Chapter 1128: Profiteering Merchants Who Love the Lord (Seeking Subscriptions)

In an estate on the outskirts of Brussels, the current Governor-General of the Spanish Netherlands, the Marquis Juan González de Felipo-Spínola, was receiving the Grand Pensionary of Holland, who had come from afar to visit.

The Marquis of Spínola was the former Governor-General of New Spain who had recommended García to Don Juan José. Because New Spain had been converted into a kingdom, there was no longer a governor-general there, so he had taken over Don Juan José's old post and become Governor-General of the Spanish Netherlands.

And after taking over the Spanish Netherlands, he discovered that the Dutch Republic, the enemy he had fought for most of his life, had actually become Spain's only dependable friend in the Netherlands region!

Because the Spanish Netherlands was a buffer between Holland and France. If France seized the Spanish Netherlands, then the Dutch Republic would have to live next door to France, that continental hegemon. That would be no good thing at all!

Moreover, after the fall of Manila, Holland and Spain had gained a common enemy — the world empire of the East, the Great Ming.

Now, if the Great Ming moved south, it could seize the Spice Islands, Batavia, and the Strait of Malacca controlled by the Dutch. If it moved east, it could contend with Spain for the west coast of the New World.

So curbing the expansionist momentum of the Great Ming Empire had become the common goal of Spain and Holland.

But unlike Spain, that nation blessed by Heaven, the Dutch Republic was, after all, a nation of profiteering merchants.

And profiteering merchants are not very willing to fight a war that is bound to lose money. So Johan de Witt, who had come to Brussels, put forward a very "clever" plan.

First, the States General of the Dutch Republic would persuade the banks of Amsterdam to issue a huge loan to the Kingdom of New Spain — note, to the Kingdom of New Spain, not to the Kingdom of Spain, whose credit had long since gone bankrupt!

Although the Kingdom of New Spain had to pay a huge amount of "protection money" to the Kingdom of Spain every year, the Kingdom of New Spain itself had no debts at all. So the likelihood of the loan Holland made to New Spain turning into a bad debt was not too high. Even if it could not be repaid, Holland could still carve off a piece of land in the Kingdom of New Spain — it would not come away empty-handed.

Second, the Kingdom of New Spain should open the port of Acapulco to the Dutch East India Company! Now, because of the fall of Manila, the galleon trade had come to a complete halt. But the demand for trade still existed. This was a big business worth more than a million pesos a year — not even counting the amount from smuggling!

In addition, the Dutch East India Company also held the right to trade with Japan, and the company's ships could also enter the Gulf of the Americas. The Gulf of the Americas controlled by the Great Ming did not practice port closure; instead, it opened its arms wide and welcomed the trading ships of all nations.

So as long as the Dutch East India Company obtained the right to enter the port of Acapulco, it could establish a great circular trade route: Manila — Shanghai — Japan — the Gulf of the Americas — Acapulco — Manila.

Third, the Kingdom of New Spain should also provide collateral for the loan! The collateral the Dutch Republic hoped to obtain was the island of Saipan, which would be transferred to the jurisdiction of the Dutch East India Company. The Dutch East India Company hoped to build it into a naval base, to be used for deploying privateers when necessary.

Fourth, the Dutch Republic also demanded to receive arms orders from the Kingdom of New Spain, and the amount of the orders should reach more than 50% of the amount of the loan provided by Holland.

"Your Excellency the Grand Pensionary, you Dutchmen are truly, truly devoted lovers of the Lord! On behalf of the Kingdom of Spain and the Catholics of the Philippines, I express my most sincere gratitude for your generosity." The Marquis of Spínola spoke words of thanks, but the contempt in his eyes could not be concealed no matter how hard he tried.

What time do you think this is? You profiteering merchants are still thinking about making money! Are you truly not afraid that your souls will fall into hell after death?

Nowadays even indulgences, that fine commodity, are no longer being sold!

Johan de Witt smiled and nodded, saying, "You are quite right. We Dutchmen also believe in the Lord! To defend the faith of the Lord, we are willing to lend money to the Kingdom of New Spain."

