Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 2073 Purchase Plan

"This plan seems a little too radical." On August 1689, 8, in the office of the capital's Dongfang Port, Li Qing, the foreign minister who was about to retire, said to himself to a document handed up from below.

This document was completed by a working group composed of members from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Finance, the National Development Administration, the Immigration Department and the Joint Chiefs of Staff, which took one month to complete.Although it is still the first draft, the core content has basically been determined, and minor details may be revised in the future, but the big framework will not change.

The content of the document is about the formal proposal of the East Coast Republic of China to the Kingdom of Spain to purchase part of its colonies in the Viceroyalty of Peru.To put it more clearly, it is that the people on the east coast want to expand and swallow more land, and it happens that the Kingdom of Spain also needs money recently, so they have formulated a plan to exchange land for arms, food, and daily necessities. A lot of cash is indispensable, after all, everyone likes hard currency.

The part of the document related to land acquisition is roughly divided into three parts.

The first one deals with the settlement of buyouts east of the Yanbu Railway and parts of Chile.According to the previous agreement between the East Bank and Spain, this part of the land was developed by the East Bank government by paying rent, and the ownership is actually not in the hands of the East Bank.Considering that these lands are currently home to nearly 20 East Coast nationals, and the economy is developing extremely rapidly, it is actually impossible to return them to the Spanish government after the lease expires.Therefore, the people on the east coast wanted to end the lease early and buy out the Spaniards in one go by giving them monetary and in-kind compensation.

The document believes that the Kingdom of Spain has long been psychologically prepared to lose this land and will not resist much, so the resistance of people on the east coast to buy is very low.Perhaps the only point of contention between the two parties is that the people on the east coast want to recover part of the rent that has been paid to the Spaniards in advance, or directly deduct part of the land purchase price.However, it is expected that the government of the Kingdom of Spain, who is hard-pressed to give up money, may not accept this method, so the two sides are likely to confront each other seriously for several rounds before they can finally make a decision.

But no matter how much you argue, no one has any doubts about the future ownership of this part of the land.

The second part of the land that people on the east coast care about is the vast plain west of the Yanbu Railway.This piece of land has a vast area, is suitable for grazing and farming, and has a lot of precipitation. It is an important agricultural and animal husbandry production area.If a large number of people are moved here and a development plan is carefully formulated, they can continue to make great contributions to the entire country in the next hundred years.In the future, more than half of the country's children may be born here, the country's increasingly large-scale industrial and agricultural facilities will be transferred here one after another, and funds from the wealthy eastern coastal areas will continue to flow to this virgin land.If we consider that the capital will also be relocated to the Pampa-Chaco Plain in the future, it can be said responsibly that it will become the political and economic center of the country in a few decades, just as Guanzhong was to the Qin and Han Dynasties, and Henan was to the Tang and Song Dynasties , the so-called heartland, the foundation of the king and hegemony.

It can be said that the west of Yanbu Railway is still a blank space.And with the various actions of the people on the east coast, the number of Spaniards who originally plowed, grazed, and caught bison here has decreased and gradually disappeared.Even though Madrid tried its best to relocate many Spaniards, Southern Netherlanders, and Italians, and even asked Austrian relatives to help bring many Germans, Hungarians, and Dalmatians over—many of them were once Against the "sinners" of Vienna - but still with little success.Even a large part of these people went to the control area on the east bank to work illegally in the Hejian and Pampa plains, causing the population of the Buenos Aires prosecutorial court area to continue to lose population.

Against such a background, talking about economic development and containing the East Coast are all jokes.If there is no one, there is nothing, and nowhere can be developed. In the end, we can only calculate and see if we can sell it at a good price to the people on the east coast.The people on the east coast naturally know the land west of the Yanbu Railway very well, but although they like it very much and want to get it quickly, they don't want to give the Spaniards too much money.For this half of the plain, they only want to give 250 million yuan, no more—of course, if the Spaniards can accept payment in kind, it can be slightly more, but this is another matter.

