Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 1948 Apennine Peninsula

With the sound of a sharp whistle, a motor sailboat puffing out black smoke slowly left the harbor and headed for the open sea.

This is a warship that has just completed replenishment in the harbor. It is a "Jieqi" class escort gunship designed and manufactured by the people on the east coast.Such a warship, logically speaking, would not appear in the Mediterranean area. The number of times the East Coast Navy has entered this sea area in history is also numerous, but this time it happened to appear, so people have to think more about it.

Of course, that's the trouble of the French. For the Genoese who have suffered from the threat of war for the past year, these warships flying the flag of the East Coast are really cute!They will never forget that when the French Eastern Fleet blocked the port, foreign trade was cut off, Fengyu Office's inventory was in a hurry, and more than 60 Genoese people were in dire straits, who stood up to actively mediate and who used ships from the Black Sea A large amount of wheat was brought in to stabilize the price of grain in the Genoese market.

At that time, when those mighty French warships saw the grain transport ships on the east coast, they even opened the gun windows, but in the end they still didn't fire, and let the ships on the east coast leave, which undoubtedly officially announced their blockade. Bankruptcy of Genoese port policy.

Why are the arrogant French so weak and restrained in front of the merchant ships on the east coast? To put it bluntly, they are not afraid that the people on the east coast will retaliate against them in other places?The country is not without overseas interests either, given the French's growing business in India, Burma, Siam, Vietnam and China, as well as their strong presence in Caribbean island plantations.Although it is really coming to a critical moment, Louis XIV can of course weigh the pros and cons and choose whether to abandon these overseas interests, but isn't that not the point yet?

The reason why they shouted and killed the Genoese was because this country had contracted four warships for the Kingdom of Spain.Strictly speaking, this matter is actually a bit of a fuss.There are only four warships, what a big deal!What is the strength of the Spanish navy?

But the Frenchman just grabbed this and blocked the port of Genoa*, which instantly plunged this country, which is highly dependent on foreign trade, into a tragic situation (the French also bombarded the port of Genoa* in history , even more tragic), so that I had to ask my grandpa to sue my grandma to ask others to mediate.The reason why the French did this, in fact, combined with the situation that they are now encroaching on the territory of the Southern Netherlands, it is not difficult to draw a conclusion, that is to severely beat and warn any country that tries to help Spain, so as not to affect their annexation.

To be honest, the French's move is still very clever.They took the soft persimmon of Genoa* as a warning, and at the same time avoided direct conflicts with other powerful countries. It should be said to be a successful strategic warning or test.During the test, they found that the Austrians did not stop, the English were indifferent, Sweden, Prussia and other countries did not even respond, and the United Provinces strongly condemned it from the perspective of cold lips and teeth.Such a result should have made the Paris court ecstatic. Although the people on the east coast did not give face at the last moment and joined the Dutch to mediate, the goal of the strategic test has been achieved, and the French will go downhill. He released the Genoese and retreated to camp.

Subsequently, the Consul Les Carlo, who represented Genoa * to Paris for peace talks - before leaving, the court temporarily granted him immunity from exiting the country, because the Genoese law stipulates that once the Consul leaves the country, even if it is only for 1 minute , will also automatically lose his post-although he was humiliated by the French, the ceasefire finally did not change. After guaranteeing a lot of things and paying 200 million bank reparations, the French finally turned their attention to Southern Netherlands.

After experiencing this incident, the Genoese finally abandoned their last illusions about France and Spain (the Spaniards had promised to give aid to Genoa, but they did not dare to fart during the war). Big increase, because they keep their promises, it's so fucking righteous.It is believed that the feelings of the Genoese people will gradually spread to other parts of Italy, so that more Italians will know, and this will undoubtedly have a very positive significance for the influence of the Eastern Republic in the Mediterranean .

"Garden" reported: Congressman Garibaldi publicly declared that before his departure, the French had a banquet for Consul Les Carlos, the four congressmen who accompanied him, and Ambassador Lin of the East Coast at the Palace of Versailles. After the banquet, some French officials reported to the He asked what was the strangest thing in the Palace of Versailles, and His Excellency the Consul replied that it was the strangest thing for me to appear here..." In a small two-story villa near the port, Paul Doria stood by the bright glass window In the back, while watching the warships on the east coast gradually going away, I listened to the sound of servants reading newspapers.

"The "Jardin" is really getting more and more powerful. It actually allowed Garibaldi, an old-fashioned member of parliament, to be interviewed. It seems that this incident really made our old man very angry." Paul Doria said with emotion Said. ,

The warships of the people from the east bank have gone away, but there are still many Genoese watching their figures on the pier.What happened this time left a deep impression on the people of Genoa. For the first time, many people clearly realized that in this world of great controversy, if there is not enough force to protect, then no amount of wealth will be destroyed. It is false, which makes many Genoese start to think about their future. Is it really appropriate to allocate all their property in such a narrow and weak country?

The Dutch in the United Provinces have set an example for everyone.Those Protestants with full purses traveled across the ocean to England, poured into London, Norwich, Bristol, Birmingham, Manchester and Liverpool, set up workshops, opened shops, and at the same time contributed to England's original industries Enterprises provided a large number of skilled workers and low-interest loans, which not only drove England's economy to take off, but also maintained and increased the value of their assets.

The same was true of the Huguenots in France.Without a sense of security, these people fled France one after another to start a new life in other countries willing to accept them.And because many of these people are elites above the middle class and belong to high-quality immigrants, countries still prefer them—wealthy businessmen and artists went to London and Amsterdam, and craftsmen went to industrial areas in England and Germany. , farmers went to England's North American colonies, and soldiers went to France's enemy countries to help them fight.

