Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 1918 Influence ([-])

On December 1684, 12, when Liao Xiaoyao, chairman of the local executive committee, was discussing the situation in the Eastern Mediterranean with the Venetian ambassador Leonardo Morosini, Gao Wengang, the special envoy to Europe on the east coast of Europe, was also Discussing with another Morosini about the current situation.

He and Alberto Morosini met at the port of Split, one of the naval bases of the Republic of Venice.This ancient city of the Roman Empire has a history of more than 1000 years, and has almost become one of the symbols of Venetian rule in Dalmatia.

"Thank you, Alberto. The coffee tastes very good. Is it from Xinhua Island?" Gao Wengang raised a porcelain cup filled with strong coffee and asked with a smile.

"Unfortunately, not. The owner of Rose Cafe prefers the coffee from Jamaica Island. He thinks the taste is more unique, but if we can attract more people to Xinhua Island to invest in coffee plantations, then maybe they will buy New Huaxia coffee will have more reasons, won’t it?” Alberto Morosini also sat across from Gao Wengang with a cup of coffee, and said: “Oh, by the way, the cup is made in Patagonia, The quality is good and the price is cheap.”

Gao Wen just laughed and said nothing.Patagonia is the main porcelain producing area on the east coast because of its rich porcelain soil.Many years ago, the East Bank government established a preliminary porcelain production industry on this desolate and barren land through the descendants of many former Song porcelain kiln workers captured in Shandong.At the time of its initial creation, the quality of Patagonian porcelain was crude, so it was used in the east coast and cultivated some talents, that's all.

Fortunately, the people from the east coast successfully extended their influence to the south of the Yangtze River, and in the process of helping Shunguo capture Jiangxi, they recruited a lot of porcelain-making talents.In addition, in the later period, some talents with high salaries were recruited from Jingdezhen to Ningbo to teach skills. Although these people are not high-level talents, they are enough to greatly improve the level of porcelain firing on the east coast.These people were sent back to the mainland one after another, and joined the flourishing porcelain firing industry on the Patagonian platform, and gradually supported two large state-owned factories and many small private workshops.

And the progress of the east coast porcelain industry naturally also drove the export.First, the vast overseas colonies on the east coast generated demand, especially the most populous Xinhua Island. They began to import a large number of porcelains from the mainland to replace Persian imports. However, this is mainly the low-end market, and the high-end ones are still monopolized by Chinese goods. .Later, the Dutch East India Company brought Patagonian porcelain into the European market. Although it was still unable to compete with the full-fledged Chinese products, it eroded the low-end market and competed with local European porcelain. No big deal.So, now you can see that in the port of Split in the Republic of Venice, you can also see the figure of East Coast porcelain, perhaps because its price is relatively close to the people.

"Patagonia porcelain is like most of the goods produced on the east coast. It is high-quality, cheap, and practical, and it is worth owning." Gao Wengang said with a smile: "I hope I can see the goods produced on the east coast next time here." The coffee bar. As you said, you first need to participate in it yourself. Investing in the tropical cash crop plantation in Xinhuaxia Island is an investment related to the future. Have you thought about it?"

"Yes, many people are interested in this. Everyone has seen that the Genoese, Tuscans, and Lombards have made a lot of money by investing in plantations, so they want to follow their example." Albert Torre Morosini did not shy away from talking about the current situation in Venice. He continued: "But there are some people who insist that now is the best chance to attack the century-old enemy, the Ottoman Empire. This time. Therefore, they are eager to intensify the attack on the Turks, and at the very least push the front line a little further, such as gaining a long-term territory in Greece."

"But this is unacceptable to the Ottomans." Gao Wengang reminded.

"Yes, that's right, so we firmly demanded a truce. But now there is still a small problem, that is, where is the border between our two sides. At this point, we don't want to make too many concessions , because it doesn't look bad for us at the moment, does it?" said Alberto Morosini.

His words made Gao Wengang fall into thinking.Obviously, even if the Venetians have the desire to negotiate peace with the Ottoman Empire, it is impossible to sign an armistice treaty casually. The conditions that should be discussed must be discussed, otherwise it may not be able to convince all levels of the ruling and opposition parties in the country.Therefore, this time the Ottoman Empire must cut some meat, otherwise it will definitely not satisfy the Venetians-they can stop advancing now, and of course they can resume their offensive posture with an order, which is very detrimental to the Ottomans , must be avoided.

