Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796

Chapter 267 034 There is no Zorro in this era

Things in Haiti are going smoothly, and Dessalines has released many people.

But next, we have to pass through the Spanish colonies and change ships from New Spain to the western coastline.

To some extent, this still requires going to Mexico City to meet the Governor.

The current Governor, General José Joaquin Vincent Iturigaray Arostegui, has only been in office for a year. He tends to employ Criollos rather than Peninsulars.

This makes these "Peninsulas" from mainland Spain dissatisfied, and they really want to give the Governor a big one.

The Governor still has some headaches. Although he unveiled the equestrian statue of King Carlos IV in Mexico City, presided over many public affairs, and agreed to Baron von Humboldt to come to New Spain for inspection, there are still many things to do, and visitors are constantly coming.

He was very impatient with Dr. de Balmis, a doctor who recently came to New Spain to vaccinate the locals with smallpox.

In fact, the reason is very simple. Carlos IV gave von Humboldt unlimited power to investigate in order to know the current situation in New Spain.

The doctor came to New Spain and could not bring any benefits, so he had been waiting in Veracruz.

As for the appearance of such a large Russian fleet, the Spanish garrison was panicked.

"What are they doing?"

Senyavin watched the Spaniards running around chaotically and disorderly on the artillery platform with a telescope on the ship, and knew the general situation.

"The Spanish armaments are really slack. It's a pity that they have occupied so many places in America as colonies."

"In other words, the actual rule is still inefficient."

"Don't underestimate them, you two."

Duke Enghien knew that Solovyov had followed Suvorov on the expedition and had seen a lot, and Rear Admiral Senyavin was also an old navy, so he naturally looked down on the poor defense of the colony.

"Why?"

"Misha, the tax farmers in New Spain can still collect taxes."

"But if the Spanish navy is entangled by the British navy, won't their treasure ships have to hand over the collected taxes to the British?"

"That's not our business, and we also need to go ashore to negotiate with the Spaniards, and even go to Mexico City to talk to the current governor."

In Solovyov's mind, perhaps the most famous person in Mexico is Zorro, the one who pretended to be the governor and also worked as a swordsman.

Although he is a fictional character, anything can happen on the land of Mexico.

Now this place is still full of vitality, and everything is competing for development. Who would have thought that 200 years later, it would become the backyard and drug den of Americans?

The garrison of Veracruz also lifted the alert after the Russian fleet sent out the signal. They were panicked enough, and the Russians did not intend to rob the colony under their noses.

Fort Ross is located on the edge of the Spanish colony, and it is almost a no-man's land.

Even the indigenous tribes may still maintain their original control areas there, and the Spaniards only control it in name.

When the Russians came along the west coast of North America for the fur of sea otters, they had to deal with the locals a lot.

"What should we do now?"

"Soloviev, let's use the old method. You can fight the 'zombies' in Port-au-Prince and get away with it. You must have a way to do it in New Spain."

So, he still had to go ashore in Veracruz as a representative of the Russian fleet.

However, Mexico seems to be much stronger than Haiti, and the locals are not as vigilant to outsiders as the blacks in Haiti.

As for the garrison commander, after excluding his long list of names, we got to the point.

"You are going to transport settlers to your American territories through the territory of New Spain, and they are all French?"

"Major, you may not believe me, we have received an order from St. Petersburg to safely send the French expatriates in Haiti and the Russian expatriates in Port-au-Prince, a total of 4,399 people, to the Rossburg territory. And our Rossburg Governor is the Duke of Enghien, the French Prince of Bourbon. Speaking of which, he is a relative of your King!"

Although Solovyov did not like King Carlos IV and his son Fernando VII, especially the latter, who was simply a pig.

But in such a place, you still have to hold your nose and negotiate with them.

The commander of the Spanish garrison also understood this situation. He could not keep people on the ship all the time. He could set up tents. There were few hurricanes that would blow directly to Veracruz during the hurricane season. He could not leave these French people here.

However, he still had to send a messenger to report to the Governor of Mexico City.

The governor himself, after learning that the Russians were coming, began to convene colonial officials and clergy to discuss countermeasures.

At this time, the attitude of Francisco Javier de Lizana Beaumont, the Archbishop of Mexico City, was actually very critical.

The power of Spain was always in the hands of the church, and they could still call the shots, but it depended on whether it would have a positive or negative effect.

"Gentlemen, I think the Russians are very clear. They want to transport French colonists to the Russian American territories. These people are all from Saint-Domingue, and some of them are Spanish. What should we do? Do?"

The opinions of most people here are actually not friendly. After all, Russians generally do not appear in the Americas, except for the Aleutian area, and the destination of these people is the colony claimed by the Spanish, so many Everyone is opposed to it.

The governor himself had difficulty making up his mind, so he turned his eyes to the bishop and asked for help.

"Your Excellency, I think that at this time, Russian immigrants can be allowed to pass through our territory. But they are only allowed to transit, not to settle. These people are French and can be regarded as allies of our King. But there is another problem. , that is the attitude of the Holy See towards the French.”

"It makes sense, Bishop. You think they should be let go. They just go to the north. The garrison of the San Francisco Bay Fortress is extremely limited."

"This is no trouble, Your Majesty the Governor. Aren't there Indians there?"

Speaking of which, the Indians were brave and warlike, which indeed gave the colonists a headache.

"That's fine, but we still have to see the Russian envoys. Now we can only ask them to put the people down in Veracruz."

"That's fine. It's just a delegation coming to Mexico City. There will be a Russian governor in Fort Ross."

