Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 199 San Vicente Agreement

In mid-February 1638, it was still hot in the middle of summer in San Vicente in the New World.

Fortunately, the cool sea breeze that blows from the sea from time to time took away some of the heat, making the temperature in the city not so unbearable.Gao Mo and Bai Siwen have been doing nothing lately, and they have talked with the British about everything that needs to be discussed. At present, they can only wait for the final decision between the upper management of the two parties.

A copy of the minutes of the negotiations was sent back last year, and there are great differences within the executive committee on the results of the negotiations at this stage.The results of the negotiations between the civilian party headed by the waistcoat and the British were generally satisfactory. They were eager to achieve peace to restore domestic economic construction, and they even prepared to agree to give [-] pounds of "humanitarian compensation" to the British for their losses during the war. .However, this was met with fierce opposition from the radical forces headed by the military. They resolutely refused to agree to any reparations to the British, and for this reason they did not hesitate to continue the war.

Responses from the cross-country people to the British indemnity were mixed.After so many years, they now know that with their current national strength, they are still far from those old European countries.Therefore, some people think that [-] pounds is not a big sum, and what the British want is only face, so let them forget it, as long as peace can be achieved quickly, they should be dismissed as beggars.

However, there is still a part of the cross-travelers who strongly oppose it. They still have a strong sense of superiority among modern people. They think that they must not submit to these 17th-century natives, otherwise it will be a failure and a shame. Do they deny their development achievements over the years? Turn back the wheel of history!

Due to the disagreement of opinions, the Executive Committee has been unable to form a unified opinion.Just when the vest was about to propose a forced vote, a shooting incident that shocked the Executive Committee occurred in Dongfang Port.Li Fugui, an immigrant from the Ming Dynasty who was always advocating "pacifism" and who was the secretary of Wang De, the president of the Dongfang County People's Court, Bai Siwen's stalwart, was shot by radical soldiers in a tavern.Although Li Fugui was not shot, he was terrified enough. The soldier who shot him, a young corporal from the army, was arrested on the spot.

Things have come to this point and there is no big problem.But the police who came to arrest the corporal were quickly surrounded by several times the army gendarmes, who took the corporal away on the spot and threatened that only a court-martial could be tried.The weak police could not resist and could only watch the soldiers walk away.

Two days later, the military court handed down a child's play judgment on the army corporal of "retirement from active service and exile in South Africa".This incident also once again detonated the inherent conflict between the civil servants and the military. The civilian officials accused the military of being domineering for a long time, while the military accused the civilian officials of betraying the interests of the country.However, the foreign enemy is currently at present, and the accusations between the two parties are not too deep. Under the strong mediation of Ma Ganzu, the chairman of the executive committee, the military department stated that it will strengthen the education of the soldiers in the future to prevent such incidents from happening again. This shooting The turmoil of the case is barely over.

After seeing the "rogue" methods of the military, the civilian group was also a little frightened, so no one mentioned about the appropriate compensation to the British. Gao Mo and Bai Siwen had to continue to fight with the British. The two representatives of the group were wrangling, but there has been little progress.

Things finally turned around in mid-February.I don’t know if the British took the wrong medicine or something. In the eighth official negotiation between the two sides, their two negotiators actually did not ask the people on the east coast to compensate them for their losses. Mr. Exeter, the Senate of the Guyana Traders Company who was a prisoner of war, Knight Heywood, the former military commander of the Gambia Trading Station, and a group of British officers and soldiers.

Gao Mo and Bai Siwen, who were pleasantly surprised, understood that the British mainland must have passed the latest instructions to the two people in front of them, such as ending the war immediately, and they could even roughly guess the reason why the British were eager to end the war——Yes, For no other reason, it must be that their king has something new to do.

The enemy's pig teammate is the most popular thing for people on the east coast.Since their king is so "powerful" and cooperative, wouldn't it be a pity for him not to take the opportunity to blackmail him severely?Therefore, faced with the eagerness of the British to conclude a treaty, Gao Mo started negative negotiations, avoiding key issues, but instead clung to the details and haggled over every detail.

Facing the rogue behavior of their opponents, Russell Smith and Cheney Coward felt helpless.Under tremendous pressure, they really have no time to spend with the people from the east coast.If the war is not over for a day, the British will spend more than 200 pounds in war expenses, and their ships are still under the threat of the East Coast fleet at any time.

