MTL - I-Chapter 1008 1004 [chain reaction]

  Chapter 1008 1004【Chain Reaction】

  The mixed-race servant came in with a kettle, Palaifu brewed tea himself, and said to Cheng Jingming: "Authentic West Lake Longjing, traditional Chinese brewing method. Please use it slowly!"

   "Thank you Governor for your kindness." Cheng Jingming smiled.

  Palaifu sent out the servant, leaving only two people in the house. He cut to the chase and said, "Even if you don't come, I'm going to send someone to deliver a letter to Mr. Li. Next year, the starting price of all goods must be increased by at least three times, and the price of cotton cloth must be more than five times."

   "With so much increase, can it still be sold?" Cheng Jingming was quite surprised.

Palefort explained: "It's just to increase the starting price to prevent the final price from being too low. His Majesty the King already knows that you are smuggling, and Chinese goods can no longer be dumped at low prices, otherwise those colonial monopoly dealers will be angered. Moreover, your The reputation has spread, and more and more merchants are coming to buy goods. No matter how high the starting price is, it will not lead to the failure of the auction.”

  Cheng Jingming said: "I will pass this news on to Commander Li."

"Also, for the Chinese living in Mexico, it is the bottom line to allow them to worship their ancestors in private," Palefort said, "I heard that someone actually wanted to build a temple, and you also told them that this kind of behavior will be burnt to death of."

  The Inquisition in Europe is in the hands of the Dominicans. The special skill of these guys is human meat barbecue.

  The differences in the spread of Christianity in China are actually the differences between the Dominicans and the Jesuits, and Spain and Portugal are competing for religious influence.

  Spain supports the Dominican Church and prohibits Chinese people from worshiping Confucius and offering sacrifices to their ancestors.

  Portugal supports the Jesuits and advocates the integration of Christianity and Chinese cultural traditions.

   As a result of the struggle between the two sides, the Papal State broke off diplomatic relations with Portugal, and the Portuguese king could not be crowned—there were several Portuguese kings in a row, and all their portraits did not wear crowns.

  Cheng Jingming nodded and said, "I'll tell you that too."

Palefort's eyes closed suddenly: "Your Majesty, the imperial envoy may be sent next year to strictly investigate the smuggling situation in the Americas. In the summer of the next year, the Chinese Navy can dispatch to intercept the Spanish galleon in the Kuroshio Belt. I will ask the Philippine Warlord to cooperate. , A bloodless naval battle broke out, causing the silver silk trade to be suspended for one year. Mr. Li’s fleet will come next year, and a naval battle will also break out. You go to the northernmost port and wait, so that he must be prepared.”

   "Your Excellency Governor is really a good idea!" Cheng Jingming said sincerely.

   These two naval battles were for Spanish imperial envoys, and the war scripts had already been written.

  Next year, the Spanish navy will attack the Chinese fleet, "sinking and injuring" several Chinese merchant ships, and everyone from the governor to the navy will contribute.

  The following year, the Chinese navy attacked the Spanish fleet, artificially cutting off the silver trade for a year, and giving the illusion that the Philippines was in danger. The King of Spain was absolutely frightened, and then sent envoys to negotiate peace with China, and since then acquiesced to Chinese merchant ships trading in America.

  Everyone can benefit, anyway, just fool the king and imperial envoys.

  The silver wire trade has been cut off for a year, so the loss doesn't matter.

  When the Spanish navy attacks Li Quan next year, the goods will be brought ashore in advance, and the imperial envoys will not be able to ship them. In the following year, the silver wire trade was cut off, which meant that Chinese goods could not be imported into America for two consecutive years.

  Then, the price of Chinese goods will inevitably skyrocket, and when the trade resumes, the inventory will be taken out immediately, and the profits will roll up.

  Everything is in the calculation of Palaifu, and the Governor of the Philippines will definitely listen to him.

  The Philippines, like Central America, belongs to the Warlord's District. Strictly speaking, there is no Filipino Governor, only Filipino Overseers, and the Overseers are appointed and dismissed by the Governor of New Spain (Palefort). Therefore, the governor of Mexico City wears a pair of pants with the governor of the Philippines, and it is also a subordinate relationship.

