Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 2026 Viana do Castelo

"Your language is really difficult to learn." The Portuguese navigator named Almeiro said bitterly off the Atlantic Ocean in northern Portugal.

He is an experienced sailor who has been to Egypt, the Caribbean Sea, the Senegal River, and of course the East Bank, where he lived for three years as an agent of a Portuguese trading company. identity.Later, he partnered with others, borrowed a large sum of money, and started the business of mechanical parts, steel bars, dyes, weapons and equipment on the east coast, and became a well-known businessman in the Porto area.

It's a pity that the weather was unpredictable, and his ship full of cargo unfortunately sank near the port of Santa Cruz in the Canary Islands.Since Almero did not purchase expensive insurance for his ships and cargo, and had to pay compensation to dead sailors and partners, he went bankrupt at once and had to sell his family's villa and a small amount of land. , came to Porto to find a job to make a living.

Because of his rich sailing experience, he was hired by the management department of Porto Wharf and became a navigator. The salary was not bad. Although it could not make Almeiro rich, it was enough to support himself and his family.This time, the people on the east bank negotiated with Portugal to expand the port of Viana do Castelo near the mouth of the Lima River, including large warehouses, forts, lighthouses (the east bank is responsible for lighting), port roads, barracks (for the navy), Hospitals, etc., the total investment is estimated to exceed 10 yuan, which is considered a large investment in Portugal.At present, the preliminary decision is that the two parties will jointly invest. The people on the east bank will get the right to use it for a certain number of years, and the Portuguese will be able to collect rent and import and export duties for civilian goods. It is a win-win situation.

King Pedro of Portugal (the younger brother of the former King Alfonso) was also quite satisfied with this, and signed a document agreeing to the above arrangement, although he did not seem to have much choice.You know, the people on the east coast have given the Kingdom of Portugal preferential treatment in terms of commercial interests, that is, not only increased the import quota of some Portuguese goods, but also reduced a certain percentage of their tariffs. It is very sincere, so King Pedro actually did not Otherwise, domestic businessmen and nobles would not agree.

It can be seen from this that the interests of the current Kingdom of Portugal and the East Coast Republic are already quite closely integrated.In Macau, they rely on people from the east coast to share some oriental specialty products; in India, they rely on cooperation with the east coast to deal with the Dutch; in East Africa, they rely on trade with Xinhua Island and South Africa to make profits; The export of black slaves in Brazil is completely dependent on the import and export trade with the east coast. Even in Portugal, its wine, cheese, horses and other commodities are also exported to the east coast in large quantities, and imported from Egypt, Syria and Crimea. Mai, this interest involvement is indeed too deep, so deep that it can't be broken at all.

Compared with the east coast, Portugal's other traditional ally, England, is much inferior.Although England dumped a large amount of industrial products to Portugal, although Portugal leased the port of Beira to England, and although they formed an alliance against the Dutch in Ceylon, the breadth and depth of cooperation did not reach that on the east coast. The level is indeed far behind.It's no wonder that the Portuguese Braganza family (royal family), which originally tried to strike a balance between the two countries, has become more and more inclined to the east coast over the years, and the interest entanglement is indeed too deep.

The ship that Almeiro boarded at this time was heading for the outer port of Viana do Castelo, which is being expanded.This 650-ton flute-shaped ship belonging to the South China Sea Transportation Company is fully loaded with steel bars, hardware products, mechanical parts and other high-end export commodities on the east coast. It is planned to be transported to Viana do Castelo and sold to the local Small enterprises such as machining workshops and forging workshops.There is no doubt that these enterprises serve this port, more precisely, they serve the east coast navy and army stationed in this port in the future, repairing ships, guns, armor and other equipment for them, and supplying food at the same time. Water, draft animals and other civilian commodities are part of the more important supporting facilities.

"Language is the reflection of the characteristics and wisdom of each nation. A nation and its language are often developed at the same time." Smoking a pipe, the captain of the East Coast said with a smile: "Actually, your Chinese is already fluent, but the intonation is not very good. Yes, and I can’t recognize a few Chinese characters, which is a pity.”

