"These fishing boats of the East Coasters!" Standing in the newly built Cathedral of the Assumption in the outer harbor of Callao, Father DeSantis said, holding a silver cross in one hand and pointing to the dotted sails on the sea in the distance.

Father DeSantis was an Italian, more precisely, a clergyman of Sicilian origin under the Spanish Habsburgs. After many years of hard work in the Church, with his perseverance and some small luck, he gradually climbed to the top and then became the Bishop of Lima, and the new Cathedral of the Assumption is the most outstanding achievement of his tenure, this magnificent church strengthened the authority of the Church and attracted more believers.

One more thing has to be said here. In addition to the appropriations of the Peruvian Governor and the donations of local believers, part of the customs revenue transferred by the East Coasters was also one of the sources of the huge cost of the construction of the Magnificent, elaborate materials and lavish decorations. Of course, it is said that the Southern Railway Company, which used to manage the customs and monopoly trade, also donated 50,000 pesos in cash and some building materials at the behest of the government, which can be regarded as contributing to the construction of the Cathedral of the Assumption, in exchange for the local religious forces no longer targeting the merchants on the east coast, so that the trade between the two countries can be carried out more efficiently.

However, although the construction of churches took many advantages from the East coasters, this did not reverse the bad impression of the Spanish religious circles towards the East coast infidels. Especially after Father Ramos was assassinated in Mar del Plata by an unknown person, who was believed to have been responsible for the work of the East Coast in Spain, this bad impression reached its peak, and the "affection" that the East Coasters donated money to repair the church almost exhausted.

Even if Father DeSantis is not a radical in the diocese of Lima, he still has a very negative impression of the people on the East Coast, if you take into account the strong religious atmosphere and special social system in Spain, then this negative impression is very bad, because of his words at a critical moment, it may affect the choice of many Spanish merchants, so that the East Coast loses a lot of trade profits in vain - you can't ignore the energy of the gods, in this era when many businessmen will donate a considerable part of their property to the church before the temporaryIt's not surprising that they do have the ability to call the wind and rain.

"Your Excellency, why can't our men go out to sea to fish? You see, there are so many poor and losers in Lima. They came from the Old World, but because of business failure or other reasons, they were in trouble, and it was difficult for them to even get married, so they came to church every now and then to beg for food. For these people, why not send them out to the sea to fish? I am convinced that the waters off Lima are very rich in fisheries, and the people of the east coast send out many fishing boats every year to catch fish, from Chile to Lima, everywhere, which shows that this is a rich sea. I have spoken to people who, many of them have had fishing experiences in the Old World and are now in difficulty, and they do not mind returning to their old business, but some outdated and pedantic policies have prevented them from moving further. Father DeSantis turned to look at the new Peruvian governor, Arango, who had just finished praying, and said worriedly.

"Father, you're still so well informed." Governor Arango and DeSantis were born in the same countryside as Madrid, and they knew each other since childhood, and they had a fairly good relationship, so they could discuss some of the more in-depth topics, which will only be heard from him: "King Carlos has formally agreed to the new colonial trade decree, which means that some of the previous decrees have been abolished, which is what I heard when I left Madrid." At that time, the decree had been officially transmitted to the West Indian House, and with the efficiency of the bureaucrats, it would probably be some time before it reached here. But in any case, there is no doubt that a new era is coming! ”

It is said that the control of the trade of overseas colonies in the Kingdom of Spain was quite strict, and there were fixed trade routes planned by the state, and no one was allowed to violate them without authorization. For example, it was stipulated that Buenos Aires could only trade with Lima and not with other cities, even those in the Viceroyalty of Peru, with penalties ranging from flogging to hanging.

The reason for this is to protect the interests of native Spanish merchants. More precisely, in order to ensure that the two treasure fleets, the Flota Fleet and the Gajaanes Fleet, could obtain sufficient profits, the trade routes between the various cities were strictly regulated, and no one was allowed to violate them without permission.

It is fair to say that in the early days of colonization (i.e., in the last century), this set of rules of the Spaniards still had a little effect. Although the interests of the colonial cities and their native white classes were greatly harmed, the nobles and merchants from Spain made a lot of money. However, the good times did not last long, and many English merchants came to the door and joined the treasure fleet in the name of "Spanish relatives". The English were followed by the Dutch, French, and even Portuguese, who joined the trade by finding agents in Spain itself, greatly squeezing the profits of native Spanish merchants.

And now, with the customs of the ten major port cities of the two viceroyalties of New Spain and Peru under the control of the East Coasters, and a large number of East Coast goods poured into the Spanish colonies like a tide, it is even more unnecessary to maintain this outdated trade policy, because it is now only harmful, not beneficial, and can not bring benefits to the native Spanish merchants or nobles, but on the contrary, it makes the native elite of the colonies very dissatisfied and alienated, so it is a very wise thing to abolish it.

Oh, and by the way, there may not be an explanation of the impact of the trade restriction law on fishing. Quite simply, the colonial governor, on the instructions of the Madrid court, did not even allow any ships to go to sea to fish, beware of their smuggling trade (which was in fact inevitable), so for many years the Spaniards in Peru had to import most of their seafood from the east coast, except for a few officially licensed fishing boats. The Spaniards, who guarded the great treasure of Peruvian fisheries, wanted to import seafood, and they were so drunk that they didn't know what to say.

