Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 668 Difficult Negotiations ([-])

Alessandro Doria took off the hood and cloak covering his body, handed the sword to a servant, then shrugged, and spread his hands towards the West Indian Affairs Office of the Kingdom of Spain sitting opposite him. Mr. Balboa, the clerk, said: "I'm sorry to keep you waiting. But I really have to be very careful. You know, there are many people who are paying attention to this matter. I don't want others to know what I'm doing. Because it will bring unnecessary trouble to me and my family..."

After enduring Alessandro's nonsense, Clerk Balboa raised his eyelids and asked calmly, "What did the guy from the east coast say?"

"Special envoy Mo San said that there is no peace faction in their country..." After saying this, the two fell into a wordless silence at the same time.

Clerk Balboa has been a little irritable lately.The peace negotiations that had originally broken down because the people on the east coast refused to pay compensation caused huge waves after a fast liaison ship of the Spanish Navy arrived at the port of Cadiz: the main force of the Peruvian fleet of the Kingdom of Spain was destroyed, and only one A two-masted battleship was severely damaged, and many transport ships full of supplies and money were sunk or captured by the people on the east coast, and both merchants and nobles suffered heavy losses.

His Majesty Philip IV, who was informed of the news, was shocked and speechless for a long time. After thinking and weighing in many ways, especially when his close ministers pointed out that the Spanish army has been repeatedly defeated in the southern Netherlands, Catalonia and Italy. Fearing that the country might fall into a catastrophe, His Majesty Philip IV timidly instructed Secretary Balboa to get in touch with the diplomatic envoy of the people on the east coast as soon as possible, and then reopen the negotiations in private.

His Majesty has repeatedly emphasized that this negotiation must be conducted in secret and must not be disclosed to the outside world. No record of all negotiations will be kept on file. Secretary Balboa will make oral reports to His Majesty himself on a regular basis.The main enemy of Spain has always been the French. In the past years of war, a large area of ​​the southern Netherland has been occupied by the French. In addition, the Catalans who are now fighting for independence have even defected to King Louis of France. Spain was in danger of subjugation.

At this time, the Spaniards really did not want any interference from the New World, lest they lose their life and death struggle with France.The consequences of losing to France would be catastrophic. Not only would the southern Netherlands be lost, but Catalonia might also be taken away by the French. In the end, Naples might also become independent, and Spain would be completely reduced to a country. His Majesty Philip IV could not tolerate a small country divided by human beings.

Therefore, after learning that his large source of wealth was threatened, His Majesty Philip IV finally instructed Secretary Balboa to mediate with the East Bank through the mediation of the Doria family after two days of careful consideration with his close ministers. The French began formal secret diplomatic negotiations to end this heart-pounding war as quickly as possible so that Spain could concentrate on dealing with the French.As for making peace with the French and then turning around to deal with the people on the east coast, I'm sorry, the Spaniards don't have the strength yet. They can't even get 50 ships in the navy now.

"The French occupy dozens of towns in the wealthy Southern Netherlands (now part of northeastern France), and the despicable Catalans have fallen to them. Now His Majesty wants to focus on restoring the relationship with the French." So we need to end a war—especially when we are seriously understrength in the New World." Balboa didn't want to hide anything from Alessandro, because the Genoese businessmen were very well informed. , Spain's official circles and aristocratic circles are almost transparent to them.

"Then what about the peace terms they proposed? Are they harsh?" Balboa continued to ask.

"From the impression I have obtained from conversations with Mr. Mozo, their convictions are so strong that nothing will satisfy their government except substantial concessions by the Kingdom of Spain on the question of the border between the two countries. Alessandro recalled, "Mr. Mo San emphasized that the war has entered its third year, and there is no peace faction in their government. Unless the Kingdom of Spain makes concessions, it will be difficult to stop the war." "

"Here, I have to remind Your Excellency the Secretary that according to the information we have recently collected, the people on the east coast are ready to continue the war. They imported a large amount of Brazilian sumac from the Dutch in June last year , which is likely to be used to build large capital warships; government officials disclosed to the outside world in August last year that they may designate parts of the Caribbean Sea as a war zone in early 6 and restrict foreign ships from entering these specific areas Mr. Mo San regretted that the Kingdom of Spain has always refused to bring the ownership of the area east of the Uruguay River into the negotiation agenda. It will be extremely detrimental to the country.”