"Oh, I once tried to learn how to write Chinese characters, but it was too difficult. Your language is a completely different system. When I was young, my uncle who was a priest sponsored me to learn the knowledge for a few years. I only spent In six months, I could read and write Spanish, and then it took me more than a year to learn how to read and write Italian, which is not difficult, because I have a good foundation, and they belong to the same set The alphabet system, but yours is a completely different system, I can't adapt to it, so I gave up." Almeiro shrugged and said.Because he has rich experience, can read and write government documents (this is very important), and can communicate with people on the east coast, he was hired by Viana do Castelo Customs from Porto with a high salary to serve as the leader of the navigator here, which is regarded as a high promotion up.

"Actually, it's only difficult at the beginning, and it won't be difficult after you know how to write. And our words are very simple. Unlike you, every time you come up with a new thing, you have to create a new word? Poor people, can you remember Do you want to stay?" The captain said, taking a puff of his cigarette and shaking his head.

"Well, this is indeed a problem." Almeiro said helplessly: "But our language also has advantages, especially in the nautical language. Our language can be transformed into colorful double vowels, as well as words from the sea. The short trill of an order in the fog and the waves. Portuguese is also a lyrical language, with the passion of the Franciscan priests, full of tenderness and compassion, more expressive than any other Kindly refers to small words and pet names. For example, when we say 'children', we almost always say 'baby'; for old women, we often use 'old people'; when we give alms to the poor begging, we often call them 'poor poor people' '. Well, well, I almost went 'poor wretch' for a while, luckily I found a new job."

"Haha, interesting statement." The captain was a little happy after hearing this, and he patted Almeiro on the shoulder and said, "We are getting close to the port. I heard that there are a lot of shoals here. We need a protective angel now." Come and guide us' (the captain said this in Portuguese, and the guardian angel who guides the direction also means 'good pilot' in Portuguese)."

"I swear by the blue sky above our heads and the sacred ocean, with Almeiro here, we will reach the port safely." After Almeiro finished speaking, he stopped chatting and went to the bridge, pointing to the navigator. inbound waterway.And he is indeed rich in experience, coupled with the wind direction and waves are very face-saving, so the fully loaded flute-shaped transport ship quickly and safely sailed to the edge of the pier and anchored successfully.

Because the port is currently undergoing an expansion project, the pier is quite chaotic at this time, with merchant ships and warships parked together, everywhere.The most eye-catching among them is undoubtedly the three-deck battleship "Executive Committee" that is currently going north from the Eastern Cape Verde Islands and is currently undergoing maintenance in the port.This kind of powerful warship is second to none even in Europe, and it is even more outstanding in Portugal. There is no warship in the whole country that can compare with it.

When the "Executive Committee" went north, there were several other "Jiqi"-class escort gunboats and "Star"-class light cruisers.None of these warships left the port at this time, but were quietly moored in the harbor. Although their gun windows were closed, any adult with a bit of common sense could count the densely packed windows on the side. A chilling conclusion would be drawn: this is a mighty fleet!

The captain of the flute transport ship was also very proud when he saw these warships of his country.He had dreamed of serving in the navy before, but unfortunately he was unable to fulfill his wish. In the end, he could only join the South China Sea Transportation Company, starting from an ordinary sailor, and gradually climbed to the high position of captain.He knew full well that these silent warships played a vital role in their ability to do business in Europe, selling large quantities of native goods to Portugal, Spain, Italy and the Ottoman Empire.

What is influence?In Europe in this era, in addition to the hundreds of thousands of land lions in France, the powerful fleet galloping across the sea also has a huge influence!Especially in many countries that rely on the sea for food and have a long history of overseas trade, this influence is even deeper.The Kingdom of Portugal in front of me is a typical example. If there were no painful memories of the East-Portuguese War that severely damaged their navy, and the deepening economic bondage in recent years, the Kingdom of Portugal would hand over the Viana do Castelo base to East China. Has the Shore Republic secured a key supply and maintenance base on the Iberian Peninsula?impossible!

