Chapter 3254 The King of Spice (10)

Sieyes once told Georgiana that the modern history of legal rule in Louisiana began in 1712, when Louis XIV allowed Antoine Croza to develop, manage and utilize the area in the form of a charter. The writ stipulated that the land would be governed in accordance with French edicts, regulations and customs of Paris. Prior to this, Louisiana was governed according to Spanish colonial methods, or there was no rule at all.

In addition to the East India Company, France also had the West India Company. Although it only existed for 9 years, this company established in 1664 with a charter began to manage the Antilles in 1646. Bishop Richelieu also The French West India Company awarded the prize, and Tobago was now owned by the French West India Company.

The introduction book about Trinidad and Tobago that Georgiana saw was internal information from the French East India Company. The first people to live on the island were of course Indians, mainly divided into Arawak and Caribbean people. Among them, the Caribbean tribe is aggressive by nature. They use poisonous arrows in battles and cannibalize human flesh.

The Arawaks captured Tobago from the Caribbean people, who did not practice cannibalism. They fought with each other for many years until Columbus discovered the island on his third voyage to the New World.

After the Spanish arrived, they first looked for gold and spices, but they did not expect to find cannibals. The first crew to land on the island almost died. Before that, they were scrambling to get ashore so that they could be the first to discover it. .

Columbus did not stay here for long. After leaving the name of Cape Galila on the map, he continued sailing westward, crossed the strait and entered the Gulf of Paria. This bay has only two exits on the current map. One was entered by Columbus and was later named Columbus Strait. The other was in the north of the bay and was named Dragon Strait, which means Strait of the Dragon. Separating Venezuela from Trinidad, Columbus encountered rough waves from the north and south here, but finally passed without any danger and found the exit of the Caribbean Sea. From then on, every time the Spaniards crossed the Strait of Dragon, they would say mass and pray to Saint Anthony for blessing.

After Columbus returned, the Spanish cavalry and infantry arrived here. Swords and armor defeated long grass and poisonous arrows. The wheat-eating society defeated the cassava-eating society. Then the Spaniards entered a dilemma. Should they force the Indians? Should people grow wheat or look for gold?

One theologian said that the Indians should be allowed to live in peace and that the purpose of the conquest was to convert them to Catholicism. The ruler at that time... let's call it that, because he claimed that Spain had sovereignty over Trinidad. He made it clear that they were not here to preach to the Indians, nor to farm like farmers, but to make gold. .

However, Trinidad did not produce gold, and for the next three centuries the Spanish did not allow the Indians to farm. They only chose the port of Seville, where they set up a trade bureau and only approved Only ships could participate in colonial trade.

Regarding the prevention of smuggling, the Spanish did this. As long as the ship is approved by the Trade Bureau, whether it is sailing, returning or en route, it will be escorted by Spanish galleons to prevent sea thieves and European enemies.

In other words, if you encounter merchant ships that are not escorted by Spanish galleons, all of them can be "captured."

Trinidad is a Spanish colony in name, but in fact it is a place that no one thinks of and no one tries to develop it.

At that time, the "Empire on which the Sun Never Sets" was at its peak, and everyone believed that Spain had certain strength in each colony, although there was no basis for it.

A century later, a British navigator discovered that Trinidad was a poor, undeveloped, and defenseless territory. Smuggling in Trinidad was open and the governor was ineffective. He had a court, but his role was pardoned.

All the people in the city were smugglers, but he didn’t even have an army or a prison. He originally planned to arrest all the people, but in his letter to the emperor, he said that the criminals were kneeling in front of his mansion. He confessed his fault, and although he was in great pain, he called them to their feet, comforted them, and asked the emperor to grant a general amnesty to the people.

At that time, Spain was ruled by the Habsburg family, which was replaced by the Bourbon dynasty after the War of Spanish Succession. In 1682, a Frenchman named Robert Cavillier occupied the Louisiana area in the name of France. Although the Spanish had been to the mouth of the Mississippi River, Spain had not made any claim to this area.

Anyway, the sovereign nation had no other options at the beginning of the 17th century. They were so busy with the Netherlands War that no ships sailed from Spain to Trinidad for 30 years. British and Dutch ships successively sailed to Trinidad. At that time, the special Trinidad is still growing tobacco. Tobacco is the economic basis of Trinidad. In order to drive away these outsiders, the solution the Governor came up with is to ban tobacco growing so that foreigners will not come.

