Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 2030

On September 1688, 9, after escaping a storm, the Portuguese task force of the East Coast Republic of China finally arrived at the port of Lisbon.

However, only a part of them arrived this time, about 30 or so ships. Due to the storm, the fleet could not maintain its formation at sea. Many ships got separated at night and did not follow the main fleet led by Morley Eel to Lisbon.Fortunately, they all know where the destination is. If nothing happens and the ships are in good condition, they should arrive one after another in the next period of time and join the main fleet.

Unsurprisingly, the appearance of the East Coast Fleet caused a great commotion among the Portuguese.In particular, the three three-deck battleships "Executive Committee", "Liberator" and "Scavenger" (the "Milestone" is temporarily out of contact), have become the dazzling stars of Lisbon Port. I was envious and jealous after seeing it, and at the same time, I had a new understanding of the strength of the East Coast Navy: this kind of warship is often already shocking, and can generally be used as a naval symbol of a country, but the East Coast people Actually, there are three ships in one piece of equipment, which is really not a big deal!

At the same time, some small ideas that existed in the hearts of many Portuguese businessmen and nobles disappeared under this naked display of strength.When interacting with a country with such a powerful warship, it is best to be more cautious and frank, so as not to cause unnecessary misunderstanding and bring disaster to the country.

As a large international commercial port, Lisbon naturally has ships from many other countries in the port, and there is no shortage of spies in the port.Therefore, the news of the arrival of the large fleet of the East Coast Navy will surely spread throughout Europe in the future and be presented to the desks of the monarchs of various countries.In this era of Europe, the formal maritime trade is booming. Even some traditional continental countries are actively developing maritime trade. Therefore, they are very concerned about who has a powerful naval fleet. Therefore, the news of the arrival of the large fleet on the east coast is bound to It will continue to ferment for a period of time in the future and cause a very far-reaching impact.

People on the east coast are naturally happy to see this happen.Promoting force to enhance national influence is one of the tasks of the Portuguese task force of the Navy. They wish they could be known by people from more countries.The information will be distorted when it is disseminated. Maybe the people on the east coast will have three battleships anchored in the port, but it is rumored that there may be five or six battleships. This will further enhance the image of the people on the east coast. Increase the country's influence.

In addition, the French, Dutch, and British will inevitably have scruples after learning about the situation of the East Coast Fleet, and they will be even more suspicious in their hearts, worrying about the purpose of the East Coast Fleet in Europe.Especially the United Provinces, which has been having trouble with the East Coast recently (Prince of Orange accused the East Coasters of funding the opposition), if they had a richer imagination, they would probably suspect that the East Coasters would come here and They're at war.

In short, the port of Lisbon, which was originally relatively calm, set off huge waves due to the arrival of the East Coast Fleet, and then began to slowly spread far away, affecting more countries and regions.When the monarchs of these countries make decisions in the future and look for partners for cooperation, they will definitely consider the factors of the east coast more.And this is one of the main reasons why the people on the east coast added a special navy budget and spent a lot of money to send this fleet to Europe.

"From the moment we entered the port of Lisbon, we have already become a thorn in the side of many people. But it doesn't matter. It's a mediocrity not to be envied by others. Our such a powerful fleet will naturally make many people panic. Secretary Wang, Have you found out any interesting information recently?" In the captain's room of the "Executive Committee", the commander of the task force, Colonel Moreel, looked at the secretary of the ambassador to Lisbon sitting opposite him, and asked with a smile.

"Portugal and the United Kingdom are closely related. We naturally found out some of them, and they are not the same as what the London Iron Mansion learned. We can confirm each other." Secretary Wang took a sip of tea and replied with a smile: "Portugal is a Catholic A country with a very strong atmosphere, so a lot of news here is related to religion. The most interesting of them is that King James II of England recently announced the abolition of the Penal Code for Church Affairs, which means that Protestants can no longer execute sentences against Catholics based on their religious beliefs. It aroused the dissatisfaction of the Church of England and many Protestant businessmen and nobles. But James was unmoved and continued to insist, as if Catholics had already taken the upper hand in England."

