Harry Potter Morning Light

Chapter 2283

William Wilberforce was a member of the House of Commons, the son of wealthy businessman Rob Wilberforce, whose grandfather William made a fortune through trading in the Baltic Sea and was twice elected mayor of Hull.Little William was weak and sick from the day of his birth, but this did not affect his pleasure-loving character at all.

He met William Pitt Jr. when he was a student at Cambridge. The two often played cards together, gambled, drank late at night, skipped classes, barely passed various examinations, but did not receive an honorary degree. nasty party.

After graduating, William Wilberforce returned to his hometown. With 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 his good friend Pete, who had already become the prime minister at that time, Wilberforce could be said to be the "darling" in the political arena, but a trip to Europe changed him.

Originally dismissive of the gospel, he later met the old pastor John Newton, the same pastor who wrote "Amazing Grace," and he told Wilberforce about his early experiences as a slave trader and the death of his mother. After dropping the story of being in the slave trade, the conversation set Wilberforce in the direction of the abolitionist movement.

There was the Anti-Slave Trade League, and there was the Slave Trader League, and in the same year that the French Revolution broke out, when Wilberforce and the members of the Anti-Slave Trade League first proposed the Abolition Act, everyone regarded him as A "Don Quixote", the motion was easily vetoed, and all the councilors walked away, leaving only him and other members in the empty parliamentary hall.

But Wilberforce refused to give up. He had to put forward proposals time and time again. In the end, his tenacity was recognized by more and more people. But at this time, the French Revolution broke out, and everyone's attention was diverted. Almost let their previous efforts go to waste.

As the Jacobins came to power and Louis XVI was sent to the guillotine, the nobles began to feel insecure, and any form of social change was regarded as a "scourge". Alberforth became the target of pro-slavery campaigners who accused him of being a "time bomb" for British society, and support for the abolitionist movement began to wane.

But Wilberforce did not give up. As the situation in Europe gradually calmed down, he resumed his activities, but no one thought that Napoleon would restore slavery, and there was a "sticker incident" 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 for the king".

Although the newspaper did not publish the news of the Santo Domingo battle, a Swedish merchant ship saw the situation at that time. After they arrived in Europe, they spread the news at the pier, and then the situation in the Baltic Sea became extremely delicate.

The 14th century was the golden age of the development of the Hanseatic League, and it was also the era when the Hundred Years War between Britain and France and the Black Death swept across Europe. At that time, the kings of Britain and France asked Italian bankers to borrow usury loans, and the Peruzzi Bank lent it to King Edward III of England. , in exchange for the monopoly of wool sales. At the same time, their owners took a fancy to the potential of Amsterdam after the sea dam was built, and set up a semicolon there to provide exchange services for the Hanseatic League.This made it so that when Edward III refused to repay the loan, even though most of the branches of Peruzzi Bank went bankrupt due to the financial crisis, the branch in Amsterdam was not affected.

The way Russians do business is different from that of the British. The British lend money to others, and when they want to recover the money, they also find someone to pay.

The price of goods fluctuates. In autumn, the price of food will fall due to the harvest, and it will rise at a certain time. As long as the debt can be repaid and delayed for a certain period of time, there is no problem.

Since Peter the Great, Russia has tried to establish a national credit institution. Empress Elizabeth Petrovna established the Noble Bank and St. Petersburg Port Bank. The government's credit has two tendencies, supporting the nobles and businessmen mainly engaged in foreign trade, and The first is the main one.

The nobles have a large amount of gold, silver, diamonds, pearls, and densely populated manors as collateral, and the initial loan does not exceed three years, but the nobles are unwilling to repay the debts. The model of Tsarist Russia forced the empress to order an extension of the repayment period, which was 8 years at the beginning , and later turned into 20 years, so the tsarist government had to replenish funds for the noble bank from the treasury, that is to say, the taxpayers paid for it.

