Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 2443 The Pyrenees no longer exists!

"It's coming soon! It's coming soon!" Sheng Dehong, the special envoy of the East Coast Republic of China to Europe, murmured in the first-class suite of the luxuriously decorated Danji Hotel.

He's just come back from a round trip in Madrid, so it's not interesting.After the death of Carlos II, the aristocratic regency group is in control of the overall situation. This group of nobles has a great affection for France, and they don't know what kind of ecstasy soup they have been poured into.Anyway, after a few days of activities, Sheng Dehong found that these people were very polite to the East Bank, but their words were very French. Since then, he has given up and no longer tried to change their ideas.He went in and out of the palace and the residences of various regents, but he didn't talk much about politics, but mostly about business, such as the tariff rate for goods from the East Coast entering the Spanish market, and the sales of Spanish goods in North Africa-the East Coast regulations, Portugal, The goods imported from Spain and Morocco can only land at the ports of Tangier and Ceuta.

When discussing business, the nobles are still easy to talk to, after all, no one will have trouble with money.The Spanish economy is like a bird. All walks of life are struggling to make money. It is already very good to have a stable path.From this perspective, the Spanish aristocratic group headed by the Madrid Regency is quite grateful to the East Bank.But if they put aside business and talk about politics, they have some opinions.The east bank has bullied Spain for so many years, with all kinds of cross-border reclamation, all kinds of cheating loans, all kinds of commercial privileges, and also served as the general backstage for the Italian people to pursue freedom. If you say that the Spanish nobles have no opinion, then you must be talking nonsense.Therefore, they will not be inclined to the East Bank emotionally.

But will they lean towards France? 30 years ago it was no, now it is yes-well, we have to expel the nobles of the Southern Netherlands from Spanish citizenship first-this is a bit like the later Stockholm syndrome. They are competitors. After the Battle of Rocroi in 1643, they struggled for another 20 years, and then finally resigned to their fate, thinking that they had no strength to fight against the French, and they were willing to bow down. God was not on their side.

Since then, Spain has still had several military conflicts with France, but the fighting has been limited to the Pyrenees and parts of Catalonia, and the peace has been largely maintained.Spain did not spend a lot of money to deal with the war, so that Britain, the Netherlands, Austria and other countries often accused Madrid of not fulfilling its ally obligations and not exerting enough pressure on the French.However, from top to bottom, Spain does not care about these things at all, and still goes its own way, and countries such as Britain and the Netherlands have nothing to do.

King Carlos II's poor health is well known.Therefore, in fact, since many years ago, the Spanish nobles began to secretly discuss the ownership of the Spanish throne after the death of the king.Naturally, the interference of foreign forces is indispensable, mainly Louis XIV in Paris and Leopold in Vienna. These two guys have been trying to win over the Spanish aristocratic group, but at present, it seems that most of them tend to be in France, and they are occupying Overwhelming majority——I can’t help it, I can’t beat it again and again, why not join them!

Sheng Dehong couldn't persuade the Spaniards to turn back, not to mention that it was not in the interests of the East Bank.The east coast always has to do something to the Spaniards, and the large and fertile land in Spanish America can only be "lived by the virtuous".Therefore, he only stayed in Madrid for about ten days, and after spying on some information, he left there Shi Shiran and returned to Danji Port again.

In order to avoid the threat of war, he has ordered that it will take a year to gradually withdraw the diplomatic missions on the east coast in Spain, and concentrate their offices in the counties of Dangi and Ceuta on the other side of the strait.In these two counties, the settled population has grown rapidly by about 20% in the past year, and there has also been considerable capital inflow, and various infrastructures have been greatly improved.At present, more than half of the highway from the port to the southern border area in the two counties has been repaired, and the survey of the coastal highway from Dangi Port to Ceuta Port has also been completed, and construction will start in the next few years.Even Sheng Dehong has begun to consider building a roughly parallel coastal railway between the two ports after the completion of the coastal road, so as to enhance the speed of personnel and material circulation between the two core cities and promote economic development.

By the way, the Executive Committee has approved in principle the establishment of the Straits Management Committee. The design of the relevant institutions is based on the other overseas colonies of the East Coasters, and localized modifications are made at most.In order to enhance the strength of the management committee, they have formally decided to bring the Cape Verde Islands into the jurisdiction of the management committee.All 15 islands in the archipelago have been merged into Henghai County, which was established many years ago. The county government has moved to the port of Playa. The county already has tens of thousands of people and a considerable amount of infrastructure. The standard of living is not bad. of.

In the future, most of the Canary Islands under the control of the Kingdom of Spain will also be taken.If there is no accident, there will also be a county here, which will be included in the jurisdiction of the Straits Management Committee.If you count the two counties of Ceuta and Danji and one county in the Gulf of Gibraltar that will inevitably be ceded, there will be five counties under the jurisdiction of the Strait Management Committee, with an area of ​​50 to [-] square kilometers and an estimated population of more than [-] ( If a large number of refugees are absorbed during the war), this is a very large force.Although it is not expected to develop as richly as Denglai and Ningshao in the Far East, but with the strategic throat of the strait and important nodes of ocean currents, supplemented by the high competitiveness of goods on the east coast, this management committee can achieve economic self-sufficiency Shouldn't be a problem.Even if the European economy develops relatively well, the Strait Management Committee will also be able to follow suit and become an important window for European foreign trade and a safe haven for hot money. It is not impossible to replace Amsterdam.

