"This is Mr. Thompson... ≦..." Michel introduced to John Hill to Congressman, Morris Stone Tucker's investor, and the big tobacco wholesaler, Morris Thompson, and heard him say: "Ah, you have a tobacco plantation in Virginia, you should know Mr. Thompson."

John Hill naturally "knows" Thompson, a famous figure in the tobacco industry, but unfortunately, Thompson obviously did not know Hill, so Michelle's words still embarrassing Hill.

"This is Mr. Barnham of the Moscow company..." (the property exceeds 50,000 pounds)

"This is Mr. Spencer..." (This lord inherited a property worth 400,000 pounds, including real estate)

"This is Mrs. Hicks..." (She and her sister each inherited 100,000 pounds of property from their fathers)

"This is Mr. Craven..." (This man has received 125,000 pounds from the movable property in his father's will)

...

With Michelle's introduction, John Hill's face became paler because he was obviously shocked. You should know that at this time, there were only a dozen people in London who could be called "rich rich" (at least at a certain period of his life, the property reached more than 100,000 pounds), and only more than 60 people were called "rich rich" (the property was between 20 and 100,000 pounds). The two were only seventy or eighty. But there were nearly twenty people sitting here today. It can be said that more than one-quarter of the elites of the "rich" or above in London gathered here. Although their energy cannot be said to be a call for the wind and rain in Britain (after all, it was a military dictatorial government at this time), they could definitely do a lot of things, such as indirectly affecting the country's policies.

Such a luxurious lineup can be imagined that John Hill, who had just paid off his debts and had a property of only more than 9,000 pounds (the property of 50-10,000 pounds in London at this time, was really flattered. He could not imagine that the seemingly omnipotent figures had any inquiries about him, perhaps only about the infidels.

After the introduction, Hill was led by the servant to sit down. Michel sat beside him and chatted with Mr. Spencer and Mr. Craven, which made John Hill feel a little moved that the young man who was sent out to be an apprentice because he was not the eldest son, has now grown into an upper class member of London, chatting and laughing with a group of top wealthy people. Thinking about his elder brother William Hampton also opened a shop in a small neighborhood in London and was struggling to sell tobacco and east coast soda ash. In this comparison, Hill felt even more unpredictable.

"The Spanish successfully raised one million pounds in the East Coast market. After the news reached Amsterdam, the Spanish Rial's currency value immediately became stable. Last month, when Genoa confirmed that the news of the Spanish financing was true and jointly loaned the Spanish King of 6 million lira through the Bank of Palermo, Sao Paulo, and Saint George's Trading Company. The exchange rate of Spanish Rial gradually began to rise, which caused some people's concerns..." Mr. Spencer, who seemed very young, said softly, "Prime Minister Mazaran is very worried about this, worried that it will affect the battle situation in the South Netherlands. Of course, from the results now, this exciting news in Spain has not had any positive impact on the front line, and Dunkirk is still obtained by us. This is really lucky."

Speaking of which, since the Spanish successfully raised 3 million silver dollars in the East Coast market (of course the cost is also heavy), the value of its currency unit Rial (8 Rial = 1 silver peso) began to stabilize, and the domestic economy, which had originally gone straight to collapse, also began to land hard, especially when the Genoese helped again, which was also what they were happy to see. After entering the Spanish credit market again after thirty years, the international market's trust in the Kingdom of Spain has recovered, and the military pay that had been owed for a year in Spain has begun to be distributed one after another, and the damaged armament has also recovered. This gave them some confidence to defend their homes in the face of the French invasion.

However, due to the failure of the Spanish Navy (the South Dutch squadron was almost completely lost), the Port of Dunkirk was in a long siege, and the South Dutch had been in contact with the country for a long time. Some troops had owed wages for eighteen months, all of which were doomed to the Spanish Army in the South Dutch.

Sure enough, just a while ago, the British and French coalition forces launched the Battle of Dunkirk and defeated the Spanish army commanded by the Austrian Don Juan. The Spanish Army (including the British Royal Exile Army) that had long been unwilling to fight was almost wiped out. Dunkirk then announced his surrender in despair. The remaining ships of the South Dutch squadron were divided up by Britain and France.

