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In the debate about the irreversible consequences of chance and necessity in history, we have been looking for some clues that lead to the occurrence of such accidental or inevitable results.

The English-speaking people of Britain, who ruled most of the world in just over 200 years in modern times, seem to today seem like a complicated process of solving formulas, full of luck, weirdness, blood, calculation, and infall. However, it is undeniable that the regional ethnicity and social spirit of the British nation itself are very different from those of Spain, Portugal and France, which are also European coastal states.

First, there is the issue of population.

From the beginning of the 16th century to the beginning of the 17th century, Europe entered a stage of social self-reorganization and external exploration and curiosity, the frequency of large-scale European internal wars decreased to the lowest point since the Middle Ages, and England, which had been peaceful for most of the time, had a peak population growth that lasted for a century.

At the beginning of the 17th century, excluding Ireland and Scotland, which were not yet part of the future British Empire, England's native population exceeded 4.2 million, much more than other European countries in the same period.

The initial rise of urbanization has led to a sharp increase in population pressure in major English cities such as London, and all walks of life are redundant. A peaceful life is not guaranteed, and London's prisons are overcrowded with idle unemployed and thieves and hooligans. The founder of the Massachusetts Bay Colony in British North America, John Brown. Winthrop complained in his diary: "All the towns and villages complain about the burden of the poor. ”

At the end of the 16th century, the Xiaoice climate began to spread around the world. Coupled with the rapid growth of the country's population, social problems became more prominent, and from the beginning of the 17th century, England's determination to emigrate abroad was strengthened.

More than 100 years later, a priest named Malthus published a pamphlet called "The Principle of Population", which expounded on the contradictory relationship between population inflation and the country's economy, and proposed the chilling "Malthusian trap" population theory:

A peaceful environment for economic development will inevitably lead to population growth, which in turn will inevitably dilute per capita capital possession. This, in turn, has kept per capita output at a low level. Population growth grows in a geometric progression, while the means of subsistence only grow in an arithmetic progression, and the additional population is always eliminated in some way. It can be a plague, it can be a famine, it can be a war. It can also be something else......

It has to be said that the "far-sighted" large-scale foreign colonization activities of the English people began in the 17th century, allowing the English to bypass the Malthusian trap in advance, and in the following two hundred years, the descendants of the Britons spread all over the earth.

On the other hand, the Reformation movement in Germany, which began to sprout in the 16th century, also entered the British Isles with inexorable momentum, breaking the old and complicated social constraints of the church and seeking free faith and emancipation of the mind. The conflict between the British Protestants, represented by the Puritans, and the rulers of England was no longer limited to the religious level.

In 1603, the Puritans presented the Thousand Wishes to the then King James I of England. In the eyes of those in power, too much "self-righteous ideas" are intolerable. James I claimed that if the Puritans did not obey, they would all be expelled from the country.

Under the repressive policy, the Puritans had to leave their homeland. Wandering to the Netherlands, the Dutch, who also believed in Protestantism, severely limited the scope of their careers, and the disappointed English Puritans had to migrate to the New World in droves in search of a settlement that matched their political ideals.

It can be said that in the early 17th century, the religious factor played a crucial and decisive role in the emigration of England.

The third aspect is probably the commonplace economic problem.

Records of Public Information. As early as the middle of the 16th century, England's domestic market was saturated, and as more and more ultra-cheap textiles from the East poured into Europe, the export volume of woolen textiles such as British woolen wool, which England was proud of, began to be miserable, and the domestic textile industry was even worse. Financial markets were in turmoil, and England's economy entered a period of recession after the "enclosure movement" textile industry boomed.

Whether it was the exclusion of foreign merchants, the imposition of preferential treatment on domestic merchants, or the forced reconversion of pastures to farms and restrictions on wool and textile production like a "rollback", the English tried to solve the problem from within, from top to bottom.

But both the English aristocracy and the merchants knew that the only way to solve the problem was to open up new alternative foreign markets and economic growth points.

By the beginning of the 16th century, England's capacity for state mobilization, organization, and control had been significantly strengthened, and it had strong state conditions to support foreign colonial expansion. Spanish and Portuguese adventurers and merchants brought back a steady stream of wealth from the New World colonies, and this nouveau riche national development could not but make the English royal family envious and jealous, and with the great demonstration effect of Spain and Portugal, England's foreign exploration and colonization activities were unstoppable.

The geographical proximity of North America and England, as well as the lack of Spanish and Portuguese influence, facilitated the colonization of England, where the English also counted on gold and silver deposits.

The English also saw the great potential of colonization in North America, and using the colonists to transform the Indians would provide a huge consumer market for England.

In addition, it is "possible" that there is a hidden passage from the North American polar region to Asia, and this Arctic passage, which was completely whimsical in later generations, can be said to be a "road to riches" in the imagination of people at the time. It was also the dream of the English to acquire wealth from the Far East, thus gaining an advantage in competition with other European countries. From a strategic point of view, the establishment of colonies in North America by the English was of irreplaceable value to counter the European powers.

