Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 2072 Good Opportunity and Debt Trap

Rafinha returned home exhausted.

He talked with the king in the court today, and then went to the embassy on the east coast, where he exchanged views on some foreign policies of the Kingdom of Spain.The process of exchanging opinions between the two parties was quite pleasant, but the condescending attitude of the people on the east coast always made people feel very uncomfortable, so that Viscount Rafinia, such an energetic young man, felt a little tired and tired!

Viscount Rafinia still remembered that the new ambassador from the East Coast, who had only been in office for a few months, was arrogant and asked the Kingdom of Spain to carefully consider their country's military, economic and other aspects before deciding whether to respond to the Austrian Hab At the request of the Fort Dynasty, he participated in the war against the French.

The most irritating thing about the ambassador was that he was very pessimistic about the combat effectiveness of the Spanish Kingdom's army, thinking that not only the army could not beat the French, but the navy would also be defeated.To avoid humiliation, it is better not to go to war.

Although the Viscount Rafinia also opposed the Kingdom of Spain's participation in the war—at least not now—he also felt that the ambassador on the east bank was right, but Nima's attitude was too bad and unbearable!Your east coast area is not as big as the Kingdom of Spain, your population is not as large as ours, and you are far away in the New World, so why should you dictate to us.

Of course, the above are just Viscount Rafinia's inner monologue, and he has not yet had the courage to say so in front of the East Coast ambassador.As the favorite of King Carlos II, and as an important minister who actually participated in the internal affairs of the kingdom, Rafinha is well aware of the fact that the Kingdom of Spain is strong from the outside but only from the inside, so he can only be silent about the words of the ambassador on the east coast, without saying a word.

The fief of Viscount Rafinia is in the countryside of Granada.His ancestors made great contributions in the battle to expel Lulu, and he still has great loyalty to the Kingdom of Spain, and he sincerely hopes for the good of this country.Otherwise, he would not have traveled thousands of miles from his hometown to Madrid to serve the king as an adult nobleman.You know, Rafinha is a serious noble with a fief, not a court noble who has to live on the annuity issued by the king.

Rafinha's family is still in Granada, and besides a few servants, there are only two followers who came here with him from his hometown: one is an artist and the other is a linguist.At this time, the artist was looking for news outside, while the linguist was sorting out documents from various countries at home.

Rafinha asked the servant to bring coffee, then sat opposite the linguist, picked up a translated document, looked at it casually, and asked: "The language of the people on the east coast must be difficult to learn, right? There are absolutely no rules."

"It's actually not as difficult as I imagined." The linguist adjusted his glasses and said, "Their language is completely different from ours, but it is easy to use. It may be difficult at first, but as long as you try to understand the common The meaning of the characters, the rest is not so difficult, sometimes you can get a general idea of ​​the meaning of a word just by guessing the meaning of the characters. In contrast, the characters used by the Chinese—well, people from the East Coast call It is classical Chinese—it is much more difficult, especially the large number of idioms and short sentences in the article, which makes people very embarrassed. You must have a deep understanding of their history and culture, which is too difficult for foreigners .”

"This translation document about the textile industry on the east coast is very interesting. Many of the words in it are newly created?" Viscount Rafinia nodded and looked at the document in his hand, only to hear him ask: "I have never seen some words before. However, some words should have other meanings here, and you gave them new meanings?"

"Yes, I redefined it." The linguist understood which parts Viscount Rafinia was referring to, so he immediately replied: "The people on the east coast of the textile industry are too far ahead, and the whole of Europe can't compare. They They designed more sophisticated and durable textile machinery, and developed cloth of various specifications. Many words are unique to them. There is no corresponding part in Spanish. I really don’t know how to translate it, so I created Some new words, and at the same time, some old words have been marked with new tones and given new meanings, I hope it will not cause too much obstacle to your reading."

"Oh, it's nothing. People on the east coast are technological pioneers, and everyone is chasing after them. This is their advantage. They have the right to name new things." Viscount Rafinia put down the document in his hand, Said: "Actually, we are not the only ones like this. English people are the most active countries in learning from the east coast. Their language is extremely vulgar, completely irregular, and lacks aesthetic feeling. You can tell at a glance that no linguists have been hired to organize and improve it. I once read I have read their books and articles, and there are more new words in them. I believe that if the language of the East Coast people is not a completely different system, not letters, the English people will be happy to use many East Coast words directly, adding In their word list. But it is said that there are already signs of this. The British borrowed many Chinese pinyin words used in the east coast, such as the disease 'baihou' (diphtheria), and the British used it directly. Although this The pronunciation of the words does not conform to the pronunciation rules of English, but whatever!"

"The East Bank is a powerful country with unparalleled influence. These are just some of the insignificant aspects." The linguist sighed and said, "Your Excellency, did the meeting with the Ambassador of the East Bank achieve any results today?"

"Almost none." Viscount Rafinia smiled wryly, and only heard him say: "His Majesty the King is eager to join the war, and on the side of the Habsburg family, attacked France from both sea and land directions. It is a shame for many years. Yes Yes, we all understand His Majesty's eagerness, and we all know that the French are disgusting monsters, but now is really not a good time to join the war. Louis XIV has hundreds of thousands of troops, and the war has only broken out for more than half a year That’s all, the armies of Austria, Sweden, Prussia, the Palatine, the United Provinces and other countries are not yet fully in place, at this time we rashly join the war, facing an unweakened French kingdom, what chance do we have of winning?”

