Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 2156 Chaotic Fate

The sky was gloomy, and the appearance of the rain was not falling was particularly annoying.But this is the normal state of London, and it has been like this for thousands of years. The endless North Atlantic warm current not only provides Britain with a relatively warm climate, but also brings sufficient water vapor to it, so rainy weather naturally becomes The mainstream of London and England as a whole - you can't expect to get all the benefits.

London's population now exceeds 40.Years of continuous urban construction have brought tremendous changes to this city, which was prospered by commerce and rich in industry. The influx of French Huguenots with knowledge, culture and work skills, as well as a large number of Dutch Protestant businessmen, brought great changes to this city. The city has brought new capital and technology, and London has entered a new level of development, leaving all English towns and cities outside of London far behind - "England has only one head and no friends" , not just talk.

Zheng Dexiang, the new Chinese ambassador to the UK, left the Iron Mansion today and attended a banquet hosted by the upper class in London.In addition to the local business and political celebrities in London, the participants of the banquet also included envoys from many countries stationed in London.Unfortunately, because Britain and France are currently at war, Zheng Dexiang was unable to meet the French ambassador at the banquet. In fact, he really wanted to chat with him at such an interesting moment.

However, although he failed to meet the French ambassador, Zheng Dexiang met many business celebrities.These big men who stomped their feet in London would be shocked three times. When they saw Zheng, they all forgot to be reserved, and came up to talk to him begging for nothing.Ambassador Zheng actually understands the feelings of these people very well. England is in the era of the industrial explosion, and various industries are booming. Therefore, their needs for various machinery and equipment, parts, hardware tools, chemicals and even medicines, and various household goods The quantity is very large, and a large amount is imported from the east coast every year.

In particular, textiles and steel products, which are currently the two largest exports, are the most heavily relied upon.The former needs to import a large number of mechanical parts, dyes, chemical intermediates, etc., while the latter needs mechanical equipment, steel bars, durable tools, high-precision instruments, etc. Even the glass manufacturing industry, which they started to dominate later, needs to be imported from the east coast A series of commodities including soda ash, molds, and measuring tools, it is unimaginable if the East Coast cuts off their supply-maybe they need to reorganize their industrial system, and the production efficiency will drop until they reach another painful level. balance.

In other words, part of the reason for the great industrial development in England is actually inseparable from the east coast.Without the supply of goods from the east coast, it is not that England's industry is over, but it is sure to shrink greatly.England's goods can be dumped in large quantities to the European continent and overseas colonies only because they took the lead in adopting more efficient production methods and introduced more durable, more precise, and more efficient east coast goods and technologies. In this regard, they are unique in the European continent. , no one can match.

Compared with England, the process of deindustrialization of the Dutch has been going on for many years, and the degree of hollowing out of their industries has reached a shocking level.This alone is doomed that they will not be able to compete with the English in all aspects in the future.The competition between commercial capitalists and industrial capitalists has inherent disadvantages, not to mention that many Dutch commercial capitalists are now immigrating to England because they are afraid of war and turmoil.

The future fate of the United Provinces should be quite bleak.Unless the people on the east coast are willing to cut their own flesh and give them the agency rights for all products in Europe, and they don't run the business themselves, how is this possible?

France's industrialization process is much better than that of the Netherlands, but there are many problems.Their main trouble was that their government—King Louis XIV, to be precise—didn't help industrialize enough.Their king was so happy, and his main focus was on how to improve his prestige and expand his territory. This consumed too much national power, so that the funds that could flow into the industrial field were extremely poor.Without sufficient funds, the progress of industrialization will definitely be very slow, which is very clear.

The future fate of France seems a bit confusing, but it won't be so bad, after all, the foundation lies there.But they should not be much better. After all, although they understand that meaningless wars will only waste national strength, they are unsolvable for the French at this stage, and their king will not agree!

The only ones that can be slightly overestimated by people on the east coast technically are the North German states, thanks to their deep manufacturing traditions.When Spain was rich in the early years, it purchased a large number of various commodities here. Later, the Dutch also joined the ranks, and the unprecedented prosperity of North German handicraft workshops was born through the way of buying, buying and buying.Of course, this kind of prosperity has continued to this day. At present, the North German states are the regions with the highest utilization rate of steam engines in continental Europe except England, which shows their level of productivity.

But they also have problems. The main reason is that they cannot be unified politically. That is, although their overall strength is not weak, their individual strength is too weak to effectively resist blackmail and even aggression by big powers.

People on the east coast are naturally well aware of these situations.They don't even need to do any field research, just by opening their export records, they can clearly understand the level of industrialization of the continental European countries and find out how England stands out among them.But it seems that they are not very worried about this. This may have something to do with their intention to support England and balance the situation on the mainland-at least this policy was correct when the previous generation led the collective, and no obvious changes have been seen so far.

