1850 American Gold Tycoon

Chapter 608 Traditional Arts in Latin American Countries

After discussing the statehood of Western Mexico and Utah Territory with Fremont and Pan Zhengwei, Liang Yao summoned Jose Manuel Hidalgo, the consul of the Mexican Consulate in San Francisco.

War between the North and the South is unavoidable, and there is a huge gap in maritime strength between the North and the South. It is only a matter of time before the North takes advantage of its navy to block the South's seaports, cut off the export trade between the South and the European continent, and economically trap the South.

Many products exported from the west to the continent are transited through Texas and eventually shipped to the continent. Liang Yao wanted to keep this trade route.

Otherwise, all goods exported from the western region to Europe will have to bypass Cape Horn in South America and then be shipped to Europe. The Cape Horn route is not impossible.

However, Cape Horn has high winds and strong waves, constant strong winds all year round, and a cold climate. Taking a detour to Cape Horn will not only increase the time cost and transportation cost, but also increase risks.

There are two main ways to maintain the trade route from the West Coast to Texas and then to Europe.

The first is to use diplomatic means and mediation with continental powers such as Britain and France to allow the two major powers, Britain and France, to pressure the federal government to allow merchant ships from the west to sail to the continent as usual.

The second is to dispatch the always powerful fleet into the Atlantic Ocean to escort merchant ships in the west.

In 1860, the Panama Canal had not yet been opened, and the bases of the Umbrella fleet were all on the Pacific coast. Therefore, Liang Yao urgently needed a port in a neutral country to serve as a logistics supply base for the Umbrella fleet on the Atlantic coast to provide logistical support for the fleet.

Liang Yao has already identified this base, which is the Port of Veracruz in Mexico.

Today, Liang Yao summoned the Mexican consul in San Francisco to inform Mexico that he would help Mexico modernize the Port of Veracruz and lease it for a period of time.

Of course, Texas also has ready-made ports that can be used. However, as a slave state in the South, Texas would inevitably be involved in the Civil War. It is too risky to dock all the main battleships of Umbrella's fleet in Texas ports.

Battleships are no better than guns. If guns are lost, they can be replenished in a short time. If a battleship is sunk, it will take at least several months to replenish it with new ships.

"Your Excellency, Governor, are you looking for me?"

After meeting Liang Yao, Jose Manuel Hidalgo, the Consul of the Republic of Mexico in San Francisco, the United States, politely took off his hat to Liang Yao.

Hidalgo had already heard about the rise of separatist forces in the United States after the Republican Party won the election. He has been gloating these days, looking forward to the early outbreak of civil war in the United States.

Only when there is civil strife in the United States will the Republic of Mexico have the opportunity to take advantage of the chaos to regain the large areas of territory occupied by the United States. The foreign debt owed to the United States can also be delayed for a while.

"Your Excellency Hidalgo, please take a seat." Liang Yao showed a very kind smile and motioned for Hidalgo to sit down.

Leasing a port is an unreasonable request that humiliates the country and no normal country would agree to it. But Liang Yao didn't have any worries about Mexico, and he wasn't afraid that Mexico wouldn't agree.

Frequent wars since the founding of Mexico have already depleted the national treasury, and the country relies entirely on debt to survive.

The year before last, Mexico had to borrow $850,000 from California for emergency purposes in order to repay interest on foreign debts from the United Kingdom, France, and Spain.

As an agricultural country, Mexico's economy is already relatively fragile. Coupled with the immaturity of Mexico's political system, the central government's control over local states is extremely weak.

Although the United States has relatively weak control over local states, there is no harm without comparison. Before 1859, despite the quarrels between the North and the South, the federal government was still able to collect considerable amounts of tariffs from the states.

Looking back at the Mexican government, how much tax it can collect from each state depends entirely on the mood of the powerful people in each state.

Even if the Mexican government’s tax collection capacity is low, Mexico has had a lot of money to spend since its independence.

Mexico experienced a series of wars and conflicts in the middle and early 19th century, such as the War of Independence, the Civil War, and the two Mexican-American Wars. These wars not only had a serious impact on Mexico's economy, but also made the Mexican government debt-ridden.

The Mexican government has been able to survive to this day without bankruptcy and collapse, all thanks to foreign debt.

After the First Mexican-American War, according to the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, the United States paid Mexico an indemnity as war compensation and land purchase, with a specific amount of US$15 million.

15 million U.S. dollars is a lot of money. As long as the money can be used in practical ways, the Mexican government's financial situation will not be so bad that it cannot even pay the interest on its foreign debt.

The Mexican government is in such financial distress today. I am afraid only the bugs in the Mexican government know exactly where the US$15 million was spent.

Liang Yao's kind smile made Hidalgo feel very uncomfortable and restless: "Your Excellency suddenly wants to see me, why don't you know why?"

As the consul of the Republic of Mexico to the western region of the United States, Hidalgo is quite fluent in Chinese.

Since the northwest region of Mexico and the west are directly bordered, trade exchanges between the two places have become more and more frequent, and economic ties have become closer. The influence of the west region on Mexico, especially the northwest region of Mexico, is increasingly deepening.

Chinese has become the second most popular foreign language in Mexico after English, and more and more Mexicans can speak Chinese.

Especially in the northwest states of Guerrero and Michoacán, the local elites basically master simple Chinese.

"Consul Hidalgo, today I would like to say to you, Your Excellency, that in 1858, your government borrowed US$850,000 from this state, but the interest was not even a penny." Liang Yao said leisurely while sipping fragrant tea.

Next year, in 1861, the three major creditors, Britain, France and Spain, will form a three-nation intervention coalition and send a fleet to Mexico to intervene to force the Mexican government to honor its debts.

Although Britain and Spain quickly withdrew after their debts were due, France decided to continue to interfere in Mexico's internal affairs and maintain its occupation of Mexico for a long time out of geostrategic considerations. Mexico thus entered the Second Empire.

Napoleon III hoped to establish political influence for himself on the American continent by taking direct control of Mexico.

If we don't get some benefits from Mexico now, we won't get anything good when Lao Mo's three big creditors come to collect debts.

"We are already thinking of a way to deal with the interest matter. Please forgive me and give us some time." Hidalgo took out a handkerchief and wiped his forehead, explaining.

“You know, these are times of economic crisis.”

"I don't have time to listen to these excuses of yours." Liang Yao's face darkened and he said sternly. "You also know that this is a period of economic crisis, and your life in Mexico is difficult. Are our lives in California better?

In addition, I heard that you repaid part of the interest to the British and French governments last year. As for California's debt, you haven't paid even 1 cent in interest. Your country is too unfavorable. "

"You know all this?" Hidalgo was surprised that Liang Yao knew that Mexico had repaid part of the debt interest to the British and French governments last year. He was so surprised that he accidentally let it slip.

Hidalgo suspected that someone high up in the Mexican government leaked the news to California.