"But His Majesty's will?" the linguist asked with some hesitation.

"Yes, His Majesty's will is the highest, and no one can stop it. But the opinion of the ambassador on the east coast cannot be ignored, especially when he has stated more than once that he does not want us to participate in the war. Unwise behavior. Hehe, the people on the east coast are afraid that the French will go south and occupy our country, and then their massive investment will be completely useless." Viscount Rafinia spread his hands and said: "I have to say, this It's a sad thing. We couldn't stop His Majesty's determination, but the East Coasters almost did, and the annoying face of their ambassador made everyone in the court have to be careful. It may be a good thing for the Kingdom of Spain, but It is a disgrace to the royal family and nobles."

"So, did the ambassador from the East Coast convince His Majesty the King?" the linguist continued to ask.

"Maybe, maybe not, I'm not sure." Viscount Rafinia was a little dazed when he heard this, and then said worriedly: "His Majesty the King seems to have unrealistic confidence in our army. He thinks that we Our army has purchased a large number of new weapons from the east coast, so it is a new team with strong combat effectiveness, but this is a great misunderstanding. Our army has not been paid all the year round, and the soldiers have to fish for a living, so they are not well trained. When it comes to guarantee, morale is extremely low. Moreover, we have no war experience, and we also have a psychological fear of the French, and the number is only a fraction of the opponent. How can we fight like this? I really can’t imagine how we can win."

"Perhaps the royal family can be persuaded financially?" said the linguist, recalling an idea.

"Oh, don't mention it, it's annoying to say it." Viscount Rafinia suddenly became very angry, only to hear him standing up, waving his arms, and said: "There is actually a courtier in the court suggesting His Majesty the King sent real estate, including land, to the East Coasters in exchange for huge war funds. They pointed out that the French were very interested in the Southern Netherlands, Naples, Milan and other places and wanted to occupy them. Therefore, they Advise the king to raise military expenses in case of accident."

"Sell real estate? Must it be real estate enough to fight a war?" The linguist seems to understand.

This matter is actually not difficult to guess, because according to rumors, in the past six months, the ambassador of the East Coast has proposed to King Carlos several times to buy many lands in the New World, including the Chaco Plain, the Pampa Plain and the Central Valley of Chile.Those places are not worth much at present, but people on the east coast like them very much and are willing to pay a good price for them. Many people think it is feasible.His Majesty the King also consulted some of his close ministers for their opinions. As a result, some opposed and some agreed, and it seemed that slightly more people were in favor.

Of course Viscount Rafinia strongly opposed it.However, he also knew that he could not play a decisive role. People from the East Coast were even willing to ask for 200 million yuan for half of the Pampa Plain.His Majesty the King is extremely excited by this huge sum of money!Spain is also very excited!But what’s worse, the French’s offensive on the battlefield was extremely swift and fierce, which made the Germans cry for their fathers and mothers, causing the Madrid government and the public to panic. They were afraid that they would be the next one to be beaten, so they rushed to form alliances with the Netherlands and Austria. Join this war against the French.

At this time, you said that the people from the east coast who rushed to "give money" would not cause heated discussions in the court?In the final analysis, it was all caused by lack of money, and the people on the east coast also chose a very good time, seeing the dilemma of the Kingdom of Spain, and wanted to take advantage of the opportunity.

Of course, people from the east coast may not necessarily buy it.According to Rafinha's knowledge, in the viceroyalty of Peru, the behavior of people from the east coast to infiltrate and cultivate across the border is very common, completely ignoring the Spanish Kingdom's sovereignty over those lands.In other words, they already actually owned the cultivated land, and the reason why they paid for it now is just to complete the procedures and avoid future troubles.Even more conspiracy theory, they wanted the Kingdom of Spain to have money to fight the war, and then when they were exhausted, they had to borrow money from the people on the east coast to maintain it. It is conceivable what will happen in the end.

This is a debt trap!

Viscount Rafinia suddenly felt that the prospects of his motherland were really bleak.Because regardless of whether the Kingdom of Spain participated in the war or not, those lands in the New World were destined to be lost to the East Coasters.Their ambassadors bluntly advised their own side not to join this quagmire of war, because they had the colonies that were confident that they would eat up the New World slowly, and they were not even willing to use any intrigue in this matter.This is absolute strength crushing, isn't it enough to make people despair?

"Jose, I have to meet with the ambassador of the East Coast people in two days. His Majesty the King seems to want to listen to their ambassador's plan again. Then you can join me as my personal advisor." Viscount Rafinia Suddenly said: "I have to go to the West Indian Affairs Office tomorrow. His Majesty the King seems to be asking them to estimate the value of some New World colonies. I have to understand the situation. You have also seen that from these perspectives, our country joined the war. The possibility is very high. Selling the land to the people on the east bank, their ambassadors will not object, and we can get a lot of money, and then we can pay off the army’s arrears, buy a large amount of ordnance, and then Start a war against the French. Nice solution, but a disaster in my opinion."

Speaking of this, Viscount Rafinia subconsciously lowered his voice, looked around, and then frowned and said: "The Habsburg family did not take the interests of Spain at all. For more than 100 years, they What did Spain do? Total crime! All they care about is Austria!"

"Slap"!The linguist's pen imported from the east coast fell on the ground. He didn't care to pick it up, and said quickly: "Your Excellency, please be careful. The Habsburg family is, after all, the royal family of Spain. Now—not yet time, first Let's deal with the second meeting with the East Coast ambassador."

(End of this chapter)