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The Netherlands is the industrial center of Europe. Wool spinning, hemp spinning, cotton spinning, printing and dyeing, shipbuilding, sugar making, soap making... These industries are all second to none. The woolen fabric produced in Belgium alone accounts for more than half of the world's woolen woolen production.

Just talking about cotton cloth, the cotton cloth produced in the Netherlands is sold in various regions of the world.

However, in recent years, China's cheap cotton cloth hit the Indian market, and then hit the American market.The cotton spinning industry in the Netherlands has gone into decline. A large amount of cotton cloth is overstocked in warehouses and cannot be sold at all. Cotton spinning workshops close down almost every month.

It would be hell to be able to compete with China. Leaving aside the influence of the steam engine, the cost of raw materials would be dropped by a large amount.

Europe was not rich in cotton, and the raw materials for cotton spinning in the Netherlands had to be imported from America and India.They were transported all the way back and made into cotton cloth for export.Especially in the Americas, from the import of raw materials to the sale of products, all have to be skinned by Selivian businessmen.

"War, war, cotton war on China!"

A lunatic who lost his investment stood at the gate of the exchange and shouted wildly.Such an outrageous slogan has won the approval of countless people, even beggars on the street have joined in.

They gathered more and more, and spontaneously walked towards the parliament building, surrounded by layers of members who were meeting inside.

"We don't want begging, we want war!"

"War to China!"

Members of Parliament came to the balcony and looked at the parade crowd outside, not knowing what to do.

They also want to concentrate all their efforts and go to war with China alone.

But who dares?

The arms race between Britain and the Netherlands has been going on for several years. Both sides are frantically building ships. The second Anglo-Dutch war is about to start.

If we start a war with China at this time, I am afraid that the Dutch fleet will leave Europe on the front foot, and will be beaten to the door by the United Kingdom on the back foot.And businessmen from other European countries are also paying attention to the situation all the time, wanting to take a bite of the decline of the Netherlands.

……

Madrid, Spain.

This capital does not conform to the image of a big country, because there are too many beggars, and the business has long since withered.

What's even more frightening is that there are more foreign monks than beggars!

There are more than 20 priests and nearly one million monks and nuns, accounting for a quarter of the total population of Spain.

There are so many religious people, not because the Spaniards are so devout, but a natural choice to seek advantages and avoid disadvantages.

The land owned by the church forces occupies half of the land area of ​​Spain, and has various political and economic privileges.At the same time, the king wanted to arrest heresies, causing 50 people to flee to the colony for decades.

The decline of industry and commerce caused more practitioners to flee to the colonies to make a living, and the population in Spain became even scarcer.

A quarter of the full-time religious privileged population wants to exploit the common people together with the nobles and businessmen. How difficult is life for the lower class people?As a result, more and more people chose to be priests, and more and more people fled to the colonies. A vicious circle has long been formed.

Spain, which has the most colonies in the world, was forced to issue an order not to move to the colonies without permission...

This situation, compared with 100 years ago, is completely different from heaven and hell.

When Spain was first unified, more than 5 Arabs converted to Catholicism, laying the foundation for Spain's industry and commerce.With the opening of the new sea route, Spain’s industry and commerce developed explosively. At that time, there were more than 16000 wool spinning workshops in Selivia alone, with more than 13 wool spinning workers.Toledo became the center of the European silk industry, with more than 3000 silk workshops and more than 3 silk weavers.The sugar industry also dominates the entire Europe.

Everything changes, starting with the war.

Before the Thirty Years War, Spain's treasury was empty because the king was fighting all over the world.In Europe alone, Spain has fought with half the countries, fighting this and that, and often fighting several countries at the same time.

Not to mention the war, as a European nouveau riche, the Spanish royal family and nobles opened up their enjoyment, and their extravagant life was like throwing away gold and silver.

If the finances collapse, then tax them.

Transaction tax, checkpoint tax, real estate tax...even when people move from one street to another, they must pay taxes to the government.

In the end, they didn't even bother to collect taxes by themselves, and directly contracted the taxes to the merchants.

Under the joint squeeze of the government and tax contractors, Spanish industry and commerce quickly came to an end. Taxes accounted for more than half of the cost of goods, and high prices quickly lost market share.

Businessmen go bankrupt and workers lose their jobs.

Agriculture was also hit hard, and farmers were oppressed by the government, tax contractors, clergy, and feudal nobles.The land was abandoned and the peasants fled.

They even deliberately forced the farmers to flee, so that they could take the opportunity to enclose the land, turn the arable land into pastures, and sell the wool to the Dutch at a high price.

"Your Majesty, the Dutch West India Company is said to have gone bankrupt. A large number of cotton mills in the Netherlands have also closed down, and there will be no market for American cotton in the future... The reason for all this is Chinese smuggling in America. If you don't crack down on smuggling, Your Majesty Probably not, but we, the members of the Seville Chamber of Commerce, certainly will."

The Federation of Seville Chambers of Commerce came to petition the King of Spain for the fourth time.

