January 1, 1654, New Year's Day on the East Coast.:.

Mr. Charles from England walked into a tavern in Qingdao Port Pier, and ordered a large glass of Snow Mountain Beer that he had recently fallen in love with. Snow Mountain Beer is said to be produced from the Nantie area and is made of barley. It has a unique flavor. Even when West Lake Beer took over most of the market, Snow Mountain Beer can still stubbornly occupy a place, which shows its special features.

As for where the southern railway is, Charles recently found out that although not everyone knows it on the East Coast, it is at least not a big secret. It turns out that the land that the Spanish ceded to the East Coast in the last war was roughly a distance of one ligament to both sides. Perhaps the people on the East Coast were planted there.

Of course, Mr. Charles received some errors in the news, because these barleys are obviously produced from Tierra Tierra. The local climate can only grow short-term grains such as barley, oats, and rye, but this is not well known. Even if a citizen of the East Coast Republic has not visited the Nantec on-site inspection, he probably doesn't know how big the bold and arrogant guys of the Nantec Corporation have encircled.

Blanco de Sosa Almeda from San Vicente sat opposite him, holding a bottle of Madeira sweet wine in his hand, smiling at Charles without saying anything. The two of them have known each other for a while. Because of their common vigilance towards the East Coast people, Blanco and Charles have recently become good friends and often discuss the situation in the New World together.

"The local Alfonso fleet has left." Blanco's words were a little stupid, but Charles understood it all at once. He had originally expected the Portuguese to fight with the East Coast Navy, but it seemed that they were not so stupid and knew to preserve their "useful body" to do more valuable things, such as capturing the Dutch stronghold on the west coast of Africa.

To be honest, Charles was quite disappointed with the Portuguese being so cowardly, but he concealed his emotions well. He raised his glass and said in English: "Then, wish Marshal Alfonso good luck."

"Thank you." Blanco and Charles clashed.

To be honest, Charles looked down on these Portuguese people. Because in his opinion, this small country is similar to their neighbor Spain from top to bottom, and is a deformed country. Because of the dividends of the great geographical discovery, huge amounts of monetary wealth poured into Portugal. The people of this country with a population of only 150,000 and 600,000 rely on sufficient currency, ignore the improvement of their own skills, do not work much, and do not like to make industrial products. Over time, they become lazy.

What's even more terrifying is that when such a state lasts for a long time, laziness becomes a part of their national character, which is really surprising. You know, the Portuguese and the Spaniards were not born lazy. In the war years when expelling the Moors, the people on the Iberian Peninsula were pious, tenacious, hardworking and arduous, otherwise they would not have driven out the pagans by relying on their own farming and war system. But how long has the good days been? More than a hundred years ago, the people on the Iberian Peninsula became so lazy. The speed of their depravity is really jaw-dropping.

Charles once even insisted that Spain and Portugal, two countries in decline, were basically unable to rise again unless they completely innovated their political, social and ideological systems, but this is undoubtedly difficult to say off-topic. The Iberian Peninsula, which is in the old continent, could not reform its backward system, and the Ming Dynasty, far away in the East, would be even more difficult to get out of the quagmire through its own efforts. According to the words of the later Japanese spy Soba Kotaro, they were not only nobles, but also "the whole nation", "the social atmosphere is declining, and the people's hearts are at its peak." It is obvious that they cannot be cheered up by top-down improvement. There must be a shocking bottom-up revolution, but it is so difficult.

If the people are compared to the stomach of the country, once the stomach is weak, then no matter how much food and supplements the person eats, it will only pass. It cannot be absorbed and then transferred to the body, and can only be allowed to be excreted. This is the case with these two pseudo-rich countries on the Iberian Peninsula. They cannot produce anything at all. After a large amount of gold and silver enters their country, they cannot be kept. They are like passers-by. They soon left and went to the more savvy industrial country.

In short, industry and commerce are the only way to "digest food" (distribute wealth) and provide the country with "nutrition". If the country does not have a certain industrial scale, excessive gold and silver are often harmful. After all, maintaining physical health depends on good digestive ability, rather than rashly eating a large amount of food.