Shifting the economic focus of Europe from Northern Europe to Southern Europe has always been what the Mediterranean people have been pursuing.This has never been done by the Mediterranean people in later generations, and has been economically colonized by the Nordic countries—for example, Germany tried its best to destroy the ports of the southern European countries, forcing ships to unload at the Port of Hamburg—but in this time and space, there is the East Coast With the help of others, it should still be possible to unify Italy in advance.

"Let Nordic fight quickly. If we fight, it will be more conducive to our work." After handing over the coat and top hat to the secretary, Sheng Dehong lay wearily on the sofa cushion and said.

"Special envoy, according to the latest news, the Spanish Regency sent a large-scale mission north to Paris in October to inform the French King Louis XIV to let his grandson, the Duke of Anjou, go to Madrid and swear to abide by Spanish laws and guarantee the nobles' safety. benefit, and then take office as king." The secretary followed and whispered: "There is another piece of unconfirmed news, the Madrid Regency also secretly instructed that if France refuses, then the mission will return where it was, and the special envoy himself will immediately divert to go to Vienna, propose the same to Grand Duke Leopold. In any case, Spain must not be partitioned, as seems to be the idea of ​​the Regency."

"Oh, the news from me while I was on the road?" Sheng Dehong took a look at the document in the secretary's hand, and said with a smile, "It shouldn't be fake, it's the truth. The regency in Madrid is quite a thief." , I thought they were none other than France, so I also made two-handed preparations. But it’s not a big deal, it can be seen that they are more inclined to France, because the Duke of Anjou will definitely not refuse this tempting proposal.”

"Special envoy, there is another piece of top-secret information from Paris." The secretary handed over another document, and briefly introduced: "At the beginning of October, the Spaniards actually secretly sent a nobleman to Paris. I talked with Louis XIV, and there were more than ten French nobles present. We also spent a lot of money and used countless favors to obtain this news. It is said that at that time, Mrs. mistress), Louis XIV introduced the Duke of Anjou to the Spanish aristocratic envoy, and announced on the spot that he was the new king of Spain. The original words of Louis XIV at that time are at the back of the document, to the effect that'(Duke of Anjou) The inauguration of the king is the wish of all Spain and the will of God. Your first duty now is to be an excellent Spaniard, but remember that you were born in France, so you must maintain the unity of the two countries and maintain peace in Europe', The Spanish aristocrat is also very good at coming, it is said that he knelt down to worship the new king in advance in the apartment, swore allegiance, and said a word, "The Pyrenees, no longer exist", which is very interesting."

Sheng Dehong looked up at the excited secretary, smiled, and swallowed back the words he planned to educate him, but in his heart he admired the work of the intelligence station in Paris.What kind of high-level spy did this have to get first-hand information about Louis XIV's meeting with the Spanish envoy?Sheng Dehong has been working in the Ottoman Empire before, and has been traveling around since he took office. He has not had time to integrate the intelligence systems of various countries, and some senior spies have been in the hands of the National Intelligence Agency. He may not be clear about it. This matter can only be slowly excavated.

"The Spanish mission, has it already entered Paris? Today is November 11, and the ceremony is almost over. Then, the Duke of Anjou will go to Madrid next, and Louis XIV will probably send an army Entering Spain under the name of escort, this time will not be later than the end of November. Then there will be the coronation ceremony in Madrid. It is estimated that multiple missions will be sent to Spanish enclaves such as the Southern Netherlands, Milan, Naples, and Sicily in early December, as well as various places in continental Europe. The country announced the news of the new king's enthronement to the world. Louis XIV had Carlos II's will in hand, and the Spanish nobles also agreed to this matter. The Pope also hoped that the two most powerful countries in the Catholic world could unite. The matter is basically settled. If you don’t resort to force, hey, it’s impossible to turn things around just by talking about it.”

"French, it's really not easy to get to this point." At the end, Sheng Dehong stood up and said with emotion: "In order to break through and occupy the southern Netherlands, Franche-Comté, northern Italy, and Spain Surrounded by the Bootsberg family, this country has fought bloody battles for 200 years. Now, finally, there is hope. Franche-Comté has become history, and northern Italy will also undergo drastic changes. The Southern Netherlands is just waiting to be slaughtered on the chopping block If the fortress of Spain is breached again, the siege that the Habsburg family has painstakingly managed for 200 years will be destroyed. Leopold, what do you think of this matter? Should you swallow your anger or fight hard? Once the integration of France and Spain is completed, Louis XIV will inevitably move his hands deep into Germany, and you will not have much time left."

(End of this chapter)