"If," the Marquis of Spínola probed, "the borrowing country were changed to the Kingdom of Spain, then what?"

"My Lord Marquis," Johan de Witt looked at the Marquis, "I think you can distinguish between lending and giving, can you not? If King Philip truly has need, the States General can give him 500,000 écus in silver, so that he can pay off the Princess's dowry."

This was not mockery of the Spaniards, but a sincere desire to help!

As an honest and trustworthy merchant, he could of course see the loophole in the "prenuptial agreement" reached between France and Spain — the succession rights renounced by María Teresa were tied to the compensation she received. If Philip IV could not pay the compensation, then this "prenuptial agreement" would be invalid.

"Grand Pensionary!" The Marquis of Spínola glanced at Johan de Witt and said crossly, "Do you think the great Kingdom of Spain cannot even produce 500,000 écus?"

Johan de Witt breathed a sigh of relief. "That is good, that is good. May the Lord bless that new couple."

"Mister Ambassador, there is good news! The Spaniards have agreed to allow the East India Company's sailing ships into the port of Acapulco!"

Outside Paris, in the Great Ming embassy in the town of Versailles, Li Shaoyou, the Great Ming ambassador to the three kingdoms of France, Holland, and England, learned the news of Holland's opening of the Pacific sea route at the earliest possible moment, from Bruce Dimen, a director of the Dutch East India Company.

Over the past two or three years, the Great Ming side had always wanted to bring the Dutch profiteering merchants into Pacific shipping.

Although the Great Ming had its own Pacific shipping company and Pacific passenger transport company, and also had some small shipowners engaged in Pacific shipping.

Yet the shipping capacity on the Pacific was still not quite sufficient, and there were two bottlenecks. One was insufficient escort strength — the Great Ming's Pacific shipping could not do without escorts, because returning from the Gulf of the Americas required taking the equatorial warm current belt, which meant passing through the waters near New Spain, and without escorts it was far too unsafe.

The second was a lack of captains and senior seamen capable of sailing the Pacific — coastal sailing was one thing, but sailing the Pacific was another! To sail the Pacific, one had to master latitude navigation, be able to use various navigational instruments for measurement and navigation, and have experience dealing with all kinds of severe weather.

And excellent captains and seamen could not be conjured up just because one wanted them. Even though the Zhu Emperor had established a naval academy, it still could not meet the enormous demand.

So Zhu Cilang could only invite the English and the Dutch to join in the great business of Pacific shipping.

At present there were small English shipowners "running solo" on the Pacific, but the Dutch shipping business in the East was monopolized exclusively by the East India Company, and before Spain opened the port of Acapulco, the Dutch East India Company had been unwilling to engage in Pacific shipping, because for them it was unprofitable — the present Dutch East India Company had long since contracted "big company disease": bloated organization, high costs, accustomed to monopoly profits, and not very willing to compete with small shipowners.

"Mister Dimen, did I hear correctly?" Li Shaoyou had already realized something was wrong. "Why are the Spaniards willing to open the port of Acapulco? They kept it closed for a hundred years — why open it now?"

"Is it not because Manila was occupied by you?" Bruce Dimen laughed. "They lost their great Far Eastern base for the galleon trade, so they had no choice but to open up."

"Is that so?" Li Shaoyou gave a mirthless smile. "The Spaniards care that much about those few small coins?"

"It is not only for the money." Bruce Dimen said, "They also hope our ships can evacuate Catholic Filipinos, Japanese, and Joseon people to the New World.

I trust the Celestial Court will not object to our doing so?"

"Of course not," Li Shaoyou said, half believing and half doubting. "Although the Great Ming prohibits Catholicism, no one is punished merely for believing."

The reason for prohibiting Catholicism was the "patronage rights dispute." Because of Spain's obstruction, the negotiations between the Great Ming and the Church of Rome had never been able to achieve a breakthrough. However, Zhu Cilang had not strictly forbidden it, but rather relaxed the prohibition.

(End of Chapter)