Zheng Yong, who grew up with a golden spoon in his mouth, is comfortable with such occasions.He used high-sounding vocabulary to talk to these businessmen and factory owners, as if he had said a lot, and he seemed to have said nothing, but those rich people didn't feel that they had gained nothing at all, and they still listened with great interest, because they learned from Ambassador Zheng's words. Li at least smelled that the East Bank was not hostile to England, and that was enough!

Zheng Dexiang also talked about the ongoing Irish War.When this matter was mentioned, these capitalists immediately became restless, saying that James II was a devil, a fool, a coward, and a villain. He coerced the Irish to fight against King William III, and he was bound to fail.

Of course Zheng Dexiang learned that in the second half of last year, the 2.1 French-Irish coalition forces led by James II suffered setbacks, and the English Army led by William III killed thousands of them.However, although things are difficult at this time, it is reasonable to say that it is far from unmanageable. After all, James II still has strength.As a result, some actions of the coaches of the two sides suddenly changed the situation fundamentally.

James II, who was forced to retreat, seemed to be in a very bad mood, and hanged many nobles or civilians in towns along the way, because they either disrespected him or advocated not welcoming him into the city.In addition, due to insufficient supplies-although Louis XIV's fleet temporarily controlled the sea, there are always some restrictions on sea transportation-plus most of the army is French or mercenaries from the Southern Netherlands and Germany , so the military discipline was very poor, and they often robbed the food and money of ordinary Irish residents, which aroused great resentment and hatred in Ireland.

William III, on the other hand, was well-supplied from the outset, and after James II was severely wounded at the Battle of the Boyne, the English army appeared more calm.William III sent messengers to towns and cities, proclaiming his goodness, that he proclaimed a pardon for all Irishmen, nobles and commoners, merchants and soldiers, who had followed James II against him.This move undoubtedly greatly shaken those soldiers from the native Irish in the James Army. They witnessed the ravages of their hometown by the French, the Southern Netherlanders, and the Germans, and saw their brothers and sisters in the military disaster. With a trembling look, he was already very dissatisfied when he heard that James II punished and even executed the Irish for some minor offenses.Coupled with the frustration of losing the battle, many people began to seriously consider whether to leave this group that seemed to be breaking down at any time, and return home to seek tolerance from William III. He has always had a reputation for tolerance, although the Dutch Don't think so.

It can be said that William III holds a great advantage at present. If it develops normally, the war will be ended within this year, and the few towns that are currently trapped by the sea and stubbornly resisting the James II group will be completely driven into the sea.But when it came to their own lives, none of these capitalists dared to be careless. Their proposals for increasing military expenditures were passed almost instantly, and they continued to send troops and supplies to the front line to strengthen the strength of the English Army.In addition, the navy has also been greatly strengthened. The warships that were sealed up in the past have been repaired, the disbanded personnel have been recalled with high salaries, and the cannons have also been put in place. A powerful navy is being quickly formed, hoping to join hands with the Dutch to contain the Live the fleet of Louis XIV.

Of course, some people also talked about whether the fleet of the people on the east coast can attack the fleet of the French in a private capacity—well, many times, the personal status is really suitable for testing.Zheng Dexiang just laughed without saying a word, and didn't make any positive answer.In his opinion, how can a fleet built with the painstaking efforts of the people of the whole country easily shed blood for the lives and fates of foreigners?Or even if you want to fight, you have to pay enough. What are you Englishmen going to pay for?

And at this time, Zheng Dexiang couldn't help thinking, is it possible to let the French out for a while, make the French nervous a little, and then reap some benefits?For example, let the French relax some market restrictions, so that more goods from the east coast can be sold, and help the development of domestic industry and commerce.Of course, helping the French to win the war is absolutely not allowed. The best situation is for everyone to weaken each other, and the people on the east bank sit on the mountain and watch the tigers fight, and then interfere with the situation casually. That would be the best.

After leaving the banquet venue and returning to the Iron Mansion, before Zheng Dexiang's butt was warm, a staff member hurried in and handed the sealed diplomatic mail to Zheng Dexiang's hands.Zheng Dexiang didn't dare to neglect, and immediately ordered the secretary to take the code book for translation.After the translation, he dismissed the crowd, took out the letter, and was a little surprised: Special envoy Cai Zhenguo asked him to collect as much information as possible about the French navy, that is, mainly from the British who had fought against them. What was he trying to do?

But at the end, he was a little relieved, because there was nowhere in the document that said he would go to war with the French navy, but it was only vaguely related to helping the merchant ships of the Dutch East India Company return to Amsterdam smoothly.Because the document also mentioned the requirement to inquire about the latest weather off the coast of northern Scotland, this is for anyone with a discerning eye to know.You know, the Dutch East India Company has many merchant ships full of cargo berthing in the Canary Islands. It really takes a lot of thinking to return to the mainland smoothly.

"Interesting. The treasure fleet of the Dutch East India Company is priceless. As long as the French are not stupid, they will definitely find a way to intercept it. So, what price are the Dutch willing to pay to save their precarious fate?" After reading, Zheng Dexiang Burned the translation as requested, and said to himself.

(End of this chapter)