Gao Wengang has moved his office entirely to the port of Cádiz, in the Kingdom of Spain, an important city that connects the two major waters of the Mediterranean and the Atlantic. Here, he can easily handle the messages coming from the Mediterranean and the Baltic at the same time, and the distance between the two is about the same, so it is easy to pass the messages over.

And the reason why he moved the residence of the East Bank Plenipotentiary in Europe from Amsterdam, the economic center, to Cádiz, apart from the fact that he often talked about "liking warm weather" - well, this is actually a joke - and so on, the main thing was that he felt that the current United Provinces were no longer the United Provinces of the past, in other words, the United Provinces could never go back!

Yes, yes, even a few years after the end of the war, the republicans were once again an important part of the national legislature, the provincial councils, and the city councils, but because of the changes in laws and regulations during the war and the occupation of many high-ranking positions by the Orange faction, the whole United Provinces could no longer return to the friendly atmosphere on the East Coast that John DeWitt had when he was in power. The whole country seemed a little indifferent, although not hostile, but always felt a little unpleasant, so Gawain just reported that he had moved his official residence to the most important seaport of the Kingdom of Spain, the port of Cádiz.

As the starting and ending point of the treasure fleet, the port of Cadiz has always been filled with vast amounts of wealth and goods. Gold and silver from the Americas converge – well, that is, gather a little, and then flow into the hands of Italian and Dutch bankers, the nickname "Golden Funnel" in Spain is not for nothing – and the New World is distributed with all sorts of exotic goods, and where people and cultures collide to give the port city of Cadiz a different kind of beauty.

But Cadiz also has the downside of the summer heat and gnats. Because of the latitude, Cadiz is very hot, especially in summer, and the streets of the city are very few pedestrians during the day, and it is not until after four or five o'clock in the afternoon that merchants, sailors, farmers, priests, soldiers, and other characters slowly emerge from their "hiding places", and the whole city suddenly comes alive, and from then on it enters a lively period, which is not over until long in the evening.

Gao Wengang is now accustomed to the rhythm of Spanish life. After moving to Cadiz for so long, he spent the day resting and reading in the backyard of his shady villa, and only after three o'clock in the afternoon did he take a horse-drawn carriage to visit guests, inspect goods, and inspect work.

This habit lasted until the official end of the scorching heat three months ago, and the normal routine was restored. No, it was just after one o'clock in the afternoon today (November 23, 1683) when Gawain had just gone to the docks to inspect his work, for a merchant ship from Amsterdam had just arrived.

This merchant ship is one of the old ships belonging to the Amsterdam Merchant Post - for many years the East Coasters have been fond of "shopping for treasures" in Europe's largest used ship market - and purchased some ship masts, cables, wood tar and other ship equipment locally, and arrived in Cadiz via London for short-distance trade, as well as for the transmission of information and personnel between the various trading posts and embassies in the East Coast system.

Having just been not interested in how much the goods on the flute-shaped ship called the "Groningen Sunflower" had sold for in Cádiz, he immediately sat down in a relatively secluded and quiet room in the warehouse, met with the two couriers who had arrived with the ship, asked about the situation in Amsterdam and London, and then took the diplomatic letters they had brought with him and read them carefully.

The letters from Amsterdam consisted mostly of business and financial reports, with only one thing that caught Gao Wengang's attention slightly, and that was that the Prince of Orange had once again rejected a proposal by the Estates-General to pardon John DeWitt for "treason". Since more than 20 judges from the seven provinces could not reach a consensus after rehearing the case against the DeWitt brothers, the charges against the DeWitt brothers could not be resolved through judicial means, so they could only hope that the state would govern and that the Prince of Orange, William III, would grant amnesty. But how could the Prince of Orange agree to such a ridiculous thing? Not surprisingly, he twice refused to pardon the DeWitt brothers, leaving the former Speaker of the Estates-General living in the South Netherlands for several years and never being able to return to the United Provinces, which was also tragic.

