A heavily armed Irish army marched into the city of Royal and, under the watchful eyes of many citizens, walked down the long stone-paved streets towards the Chan Palace (formerly the Governor's Palace of Nova Scotia).

Dressed in a blue military uniform, with a black armed belt around his waist, a large hat imitating the style of the Qi country, crocodile leather boots, and a 15-style flintlock pistol on his shoulder, the head of the gun was covered with a long bayonet, which reflected a dazzling light in the afternoon sun.

At the rear of the procession, several improvised pack horses dragged three majestic cannons over part of the unpaved rammed earth pavement, leaving two deep ruts.

In the city of Royal, a regular army has not been seen for almost twenty years, and it seems to be a well-trained elite army.

However, what is amazing is that the flag of this Irish army turned out to be the iconic red yellow dragon flag of the Qi country, and the five-clawed golden dragon looked particularly hideous and fierce in the hunting wind.

"This is the army that your military sent me?" Standing on the terrace on the second floor, Chen Wang Qi Weijun watched the Irish army slowly drive into a warehouse area near the palace under the guidance of the officials of the military affairs department of the royal palace, and couldn't help but sigh softly, and turned his head to look at an army Xuanjie lieutenant (major) officer.

"Back to His Royal Highness King Chen." Zhang Xiaoju, an instructor of the Staff Corps of the Qi Army in Ireland, saluted King Chen and said solemnly: "On the orders of the Irish Army Headquarters, two hundred and sixty-five elite soldiers have been specially selected to arrive in Chenzhou and be stationed for two years to exercise the necessary defense duties. ”

"Although Chenzhou is a pro-vassal country, it is also one of my overseas territories, but I never thought that a group of Irish soldiers would be needed to guard and protect it. Could it be that our Chen Wangfu can't even ask your army? Chen Wang's face was very ugly, and his words couldn't help but bring out a little complaint.

Co-author, I have repeatedly asked the military to send an elite army from the Pishan Islands or the Mediterranean region to Chenzhou in the past year to deter local Xiaoxiao, and you will get me such a bunch of things to send me?!

Ireland, a small country that has just become independent and not long since its establishment, has also been trained and trained by the military of our country, and its combat effectiveness is really suspicious.

You're going to use them to support me?

"Your Royal Highness King Chen, although these Irish soldiers are not as powerful as our Qi Army, if they deal with some local natives or local militia forces, they should be able to win the battle." Zhang Xiaoju saw that King Chen was dissatisfied, and couldn't help but smile bitterly.

I worked so hard to bring people here, and I was underestimated by others!

But the question is, I'm a low-level junior officer, where can I decide what troops to send to your Chenzhou garrison to save face for you?

Probably, perhaps, it may be that the Mediterranean region and several maritime strongholds in the North Atlantic are more important than Chenzhou. Therefore, such a force was randomly drawn from Ireland.

You, Chenzhou, are not in the danger of foreign invasion, so why should you send our Qi State Economic Control Army over?

"Haven't your military studied the distribution of the situation around Chenzhou?" King Chen turned around and returned to the house, walked to a wall with the latest map of the distribution of forces in the northeast of North America, and stretched out his hand to point at the location of Chen Zhou, "The southwest of our Qingchuan (i.e., Novoskushe) is the British New England region, with a population of hundreds of thousands, and tens of thousands of militia can be mobilized and assembled; To the north and east of Qingchuan is the territory of the French, whose island of Royal (i.e., Cape Breton Island) is separated from Qingchuan by only a narrow strait, like a wedge, separating Changxing Island (i.e., Newfoundland), to which Chenzhou belongs, and cannot support each other from afar. In such a situation, my Chenzhou can be said to be an enemy on all sides, and once something happens, it will be taken advantage of by Britain and France. ”

"......" Zhang Xiaoju glanced at the map on the wall, and then looked at His Royal Highness King Chen, who was excited, his mouth opened slightly, and he didn't know what to say for a while.

What do you mean, Chen Zhou is not already in danger, right?

"......" King Chen glared and looked at Zhang Xiaoju as well.

See, our situation in Chenzhou is really dangerous, can't your military send some decent troops over to defend this overseas territory farthest away from my Qi country?

"His Royal Highness King Chen......" Zhang Xiaoju hesitated for a moment, and said with difficulty: "Whether it is England or France, they should not dare to attack our Qi country's overseas territory without authorization. Because, they can't afford it...... The consequences of starting a war. ”

“…… What if? When King Chen heard this, he was a little angry, "The French have a big opinion on our Qi State's possession of Chenzhou. They believe that our Qi country controls their access to the St. Lawrence River and can threaten and blockade their new French territory at any time. ”

"Your Highness, the French navy is weaker than the English navy......"

