Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 962 The Deepening Gap ([-])

Liu Weimin, chairman of the executive committee, is no longer as energetic as before.

A few years before he entered his sixtieth year, he feels that every day is physically and mentally exhausted. The increasingly heavy government work, the foreign affairs that are on thin ice, the endless immigration and naturalization, and the endless wrangling of civil and military officials. Everything involved his limited energy, which made him sleep well almost every day.

"Fortunately, I will be resigning in more than half a year. Many people say that it is human instinct to be greedy for power. Fuck it. Why do I think it is a burden. I will be re-elected at the end of the year, and I can finally lose this important position. I have shouldered the heavy burden for so long, so it should be handed over to young people in the prime of life.” Liu Weimin stood in the special private room on the second floor of Luocha Railway Station, looking at the endless sea in the distance, with many thoughts in his heart.

He was really tired of the past ten years, very tired.As a middle school teacher, he was able to become a Communist Party member because of the compromise of various forces, because everyone knows Lao Liu's unique skill, which is making peace with each other. parties relationship.

But Lao Liu really doesn't like to make friends with each other. The countless disputes at the National People's Congress and the Executive Committee in the past ten years have drained his energy, and he really doesn't want to do it anymore.As he said at the general meeting earlier this year, he has great love for the country we have built, and he has sacrificed so much in the past ten years. He asks everyone to forgive him for his mistakes. I begged everyone to continue to support the work of the next executive committee just like supporting him, but he really has enough, he just wants to finish the remaining half a year of his term quietly, and then go to the Southern Railway Subsidiary to retire.

After tidying up his mood, Liu Weimin rubbed his aching forehead, then sat behind a large desk, picked up the materials handed over by the secretary, and flipped through them briefly.He has read these materials before, and they are all a series of diplomatic activities carried out by the Kingdom of Portugal since the so-called "War of Restoration" (Portuguese War of Independence).

To put it bluntly, the Portuguese Restoration War that began in 1637 relied not on the nobles, but on the Portuguese people who were under the rule of Spain. Their patriotic enthusiasm was thoroughly stimulated, and the Spanish rulers were driven out of Portugal through their own bloody battles.

The Spanish officer who attacked the St. Lucia Fort near Evas once recorded: "The Portuguese soldiers were weak and not alert, but their spirit of resistance was very tenacious. No one agreed to shout the slogan 'Long live King Philip', so they were all put to death."

"These rebels were so stubborn that no one, except one elderly woman, asked for mercy or shouted long live King Philip, so we decided to behead them all."

And when the Portuguese people were fighting bloody battles, what were the Portuguese nobles doing?They "playing double-faced, dealing with King Joao (Joao IV, the first king of the Braganza Dynasty) on the one hand, and at the same time begging for King Philip's understanding. People also secretly informed the Spaniards, they delayed the delivery of key supplies, let the boatmen flee, and deliberately frustrated the fleet”; “Many people withheld military pay and did not give food and grass, so that the soldiers could not go into battle at critical moments.”

It is the Portuguese aristocrats with such bad deeds who stole the fruits of the uprising in a grandiose manner after the war. It has to be said that it is the sorrow of the Portuguese people-it is also the blessing of the people on the east coast. Dealing with them is not as good as wrangling with these nobles who can be called national parasites.

Let's take a look at the "outstanding" diplomatic achievements of these aristocrats who stole the fruits of victory: in early 1641, Portugal sent envoys to Rome, France, the Netherlands, England, Denmark and Switzerland.Needless to say, the envoys to Rome, the Pope will not receive any special envoys from Portugal until the head of the Habsburg royal family and the King of Spain agree to the independence of Portugal; and the diplomacy with Britain has also failed. In the kingdom of the saviors, the Portuguese envoys failed to form a military alliance with the United Kingdom, and only obtained the promise of the United Kingdom not to attack the Portuguese mainland within the scope of Europe.

In order to obtain this promise from the British, the nascent Portuguese regime also sold a lot of rights and interests, such as: British merchants are free to do business in Portuguese overseas territories and enjoy the same rights as Portuguese (1642 agreement); After the founding of the Republic of England, Cromwell sent troops to the door on the pretext that Portugal sheltered the fleet of the Royalists (these fleets were stationed near the mouth of the Tejo River and used this as a base to attack British warships), and knocked on another benefit. In general, including Portugal's reduction of tariffs on goods imported from the United Kingdom, etc., the nascent Kingdom of Portugal lost all face.

Portugal's diplomacy towards France was even more humiliating: Portugal asked to join the multinational group led by France against the Habsburg royal family, but was ruthlessly rejected; Then France did not reconcile with Spain, and France ignored this one; even at the end of the Thirty Years War, Portugal's request for a place in the peace negotiations was rejected, and they were excluded from the "Westphalia" Apart from the treaty, even France did not allow Portugal to negotiate directly with Spain (because they might exchange Portugal's interests with Spain), which can be described as extremely humiliating.

In addition, their diplomacy in the Netherlands is also full of setbacks. Denmark, Switzerland and other countries have limited influence, so the Kingdom of Portugal has become an enemy everywhere in Europe, and has not yet ended the war with Spain. China, Africa, and Asia are vying for colonies, which is really weird.