Of course, Speaker DeWitt is also a man of character, and of course he cannot accept the end of his exile and return to politics by the amnesty of his enemies. At present, most of the people who are repeatedly tossing and turning for him to go back are some old friends from the past, and he himself will never bow to William III, even if it is an expedient measure, so this seems to indicate that he will probably never return to the United Province and return to his hometown.

"The republicans are one step behind, one step at a time, but it seems that our policies should be adjusted. DeWitt, since he can't return to the United Province and can't return to his stage, then after a long time, he will probably be forgotten by the audience, right? In this way, the republicans are afraid that they will elect a new person to fight William III, right? I heard that Van Boiningen has stepped down from his post as ambassador and returned to Amsterdam from Berlin, so the next step is probably to be elected by the republicans as a spokesperson, right? It's an old friend from the East Coast, and it's a good relationship, and it's worth investing heavily in. Putting down the letter in his hand, Gao Wengang sighed softly and said to himself.

In fact, the contact between Konrad van Boningen began as early as the second half of last year, after all, this person is not low in prestige, and he has served as ambassador to the East Coast, so it is easy to communicate with the East Coast side. Such a figure is an excellent partner to work with, so it is normal for Gao Wengang to push him to power after obtaining the consent of the local Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Moreover, the influence of the people on the east coast among the Dutch capitalists, many republican parliamentarians, under their influence, have gradually become inclined to put Van Boiningen on the throne, so the voice of this monarch is now getting louder and louder.

Although this style of republicans and people on the east coast seems to be a little unauthentic, they are suspected of crossing the river and demolishing bridges, and they are not emotional and righteous. But politics is such a thing, to be honest, the most emotional and righteous thing, it only talks about naked interests. With this interest, the French, who were more fanatical about Catholicism (for which they were all purging the country of Protestants), were able to lay down their positions and form an alliance with the Turks; With the benefits, the Protestant princes, who were still fighting for life and death, were able to side with the Catholic king. All of this has happened in recent decades, and everyone has seen it and taken it for granted, and the people of the East Coast are no exception, so there is no ambiguity in supporting Van Boiningen.

"Let's hope he succeeds, it takes a lot of personal ability, and of course a little luck, William III is getting older and older, and it's not easy to deal with." Gao Wengang muttered and put down the letter in his hand, then picked up another letter from Cai Zhenguo in London and read it carefully.

The letter is a voluminous seven or eight pages long and covers all aspects of British politics, economics, business, science and technology, with a particular focus on the tensions between King Charles II's younger brother, the Duke of York, and members of Parliament. The big capitalists have already clashed several times in semi-public with the Duke of York, who has made no secret of his Catholic tendencies, because Charles II has no heirs, and it stands to reason that once he dies, the throne should be brother-in-law, but now the capitalists and enlightened nobles who control most of the power in England are very reluctant to let this guy ascend to the throne, so there is actually a deep crisis hidden under the appearance of stability and prosperity in the Kingdom of England, and an armed conflict may break out if he is not careful.

As the plenipotentiary envoy of the East Coast Republic of China to Europe, Gao Wengang has been closely following the situation in England for many years, and is very amazed by the rapid development of this country, so he has been trying to make some trouble for it. Now it seems that a so-called succession crisis seems to be the best place to start, although it is unlikely to upend British politics and force the Duke of York to the throne, but it is necessary to find some "fun" for the English people to not develop so quickly.

This country has reached the point where it must be restricted! And after the restrictions are over, it is possible for this country to be obedient, to dance with the baton of the East Coast, and to become an important weapon for the East Coast to interfere in the situation on the European continent - of course, all this is still far away, and "tuning" England is a long-term process, and the probability of failure is quite high.