A "virtuous minister" in the Spanish court complained to the colonial secretary that waste was being sent to the crown colonies. The Colonial Secretary said, "Yes, we have sent a group of waste, but they are in the name of the Governor."

After seeing through Spain's strength, Charles I enfeoffed Trinidad, Tobago, and Barbados to Earl Montgomery. After Henry VIII converted for divorce, Sir Cecil declared to the Spanish ambassador in London that "Rome The Pope has no right to divide the world,” and that papal meridian simply disappeared.

The 16th century was an era when pirates were on the rise. Some of these pirates were real pirates and some were "captains." Their targets were Spanish treasure ships. At this time, the United Kingdom issued a rule: west of the Greenwich meridian and south of the Tropic of Cancer, any use of violence by any party against the other party shall not be regarded as a breach of contract.

Spain had no immigrants in the Caribbean, and its navy could not provide manpower. Anyway, by 1800, Spain no longer had the ability to send silver coins from the New World back to Europe.

Time flashed to 1718, when Trinidad discovered the cocoa tree. It became another pillar of the economy besides tobacco, even surpassing tobacco cultivation. However, a typhoon in 1756 blew away the commonly cultivated Brazilian high-yielding varieties. , this cocoa harvest failure was fatal to Trinidad. Josephine was a Creole. Creoles were residents of America whose parents were Spanish or Portuguese. Many Creoles moved away, and the governor introduced the French to the special area. Trinidad.

In 1777, a plantation owner named Saint Laurent submitted a memorandum to the king. The general meaning of this memorandum was to turn the backward colony ruled by Spain into a plantation colony run by the French. His argument was that there, France, The interests of both Spain and Spain could be advanced against the British.

Saint Laurent's proposal was approved by 383 households, including 286 from Martinique.

In 1783, the Spanish government adopted Saint Laurent's suggestions and promulgated the Colonial Law, opening Trinidad's door to foreign immigrants "under certain conditions."

In 1772, the British House of Commons put forward a proposal to allow foreign investment in the West Indian territory that Britain acquired from France at the Paris Peace Conference in 1763 at the end of the Seven Years' War. This coincided with Trinidad's new colonial law. Hit.

In 1786, in order to improve competitiveness, the then Governor Chacon revised the colonial laws and relaxed incentives. But now, the British also came to Trinidad.

The first is to enclose the land. Regardless of whether you have the ability to plant so much land, buy it first. Chacon himself devoted his energy to developing and improving Spanish ports. In 1796, when Chacon became aware of the land dispute between the British and the French, When the problems were accumulating to the brink of eruption, before he could deal with it, a British warship followed a French ship into the Port of Spain. The French ship flew the red, white and blue flag.

After they landed on the shore, they took up positions. The British were on Frederick Street and the French were on Chacon Street. The Spanish Governor Chacon himself, with a pitifully small army, was sandwiched between the two sides to persuade them not to invade Spain. With neutrality, a serious incident was avoided.

However, it happened to be St. Sebastian's Day, and all the residents of Port of Spain and many slaves witnessed the process. Soon many slaves displayed the tricolor flag, and Chacon had to send a detachment to suppress it.

There was no new content later. Just when Georgiana was about to watch the content about Tobago, Matilda came over and said that the second consul Cambaceres had arrived.

For some time Georgiana lived in the library, and that small room was converted into her exclusive lounge, or study, where Cambaceres was directed to see her.

He was not frightened by Georgiana's "book mountain", but Georgiana was frightened by Cambaceres.

Gold is a color that most people can't control, but Cambaceres actually wears it very well.

He has a handsome and profound face, a tall figure, broad shoulders and long legs, but unfortunately he is...

"Nice to meet you, Mrs. Sèvres." Cambaceres said to Georgiana in a very charismatic manner, reminding Georgiana of the Prime Minister she saw on TV.

"Nice to meet you, Second Consul." Georgiana said dizzy, feeling increasingly unrealistic.

"There's something I want to ask you about," Cambaceres said. "It's about the Louisiana Purchase."

"It's not about asking for advice. What do you want to ask?" Georgiana said.

Cambaceres sat down on the sofa nearby.

"Go get some coffee, Matilda." Georgiana said to Matilda who was standing at the door.

"Yes ma'am." Matilda turned and walked away.

So Georgiana also sat down and talked to Cambaceres across the "mountain".