Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 900 Public Relations ([-])

Orleans has not yet been affected by chaos. Although the nobles of the Paris High Court have tried their best to win over, Duke Gaston (the younger brother of Louis XIII) has still maintained neutrality, that is, he does not lean towards the Fronde party (the Paris High Court's The aristocratic group and the military leaders headed by Prince Condé are actually in the same bed), and they did not express their support for the king (although everyone, including the Fronders, expressed their allegiance to the king, Louis XIV obviously did not. Look at it this way), he has been carefully maintaining a balance between the two, waiting for the situation to change.

Frank spent two full days in Orleans, looking for some familiar business partners or gentlemen to inquire about the news, and finally brought back unexpected bad news to Contin: "The king, queen mother and others have long escaped from Paris. Yes, because the citizens of Paris rioted under the instigation of the nobles, and some people even proposed to follow the example of England, fearing that they would also end up with King Charles of England. The king fled elsewhere under the protection of his loyal guards. As for the specific location , It seemed to be said to be in Gion a while ago, but I don’t know if it’s still there..."

Contin was not surprised by the news brought by Frank, because they had heard too much about Paris and the royal family along the way.For example, the judges (nobles) of the High Court actually controlled the central city of France; for example, local officials and soldiers were also divided into two factions. They recalled Prime Minister Mazaran who had been exiled due to the pressure of the nobles. The Prime Minister himself brought an army of 7000 people recruited from his own wealth to join the king, and so on.

"However, I don't recommend going to Giang now. It is very chaotic there now. The Spanish army and Prince Condé's troops are chasing the king's army. Fighting between the two sides happens almost every day. From time to time, some nobles who oppose the king join Kong In the past, the chances of meeting the king and Mazarin were only 1%, and those who died halfway The probability is as high as 99%, so we have to think rationally about the next move..."

Co-authored by France, there is no one who can call the shots now!Hearing this, Contin was very depressed, the king escaped from Paris, Prince Condé colluded with the Spaniards to invade the mother country, the local nobles hated the king because of the loss of privileges, the influence of the British regicide continued to spread to France, and now this country is really terrible !

"Then, can the High Court of Paris make a decision to reduce the import tariffs on goods from the east coast?" Contin still has some hope for this aristocratic group that actually controls the situation in Paris. It is also a major achievement of this trip to meet these nobles and find a way to reduce the high tariffs that are stuck on the neck of industrial products on the east coast.

"It's impossible, the local government won't recognize it!" Frank said bluntly, "Although this institution has the right to veto the untimely tax rate proposed by the king, it has no right to set the tax rate, not to mention, the local government is now discriminating against this group of people. It is basically impossible. Besides, Bordeaux and even the whole of Gascogne are still under the control of the Prince of Condé, but they obviously won't talk to us unless we can help him solve the problem. A big trouble."

"What kind of trouble?" Kang Ding asked immediately.

"For example, to provide military pay." Frank also quickly answered, but then he added: "However, Prince Condé is not in Bordeaux at the moment, he is still fighting outside, as are La Rochefoucauld and others. But such an important matter, But only they can make the decision, so..."

"So we still return to Bordeaux?" Kang Ding felt his head ache.Now the civil war in France is endless, the local chaos is extremely chaotic, and the transmission of some news has become extremely slow, so that they arrived near Paris before they knew that the king had fled, and Mazarin had also led the army back to the country to "King Qin", and was fighting with Spain. Several victories were achieved in the battles of the Allied Forces of China, Kong and Dai, giving the royal family in exile a little respite.

"Let's go back, let's find a way to get in touch with those Fronde people and see if there is any improvement in the situation." Frank was also a little depressed, and this trip to the north was considered a waste of time.

Contin silently pondered Frank's suggestion.If you leave Orleans and return to Bordeaux now, you have to wait and see how the situation changes. If the people of Prince Condé can win—it seems to be more hopeful at the moment—and become the new masters of Paris, then maybe the people on the east coast will have The opportunity is to change the policies formulated by Mazaran, who focuses on protecting domestic industrial development, and then rely on cheap industrial products to destroy the budding handicraft factories in France, and reoccupy this huge market with a population of more than 2000 million.Of course, maybe the new person in power will continue to implement the high tariff policy to protect his own industry, but how will he know unless he tries?Prince Kong Dai's troops have always been short of military pay. If the people on the east coast can impress them with a silver bullet offensive, it may not be impossible for this matter to succeed.