Even if France has ambitions and regains possession of Chenzhou, with the strength of our Qi navy, will it not be able to block their passage to the sea on the St. Lawrence River? Can't stop blockading New France?

"However, the number of troops sent by your military is still too small to deter the localities." King Chen sighed, shook his head and said, "Moreover, the navy has not sent a single battleship I want. As you know, the news of fishing in the waters of Changxing Island (i.e., the Newfoundland fishing grounds) has arrived, and hundreds or thousands of European fishing boats will flock to the fishery resources that should belong to our Chenzhou. ”

"Your Highness wants to control the fishery resources of Changxing Island?" Zhang Xiaoju scratched his head a little.

This His Royal Highness King Chen is really a little able to toss, for a little catch, as for it?

You even have to send a warship to guard you!

"I'm afraid you haven't heard such a sentence, how to describe the rich fishery resources around Changxing Island, right?" Chen Wang said quietly: "There are so many cod there that they are as dense as ant colonies, and you can easily walk ashore by stepping on the back of the cod swarm. England, France, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Denmark, Sweden and other countries consume tens of thousands of tons of cod. What a fortune it was, but it was made for nothing by a bunch of Europeans. ”

"Your Highness, with all due respect." Zhang Xiaoju said softly: "Whether you want to suppress the local Arcadians in Qingchuan or control the fishery resources in the waters around Changxing Island, in addition to relying on the support of our military, you Chenzhou also need to have a sufficient number of immigrants. Without an abundant population, everything is vain and will eventually be taken advantage of by others. ”

"yes." King Chen smiled bitterly, "Chenzhou is remote and surrounded by people, and only by replenishing enough Han immigrants can we gain a firm foothold." However, whether it is from Hanzhou itself or from the traditional mainland Han land, it is extremely difficult to migrate across tens of thousands of miles by sea. …… Therefore, only by doing our best to increase financial resources and lay a solid foundation can we continue to carry out immigration activities, so as to keep this overseas territory as a land for eternity. ”

——

In 1497, King Henry VII of England patronized John Capote's voyage to North America to explore a shipping route to the East. John Capote arrived on the coast of present-day Noveva Skeuver and Newfoundland, Canada, and immediately declared them to be owned by Henry VII.

Although he did not discover the Oriental Route, he stumbled upon the gold and silver riches plundered by Spain and Portugal in South America, namely cod. However, Henry VII probably wanted gold and silver treasures rather than cod, and Capote has since disappeared.

Thus, until around 1670, the English in Newfoundland, whether it was the early cod trade or the attempt to establish a colony, were largely personal immigrants without any official endorsement.

British Newfoundland actually refers to the area on the east coast of Newfoundland from Trinity Bay and Concepson Bay to Phyreland and Linius, south of St. John's, where only a few hundred men, a few women and children, and more than 1,000 sailors spend the winter, and in the summer, thousands of European fishermen come to catch cod.

St. John's slowly grew from a fishermen's settlement to its largest settlement, and gradually to a thriving trading post and then home to English merchants. In addition, there are small diasporas formed around fishing ports and outposts.

Originally, as early as 1610, John Gale from Bristol led a group of immigrants to establish a Newfoundland colony for the Kingdom of England, but was strongly opposed by fishermen on the west coast of England who had been fishing in Newfoundland. Fishermen feared that the English government would interfere with Newfoundland's fishing industry to the detriment of their interests.

During this period, it was customary for fishermen to have the captain of the first fishing boat to arrive on the island each spring to manage local affairs. Later, the English government also recognized this practice and gave the captain the authority to administer Newfoundland.

So, for a long time, Newfoundland remained a seasonal temporary settlement for English fishermen, not a settlement for immigrants. The English government also used it as its own fishing ground, as a cradle for training sailors, and did not exercise direct colonial rule.

To put it bluntly, the Royal Government of England has not made a dime of revenue in this territory that nominally belongs to it, and not only do England's own fishermen not pay any taxes and fees to the government, but even the French, Dutch, Danes, Swedes, and Portuguese, who come to take advantage, will not contribute a single copper plate to England's finances.

Therefore, during the Qi-British peace talks, the English government searched many overseas territories and finally decided to cede this large island with rich cod resources to Qi.

Anyway, there is no gain, and it doesn't hurt to lose it to Qi State, maybe it can also use this island to cause contradictions and disputes between Qi people and other European countries.

You know, before the War of the Spanish Succession, the French occupied the western half of Newfoundland, and they had been fighting openly and secretly with their Kingdom of England for control of the island.

Whether it's the seasonal cod fishermen who come here for fishing or the English immigrants who settle on the island, there is no doubt that everyone is hesitant and apprehensive about the ownership of the island.

No one knows whether the new rulers will change the established traditions and harm the interests of each of them.

