Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 603 Midsummer in the Western Mediterranean ([-])

On July 1647, 7, the port of Cadiz was calm.

"It's really stupid Spaniards. They always make a mess of things and get themselves into one trouble after another." Captain Couette stood on the pier, watching more and more beggars on the pier, he couldn't help but feel contemptuous The IQ of the Spaniards: "They are fighting almost every day, and the tax burden is getting higher and higher every day. The gold and silver brought back from America have flowed into other people's pockets before they even heard the sound. This is really a wonderful irony."

"They can't go on like this. This country has fought wars for hundreds of years, and countless people have died. A large area of ​​cultivated land in the country has been degraded into pastures. So far, the local population is only 500 million, which is not as good as England. I think it must be somewhere Something went wrong." George Hampton from New England, also standing beside the Dutchman, said in fluent Spanish.

Whether it is Captain Couette or Mr. Hampton, they are all coming to Cadiz to do business at the moment.Cadiz produced many commodities, but two were the most famous: alum and salt.The two captains, Captain Couette, came to Cadiz to buy salt at this time. The booming fishing industry in the Netherlands and New England consumes a lot of salt, so it is definitely a good business to go to Spain to buy salt.

At this time, the Netherlands controlled most of the salt trade in Europe. They originally purchased salt from Situbar in Portugal, and then distributed it to Northern Europe, Eastern Europe and even the New World.Portugal’s salt is delicate, pure, and of good quality, far superior to the rough brine salt produced in Cadiz. However, the Portuguese have banned Dutch merchant ships from buying salt, so the Dutch, who account for more than 70% of European salt trade, flocked into it. The Port of Cadiz buys salt and leaves the Portuguese aside.

However, the Spaniards are not good at it. Theoretically, these two countries are still at war. When the Spaniards are short of money, they often confiscate enemy ships parked in the port-especially the Dutch. At this time, they often need Heavily bribed the wharf officials to get away.

In order to make two-handed preparations, on the one hand, the Dutch went to Cadiz to buy salt when the situation was not tense. On the other hand, the West India Company also occupied the Caribbean island of Curacao many years ago.The island was an uninhabited land at that time, and there was a huge salt pool on the island, and nearby pirates often drove their ships to get salt.After the Dutch occupied here, they monopolized the salt pond, and then monopolized the salt trade in the New World.

And once Portugal and Spain in the Old World close their salt exports to the Netherlands at the same time, the Dutch can still transport salt from Curacao back to Amsterdam for emergency relief, and then distribute it everywhere—mainly the Baltic countries (here the precipitation is abundant, the seawater salinity only 1%).Of course, they can also buy salt from Nantes, France, where the salt industry has recently developed, but the Dutch seem not to be keen on making the French who are close at hand rich, so they would rather ship salt back from the Caribbean Sea.

But at present, the dispute between Spain and the Netherlands has obviously been downplayed to the extreme. Last year, Dutch ships even helped Spain transport silver (from Cadiz to Amsterdam), so there is not much risk in buying salt in Cadiz.

Captain Couette and others paid the tax to the wharf officials, and then some wholesalers (mostly Dutch, Genoese and Portuguese Jews) who had already contacted them stepped forward to buy their goods.Captain Couette had brought a load of timber, mainly masts, from Finland.Today, only in places like Finland, Sweden, and Russia can you find enough large logs suitable for masts for ships, and this is also a good business for the Dutch-they control everything from ropes to masts, from planks to planks. The trade of all boats such as wood tar, more than 90% of the boat market in Europe is controlled by them.

Shipbuilding timber in Spain was cut down as early as the last century, and now it has to rely on Dutch merchants to import from the Baltic Sea. Perhaps the Venetians can also export a batch of beech to the Spaniards from Ragusa and other places, but the quantity is extremely limited. Can not meet the needs of Spanish Seville, Bilbao, Valencia and other shipyards.

The Spanish ships have suffered heavy losses in the past few years. First, the main force of the Mediterranean Fleet was devastated by the Dutch, and the Atlantic Fleet was also severely damaged.But this is not the most tragic. Later, their navy was even defeated by the little-known French navy and lost some warships that were not many.And at the beginning of this year, they were defeated by an unknown trading fleet from the east coast of the New World at their doorstep (Naples is also Spanish territory), losing many warships and galleys, and losing face among European countries.

