Saturday, January 11, 1625.

is different from Shi Wenbo's chic attitude in the port of Seville, accompanying Yuan Xinyi after giving birth to recuperate in Azores, on the one hand, Foreign Minister Su Zining, who is sitting in the Consulate General, is pinching the hot potato sent by Shi Wenbo and pondering.

The diplomatic conditions of the Spaniards had been forwarded to the country a few days ago, and Su Zining believed that during this time, both the government and the Congress in the country must have made a lot of trouble. The complexity of the European and Atlantic interests of Frederick V and Guadeloupe, even if they had been prepared for a long time, would have been enough to make a group of laymen from 21st century international politics scratch their heads for a long time.

On this day, Ren Changle and Yang Wenwen also arrived in Angra Heroísmo on their own "Weiyang Palace" flying scissors merchant ship and started their newlywed honeymoon vacation. Yang Wenwen, who is dedicated to business, finally revealed the characteristics of a newlywed woman, and showed great interest in a pair of sisters and brothers of Su Zining's family, and the discussion topic with Yuan Xinyi was no longer mixed with any economic content.

Ren Changle, who had a bumper harvest in love and career, sat in Su Zining's office in high spirits, casually looking at the pile of essays on the other party's desk, and let out bursts of "tsk" exclamations.

"Fortunately, I got married on New Year's Day, otherwise if your letter was sent back in those days, my family would definitely be cold." After reading the text that made Su Zining frown, Ren Changle stretched his arms comfortably and pointed at the other party with a smile, "So I said, let's not worry about these things, no matter how you choose, the Thirty Years War in Europe is also an unstoppable history, let's just pick the fruit naturally, why do we have to pull ourselves in?" ”

"Wasn't the Thirty Years' War in Europe the opening song of the peak of the world colonial movement? Choosing a more advantageous entry point would allow the country to gain benefits that were not historically ours. Looking at his friend's look of "not in his position, not in his political ......", Su Zining also smiled self-deprecatingly.

"I've always been curious, why have you and Yan Xiaomo been so cautious about Spain, from the perspective of the Thirty Years War in Europe, the teeth of such an old empire are about to fall out, in fact, there are so many European countries that can choose to cooperate, so that they will not be 'kidnapped' by Spain, making us seem like their little brother now......" Ren Changle poured a glass of wine for Su Zining and expressed his opinion.

"This is the value of Spain, including Portugal" Su Zining held a wine glass, looked at the port in the distance through the glass wall window, and thought thoughtfully, "Ren Changle, do you know why I insisted on walking with Spain and Portugal in the first place?" So much so that many people in the country believe that this route is a shackle for us and blocks our expansion in the New World and the Atlantic. ”

"Let me guess? I don't think the relationship between Catalina and Yan Xiaosong, Anna and Shi Wenbo, needs this country to do the dowry. ”

Ren Changle grabbed the back of his head, and it took a long time before he muttered, "Hee...... We need the capacity of these two countries to provide us with Ming Dynasty immigrants. ”

"Ming immigration is only one of the small factors. As long as we have patience and take advantage of the favorable conditions of history, we can complete the layout of the entire Far Eastern communication route, so in the long run, the issue of migration is not our biggest problem, but the easiest goal to achieve. Su Zining suddenly stood up, walked to the world map on the side of the office, and pointed to the Iberian Peninsula with a smile, "For us, we must consider the long-term problem than the Ming Dynasty immigrants, that is, to grasp the enlightenment left by history, choose the support and cooperation objects that can really bring us rich returns, and lay a chessboard for future generations to play." ”

"Do you mean Spain and Portugal?" Ren Changle is not ignorant of history, but he does not agree with Su Zining's opening remarks, "What is special about them, the Portuguese won't talk about it now, I only see that the Spaniards are trying to kidnap us, if this is also considered 'support and cooperation', then I think the gang of people in the Congress will spray you to death!" ”

"These two countries have two characteristics in common, which meet the basic conditions of 'support and cooperation'." Su Zining was noncommittal to Ren Changle's reminder, and looked at the world map by himself, "They are 'big enough' and 'small enough'." ”

"To say that they are 'big' is that they can provide us with sufficient trade benefits and shelter at this stage. Spain and Portugal are both some of the world's largest colonial powers. Both countries have vast overseas colonies and trade routes, abundant maritime capacity, and Spain is the number one maritime power in this era, and they have the advantages and conditions that we need. ”

"To say that they are 'small' is that they have a very obvious fatal flaw, which leads them to be weak in nature and can be controlled by us in the future. Portugal is close to the Atlantic Ocean, the mainland is small and has no strategic depth, and now it has a population of only one million, and it is congenitally weak, and it is destined to be a piece of meat in the event of war. What about Spain? Although they have become the world's first-class colonial empire with the help of innate geographical conditions and historical preferences, their national strategic pattern is too small. ”

