Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 2300 Young Master Buddy ([-])

"Venice Circular Bank Office." George Montgomery's Chinese level is passable, but he was still a little surprised when he saw such a sign hanging next door.After thinking about it for a while, I was relieved. The headquarters of the co-author was still under construction in Luoyi District, so I rented a house in Nancheng District for a temporary office and used it as a temporary office space and reception.

Venice Circulation Bank is a private bank with a long history. It currently has more than 20 shareholders, most of whom are descendants of the families who served as the governors of the Republic of Venice.This bank can be said to be the "central bank" of the Republic. It has a series of businesses such as deposits and loans, currency exchange, entrusted issuance of public bonds, and currency issuance. It is the central nervous system of the entire national financial system.

In the run-up to the end of the 20-year Crete War with the Ottoman Turks, the bank was so indebted that it was on the verge of bankruptcy.In the end, it was the government—or the people of Venice—that saved it, and merchants and citizens were taxed extra, using the decline in their own living standards to bring the bank back to life and continue to operate.The irony is that even though the government has injected a large amount of capital, the shareholder structure of Venezia Circular Bank has not changed much, and the government does not hold a single share of it.That is to say, the government's capital injection is "voluntary labor" and it is free of charge. It is the people who send money to the bank. The purpose is to avoid more serious economic problems and prevent the country from slipping into a deeper abyss.

The Venetian Circular Bank has developed rapidly in the past ten years, and its domestic and foreign deposits have repeatedly hit new highs.Especially after cooperating with Rialto Square Bank, which has East Coast capital as a shareholder, and started business in Xinhua Island, Black Sea and other places, the bank has achieved rapid development, although it has not yet recovered to the level before the outbreak of the Crete War. Strength, but not far behind, is a well-known financial institution in northern Italy, second only to the behemoth Bank of San Giorgio, and a line higher than Bank of San Paolo, Bank of Palermo, and Bank of Rialto Square.

This time, the Venetian Circulation Bank came to the east bank to carry out business, mainly for Venice and even Italian companies doing business in the east coast.Undoubtedly, it is not easy to open a bank on the east coast, which not only needs to be approved by the East Coast National Precious Metals Administration (nonsense, it is impossible for any cat or dog to come and grab business), but also its own strength must be strong enough.Of course, the most important thing is that you have to let the people on the east coast feel that there is value in cooperation, otherwise why would you come over?

For these things, George Montgomery, who had lived in the aristocratic circle since childhood and had a broad vision, was also clear.Therefore, when he entered the office and was met by the master, he remained humble and polite enough, especially the young man who came out to receive him was of noble birth—Dimitro from the Pisani family.

The Pisani family is a well-known nobleman in the Republic of Venice. Although it is not currently one of the Twelve Consul families, it is still a member of the Council of Elders (consuls are elected by the Council of Elders).His ancestors served for a long time in Tana, a colony near the Black Sea, and made great contributions in the war against the Mongols and Tatars.Hundreds of years later, the Pisani family already owned a title and a lot of property in Venice, and was one of the ruling classes of the country.Otherwise, how do you think Dimitro can get the position of head of the Luoyang office of the Venetian Circular Bank?

The coat of arms of the Pisani family is a banner, which was awarded to their ancestors by the Venetian Senate more than 300 years ago.In that era, the ancestors of the Pisani family led a fleet to Tana, and then held on to the isolated city amidst the noise of the Mongols and Tatars.

As an aristocrat, George Montgomery had studied heraldry systematically and had more or less knowledge of famous families at home and abroad.Therefore, after meeting Dimitro Pisani, he spoke directly to the point, talking about the great achievements of his ancestors, and then mentioned the trade influence of the Pisani family in the Mediterranean today.Dimitro is less than 30 years old this year. He has served as a merchant marine mate, captain, commercial station manager, trade fair procurement representative, and Rialto Square bank manager since he was a child. His life experience is deeper than that of George Montgomery. After hearing the compliment from the other party, I was still very satisfied.

At this moment, both of them had already sat down, and the servant brought delicious coffee and dessert, and then quietly retreated.Both of them talked in Chinese, although each had some strange accents, but it was not difficult to understand.