Mo San's reply relayed by Alessandro was actually quite blunt, and no one could not hear the threat implied in his words.And precisely because of the Spaniard's "arrogance" - always refusing to discuss the territorial issue, Mo San believed that the Spaniard lacked the basic sincerity of the negotiation, so he refused to conduct further negotiations with Secretary Balboa.Mo San is currently vacationing in Alessandro's manor in Valladolid, and seems to have completely forgotten about the negotiation.

Although Clerk Balboa understood that the other party's gesture was just a small negotiating gimmick, the severe situation prevented him from having enough time for a negotiation to compete the stamina of both parties.The day after tomorrow is the time for His Majesty to routinely inquire about the progress of the negotiations, and Balboa thinks he'd better come up with some results within these two days.

"This is the war blackmail of the people on the east coast..." Barber cleared his throat and said, "No one likes war, even the crazy soldiers on the east coast will not engage in unlimited cruelty that may destroy their years of construction achievements War. We all desperately hope that the war will end as soon as possible and that the war-torn areas will calm down as soon as possible. If the people of the East Bank agree to take the matter of war reparations into consideration, then the issue of the status of the areas east of the Uruguay River may not be the same. So it’s undeniable, everything can be discussed..."

Balboa's words can be regarded as Alessandro's biggest harvest today.Yes, Balboa is the clerk of the West India Service and a close minister of the king, so his meaning represents the king's meaning.Since His Majesty Philip IV did not refuse to discuss territorial issues, everything is possible again.

"A wise decision." Alessandro said with admiration, "Maybe you don't know yet, the yield of the ten-year war bond of the East Coast Republic traded on the Genoa financial market in early January fell by 0.7%, and it is currently only 6.8%." %, this shows that bankers in the financial market are generally not optimistic that your country can win this war. The issue that people on the east coast are most concerned about is actually the territorial issue, but you refused to discuss it earlier, which makes the basis for negotiations disappear Save. People on the east coast have been fighting for so long, they always want something, and it's not a big place for you, and you don't even have a settlement of any size there. It would be unwise to close the door to negotiations because it would obviously cause enormous distress to your country's financial problems."

The Kingdom of Spain is currently in high debt. More than half of the gold and silver brought back from the Americas each year needs to be used to pay interest on loans. on the verge of bankruptcy.And the current Kingdom of Spain obviously cannot withstand the impact of financial bankruptcy, because it will make it more difficult for them to borrow money in the future, and the cost of borrowing will also rise sharply. This is undoubtedly fatal for Spain, whose war has entered a critical juncture .

"To be fair, for the sake of an outsider, I don't think your country has a clear positioning for the La Plata region." Alessandro continued, "Your country should first understand what you want. What are you doing there? You haven't fully developed it, but you don't allow others to develop it. It's still desolate. I think it's a brutal near-crazy bloodthirsty East Coaster for this desolate endless land. It is obviously extremely unwise to fight yourself—especially when your country is unable to effectively send troops and supplies there, your military operations will undoubtedly be seriously hindered, and this has caused your humiliation on the battlefield. "

"I don't intend to talk about our country's policy gains and losses, and it's meaningless to talk about it now. The war has been going on for a long time, and the losses on both sides are great. If we want, we can certainly escalate the war and send thousands of troops to the New World. Thousands of soldiers, but this is meaningless, the effort far outweighs the gain, no one would do such a stupid thing." After a long silence, Secretary Balboa finally spoke, and he said: "Please tell Special Envoy Mo San, if he is willing, I will hold a formal diplomatic negotiation with him here tomorrow. The number of people involved in the negotiation should be as small as possible, and the content should be strictly controlled among a small number of insiders. I don’t want to hear about Any gossip about the details of the negotiations."

"I will tell Special Envoy Mo San, and I think he will readily accept your invitation to negotiate, after all, it is beneficial to both parties." Alessandro nodded and said, "The people on the east coast also don't like this A lengthy war."

(End of this chapter)