Chapter 2395

In 1777, Queen Maria I of Portugal succeeded to the throne. In name, she and her husband Pedro III co-ruled. In fact, Pedro never cared about the government, but only cared about hunting and religious affairs.

At that time, during the period of American independence, Spain, France, Britain and the Netherlands were all involved in this war, and the trade between Portugal and Brazil was in an active period, so in 1776, the Marquis of Pombal suggested that the king signed a decree, Forbids all Portuguese ports to be open to North American ships, and treats these ships as pirates, on the grounds that "as such an evil practice may induce some vassals to rebel against their natural lords".

After her succession, Queen Maria I continued to implement Pombal's policy, making Portugal "neutral". At that time, due to the war, the United States cut off the Atlantic trade with the United Kingdom, which was conducive to the sale of neutral countries such as Portugal as suppliers of British goods. . During this period, the export volume of Portugal's red wine also increased significantly, while the import volume of British goods decreased. During this period, the trade surplus between Portugal and the UK appeared for the first time.

From 1757 to 1777, some 25,000 slaves were transported from Portuguese Guinea to Pala and Maranhão. To help Brazilian and Portuguese settlers, the Portuguese government also provided them with loans and reduced the interest rate from 5% to 3%. %, and eventually canceled altogether, slaves were sold for what they sold on the west coast of Africa plus a little shipping. During this period, Brazil's cocoa beans multiplied in quantity, as well as cotton, rice, and animal hides.

Since the Lisbon earthquake, the king, including the king, has lived in a wooden house. Later, the wooden house was burned down. Thanks to the increase in trade during this period, the royal family was able to rebuild the Baroque-Rococo on the original site of the wooden building. However, halfway through the project, financial constraints and domestic campaigns interrupted the project.

However, it was the "Orange War" led by Lucien and Godoy that hurt the most, and the project had to be stopped halfway. Since the outbreak of the French Revolution, Portugal's police chief Manek has been trying to prevent the circulation of newspapers and books about the Great Revolution in Portugal. Portuguese diplomats believe that they must join forces with Spain and Britain to deal with France.

At that time, the physical and mental state of Queen Maria I of Portugal was not very good. When the Marquis of Pombal passed away in 1782, Pombal's political opponents began to clamor for action against the Pombal faction, and Maria I suppressed it.

Some Porto citizens once got drunk and took to the streets to riot against the Upper Douro Agricultural and Wine Corporation, because the company monopolized all the hotels in Porto and closed many taverns. These people were later suppressed, 13 men and 1 woman were hanged, 10 women and 46 men were exiled, and a large number of people were sent to the galleon for hard labor.

As a result of Pombal's policy, some new nobles were born, but Maria I suppressed the old ones. Another privilege of these monopoly companies, which benefited from the Marquis of Pombal, was the ability to levy taxes on certain products of the Portuguese colonies, thus ensuring that the royal family could obtain a fixed tax for a certain period of time.

In short, Maria I was extremely uneasy and guilty about suppressing the old aristocrats. In addition, her husband died in 1786, and her spirit was more unstable because of grief. In addition, the turbulent situation in Europe made her physically and mentally exhausted. Melancholia turned to madness, sometimes sober and sometimes confused, no one dared to imagine that she would continue to rule, and her eldest son João had become the de facto ruler.

Louis XVI was escorted to the guillotine. This year, France sent an envoy to Portugal to try to persuade Portugal to remain neutral, but he was expelled as soon as he arrived at the border. Immediately after the completion of negotiations between Portugal, Britain and Spain, Joao The prince concluded a new treaty of alliance with Spain and England.

But the war did not go well. In 1795, Spain signed a peace treaty with France behind Portugal and Britain, so that France turned to deal with the alliance between Britain and Portugal. Godoy asked for an alliance with Prince Joao, and Prince Joao believed that Portugal had lost a lot of armaments and needed Britain as an ally, and did not agree to the request that British ships could not berth at Portuguese ports.

Then Spain declared war on Britain, Portugal sent people to Paris to start negotiations, trying to maintain neutrality, and France's request was to cede part of Brazil's land and pay reparations in exchange for peace. On Valentine's Day in 1797, a Portuguese spy helped the British Navy Having routed the French fleet off Cape St. Vincent, France expelled the Portuguese envoys in April and forced Spain to invade Portugal.