"These two countries of the Iberian Peninsula set a precedent for the world geographical revolution, but they were complacent, incompatible with the progress demanded by the times, and they still continued the old feudal monopoly idea. Economically, the monopoly of private trade between the king and the feudal aristocracy was a long-term state policy, rather than mercantilism, as France, the Netherlands, and England gradually took the lead in state policy. In contrast to the fact that they regarded the overseas lands given to them by history as plundering their rivals, rather than as an organism with their own development, France, the Netherlands, and England were much more sophisticated than they were in terms of overseas exploration. ”

"And in fact it also proved that Spain and Portugal could plunder countless riches from abroad, but they became ATMs for the whole of Europe, they went in with their left hand and out with their right hand, and it was only the king and the feudal elite who were rich, except for the price of the whole of Europe, the whole country did not benefit in the slightest, and the common class was impoverished, and finally cheapened the new powers. In the face of such a 'small' country, are we afraid that they will become a threat in the future? But they must not be replaced by those emerging maritime powers. A mentally retarded and physically strong thug is in the fundamental interests of the owner. ”

After listening to Su Zining's set of theories, Ren Changle looked at each other blankly. As for Su Zining himself, after returning to his desk, he began to look through the Spanish diplomatic texts again.

"To support and cooperate is to treat them as our ATMs, as stewards of our world interests and to prevent other countries from taking their place. And we can adjust the work of this big steward at any time according to the situation? Sounds interesting, but can you guarantee that the people in Congress will agree with you? You know, the 'troubles' you have caused in the past two years are enough for you to be on the blacklist of history. ”

It took a long time for Ren Changle to mutter, and the wine in his hand was restored.

"No guarantees."

Su Zining raised his head and looked bad.

Like Su Zining and Ren Changle thought, the conditions of the Kingdom of Spain's diplomatic negotiations caused a stir in Congress and the government, and putting aside more complex international geopolitical and economic-related topics, the fact that the Kingdom of Spain wanted to have a production line of 21b frog rifles and 12-pound iron cannon cannons caused great controversy in Congress.

Although the benefits brought by arms exports to the country are about to fall out of the top ten in trade income because of the emergence of more industrial products, military technology is indeed one of the most sensitive nerve touches of the 21st century traversal who are "suffering from historical pathos", so their eyes can only focus on this condition that is the least important for Su Zining.

The active military equipment of the national army and navy, represented by the 22A1 rifle and the Wisworth rear-loading rifled gun

Cheng Dù, whose technological advantages are leading, has long since thrown off several streets in Europe. Even though the 21B sewing rifle and the 1-pounder iron cannon have now entered Europe on a large scale, the application characteristics of the front-loading weapons are backward in the objectivity of the army's organizational thinking and tactical thinking, and they are completely unable to compete with the military superiority of China and the United States.

From this point of view, once against the Huamei ** team, the European army with 21B sewing rifles and 12-pounder iron cannon is actually the same as the Caribbean natives with spears and hunting bows on Guadeloupe today, and there is no difference in essence.

In his opinion, as long as the supporting steam power pack is not exported, a set of 21B sewing rifle production line driven only by animal power or water power will have a production efficiency of only a quarter of that of domestic enterprises

The monthly output will not exceed 800 pieces. The important thing is that with the current metallurgical level in Europe, it is impossible to provide qualified metal materials, not to mention the production process of some key bolt parts, they still have to import these things from China and the United States, and even the parts of related machine tools and equipment are worn and replaced, and they still cannot leave Huamei.

Therefore, this kind of production trial transfer is actually more like an authorized assembly of accessories, but it can free up considerable technical hours of domestic enterprises to produce more important industrial products.

Lin Youde and Jiang Zhaolong, apart from being very cautious about opposing the transfer of technology for the production of 12 iron cannons, did not have any objection to the sale of the 21B sewing rifle production line, and in their view, wasting domestic skilled workers on the production of such low-grade products was a great waste of human resources.

Jiang Zhaolong, who is more economically savvy, even calculated that the production cost of the 21b sewing rifle is actually the largest human salary. If only the production raw materials and key parts are provided, and the Spaniards produce and assemble them themselves, even if the unit price of a 21B fly-shot rifle obtained by the Spaniards will be greatly reduced from the previous 90 US dollars to 50 US dollars, the profits belonging to Huamei will not be much less than the export of the whole gun, and more importantly, a large number of skilled workers can be liberated from this time. As long as a little bit of manipulation is made in raw materials and key parts, the quality and life of the 21B sewing rifle made in Spain will inevitably not be comparable to the original load.

Even if the military-industrial complex gets a reply, there is still stubborn opposition that has no room for manoeuvre. At the National Assembly on January 14, the government's submission was amended by a single vote, and it sparked controversy that lasted for years.

Provisions: Huamei will transfer a set of 21b rifle production and assembly lines to Spain for $900,000, but the barrel raw materials, certain key bolt parts, and machine tool accessories can only be purchased from Huamei.