The captain also vaguely heard that the local navy is continuing to deploy troops, transferring a large number of capital ships to the Cape Verde Islands and the Caribbean Sea, and then transferring the ships originally stationed there to Viana do Castelo.What's more, some people also mentioned that at least four "Executive Committee"-class battleships may eventually come to berth in Viana do Castelo, in order to cope with possible future military operations and protect the east coast of China. the interests of the republic.

As for any future military operations, the captain himself is not very sure.However, based on the analysis of what he has seen and heard in the past one or two years, he thinks it is mostly related to the Dutch.In other words, he felt that the members of the Executive Committee would probably make a decision to intervene based on the situation in the Netherlands, that is, once the Dutch merged with the UK, the fleet would immediately sail into the North Sea for armed intervention.Moreover, in order to ensure that decisions are made in a timely manner, the decision to intervene should be authorized to the front-line commanders so that they can respond as soon as possible.

The captain felt that if he wanted to intervene successfully, he would have to mobilize a large number of capital ships—at least 4 "Executive Committee"-class battleships, 12 "Jiqi"-class escort gunboats, and several "Star"-class light ships. Cruiser - it is best to be able to convince some important people in the Netherlands that they understand that the intervention of the East Coast fleet is in the interests of the United Provinces, so that they will not be taken advantage of by the British and soften the Dutch's confrontation Awareness, so that their navy will not confront the people on the east coast, and reduce their own pressure.After all, no matter how proud the East Coast Navy is, it will not think that its task force is capable of one-on-one. It is not self-confidence but arrogance to face the Dutch Navy and the English Navy at the same time!They add up to hundreds of warships, and they gnawed the people on the east coast to death.

After the merchant ship dropped anchor, a group of shabby Portuguese laborers came ashore.They carried all kinds of simple tools and a number of carriages, and under the command of a potbellied dock official, they unloaded the cargo in the cabin one by one.It is worth mentioning that steam booms are used for unloading. This is equipment imported from the east coast. It is expensive but very practical and greatly improves the throughput efficiency of the terminal.

The vaporization of dock equipment, if done best, is undoubtedly the British.Portugal, as the first European country to touch the steam engine, fell last in this regard.The reason is still related to its weak industrial foundation, that is, it is not that it does not want to do it, or it is really impossible to do it. In the end, it can only buy steam engines produced by the British, but it is also helpless.

Of course, the east coast steam engine is conditionally lifted for some countries, and the Kingdom of Portugal is one of them.Last time, the Port of Lisbon imported eight sets of steam booms from the Montenegro Industrial Company on the east coast in one go, setting a record for a single customer on the east coast, which shows the closeness of the relationship between the two countries.

The entire unloading work finally lasted for two days before it was declared complete.But they can't leave now, because the Portuguese goods they purchased (including goods from other countries resold by the Portuguese) are still on the way, so they need to wait for about a week.And just as they were bored in the port basking in the sun, a liaison ship from the east coast coming from Istanbul stopped at the shore to repair the mast that was damaged in the storm.

In addition to carrying a batch of cargo, the liaison ship also had two diplomatic envoys and a large number of confidential documents, which were all to be sent to Paris, France, and handed over to Lin Dingzhi, the ambassador on the east coast.The document contains a diplomatic order given to Lin by Gao Wengang (who is still in the Ottoman Empire), which requires him to see King Louis XIV of France as soon as possible, and try his best to persuade him not to attack the Lowlands or the Holy Roman Empire—amazing, right?The people on the east bank and Ottoman are quasi-allies, but now they are persuading the French not to attack Shinra to rescue Ottoman. In fact, the relationship between countries is so complicated-so as not to lead to a war that sweeps across the entire European continent.

Gao Wengang didn't really believe that Louis XIV could be persuaded, but this kind of thing can only be known after trying. What if it makes sense?Or even if it doesn't make sense in the end, it's always good to delay the start of the war, isn't it?

(End of this chapter)