Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 1883 Deployment Adjustments

On August 1683, 8, the Qingdao Port with masts like forests.

Leon Wolfgang Wagner hurried into a fairly spacious red brick room.This red brick house is located in the outskirts of Qingdao Port where the grass is full of grass, facing the sea, but it is not a warm spring, but a coast with strange rocks and grass growing almost half a person's height on the coast, which is hard to imagine. In the bustling Qingdao County, there is still such a remote place.

Yes, you don't have to doubt that in the Eastern Republic of China, where the overall development of the country is extremely low, even in a prosperous area like Qingdao County, there are still large areas of wasteland waiting for people to develop.Think about it, in a county with a population of less than [-] people and an area of ​​several thousand square kilometers, a considerable number of people are still concentrated in the county town and the wharf area to engage in industry, commerce, shipping, and finance. There are a large number of farmers living in the suburbs of cities to provide these people with food, vegetables, fruits and poultry.Calculated in this way, the population density in places a little further away is really very diluted, and everything is caused by underpopulation!

And it is precisely because most of the population wants to join the bustling port area that they, a group of Latvians from New Courland, were able to buy a piece of wasteland a little farther from the port at a relatively low price. A storage base - The Kurlanders already had a warehouse on the main dock side, but on a smaller scale.

The overall price of wasteland is more than 8000 yuan. Because it is industrial and commercial land, the price is relatively high, almost twice that of agricultural land.There is a small-scale village behind the wasteland, where they used to graze their sheep, so the Kurlanders have to give these 2000 households a one-time subsidy of more than [-] yuan to settle the matter completely.

But even so, the total cost of such a large piece of land is only more than [-] yuan, which is indeed very worthwhile. It should be noted that the current barren grassland may become a hot golden land in the future. This is not the first time in the history of the shore. Today, Qingdao Expo Street, where every inch of land is expensive, was originally a pond, reeds and meadows, and now it has become a gathering place for large enterprises.

The Courlandians built the future warehouse here, which naturally meant that they were interested in the potential commercial value of this place.Anyway, what they sell are tobacco, wood, sugar, coffee, and even black slaves designated by the East Coast government. They are just for policy purposes, and it doesn’t matter if the warehouse is far away. Just the shipping fee.

Leon Wolfgang Wagner participated in the construction of this new commercial station at the beginning, and sent representatives to the east bank twice for negotiations, and finally chose such a piece of land.Now the commercial station has just completed about a quarter of the building, and the rest are still under construction. Wagner carefully looked at some of the built brick houses with a more focused expression—this is the first time he has come to this commercial station. At the same time, it will probably be the last time, because he has received a formal transfer order from the mainland to return to China to serve as the Minister of Commerce of the Grand Duke. The position of Governor of New Courland is assumed by the adviser of the Grand Duke, Schmidt from Hamburg. He has already arrived Jakob Harbor and began to perform his duties, while Wagner will visit the east coast for the last time, as the temporary special envoy of Grand Duke Jacob, to discuss some sensitive matters between the two countries.

Most of these sensitive affairs are concentrated in the diplomatic field.In accordance with the arrangements and instructions of the newly enthroned Archduke Frederick, Wagner focused on explaining a series of changes in the diplomatic field to the people on the east coast in order to obtain the understanding of the east coast.To put it more bluntly, it is Duke Frederick's explanation of the increasingly close relationship between the Duchy of Courland and the United Provinces and Sweden in the past seven or eight years, especially in recent years. When there were many twists and turns in diplomacy with the East Coast.

Duke Frederick has lived in New Courland for many years, and his knowledge and understanding of the East Coast Republic is far deeper than that of ordinary European nobles. Therefore, from his heart, he is extremely unwilling to offend this new continent Powerful.For his father, Duke Jacob, he has decided to strengthen friendly relations with Sweden and the United Provinces in the past few years—even slowing down the pace of East Coast people asking them to expand the Baltic commodity market—in order to strengthen Courland There is some concern about the Principality's ability to survive in this troubled world.Frederick was worried that people on the east coast would have something to do with Courland, which would affect the stability of their country's largest source of income.