The third piece of land to be purchased is the Chaco Plain, which is currently being infiltrated across the border.In this great plain with the same vast area (although the soil is not as fertile as the Pampa Plain), the people on the east coast have not developed enough. So far, only a few settlements have been set up along the river, and the population is not very large. focus.

However, with the planning of railways and highways, and the plan to move the capital to Córdoba in the future were secretly formulated, the Chaco Plain must also be taken.It’s not that there are any minerals here, or how fertile the land is. The main factor is that the location here is very critical, and it extends in all directions. It is impossible to go to Upper Peru, Paraguay, Chile, and the increasingly prosperous river regions.Once the transportation infrastructure keeps up, I am afraid that one or two railway hubs will be built, and the future development prospects are quite promising.

Of course, the Chaco Plains are not without their drawbacks.Although there is a lot of rainfall here, the soil is not as fertile as the Pampa Plain, which is rich in volcanic ash nutrients. If you are engaged in agriculture, you will definitely not be as competitive as those in the south.Moreover, due to the relatively low-lying terrain here, the drainage is not very smooth. Over thousands of years, certain problems have arisen, that is, the soil salinization in many areas is relatively high, and several famous large lakes are mostly brackish water lakes. In the future, it is necessary to invest an unimaginable huge amount of money to transform it, otherwise it may not be ideal.

Fortunately, there is enough land on the east coast, but the population is only 700 million, so there is no contradiction between people and land.In this case, it doesn't matter even if the funds for transforming the Chaco Plain are not sufficient, it can be left as a pastoral area.Don’t forget, the Chaco Plain means “Land of Hunting” in Quechua. There are so many animals that it can rely on hunting and grazing to support the early economy, and wait for the country’s financial surplus before developing it. and remodel.

People on the east coast are only willing to bid about 200 million yuan for this slightly barren plain.Unless the Spaniards are willing to accept payment in kind, it is unlikely to increase.

The team that wrote the document believes that although the Chaco Plain is not as good as the Pampa Plain in the south in terms of agricultural conditions, it surpasses Pampa in terms of purchasing difficulty.The reason is that this is the backup route for the Spaniards to transport silver from America, and they don't want to lose it.Even now that the navy on the east coast is extremely powerful and pirates on the southwestern Atlantic coast are almost extinct, the Spaniards have transported more silver to the mouth of the Rio de la Plata, and then transported it back to the country through this relatively safe route.Therefore, they may pay more attention to the Chaco Plain than the Pampa Plain—anyway, no matter which plain they don’t farm, then naturally the Chaco Plain with better geographical advantages is more important to them.

If the people on the east coast want to reduce the resistance to purchase, they have to make a promise to the Spaniards, that is, to ensure the safety of their banking routes.If possible, the people on the east coast can even promise to send local militias to protect them when the Spanish silver transport team appears.And when they are at sea, they can promise to send warships to escort for a while, so as to improve the survival rate of the Spanish silver ships as much as possible.

The working group believes that this condition is quite attractive to the Spaniards.Because they also know that their colony is almost like a sieve, and the officials are not very reliable. The departure time of the silver fleet is originally top secret, but in fact it is often leaked, and then caught by pirates or privateer fleets from other countries The opportunity was intercepted, leading to a huge case.Therefore, when transporting silver from the Caribbean to Spain, that route is often a route of death. I don’t know how many forces are staring at it. Corrupt colonial officials colluded with pirates to poach Spain’s corners together. This kind of thing should be hated by Madrid. .

It would be different if they went out to sea by the mouth of the Rio de la Plata.With the strength of the navy on the east coast, there are no pirates who are arrogant enough to come to the southwest Atlantic to seek life. Therefore, if the Spanish silver ship sails from here, the sailing time can be kept secret, and there will be escorts in the initial stage. So the safety has increased by an order of magnitude?

