Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 836 New European Trade Order ([-])

Bordeaux is in a mess right now.Earlier this year, a force originating from Prince Condé captured this premier city in south-central France. They asked Mazarin to release Prince Condé who was imprisoned.Prime Minister Mazarin, who held the central power of France, refused of course. How could he release Prince Condé, who has great reputation among the people and the army, and intends to compete with him for power and profit?

Not only Prince Condé, but his brother Prince Conti and the Duke of Langeville who opposed Mazaran were all taken into custody by him and imprisoned in Vincennes Prison.Since the rebellious nobles re-introduced their sincerity to the king and the Spanish army was expelled from France from the north and the south, Mazarin began to feel very good about himself and his power grew day by day.But the good news is that Prince Condé, who made great contributions to the pacification of the noble rebellion, also believed that he should replace Mazarin and take control of the French power. Political struggle.

The result of the struggle is obvious - or the result is obvious in the short term - Prince Condé lost!Mazaran took him and some other guys who didn't like him all at once, and the French court became his talk from then on.As a result, the situation in France also changed dramatically. The French generals (led by Turenne) who had just led the French army to defeat the Spanish invasion army fled to Spain (Artois, Southern Netherlands, etc.) , and then colluded with them to attack France in turn.

Facts have proved that they have never been a pure patriot. They will attack Spain because of their own interests, and sometimes act as Spanish lackeys to attack France.They broke their previous oath of loyalty to the king and quickly sided with the foreign invaders when they found that they could not monopolize power.

In response to this threat, French Prime Minister Mazarin personally led an army loyal to the king into the Southern Netherlands, fought against the army led by Turenne, and finally won.However, the northern battlefield was victorious, but the south was not very optimistic: not only the Spanish army entered the south of France again, some French troops loyal to Prince Condé also occupied Bordeaux, and used this as a base to oppose Mazarin's rule. The French civil war broke out again!

The full-scale outbreak of the French Civil War (or the Second Fronde movement) was indeed a mixed blessing for East Coasters.First of all, as Bordeaux was captured by the rebels, the whole city fell into chaos, and the normal business order was completely disrupted.Don't overestimate the discipline of these rebels. When they were in Paris last year, French rebels (mostly Parisians) looted the city and killed thousands of innocent citizens.This time in Bordeaux, they still started looting recklessly. As long as the robbed people resist a little, they may be killed.

The commercial station of the people on the east coast was no exception. A group of French rebels surrounded it, and then emptied many unsalable cotton cloths in the warehouse, with a total value of more than 10 yuan.Fortunately, people from the east bank just settled a payment in Bordeaux's commercial station in the first half of the year. Most of the money has been shipped back to the mainland, and the few remaining funds in the commercial station have also been transferred to Istanbul through Marseilles to support Mo San there. a series of actions.Therefore, the losses of the people on the east coast in this catastrophe in Bordeaux are still within the controllable range, but it is only tens of thousands of cotton cloths, which is nothing!If we really want to talk about losses, I am afraid that the losses caused by the collapse of the normal commercial order will be greater.

However, the normal business order collapsed and paralyzed, while some "abnormal" business practices gradually flourished.Some captains or merchants agitated by the East Coasters in the Netherlands, the Hanseatic League territories, and Sweden were loaded with cheap and good-quality goods from the East Coast, and then went to war-torn areas where the power of the local ruling class was greatly weakened to sell goods from the East Coast. goods.

The king's army and the rebels fought back and forth in these areas, but the normal life of the people had to continue.But now many places are caught in the flames of war, and the production order has been greatly disrupted. Many businessmen who have been running various businesses all year round found that they could not get goods overnight. The handicraft guild that originally monopolized from raw materials to the terminal sales market Most of them fell into chaos, and local nobles and officials even started to stand in line and attack each other. No one cared about how the country should run, and this undoubtedly gave some opportunities for smuggling goods on the east coast.

You must know that it was absolutely impossible for goods from the east coast of these areas to enter in the short term, but the war destroyed the original order, and even destroyed a considerable part of France's industrial production capacity, forcing them to increase the import of foreign goods. They all gave opportunities to smuggle goods from the east coast with cheap and high-quality goods.Of course, as far as the current situation is concerned, it is the Dutch, German, and British businessmen who have taken advantage of it. People from the east coast can only follow behind and eat some leftovers.However, after more than half a year, he has made a profit of more than [-] yuan through the smuggling trade, which not only made up for the loss of the business station being robbed, but also had a surplus, which made Mo, who was far away in Istanbul, extremely satisfied.For this reason, he gave Canting, the head of the Bordeaux commercial station, greater authority, and temporarily allocated the inventory in the commercial station in Florence to him for management, in order to strive for more profits.