The international situation at that time was very unfavorable to Portugal, and there were only two ways out, either being incorporated into France or forming an alliance with Britain, whichever one would destroy Portugal's independence.

In 1801, Napoleon asked Madrid to issue an ultimatum, asking Portugal to make a final choice between Britain and France, but Portugal remained silent. In April, the French army attacked Portugal. It has always been believed that the only way to solve the Portuguese problem is to send troops to occupy Godoy in Portugal Leading five columns to support, then Portugal signed the "Badajoz Treaty" with Spain, signed the "Madrid Treaty" with France, ceded the territory of northern Brazil to France, paid 25 million francs in compensation, and ceded the city of Oliveza to Spain, but did not close all ports to the British fleet.

When Spain blocked the Mississippi River and prevented British ships from entering and leaving at will, the British fleet cruising in the Caribbean Sea and South America also wanted to retaliate. However, the "fishing" of neutral ships during wartime was based on the excuse of transporting enemy goods. Now that there is peace, this excuse is not good, but someone came up with a way, that is, "liberating slaves".

It is also possible that the first person to do this was an abolitionist. In any case, twenty Spanish "slave ships" loaded with tobacco back to Europe from the United States were "fished" in this way, and then fewer slaves were loaded in Liverpool. But Portugal did not replace Britain in the slave trade to North America.

Portugal still wants to maintain "neutrality", for fear of acting rashly and attracting Spanish invasion. There are still many "French factions" in Portugal who agree with the values ​​​​of the French Revolution. Fearing that these people would act like Paris when the French and Spaniards approached, when the royal family retreated, Queen Maria was in a daze, still asking why she had to leave.

Had it not been for the bad weather, they might have been escorted to Brazil by British warships. The French did not occupy Lisbon either, and then they went back one after another. In fact, as early as 1580, someone proposed to move the capital from Lisbon to Brazil. At that time, the ruler of Spain was the Habsburg family, and the illegitimate son of Charles V defeated the fleet of the Ottoman Empire and gained the hegemony of the Mediterranean Sea. Spain's national power reached its peak.

At the same time, the Netherlands became independent. Sebastian, who was originally very ambitious and planned to expand his territory in North Africa, died in 1578. He didn't even leave an heir. II, while others recognized Sebastian's uncle Enrique I. There is nothing wrong with the regent, except that he was originally a bishop, so he had no heirs. He wanted to marry a wife after he became secular and inherited the throne. Ken broke Enrique's vows and allowed him to marry, and two years later Enrico died and the Habsburgs took the Portuguese throne.

Although the male blood of the Portuguese king has been cut off, there are still female heirs. The Portuguese princess, Duchess Catarina, once claimed the legal succession to the Portuguese throne in 1580, but failed because Portugal does not have a queen.

Immediately afterwards, Philip II tried to set up the post of deputy king in Brazil, as well as the head of the Knights of Christ, the license to send a private boat to India every year, and betroth one of their daughters to the heir of Philip II. The condition was to bribe Catarina's husband, the Duke of Braganza, so that his wife would give up her claims.

Some people persuaded the couple to accept the title of "vice king" and develop in Brazil. Portugal's land is barren and it is still dependent on Spain, so its development is limited everywhere, but Catarina did not agree. Even if her husband died, without his support, she would She spent her life paving the way for her descendants to seize the Portuguese throne.

"What about our trade in the Levant if we retake Egypt, which means we have to fight the Ottomans again?" a Marseilles merchant asked Georgiana.

His question sparked a chatter.

"And we have sent chargé d'affaires to rebuild consulates in various countries in the eastern Mediterranean, not to mention that I don't think it is possible for us to retake Egypt until the British withdraw."

"Cough cough." Aston Martin coughed, and those who planned to agree closed their mouths.

Georgiana didn't make a sound, what could she say?

Farrong looked at her firmly, but he was old and there was only one person, so how powerful was his support.

"How about Algiers?"

Barry, who had been silent all this time, asked.

Everyone looked at him.

"Can cotton be grown in Algiers?" Barrillon asked.

"I'm afraid we won't know until we investigate," Perrier said.

"Then organize an expedition," said Barrillon to Georgiana. "How about telling your friend not to go to the Congo, but to go to Algiers, madam."