"...the cinnamon-rich island of Ceylon is almost surrounded by castles. If necessary, the Dutch can send more than 40 clippers equipped with cannons to protect this territory. They now control many traffic arteries. , can interfere to a great extent with the trade of all countries with China and Japan if they choose. No matter whoever thinks seriously about the power they have developed in those places and are still growing day by day, they will be worried. One day they will monopolize the lucrative East India trade and completely exclude others." After chatting about irrelevant things for a while, George Montgomery consciously shifted the topic to East India trade.

"But the United Provinces and your country are allies. The Dutch East India Company and the English East India Company also have an agreement to purchase a specified amount of spices each year. Please forgive me, they do not have the idea of ​​monopolizing trade, although they have this ability. ’ replied Dimitro Pisani.

He was not much interested in the East India trade that the English mentioned.For the Republic of Venetia, which is in the recovery period, the most important thing is to hitch a ride with the people on the east coast, obtain commercial interests in the Eastern Mediterranean, the Black Sea, and New China Island, and obtain political interests in northern Italy. The matter of laying a solid foundation is much more important than the distant East India.

As for the spice trade that George keeps mentioning.Yes, it was the lifeblood of Venice a long time ago, fighting the Ottoman Empire for many years, but so what?Now that the huge interests of Northern Italy are in front of them, and the cooperation with the East Coast has also made a lot of money, why bother to go to the muddy waters of the East Indies?Besides, the Dutch East India Company has currently given the English a certain amount of access to purchase spices, and the relationship between the two countries is relatively harmonious because of France. At this time, the British should try their best to fight the French in India and keep their Indian trade interests. Instead of making enemies in many places, entangled with the Dutch.Therefore, Dimitro was a little puzzled by George's words, so he just nodded and did not express his opinion easily.

Sure enough, after talking about the East Indies for a while, George Montgomery couldn't bear it anymore, and asked Venice's opinion on the fact that the French fleet began to appear frequently in the East.

"...in totalitarian states it is generally different when there is one eminent figure of genius in the government. The present prosperity of France owes chiefly to such figures as Richelieu, Mazarin, Colbert And today's Loire (Louis XIV's favorite, Minister of War, Adviser to the Navy). Loire is a relatively tough figure, dedicated to all aspects of the country. He relied on Louis XIV's favor to investigate the clergy He has a style of life, cares about the training of the army and the enforcement of laws, and stores a large amount of military supplies. Most importantly, he raised huge military expenditures for the growth of the French navy, and devoted himself to encouraging the development of related manufacturing and trade. It's a threat to a lot of countries," said George Montgomery.

Dimitro Pisani nodded slightly after hearing this.He doesn't care much about overseas trade, as other departments are responsible for that.Moreover, now that the northern Italian states have formed a military alliance, and the negotiations on a unified market are coming to an end, no one can say whether a federation will be formed in the future, but many people are working hard in this direction.Dimitro is happy to see the establishment of this federation, and he also knows that once this federation is established, the first enemy it will face will be France, followed by Austria.He is still secretly delighted that the French have devoted a lot of energy to the navy, so that the Dutch and English in the East Indies and Indian subcontinent are nervous, because this obviously helps to share the Northern Italian Federation—— Well, it's still Confederate -- pressure.

This greasy-faced Mr. Montgomery talked about the threat of the rising French navy in front of him, and he just wanted to help the Kingdom of England.Or even if you fail to get a helper, you can tarnish the reputation of the Kingdom of France and increase the diplomatic cost of the French.But then again, does the Kingdom of France still have a reputation?It's ridiculous!Which country in continental Europe is not staring at this aggressive country with wide eyes?The reputation of the French needs no one else to ruin it; their king is known to be ruined himself.

Dimitro Pisani did not answer George Montgomery's words directly.He just talked in general terms and said some perfunctory remarks that didn't matter.The most important interests of the Republic of Venice still lie in the Apennine Peninsula.As for some of the current overseas trade interests, under the leadership and protection of the "big brother" on the east coast, they are relatively stable, and no one dares to provoke them.Therefore, they currently only need to concentrate on the army of the entire northern Italian states to make them powerful and powerful.And this is exactly what Big Brother has always hoped and urged them to do.

It is very unwise to spend national power overseas to entangle with the French.Taking a step back, if Li Lingzhi is really so dizzy that he goes to India to meddle, regardless of success or failure, it will only be decided by the Genoese who dominate the Northern Italian Confederate Navy, and Venice really has nothing to do with them .How stupid do the Archons have to be to be so self-sacrificing?Wake up, the Apennine Peninsula has not yet been unified!

(End of this chapter)