After Dunkirk was captured by the British and French coalition forces, King Louis XIV of France entered the city, and then abide by the treaty and handed it reluctantly to Sir Locart, the military town that could be called the French gate. For this reason, the British paid only a tiny sum of money. For this reason, the British lost the shame of Calais, and Cromwell's reputation reached its peak again. Now, no one can disobey his will, except quietly waiting for him to die.

"The pagan country located in the New World in the Southern region is now becoming increasingly variables that affect the direction of the situation, and we have almost no commendable friendship with them, which means that this variable cannot be affected by us. This feeling is very bad..." Mr. Craven sipped the Languedoc red wine and said in a somewhat dissatisfied tone: "Which gentlemen here has the interests not violated by the East Coast? The multi-million-pound market in the Caribbean, the throat of East India trade is strangled by the East Coast. Of course, the most important thing is that they collude with the guys in the United Provinces and wantonly embezzle the market of our goods. How long does it take to endure?"

Since the end of the British-Dutch War, the sales of English commodities began to surge, especially after some countries that were very dissatisfied with the monopoly of Dutch merchants to Britain, Britain's industry ushered in a period of prosperity and development that has continued to this day. Domestic capital flowed into the industrial field, land enclosure movement began to accelerate, and the demand for new technologies has also increased day by day. The rapid growth of industrial strength puts forward higher requirements on the commodity sales market, and British merchants began to explore new markets all over the world. Among them, Caribbean trade is also a major focus, which has a conflict with the East Coast people who want to take over. Therefore, there is no love and hate in the world for no reason, especially for countries, everything can be attributed to interests. The British need to break the Dutch monopoly advantage in the Baltic Sea and the Mediterranean. Britain needs to open up the new continent and East India market. The Dutch and East Coast people are naturally unwilling to give up their interests. So what else can be said?

"Mr. Hill, I heard that you often travel to and from the East Coast to trade? Then tell me what you think." Mr. Craven suddenly turned to John Hill and said, "Ah, don't be too restrictive, please speak freely."

John Hill took a sip of wine after hearing this, and then said: "This country pays great attention to the development of industry and commerce. They do not care much about the loss of precious metals, but pays great attention to the balance of trade. Almost all their roads, ports, and warehouses are completed by government investment. They also like to spend a lot of money every year to invest in industrial technology progress. As far as I know, they strictly implement patent protection for technological inventors, so that everyone who innovates technology can get rich overnight, rather than being poor in a corner of the factory for a lifetime, which has inspired many people's creativity. In addition, I heard that the education system of this country is mainly completed by the country. For example, they divide the education of young people into three stages: primary school, junior high school and high school, and spend a lot of money every year to popularize primary school education. Although I think they have not even covered one-third of the primary school students' education over the years, they have indeed been doing this..."

"Their country is very unfree. Everyone has household registration. How inconvenience will foreigners be there. I think all gentlemen know that before Mr. Charles established the Golden Deer Store, our country sacrificed a large number of spies in that pagan country, because they were not familiar with their system. They had a lot of police officers, all over the streets, almost everywhere, and had a strict control over society. The soldiers and students were very enthusiastic, with surprising enthusiasm for expansion and very aggressiveness. Although they also accused the top government officials of corruption, I have no doubt about their determination to safeguard the country..."

"Isn't this the national system advocated by Major General Lambert (a prestigious officer in Cromwell's army group)? Restrict personal freedom, invest all resources into national construction, raise money and materials with the greatest efficiency, and strive for glory for England overseas. Look at what this said, how high-sounding..." Mrs. Hicks suddenly covered her mouth and smiled. Her smile was so exaggerated that the pink on her face was falling down piece by piece, but she still didn't realize it.

"Lambert, like Sir Bridge, Cromwell's shameless son-in-law, always hopes that the republic system led by the officers can be maintained. I want me to say that the disadvantages of the republic system have evolved to this day, and everyone is tired of it. Why not invite the king back? At that time, we have the final say in this country. We don't even need corruption. We can let Congress make laws that can legitimate 'legitimate corruption', oh hehe..."

Mr. Hill glanced at Mrs. Hicks, smiled awkwardly, and said nothing more.

"Enough." Spencer yelled Mrs. Hicks, known for her slutty and big mouth, and then turned her head to ask John Hill: "Mr. Hill, what do you think if we make peace with Spain and then compete with the East Coast in the Caribbean? I mean how determined the East Coast government is to fight us?"
Chapter completed!