Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 1856 Portuguese Mission ([-])

And when North Korea, the hermit country, sent envoys to visit the east bank, the Kingdom of Portugal, which once had a feud with the east bank, also sent a large-scale diplomatic mission across the ocean to Dongfang Port, the capital of the east bank. state visit.

The mission was led by the famous Duke Luis de Mendoza Furtado y Albuquerque, the former Governor of Goa, and a very prestigious nobleman in Portugal.And among the members of the mission, there are also a lot of noble children, businessmen, navigators and bankers, and many of them are quite famous, not incompetent people, which shows the high standard of the mission.

The reason for this is that the Kingdom of Portugal is increasingly aware that in order to maintain and even expand its overseas interests, it is the most sensible to cooperate with the East Coast Republic of China.The reasons are very realistic, that is, the people on the east coast have operated South Africa and Xinhua Island for decades. Although the number of ships there may not be much larger than that of the Dutch, but because of the deep foundation and the large population of the colony, they can continue to fight ability is the strongest.Not to mention, the colonies of this country are close to the Portuguese colonies. If the relationship is not handled amicably, the future may not be very good.

Of course there are Indian factors!In the eyes of the Portuguese, if there is still a country or force that can rescue them from India's predicament, it is undoubtedly the East Bank!They used to set this target on the English East India Company before, but although this colonial enterprise also hated the Dutch East India Company, but its strength was not good enough, it was also suppressed by the Dutch very much. The Goa colony huddled together to keep warm, which could only delay the Portuguese's defeat, but could not really reverse their situation. What's more, in recent years, this company has devoted a large part of its energy to the lucrative trade with the Qing Dynasty. Portuguese support has weakened, much to the displeasure of Goa.

And now they set their sights on the people on the east coast.The previous two Governors of Goa both implemented the policy of cooperation with the East Coast, which is unthinkable without the instructions of the Kingdom of Portugal government behind it.After Governor Tavola formally established a cooperative relationship with the representative of the east coast, Morie Eel, Lisbon also sent a large-scale mission to the east coast across the ocean, intending to further strengthen this cooperative relationship. to protect their own interests.

The Duke of Albuquerque was born in a famous family. His ancestors once served as the governor of Portuguese India. He built many commercial stations and fortresses along the local coast, and controlled many sea areas in the Arabian Sea, the Red Sea, the East African coast, the Indian coast and the South Pacific. Established a stable maritime hegemony.At that time, the Portuguese fleet commanded by Albuquerque was invincible in India and Southeast Asia. It won many battles and was almost invincible, which showed the rising strength of the Portuguese Kingdom.

But now that one or two hundred years have passed, the strength of the Kingdom of Portugal has long since become a thing of the past.After decades of nightmarish rule merged by Spain and the continuous attack by the emerging power of the Dutch East India Company-of course, we must not forget the fatal blow of the Chinese East Coast Republic to the Portuguese Kingdom's fleet-their strength has declined significantly, And it is difficult to make up for it. After all, its narrow land and sparse population are flawed, and its business channels are not as extensive as the Dutch, so weakness is inevitable.

However, if other countries are weak, they will be weak. At best, they will not have a good life, but the Kingdom of Portugal will not!There is no other reason. The inheritance handed down by the ancestors is too rich, which has exceeded the limit of what they can control. This is very problematic!As the old proverb on the east coast says, children hold gold in the busy market, the Kingdom of Portugal is now children, and if children want to get a good end, the best way is to find a strong man as a backer, and now it is possible to avoid The tragic fate of being eaten by other strong men, although it is inevitable to be taken advantage of by the backers in the process, this is also an unavoidable thing.

People from the east coast are undoubtedly such a good backer.Especially after years of research and inquiry by the Portuguese, they learned that people on the east coast seem to have a very strange "cleanliness", that is, they don't particularly like land with a large number of aborigines, such as blacks, even if they occupy some similar The colonies also carried out brutal expulsion and massacres of the local aborigines. This is a shameful "waste" behavior in the eyes of the Portuguese. It must be known that the aborigines are also rich, and they were all driven away or killed. It's really inexplicable.