  The largest smuggling umbrella in America is none other than Palefort himself!

   When this guy leaves his job and returns to China, the money he gets will never be spent in ten lifetimes.

  …

  Netherlands, Amsterdam.

   Inside and outside the stock exchange, there is a gloomy look, and countless investors seem to be walking dead.

  The Dutch West India Company declared bankruptcy and closed down.

  As early as 30 years ago, the West India Company began to lose money and needed continuous blood transfusion from the East India Company. The main reason is that the war expenditure is too large. America is not like Asia. If the Netherlands wanted to expand its American colonies, it had to fight Portugal and Spain for years.

  Nowadays, the East India Company can't protect itself, and the West India Company is completely messing around.

  The last straw that broke the camel's back was the flood of smuggling along the west coast of America, the influx of cheap Chinese goods, and the West India Company's business was even more difficult.

   "Plop!"

  A splash of water splashed, and shouts came from the port: "Someone jumped into the sea!"

  These cries did not lead to rescue, but seemed to remind those who had nothing to love. I saw a Dutch gentleman speeding towards the sea and jumping into the sea.

  Beggars are everywhere inside and outside the city.

  Many of these beggars come from the textile district, where a large number of handicraft workshops have also closed down.

  The Netherlands is the industrial center of Europe. Wool spinning, hemp spinning, cotton spinning, printing and dyeing, shipbuilding, sugar making, soap making... These industries are all second to none. The woolen fabric produced in Belgium alone accounts for more than half of the world’s woolen fabric production.

  Speaking of cotton cloth, the cotton cloth produced in the Netherlands is sold in various regions of the world.

  However, in recent years, China's cheap cotton cloth hit the Indian market, and then hit the American market. The cotton spinning industry in the Netherlands has gone into decline. A large amount of cotton cloth is overstocked in warehouses and cannot be sold at all. Cotton spinning workshops close down almost every month.

  It would be **** to be able to compete with China. Leaving aside the influence of the steam engine, the cost of raw materials would be greatly reduced.

  Europe is not rich in cotton, and the raw materials for cotton spinning in the Netherlands have to be imported from America and India. They were transported all the way back and made into cotton cloth for export. Especially in the Americas, from the import of raw materials to the sale of products, all have to be skinned by Selivian businessmen.

   "War, war, cotton war on China!"

  A lunatic who failed to invest, stood at the gate of the exchange and shouted. Such an outrageous slogan has won the approval of countless people, even beggars on the street have joined in.

   They gathered more and more, and spontaneously walked towards the parliament building, surrounded by layers of members who were meeting inside.

   "We don't want begging, we want war!"

   "War to China!"

  The congressmen came to the balcony and looked at the parade crowd outside, not knowing what to do.

  They also want to concentrate all their efforts and go to war with China alone.

   But who dares?

  The arms race between Britain and the Netherlands has been going on for several years. Both sides are frantically building ships. The second Anglo-Dutch war is imminent.

  Warning with China at this time, I am afraid that the Dutch fleet will leave Europe on the front foot, and be beaten to the door by the United Kingdom on the back foot. And businessmen from other European countries are also paying attention to the situation all the time, wanting to take a bite of the decline of the Netherlands.

  …

Madrid, Spain.

  This capital does not conform to the image of a big country, because there are too many beggars, and the business has long since withered.

   What's more frightening is that there are more foreign monks than beggars!

   There are more than 200,000 priests and nearly one million monks and nuns, accounting for a quarter of the total population of Spain.

  There are so many religious people, not because the Spaniards are so devout, but a natural choice to seek advantages and avoid disadvantages.

  The land owned by the church forces occupies half of the land area of ​​Spain, and has various political and economic privileges. At the same time, the king wanted to arrest heresies, causing 500,000 people to flee to the colony for decades.

  The decline of industry and commerce has caused more practitioners to flee and go to the colonies to make a living, and the population in Spain is even scarcer.