The irresistible attraction of the New World led to incentives for the British royal family and government to move to North America.

Arguably. Economic problems were the root cause of North American immigration in England in the 17th century.

The last aspect, which seems a bit mysterious, is the national identity of the English people.

Often, people should have more than one way to cope with social pressures. In many cases, people may not choose to flee their homes at all to escape poverty or persecution.

But a large number of English chose to risk their lives to seek a chance to survive in the New World of North America. From this point of view, it may be certain that it has a great deal to do with the personality and migration habits of the British.

As can be seen from the long history of the inhabitants of the British Isles, they were not people who relocated to their lands and stuck to their duties. For a long time before the 17th century, they were accustomed to migrating through guò in search of opportunities and for the improvement of their living environment.

There were very early and active population movements in English society, especially in the 16th and 17th centuries. One of the few documents written by a 17th-century English sociology. For a century, only 16% of families in mainland England remained in their original villages, and long before the rise of North American colonization, large numbers of English migrated to the island of Ireland and bullied the Irish.

As for moving to the more distant New World of North America, for the English, who had long been accustomed to migration, it was only a difference of pure distance. Moreover, the migration habits of the English made their colonial policy different from that of other European colonies, which were relatively closed, and they were also open to immigrants from other European countries.

Since then, there has been a marked mixture of British and English races. In the sense that the population movement of the English in Britain was more three-dimensional and multidirectional, and this national characteristic had an internal impetus for the migration movement, adding another important weight to the colonization activities of the English...... Su Zining turned back from his contemplation. Slowly picked up the coffee cup, brought it to his lips, and while secretly looking at the representative of the Virginia Company (London Company) of the Kingdom of England, who was sitting solemnly not far away.

The Azorean sea breeze blew into the living room through the half-open windows, but it still did not dispel the stuffiness of the room. The meeting remained quiet, with a strange silence on both sides, as if the previous hour's argument had exhausted everyone.

"Your Excellency Minister Su. As the representative of the London Company granted the North American concession by His Majesty King James of England, I once again protest against your country's encroachment on our North American colonies! The Isle of Summers was a colonial property of the London Company more than a decade ago! ”

The representative of England finally couldn't bear it anymore and surrendered and lost in the "silent war" deliberately created by Su Zining.

"Well, a lonely island with many names. In Europe, the Spaniards, who were the first to discover it, called it Bermuda, and the English, who came later, called it Summers. Mr. Adams, do you know what it is called on the map of our country? ”

Su Zining put down the coffee cup with a smile, and as soon as he raised his hand, his wife and female translator of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Yuan Xinyi, hurriedly handed over a map redrawn by the Ministry of Land and Resources of An Shaoqing after crossing over.

"Twin Bay Island, but we respect the luck of the Spanish navigators on the limited range dù, and usually call it Twin Bay Island in Bermuda." Su Zining nodded to a small island in the ocean on the map and stared at the other party's eyes, "Do you think that the American Republic of China, which has such an accurate map, will have the territorial rights and interests of this island later than the English?" Moreover, I do not think that a civilian English colonial company would be more qualified to talk about territorial sovereignty than the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Government of the Chinese American Republic. ”

On the map, the precise coastline and latitude and longitude markings made the English delegates, who could only estimate the direction and distance on the nautical charts decorated with sea monsters and lace in unknown corners, blush.

"On the other hand, our government has exercised restraint until normal diplomatic relations with the Kingdom of England have been established, otherwise the fanfare colonial acts of the so-called Virginia Colonial Company and the Massachusetts Bay Colonial Company under the London Company would have been classified as an invasion by our navy!"

Su Zining stood up, slowly walked to the window, pushed the half-open window open completely, and looked at the beautiful 1,500-ton "West Point" light cruiser in the newly commissioned beautiful 1,500-ton "West Point" in the distant Herosport Bay.

Aren't you 'invaders', these damned Orientals? United States of America. God knows how the Spaniards, the Portuguese and the Dutch "assembled" you.

Adams looked down at the map angrily, only to see that the Virginia Colonization Company and the Massachusetts Bay Colonization Company were marked in red with several colonies in North America, and each red dot also had a small sword pattern crossed to indicate hostile relations. The precise coordinates made Adams a little unconvinced of the accuracy of the map.

"In the name of His Majesty King James of England, I ask you to stop a military campaign!"

Adams finally lost the haughty attitude he had taken when he entered the Chinese American Consulate General in the Azores, and was now with his head down, wiping the sweat from his forehead in frustration.