King Philip IV of Spain only learned the news from his favorites one month after the outbreak of the Tyrrhenian Sea Battle. Out of rage, he immediately replaced several naval officers, and then ordered large-scale shipbuilding in the country in an attempt to restore the navy's former status. Glory.However, when the favored minister carefully reminded him that the kingdom was in dire financial straits, the domestic situation was also very unstable (Catalonia, Naples and other places became independent under the operation of the French), and the decline of the land battlefield, the Kingdom of Spain maintained its current The situation is already very difficult, and I am afraid that they will not be able to build gold-swallowing behemoths such as naval warships on a large scale.

But His Majesty Philip IV is still very unwilling. When will the small New World Tatar pagan country be able to show its teeth and claws to Spain?Moreover, this war is the second time that this warlike small country has challenged his authority. He must punish him, otherwise it may cause many bad effects.After all, there are still many countries watching him in Italy and Germany. If even the small New World countries cannot be dealt with, then maybe the crown on his head will inevitably be covered with a little dust, and the glory will be dimmed a lot.

The king is like this, what else can the officials say?Therefore, while cutting various expenditures in other areas, they raised taxes nationwide (including Spain, Naples, and the Spanish Netherlands). At the same time, they negotiated loans with Jewish businessmen and Dutch bankers from Portugal to prepare for revival. Navy, wipe out the annoying East Coast heretics in one fell swoop.I heard that there is a large-scale gold mine there, so it is even more necessary to destroy this country. The gold mine is the property of His Majesty the Great King, so let those evil heretics prostrate in the noble Castile beg forgiveness at the feet of man.

It was against such a background that Captain Couette came to Cadiz. The mast he brought was exactly what the Spaniards urgently needed, so he sold it at a good price.After selling the mast, he familiarly found a middle-aged Genoese businessman near the pier—Butch from the Doria family.Butch has been engaged in the export business of alum and salt for many years, and also resells some commodities such as cowhide, ox horn, tallow, cocoa, and dyes from America. It is still one of the more famous businessmen in the local area.

George Hampton brought a boatload of salted cod from New England. These commodities are one of the most in-demand commodities in countries with a strong Catholic atmosphere (festival food for the people, daily food for priests), and they are also sold at a good price.Thanks to the booming fishing industry in New England, the demand for salt is also increasing. Therefore, Mr. Hampton decided to fill the cabin with salt on the return trip. Some of these things are for his own use, and some can be sold to others. If you are a good fishing captain, the profit will be quite low.

After the two of them discussed business with Butch of the Doria family at the same time, seeing that it was still early, they made an appointment to have a drink at the pier tavern.On the way to a familiar tavern, a well-dressed Spanish official, surrounded by seven or eight entourages, ran proudly to the place where idlers (or beggars?) gathered, and announced a few words loudly What, then those idlers cheered happily, then got up and followed the officials, and went in another direction.

"That's Captain Soldado, who came to recruit soldiers. He comes here almost once a month, recruits a large number of wandering Spaniards, and then ships them to the Netherlands, Italy, or Roussillon after rough training. The front line, of course, will sometimes send some people to the New World, and the more than 100 people recruited just now seem to be." A Frenchman selling small commodities by the side of the road said softly in Spanish, and after he finished speaking, he turned to Captain Couette The two smiled: "The Spaniards are flamboyant and don't love labor. They only like to conquer and rob. They don't have enough patience to cultivate the land a little bit and produce goods steadily. They prefer to talk about who gets what they get overnight. They acquired great fortunes or large lands. They were aggressive, irritable, drew their swords when they disagreed, they were not tolerant of those who believed in heretics or heretics, and the stakes of the Inquisition were never extinguished."

"You see, most of the artisans working on the wharf are French, Germans and Italians. Spaniards don't like labor and rely on buying everything. Therefore, many of my fellow countrymen came to Spain within a few years. Big fortune." The small businessman from France continued to say with a smile, "Since the Spaniards took the trouble to expel the heretics, Moors and Jews in the country over and over again, their production level has declined sharply, and prices have also risen sharply. Now this country is A paradise for foreign craftsmen. As long as you have the ability, you can live a very good life here, marry a beautiful wife, and have a bunch of children, haha. There are too many craftsmen in France, and I can’t earn a living there. For less money, Spain is better, where the men go to die in the war or the New World, and the women come to ask us to buy things with lovely silver coins, which is really wonderful."

Hearing what the French craftsman said, Captain Couette and Mr. Hampton smiled at each other. This is an old problem of the Spaniards-an old problem that is good news for all Europeans.

(End of this chapter)