In fact, when it comes to this, people on the east coast also have to admire those British businessmen.With Cromwell in full power in England, the emerging bourgeoisie began to get rid of the shackles of feudal shackles. The social status has also been significantly improved, so England's business is still developing tenaciously amidst stumbles.

In particular, their woolen textile industry, which was hit hard by the civil war, has entered a period of recovery and development since 1649. This year, it has conquered cities all the way, gradually driving Dutch woolen fabrics out of their traditional market, and has made a lot of profits.In addition to woolen goods, industries such as shipbuilding, iron smelting, fishing, and gun manufacturing also developed rapidly, which further enhanced the voice of the British bourgeoisie.As a new class, the bourgeoisie has gradually entered the political and economic arena, and it seems that this is an irreversible trend.

The rise of capitalists may correspond to the decline of feudal aristocracy.Especially the fate of those nobles of the royal party is even more miserable.In order to cope with the huge government and military expenditures, the Cromwell government had to order the confiscation of the property of the royalist nobles, which made many people fall into abject poverty overnight.And even those who have not had their property confiscated have to pay a proportional fine that is enough to hurt their muscles and bones, thus avoiding the ending of becoming a proletariat.

However, this situation unexpectedly promoted the development of British American colonies.A large number of former members of the royal party who were squeezed out, suppressed, and persecuted in England were forced to leave their homeland and go to the colonies of the North American continent to develop.And some members of the aristocracy seized the opportunity after arriving in North America, and through hard work, they finally became prominent families in British North America and later the United States. Their surnames are familiar even now: Washington, Randolph, Madison, etc. wait.

Perhaps the Netherlands, a country where capitalists hold supreme power, is the last thing to want to see the rise of Britain.Their businessmen are not fools, and the rise of British industrial capital will seriously threaten the interests of Dutch businessmen.For example, most of the herring fishing in the Netherlands is carried out in the waters around the UK. Many of the herring caught are salted and processed and then dumped on the British market again, which arouses great resentment from the British.Coupled with the fact that Dutch fishing boats (generally with relatively large tonnage) often bully and collide with British herring fishing boats with a tonnage of only 6-12 tons at sea, the conflict between the two sides in fishery has almost reached a fever pitch.

For another example, the British refused to sell their wool or tweed to the Dutch (the Dutch generally took it for reprocessing and sold it to various places for huge profits), and started to produce it themselves, and through their own raw material supply, The advantages of skilled industrial workers began to regain the traditional markets that they had lost due to the civil war-such as the Ottoman and Baltic markets, and this undoubtedly seriously damaged the interests of Dutch businessmen.

What's more serious, the British are considering whether to export grain to Spain and Italy, which have always been short of grain, instead of transporting grain to the distribution market in Amsterdam for sale.If this policy is put into practice, it will undoubtedly seriously provoke the Dutch businessmen to monopolize the European grain market and indirectly affect the policies of many countries through food weapons. The Dutch may not tolerate such serious provocations by the British. It's really hard to say what will happen then.Maybe it is a comprehensive economic blockade, maybe a war, in short, it will not be easy, it depends on whether the British have the determination to sink the boat.

People on the east coast are also very concerned about the trade dispute between the UK and the Netherlands. At present, the Bordeaux trading station is also sending all kinds of information collected to the Mosan Office in Istanbul for summary analysis. What will happen in the end between the Netherlands.Moreover, he has stayed in Europe for so many years, and after carefully studying the economic, policy, and diplomatic trends of the United Kingdom and the Netherlands, he found that unless the British are willing to degenerate and continue to allow the Dutch capitalists to suck blood and exploit them, sooner or later there will be a relationship between the two countries. A war breaks out.And if a war cannot solve the problem—that is, the British capitalists are not satisfied, and the Dutch capitalists are unwilling to give up their vested interests, then the second and third wars will definitely break out until one of them succumbs... …

Although the people on the east coast cannot directly intervene in this possible war due to their weak national strength, it is not impossible to obtain some benefits if they are prepared in advance. It depends on how to operate.

(End of this chapter)