The country of Portugal has no decent industrial capacity at all, and its population is only more than one million, so this is why Charles concluded that they have no hope. Although the Netherlands is not large in population, its industries are still very different, such as shipbuilding, textiles, sugar making, fishing, wood processing and investment in the metallurgical industry in Sweden. At the same time, their maritime transportation industry is extremely developed, so the Netherlands has the ability to digest a large amount of gold and silver, but Portugal does not.

"How is Recife's situation recently?" Although he is disdainful of Portugal, as a qualified spy (who is an openly businessman), Mr. Charles has never given up any opportunity to inquire about information.

"It's awful." Blanco shook his head and replied briefly: "The East Coast people intervened in the war. They helped to summon at least 1,500 experienced soldiers, and also transported a large number of supplies and weapons and ammunition. The morale of the Dutch was revived, and the battle was in a stalemate. Mr. Vieira believed that the opportunity had been lost and it was no longer possible to capture these areas in the short term. Once the Dutch freed up his hands, the situation would only worsen. Therefore, it would be better to have a ceasefire now. Governor Silva agreed cautiously, so we had a ceasefire with the Dutch. We retreated, and the Dutch cleaned up the mess, and both sides were re-planning."

"So that's why your fleet goes out to Africa?" Charles shook his head. He also hoped that the Portuguese would be ruthless in Brazil. In that case, the Dutch might have to divide a part of the fleet to help, and in addition, they could also create opportunities for the British teams operating in the New Netherlands. After all, the Recife area is the most important sugar production area in the Netherlands. Without these places, the sugar-fighting workshops in Amsterdam will not be closed! But unfortunately, the East Coast people intervened in the war, which made Portugal and even the United Kingdom extremely disappointed. Damn East Coast pagans!

"The Dutch West India Company seized multiple strongholds and trading posts in West Africa, which greatly affected our country's black slave trade. Therefore, these strongholds must be recaptured. Marshal Alfonso's fleet is strong and is not comparable to the Dutch West India Company. Therefore, Governor Silva ordered them to carry army soldiers to regain those strongholds." Blanco was really honest, basically everything he should say and said nothing he shouldn't say. Of course, these are not secrets. Anyone with a heart can find out. Blanco doesn't think he will be unclear about Charles's identity, and he will only know for a while later.

"Did Governor Silva have no plans for the people of the East Coast? They brazenly interfere in your country's internal affairs. Shouldn't this kind of bad behavior be punished?" After a long time of procrastination, Charles finally reached the point. He looked at Blanco and said in a very sincere tone: "Please don't get me wrong. I have been on the East Coast for a long time. During this period, my biggest feeling is that the rise of this country is quite obvious. Moreover, unfortunately, they are very unfriendly to both of you and us, and seem to have a kind of hostility in the bones. If our country is a little farther away, it is not a big problem, but I think your Brazilian colony is close to the East Coast, which is probably not great."

Although Charles spoke instigated, he was also the truth. Blanco looked at him, and did not respond, but changed the topic: "What do the Spaniards think? I heard that you have a good relationship with the Spaniards recently and have frequent trade deals, so haven't you listened to the Spaniards' ideas? After all, they are the first to bear the brunt. The first target of the East Coast people is always them."

"It's a pity that Spain is a bunch of idiots from top to bottom." Mr. Charles criticized mercilessly. "They can't figure out who their real enemies are, nor what they really need, nor can they effectively manage their country and wealth. They make everything messed up. From nobles to ordinary officials, this country is digging the bottom of the country. I think you know what I mean, yes, yes, I mean the Peruvian smuggling trade that has recently emerged. This is not a secret on the East Coast, at least there are many merchants talking about this in Qingdao Port. Spain is really terrible!"

Mr. Charles had reason to be so angry, because he had sent people to contact the Baron Bravo, who was stationed in Oriental Harbor, through secret channels, but this man seemed to have been involved in the smuggling trade and therefore did not give Charles any positive response, which disappointed him very much.
Chapter completed!