The "King of the Earth" Philip IV is very old. He witnessed the last glory of Spain, and stepped on the accelerator for Spain's decline.

At the beginning of this guy's succession to the throne, he faced a 30-year war, frantically expanded the army to 30 people, and declared the country bankrupt after only two years in office.

"His Majesty……"

Philip IV seemed to be asleep, but suddenly opened his eyes: "You needn't say anything, I will send imperial envoys to Mexico to bring to justice all officials involved in smuggling. As long as the Chinese fleet dares to go to Mexico, one ship will be sunk One!"

"I praise you in the name of the Lord, Your Majesty!" The merchants were finally happy.

After sending these guys away, Philip IV sat still.

How dare he go to war with China?

Even the Naples Uprising in Italy, Philip IV was unable to suppress it, and could not afford to recruit mercenaries.

……

London, England.

The Second Anglo-Dutch War broke out two years earlier than in history.

Hearing that the Dutch West India Company went bankrupt, Charles II felt that the time was ripe, and asked his younger brother to lead the navy to take Amsterdam directly.

"We will win this war!"

When Charles II came to the port, he drew his sword and shouted at the navy officers and soldiers: "The Netherlands is no longer old, and the entire European sea is ours. Long live England!"

"Long live England!"

"Long live His Majesty the King!"

Charles II, who is constantly centralizing power, has personal prestige far beyond another time and space.If things go on like this, as long as he defeats the Netherlands, he will be able to carry out a complete dictatorship.

The British naval fleet headed for the Netherlands in mighty force.

The Dutch navy owed a lot of wages, so they retreated without a fight, allowing the British to blockade Armstrong, and then they sailed the ship to Belgium to pay.

Chapter 1005 [The World of Great Controversy]

The Second Anglo-Dutch War was not limited to Europe, America and Africa also had battlefields.

A British naval expedition... well, actually a group of pirates, they have long been entrenched in the Caribbean islands.After receiving the order of Charles II, the pirates immediately attacked New Amsterdam and renamed it after the occupation - New York!

At the same time, the British Royal African Company began to attack the West African colonies in an attempt to seize the ivory, slaves and gold trade from the Dutch.

On the main battlefield in Europe, Britain dispatched more than a hundred warships, 4200 large and small artillery pieces, and a force of 22000 troops.

This was achieved by Charles II's messing around and selling iron. At the same time, he also had the family property saved by Cromwell. Of course, the enthusiastic investment of the Dutch businessman was indispensable.

The port of Amsterdam was blocked by the British Navy for half a month. The Dutch industry and commerce were already in decline, but the port was blocked again. Prices in the capital soared to the point of starvation.

Then the British withdrew their troops...

All decent ships in the UK were converted into warships to fight, which resulted in not enough food ships, and the navy had to return to the country for supplies when they ran out of food.

The Netherlands took the opportunity to recover, and the big businessmen negotiated urgently and decided to grit their teeth to raise military expenses.First solve the problem of the Dutch Navy's military pay, and then assemble the fleet to start a counterattack, and finally the two sides fought in the Lowestoft sea area.

For the first time in the history of human naval warfare, line-of-line tactics were used in actual combat.

This stuff has been proposed before, but the British Navy first adopted it, but the initial performance was not perfect.

The British navy had the upper hand and lined up.The Dutch Navy hastily responded to the battle, and its formation was in a mess.The two sides drove past each other, and because the British were not familiar with tactics, they forgot about the battle line.

It eventually turned into a big fight, with each other's warships entangled with each other, but the Dutch were more chaotic than the British.

In the afternoon of the battle, the Dutch flagship exploded, and the British army won a complete victory.

The Netherlands lost 18 warships and more than 5000 sailors and soldiers, but the main force managed to escape from the battlefield.

Two months later, fighting broke out again.

This time the Netherlands issued a wartime mobilization order to mobilize a large number of armed merchant ships to participate in the war.The British lost several warships, but the main force retreated safely, and captured more than a dozen Dutch merchant ships fleeing the wind and waves on the way home.

Two months later, the third battle started.

Historically, the British navy has always had the upper hand. As a result, the Black Death broke out in the country, and more than [-] people died in London alone.Since then, the situation has reversed, and Britain eventually lost the Second Anglo-Dutch War.

Now the war has been advanced two years, the Black Death in London has not broken out, and the British Navy has been fighting against the Netherlands.

The Netherlands launched an emergency diplomatic operation and formed an anti-British alliance with Denmark.

Since France was married to England, it was inconvenient for Louis XIV to intervene forcibly.However, the Sun King is a bad guy, and secretly sent supplies to the Netherlands, instigating the Netherlands to fight the UK to the end.

Britain went to Portugal for help, but the young king of Portugal was paralyzed and mentally ill.The king couldn't make the decision, a group of nobles argued endlessly, and finally agreed to form an alliance with Britain, but they were only willing to cheer for Britain from the sidelines.

More and more Dutch merchants awakened and took the initiative to join the battle with armed merchant ships. The four-year tug-of-war between Britain and the Netherlands began.