Take a look at the land after the people on the east coast drove out the aborigines. There is no human habitation for thousands of miles, production and business activities have completely stagnated, and the barren land has become a paradise for wild animals.Moreover, the immigrants and exiled prisoners they migrated from elsewhere are not enough to fill the gap left by the aborigines. The economy of the colony can be said to be declining in the short term. I don’t know what these people on the east coast are planning. Is it simply to occupy land?This is really strange.

However, this colonial model of the people on the east coast is doomed for a period of time that they will not be able to occupy large areas of land as quickly as the Kingdom of Spain and the Kingdom of Portugal.Because the colonization of these Iberians was able to swallow such a huge amount of land, to put it bluntly, it was a compromise with the local aborigines, that is, the aborigines were still able to live in the same place, and a large number of mixed-race Indians and even Indians were flooded in the army and the government. Among the institutions, such as the colonial army of the Viceroyalty of Peru, Indians are the most numerous, followed by mixed-race Indians, and the number of "gentlemen" (that is, whites) is the least.The same is true of Portuguese colonies, and even the proportion of Indians is higher than that of Spaniards. It can be said that most of the army is filled by Indians, followed by blacks. This explains why the Portuguese The status of colonial Indians and blacks in China is so high that many people have achieved a high social status. For example, the black general Dias who fought against the people on the east coast was one of the best.

Therefore, the colonization method of the people on the east coast is more "reassuring" to the neighbors, because it means that they cannot swallow a large amount of land quickly in a short period of time, and there are too many aborigines on some lands, and it is impossible to expel or kill them. clean.So in this way, there is a basis for cooperation between the two parties, so the Portuguese came to the door.

The Duke of Albuquerque and his party were immediately received by Li Qing, the Executive Committee Member of the Central Committee, and hosted a banquet in the Oriental Hotel for the Portuguese mission.Li Qing now has a preliminary understanding of their intentions through the credentials submitted by the Portuguese. Indian shore support.More precisely, it is an upgraded version of the previous agreement reached in Goa!

Li Qing roughly learned that the Portuguese are willing to provide a base in Portugal for the temporary stationing and rest of the navy and army on the east coast, just as the British provided the port of Dover to the east coast to carry out attacks and robberies on the coast of France. As much as plundering, this is crucial to the continued operations of the East Coast Army in Europe—at least in this part of Western Europe.The Portuguese also saw this point, knowing that the people on the east coast are now investing more and more energy on the European continent, and are also very interested in obtaining a stable forward base, so they made a decisive bet and agreed to transfer the small northern city of Viana The fort is used as a base for the east coast navy and army to rest and reorganize.If necessary, the two parties can sign a contract, and the people on the east bank only need to pay a very small fee to have the right to build docks and military camps locally. At the same time, the Kingdom of Portugal promises to provide a stable supply of water, medicine and some weapons and ammunition to the base. At the same time, it also provides maintenance services for warships on the east coast, which basically meets the needs of the east coast army for an intervention base, which arouses Li Qing's great interest.

In addition, the Portuguese also promised that East and Portugal can implement a comprehensive "open door" principle, and zero-tariff trade can be implemented between the two countries and their overseas colonies.In this way, people on the east coast can easily sell their goods to Portugal, Brazil, Angola, Portuguese East Africa, Portuguese India, Timor Island, Macau and other places, and then import wine and olive oil from Portugal at low prices , cheese, horses, slaves, seafood, dried fruits, rubber, ivory, coconuts and other commodities, which are of great benefit to both sides, the only ones that suffer are probably the Portuguese native and colonial governments, because the tariff revenue has been severely reduced.However, the Portuguese have also studied some economic works written by the East Bank for many years, thinking that this can prosper business and stimulate import and export trade, and the government can obtain large tax revenues as compensation.

