Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 1941 Overseas Interests ([-])

Speaking of the Dutch West India Company, the relationship with the East Coast has also experienced ups and downs in recent years.

In the early days of the East Coast, this Dutch colonial trading enterprise once played an extremely key role.Their trade with the East Coast was extremely critical for the East Coast Republic to survive the early difficult years. Of course, the company also made huge profits for itself, and the relationship between the two parties was a win-win situation.

Later, as the strength of the East Coast Republic grew stronger, the Dutch West India Company became more and more dependent on the East Coast. At that time, the east coast trade objects became more and more extensive, and the dependence on the Dutch West India Company became less and less.But at that time, the company opened plantations in the wild areas of Brazil and sold black slaves in West Africa, which still greatly helped the East Coast.

In the past ten years or so, perhaps because of the rapid political cooling of the United Provinces and the East Coast, the relationship between the West India Company and the East Coast has also experienced some twists and turns.The specific performance is that there has been no new investment for many years, and the number of Dutch businessmen who can be seen everywhere in Hue Port has also been greatly reduced. They have been replaced by Portuguese, French and even Italian businessmen, which shows the change of the company's policy.After all, the shareholders of the West India Company based in Zeeland Province are not as powerful as the behind-the-scenes leaders of the East India Company, and they are not very able to withstand the pressure when facing the cold gaze of the Prince of Orange.

Members of the Cornelis family, representing the behind-the-scenes bosses of the West India Company, arrived on the east coast again today.

"...Chairman Ma, as I said just now, our company is willing to increase investment in Brazil, your country, and expand more plantations." After drinking two cups of coffee, Hugo, the newcomer of the Cornelis family, looked Ma Wenqiang, chairman of the East Bank Executive Committee, who was sitting on the opposite sofa, said with a smile: "The company's plantation investment in Hue has been providing stable profits over the years. The shareholders of the company are very happy about this and have been demanding Increase investment."

Ma Wenqiang smiled after hearing this.The plantations developed by the West India Company around the port of Hue have indeed provided them with a large amount of sugar, tobacco and coffee for many years, and they have indeed made a lot of profits.The question is, you have been making stable profits for more than ten or twenty years, have you never thought about making additional investments?Yes, when the former Chairman Liao was on the stage, he really didn't like the large number of plantations in the local area, which corrupted the domestic atmosphere and forced the local enterprises to start a transformation, but this is not because your West India Company suddenly stopped Reasons to invest!Brazil can't do it, can't Xinhua Island invest?People on the east coast are open to any businessmen who are willing to invest in the island. As a result, the Dutch, as if they have never heard of it, sit back and watch the Italians make a fortune there, so that they rob many of them. Market in the mediterranean.

Now that times have changed, the Dutch seem to have finally "woke up" and want to come to the fertile land of the East Coast to invest. If there is nothing wrong with it, I am afraid that none of you here will believe it.In the 17th century, the overseas business environment was dangerous. If there was no political power to back it up, and if it relied purely on commercial power, it would only be wiped out by others.Commercial investment, in this era, is definitely not just a commercial activity!

Ma Wenqiang is not an idiot, after thinking about the meaning a little bit, he will understand three points.In the final analysis, this matter is still related to the current situation in Europe.More precisely, it has to do with the increasingly aggressive attitude of the French!

Let me talk about the cultural aspect first.As the prestige of the Kingdom of France in Europe reached its supremacy: in 1680, the Paris Parliament publicly declared King Louis XIV the "Great Emperor". Both the Pope and the Holy Roman Emperor acquiesced to this and did not say anything; Many art works of Louis XIV are depicting Louis XIV as a god descending to the mortal world, who came to the Palace of Versailles. It can be seen that there are more and more "spiritual Frenchmen" in continental Europe; Mushy degree.

That is to say, there is now a very strong advocacy of France's strength in Europe, and Louis XIV has also become "a great king, a recognized glory of our time, and a symbol of future generations" in the mouths of many influential figures. Desirable but rare" (Leibniz).From the north of the Pyrenees and the Alps, to the west of the Vistula, the intelligentsia of all continents began to speak the language of France, to imitate the courts of Paris, to imitate French art and all!

In such a culturally fanatical environment, how could it be possible for the United Provinces, who have always been very wary of the Kingdom of France, not to feel horrified?

Let's talk about religion again.The most sensational event in the European religious circles recently is undoubtedly the naked and undisguised hostility shown by French King Louis XIV to Protestants!As we all know, there are currently about 150 million Huguenots (Protestants) in France. From Richelieu to the Mazarin era, all the highest powers in France have confirmed the validity of the "Edict of Nantes" promulgated in 1598. That is, to protect the religious freedom of the Huguenots as long as they obey the central government politically.

In 1652, Louis XIV also confirmed the validity of the Edict of Nantes promulgated by his grandfather Henry IV, and in 1660 publicly praised the loyalty of the Huguenots when the Fronde rebelled, and his confidant Colbert also Marvel at the contributions of the Huguenots to industry, commerce, and the arts.

Everything seems to be working fine!Although the French Church has never recognized the Edict of Nantes, under the majesty of the royal power, they cannot independently challenge this political correctness, they can only pretend not to see it.

But the problem ultimately lies in the attitude of Louis XIV himself.Yes, after securing the throne of power, Louis XIV began to no longer conceal his religious inclinations.So, with his acquiescence, the French Catholic Church became active again: the 1660 religious meeting asked the king to close the colleges and hospitals of the Huguenots and not allow them to join public office; The children of the Huguenots should be separated from their parents in order to receive the true faith; the Synod demanded in 1670 that all marriages between Catholics and Huguenots should be declared null and void, and the children of such marriages should be considered illegitimate.