Grand Duke Jacob chose security between security and wealth. He felt that the United Provinces, which were bombed in the Baltic Sea, could guarantee the independence and security of the Principality of Courland, so they strengthened their close relationship with this country—of course they also I didn't forget to make friends with Sweden, a powerful country in the army in this region-although the relationship with the east coast is also good, but after all, it has a certain emphasis.

Frederick had a very good impression of the East Coast Republic when he was the heir of the Principality, and he was also very envious of the country's civilization and wealth, so he decided to change his focus: continue to maintain friendly relations with the East Coast, and discuss with the United The diplomatic relations between the provinces and Sweden are explained to the east coast in order to gain recognition or understanding.

Duke Frederick knew very well that the United Provinces were a country formed by a group of profit-driven businessmen. For them, everything was business, and nothing lasted forever.Once a certain country invaded or even annexed the Principality of Courland, they would not hesitate to sell Courland as long as the price was right. This has been proven in history.As for obtaining the independence guarantee from Sweden, it is even more ridiculous. Sweden has a strong desire to annex the Principality of Courland. Now they are forced to give you an independence guarantee due to the situation. Will this independence guarantee not be withdrawn in the future?This is simply seeking skin from a tiger!Relatively speaking, Brandenburg-Prussia, which is currently relatively weak in the Baltic Sea and has a bad relationship with the Kingdom of Sweden, may be a better partner for cooperation.

There is no doubt that Duke Frederick is relatively pessimistic about the current surrounding situation and future development.He insisted that both Prussia and Sweden had the urge to unify the entire Livonian region under their own name.Even Poland, which has been in chaos for the past few years, knows that people don't want to clean up the prussian boy and expel Sweden to rule Livonia!It is Courland's luck and great misfortune to be in such a place that needs to be filled. This is completely two sides of the same coin.In the past, the Courlandians had no choice, but now that the new Courland colony is getting better and better, Duke Frederick felt that he had a certain choice, so he decided to change course and strengthen the friendly relationship with the east coast again.

And the practical benefits of deepening ties with the east coast are obvious, that is, trade!At this point, no one can deny that even though tobacco is produced in the East Coast itself, they still import a considerable amount of New Courland tobacco every year through policy guidance, which effectively guarantees the economic income of the colony .You must know that many colonies in the Americas and Africa developed by European companies or individuals failed to persist in the end. The main reason was that the products could not find a market, which made the economy unsustainable and ended up empty.The import of agricultural, forestry, animal husbandry and fishery products from New Courland and the Free State by the people on the east coast has really helped these two places. Grand Duke Jacob did not know enough about this, but Duke Frederick saw it very well. clear.

While revising the old Grand Duke's policy and trying to deepen ties with the east coast, Grand Duke Frederick is also further strengthening the control and construction of New Courland, the first thing is to send people to that area.

It can be said that over the years, as the New Courland Colony has continued to feed back the mainland located in the Baltic Sea, the economy of the Principality of Courland has developed rapidly and the living standards of the people have improved to a certain extent.Coupled with the fact that most of the time the surrounding area is in constant war, the population of the relatively stable Principality of Courland has increased greatly, and has gradually increased from 20 to 30 (a considerable part of which is foreign immigrants). Then it's tight.

Under such circumstances, whether it is the deceased Archduke Jacob or the Archduke Frederick who succeeded to the throne last year, in order to ensure huge commercial profits, they have been sending people to New Courland for many years.Especially after Frederick succeeded to the throne last year, the policy became more radical. This guy learned from the policy of the people on the east coast and implemented the exile system among criminals in the country, that is, serving one year in New Courland and returning to the mainland for two years , and the degree of freedom is high, allowing marriage and operating various industries.In addition, he also tried his best to collect farmers from his own country or neighboring countries who had nothing, and then packed them and sent them to Jakobshavn as a supplement to the local population.You must know that in the Congo River Basin, due to factors such as diseases and wars, the number of white people who serve as the basis of rule has always grown slowly. If there is no external supplement, everything will be out of the question.