In addition, Portuguese merchants can also import various commodities from the East Coast and overseas colonies, such as machinery and equipment, hardware products, soda ash, dyes, high-quality cotton cloth, medicines, raw silk, tea, porcelain, dyed leather goods, and carriages that are in short supply in Europe. Wait, and then figure out how to sell to other regions.Although the Dutch now control the trade hegemony in the Baltic Sea and the Mediterranean Sea, the Portuguese have rich ancestors anyway, and if they really sink their hearts into drilling, they may not necessarily have no market. At least they trade frequently with many cities on the Atlantic coast of France.

From this point of view, the Portuguese said that they want to implement comprehensive free trade with the east coast, which seems to be an open door to the country, but it is really hard to say who will take advantage of whom.The Portuguese gave up all the domestic market to the people on the east coast, so they may lose a lot of precious metals, but if they get all kinds of goods from the east coast at a low price, and then sell them to France, North Africa and the Italian peninsula, they may not be able to harvest a lot precious metals.In this way, the two phases and one offset, maybe the Portuguese still make money!

Of course, by doing this, the Portuguese gave up the possibility of their own industrial progress and positioned their country as a dumping and distribution center for industrial products on the east coast.This devastating impact on the country's industry may last for many, many years, until one day the people on the east coast get tired of some low-end industries, don't want to do it, and transfer them out. Portuguese talents may develop by undertaking industrial transfers. Opportunities for domestic industry.However, Portugal is a small country with a population of only 80 million. It is unrealistic to develop industries to compete with France and the United Kingdom, so it is better to go to the east coast as soon as possible, sell yourself for a good price, and become a comprador for goods on the east coast , but it is also a way to make money.

Li Qing has a clear understanding of the Portuguese's thoughts, but this is also beneficial to the East Bank, isn't it?What should be anxious is that the English have already completely fallen to their Portuguese Kingdom. Now that they are not doing enough, they actually found a "father" for themselves, although this father is mainly used to protect Portugal's overseas interests (in Europe , Portugal still needs the asylum of the English), but it more or less constitutes a competition with England's commercial interests, which will definitely arouse their dislike, but who cares?Who made you Englishmen be beaten like shit by the Dutch East India Company in Ceylon, and even lost Trincomalee, an important town. Speaking of it, you still have to blame yourself for not being strong enough and not showing your strength.

In the end, the Portuguese also dropped a blockbuster, that is, if the East Bank government reached an understanding with the Kingdom of Portugal in advance, then they could recruit mercenaries in their country and go to fight in areas recognized by both parties.Perhaps because the people on the east coast would not understand, the Duke of Albuquerque pointed out that if the people on the east coast had any "difficulties" in the Black Sea area, then perhaps they could recruit a group of no more than [-] people from the Kingdom of Portugal. Volunteers, sailors, and ships went to the Black Sea area to "perform missions."The "volunteers" here, in fact, everyone knows well that it is actually the Royal Portuguese Army that has taken off its military uniform and changed its skin. There is a very small possibility that they are Poles, but it doesn't matter. The Kingdom of Portugal is not worried about being enemies with them, let alone in the name of mercenaries.

To be honest, the Portuguese's proposal really shocked the East Bank side, so much so that the diplomatic leader Li Qing was a little absent-minded for a while.You must know that the people on the east bank have been operating the Black Sea trade for many years, and have invested a lot of energy in the Danube, Dnieper, and Don River basins. Naturally, it is impossible for people to destroy it at will.But for so many years, their biggest problem is that they do not have a relatively direct force, which leads to insufficient interference ability. If these factors make it impossible to participate in the war, it is probably the best way for the people on the east coast to directly dispatch mercenaries. There was no such condition before, but now that the Portuguese have sent them to the door, there is a source of mercenaries.

This is indeed a blockbuster!Li Qing thought.

(End of this chapter)