  A quarter of the full-time religious privileged population wants to exploit the common people together with the nobles and businessmen. How difficult is life for the lower class? As a result, more and more people chose to be priests, and more and more people fled to the colonies. A vicious circle has long been formed.

  Spain, which has the most colonies in the world, was forced to issue an order not to move to the colonies without permission...

  Compared with a hundred years ago, this situation is completely different from heaven and hell.

  When Spain was first unified, more than 50,000 Arabs converted to Catholicism, laying the foundation for Spain's industry and commerce. With the opening of the new sea route, Spain’s industry and commerce developed explosively. At that time, there were more than 16,000 wool spinning workshops in Selivia alone, with more than 130,000 wool spinning workers. Toledo became the center of the European silk industry, with more than 3,000 silk workshops and more than 30,000 silk weavers. The sugar industry also dominates the entire Europe.

  All changes start from war.

   Before the Thirty Years' War, Spain's treasury was empty because the king was fighting all over the world. In Europe alone, Spain has fought with half the countries, fighting this and that, and often fighting several countries at the same time.

   Not to mention the war, as a European nouveau riche, the Spanish royal family and nobles opened up their enjoyment, and their extravagant life was like throwing away gold and silver.

  Financial collapse, then tax.

  Transaction tax, checkpoint tax, real estate tax... Even when people move from one street to another, they must pay taxes to the government.

  In the end, I didn’t even bother to collect taxes myself, and directly contracted the taxes to the merchants.

  Under the joint squeeze of the government and tax contractors, Spanish industry and commerce quickly came to an end. Taxes accounted for more than half of the cost of goods, and high prices quickly lost market share.

  Businessmen go bankrupt and workers lose their jobs.

  Agriculture was also hit hard, and farmers were oppressed by the government, tax contractors, clergy, and feudal nobles. The land was abandoned and the peasants fled.

   Even deliberately forced the farmers to flee, so that they could take the opportunity to enclose the land, turn the arable land into pastures, and sell the wool to the Dutch at a high price.

"Your Majesty, the Dutch West India Company is said to have gone bankrupt. A large number of cotton mills in the Netherlands have also closed down, and there will be no market for American cotton in the future... The reason for all this is Chinese smuggling in America. If you don't crack down on smuggling, Your Majesty may Not going bankrupt, but us members of the Seville Chamber of Commerce are definitely going bankrupt."

  The Seville Chamber of Commerce Federation came to the King of Spain to petition for the fourth time.

  "King of the Earth" Philip IV is very old. He has witnessed the last glory of Spain, and stepped on the accelerator for Spain's decline.

  At the beginning of his succession to the throne, he was faced with the Thirty Years War, and his army was expanded to 300,000 people. Only two years after he came to power, he declared the country bankrupt.

   "Your Majesty..."

Philip IV seemed to be asleep, but suddenly opened his eyes: "You needn't say anything, I will send imperial envoys to Mexico to bring to justice all officials involved in smuggling. As long as the Chinese fleet dares to go to Mexico, one ship will be sunk One!"

   "Praise you in the name of the Lord, Your Majesty!" The merchants were finally happy.

  Sent these guys away, but Philip IV sat still.

  How dare he go to war with China?

   Even the Naples Uprising in Italy, Philip IV was unable to suppress it, and could not afford to recruit mercenaries.

  …

London, England.

  The second Anglo-Dutch war broke out two years earlier than in history.

   Hearing that the Dutch West India Company went bankrupt, Charles II felt that the time was right, and asked his younger brother to lead the navy to take Amsterdam.

   "We will win this war!"

  Charles II came to the port, drew his sword and shouted at the sailors: "The Dutchman is dead, the whole European sea is ours. Long live England!"

   "Long live England!"

   "Long live His Majesty the King!"

  Charles II, who is constantly centralizing power, has personal prestige far beyond another time and space. If things go on like this, as long as he defeats the Netherlands, he will be able to carry out a complete dictatorship.

  The British naval fleet headed for the Netherlands in mighty force.

  The Dutch navy owed a lot of wages, and they retreated without a fight, allowing the British to block Armstrong, and then they sailed the ship to Belgium to pay.

  (end of this chapter)