Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 2082 Islands Agreement

"Mr. Almeida, please take a look at the scenery along our railway." On October 1689, 10, Zheng Dexiang, deputy director of the Iberian Division of the European Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, introduced on the train from Melo County to the north.

At this time, the train has passed the county seat of Merlot and is driving through the beautiful plain countryside.On both sides of the railway are large tracts of well-cultivated farmland, all of which are planted with wheat. The breeze blows, and the golden waves of wheat roll.In about a month's time, the wheat on the east coast prairie will be harvested one after another.As for the harvested wheat, in addition to being partially stored locally for consumption or to deal with famines, most of it needs to be transported abroad, and the railway is undoubtedly the most important means of transportation.

Because the old-fashioned East Coast Star locomotives are running, and because the busy farming season is approaching, the transportation volume of various materials (such as fuel, tools and even personnel) has increased greatly, so the running speed of the train is only maintained at about 35 kilometers. It is very suitable for the passengers in the car to watch the scenery.

Luis Almeida looked at it especially carefully, comparing it with the Portuguese countryside he remembered.In his view, the farmland of the people on the east coast is relatively flat, and the land is also concentrated together, stretching into the distance as far as the eye can see.He knew that there were a lot of agricultural machinery on the east coast, and some of the animal-powered versions were even exported to Europe, where they were very popular.But there is no doubt that due to the fine division of European land and the relatively complex property rights relationship, the scope of use of this kind of agricultural machinery is greatly limited, and it is not as widely used as the East Coast, where land is concentrated and property rights are clear.

In the past, Europe may have had an advantage.That is, they have a larger population, which is more than enough to make up for the lack of use of agricultural machinery.But now that the population has grown rapidly for decades, the population of the East Coast Republic has risen rapidly. Although it is not as dense as many European countries in terms of density, it must not be said that the population is small.At this time, supplemented by the advantages of agricultural machinery and the use of high-quality seeds (the seeds have been selected for decades), their agricultural output is very considerable, so that if the food of the entire country is not supported by the state, it will be lost. Gradually falling - evidenced by East Coast grain prices after the abolition of protective grain purchases.

Another point where the east coast has an advantage is the extensive use of draft animals.The East Coast Republic, which has two natural pastures in Pampa and Patagonia, has a great advantage in using livestock.Their government has established multiple livestock breeding centers to continuously breed excellent draft animals (mainly draft horses). Even in order to enrich the gene pool, they have continued to import horses, A variety of livestock including cattle, donkeys, camels, and pigs, and finally successfully developed their own livestock breeding adapted to the local climate.

These livestock have now entered thousands of households on the east coast. Whether it is agriculture, industry, commerce or military, these draft animals have a wide range of uses and have played an unparalleled role.In contrast, in Portugal, a horse is a huge sum of money, and even a draft horse is very expensive. Ordinary farmers may not be able to save enough money to buy horses in their entire lives. This is the gap.

So - the gap is really big, even if it's just agriculture!Luis Almeida sighed silently, the people on the east coast have indeed gone farther and farther, and they can't keep up with the Kingdom of Portugal's flattery.

The train continued to move forward and entered the Dongtang River Bridge after more than two hours, where it slowed down.The Dongtang River is the Yagualang River, the boundary river between Uruguay and Brazil in later generations, and it is the boundary river between Merlo County and Hengtang County at this time.In the era when the Northwest Reclamation Bureau and the Yazihu ​​District Administrative Office were not abolished, this river was still the boundary river between the two regions, which was of great significance.

The Dongtang River Bridge was built by the Third Construction Bureau of the Ministry of Communications, and is currently maintained and operated by the Central Railway Company. It is said that the prairie on the east bank enters the Duck Lake Basin, then goes straight north, crosses the Dingjun Mountains and enters the southern section of the Brazilian Plateau, and has now extended to Jinglong County in the Jiangbei area—an important part that reflects the industrial development of the Republic of the East Bank. with construction level.

When the steam train was running smoothly on this steel-wood mixed structure bridge, Luis Almeida's sigh reached its climax: the East Coast Republic of China has such a powerful means of transportation, and the surrounding international environment is so good, there is almost no People can threaten them so that they can devote most of their energy to economic construction. If this state continues for a long time, will anyone be able to prevent them from ascending to the center stage of domination?

Zheng Dexiang sat across from Luis Almeida, slowly stirring the coffee with a spoon, while peeking at his face, hoping to distinguish something from it.And it seems that the scenery along the way made Almeida lose his composure. Maybe he is a businessman himself, and he is not good at hiding his own thoughts. In short, Almeida's face is quite wonderful, and Zheng Dexiang saw many things. There is more optimism about the final outcome of the negotiation between the governments of East and Portugal on the Cape Verde Islands.

When it comes to the ownership of the Portuguese Cape Verde Islands, there is actually no major problem. Although the Portuguese are reluctant, the people on the east coast are very firm and are willing to give a good offer to take this The key node, so the Portuguese basically agreed with half-push.

