Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 297 The Situation in Brazil ([-])

On June 1641, 6, the 6st Company, 1rd Company of the Army and the 103st Company of the Independent Field Artillery, which were withdrawn from the Gundam area, began loading on the wharf of the river port, waiting to return to the mainland.The two transport ships of the South China Sea Transportation Company from Madao Lajunma have been docked here for several days. While they are loading sorghum, liquor, peanuts, sesame and other specialties in the river castle, they are waiting for the arrival of the army.

The army finished the shipment on the same day, and then the two transport ships left the river port under the escort of the two frigates "Tuna" and "Sage Cod" newly commissioned by the First Fleet last year (1640), and headed for the local Oriental Port go.After they left, the situation in South Africa could only depend on the Fort in the River itself.Fortunately, after the first battle last month, the Kama tribe has lost some vitality, and the Dutch in the south seem to have limited strength at present, unable to pose a sufficient threat to the people on the east coast.Therefore, after transferring the Hezhong Security Regiment back to Hezhong Fort to guard the situation, Mo Ming left the Army's 2nd Company, 104th Company, South African Field Artillery Company and South African Cavalry Company on the Gundam Fort, taking advantage of the good times The situation, with the cooperation of a large number of Eight Banners warriors, frequently entered the valley area on the east side of the mountain, and then went south, north, and east, and was extremely busy, capturing the scattered Xhosa tribes in order to obtain slaves.

Leaving South Africa aside, in early July, the fleet carrying the army stopped at Sao Vicente Island in southern Brazil on its return journey.The fact that hundreds of East Coast Army troops appeared in San Vicente caused a huge stir in the city. At such a sensitive moment, when Brazilians have never felt so alone, the arrival of the East Coast troops was watched by many interested people. Doing has a different symbolic meaning.And the merchants, diplomats, captains or military officers from various countries in the city of San Vicente watched the people on the east coast unscrupulously declaring their existence with various complex mentalities, such as indifference, hatred, warm welcome, or worry. feel.Of course, there are still some caring people who have already started to pass the news out through the fastest channel.

Xu Xin, the former special envoy of the East Coast Agency in Bordeaux, who was recently transferred to the plenipotentiary representative in San Vicente, was already at the pier to welcome the arrival of the East Coast fleet.Xu Xin has been in Bordeaux for many years. At the end of last year, considering his hard work and the need to train new people, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs transferred him from Bordeaux to Sao Vicente, Brazil, not far from the mainland, as the plenipotentiary representative.As for Bordeaux, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will arrange another person from the mainland to take over.

Lieutenant Ding Yiyu, the captain of the "Tuna" frigate who served as the temporary commander of the fleet, and Qi Wangping, the director of the Central Personnel Department, exchanged greetings with Xu Xin on behalf of the fleet, then got into a large carriage and headed towards the east side of the city. Shore business station away.The East Coast Commercial Station in San Vicente is located on a beautiful mountainside in the southwestern part of the island, surrounded by flowers and trees, it looks like a noble manor rather than a commercial station.In fact, this commercial station was originally purchased from the son of a poor Portuguese nobleman. After the purchase, the Ministry of Industry and Commerce and the National Intelligence Agency jointly carried out some renovations on it, and then it became the commercial station of the East Coast Republic in Brazil. Station and information station.

There are about thirty and a half children working as servants in the commercial station. These fifteen or sixteen-year-old children were collected by Xu Xin when he was in Bordeaux.At that time, most of these people were not suitable for long-distance voyages due to poor health, and the commercial station in Bordeaux really needed some manual work, so they were kept.While taking care of their bodies, they also do some work within their ability, and sometimes Xu Xin will teach them how to read and do simple arithmetic, so these half-children can be regarded as small intellectuals in this era when knowledge is extremely precious.After Xu Xin was transferred to the San Vicente Commercial Station, he recruited twenty teenagers from Bordeaux, and at the same time recruited a dozen or so Guarani children from the local area. These teenagers are considered the San Vicente Commercial Station. the first batch of employees.

The main building of the trading station is a stone castle that looks quite historic.The style of the entire castle is quite thick and sturdy, which is also the favorite style of the people on the east coast. They don't pay attention to the appreciation of art, but only pay attention to practicality and safety.Even in the daytime, candles and oil lamps were lit in the poorly lit living room, and several French girls serving as servants brought some cups of hot tea to the guests, and then went down with their heads down.