Two years ago, a Qi naval warship came to Newfoundland, made a brief handover to the provisional administration of St. John's, hoisted a red yellow dragon flag of Qi, left a few officers, and after asserting sovereignty, it stopped paying more attention to the island.

Everything seems to be the same as before, nothing has changed.

Subsequently, the Qi people appointed a prince to preside over the affairs of Novoskesha and Newfoundland. It was not long before he sent more than a dozen officers and scribes to replace the tired officers and men of the navy, and declared that all the inhabitants of the island would henceforth become his people.

Then, as if nothing happened, the fishermen went to fish when they should be fishing, the fish processing factories on the shore were salted and the cod was pickled, and the farmers who cultivated the land continued to cultivate the land, harvesting vegetables and small quantities of grain.

On the Avalon Peninsula in the southeast of the island, along the winding coast, there are dense huts, sheds, raised platforms (or piers) and sundecks (or fish racks). During the fishing season from May to September, small fishing boats unloaded from large ships from Europe anchor the coast, remove their rigging and work with long-term fishermen.

The cod is cut and salted, laid out on a drying rack to dry, and shipped to the continental markets in late summer and early autumn, everything seems so busy and harmonious.

Yesterday morning, however, news came from the Governor's Palace in St. John's City that shocked everyone.

The Qi people were required to levy a fishing tax on all fishing vessels that came to Newfoundland to fish for cod, and they were required to pay a tax of between £5 and £10 during the fishing season, depending on the tonnage of the vessels.

Fishing vessels that fail to pay their taxes and obtain fishing licenses from Qi nationals may be expelled or seized by the authorities.

This news immediately aroused the indignation of all the fishermen, and they expressed strong opposition.

Mistaken? When the Royal Government of England took control of the island, it not only allowed its own fishermen to fish for cod in the adjacent waters, but also never restricted fishermen from other countries from fishing, and did not impose any additional fees such as fishing taxes.

Why, as soon as you Qi people take over the island of Newfoundland, you will so shamelessly make this fishing ground a forbidden land, and if you do not pay taxes and fees, you will be ruthlessly expelled and seized?

I'm crazy about money!

"Anyway, I'm not a penny and I won't give it to the Qi people!" Thomas Ramberton, captain of the Jolly, said indignantly: "Why should we pay an additional tax for this gift of nature?" This is extremely unreasonable, tyranny, and evil government! In this regard, all of us should resolutely resist it, and let the people of Qi finally give up this shameful decision. ”

"That's right, this fishing ground has existed for hundreds of thousands of years since ancient times, and it is a wealth given to us by God, so why do we have to get permission from the people of Qi to catch cod?" Patrick Cohen, the captain of the USS Bass, poured a spicy whisky into his mouth and exclaimed, "All our fishing boats have joined forces to resist the taxes of the Qi people." Hmph, I don't believe it, the people of Qi can still come to the sea and check and confirm them one by one? As far as I know, on the island of Newfoundland, the Qi people do not have large armed ships, let alone a professional naval warship. ”

"In case, the Qi people mobilize naval warships to come, do we really want to have a direct confrontation with them?" Captain Pollit Thomson of the Tren said worriedly: "I heard that the Qi people have deployed a fleet of more than ten ships in the Mediterranean. If they send two or three of them, how are we going to deal with that? ”

"Newfoundland is fished not only by our Kingdom of England, but also by French, Dutch, Danish and Swedes. I don't believe that the people of Qi dare to make crazy moves to expel or attack all fishing boats. ”

"The problem is, we don't know if all the fishing boats will resist the decision of the Qi people." Polit Thomson shook his head and said, "We all know how profitable cod fishing is, and if some fishing boats obey the rules of the Qi people and pay the corresponding taxes in order to get a better location in the fishing grounds, won't they isolate us?" Gentlemen, while deciding to confront the Qi people, let's not forget that Newfoundland is already the territory of the Qi people. If we don't pay the fishing tax according to their rules, we will most likely be barred from boarding the islands and thus deprived of the necessary water supplies. What's worse is that we can't marinate on the island after we catch a boatload of cod. Yes, the people of Qi will definitely strictly inspect every cod processing plant on the island. ”

“……”

When everyone heard this, they immediately calmed down.

Yes, the Qi people may not be able to search for their fishing boats at sea, but they can stay on the shore and wait for our fishing boats to dock.

Unless, after catching a boatload of cod, return to mainland Europe immediately.

Oh God, not to mention that fresh cod will become dead fish on the way, even if they can bring it back safely, they can't afford to delay the slightest bit of time in this short five-month fishing season and go back and forth to the Atlantic.

In that case, don't come to Newfoundland to fish, just continue to compete with the Dutch in the waters of the North Sea on your doorstep.

Oh, why are these Qi people so hateful and so annoying!

(End of chapter)