The terms of Spain's attempt to tie up China and the United States to form a military alliance in the Atlantic and the New World of America were changed the most under Su Zining's suggestion to read: "The United States of America of China recognizes the rights and interests of the Kingdom of Spain in Mexico, Cuba, Colombia, Venezuela, and Chile against Peru, and guarantees military assistance in the event of invasion by a third country in the upper lost region within 10 years." ”

Anyway, there are no major events in the history of the above-mentioned areas, but for the current Spain, it is like a lifeline, so such a change in conditions will not be considered a kind of speculation in Spain. A whole bunch of other trade privileges between the two sides in South America and the Caribbean, which in the eyes of the traverser would seem to be dirty, are also listed. As for the transfer of the production of the 1-pound iron cannon, it was rejected.

Finally, the Kingdom of Spain recognized the rights and interests of the United States of America of China on the east coast of North America and the Lesser Antilles, and pledged military assistance in the event of invasion by a third country in the aforementioned areas.

At first glance, much of the content is largely biased towards the Kingdom of Spain. The Kingdom of Spain in exchange for a small Antilles that it did not even occupy a foothold in itself would have received a great deal of benefit from the American Republic of China, which would surely arouse the envy of the whole of Europe for a considerable period of time.

However, it will take a long time for such diplomatic clauses to be finally confirmed by both sides, and it will take a long time for them to be signed by both sides. When the content of the treaty was sent to the Azores, Su Zining still breathed a long sigh of relief

At the same time, in distant Seville, Albert, Marquis of Santa Cruz, and Swainberg reached a formal "family agreement" that Svenven and Anna's son, Svenven, would become the legal heir of the Marquis de Santa Cruz family, and while retaining the original beautiful name, the Spanish name would be added, and the full name would be "Svenven Oscar Wenbazan...... in order to meet the male inheritance requirements of Spanish aristocratic families.

According to the agreement, when he grew up, he had to convert to Catholicism, and then go to Spain to live and study for at least three years at the age of 16. Anna was so happy about this, the poor two-year-old child had no idea that she had become a tool of interest in the hands of her parents and grandparents.

However, this bloody plot does not seem to touch Swenbo's already shallow bottom line, because at this time, Swenbo has already used his extremely limited personal time to get acquainted with Princess Maria. Aside from her crappy Spanish skills, the simple and elegant Spanish princess has been attracted by Svenbeau's "humor" and "knowledge".

Swenbo's promotion of his soon-to-be-completed "Atlantis Entertainment City ......" has also entered the stage of large-scale promotion, and the Spanish magnates of Seville, including Duke Carlos and Princess Maria, have expressed strong interest in this "beautiful holy land" being built in the American concession of Porterto Sangra.

In mid-January of the 1st year, England, the Netherlands, Denmark, and France formally formed a secret alliance with France, the Netherlands, and England at their expense, and Denmark was responsible for sending troops to jointly attack the Holy Roman Empire, which won the first phase of the Thirty Years' War in Europe.

Slightly different from history, the second phase began a month later, and King Christian IV of Denmark, who was more well prepared, actually raised an army of nearly 50,000 this time, and marched into Germany with great courage, trying to occupy the whole of northern Germany and reap the fruits of this great war in Europe.

Mansfield, the commander-in-chief of the Protestant mercenaries in England, also officially opened the banner of recruitment in northeastern Germany, preparing to support the Danish army's military operations from the flank. This bold and tenacious leader of the English mercenary army, this time he got out of nowhere to get about 2,000 American Type 21b sewing rifles, and he was very angry and clamored to attack Bohemia and the Holy Horse Empire itself.

The Netherlands was not carried away by optimism, and a large number of German Protestant mercenaries who poured into the Netherlands in the early stage were pulled out, and the arrogant Dutch Governors' Federation directly stuffed thousands of American muskets into this Dutch mercenary army of 8,000 people, just waiting for the Kingdom of Spain to crash in.

In the face of the aggressive and aggressive military action of the European Anti-Habsburg League, the Holy Roman Empire and the Kingdom of Spain reacted much more muted. Even though well prepared, the Imperial army under the command of Count Tilly was still almost half as numerous as the Danish army, and several skirmishes were defeated by the Danish army, which was equipped with a large number of American weapons and had high morale. And another imperial general who is more famous in history, Duke Wallenstein, moved towards Bohemia with another imperial ** main force, preparing to meet the English mercenaries in Mansfield.

Due to the discomfort of being nailed to the body at all times by the Dutch thorn, the director could not directly send troops to support the Holy Roman Empire, and the Spanish Kingdom could only concentrate a heavy army group of more than 10,000 people in the Spanish Netherlands, commanded by the famous general and commander-in-chief of the Netherlands Army of the Spanish Kingdom, Marquis Spinola, ready to launch a large-scale attack on the Netherlands at any time. Part of the main force of the native fleet of the Spanish Royal Navy was assembled in the port of Cádiz, ready to sail to the English Channel if necessary to prevent the reinforcement of England to the Netherlands.

After nearly a year of meticulous preparations, the powder keg of the second phase of the Thirty Years' War in Europe was finally detonated, and the front-line armies of several belligerents were armed with more than 20,000 American-style Type 21B fly-fired rifles.

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