Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 670 Difficult Negotiations ([-])

After Mo San left, Balboa sat in the room for a while, then got up and went to the next room, sat in front of a man who happened to be drinking wine in his spare time, and said, "Fernando, what do you think about today's negotiation? What do you think?"

The man named Fernando did not answer his words, but pushed a piece of letter paper in front of him to him, motioning him to read it for himself.Balboa took the letter paper and saw it read:

"Only after realizing the seriousness of the current situation, I dare to express my opinion wholeheartedly, my most honorable majesty the king. Blindly expressing a strong position to the people on the east coast will inevitably lead to the breakdown of our negotiations, And the consequences of a breakdown in negotiations would certainly be disastrous, because it would debilitate us greatly."

"There is a bad mood in Madrid at the moment of criticizing our army, our navy, and our colonial officials for their corruption and incompetence, because they have brought the great kingdom of Spain into disgrace, We are now the laughing stock of the French and the Swedes. I think this is unfair to those who are still fighting the East Coasters in Peru, it is always easy to criticize others, especially when these critics are often When they are idlers at home, they don’t need to put forward any constructive opinions, and they don’t need to take any responsibility. They are irresponsible to create a trend of public opinion, which objectively has the potential to plunge Spain into a dangerous abyss.”

"I had the pleasure of reading the reports written by Lima on the war, and I was amazed at how optimistic they were. They still think they have a sizable army in Peru and they can hold out, and they even boast , The East Coast Army did not dare to occupy the land cities of Peru. Such a perception is really too bad!"

"There is no doubt that we are going through a bad economic period. We have dwindling fiscal revenues and growing debts. More than one person has persuaded Your Majesty to change your current fiscal policy. But I think it is not only It's a question of fiscal policy, and a large part of our current economic woes are due to our foreign strategy. Yes, we're in too much trouble, but how much of it is necessary? The East Coast wars have already cost us millions of pesos and there may be more to come next year. Our commercial allies - Genoese, Portuguese (Jewish) and even partially friendly The Dutch merchants have been complaining to us that the endless war with the people on the east coast has seriously damaged their commercial interests, and they unanimously request Your Majesty to seriously consider how to end this long-lasting war."

"Our interests are in Castile, our political center is also in Castile, so all our military, political and diplomatic efforts must be organized around our security in the region. The chaotic situation dragged us into many wars, some of which were unnecessary, and the sooner we get out of there the better, and the losses we are now suffering are due to our own lack of foresight. So, respect Your Majesty, I ask you to give our negotiators greater autonomy to end the war with the East Coasters as soon as possible. After all, the French are our life and death enemies, and we must know a lot about Catalonia and the Southern Netherlands The region is not in our hands now."

"Writing like this will piss off a lot of people," Balboa said worriedly.

Mr. Fernando is one of the senators of the West India Affairs Council, and also the assistant sent by His Majesty to assist Balboa in the negotiations.Fernando, who was sitting in the next room, heard the content of the negotiation between Balboa and Mo San clearly, and quickly wrote a letter of suggestion to His Majesty the King according to the content of the negotiation between the two parties.Judging from the contents of the letter, Fernando coincided with many of his ideas.

Both of them are high-level officials of the West India Affairs Council. They deal with various things in the New World all the year round and know all kinds of local conditions well.Therefore, from a technical point of view, their opinions are actually the most reliable, but the abominable thing is that His Majesty the King is always surrounded by a group of idle and short-sighted nobles.They are aggressive and ignorant, but extremely sensitive and self-respecting. Besides, many of them have invested a lot in the New World, and some of their properties have been severely damaged by the army on the east coast. The Shores went to war.

"Many French nobles have contacted us in private, wanting to overthrow the rule of Cardinal Mazarin. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for us. Once an agreement is reached with them, many front-line French troops will defect, and our great The Kingdom of Spain will also send troops into France, and Spain will once again stand on top of Europe! This is what we need to do!" Fernando put down his wine glass, wiped his mouth with a napkin and said.

"Then shouldn't we demand so much compensation from the people on the east coast? You must know that this is the king's intention. Now we are very short of money..."