Things changed after the British intervened.This country seems to be addicted to engulfing the land of Portugal. After they obtained benefits such as Mumbai City, Ceylon Island (later expelled by the Dutch), Beira Port, etc., they heard that the people on the east coast were negotiating to buy Portuguese Buddha Therefore, the Dejiao Islands hurried over and said that they would also bid for the purchase, which made things complicated all of a sudden.

People on the East Coast were annoyed at the Brit's meddling, because it meant they might have to pay more to get things done.They don't know whether this is the idea of ​​King William III and his wife of England, or the common will of the Congress. In short, they want to cut off the people from the east coast. How can this be tolerated?

As a result, they put pressure on the Portuguese to quickly send plenipotentiaries to the east bank to negotiate, otherwise the people on the east bank might feel "offended".After hearing the news, the Portuguese did not dare to be negligent. They discussed and discussed, and finally decided to send members of the Almeida family who are closely related to the East Bank. People negotiate about it.

Louis is a member of the Almeida family who has been granted full powers. To be honest, he is also a little nervous about this.King Pedro II did not send his important ministers to the east bank, which in itself seems to explain some problems, that is, they want to reduce their goals, keep a low profile, and not be watched by more people, especially King William III of England, A man full of resentment against the East Coast.

After he arrived in San Salvador on a family clipper, he first had a secret discussion with the governor on the matter, then drew a sum of money from him for negotiation, obtained several entourages, and then took a return trip to the east coast of San Salvador. The grain transport ship arrived in Dongfang County, the capital, and formally communicated with the people on the east coast about the Cape Verde Islands.

The first meeting between the two sides was in the East Coast Ministry of Foreign Affairs.The powerful representatives from the east coast seem to have asked whether the Kingdom of Portugal intends to sell the half of the Cape Verde Islands to the British. After receiving no definite answer, they were very dissatisfied and asked whether the Kingdom of Portugal wanted to break the contract, even though it was just a Verbal agreement.

Luis Almeida is a young man, and he can't bear such an aggressive attitude from the East Bank.They pointed out that if the purchase of the Portuguese Cape Verde Islands failed, the Eastern Republic would be "disappointed" with the Kingdom of Portugal, and did not rule out the possibility of occupying the half of the islands by force.

Vice Admiral Li Zemin, the chief of staff of the Chinese East Coast Republic Army who issued this threat, became the last straw that crushed Louis' psychological defense.In the two subsequent talks between the two sides, Luis Almeida has made it clear that the Portuguese Cape Verde Islands can be sold, but the price still needs to be discussed, which suddenly accelerated the negotiation process.

The conditions put forward by the Portuguese are not just money.In fact, they are very smart. While only asking the people on the east coast to pay 5 yuan for the purchase of the island (originally the people on the east coast planned to pay 30 to 40 yuan), they put forward three requirements: [-]. The Port of Praia, the largest port in the Cape del Cape Islands, is permanently open to military and civilian ships of the Kingdom of Portugal, and does not charge any port management fees; [-]. Support the Kingdom of Portugal in its colonial activities in Angola and Mozambique, and export food, arms, and medicines to the two places and other daily necessities to be exempted from export tariffs, and to cancel the quota restrictions on commodities, while exempting import tariffs on commodities imported from the above two places; third, to help them recapture port cities such as Cochin in southern India from the Dutch.

The island purchase fee of 5 yuan is basically no different from free gifts.Apart from other things, the Portuguese have spent huge sums of money on the construction of the city of Playa Port alone.They purchased cannons from the east bank to transform the fort, and imported stone from the local area to build magnificent mansions, churches, warehouses and villas, as well as a beautiful barracks (which can be used as a base for marine battalions).These investments must be more than 5 yuan, even if you say 20 yuan, you will believe it!Therefore, the Portuguese dared to give away 5 yuan, mainly because the three conditions they proposed could be accepted by the people on the east coast.

After discussing the conditions of the Portuguese behind closed doors, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the East Coast felt that the first item could be agreed directly, and the second item could be agreed to a limited extent, that is, the exemption of tariffs on commodities exported to Angola and Mozambique, and the cancellation of commodity quota restrictions needs to be differentiated. Treat it, after all, things like Kinney Cream are not enough for the East Coast to use by themselves, and there must be a quota for export, there is no doubt about it.In addition, it is not impossible to exempt the import duties of goods from Angola and Mozambique, but a time limit needs to be added, such as five or ten years.

Article [-] can be directly rejected.Given the current relationship between the East Coast and the United Provinces, how could they take the risk of breaking the relationship with the Dutch to help Portugal capture several small colonial ports?This is completely unreasonable.

And that's where the differences between the two sides seem to lie.The Portuguese were very keen on recovering Cochin and other places and restoring trade on the southwestern coast of India, and they were resolutely unwilling to make concessions.When the people on the east bank found that they couldn't speak in a short period of time, they sent Zheng Dexiang to take Luis Almeida out to "walk around" and "take a break" and let him see the current construction achievements of the East Coast Republic in order to soften his opinion. The psychological bottom line lays a good foundation for the final negotiation

(End of this chapter)