Some of the above suggestions were accepted by Louis, and some were not accepted, but what he and his government did, in fact, have been gradually abolishing the "Nantes Edict": in 1661, he first tested the waters , announced that the Protestant worship in the city of Gex was illegal, on the grounds that the city was incorporated into France after the promulgation of the "Nantes Edict", and there were 1.7 Protestants and 400 Protestants in the local area; Boys at the age of 1665 and girls at the age of 14 were authorized to convert to Catholicism and leave their Huguenot parents, who had to pay an annuity to support them; in 12, Huguenots were prohibited from building any colleges or educational institutions; in 1666, the emigration of Huguenots was prohibited, and those who assisted them in emigrating would also be sentenced; 1669 livres.

If the above-mentioned policies are only relatively "gentle" temptations, then in recent years, Louis XIV's methods have suddenly become much crueler.From 1682 to this year, more than 800 of the more than 570 Huguenot churches in France were closed, and many churches were demolished. When the believers tried to rebuild the churches, they were all arrested and punished, and declared as national traitors.

These policies are often heard even by people on the east coast of the New World.Even Ma Wenqiang, who had just returned from the Far East for a short time, fully understood what the French did after a bit of knowledge: to be honest, he didn’t feel much about it because he believed in Taoism, but He can also feel the impact of Louis XIV's crazy behavior on the surrounding Protestant countries. The United Provinces, England, Sweden and a large group of German states must be afraid that one day Louis XIV will come and seize their land and property. , but also take away their souls.

And if the cultural strength of the Kingdom of France has made other countries headed by the United Provinces wary, and the policy of persecuting Protestants has worried them, then the French have taken advantage of the Austrian-Turkish War in recent years. Some small actions on the border, Small expansions scare them!

Two years ago, when the Austrian-Turkish War was in full swing, King Louis XIV of France instructed his subordinates to set up a "reunification committee" to demand the recovery of some border areas that originally belonged to Franche-Comté and Alsace. And it worked.And after getting this sweetness, Louis XIV seemed to be encouraged, and then used some small tricks to make some small outlying towns that originally belonged to Strasbourg also declare to be merged into the Free City of Strasbourg, to express His Holiness declared his allegiance.Subsequently, the Duchy of Milan, which was under the jurisdiction of the Kingdom of Spain, was also forced to cede Marsar Castle to the French, which was a fortress on the only way from Savoy to the Duchy of Milan.

The above are all small means, and the French won less than ten towns with a total population of tens of thousands.But the problem is that because of the Austrian-Turkish War, the King of Austria, who is the co-owner of the German princes, turned a blind eye and was unwilling to stand up for his younger brother. The King of Spain also tolerated in every possible way, fearing to fall into a difficult war.As for the United Provinces, they also sat idly by in the midst of entanglements and contradictions, acquiescing to the French aggression.

There is no doubt that the above-mentioned appeasement policies have fueled the aggressive ambitions of the French.Finding that no one seemed to be able to restrain him—a fatal illusion—Louis XIV finally reached out to the lowlands he had coveted for years. In the second half of 1684, he sent troops into the Southern Netherlands, occupied part of the Spanish Duchy of Brabant, and at the same time annexed the Duchy of Luxembourg.The courts of Vienna and Madrid, fearing that not satisfying Louis' appetite would lead to an expansion of the war, finally agreed to the French kingdom's occupation of the above-mentioned areas, swallowing a bitter fruit.

The Spaniards and Austrians can not care much about the expansion of the Kingdom of France in the Southern Netherlands—in fact, this is also untrue, but one of them is powerless and the other has no time to take care of him—but the Dutch can’t, they have already We have reached the door of our house, do we want to pass this day!

Therefore, although the French gave Dutch goods a very low tariff rate to appease, the Dutch didn't buy it at all!When it comes to the life and death of the country, this is not a matter of money!What's more, this Louis XIV is too domineering, and various policies (including the measures taken in the Dutch occupation area) also showed his extreme hostility to Protestants and Protestant countries. Four such people rule.What's more, they now vaguely heard that this person actually hooked up with the Archbishop of Cologne, the Elector of the Holy Roman Empire, and formed an alliance. His expansion ambitions really shocked everyone.

Therefore, after thinking about it and learning from it, the Dutch felt that they still had to find a way to unite the majority of people to curb the ambitions of the French.And because of the growing influence of the East Coast Republic over the years and its unique geopolitical advantages (controlling the Cape of Good Hope), they are also worried that this country will be won over by the French - they have no doubt that the French are allied with pagan countries If there is Ottoman in the front, can't there be the East Coast Republic in the back? This is still quite troublesome for the United Provinces.Therefore, after struggling for a long time, they finally decided to send envoys across the ocean to the east coast to contact the leadership on the east coast to see if there is any possibility of cooperation.

Don't blame the Dutch for being so cautious. It is because the relationship between the two countries was too tense in the past few years, and the people on the east coast are still supporting the republican political forces in the United Provinces to block the Prince of Orange. It's pretty good to send people over from the face, and there is indeed a certain degree of sincerity.

Of course, Ma Wenqiang also knew that the Dutch did not come all the way to continue to invest in Brazil. Their main concern was the attitude of the East Bank in the possible future European war.It's great to be able to win over, but if it can't be done, then the next best thing is to let the people on the east coast remain neutral is also a good result.This is the wishful thinking of the Dutch, and Ma Wenqiang, as the supreme leader of the East Bank, is very clear about this.

However, he was not prepared to agree to the Dutch.More precisely, he did not intend to accede to the Dutch request so easily, unless they were willing to accommodate some of the East Coast demands—both political and commercial.

(End of this chapter)