Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 901 Great North

The winter in the Principality of Moscow is extremely cold. Compared with the "gentle" winter in Livonia, the winter in Archangel is simply unbearable.At least, judging from Zheng Yong's feelings during the first winter he stayed here, he might never want to return to this place so cold that it can freeze people's ears off.

However, Zheng Yong is also clear that this is just to say, in the case that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China has clearly pointed out that it will focus on the operation of the Great Northern Region, as the general manager of the diplomatic, commercial, intelligence and other affairs of this region, Zheng Yong will definitely have to deal with it for a long time. Back and forth between Riga, Archangel and even Moscow.

With the complete loss of the French market (now only maintained by part of the smuggling trade), the markets in England, the German states, the Netherlands, and north-central Italy (the status of the Florentine business station is becoming more and more embarrassing) are also being intentionally or unintentionally Shrinking day by day under the restrictions of the industry, today's east coast industry has reached the time when it is urgent to find a new alternative market.

The Great Northern Region (Kingdom of Sweden, Livonia region, Principality of Moscow) has a population of close to 2000 million. Originally, only Dutch merchants and a few British merchants set foot in it. In terms of industry and commerce, it is basically a primitive virgin land.And this is the only market left in Europe for people from the east coast to explore. After all, compared with developing markets in other mature countries, although the residents here have limited spending power, the competition is not fierce at all, and there is no need to risk offending them. The risk of vested interests - and this is very important - is well suited to operating in East Coast Republic today.

Therefore, the local Ministry of Foreign Affairs has officially made a major decision: in the future, it will shift its diplomatic and commercial resources to three major regions, namely the Greater Spain region, the Ottoman Empire, and the Great Northern region.Among these three regions, Great Spain and the Ottoman Empire obviously need to compete with merchants from other countries. At present, the market share of goods on the east coast in Great Spain is steadily increasing, but there will be an upper limit after all; while the Ottoman Empire is too chaotic, A lot of money is not returned in time, and the competition is quite fierce, so these two markets are more or less flawed.

But the Great Northern market is different. Leaving aside the Kingdom of Sweden, which the Dutch are focusing on, and the Livonian market divided up by the three merchants from the Netherlands, the East Bank, and Germany, let alone the huge market of the Principality of Moscow. That's enough to make your blood boil.What's even better is that the development of this market in Europe has only happened in the past few decades. At first, it was the English, and then the Dutch also followed in the footsteps of the English.

In other words, if people from the east coast want to enter this market, their competitors are only these two.No, maybe now only the Dutch family is left!Because after the British executed King Charles I, Moscow was extremely angry, and Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich ordered to cut off all diplomatic relations with the United Kingdom, restricting British businessmen to trade in Archangel Port—of course A few were pardoned, such as the famous Sir John Merrick, but the British merchants as a whole were no more - and the Tsar was funding Charles II in exile with money and food.

The English merchants who were the first to open up the market of the Principality of Moscow suffered from this unreasonable disaster, and they all wanted to cry, but they could not reverse the will of the tsar, so most of them had to pack their bags and go back to their hometowns. Wait quietly for the situation to change.And at this time, the east bank businessmen were obviously given the opportunity to step in—moreover, the Muscovites also issued a clear invitation, and they invited the east bank republic to change their army with various names and numbers.

After receiving this invitation, Mo San spent more than a year in contact with the local area, and finally made up his mind to open a business station in Archangel Port and fully operate this huge market with a population of more than 1600 million.Because this can largely avoid the fiercely competitive Western and Central European markets, and avoid offending the Dutch businessmen who have deep influence here. It's not good, it's better than the people on the east coast.It can be said that as long as the East Bank finds a way to stabilize these Dutch businessmen and eliminate their dissatisfaction, then they can completely control the huge market of the Principality of Moscow-although in this country with a majority of serfs, the number of consumers is limited, but people With a population of 1600 million, the total consumption cannot be underestimated.

In Zheng Yong's view, it is not a difficult task to stabilize these small number of Dutch businessmen.These Dutch people were mainly engaged in grain trade, that is, transporting cheap rye produced in large quantities by the Principality of Moscow to Amsterdam, as a strategic weapon for the Dutch to indirectly influence European countries (the Amsterdam market controls nearly [-]% of the grain trade in Europe).In addition, the business of paraffin, rope, wood, and tar is still quite small, and it is not the focus of the Dutch business.