This model of the country injecting funds into the noble banks led to most of the loans being squandered. After Catherine II came to power, the noble banks were reorganized into the National Loan Bank, which inherited the main functions of the former, but still did not solve the repayments of the nobles. money problem.It still exists, and has gone from a lending bank dependent on treasury funds to a creditor of the state, providing funds during the war.

All that is stored in the noble bank is real money, which is needed to pay military expenses. Of course, the lending bank becomes an empty shell.Banknotes were already issued during the reign of Catherine II, replacing the copper coins introduced by Empress Elizabeth Petrovna, and were issued by the St. Petersburg Port Commercial Bank.

Of course, the Russians would have problems playing this way, but next to it is a big eastern country that uses silver as its currency, and some precious metals can be replenished through the Siberian tea road.Denmark is in a miserable situation, not only because of their expenditures in the Anti-French Alliance War, but also because of the reconstruction of Copenhagen after being bombarded in 1802 and the need for money. Since 1736, Denmark has had a banknote called "Krona". The value of the currency is guaranteed by silver reserves. The most important thing is that there is no central bank in Denmark, and the right to issue krona is in the hands of a number of private banks. This has led to a large number of banknote printing and inflation, so many Danish seamen go abroad to find work. dry.

Denmark also has colonies. The closest to Europe is Greenland. This island is located in the Arctic Circle and can see the aurora. It is suitable for people who are chasing romance.

The place with the most perennial ice cover is the seal, and its fur and seal oil are bestsellers.Another place is the islands of St. Thomas and St. John in the Caribbean Sea, and St. Croix was purchased from France in 1733. The economic income of these islands comes from sugar cane.

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

In other words, the Danes have to go to Greenland and the Caribbean if they want to make money. Didn’t William Pitt, Jr. put 2000 million Spanish silver dollars in the West Indies?Politically, the Danes hated the British that bombarded Copenhagen, but Napoleon was very strict with coins, so the Danes had to cooperate with the British.

With the end of the Hundred Years' War between Britain and France, Britain began the War of the Roses. At this time, on the European continent, Philip, a good man from the Duchy of Burgundy, was throwing a pheasant banquet. He planned to replace the Pope and persuade other people who attended the banquet to join the Crusades. Expedition.

Owning the two rich territories of Burgundy and Flanders, only Burgundy has the strength to organize a new "jihad" when the church relies on indulgences to increase its financial revenue.

The Knights of the Golden Fleece left over from that banquet is still the most honorable knightly medal, even though the Principality of Burgundy is no longer there. With the death of Charles the Bold, his daughter has become the target of competition between France and the Holy Roman Empire.

The sphere of influence of the Hanseatic League includes the Baltic Sea and the North Sea. They do not participate in the woolen textile industry in Italy. Problems have arisen in the United Kingdom, where wool is produced, and the Netherlands, where it is produced. The trade center has turned to the Rhine and Germany. During Germany's golden age, handicrafts and commerce were very active.But in 1517, the religious reformation broke out, and then the war broke out. By the time the Hanseatic League turned around and wanted to continue to develop in England, it had entered the era of Queen Elizabeth I.

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

The Hanseatic League has always played an important role in Britain. Edward II also gave them the title of "Libra Merchant" and gave them privileges such as exemption from import taxes. During this period, Hanseatic merchants monopolized Britain's foreign trade. However, since the end of the War of the Roses, Britain has not experienced any more wars. After 100 years of development, the handicraft industry has become more and more perfect. The policy implemented since Edward IV is to restrict foreign merchants, protect domestic merchants, and prohibit any import of woolen textiles from abroad, but because The ban was lifted due to the resistance of the Hanseatic merchants.

When it came to Edward VI, the Privy Council found an excuse to cancel the title of "Libra Merchant". The Hanseatic merchants communicated with the Holy Roman Emperor, who protested, so Edward VI's successor "Bloody Mary" had to restore this privilege.