"It's just a dilapidated settled country..." Liu Weimin quickly finished reading the materials, then closed his eyes and began to rest his mind.The secretary walked over carefully, took away the materials that Liu Weimin had read, and then handed over the latest report from the State Intelligence Agency.

The crisp sound of leather shoes sounded outside the door, the secretary walked out lightly, talked with the outsider for a while, and then led him in.

Liu Weimin opened his eyes, and handed the report in front of him to Colonel Lu Ming, Chief of Staff of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and Minister of the Navy, who walked in, and said, "Look at the latest information about Portugal and Brazil, after reading it." Then tell me your opinion."

The room suddenly fell silent, except for the faint sound of waves and waves coming from the window, there was only the rustling sound of flipping through the materials.Lu Ming read it quickly. It took him only ten minutes to finish reading the report submitted by the State Intelligence Agency. After organizing the language a little bit, he only heard him say: "These rumors are probably true. The above The conditions put forward by the British are in line with the consistent style of the British bourgeois government. Open the markets of Brazil, Africa and the Eastern territories to the UK, reduce the tax rate on British goods to 23%, and only rent out ships when they need to rent out British ships, huh, huh, full of British flavor, no matter how you cover it up, you can’t hide it.”

Lu Ming automatically ignored the item "allowing British businessmen to carry out their own religious activities in Portuguese territory", because he grew up in later generations and could not understand the stubbornness of Spain and Portugal on religious issues.In fact, it was this one that embarrassed the Portuguese government the most, so it did not agree to the request of the British for a long time, so that in 1654, Cromwell sent a fleet to the mouth of the Tejo River, forcing the Portuguese to accept what is known as the 1654 agreement. of these requirements (Supplementary to the Agreement of 1642).

"The British guys are very arrogant now." Lu Ming said holding the materials, "They have increased their shipments in the Seville market - by looking for 'Spanish relatives', that's not enough, but they still Is it really unreasonable to want to extend your hand to Brazil, and treat us like nothing? Should we ask someone to pass the word that the Peru and Brazil markets are ours, and if outsiders want to enter, they must obtain our consent?"

"Some people are extremely conceited and self-aware, and they won't pay attention to you until they suffer a heart-breaking blow. Unfortunately, Cromwell seems to be such a person." Liu Weimin frowned and said slowly : "The time is not yet ripe, and our naval strength may not be able to suppress the United Kingdom, let's let them be arrogant for a while. Although it is a national policy to unite the Netherlands to control the United Kingdom, it does not mean that our East Coast Republic will now To stand on the front line against the British, that is the exclusive stage of the Dutch, not ours. The most appropriate way for us to deal with it is to use more economic means to resist the British invasion of the Brazilian and Peruvian markets, and then bury our heads in development , more immigrants, more land, more children, more industrial improvement, more military strength, and wait for the time to come out. Don’t worry, time is on our side. As far as the current system that restricts productivity in the UK, the terrible industry National monks who lack technology and basic education do not have sufficient capital, how can they fight us? The only thing they rely on is probably a large number of gray animals."

"Then the navy's mission this time is..." Lu Ming asked hesitantly.The executive committee has spent several months recalling a large number of naval ships. Is it to give everyone a holiday?Obviously not, there must be a military operation, but how to grasp the speed of this military operation, Lu Ming is still not very clear.The last time the executive committee met, he didn't discuss why. Recently, he went south to inspect the construction of the naval base. He was not in the capital, so he didn't know many things.

"Send the main fleet north to the coast of Brazil, put pressure on them, and intercept merchant ships from various countries entering and leaving Brazil." Liu Weimin looked at Lu Ming and said firmly: "By the way, escort the merchant ships to transport supplies to Dutch Brazil. I dare not obstruct you. But you also need to grasp the degree, try to avoid direct firefights, and even if there are firefights, you must control the intensity so that it does not escalate into a full-scale war. Remember, the executive committee does not want to go to war now, and the country is now There is no need for war at this stage, this time it is only a demonstration against the Portuguese's severance of trade."

"In addition, the Navy dispatched a fast boat to accompany the special envoy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to Europe with the latest instructions from the Executive Committee and hand them over to Mo San." Liu Weimin thought for a while and then explained: "Everyone means that Mo San should take some time off recently. Go to Lisbon and find a way to negotiate with the Portuguese. The severance of trade between the two countries this time is obviously a response to the Brazilian colonial authorities, and Lisbon probably doesn’t know about it. The gang of Portuguese nobles shown in the collected information are cowardly From the perspective of nature, it doesn't look like he can do such a thing. No matter how tough the Brazilian side is, it has to listen to Lisbon. If the trade crisis can be resolved through negotiations in Europe, it will save a lot of trouble. Of course, the Brazilian side The group of native white people in the city may not be very tough. Everyone is a businessman, and it is rare to see people tearing their faces. When they are all warships flying the flag of the Eastern China Republic, I believe they will be calmer."

"I understand. I will make it clear to Li Yi of the First Fleet." Lu Ming nodded heavily and said.

(End of this chapter)