According to Gao Wengang’s many communications with the Venetians a while ago, he has basically understood the psychological bottom line of these people, that is, Venice requires at least all of the Cyclades Islands (Naxos Island is currently the most developed, The most populous island), parts of the Sporades and most of Dalmatia - some of which were under Venetian control before the war, and some of which were lost to the Venetians after the war broke out. Occupation, some are still under the control of the Turks - in return, they will give up their coveted many areas of mainland Greece, and at the same time exempt the Turks from the war reparations, allowing them to concentrate on going north, fighting with Austria on the two fronts of Hungary and Serbia people fight.

In fact, this condition is much better than when we first talked about it.At that time, the Venetians even claimed the islands of Crete and Cyprus, and had some ideas for the Morea region, which was almost impossible to be accepted by the Turks.For this reason, Gao Wengang conducted tough negotiations with them, and finally forced them to make a promise that they would lower their requirements.But this time, it seems that their demands are still very harsh, especially those islands in the Aegean Sea, which are almost at the gate of the Ottoman Empire. It is hard to say whether the Ottomans will agree.

Of course, the Venetians also have reasons to want these islands, because this time they are their "homeland", that is, lost in the long war with the Turks in the last 200 years, and it is normal for them to want to return to these areas now .What's more, these islands have fertile soil and plenty of sunshine, and are rich in olive oil, wine, seedless raisins, figs, citrus, and barley. It is very attractive, not to mention that the geographical location here is so important, it controls many routes, and there are some fishery resources nearby.

"Listen to me, Alberto." After talking back and forth with them so many times, Gao Wengang's patience was almost exhausted, so he tried his best to be patient, carefully choosing his words, and said, "I strongly recommend that you Dalmatia has more important territories, even if it swallows them all, it doesn’t matter, but try to minimize the claim of sovereignty over the islands of the White Sea, because it is too sensitive here, and the Ottomans will not agree. Do you remember the war 30 years ago What? Your navy easily defeated the main fleet of the Ottoman Empire near the Pirates of Naxos, and then went northward, blocked Istanbul, and even went deep into the Black Sea, causing food prices in the Turks’ capital to skyrocket. The Turks are not fools, they don’t Will tolerate the islands at their doorstep being controlled by enemies—well, at least potential enemies. But Dalmatia is different. It is a little far from the core territory of the Ottoman Empire and belongs to the fringes of their controlled area , it’s not that you can’t accept the fate of being ceded. And many residents here believe in Catholicism instead of Eastern Orthodoxy, which is more beneficial to you, isn’t it?”

As soon as Gao Wen said that, Alberto Morosini hesitated.Because he's right, those islands that the Ottomans have been trying to compete with the Venetians for the past 200 years?why?It's not because the location is critical, and the products are also rich enough!The Venetians want it, but the Ottomans don't?If this nonsense continues, when will peace be truly reached?This will undoubtedly offend the people on the east coast and run counter to the current national development strategy.

In this way, it seems that the only way to get more land in Dalmatia is to compensate for the loss!This place is actually quite critical. Since the founding of the Republic of Venice, the Republic of Venice has never given up on expansion in this direction, and occupied a lot of land until it encountered the challenge of the powerful opponents of the Ottoman Turks.Now the people on the east coast are willing to take the lead and help them acquire more land here, which sounds good.Therefore, no matter what the superiors say now, Morosini feels that it is necessary to communicate with Gao Wen about the territorial claims of the Dalmatia region. If the Tia region expands, he won't be unable to say anything.

Gao Wen had just talked with Morosini about Dalmatia for a whole day, and the followers of both sides even brought a few large hand-painted maps and drew them around to divide the territory, which is ironic enough—— This kind of practice of carrying the original owner's map to open up borders may indeed be a bit out of date.

When it came to the end, the two sides finally agreed that the Republic of Venetia, in addition to the part of the land and towns in Dalmatia it had before the war, could retain the actual control of the Dalmatia that belonged to the Ottoman Empire during the war (before the date of negotiation). Matthias territory.In addition, in order to compensate for the sacrifices made by the Republic of Venice, the remaining Dalmatian territories that belonged to the Ottoman Empire also belonged to the Republic of Venice, that is, the Turks completely withdrew from the Dalmatian coast, making Venice It is very good for people to be able to connect this coast with the mainland of northern Italy.