What a headache!Smith is now finally feeling the pain of last year's East Coasters facing their eagerness to make peace.As the news of the sinking of a British slave ship off the coast of Luanda came back to San Vicente, Smith and Coward, who were under tremendous pressure, finally couldn't sit still. The two of Gao Mo were caught at a private banquet, and after some exchange and compromise of interests, the two parties finally reached a preliminary agreement.

Gaumo successfully forced the British to give up their claims for reparations on the basis of the original agreement, and allowed them to open the Florida market to people on the east coast. At the same time, the Ottoman Empire's woolen trade quota also doubled to [-] horses per year.In addition, the British will pay a total ransom of [-] pounds for Mr. Exeter, Knight Heywood and others, in exchange for the East Coast people to release them in time.

This agreement is the most beneficial peace agreement for the East Coast Republic that they can obtain after carefully weighing the intricate situation that the two sides are facing today.So when the negotiation minutes were sent back to China by Kuaima, the executive committee approved the negotiation agreement on the spot, and even the military, which had always been critical of Gao Mo and others' diplomatic negotiations, did not express any objections for the first time.

Therefore, on March 1638, 3, when the foreign minister of the East Coast Republic of China, Gao Mo, and the plenipotentiary representative of the British East India Company, Mr. After the signing of the document, the nearly two-year war between the two parties finally came to an end at the legal level.The only problem now is how to convey the news that the war between the two sides has ended to the naval task force of the people on the east coast.

To be honest, Russell Smith is now a little afraid of hearing the news about the East Coast Fleet, because every time it comes back, it is bad news.A while ago, Portuguese sailors rumored that the people on the east coast had built a secret supply port at the mouth of the Berg River on the west coast of South Africa, and their fleet should be based there to attack British merchant ships.

However, this news was known a little late. Now that the war between the two sides has ended, many British ships have been gradually withdrawing from the South Atlantic Ocean. It is obviously unwise and stupid to make extra troubles at this time.

At this time, the people on the east coast also expressed their sincerity to the British.They sent the armed merchant ship "Businessman" nestled in the port, loaded with a large amount of building materials, weapons, food and daily necessities, and set sail for the South African river fort.While notifying the Hezhong Fort that the war is over, they are transporting supplies there—they have learned from the letter written by Gao Mo that there are now 1000 more Ming immigrants in the Hezhong Fort, and there is a big gap in various supplies. Local support is urgently needed.

Although Mo Ming, the leader of the South African Pioneering Team, was not very satisfied with the behavior of intercepting immigrants from the Far East and embezzling public funds seized by the Navy, but considering the actual situation at the time, the executive committee could not but admit that Mo Ming's decisive behavior was correct.Considering the important national policy of the country in the next stage-exploring the African route to the Ottoman Empire, the South African River Fort is of unparalleled significance as the base camp and general rear of this exploration operation.Therefore, at this time, on the contrary, the Executive Committee has to make great efforts to support Hezhong Fort.

The "Businessman" armed sailboat arrived at the South African River Fort in mid-to-late April.At this time, the Hezhong Fort has begun to take shape: a coastal defense fort with six shore fire prevention guns, more than 4 mu of sorghum fields and farmland irrigation facilities, and dozens of brick and tile houses. It has been completely completed, and these farmlands and facilities will surely become an important propellant for the sustainable development of the Hezhongbao area in the future.

After unloading the cargo, the armed merchant ship "Businessman" lingered in the Fort in the River for two days, and then hurriedly returned to Dongfang Port, accompanied by three transport ships from the South China Sea Transportation Company and a company of security forces. .The war is over, and it's time for these soldiers to be dismobilized and return home.

Just a few days after the return of the "Businessman", the Navy's Guinea task force suddenly docked at the pier of the Fort in the River again. At this time, the dusty naval officers and soldiers heard the news that the mainland had concluded a peace treaty with the British.Fleet Commander Lu Ming still welcomes the end of the war. In the past two years since the war broke out, the navy has lost two warships, and more than 360 officers and soldiers were injured, sick, or killed. The casualties are heavy.Therefore, he readily stated that he would abide by the orders of the executive committee and the military department, and immediately lead the fleet back to the mainland, ready to accept the next step.

After arranging some of the wounded and sick to recuperate in the Fort in the River, the Naval Guinea Task Force sailed away from the Fort in the River pier on April 4, and headed westward towards Dongfang Port.So far, the state of war between the East Coast and the United Kingdom has finally ended substantially, and peace has been temporarily restored.

(End of this chapter)