Chapter 2283 Place of shelter (Part 2)

William Wilberforce is a member of the House of Commons and the son of the wealthy businessman Robert Wilberforce. His grandfather William gained a lot of wealth through trade in the Baltic Sea and was twice elected mayor of Hull. William Jr.

He has been frail and sick since the day he was born, but this has not affected his pleasure-loving character at all.

He met William Pitt Jr. when he was studying in Cambridge. The two often played cards, gambled, drank late at night, skipped classes, and barely passed various examinations, but did not receive an honorary degree. However, he did not participate in any activities that made him feel

Nasty party.

After graduation, William Wilberforce returned to his hometown. Relying on his family's wealth and connections, he defeated his opponents and entered the House of Commons, becoming the youngest member of the House of Commons in British history. With his outstanding talent and good friend Peter, he had already become the Prime Minister.

, Wilberforce can be said to be the "darling" in the political arena, but a trip to Europe changed him.

Initially he dismissed the gospel, but later he met the old pastor John Newton, the pastor who wrote "Amazing Grace". He told Wilberforce about his early experiences as a slave trader and the death of his mother.

After giving up the story of engaging in the slave trade, this conversation led Wilberforce into the direction of the abolitionist movement.

There is an anti-slave trade alliance, and there is a slave trader alliance. In the same year that the French Revolution broke out, when Wilberforce and members of the anti-slave trade alliance first proposed the abolition bill, everyone regarded him as a slave trader.

With a "Don Quixote", the bill was easily defeated, and all the members walked away, leaving only him and other members in the empty parliament hall.

But Wilberforce refused to give up. He had to propose proposals again and again. In the end, his tenacity was recognized by more and more people. However, at this time, the French Revolution broke out, and everyone's attention was diverted.

Almost all their previous efforts were wasted.

As the Jacobins came to power and Louis XVI was sent to the guillotine, everyone in the nobility began to feel insecure. Any form of social change was regarded as a "scourge". He once received the threat of the title of "honorary citizen" in France.

Erberfus became the target of attacks by supporters of the slave trade, who accused him of being a "time bomb" in British society, and the number of people supporting the abolition movement began to decrease significantly.

But Wilberforce did not give up. As the situation in Europe gradually calmed down, he restarted his activities. However, no one thought that Napoleon would actually restore slavery. Moreover, a "sticker incident" occurred in Paris. On Napoleon's birthday,

Someone posted a note on the door of the Tuileries Palace, "The silence of the people is a lesson to the king."

Although the newspapers did not publish news about the war in Saint-Domingue, a Swedish merchant ship saw the situation at that time. After arriving in Europe, they spread the news at the dock. Then the situation in the Baltic Sea became extremely delicate.

The 14th century was the golden age of the development of the Hanseatic League. It was also the era when the Hundred Years War and the Black Death swept across Europe. At that time, the kings of Britain and France turned to Italian bankers for loan sharks, and the Bank of Petrucci lent it to King Edward III of England.

, in exchange for a monopoly on wool sales, and at the same time, their family owners took a fancy to the potential of Amsterdam after the dam was built, and set up a semicolon there to provide exchange services for the Hanseatic League. This made Edward III refuse to repay the loan.

At that time, even though most of the branches of Bank of Peruzzi went bankrupt due to the financial crisis, the Amsterdam branch was not affected.

The Russians do business differently from the British. When the British borrow money, they lend it to others, and when they collect money, they also find people. If the money is not repaid, they use collateral to repay the debt. This is also a model that many banks have with cash.

The prices of goods fluctuate. In the autumn, food prices will fall due to the bumper harvest, but at a certain time they will rise. As long as the debt can be paid off for a certain period of time, there is no problem.

Starting from Peter the Great I, Russia has tried to establish a national credit institution. Empress Elizabeth Petrovna established the Noble Bank and the St. Petersburg Port Bank. The government's credit has shown two tendencies, supporting high-level nobles and businessmen mainly engaged in foreign trade, and

The first is the main one.

The nobles had a large amount of gold, silver, diamonds, pearls and densely populated manors as collateral. The initial loan did not exceed three years, but the nobles were unwilling to repay the debt. The Tsarist Russian model forced the queen to order an extension of the repayment period, initially to 8 years.

, later it became 20 years, so the tsarist government had to replenish funds for the noble banks from the treasury, which means taxpayers paid the bill.

This model of the state injecting funds into the aristocratic banks resulted in most of the loans being squandered. After Catherine II came to power, the aristocratic banks were reorganized into state loan banks, which inherited the main functions of the former, but still did not solve the problem of the aristocratic loan repayments.

