On April 25, 1653, in the port of Riga, Zheng Yong, who had hurried back from Arkhangel before the onset of winter last year, welcomed a special group of guests at the East Coast Trading Station, De Haire and his party from the Tripp Trading House in Sweden.

Perhaps it is not very accurate to say that they came from Sweden, because as early as the Second Polish-Swedish War, the whole of Northern Livonia had already been ceded to Sweden, so to be exact, Matthias. Mr. de Haire came to Riga from Gothenburg to Riga only by moving from one Swedish city to another.

A few days before the arrival of the Tripp Comptoir in Riga, Zheng Yong had just finished a meeting with the envoy of the Duchy of Courland, Cornelis. Cuarón's talks. He was a navigator, scholar and merchant who had historically served as governor of the Principality of Courland's colony of Tobago. He arrived at the port of Riga with a delegation of 12 men, mainly to discuss the possibility of deeper cooperation with the people from the east coast.

There is no doubt that as the Latvians succeeded in gaining a foothold in the Congo River basin, their relations with the East Bank of China were developing at a rapid pace almost from the very beginning, due to both geographical and economic factors. Not to mention the large number of Livonian immigrants on the East Coast, many of whom are often inextricably linked to the inhabitants of the Duchy of Courland, which further facilitates the further development of bilateral relations.

Thus, the Grand Duke of the Duchy of Courland, Jacob. Luckett attached great importance to the big benefactor on the east coast - most of the tobacco, tropical timber and black slaves of the colony of New Courland were sold to the east coast - and sent his own favored subjects to the port of Riga, deepening their cooperation and inviting them to Mitau (the capital of the country) or Windau (Wendao). present-day Ventspils) established a trading station. Deepen economic and trade ties between the two countries.

Zheng Yong is very interested in Latvians (in fact, the upper class of the country is mostly Germans or Germanized Latvians. The inhabitants were predominantly Latvians) were a little surprised, but this did not affect his affection for the other party - Zheng Yong, who had contacted Archduke Jacob three years earlier, was very kind to them, and praised the Principality of Courland for abandoning its colonization of Tobago in favor of his construction of a large number of people into the Congo River valley. Of course, perhaps the most satisfying thing about Zheng Yong for the Courlands was the great "record" of the other party's sales of goods from the East Coast, and together with the Duchy of Prussia, they sold a large number of East Coast goods wholesaled by the Riga trading station into Poland, making a great contribution to the development of the Riga trading station. For such an excellent second-level agent, how could Zheng Yong be stingy with a smile?

As for the other party's proposal to go to Wendao to open a commercial hall. Zheng Yong also agreed in principle. Of course, this first needs Mo San's approval, but Zheng Yong doesn't think Mo San will refuse, he is too late to be happy, Guy is also a famous commercial city in the Baltic Sea, and in a way, she is a strong competitor to Riga. Otherwise, why do you think the Swedes invaded the Duchy of Courland during the First Great Northern War? It wasn't because there was fierce commercial rivalry between Wendao and Riga (at that time the second largest city in the Kingdom of Sweden, and the first largest commercial city, which had a huge stake in Sweden's poor revenues).

Hence the warm invitation to the Latvians. Zheng Yong was very happy and promised. And as a sign of goodwill. He also ordered two three-masted galleons from a shipyard in Wendau to improve the efficiency of the transfer of goods between trading posts on the east coast of Europe. In fact, as early as 1645, the shipyard in the inland river port of Wendau (located on the banks of the Venta River, in excellent condition, free from freezing all year round, and with a vast area of high-quality forests in the hinterland) produced a large number of ocean-going merchant ships for the Duchy of Courland, a conservative estimate of more than a dozen, and this was obviously a prerequisite for this small country to sail to the Caribbean Sea for colonization - a strong shipbuilding industry.

Archduke Jacob, grandson of the last Knights of Livonia, ruler of the Duchy of Courland, was too shrewd and business-gifted, and he took advantage of the fact that the country had not been plagued by war throughout the first half of the 17th century to recruit shipbuilders from Western European countries and vigorously develop the shipbuilding industry, so that by the end of the Thirty Years' War, the country had a strong shipbuilding capacity, capable of building large merchant ships and warships at the same time, and was more skilled than the huge Muscovy and the Polish-Lithuanian Kingdom.

Moreover, the country's merchant fleet, escorted by the naval fleet, exported large pine masts, planks, wood tar and other equipment to the Netherlands, England and even Venice, and this extensive trade behavior made the merchants of Wendao and Mitao quickly rich. Later, Archduke Jacob also strongly supported the development of the glass industry and the iron casting industry, and achieved no small success, although the latter seems to have Dutch capital, the main investors of which were the de Haire family.