"Of course compensation is needed!" Fernando said decisively, "but the method needs to be changed. No one is willing to pay several million pesos for war compensation at once, but if we exchange part or most of the compensation for Perhaps the people on the east coast will agree with us when it comes to muskets, cannons, spears, armor and even cotton cloth, medicine, food, steel and other war materials that we urgently need. You know, they have always produced these commodities at a very fast pace. Quickly. With these materials, a large part of the plight of our front-line troops can be alleviated, which will be very beneficial to our plan to march into France."

"Your Majesty is extremely concerned about any possibility of entering France." Balboa nodded and said, "But first of all, we need the assistance of opponents in France. Without them, we cannot enter. I have to admit, Since the fall of the Legion of Flanders, it seems unusually difficult for us to win a head-to-head battle with the French. Of course, if civil unrest breaks out in France, this is indeed a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. God bless Spain .”

After chatting for a while, the two dispersed. On February 2, Balboa reported the progress of the recent negotiations to Philip IV, and at the same time submitted this letter of suggestion written by Fernando.Unsurprisingly, the letter of recommendation caused a commotion in the circle of the king's cronies.As a last resort, Philip IV secretly called some of his cronies and two negotiators, Balboa and Fernando, to a meeting on February 4 in order to discuss what to do next.Should we make concessions and continue the negotiations with the people on the east coast, or should we not make concessions and then interrupt the negotiations.Count Gutierrez, who was firmly opposed to making peace with the people on the east coast before, was not summoned by His Majesty "due to illness", which was regarded by many as a vague hint.

At the meeting, Secretary Balboa sharply pointed out that it is not worth taking huge risks for some desolate lands east of the Uruguay River. The Kingdom of Spain cannot afford this risk now, and the foundation of the country is still in the old continent. .He said meaningfully that if the territory east of the Uruguay River is handed over to the people on the east bank, their land will triple, which cannot be digested in a short period of time.And based on the Pope's meridian, the people on the east coast will also have territorial disputes with the Portuguese, which is undoubtedly a boon for the Spanish Kingdom, which is even defeated by the Portuguese Army.

Fernando then chimed in, pointing out that we should allow the East Coasters to occupy the entire East Coast Prairie, but we should also have their government publicly recognize the Kingdom of Spain's sovereignty over the rest of La Plata - of course the Port of Blanca they claim The issue of status can be discussed separately.

Fernando believes that what the Kingdom of Spain needs most now is time. They need to rebuild order in La Plata, rebuild the Peruvian fleet, retake the territories occupied by Portugal in the west and the territories occupied by France in the northeast, and destroy Catalonia as soon as possible. Lonia revolts and retakes the entire Aragon region.Of course, the southern Netherlands is the most important thing. The army there needs to be strengthened urgently, otherwise it will only be defeated by the French again and again.

The opinions of Balboa and Fernando were mixed among the king's courtiers who attended the meeting. Several people still insisted that Spain was capable of solving all difficulties and that there was no need to negotiate peace with the East Coasters at this time.Of course, there were one or two people who supported them, but generally speaking, everyone did not reach a consensus. At this time, His Majesty Philip IV's own inclination is extremely important.

His Majesty Philip IV has not spoken since the meeting, but just sat aside and listened quietly to everyone's opinions.At this time, seeing that everyone was arguing, he announced the adjournment, and then summoned Balboa alone in his room, and had a secret discussion for half an hour.

Half an hour later, the meeting continued.His Majesty Philip IV also officially expressed his opinion: "There is no doubt that war is not desirable. We need time to reorganize La Plata's defense and rebuild the vital Peruvian fleet. to secure a much-needed sum of money or supplies in the hands of the people on the coast, in preparation for military action in the event of the outbreak of civil strife in France."

His Majesty Philip IV also promised that after prioritizing the thorny issues of the survival of the Spanish Kingdom, he would turn his attention to the New World.At that time, it will be war, or diplomatic negotiations, or other means. In short, he will make the people on the east coast pay a heavy price for his reckless behavior of provoking the Kingdom of Spain.

After receiving the endorsement from Philip IV, Balboa immediately began to prepare for the third round of formal diplomatic negotiations with Mo San.

(End of this chapter)