Beyond the description of the political situation in England is a large section of intelligence analysis of England's industrial technology. Cai Zhenguo wrote in detail here, making a small outline, describing in detail the information covering metal refining and processing, gun manufacturing and sales, cloth weaving and printing and dyeing, and most importantly, the gradual promotion of the steam engine, which makes people look clear and impressive.

After Gao Wengang finished reading it, he pondered for a moment before he picked up his pen and made a note on the letter. His view is actually quite similar to Cai Zhenguo, that is, England's industrial strength is already very good, and the honeymoon period of the relationship between Britain and the Netherlands has been further improved in the past two years. Therefore, he also felt that Dutch commercial capital and England's industrial capital could not be combined, otherwise once the two had a chemical reaction, he was afraid that something would "happen"! In this way, this matter is related to the interference in the succession to the throne of England that he thought about earlier, and perhaps these two matters can be filed together.

After this paragraph, Cai Zhenguo's letter was followed by a large collection of information about several land countries, such as Austria, Poland, Russia, Turkey, etc., and the part about Ottoman naturally occupied the largest space. Gao Wengang also attached great importance to this paragraph, as the largest fulcrum of the Eastern Coast Republic in Europe, the Ottoman Turkish Empire was never an interest that could be discarded. On the contrary, the trade, diplomacy, and even so-called influence of the people of the East Coast for many years have been based on the existence and strength of this old empire. The Ottoman Empire was so strong that the people of the East Coast could not only not affect their trade, but could even indirectly influence many other regions to gain benefits. And if the country weakens, then surrounded by wolves, it will no longer be able to maintain its original sphere of influence, and there will inevitably be a contraction, which will also greatly reduce the investment of the East Coasters for many years.

Therefore, the best choice for the Ottomans was to maintain a tall but fat physique, and maintain a certain deterrent effect on Austria and Russia, which were growing up. After all, the psychological advantage established in the past hundred years of crusades and westward negotiations is still relatively effective, and the invisible deterrent effect is very great. But once you accidentally eat a defeated battle and puncture the fat layer of brown paper, then the consequences will be more serious, and those countries that have been bullied by you will definitely rush to the top in the future, with revenge and revenge, and if you don't chase and fight with the Ottomans, there will be ghosts! And no matter how strong you are Ottoman, covered in iron, how many nails can you hit in the face of feuds such as Poland, Austria, Russia and even Persia?

"Mustafa is really far inferior to his adoptive father and brother, and this prestige is really not enough. What can be said that a man from the dignified Koprulu family, with such excellent resources and connections, was still half-coerced and half-lured by a gang of military leaders and lords to go on a military adventure in the heart of Austria under extremely inadequate preparations? Gao Wengang also had a headache when he saw this.

A former ambassador to Istanbul, he is more devoted to the country than anyone else. He had already sent an envoy to the Ottomans once, and that was when the idea of attacking Austria was just beginning to emerge, and he had no choice but to persuade them to accept it when they saw it, and was easily rejected, which made Gao Wengang feel a little depressed, why not listen to persuasion!

Now, a few months later, and the situation is becoming more and more complicated, I heard that the Austrians feel wrong about the delay of the Ottoman army in Hungary, and have begun to slowly draw elite main forces from the Western Front to return to reinforcements. It is clear that the French have not been able to fulfill their promise in this matter, and they have only pinned down part of the Austrian army, and the other part of about 20,000 men has begun to retreat to the mainland, in order to prevent the Ottomans from gaining an inch.

"Forget it, I'll go to Istanbul in a few days, find a way to contact Davizi, and persuade them to withdraw one last time." Gao Wengang stroked his forehead and thought helplessly: "In addition, we must also be prepared for the defeat of the Ottoman Empire, more than 100,000 hastily turned troops, tired from a long battle, and insufficient supplies, once the Austrians implement the strategy of luring the enemy into the depths and closing the door and beating the dogs, the possibility of failure is still very high." Of course, in case they win, or even take Vienna by chance - well, forget it, they can't hold it if they take it, and it's in vain, so this will not be considered. ”