In other words, as long as they promise not to intervene in the grain business that the Dutch are concerned about, then these Dutch businessmen will probably adopt a default attitude towards this sudden competitor from the East Bank, which will be much easier!What's more, in the plan of Mo San and others, as the Anglo-Dutch war draws closer, the environment of the people on the east bank in the Principality of Moscow is believed to be more and more improved, that is, if the local people on the east bank coordinate their interests with the Dutch , to reach some commercial agreements - such as allowing the Dutch to give up other commercial activities in the Principality of Moscow except food imports - then it is not out of reach to completely squeeze out other competitors and monopolize the entire Moscow market.

At that time, textiles, high-end leather goods, metal agricultural tools, high-quality weapons, mining machinery, ships, spirits, medicines, and even some construction materials from the east coast will flood into this undefended country like a tide, earning a lot of money. At the same time, it will also greatly promote the development of domestic industry, agriculture and shipping industry, and have an immeasurable positive impact on the entire economy and society.

In addition, for some commodities that are relatively expensive to produce on the east coast or are not produced at all, the people on the east coast can also act as second-hand traffickers like the Dutch, purchase them from other markets, and then resell them to the Muscovites. earn a fortune.The specific method of operation can be learned from the Dutch. They did this in the Baltic countries. They controlled everything in Denmark, Sweden, Poland, and North Germany. , Leather, ship materials, masts, ropes, hemp, paraffin, honey, tar, copper, iron, lead and tin and other commodities were transported back to Amsterdam for sale, not only made a lot of money from these resale trades, but also used the controlled The flow of goods to this big killer has sought a lot of political benefits-the Dutch businessmen are really the most astute group of people in Europe.

Since people can do this, there is absolutely no reason for people from the east coast not to do so.What?The Dutch will express their dissatisfaction?Don't worry, this won't be a problem any more soon!The only thing to worry about now is probably that the people on the east coast don't have deep connections in the Principality of Moscow, so they can't handle such a big scene.However, this problem is not unsolvable. Recently, Zheng Yong has focused on visiting famous nobles, businessmen, and priests in the Archangel area, building relationships with them, giving them gifts, and tentatively proposing the idea of ​​going to Moscow to meet His Majesty the Tsar. .

Now that the situation in Ukraine is becoming more and more tense, it is time for the Muscovites to ask for help from the East Bank—even now, even the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth has some regrets, and feels that it should not have severed relations with the East Bank so decisively before, so that As for the huge increase in the cost of war now——so Zheng Yong felt that he should seize the opportunity to meet with the tsar and some members of the Duma in Moscow (usually aristocrats) to establish some cooperation channels, finalize some investment agreements, and complete some business orders. .

You must know that the British initially invested heavily in the Principality of Moscow when the Muscovites were eager for Western technology, and then gained an advantageous position.For example, Sir John Merrick, who now controls a large proportion of the cannabis planting and rope-making industries in the Principality of Moscow, is the best of these businessmen. He even acted as a middleman for the signing of a peace treaty between Moscow and Sweden more than 30 years ago. , which shows how powerful his own influence is.

Sir Merrick, who was born as a businessman, has made such a big deal in Moscow, so Zheng Yong, who has the strong support of the East Coast Republic of China behind him, is naturally confident to make a big deal in the Principality of Moscow.This country on the edge of civilization is now a paradise for adventurers. The British invested in the rope industry, the Swedes established iron workshops here, and the Dutch controlled the grain trade. The Principality of Moscow is the new ideas and technologies brought by these foreign businessmen. Under the circumstances, the industry started with difficulty.Now the East Coast’s reputation of high quality, low price, and reliable quality has spread in many regions, and Muscovites have heard of it, so they are eager for East Coast merchants and even the government to invest in them and help them improve various technologies , and even help them cultivate technical talents to enhance the strength of the Principality of Moscow.

People in Moscow still remember the battle for the throne and the Smolensk War many years ago, and they can't forget that the Ukrainians asked them for help three times in recent decades, but they refused because they were afraid of Poland. To say it is an unforgettable shame!

Moscow has been thinking about the shame for a long time. For this reason, they did not hesitate to introduce a large number of Western military talents to serve as instructors and even commanders of the Moscow army, to spend a lot of money to buy advanced weapons from the West, and to introduce advanced Western ideas and science and technology at any cost. It is to strengthen the army and the country, defeat the Poles, and establish regional hegemony. For this reason, they really worked hard!What Zheng Yong needs to do is to grasp the mentality of Moscow, and then grab enough benefits for the East Coast Republic of China.

(End of this chapter)