The problem arises. After all, the visitor is the Duke of Enghien, and the governor of New Spain cannot neglect the hospitality.

The archbishop himself did not panic when he heard that the visitor was the Duke of Enghien.

After all, in order to colonize and civilize the indigenous tribes, the Spanish had 21 colonial strongholds in the coastal areas of California. There were missionaries and a small number of troops stationed there, and they could live on friendly terms with the indigenous tribes.

Although the Spaniards have always been notorious for destroying the American Indians, Aztecs, and Incas, some missionaries themselves have felt guilty since they colonized the country. Even when introducing the colonization, they were not without exaggeration. He said that the colonies had "destroyed" all the original civilizations in the Americas, but the fact is that except for the Caribbean, which was completely wiped out, Spanish colonies in other parts of the country still had locals to some extent, and even in most areas of Peru and Mexico, Or are indigenous peoples more dominant in terms of population?

Americans, on the other hand, like to let others take the blame, exterminate the Indians themselves, and drive the rest into reservations. Except for a few chiefs who have brought their tribes to gain "respect", those who don't want to be "respectable" have been "respected" Decent".

In this area of ​​California, during the time of Carlos III, there were estimated to be between 130,000 and 250,000 indigenous people. It is said that several thousand colonists settled directly and were concentrated in one area, so the threat to them was not great.

And it is not difficult to deal with the indigenous people. Drake, the pirate leader, once declared San Francisco to be the territory of Queen Elizabeth I. However, after he returned to the country, the British government did not make any comments on this matter, nor did it have any territorial claims.

The Spanish knew nothing about it until the Spanish kings changed from the Habsburg kings to the Bourbon Philip V line. When Bering crossed the Bering Strait and came to explore the west coast of North America, The Madrid court finally became vigilant.

That's why the bishop also has such considerations now, and the governor himself is also a little nervous.

This also required Duke Engian and Solovyov to go to Mexico City, and they set off with their entourage.

When the Duke of Enghien came to the Spanish colony, he could pass by it with great arrogance, unlike in Haiti, where the French were highly vigilant.

And Solovyov also took Adela and Belzoni to Mexico City. This journey was relatively safe, and you didn't have to go too fast along the way.

These refugees brought out from Haiti also had to rest in Veracruz for a while. Fortunately, this journey passed through most of the Caribbean, it was not far away, and no one died on the way.

However, the doctor from Spain strongly urged those French people who had not been vaccinated against smallpox to be vaccinated.

The French are not opposed to this, but they have to rest on land for a few days before being vaccinated.

The doctor's own purpose is also very simple: not to bring these diseases to the Indian tribes who have no resistance, but also to ensure the safety of the local Criollo people and indigenous people.

After that, he will go to Mexico City to meet the Governor in person and start his vaccination tour to the countryside.

But Solovyov didn't have to worry. He knew that he had been vaccinated, but it was just before his head was smashed. At that time, the Queen forced all nobles to be vaccinated.

"Adela, have you been vaccinated?"

"Not yet, sir."

"We should still be there when the doctor arrives in Mexico City, and we will be ready to vaccinate you then."

Although the safety factor of the cowpox vaccine is not high, it is still guaranteed if a doctor comes here to vaccinate it.

From Veracruz to Mexico City, this road is the same as the one from Cortez into Tenochtitlan.

It sounds darkly humorous to say that the descendants of Cortes, the conqueror of America, all stayed in Mexico.

It was the descendants of the conquered Montezuma II who arrived in Spain and became the Marquis of Montezuma.

Compared to the danger level of the colonists, the Spanish are not that dangerous to the natives. Their main mission has now become preaching and making money. Only a Spaniard like Pizarro who has no bottom line would do such a thing as taking your life.

Of course, the ending of Pizarro's gang of bandits was much worse than that of Cortes. In the end, they died in the infighting.

And in a piece of land like Mexico, Solovyov really saw a strong exotic style when he came here.

It was very different from what he saw in Europe, but along the way, he also saw many people riding donkeys, many of whom were priests and pastors.

Speaking of which, in a game, Spanish missionaries riding donkeys seemed to be somewhat restored.

"Sir, which way is the road to Mexico City?"

"Go west from here, there are road signs, sir, where are you from?"

"We came from Russia and landed in Veracruz, but the garrison commander did not provide us with a guide, so we looked at the map and asked for directions and walked west."

"We are almost there, to the Jalapa-Enriquez ahead, you still have to hire a guide, so that it will be more convenient on the road."

"Thank you, sir."

But Solovyov asked this, he was also confirming one thing.

That is, there are so many donkeys in the local area. According to the customs of the Spanish, they must also eat donkey meat when they brought the habit to Latin America.

In other words, donkey meat restaurants can still stand here.

"Misha, what are you thinking about?"

"Your Highness, I'm thinking about the people in New Spain. There are so many donkeys. They must eat donkey meat."

"You, the descendant of a profiteer, even if you become a soldier, you still like to do this."

But Duke Enghien didn't mind having such a "profiteer" around him. After all, he was good at bargaining, which could be used in negotiations.

"Of course, this account has to be calculated, but the real thing is that when we arrive in Mexico City and meet the governor of New Spain, we have to bargain with him on the issue of the Fort Ross plot. The Spaniards may not agree with our proposition. I also saw in the newspaper I got in Veracruz that they established a new province of Upper California in the northwest corner of New Spain, with Monterrey as its capital."

"This is all worth paying attention to."

Although Duke Enghien lacks experience in local governance, he is still somewhat sensitive to this aspect. During the negotiations, verbal disputes are inevitable, and it all depends on the acceptance level of all parties.