Devoting more resources to the colony of New Courland instead of making a fuss about the local area that has no room for development, this is the tone set by Duke Frederick who has been in charge of New Courland for many years.This decision is not so easy to make, but under the huge income comparison between Courland and New Courland, Duke Frederick still withstood a considerable part of the opposition in the country and decided on this policy. .

In order not to let his hard work go to waste, Duke Frederick also sent Schmidt, his very trusted advisor, to serve as governor of Jacobshaven to help him handle local affairs seriously, manage various industries, Create the most profitable territory under the duke's name, and support him and the country's various expenditures and activities.

Wagner discussed these topics carefully with the new Governor Schmidt in Jakobshafen. Although he was a little unhappy, he still planned to fulfill his obligations seriously, and had a frank talk with the powerful officials of the East Coast foreign affairs department in Port Orient conversation.

The result of the conversation was undoubtedly good. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the East Coast understood the foreign policy of the Principality of Courland and expressed its joy at the fine-tuning they made to the policy. This made Wagner heave a sigh of relief and finally successfully completed the task.

However, Wagner hesitated a bit at the same time that the people on the east coast put forward, that is, the foreign ministry on the east coast, on behalf of its government, formally requested the Principality of Courland to set up a standing fleet in Jakobshaven.The size of this fleet is not required to be too large, but it must be there, and it must be a professional warship, and it must not be filled with armed merchant ships.

This unexpected request made Wagner think all the way, and he was still thinking about it until he arrived at Qingdao Port Commercial Station by boat.The people on the east coast explained that the situation in the coastal waters of West Africa is not good, and pirate ships often come and go, so a special fleet must be set up to carry out raids to ensure the smooth flow of commercial routes.

This is true, and Governor Wagner agrees quite a bit, but the question is, were people from the East Coast not responsible for this before?He has been in charge of New Courland affairs for many years, and he clearly knows that the South China Sea Squadron, the First Fleet of the East Coast People, has been in charge of offshore patrols from Cape Town to Jacobs Harbor, and has done a good job for many years. Why is it necessary for New Courland to set up a "professional battleship formation with a number of 3-4 ships and a gross tonnage of not less than 1200 tons"?Could it be that the people on the east coast are going to withdraw, and they are no longer responsible for the safety of this sea area?

After much deliberation, Wagner had only one explanation, especially when an East Coast naval officer who accompanied the negotiations vaguely mentioned that the East Coast was considering setting up a "joint fleet" with the Principality of Courland to be jointly responsible for The safety of the coast of Southwest Africa—the configuration of the "United Fleet" is 4 warships from each side, a total of 8 professional warships. If you think about it with your toes, you know that the command power must belong to the First Fleet of the Republic of China on the East Coast.

The people on the east coast obviously want to liberate part of their energy from Southwest Africa so that they can devote themselves to other battlefields.So here comes the question, where do the people on the east coast want to deploy the vacated warships?Indian Ocean or Caribbean?

For this question, Wagner has no answer, but if you have a little understanding of the current situation among countries, you will have some guesses about it.Wagner thought to himself that the people on the east coast probably wanted to put the 4 freed-up warships into the Atlantic Ocean by doing this. As for the Caribbean Sea or Cape Verde, he couldn't guess, because no matter where they were deployed, there were many warships. For good reason.

"Probably the Cape Verde Islands." Wagner guessed: "The people on the east coast have persuaded the Kingdom of Spain to strengthen the construction of the Windward Fleet in the past two years, allowing this fleet to undertake more defense in the Caribbean Sea, making the people on the east coast We can deploy warships to strengthen Cape Verde. Speaking of which, this is quite similar to the situation we are facing today. It seems that people on the east coast are increasingly interested in actively interfering in the situation in Europe. This must be done as soon as possible. Reported to His Majesty the Duke."

In the past two days, the client accompanied me to work during the day, and I accompanied the client to eat at night. I worked out a chapter in two days. I was too busy, sorry.

(End of this chapter)