New Shun 1730

In the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713, France ceded Fort York in Hudson Bay to Britain.

It was the entrance to the Northern Waterway and the most critical point for the fur trade, because in this era North America could only rely on river boats to transport furs.

Whoever controlled the mouth of the river controlled the output end of the fur trade. The historical Hudson's Bay Company, also known as HBC, obtained the key estuary and lived until the 21st century. It sponsored the Olympics, went public, and even almost purchased Macy's Department Store. It can be said to be a model of "colonial era and The wealth accumulated through primitive accumulation is very thick."

The French navy kept pulling its hips, and had no choice but to, as Liu Yu said, colonization means getting stuck in the seaport and at the three forks. Since the entrance to the sea cannot be blocked, we have to go deep inland to get stuck at the Sanchakou.

Therefore, since 1713, the Sunset Sea and the Sunset Bay have been "legends" with practical significance and economic value to France.

Just like when the East-West trade channel was blocked after the rise of Türkiye, there was a "legend" that "you can reach India by sailing westward".

But, now...

De la Vellendry informed the members of Dashun's expedition team what he was going to do now.

"I am now gathering Indian soldiers to recapture Fort York in the Hudson Bay. This is the mouth of this water system."

"This is not a sea, it's a huge lake. From here you can go to Lake Superior, and from there you can jump to another river and go into Hudson Bay."

After a brief explanation, the people in Dashun could easily understand what the French were doing.

Simply put, the war is almost over.

Now, the French army in the east is busy attacking the British fortress and occupying the pass.

The trading post of Hudson Bay in the north was not part of the French regular army plan, because the French government hoped to bring Fort York under its control through negotiations.

But De La Villandry, a father and son of five, have been operating in this generation for decades. They certainly know France’s trade policy and have very strict controls.

However, France also allows private companies.

De La Villandry, his father and his son, and others all have French military ranks. But this French military rank is almost the same as the fifth-grade general issued by the chieftain here in Dashun.

They do not have regular troops in their hands.

If you have the ability, if you can get money, if you can use the native Indians or the French mixed blood like the Acadians, you can build up the team.

After pulling it up, the benefits of knocking it down will naturally not be lost to you, and can be counted as shares.

It will also recognize your semi-dominant position here and your priority in some areas of trade.

De la Vellendry is an airhead lieutenant.

Military ranks are indeed issued by the French government.

There is no regular army.

Don't give any guns, raise funds and buy them yourself.

Nowadays, it is an accepted fact that the war is coming to an end. Obviously, France and Dashun have no interest at all in occupying the Thirteen Prefectures.

On the one hand, Dashun is definitely not interested.

On the other hand, the French themselves are somewhat critical. Can France control the Protestants?

Of course, this refers to the core area of ​​the Thirteen States. Key river mouths, three-way intersections, passes, etc. outside the core area still have to be fought for. Those small settlements should be evicted if possible and occupied if possible.

Therefore, seeing that the war, at least the war in North America, was basically over, de la Vellendry and his brothers naturally discussed taking back the trading post.

In this way, after the war, their family could gain an advantageous position in the North American fur trade, and even become a French noble, or at least join the upper class.

After figuring out the truth behind this, the people in Dashun felt more at ease.

As long as the lower reaches of the river are in the hands of the French, then you have to worry half-heartedly.

Now that we know that this river does not flow directly to the southeast, but is only used as a waterway for the fur trade, the other half of the river is relieved.

This is of course a good thing for Dashun.

The greater the interests of French fur traders, the more they will organize land reclamation from east to west, because land reclamation and fur trade are in conflict, and you can only choose one of the two.

Moreover, the stronger the power of fur traders and the stronger the voice of fur traders and ginseng trading groups, the less likely it is that the land will be opened to the west for reclamation.

In other words, more time will be left for Dashun.

Of course there are fur companies here in Dashun, such as Jinghai Company.

But on the one hand, these companies in Dashun are nothing compared to the will of the imperial court. To hinder land reclamation, it's okay to make small moves, and it's okay to deceive superiors and deceive subordinates.

But in general, they have no room to deceive others, because Liu Yu is very clear about the value of reclamation on the west coast of North America and has been planning this matter. It is impossible for them to deceive others in general.