When it came to 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 accept only Spanish and Hanseatic merchant ships. During the Anglo-Spanish War, the Queen ordered 60 ships that had contacts with Spain Hanseatic merchant ships "fished" together.

The Hanseatic League has not formed a public army for a long time. The main method of launching wars is to hire militias and navies organized by each city, and their navies have not participated in the great voyage, so they cannot compete with those who have experienced the great voyage. British battleship comparison.They can only go to various European countries to beg, but they repeatedly run into walls and are ridiculed.

The Teutonic Knights were the last of the three major knight orders, and Lübeck was the headquarters of the Hanseatic League.The Hanseatic League has always had close ties with the Teutonic Knights, but the Teutonic Knights are not good at naval warfare. In contrast, the Knights of Malta occupy many islands, including the most important contradiction in the Amiens Peace Treaty. Center, on 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 established the Teutonic Knights.Now this kingdom of knights is gone, replaced by the kingdom of Prussia that Frederick I transformed from the electorate.

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

The Prussian army inherited the tradition of the Teutonic Knights and has always been 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 standard of living of German farmers is about the same as in France, they also have to work long hours on poor land, and their diet is not as varied, although German farmers' houses are definitely better than in France, at least no one sleeps in a cowshed.Georgiana had been to the chalet in the Alps where they lived while grazing in the summer, mainly because it was cooler at higher altitudes.

However, in the Alsace area, some people borrowed usury to seize the peasants' land, which led to regional chaos and robbers rampant, but the peasants did not hate them, but the peasants hated the usurers.

French banks do not have the adventurous spirit of British banks in lending. They like low interest rates and stable income.And compared to high returns, they prefer the improvement of social status. The king deals with financial problems and sells officials and titles. There is a phenomenon of selling officials in Britain and France, but the British Parliament can provide funds for the king. The Prince of Wales owes debts, and the Parliament can replace them He paid it off on the condition that he marry his distant cousin Caroline, whom he reportedly drank heavily on the wedding day.

The fact that the king of France could not get it from parliament, but could sell his titles, got the French into the habit of investing their money in state institutions and land rather than in industrial enterprises.

The Great Revolution ended selling officials, but it did not change people's habits. The saying that everyone is equal made the social status of those who were promoted in the public service system more noble.

At the same time, civil servants also mean stability, not as risky as business and freelance.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, and the Bank of England has to face many challenges. For example, the Soho factory uses steam engines to manufacture Coins worth half a penny.

It is impossible for a private bank to fight against this kind of joint-stock big bank. Although the Republic of Batavia is a puppet regime, it is still a "country". The Dutch can also establish a joint-stock central bank like the Bank of France and the Bank of England.

It is still a private bank.

Peruzzi Bank has "Italian background" and "has a grudge" with England, but that was many years ago.

There are no permanent enemies, only permanent interests. The person who said this was still a child, but from a certain point of view, he did reveal part of the truth.

Before the guests came, Georgiana went to Matilda's room, not only to get the tea set, but also to find the letter, and she wanted to see what Toussaint Louverture had written.

However, in the process of searching, she found more than one letter, most of which were from Madrid, with Sophie's handwriting on it.

She almost forgot about Sophie and Godan who loves to write scripts. Originally, she wanted to just put them back. This is what a moral person who pays attention to other people's privacy should do.

But as soon as she thought that she had caused so much trouble for herself by becoming a "noble person", she suddenly didn't want to be so moral.

Immediately afterwards, she thought of the new house that the newlyweds bought for herself in name, and shook her head again. What would others say about her behind her back?
"I only read one." She said consolingly, she slid her fingertips among the many letters, finally chose one, and pulled it out. The letter had already been opened, but the wax did not fall off. The complex pattern seems to be the family crest, what would the civilian postman think if he saw it?

　The ban on joint-stock banks was lifted from 1826-1833
　
(End of this chapter)