The problem of money. It still exists, and the banks have gone from being dependent on state treasury funds to becoming creditors of the country, providing funds during the war.

All the money deposited in the Noble Bank was real gold and silver, which was needed to pay military expenses. Of course, the loan bank became an empty shell. It was already issuing banknotes during the reign of Catherine II, replacing Elizaveta Petrov.

Copper coins were introduced during the reign of Empress Anna, and the St. Petersburg Port Commercial Bank was responsible for issuing banknotes.

Of course there will be problems for the Russians if they do this, but there is a big Eastern country next to them that uses silver as its currency. Through the Siberian Tea Road, some precious metals can be replenished. Denmark is in a worse situation, not only because they were in the Anti-French Alliance War

Expenditures. After Copenhagen was bombarded in 1802, money was needed for reconstruction. Since 1736, Denmark has had a paper currency called "krona". Its currency value is guaranteed by silver reserves. The most important thing is that Denmark has no

The central bank and the right to issue the krona were in the hands of many private banks, which led to the printing of a large amount of banknotes and inflation, so many Danish seafarers went abroad to find work.

Denmark also has colonies. The closest one to Europe is Greenland. This island is located in the Arctic Circle and you can see the aurora. It is suitable for those who pursue romance.

The most abundant resource in that place covered by ice all year round is seals, whose fur and seal oil are both top sellers. Another place is the islands of St. Thomas and St. John in the Caribbean, which purchased St. Thomas from France in 1733.

The economic income of these islands comes from cane sugar.

Originally, Denmark also had some trading posts on the Gold Coast of Africa, most of which were located in Ghana. Some of them were acquired by Sweden. The trading posts in Ceylon were also sold or ceded to the British, leaving only two towns in the north of Calcutta.

In other words, if the Danes want to make money, they have to go to Greenland and the Caribbean. Didn’t William Pitt invest 20 million Spanish silver dollars in the West Indies? Politically, the Danes hate the British who bombarded Copenhagen, but

Napoleon was very strict with coins, so the Danes had no choice but to cooperate with the British.

With the end of the Hundred Years' War between England and France, the United Kingdom began the War of the Roses. At this time, on the European continent, the good man Philip of the Principality of Burgundy was hosting a pheasant banquet. He planned to replace the Pope and persuade other attendees of the banquet to join the Crusades.

Eastern Expedition.

Since it holds the two wealthy territories of Burgundy and Flanders, when the church relies on indulgences to increase its financial revenue, only Burgundy still has the strength to organize a new "holy war."

The Order of the Golden Fleece left over from that banquet is still the most noble order of knights. Even though the Principality of Burgundy is no longer there, with the death of Charles the Bold in battle, his daughter became the target of competition between France and the Holy Roman Empire.

The Hanseatic League's sphere of influence included the Baltic Sea and the North Sea. They did not participate in the Italian woolen textile industry. Problems arose in Britain, where the wool was produced, and in the Netherlands, where it was produced. The trade center turned to the Rhine River and Germany. During this period, too

During Germany's golden age, handicrafts and commerce were very active. However, in 1517, the religious reform broke out, followed immediately by war. By the time the Hanseatic League turned around and wanted to continue developing in Britain, it had already entered the era of Queen Elizabeth I.

The geopolitical environment of trading cities in Central and Northern Europe is much worse than that of Italian city-states. Few Nordic trading cities can defend their own security with their own strength like Venice. In addition to commercial interests, the establishment of the Hanseatic League also formulated a city charter in accordance with the Law of Lübeck.

, and another purpose is to suppress pirates.

The Hanseatic League has always had a very important position in Britain. Edward II also gave them the title of "Libra Merchants" and granted them privileges such as exemption from import taxes. During this period, the Hanseatic merchants monopolized Britain's foreign trade.

However, since the end of the War of the Roses, Britain has not experienced another war. After 100 years of development, the handicraft industry has become increasingly perfect. The policy implemented since Edward IV was to restrict foreign merchants, protect domestic merchants, and prohibit the import of any woolen textiles from abroad. However, because

Due to the resistance of Hanseatic merchants, the ban was lifted.

By Edward VI, the Privy Council found an excuse to cancel the title of "Merchant of the Scales". The Hanseatic merchants channeled the Holy Roman Emperor, who protested, so Edward VI's successor "Bloody Mary" had to restore this privilege.