From this point of view, the Spaniards are not at a loss.Perhaps the only thing that makes them feel uneasy is that after the disappearance of the Chaco and Pampa plains, the land and sea lines for transporting silver are controlled by the people on the east coast, and they will not be able to resist the east coast in the future, otherwise they may It's going to be a big loss.

To sum up, the East Coast people intend to propose to the Spaniards the purchase of these three lands together. It is estimated that it will cost more than 600 million yuan, and a considerable part of it must be used for arms, food, daily necessities and other commodities. deduction.And this data, in fact, has been carefully calculated, that is, it can help the Spaniards fight an offensive war with a medium scale and time span, or a long-term internal defensive war, which is enough to ensure that they are challenged by the French this time. There is a little bit of self-preservation in the European continental melee that started, although their situation still does not look very optimistic.

"Buying so much land at one go, why don't you go to heaven?" Li Qing flicked the documents, and said with a smile: "Although the Spaniards are in urgent need of money, they didn't lose so much land because they were defeated in the war. Not very likely."

"However, it is necessary to give it a try. Anyway, there is no cost." Li Qing quickly added: "Even if you can't buy all three of these places, it would be good to get two of them. Well, the east and south of the Yanbu Railway The piece of Chile must be won, which is the primary goal. The second is the Pampa Plain, which is slightly less difficult than the Chaco, easier to buy, and is a secondary goal. The Chaco Plain needs to be achieved The goal, but it should not be mandatory to complete, although we need to not give an inch during the negotiation. Alright, let's take it to the other committee members for review, I have no problem here."

After finishing speaking, Li Qing picked up the pen and brushed down her opinions, then closed the folder, handed it to her secretary, and said.

It is naturally impossible for their diplomatic system to decide on such a major matter as purchasing land, so it needs the approval of the majority of members of the Executive Committee before it can be implemented.Moreover, the finances on the east coast are not very well-off now, and the military expenditures of the navy and army account for a large part. I believe that if it were not for the help of the Dutch land rich man to solve the maintenance costs of the Portuguese task force this time, it would be difficult for the people on the east coast to collect land purchase funds. It is absolutely impossible—of course, it is very difficult even now, because the budget meeting has already been held, and all funds have been spent, and now we have to spend several million extra, which can only be solved by issuing bonds.

But in any case, even if the debt is high, the money to buy the land must be raised.This is not only to accumulate wealth for future generations, but also to transfuse Spain with blood so that it does not fall down quickly.You must know that their king is not a smart and healthy person. In fact, his current mental state may have serious problems, and most of the ministers around him are obsequious and flattering people.Even if there are a few capable ones now and then, their voices are often drowned out by the ravings of more fools.

Senior analysts at the General Directorate of State Intelligence have studied King Carlos II of Spain in depth, questioning his judgment.They believe that when the conspiracy between King Leopold of Austria and Louis XIV to carve up Spain was exposed and the secret agreement was seen by Carlos II, he actually just dealt with the relationship between Spain and Austria for a while, and then "believed "It is really incomprehensible to mention his Austrian relatives and sell Spanish interests to serve the Austrian Habsburg family.You know, when he learned that Leopold coveted his Spanish throne, Carlos shed tears and cursed his relative loudly, but what happened afterwards?The intelligence officials could not explain it, and finally could only think that Carlos II knew that he had no heirs, and that the Kingdom of Spain would be handed over to outsiders sooner or later. Even though he hated Leopold, he had no choice but to reconcile with his relatives and In the end, the kingdom was entrusted.Of course, the intelligence officials also gave another explanation, that is, the favorites, servants, and guards around Carlos II collude with the Vienna side, and then influence him through various channels, causing him to change his position. He was also close to the Habsburg family in Vienna.

But whatever the truth is, that doesn't matter.What is really important is to seize as much land as possible from the Spaniards before Carlos II dies and the situation becomes complicated, so as to avoid future nights and dreams.

The pace of seizing Spanish land must be accelerated!

(End of this chapter)