Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 834 New European Trade Order ([-])

The Venetians have long blocked the Dardanelles.From spring to summer, from summer to autumn, although it is impossible for them to block the sea lines of communication of the Ottoman Empire at all times, the Venetian navy, which comes around for nothing, still makes the Ottomans helpless. The White Sea (Aegean Sea) The transportation between the Black Sea and the Black Sea has been mostly changed by land.

During the period, the Ottomans did not fail to counterattack, but the few elite warships (purchased from the east coast) faced a huge number of Venetian fleets at a loss. Fast cruisers powered by sails were not as maneuverable as galley warships in the Mediterranean. , so the loss was considerable, two of the three fast cruisers were sunk, and one was seriously injured and fled back to Burgas.As the main force of the Ottoman Navy, although the battleship "Bayezid" showed great power and sank and damaged many Venetian galley warships, it was also seriously injured and fled all the way back to the Black Sea, hiding on the shore to prevent fire. Licking the wound under the protection of the cannon.

At this point, the sea power of the Ottoman Empire has basically given up, and the tens of thousands of Ottoman troops who are attacking the city of Chandia on Crete are suddenly trapped. They can only rely on sporadic transport ships that sneak in at night. They lived on the precious supplies brought over and struggled to maintain a military presence on the island.

As for the pirates in North Africa who were attached to the Ottoman Empire, at the moment when Ottoman needed them most, they all disappeared, hiding in their own territory and becoming emperors, unwilling to go to sea to fight the Venetians.There are two reasons for this: one is that you really can't beat it, and the other is that even if you are lucky enough to beat yourself, you will suffer heavy losses and it is not worth it.

In fact, there are quite a few people who have this idea.For example, at this time, the local Ottoman governors, legion leaders, and religious leaders were visibly violating the Agamen of the Ghanishari Legion, who took control of the central power and used Sultan Muhammad as a puppet, and some small-scale armed conflicts had already occurred.Local money and goods could not be handed over to Istanbul or handed over at a discount, but the burden of maintaining the country’s operations and fighting the Venetians was placed on the head of the central finance, which made the financial situation of the Ottoman Empire government sharp again. worsened, and it has reached a serious level.

Judging from the situation in recent months, the Ajas, the army who actually held the power of the Ottomans, have been extremely busy. They minted a large number of low-quality coins in order to pay their salaries and maintain government operating expenses. Taxes were collected two years later, and that often created far worse problems: inflation, social unrest.To make matters worse, due to natural disasters and the blockade of the Venetians, the Ottoman grain production was reduced and its circulation was also much worse. The famine began to spread among the big cities, which further weakened the prestige of the Aga who were in power. .

As a last resort, Carla Murad, an important general of the Ganisari Corps who was originally the Grand Vizier, was forced to resign and acted as a scapegoat for Ottoman's internal and external difficulties.And after Murad Aga resigned, the army did not give up power. Abaza Merik Ahmed came to power as Grand Vizier, but he was a weak character with little prestige and talent. Still a puppet of the army, just a marionette.

Under the current chaotic political situation of the Ottoman Empire, it is really a test to do a good job in business-the test mainly depends on your local sales channels and the strength of your political allies.Doing business in Europe in this era has never been just an economic issue. Except for the Dutch who pay attention to free trade, other countries are faithful believers in mercantilism.In an era when a food-deficient country needs a special application to allow silver to flow out when importing food, any idea that I can sell cheap and high-quality goods is ridiculous and unrealistic, and will eventually be rejected by reality. Beat it to pieces.

In this era when the handicraft industry occupies the mainstream form of industry, almost any industry has a traditional guild. The guild controls the sales from raw materials to the terminal market. Every profit in this industry has already been distributed: nobles, merchants People, priests, officials, guild leaders, craftsmen, etc., each has his own share, and everyone is very strict about his share.And when you aggressively enter this market, what you are actually fighting for is the cake of these vested interests. If they don't fight back at this time, wouldn't they be dead?

What's more, it is not the era of free trade, but the 17th century when mercantilism was popular. They have plenty of ways to compete with you.What else can you do but sneak around and risk a lot of smuggling when your so-called cheap and good stuff doesn't even have a chance to hit the shelves?