Both sides ran out of food, and frantically bought food from other countries.Merchants took the opportunity to drive up prices, causing food prices in Europe to rise sharply, and people in various countries suffered unspeakably.

French and Spanish grain merchants took the opportunity to make a fortune selling grain.

Finally, it was dragged on to the outbreak of the Black Death in London, and Britain's fragile finances completely collapsed.

The Netherlands was not much better, with hungry people everywhere, overseas trade was seriously damaged, and the Dutch East India Company was heavily in debt.

But Charles II was tough, or in other words, the monarchy was more suitable for war.Under the pressure of the Black Death in London, he continued to send troops to blockade Dutch ports, patrol key sea areas, and rob Dutch merchant ships when he saw them.

If it continues to drag on, Britain will definitely be unable to hold on first, but the weakness of merchants has affected the war.

The Dutch businessmen don't want to fight anymore, keep fighting, Holland may win, but many of them will go bankrupt!

At this time, France fought with Spain, and the battlefield was in the Spanish Netherlands, which frightened Britain and the Netherlands to immediately negotiate a truce.

Charles II opened his mouth wide, and the Dutch bargained.

The general content of the armistice treaty is as follows: New York in North America and Suriname in South America, these two Dutch colonies, were all ceded to Britain.At the same time, the United Kingdom agreed to amend the "Navigation Regulations" and no longer make trouble for the Netherlands.

Then, the dramatic scene came.

Britain and the Netherlands fought to the death and suddenly announced an alliance.Moreover, Sweden was also involved, and the three countries formed an anti-French alliance, demanding that France return Spanish territory.

But King Philip IV of Spain died of illness, and Louis XIV claimed that his wife's dowry was not enough.Now the King of Spain is dead, and his wife is a Spanish princess, who has the right to inherit the Spanish throne.The wife is willing to give up the throne, and together with the insufficient dowry, Spain just needs to compensate for a piece of land.

That piece of land was the Spanish Netherlands, roughly equivalent to the later Belgium and Luxembourg.

France quickly sent troops, taking advantage of the unstable foothold of the new Spanish king, and easily swallowed the Spanish Netherlands.

Before Spain responded, Britain and the Netherlands exploded.

France has swallowed that territory, and the Netherlands is equal to being made dumplings, and may be annexed by France at any time.Even if France doesn't do anything, the Netherlands will live in trepidation.

Britain was displeased with France's funding of the Dutch war, and feared that France would continue to grow.

Sweden is simply inexplicable, and even got involved, forming a three-nation anti-French alliance with Britain and the Netherlands.

Regardless, Louis XIV continued to attack Spain, occupying Comté and other areas, and forced Spain to negotiate peace with Portugal.

What does this have to do with Portugal?

Louis XIV married his cousin to the foolish king of Portugal, and gave a large dowry to instigate Portugal to attack Spain.The queen married from France had an affair with the idiot king's younger brother and jointly took control of the power in Portugal. She even really wanted to go to war with Spain.

Seeing that something was wrong, Spain not only chose to negotiate a peace, but also officially recognized Portugal's independence.

Due to the establishment of the Anti-French Alliance, France also started peace talks with Spain, giving up the occupied Spanish mainland, but retaining control of some cities in the Spanish Netherlands.

In this way, France stabilized the northern border, but the conflict with the Netherlands was completely intensified.

As for Britain, although it was allied with the Netherlands against France, it was secretly preparing for the third Anglo-Dutch war.At that time, Britain will pull France to fight against the Netherlands. Charles II and Louis XIV are just that bad.

In any case, this series of wars has severely damaged Spain, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom.

In India, the Dutch had no temper in the face of China, and even humbled themselves in front of King Jin.

They were afraid that if they were not careful, China would suddenly go to war and occupy the Dutch colony in Ceylon.Knowing the situation in Europe, China took the opportunity to ask for commercial benefits, and obtained the same commercial privileges as the Netherlands in India and Ceylon.

In America, the rule of the Spanish royal family was completely out of control, the Chinese trade fleet swaggered past, and smuggling was completely open.And the fake show was real. The Luzon Navy went to Cebu Island for a tour, and fired a few cannonballs as a meeting ceremony.

The governor of Mexico, Palaufort, was frightened to reduce the commission for Chinese merchant ships, and the profits of Li Quan's Four Seas Trading Company soared by 5%.

Spain and the Netherlands are in complete decline, Britain is licking its wounds, and France has leapt to the hegemony of continental Europe.China can earn a little more money without doing anything, and I can't wait for the European countries to fight a few more games.

As for India, the two brothers, the Mughal emperor and the Bengal emperor, went militaristically and crazily expanded, and both eventually led to bad results.

There are frequent uprisings in their country, and they don't want to do anything all year round, they are busy leading troops to quell the chaos.

Especially in Afghanistan, the chiefs of various ministries fought guerrillas with the Mughals in the mountains, causing the Mughals to give up their right to rule Afghanistan.

Then there was a civil war in Afghanistan among chiefs who wanted to be kings themselves.