Such an "interesting country", with its friendly attitude towards the East Coast, and the fact that most of its citizens have little religious affiliation (the upper classes are Protestant), is a natural friendship that the East Coasters can and must make great friends with. Because of this, Zheng Yong was also kind to them, not only ordering two ships, but also promising to open a trading post in Wendao in order to reduce the cost of reselling their goods from the east coast - after all, if they bought goods from Riga, they would have to pay an extra tariff to the Swedes.

The De Haire family, who had come to Riga on behalf of the Tripp firm, did not meet the Latvians, but they were involved in a topic they discussed with Zheng Yong.

"The Swedes are expanding their armaments and hoarding military supplies, and although our trading firm has invested a lot in Sweden, we must still put the interests of the Netherlands first at this time, because they are one. Do you intend to intervene in any of the changes that may arise in the Baltic Sea, with your influence in Courland, Prussia and Muscovy? As soon as De Haier met, he threw out such a question, which made Zheng Yong a little surprised, are you here to engage in business or diplomacy?

"Where are the Swedes targeting? Poland? Zheng Yong wondered. In fact, it could only be Poland, and the feud between the King of Poland and Sweden, combined with Sweden's determination to control the southern shores of the Baltic Sea, seemed to foreshadow the outbreak of war between the two countries.

"The republics do not want a stronger state in the Baltic." De Hair had already spoken so bluntly that they would not allow Sweden to control more than that, because that would fuel their ambitions and prompt them to get rid of Dutch economic slavery more quickly.

"But what does this have to do with our country?" Zheng Yong asked with some puzzlement, "Our government has no interests in Poland, and it does not care about the fate of the Kingdom of Poland. ”

"The Swedes also have territorial ambitions for Courland and Prussia, which will cost your country a considerable part of its commercial interests." De Haire had no choice but to tell the secret information he had discovered, and in fact it was not much secret, because anyone with a discerning eye knew that Sweden had long regarded Wendao Port as a thorn in its side, and was eager to pull it out as soon as possible - it was not at all surprising that they had invaded the Duchy of Courland.

"But this is not enough to turn our government against the Kingdom of Sweden, which is a very powerful country, a country that can decide the fate of the Baltics. The Baltic Sea provides half of your country's trade profits, but it accounts for only one-tenth of our profits, and there is absolutely no need for us to do so, because the Swedes may not change the current order of commerce. Zheng Yong looked at Dehair's face and said.

De Haier was a little silent when he heard this, and only after a while did he say: "You have your reasoning, I can understand it." However, I only want to obtain one of your commitments, which is not to sell any military funds to the Kingdom of Sweden, which is valid for five years, how about that? ”

"This is no ordinary promise." Zheng Yong laughed, "In fact, based on the close ties between your two countries, we are happy to help your country, but what can we get?" You know, the Swedes can easily dispatch 3-40,000 troops, which is a lot of business. ”

"As long as you keep your promises, in five years, whatever the circumstances, our country will open the markets of the Duchy of Brandenburg-Prussia, where the merchants of your country will enjoy the same rights as the Dutch merchants." De Haire seemed to have already figured out what to say, so he spoke.

The Duchy of Brandenburg-Prussia was still an economic colony of the Netherlands at this time, and the Dutch had always been very close, and their willingness to open up to the east coast did show some sincerity. However, it is debatable whether this is worth the East Coast's refusal to export military money to Sweden - although the Swedish arms market has never been the turn of the East Coasters.

Moreover, when the Dutch said that the Brandenburg-Prussian market was being liberalized, it was actually a bit of a trick. Although the Guy Hohenzollern inherited the throne of the Duchy of Prussia, the Duchy was currently a vassal state of Poland and had never become independent, and the Hohenzollerns were only nominally the masters here. What's more, this principality is already a market for the people of the East Coast now, and this promise of the Dutch is too much moisture.

"What you said is a bit interesting, but I still need to discuss it with Envoy Mo San." Zheng Yong decided to use the procrastination trick, and at the end he couldn't help but ask: "Is the situation really serious?" The Swedes are so eager to go to war? ”

"The workshop of the Tripp Firm has received a lot of orders, mostly for gun manufacturing, armor forging, gunpowder dispensing, etc., so what do you think?" De Haire asked rhetorically without answering.

Zheng Yong thought quietly, and then smiled bitterly: "Maybe I should make some preparations in advance." ”

At this moment, he thought of the Grand Duke Jacob of the Duchy of Courland. (To be continued......)