In other words, if you have a strong political backer at this time, as well as the support of some local nobles, and the help of merchants with rich sales channels, then doing business will not be so difficult.That’s what people on the east coast did in Bordeaux back then. Politically, they relied on the Baron of Toulouse and his relatives in Paris. Locally, they relied on the dual influence of the Loris family in both church and local areas. Quell, a business family that has been operating in the Aquitaine region for hundreds of years, defeated one of the vested interests, the Jewish businessman Ludwig, and occupied the cotton cloth market in some provinces in central and southern France.

However, due to the limited influence of the Baron of Toulouse and the fact that the vested interests are too large, the influence of the people on the east coast can only be limited to these provinces, and it is extremely difficult to go further, unless you spend decades Time is focused on operating in France, otherwise the current scale will reach its peak, and no amount of it will be able to cover it.

To put it bluntly, these powerful figures are the adjudicators who decide the prospects of East Coast goods in the French market, and they also grab huge sales profits from it.If the people on the east coast hadn't concealed their actual production costs, maybe they didn't earn as much money per piece of cotton cloth as these French compradors. The world is often so helpless.It’s not that the East Bank can’t leave these people aside and find another way, but this one needs time, and the second needs opportunity. You have the hat of a yellow-skinned pagan country on your head. To be honest, it won’t work without spending decades in business. of.

East Coasters fared better in the Ottoman Empire than in arrogant France.With the help of the sale of warships (at the risk of offending the Christian country) and a large number of army weapons, and Mo San's willingness to spend a lot of money, the people on the east bank have built up several forces in Ottoman, and the level is still high. Quite not low.

For example, the local forces represented by Nasukh Pasha, the political tumbler—his supporters are Syrian Pasha, Egyptian Pasha, and Navy Pasha; for example, the leader of the Ghanishari Legion, Kara Mullah, who got acquainted with the sale of war materials In addition, I also had a good meeting with the Sipahi Legion and the local officials in the Rumili area (who bought female slaves and got acquainted). All in all, the political backing is still very strong.

This is true in politics, but also in business.The Hornician family from Armenia has been operating business with Genoa and Venice since the time of Suleiman the Great. Over the past hundred years, they have accumulated a rich family background and extremely rich personal connections. The Mili area is very eatable.It is absolutely beneficial for them to represent goods on the east coast, and this is why the Ottoman Empire surpassed France to become the largest trading partner on the east coast.

The Ottoman Empire has changed in recent years, the throne of Istanbul has changed hands three times, and the court forces, military forces and local noble forces have fought against each other, which has caused great political chaos and made most foreign businessmen who do business in this country feel at a loss. .Fortunately, the local aristocratic forces that have a good relationship with the east bank are currently in a good situation. The Governor of Syria, the Governor of Egypt and others are still alive and well. They had a lot of fun in the Black Sea area, while selling goods from the east coast to Syria, Egypt, and the Rumeli region, and at the same time selling the purchased slaves from Crimea to the east coast, counting the money until they were soft.

Although the situation of the military force has been deteriorating in the past year, they can't be ignored by any force with the sword in their hands, so they can still try their best to maintain it.On the other hand, the economic contacts between people on the east bank and them are mostly limited to the arms trade. The Ganishari Army pays every time in a timely manner. This has almost become a stable cash cow in the European trading system presided over by Mo San. Compared with those Arrears of payment and delayed construction projects (Edirne-Plovdiv road, expansion and reconstruction of several ports) are much better.

Therefore, although in this difficult autumn, the Ottoman Empire was in an extremely difficult situation due to financial difficulties, inflation, food failure and war defeat (the strait was blocked), many foreign merchants began to withdraw from this extremely unstable market. Shore people are still living quite well.The Ottomans not only ordered a large amount of wheat from the east coast, but also ordered an additional batch of military supplies (the supply fleet full of military supplies was defeated by the Venetians in the White Sea last month), and the required funds were all paid by female slaves—— They will get it from the Crimeans, the steppe bandits who took more than 20 men and women slaves in Ukraine.

The finalization of these two large deals made Mo San, who was unable to buy enough female slaves due to financial difficulties caused by the collapse of the French market, immediately elated.Who says Ottoman is poor?It's just that they don't have enough precious metals, but the people on the east coast don't need gold and silver that can't be eaten or worn. What they want are female slaves, good horses, camels, graphite, mercury, lead, tin, copper and other materials. The Ottomans have exactly these and are rich in resources, so there is no problem!

(End of this chapter)