In fact, James II's head is really a little unclear.He has only been on the throne for less than three years, and there are a lot of people who oppose him in the country. The Congress has also withheld funds that should be appropriated in three days, but he is still unmoved, promulgating one after another in a very high-profile way. The policy of British Catholics suppresses the rebound sentiment of Protestants, as if Catholics are dominant in England today.

Moreover, at the beginning of this year, the confidants he sent to Ireland engaged in a series of persecution of Protestants, which ignited the religious sentiment in England and made more and more people oppose him.It was his confidants Tagnell and Phaidon who controlled Ireland for James II. These two unscrupulously persecuted the minority Protestants in Ireland, took away their land and property, and gave them to Catholics.

Phaidon, who served as the chief justice, even pointed out in public: "4 people (referring to Protestants) are all villains, and none of them is not a traitor, a traitor, and a scum. They are not worthy of forgiveness." It can be seen that Ireland persecuted Protestants at this time. The action was tragic. A large number of traders, artists, scholars, and craftsmen fled to England. Ireland’s foreign trade income dropped a lot, so that even James II was considering whether to remind his two confidants and restrain himself a little. Behavior that goes too far, don't take it too far.

Of course, if it’s just these things, the gentlemen in London’s parliament might not be so excited, because the Irish are also untrustworthy in their eyes, they are second-class citizens, and persecution is persecution. Although it is very worrying, but It's not enough to blow up the nest.However, James II recently did something even more stupid, that is, he sent an envoy headed by the Earl of Castellmann to Rome, expressed his friendship and submission to the Pope, and proposed that Britain officially return to Catholicism opinion of the country.And this undoubtedly caused an uproar in London, which suddenly intensified the conflict between the royal family and Congress.

According to the bill enacted by the Congress, anyone who contacts the Pope is a very serious crime and will be punished with treason and injustice.But since the person who committed the crime was the king, it was difficult to punish.But there is no doubt that the relationship between Congress and the royal family has been irreversible so far, and James' move is extremely reckless and inappropriate.Under the current British system, the king's power is certainly not small, but it is definitely not as great as imagined. Especially when the financial power is restricted by the Congress, the king cannot win enough military power. Always looked unstable.

In short, the situation in Britain is completely out of control now. Members of Congress have begun to hold meetings to create public opinion in the country, so that social elites can understand how terrible what King James II is doing now, and their souls will not be redeemed. Their property will be taken away.Some people even sensationally pointed out that because of some shady relations between King James II and Paris, the British nationals might suffer even more terrible losses.

Regardless of whether the news is true or not, it has spread rapidly in England, and has had a wide-ranging impact. Many Protestants who originally supported the royal family were a little bit worried and began to leave James II's side.For example, the king's brothers-in-law Rochester and Clarington were originally important supporters of the king, but they have now resigned.For another example, Jeffreys, the king's former thug and known as a cruel official, also publicly complained about the king's religious policy, which aroused the king's suspicion. The holy family declined and had to leave the center of power.Even Sunderland, the king's favorite, secretly communicated with the Prince of Orange and became an undercover agent next to James II, constantly sending out various confidential information.

There are too many such resignations or defections, and almost every day I hear people who originally supported the king change their camp and join the Congress.Merchants even began to join forces one after another, using various means to reduce the import and export tariff revenue, which was originally an important source of income for the king, and this further hit James II.

At the same time, a well-crafted public opinion beautification operation for Prince William III of Orange and his wife is also continuing.Various groups, including churches, colleges, and business circles, have sung praises for him, calling him "intelligent and decisive", "cautious and humble", and at the same time he "has a deep hatred" for France, and he decisively agreed with the British withdrawal of six regiments during the rebellion of the Duke of Monmouth Soldiers, averted a civil war that killed people.