"In the name of the king? What qualifications does a London company that secretly conceals the proceeds and transfer the assets of a company, a colonized human trafficking in violation of the king's prohibition, a London company that steals tobacco in the colonies, and sets up a colonial autonomous assembly against the king's wishes? ”

Su Zining laughed. Turning back and pointing to the delegate of England, who was already in disarray, he said, "As far as I know, King James has identified both the Dominion Assembly and tobacco as harmful things. I suppose that some people are already visiting the royal palaces of England. The royal family's investigation into your company seems to have started last year, right? ”

Su Zining clearly remembers a historical result, in the second half of this year, the London company was about to be forcibly dissolved by King James I of England. All North American colonies will be confiscated as royal colonies.

“…… Well, Your Excellency Minister Su, I need you to say the conditions, how you can redeem the blockade of our company's North American colonies by your navy. ”

Adams stood up, bowing his head respectfully in a more subdued tone.

"You should ask what the Navy of the Chinese American Republic will do with your unauthorized colonial invasion in Massachusetts Bay." Su Zining made a gesture to invite him to take a seat, and then a letter appeared in his hand like a trick, "Out of respect for His Majesty King James, we will suspend military action against the Virginia colony." But the blockade is necessary, and the shareholders of your company in the Virginia colony are allowed to arrange their own evacuation, but the invasion of Haizhou, as you call the Bay of Massachusetts, must be prohibited immediately, and our navy will treat the civilians of England who have landed in the Bay of Massachusetts. and respect their personal wishes to stay. In addition, the Ministry of Commerce of our country wishes to organize a delegation of businessmen to London to establish a bridge of friendship and trust for the development of normal diplomatic relations between the two countries, which is a credential from our Parliament to His Majesty the King, and I would like to ask Mr. Adams to forward it. ”

This bunch of pirates, bandits, hooligans!

As soon as he heard that the other party had already started to clean up the colonial settlement in Massachusetts Bay in advance, Adams's face turned white. directly pulled the national letter and strode out of the living room.

The living room was quiet again, and Yuan Xinyi, who had been silent, looked at her husband's hippie smile mixed with an unobjectionable threatening expression, and suddenly burst into laughter: "Look at how you scare others, where did we get so many warships to block all the North American coastlines." ”

"It doesn't take much, just show them that we have the power to destroy any of their colonies along the coastline in an instant."

Su Zining drank all the coffee, hugged his wife, who was slightly tired and had a slight bulge in her lower abdomen, and touched the other party's long hair and belly with a smile: "I am four months pregnant, I don't raise a baby in my hometown, what are you doing in Azores?" In case my daughter is unhappy, she won't stick to me in the future. ”

"Cut! The first child is already a daughter, and this time I want a son! Yuan Xinyi slapped her husband's chest in disgust and touched her stomach happily, "I don't have much to do in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, so I might as well come and help you, after all, I know more foreign languages than you." I was going to come over to spend the Dragon Boat Festival with you, but I missed a boat. ”

Looking at his wife's happy appearance and gently kissing each other's foreheads, Su Zining just smiled and was noncommittal.

On June 6, 1624, the third "West Point", the third of the Republic-class light cruisers, which had completed sea trials and officially entered service, carried out ocean-going training and escorted three flying scissors merchant ships, and after a six-day voyage, slowly entered the Azores' Porto de Marísmo.

According to the classification of warships promulgated by the Navy of the Republic of China last year, four 800-ton enterprise-class light cruisers with a standard displacement of less than 1,000 tons have been downgraded to frigates, and the Republic-class currently in service has become the only light cruiser in the Navy.

The light cruiser USS West Point, with a full load displacement of 1,800 tons, caused a great shock as soon as it entered Sangra Sangra Sansseemo, the local Portuguese garrison and European merchants.

At this time, the two enterprise-class frigates, the Vostok and the Liberty, covering the army units carried by the Gluttony and Baxia flying scissors merchant ships, were carrying out a military sweep along the coast hundreds of kilometers northeast of Songzhou in North America to clear the colonial activities of the English in the Massachusetts Bay in the future.

Until March 1624, the American Republic of China was unaware of the English colonization activities that were taking place under their noses. It was not until early March that a sail galen ship, which belonged to the whaling team of the state-owned Agriculture, Forestry, Fishery and Animal Husbandry Group, entered Cape Cot Bay to escape the wind and waves, and stumbled upon the colonial settlement established by the English in the bay.

It's worth it! When the news came back to the mainland, the Congress was shocked, and the commander of the Navy, Brigadier Admiral Wang Tiezhu, also took the case and immediately sent the frigate Vostok to investigate, and the result was not only in Cape Cote Bay, but also in Massachusetts Bay, dozens of kilometers north of Cape Cote Bay, traces of English colonies were also found, and even some of the colonies have been created for almost three years!

The Mayflower had stumbled off course, but the inertia of history was still moving forward, and the English still broke into the Massachusetts coast again after 1621, and colonies such as Plymouth were still established. This time, however, the self-exiled Puritan adventure of North America became the more organized colonization of the Virginia Corporation.

(To be continued)

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