coast. After the needs of life, put the procurement needs of the two companies in the first order, instead of busy exporting to Persia, India, and Ottomans; third, supply new machinery and equipment to the two companies to improve their production efficiency.

In order to make the East Coast people agree to these three conditions, Doria and Rivera also jointly stated that they will strictly abide by the laws of the East Coast Republic and will no longer conceal the identity of non-national laborers who are active in plantations and transportation teams. Working years, this information will be shared with the East Coast officials to ensure that each non-national laborer only works for a maximum of seven years before he can choose to terminate the contract with Genoa * Africa Company and Delta Company.

There is no doubt that people on the east coast welcome this point, because it means that the Italians are continuously replenishing the population of Xinhua Island, and at the same time they have developed a large area of ​​wild land. The local government and customs on the east coast can collect With all kinds of taxes, the Isle of Bay Sugar Factory can also retain more profits through refining cane sugar.

Of course, the Italians also want to join the shareholder's shore state-owned enterprise Beidao Sugar Factory in their dreams.This cane sugar refining enterprise has a monopoly authorization. All the cane sugar on the island must be shipped here for refining. The cost is paid by the cane sugar owner. hand.

Because of the monopoly of management rights, the Beidao Sugar Factory has artificially taken away a large part of the profits of the Xinhua Island sugar industry. It is no exaggeration to say that it is making money every day, so everyone wants to buy shares, including Italians.Fortunately, they still have self-knowledge, knowing that it is impossible for people from the East Coast of this strategic enterprise to allow outsiders to invest in it, so they didn't bring it up in the end, obviously because they didn't want to humiliate themselves.

The other three conditions put forward by the Italians are actually not too much. It can even be said that the relationship with the East Bank is a win-win relationship. Therefore, after thinking for a while, Wang Wei agreed to their request and said that he would submit a report as soon as possible. Domestically, let the relevant departments approve.

After talking about the business, and then everyone talked about the war that just ended, the two Italians naturally expressed their embarrassment at this time.In particular, Paul of the Genoese family was threatened by the French this time to "excuse" the Principality of Milan, and finally gave up to 300 million bank lire as a favor, which is distressing. How many benefits have been lost by people, it is really a pair of brothers and sisters.

The Principality of Tuscany was also "frightened" in this war, because they bordered Milan, Parma and other places controlled by Spain. Therefore, when the rumors that the French army sent troops to attack northern Italy intensified, Duke Cosimo was also one of them. Surprised every day.In this matter, the Genoese and the Tuscans have quite a common language, and taking this opportunity, Wang Wei once again mentioned the Italians mentioned by Zheng Yong, Li Qing and others. The alliance of the northern states.

And Doria and Rivera have obviously communicated in private before, and the big guys behind the two representatives expressed their great interest in forming a mutual aid alliance, because it is obviously beneficial to everyone.Wang Wei was a little excited when he heard what they said. He even took the famous seven-provincial alliance in the lowlands as an example, pointing out that since the provinces of the Netherlands, Zeeland, Utrecht, and Friesland were combined, there has been a The capital of fighting against the powerful Spaniards, the Italian states should take this as an example.

Of course, he also knows that with the urine of the Italians, it is impossible to form an organization of the level of the League of Seven Provinces. At best, it is only a loose political, economic and military alliance, and the internal differences may be greater than the Dutch. There is a possibility of disbanding at the slightest sign of trouble.Still, an alliance is better than nothing, right?Once this alliance is established, the influence of the people from the East Coast who have played a role in threading the needle will inevitably increase greatly. By then, the commercial benefits will not be readily available!Therefore, he tried his best to persuade the two countries to set an example first, and then slowly absorb other countries that they believed to be reliable and important to join, and slowly expand the strength of the alliance.

"The French chose Sicily, which is rich in sugar, tobacco and wheat, to attack. How would they know that they will not attack the Republic of Genoa next time? This country is expanding to the lowlands and German regions, but Italy has always been French. One of the key points of expansion, it must not be underestimated. Therefore, a solid alliance is still very important. Rest assured, the Spaniards will not feel uneasy. I will communicate with King Carlos about this. This alliance is very important to Milan, Parma, Naples Sicily doesn't have any territorial ambitions, and there is even room for both sides to cooperate in dealing with the French threat. Believe me, it would be a good idea, and you can get down to the fact that rich Italy cannot fall to the French Absolutely not, otherwise no one will be able to control Louis XIV!" Wang Wei said sincerely.These words are basically very clear, and I believe that these two Italian elites will not understand. Now it depends on their determination and whether they have follow-up measures. I hope I will not let myself be happy.

Of course, Wang Wei also knows that it is difficult to resist the French by relying on the Italians alone to create a small-scale alliance.If you want to keep your own country and property, continuing to support the Kingdom of Spain against France is still the best choice, but these two things are not contradictory. While continuing to lend to the Spanish government, the Italians also form their own alliances and develop armaments. It's something that can go hand in hand.

Everyone talked about the end. Paul Doria, the representative of the Republic of Genoa, asked the people on the east coast to help coordinate and import a large amount of grain from the Ottoman Empire and the Crimean Khanate to supplement the bottomed out inventory of the Fengyu Office.Because of the previous war between Spain and France, Sicily, which has always been the main source of food for the Genoese, was ravaged by the French army, and food production was greatly damaged. The Republic of Genoa had to import urgently from the Dutch. The Russian rye emergency, and even contacted the Moors on the other side of the Mediterranean Sea at that time, imported a lot of wheat at a distressingly high price, and finally managed to barely cope with the famine for two consecutive years.

But after going through this incident, the Genoese also realized that it is not enough to have a Sicilian grain base, because once a war breaks out, it is likely to be blocked or destroyed by hostile forces, which will make Genoa * The republic suffered from the catastrophe.Therefore, it is time to increase investment in the second source of grain. After much deliberation, the Crimean Khanate, which had some business contacts before, is more reliable. This requires the help of people from the east coast No, because everyone now knows that their envoy maintains unrivaled influence over the Sultan of Grai in Crimea.

Wang Wei agreed in principle to the Genoese's request, and said that he would report to Special Envoy Gao Wengang in Amsterdam to know.If Special Envoy Gao has no objection, then he will formally write a letter to Mr. Malati, the ambassador of the East Coast Republic of China in Istanbul, asking him to take representatives of the Republic of Genoa to Beccisalay, the capital of the Crimean Khanate. Discuss these matters with the Sultan of Grai—at a time when the situation in the Black Sea and the Dnieper River is extremely tense, people on the east coast always feel that their own strength is insufficient, and they still need old Mediterranean forces such as Genoa and Venice Only by getting involved can it be possible to curb the Russians' ambition to go south.

(End of this chapter)