In the living room, apart from the host and two visitors, there is also a local official——Tao Chenxi, director of the General Administration of Textile Industry.This gentleman came to San Vicente for both business and private affairs. He said that he was on business because he came to San Vicente as the helm of the textile industry on the east coast to participate in negotiations with local Brazilian businessmen on further opening up the market; while private affairs were because of He also brought his third wife with him—his little wife, who had been married for only two years, was a young lady from the Almeida family in Brazil and the youngest cousin of Blanco. Visiting relatives.

Ding Yiyu and Qi Wangping nodded to Tao Chenxi, and then sat down.Several Mesozoic military and political officials from the east coast gathered together and began to discuss some matters while lighting their pipes.

"We also performed the return scene for you this time, and it's up to you to discuss how to discuss it." Ding Yiyu, the former first-class staff officer of the Ministry of the Navy, said, "We can't stay here for a few days, and how to discuss it is your own. We can't help you, in a word, we will try our best to cooperate with you during your stay."

"Actually, there is nothing to talk about." Xu Xin waved his hand and said. After staying in Bordeaux for many years, this middle-aged man who is nearly 40 years old is getting richer and richer. "The Brazilians are completely desperate for medical treatment, and they expect the Chinese government to directly send troops to intervene." The situation in Brazil, this is a bit too naive. Now the Portuguese in Europe have signed a peace agreement with the Dutch in order to concentrate on dealing with the Spaniards. However, in order to obtain this ten-year peace agreement, they paid a considerable price. The Dutch occupied seven regions including Bahia, Ceara, Pernambuco, Piauy, and Maranon in the northeastern part of Brazil. I was really dizzy. How could the local Brazilians agree? , especially those native Brazilian aristocratic families whose property or land was confiscated by the Dutch. They are now extremely disappointed with the native Portuguese royal family. You know, those seven regions are important sugar and tobacco producing areas in Brazil, and they are said to be the richest regions It’s not an exaggeration, how could they be willing to let the Dutch occupy it for a long time. No, the war that has just subsided for two years is about to start again, just wait and see.”

"This time the Brazilians were abandoned by their king, haha." Ding Yiyu held the porcelain cup in his palm, and said with a smile: "But they still have a backbone, and they want to use their own strength to fight against the Dutch. Courage is commendable. I just don’t know how strong they are? How many supplies and money have they prepared? How many soldiers have they prepared? You can’t drive away the Dutch with your blood alone!”

"These people have a lot of money. After all, Brazil is famous for its wealth." Xu Xin sat leisurely on a chair covered with a jaguar skin, his protruding belly showed his fat figure, "even if Now the northeast has been taken by the Dutch, but there are still large areas of food, tobacco, cotton and a small amount of sugar cane in the other vast south-central coastal areas of Brazil. In addition, they also export timber to Europe, cotton, wool, fur to us , dried fruits and livestock are also smuggled in large quantities in La Plata and the Caribbean, so the money in hand is actually a lot, which can be seen from the fact that they can easily loan us 20 to [-] yuan. More importantly, some Brazilian sugar tycoons in New Holland (that is, the Netherlands-occupied area in the northeast of Brazil, not Australia) also secretly communicated with the South. These Brazilians helped a lot."

"Of course, if you have money, someone has to have a gun, otherwise it won't work." Smoking a pipe, Xu Xin continued: "A few days ago, Blanco of the Almeida family made a special trip to Dongfang Port and visited Members of the executive committee also placed a large order for military purchases, including 1500 flintlock rifles, 300 sets of armor, 2000 sabers, 10000 three-meter standard spears, and 20 cannons. The rhythm of the game. It is said that they also sent people to Europe to hire troops to fight in South America, and offered a high price. It is estimated that they can fool a lot of bitter Scottish, German and Bohemian mercenaries. And They should also be able to gather a lot of militiamen from their homeland, and on this point, don’t forget the famous St. Paul’s flag team in history.”

"Flag team? I seem to have heard of this name before. Aren't they the slave catcher team? The kind of scumbag slave catcher team who often wear Spanish priest costumes to trap Guarani people?" Ding Yiyu frowned and said in thought, "I I remember that some Brazilian flag teams often pass by our northern border. They seem to go deep into the inland area to capture Guarani slaves. These people are desperadoes, and they can even be called scum. They were captured by them Slaves in general are miserable. Of course, they also made a lot of money capturing slaves, and seeing them get rich, more Sao Paulo people followed suit and joined the flag team. It's a bit like those in Europe The sailors who went to become pirates all followed suit after seeing others get rich, the difference is that pirates are illegal, but these Sao Paulo flag squads are legal organizations recognized by both the Kingdom of Portugal and the local autonomous government of Brazil.”

"That's right, the flag team I'm talking about is these Sao Paulo people, these scumbags." Xu Xin said affirmatively.

(End of this chapter)