On the other hand, Dashun is still using gold mines as its breakthrough point. Whale Sea Company has already begun its transformation as early as the Yukon River gold mining period.

Finally, there is the fur trade of Whale Sea Company, which really has little interest in ruminants on the grassland. For reclaimers, grasslands and dry meadows are more suitable land for reclamation than forests. The interests of these two sides are actually divergent.

In view of this, the Dashun expedition team answered the questions about "Sunset Sea" and "Sunset Bay" very cleverly.

Said that there was no such bay, nor a river that could directly lead to the Pacific Ocean to facilitate trade.

They certainly would not say that they were looking for gold on the west coast, but only that they were "pure" explorers.

De la Vérendrye still believed this very much.

Because the French could not understand how urgent it was to "reclaim wasteland". Because the French could not put themselves in the shoes of the Dashun people and land contradictions, how acute it had become.

So, in the eyes of the French, or in the eyes of Vérendrye, crossing the ocean to farm? Obviously impossible.

So, either they were looking for fur or ginseng.

But, his father made his fortune with ginseng and fur at that time, and the exploration to the west was on the one hand to find the sunset sea.

On the other hand, it was also to find new ginseng production areas, especially with the help of the ginseng collectors sent by Dashun in those days to find this kind of trade goods with extremely high trade value, which was one of the few that could pry silver from Dashun's mouth.

However, he certainly knew that ginseng could not grow on the grassland. Therefore, since Dashun said that the grassland is the mountains, and the other side of the mountains is the coast, then the ginseng on the west coast is probably out of the question.

The ginseng trade that Liu Yu had "hidden evil intentions" in the past finally bore fruit at this time.

Just like the trade goods of the Eastern Tartars in the past, ginseng, sable fur and Dongzhu, excluding Dongzhu, in fact, the growing area of ​​ginseng and the producing area of ​​fur are basically overlapping.

The French have made a lot of money in the ginseng trade in recent years, so they are looking for ginseng everywhere.

French explorers represented by de la Vérendry and his son have actually gradually shifted their focus to the south, not the west, in recent years.

Especially with Dashun's participation in the war, Hudson Bay must be controlled by France, and the significance of the "Sunset Sea" has greatly decreased.

Then, fur and ginseng cannot grow in the grassland.

On the contrary, the producing area of ​​American ginseng is basically around the Great Lakes region of North America, south to the Ozark Plateau, and connected to the Appalachian Mountains.

This means that the strategy of dividing North America and using France as a buffer to contain the Thirteen States of North America has been basically achieved with the "help" of French explorers such as de la Vérendrye.

Going south along the Great Lakes, then to the Ozark Plateau, and then to the Appalachian Mountains, it is basically equivalent to encircling the Thirteen States.

France's interest groups in North America will hold on to this huge interest after the war and will never let go.

This also means that Dashun can actually reach an agreement with France on the division of colonies: with the ginseng-growing area as the boundary, Dashun will take the grassland area, and France will take the forest and plateau area.

With the help of France's ginseng, mink, and Dongzhu interest groups, as well as France's unique attitude towards naturalization, and the bizarre French concept of the "black French" super-ethnic group, Dashun was helped to resist the westward expansion of the "good frontier families" of the Thirteen States.

Moreover, France can and can only choose to continue to cooperate with Dashun.

One is to sell ginseng.

Second, France cannot withstand the huge population advantage of the Thirteen States by itself.

Each link in this game is indispensable.

Whether it is the ginseng collectors who were sent here at the beginning, or the Dashun’s initiative to expand the ginseng trade with France, or the French explorers like Vérendry, if any of these links are missing, problems will arise.

Now, it is obvious that since the "Sunset Sea" issue has become a "pure knowledge-seeking" thing for French explorers, this is a very favorable situation for Dashun.

In a sense, in North America, France has become a "tribute" or vassal of Dashun.

Dashun paid for ginseng, sable fur and pearls, and provided military expenses for France's "dragon and tiger generals" in North America, and they were responsible for resisting the real enemy.

This set is quite familiar to Dashun.

Moreover, it is obvious that it is impossible to mess up in the era of muskets.