"After this incident, the immigrant boom is about to rise again." Paul Doria was a little worried when he said this.Although Genoa is small, it is my hometown and the place where I grew up.But now under the military threat of foreign enemies, this place has become no longer safe, and the country can no longer give them enough shelter-even if it is not occupied by the military, a small country like Genoa* is under threat. , will definitely lose a lot of rights - it's time to go to a new place and start a new adventure with a new identity.

"Sir, the "Garden Newspaper" happens to have a report on immigration, do you need me to read it?" the servant asked respectfully.

"Read." Paul Doria raised his eyebrows and said.

"French officials warned Geneva not to accept defectors from their country anymore. Because this Protestant city with a population of only 1.6 now has thousands of French Huguenot refugees, this embarrasses Louis XIV."

"At the urging of members of Congress, King James II had to order funding to help Huguenot immigrants to ease their integration into England's economic and political life. Mr. Spencer pointed out that although England could not take Measures to prevent the persecution of Protestants in France, but giving them the necessary help is necessary, in the interests of England's economy and future."

"The Elector of Brandenburg publicly announced that he welcomes the arrival of French Protestants, saying that Berlin has the correct beliefs, and welcomes experienced French Protestant officers and soldiers to settle (historically, by 1697, there were more than five points in Berlin. One of the population is French).”

"Under the pressure of the Prince of Orange, the three-level council of the United Provinces had to change its policy, opened the door of convenience, built thousands of houses in the provinces to accommodate the fleeing French Protestants, and announced that they would all be granted citizenship, At the same time, low-interest long-term loans were provided to stabilize the lives of these Huguenots. Churches in the provinces of the Netherlands also launched donations, and Jewish businessmen donated a lot out of sympathy, and at the same time vigorously absorbed these shrewd and capable French people into their business system.”

"Marshal Schomberg, a Huguenot, and his family fled to England, and the marshal himself vowed to lead his army back to France to regain what he had lost."

"The French economy has been hit hard. The textile industry in Caen has almost completely stopped, and half of the silk industry in Lyon and Tours has also stopped production. Only one tenth of the more than 100 stores in Le Havre are still open. The suburbs of Paris were once prosperous. The tannery industry has vanished, three-quarters of the paper mills in Nantes are closed, and the famous commercial port of Marseilles is in a state of depression."

As the servant continued to read the newspaper reports, Paul Doria's brows became more and more tight. After a long time, he sighed and said: "The French industrial system established by the three generations of Prime Ministers Richelieu, Mazarin and Colbert painstakingly , have now been shaken. These Huguenots have always been the main force in the fields of commerce, industry and art. Now they should have been in England, the United Provinces and North Germany, guiding the technology and operation of those workshops, producing Have you produced products that are highly homogeneous with France? The export industry of the Kingdom of France should suffer a heavy blow in the near future, and the import volume may also surge due to the impact of this time. How do they balance their finances? What? I’m afraid there is only one way to raise taxes at home and plunder abroad.”

Paul Doria thought of the 200 million bank lire that Genoa* had paid to France before. Although the money was not much, it was extremely disgusting and made people panic.Paul faintly felt that now that the outflow of silver from France was accelerating and government revenue was decreasing, it was bound to launch a foreign war as soon as possible to divert attention, which made his sense of uneasiness and powerlessness even worse.

With French Huguenots fleeing the world, what were Italian Catholics to do with themselves?Paul Doria looked left and right, and found that there was not even a powerful prince who could resist the French on the fragmented Apennine Peninsula!The most powerful Republic of Venetia has also exhausted its national strength in the 20-year war with the Ottoman Empire. It is not an opponent of France at all, not to mention that Venice is also the old enemy of Genoa, and it is impossible to take refuge in it anyway. Their.

After much deliberation, the most ideal place for the elites of Genoa to emigrate, apart from the Kingdom of Austria, is actually only the East Coast Republic of China in the southern New World!Although this country is a pagan country, its religion is relatively tolerant. The persecution of Catholics and Protestants is an old calendar decades ago. In addition, there is a relatively large Italian expatriate group, Genoese immigrants It used to be more comfortable.

But after all, it is a bit too far there, far away from their hometown in Italy. After all, they are somewhat different from the French, and they still love home.It is impossible not to go, Louis XIV has already acquired the Castle of Casal, and the road to Italy has been opened. Although it seems that the focus of its expansion is in the lowland areas, it is not certain that one day it will turn its spearhead to the wealthy Italy. , It will be too late to run again at that time!

"It seems that it's time to allocate more property on the east coast." Paul Doria sat back at his desk, planning to write a letter to his youngest son who was studying on the east coast, so that he would not have to rush back to Italy after finishing his studies. Instead, he runs the business there, and the family will choose the opportunity to send more people to help him support those businesses.

Paul believes that there must be many Italians with the same idea as him, and they are spread all over Genoa, Lucca, Milan, Tuscany, Venice, Naples, Sicily, Modena and other places.The East Coast Republic was civilized and as tolerant of infidels as the Ottoman Empire, perhaps even more so.Coupled with this country's leading position in industry, commerce, and technology, it is almost impossible to think about its future.

That being the case, then why hesitate!The French are so perverse that the Italians, who are also Catholics, are terrified.Now the Apennine Peninsula is no longer safe, and the Republic of Genoa is completely unable to protect its own citizens. It is also reasonable for the Doria family to start shifting their focus overseas.

"I heard that the envoys of the people from the east coast came a while ago and negotiated with St. George's Commercial Bank for a long-term low-interest loan worth 1000 million bank lire (the annual interest rate is as low as 2%, which is not much different from a free loan. ), and then they used the money to recruit French Huguenots to join the army and form a mercenary force, which is simply insane.” Paul Doria said with emotion: “Using Italian money to recruit French cannon fodder, the East Coast People's business is too shrewd."

(End of this chapter)