"It was the right decision to be late." Father DeSantis did not mind commenting on the Court of Madrid and the House of West Indies, but listened to him add: "As soon as the old decree is repealed, those who wish to go out to sea to fish will be allowed to go out to sea to fish, those who are willing to go out to sea to do business will be allowed to go out to sea to trade, and even those who are willing to go out to sea for adventure will be free to decide their own voyage." In this way, the two viceroyalties of Peru and New Spain will be closer and more local, which will be of great benefit to the development of society. Actually, are we really much worse than the East Coasters? They were able to build such a huge business network in such a short period of time, and naturally we can also try. ”

The priest said this, but he seemed to forget that the main reason why the merchants of the East Coast were able to dominate Peru and New Spain was due to the strong industrial production capacity of the country. The many factories, workshops and trading enterprises in the East Coast Prairie and Duck Lake basin are the main factors that make the East Coast goods popular. To put it bluntly, the success of East Coast merchants is certainly due to their own efforts, but we must not forget the huge competitiveness of East Coast commodities themselves.

Therefore, it is difficult to say who would benefit more now that the government of the Kingdom of Spain has relaxed its control of the trade in the colonies, which has brought the various cities closer to each other. You must know that with the current penetration of East Coast goods in Peru, New Spain and other places, there will be more comprador merchants who will help the large wholesalers in the big ports to deliver all kinds of East Coast goods everywhere, further squeezing the market for goods from Spain or other countries.

"Let's not talk about that, let's talk about the rest. What are you going to do with the Chilean side? Father DeSantis asked suddenly. It was actually a bit inappropriate for him to ask, but in Spain, where the theocracy is very strong, it is not a big deal for a senior clergyman at the bishop level to ask, you must know that it is very common for bishops of Catholic countries to participate in state affairs, not to mention that he and Governor Arango are close friends, so it is okay to ask.

Sure enough, Governor Arango did not hide from Father DeSantis, but he sighed softly and said in a slightly melancholy tone: "What else can I do? I can only retreat step by step. The southern part of Chile is already a sparsely populated place, and if it weren't for some small silver mines, I am afraid that there would not even be towns. Now that the people on the east coast have promised not to touch our mines, and also help us increase the production of silver mines and build roads, then what else can we say, we can only promise them, otherwise I am afraid that something bigger will happen. And—"

At this point, Governor Arango paused, and seeing that Father DeSantis was still listening, he continued: "Before leaving, Your Majesty asked me to discuss with the East Coast about the purchase of weapons and equipment, and even the hiring of East Coast soldiers to help improve the combat effectiveness of the army units on the mainland. Now that the situation is becoming more and more tense, and the Turks have not been able to reap the victory in Hungary without getting better, and there are great signs of an advance into Austria, His Majesty has instructed me to negotiate with the people on the east coast as soon as possible for the purchase of arms, just in case. How can I offend the people of the East Coast in such a situation? ”

"Could it be that Your Majesty has any intention of getting involved in a new war?" DeSantis was shocked and asked. With the country's current financial situation, which was now full of holes, it was indeed inappropriate to get involved in a new war, which would only lead to the misery of financial bankruptcy.

"Of course not." Governor Arango waved his hand and said, "The procurement of weapons is just a normal response to the growing threat from the French. The recent frequent deployment of troops by the French near the Rhine and the Pyrenees has kept the Kingdom of Austria at bay and at the same time put us under pressure. In order to prevent some small people in Catalonia from having bad ideas inspired by the French, His Majesty decided to allocate funds to further strengthen the army, to actively respond to the severe external situation, and to suppress possible internal rebellions. Of course, this is only part of the way that you can see, and I privately think that the quantity of weapons that His Majesty has requested to be imported is quite large, and that it may not all be used on us, and that I would not be at all surprised if a considerable part of it went to the Austrians. ”

Father DeSantis nodded silently. The French were so hateful that for more than a century they had openly and untapped alliances with the Ottoman Empire (the Ottoman fleets were stationed in Marseille in large numbers and used it as a base to attack the Spanish and Italian coasts), and the Church was disappointed. This time he helped the Ottomans to contain some of the armies of the Kingdom of Austria and the German princes, which made many people in the Christian world even more unhappy, and they began to support the Kingdom of Austria in their own ways, either explicitly or implicitly, such as the Spaniards.

Father DeSantis was also sympathetic to the Kingdom of Austria, which now had a high prestige in the Catholic world and a number of warlike generals, a far cry from the weak Spanish army. Therefore, the Spanish support for the Habsburg relatives was not too much in the eyes of Father DeSantis, as long as he was careful not to involve himself in the war - I heard that this time the Ottomans mobilized another 200,000 troops, so it is okay to help some weapons and supplies behind the back, and it is too stupid to be the front.

"The luck of the East Coast people is really good, or rather, their luck has been a little too good over the years." DeSantis remembered that the pagans on the East Coast had taken advantage of the danger (when Spain was in trouble or in danger in the Old World) to seize a considerable amount of Spanish land or commercial interests, perhaps because of their geographical location, and no one could force them to get involved in conflicts or wars that they did not want to get involved in.

"This time Chile is going to give them some land again, and it shouldn't be enough to satisfy their appetite for long. Maybe next time, instead of the uninhabited wastelands or forests, they will want urban riches such as Corral, Valdivia, and Biarrica. Father DeSantis said with a sigh.

"Yes, so we have to try to be tough in this negotiation and not make concessions at the beginning, which will only fuel their ambitions, and then develop to the point that even Santiago, Valparaiso and other places covet it, which we cannot tolerate." Governor Arango said: "Even if we are finally pressured to accede to their demands, we must make it clear to them that our patience is running out and that the people on the east coast must restrain their appetites, or they will mess everything up, after a tragic and heart-wrenching negotiation process." ”