When it came to the innocent Queen Elizabeth I, she was determined to protect the interests of her own merchants. In retaliation, the Hanseatic League persuaded the Holy Roman Emperor to only accept merchant ships from Spain and Hanseatic ships. During the Anglo-Spanish War, the queen ordered 60 ships that had dealings with Spain to be

Hanseatic merchant ships "fished" together.

The Hanseatic League has never formed a public army. The main method of waging war is to hire militia and navy organized by each city. Moreover, their navy did not participate in the great voyage, so it could not compete with those who experienced the great voyage.

Compared with the British warships, they could only go to various European countries to plead, but they repeatedly encountered obstacles and were ridiculed.

The Teutonic Knights were the last of the three major knights to be established. Lubeck is the headquarters of the Hanseatic League. The Hanseatic League and the Teutonic Knights have always had close ties, but the Teutonic Knights were not good at naval battles. In comparison The Knights of Malta occupy many islands, including the most important center of conflict in the Peace of Amiens, the island of Malta in the Mediterranean Sea.

In 1224, the Teutonic Knights came to the ancient Prussian region from the headquarters of Acre. After that, Prussia also became the residence of the Teutonic Knights, and later the Teutonic Knights Kingdom was established. Now this kingdom of knights is gone, replaced by Frederick The Electorate of Prussia was transformed into the Kingdom of Prussia under Emperor Lieutenant General.

Although the Hanseatic League has disappeared, it left the international commercial and trade arbitration system.

The Prussian army inherited the tradition of the Teutonic Knights and was always known for its high quality. However, it lost to France in the Anti-French Alliance War in 1795 and ceded the land west of the Rhine.

The living standard of German farmers is roughly the same as that of France. They also have to work long hours on barren land and their diet is not that diverse. However, the houses of German farmers are definitely better than those of France. At least no one sleeps in the cowshed. Georgiana goes We passed the cabin in the Alps where they lived when grazing cattle in the summer, mainly because it was cooler at high altitudes.

However, in the Alsace region, some people used usurious loans to seize farmers' land. This led to regional chaos and rampant bandits, but the farmers did not hate them. What the farmers hated were the loan sharks.

French banks do not have the adventurous spirit of British banks when it comes to lending. They like low interest rates and stable income. And they prefer the improvement of social status to high returns. When the king deals with financial problems, he also sells officials and titles. Britain and France There is a phenomenon of selling official positions, but the British Parliament can provide funds for the king. The Prince of Wales owes debts, and the Parliament can repay him, provided that he wants to marry his distant cousin Caroline. It is said that he was drunk on the wedding day.

The French king cannot obtain it from parliament, but he can sell his title. This has led the French to develop the habit of investing money in state institutions and land instead of industrial enterprises.

The Great Revolution ended the selling of officials, but it did not change people's habits. The idea of ​​equality for everyone made the social status of those who were promoted in the public service system higher.

At the same time, civil servants also mean stability and are not as risky as industry, commerce and freelancing. The Bank of France and the Bank of England are the only joint-stock banks in Europe. They are not affected by the ban on the establishment of joint-stock banks. At the same time, the Bank of France also has the right to issue currency. , the Bank of England had to face many challenges, such as the creation of half-penny tokens using steam engines at the Soho factory.

It is impossible for private banks to compete with such joint-stock large banks. Although the Republic of Batavia is a puppet regime, it is still a "country". The Dutch can also establish joint-stock central banks like the Bank of France and the Bank of England.

It is still a private bank.

Bank Peruzzi has an "Italian background" and also has "enmity" with England, but that was many years ago.

There are no eternal enemies, only eternal interests. The person who said this is still a child, but from a certain perspective, he did reveal part of the truth.

Before the guests arrived, Georgiana went to Matilda's room, not only to get the tea set, but also to look for the letter. She wanted to see what Toussaint Louverture had written.

However, during the search, she found more than one letter, most of which were sent from Madrid, with Sophie's handwriting on them.

She had almost forgotten about Sophie and Gordan, who loved to write scripts. Originally, she wanted to just put them back. This is what a moral person who cares about other people's privacy should do.

But when she thought about how much trouble she had caused herself by becoming a "noble person", she suddenly no longer wanted to be so moral.

Then she thought of the new house that the newlyweds had purchased for themselves, and shook her head. What would others say about her behind her back?

"I only read one." She comforted herself, running her fingertips through the many letters, and finally selected one and pulled it out. The letter had been opened, but the paint had not fallen off. There was a

The complex pattern seems to be the family crest. What would a civilian postman think if he saw it?

The ban on joint-stock banks was lifted in 1826-1833
Chapter completed!