"Okay, I think it's better to go back. There is no need to stay here anymore. Paris is so chaotic now, even if we pass by, we may not be able to achieve any results..." Contin nodded in agreement with Frank's suggestion. In fact, he still wants to stay here Stay here for one or two more months, and take a look at the sales of smuggled goods on the east coast, and meet some smuggled ship owners if possible.It's just that Frank is by his side now, and he can't let him go, so he can only give up on this matter.

On January 1652, 1, the group left Orleans, and then drove to the port of Nantes in a carriage again, preparing to return to Bordeaux there.This trip back to Bordeaux was relatively smooth, but when their ship entered the port, Frank and others inquired about the news that a British ship had also arrived here.

The arrival of British ships in Bordeaux is not news. Bordeaux is a big port, and it is common for British merchants to come to trade, but this time the incident is well known, and it is because there are several "King Slayers" on board. Renwell's confidant.When they came to Bordeaux, they mainly wanted to negotiate with the people headed by Prince Condé—this matter had been spread in Bordeaux as early as last year. Now that the British have come here for the second time, it is possible that Prince Condé intends to establish in France. A republic, or was he planning to join the British side in restraining the arrogant Dutch merchants?No one can know the truth.

It is true that the Dutch are hated by people in Europe today. Whether it is England, France, or Spain, they have a very bad impression of them.Among them, the relationship between Britain and the Netherlands, which is determined to develop industry and commerce, is probably the worst. Fishery disputes, textile disputes, shipping disputes, salt industry disputes, etc., the British want to rise and challenge the Netherlands in almost every field Human superiority, this is no longer something that can be resolved through negotiations, but must be resolved by the ancient method, that is, by fists on the battlefield.

Of course, the British are not fools, they know how powerful the Dutch are.Therefore, today's British urgently need more allies. For example, France, which can pose a direct threat to the Netherlands from land, is a very good target. For this reason, even if they coordinate some major interests and deal with the Spaniards with them No matter what, in short, the Dutch must stand up and break the economic shackles imposed on England.

The possible war between Britain and the Netherlands, even in the East Coast Republic, is a major event that can affect the country's decision-making.How the East Coast Republic of China needs to operate in order to maximize its own interests is really a test of the wisdom of the rulers.In the local diplomatic guidance to the European plenipotentiary envoy Mo San, they have always emphasized that the East Bank must "strictly observe neutrality" and cannot be involved in the war. However, they can find a way to take this opportunity to sign some trade agreements with the Dutch and obtain some substantive benefits. above benefits.

However, France may also be involved in the war now, so the east coast has to make a new plan!Regarding this matter, Kang Ding should report to Mo San as a key point. Although I heard that two "August [-]th" class double-decker battleships and a few sail escort gunships and sail auxiliary ships have been launched on the east coast this year. It seems that they were all built by the navy with the income from private plundering—but the total number of naval ships is only more than [-] (excluding inland river gunboats), of which combat ships only account for about [-]% to [-]%. The country does not have a great advantage.Therefore, if you want to seize your own interests in this British-Dutch war that is inevitable in the eyes of discerning people, it is impossible not to make a plan in advance.

On January 1652, 1, after waiting for a long time for Prince Condé and others not to return, Candin simply left Bordeaux and went to near Montpellier to take a boat to Livorno.Not long after he arrived in Montpellier, the well-connected Doria family in Spain sent someone to quietly inform Contin that the Almeida family had demonstrated an interesting gadget in the shop in Lisbon a while ago. , a small machine that burns wood to generate steam in a boiler to move connecting rods.Although this demonstration experiment failed not long after it started, the whole machine leaked air seriously, and its strength was too weak to even pump water, but it was also extremely expensive and useless.However, under the exaggeration of various magical legends about the steam engine on the east coast, this experiment still attracted the attention of some interested people. At least some people have begun to summarize the reasons for their failure.

The people of the Doria family told Kang Ding with a playful look: "Fortunately, this is Lisbon. People like flamboyant, extravagant, and beautiful things. Very few people are interested in this kind of dirty little machine. Otherwise, it might happen. There are many things that are very bad for people on the east coast..." These words immediately made Kang Ding's back wet with sweat.

(End of this chapter)