These beautification actions in public opinion make the vast majority of British people think that it seems to be in the interests of most people to let the Prince of Orange and his wife come to inherit the British throne.And William III himself also firmly seized this opportunity, and sent his special envoy Dyke Werth to London to contact many local dignitaries, and at the same time, to promote the prestige of the prince himself.William III instructed Dyke Werther to publicly protest some of James II's policies, and to "raise his name" to various factions in Congress in an appropriate manner.

The composed and sophisticated Deckwirth completes the character with astuteness.He succeeded in convincing the English that, once William III was in power, there would be absolutely no action against Protestants.At the same time, he also pointed out that the time is not yet ripe and we must wait patiently.Because he still needs time to clean up the situation in the United Provinces, the republicans have caused a lot of trouble for him, and the political situation is a bit unstable. If Laoshi goes to England at this time, he is afraid that Amsterdam and The Hague will change.

However, the birth of James II's son changed all this, forcing William III and the ministers in the United Kingdom to speed up their steps and advance the action of landing in England and becoming king.The birth of James II's male heir will shift the succession sequence of his daughter Mary backward, and the legal right of succession will be challenged.William III had no choice but to step up his actions without hesitation, making intensive actions to take over London.

According to the latest news received by people on the East Coast, including the Bishop of London, the Earl of Danby, the Earl of Nottingham, the Earl of Devonshire, the Earl of Dorset, the Duke of Norfolk, Lord Drummer, Lord Eland, Mr. Hampton, Mr. Bowler, Mr. Leicester and other great nobles and businessmen, as well as many "outstanding citizens" (mostly businessmen, priests, military officers, scholars and artists) in the capital London, signed a petition requesting William III, Prince of Orange, to send troops to England. Help the kingdom regain its freedom.

It can be said that under James II's step-by-step coercion, the British nobles and parliamentarians rarely abandoned their prejudices and united together to deal with the "misguided king" and welcome a more "tolerant prince".The most radical of them all—perhaps the most speculative—Lord Shrewsbury, a Catholic, now avowedly Protestant, mortgaged his estate for £[-], determined to "defend Austria by the sword." Prince Lange".

Prince William III of Orange didn't care too much at this time.He said that he "will gladly accept requests from all walks of life in England" and will take on the "responsibility of protecting the citizens of England".To this end, he has begun to organize the army to see how many officers and soldiers will follow him to London.If it was not enough, he would open the vault without hesitation, pull over several mercenary legions that he had secretly contacted, and then board the ship with him and set off for London to ascend the throne.

The prince has reason to believe that James II now has few trustworthy people around him, not many people supporting him in the navy, and almost none in the army. Therefore, as long as his legion successfully lands in England, it will be easy to ascend the throne of England.What's more, James II is so stupid that he is still implementing his religious policy at this time, as if he thinks that he doesn't die fast enough, so he insists on rushing to give the throne to William III.

Colonel Moreel was also surprised when he heard the news.On the one hand, he was surprised that James II could be so stupid, and on the other hand, he was surprised that the Prince of Orange was on the line.In his opinion, it would be best if William III could be prevented from entering London in time. If it was impossible, then he should be prevented from concurrently serving as the governing post of the United Provinces, so as to sever the connection between England and the United Provinces and support republicans to come to power.

But no matter which aspect, the most urgent thing for people on the east coast now is to find a foothold that is very close to the United Kingdom and the United Provinces.Since they are unwilling to go to the French, they can only go to the Southern Netherlands, which is still under the Spanish rule.After much deliberation, Antwerp was abandoned because it passed through the waters of the province of Zeeland under the control of the Netherlands, so the only option left in the South Netherlands was the famous commercial port of Bruges.

Now that the decision has been made, then without further ado, Colonel Moreel asked Secretary Wang on the spot to contact Cadiz as soon as possible through the relationship with the embassy in Lisbon, and let them go to Madrid to meet the King of Spain and request to open the cloth. The port of Rouge is berthed by the East Coast Fleet.

At the same time, they also used various relationships to successfully let the Portuguese temporarily vacate some docks to maintain the east coast fleet and prepare for sailing.Of course, they didn't forget to contact Viana do Castelo, after all, sometimes they need the help of the army.

(End of this chapter)