Of course, the Ottomans will also return the Venetian personnel, materials, ships and properties detained during the war. Small profits make the negotiations fall short.

Gao Wengang reckoned that this should be the minimum requirement that the Venetians could accept.After all, they also have main fighters in their country, who have fought countless wars with the Ottoman Empire for 200 years, and the folks have a very bad impression of the Turks, so it is very good to prevent them from taking advantage of the situation to seize the Greek region. The shore people worked hard to obtain the Fa.

However, after the preliminary talks in Split came to an end, neither party was delayed. On the second day, Alberto Morosini returned to the mainland of Venice in a special caravan, and Gao Wengang was also there. He was carried by a merchant ship that had been waiting for a long time, flying the flag of the East Coast Republic of China, and went down the Adriatic Sea, heading all the way to Istanbul, the capital of the Ottoman Empire. He wanted to have a good talk with Sultan Mehmet IV about the current situation .

Their old opponents, the Austrians, came fiercely. They themselves dispatched more than 4 troops, and the Poles followed with more than [-] people. Soldiers, the morale is high, and the combat power is doubled.These people marched in two ways, attacking eastward all the way, pointing directly at the cities of Buda and Pest (two connected cities) in the core area of ​​Hungary. This is the elite infantry and Polish cavalry of the Austrian headquarters, and they are powerful.All the way to the south, attacking the old land of the Principality of Serbia. This is part of the Austrian army with a large number of German princes. The military discipline is not good, but they are lucky. The covering Venetians flashed, and the Ottomans redistributed soldiers, horses and gunpowder from the rear, and considering the local people's dislike of these locust armies, it is hard to say what the future will be.

But generally speaking, the Ottoman Empire is really precarious and in a difficult situation.The commander-in-chief of the army was executed, and the new general was unable to control the situation for a while, and the front line was in chaos; the sultan fled back to the capital Istanbul, and the veterans of the ruling and opposition parties and the patriarchs slandered him a lot, and many people talked about his incompetence and stupidity in private , so that so many troops were lost and so many cities were lost.In short, this country is really very dangerous now, what they need most now is a chance to breathe, but the enemy just doesn't give them a chance to breathe, just blindly chasing and attacking them.

Gao Wengang finally met the sultan and the new Grand Vizier of the Empire on January 1685, 1—Zad Fahir Mustafa, also from the Koprulu family, and the executed predecessor Vizikala Mustafa Fa's younger brother——the two of them looked haggard and frowning, as if they had passed a very difficult time.

Sultan Muhammad IV only greeted him politely, then entrusted all matters to Grand Vizier Fahir Mustafa, and returned to the harem to recuperate. It seems that this fiasco gave him a lot of confidence blow.

Grand Vizier Mustafa from the Koprulu family looked even uglier than the Sudan. Because his brother was the commander of the army that besieged Vienna, he assumed the responsibility for the defeat and was executed. After he took office, he faced There are many messes, not only military, but more political and economic.Therefore, after seeing the people from the east coast arriving in Istanbul, Grand Vizier Mustafa really seemed to have seen a savior. When Sultan Mehmed IV left, he immediately said: "Envoy Gao, I am very glad to see you coming. In fact, I have sent someone to the embassy to find Mr. Malati before, but he can't make decisions on many things, so I have to wait until you come to talk about it. Well, I will say it again now, and ask your country to do it as quickly as possible. Provide a sum of funds? Well, the amount cannot be less than 200 million ducats, which is 500 million East Coast silver dollars. This is very important, and it is almost related to the success or failure of the empire. No matter what channel we have, as long as we have funds, even if the interest is high It doesn't matter at all, how is it?"

Hearing what Grand Vizier Mustafa said, Gao Wengang was also taken aback.Although the Ottoman Empire has been in trouble for a long time, it can barely support it no matter what, but since returning from the defeat in Vienna, why did it suddenly come to this situation?Is this too exaggerated?Moreover, this will happen, where will I get money for these Turks?

(End of this chapter)