Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796.

Chapter 267 There is no Zorro in this era
Things in Haiti went relatively smoothly, and Dessalines released a lot of people.

But next, you 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 Joaquín Vicente Iturigarai y Arostegui, has been in office for only a year and prefers to employ criollos rather than peninsulars.

This made many "Peninsula people" from mainland Spain dissatisfied, and they really wanted to give the Governor a big lesson.

The Governor still had a headache. Although he unveiled the equestrian statue of King Carlos IV in Mexico City, presided over many public affairs, and agreed to allow Baron von Humboldt to come to New Spain for inspection, there was still a lot to do and visitors kept coming.

He was impatient with Dr. de Balmis, a doctor who had recently arrived in New Spain to vaccinate the locals against smallpox.

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

The doctor's arrival in New Spain would not bring any benefits, so he remained waiting in Veracruz.

As for the appearance of such a large Russian fleet, it has caused panic among the Spanish defenders.

"What are they doing?"

On the boat, Senyawen used a telescope to watch the Spaniards running around the artillery in chaos and disorder, and he got a general idea of ​​the situation.

"The Spanish military is so lax. They have occupied so many places in America as colonies."

"That is to say, the actual governance is still inefficient."

"You two, don't underestimate them."

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

"why?"

"Misha, the tax farmer of New Spain, can still collect the taxes."

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

"That's not our business. We also need to go ashore to negotiate with the Spanish. We may even need to go to Mexico City and talk to the current governor."

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

Although he is a fictional character, anything can happen in Mexico.

Now this place is still full of vitality and everything is flourishing. Who would have thought that 200 years later, it would become the backyard and drug den of Americans?
The defenders of Veracruz also lifted their alert after the Russian fleet sent out the signal. They were quite panicked as the Russians had no intention of seizing the colony right under their noses.

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

Even the indigenous tribes may have maintained their original control areas there, and the Spanish only controlled them in name only.

However, when the Russians came along the west coast of North America for sea otter fur, they had a lot of dealings with the locals.

"Now how to do?"

"Soloviev, let's use the old method. If you can fight the 'zombies' in Port-au-Prince and get away with it, you can definitely do it in New Spain."

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

However, the situation here in Mexico seems to be much better than in Haiti. The locals are not as wary of outsiders as the blacks in Haiti.

As for the garrison commander, after eliminating his long list of names, we can get to the point.

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

"Major, you may not believe me when I tell you this, but 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 4399 people, to the Rossburg Territory. And our Rossburg Governor is the Duke of Enghien, the French Prince of Bourbon. In fact, he is a relative of your Majesty the King!"

Although Solovyov disliked King Carlos IV and his son Ferdinand VII, especially the latter, who was simply a pig's reincarnation.

But in places like this, we still have to negotiate with them with a pinch of salt.

The commander of the Spanish garrison also understood the situation. They knew they couldn't keep the people on the ship all the time, so they could set up tents. During the hurricane season, there were very few hurricanes that would blow directly to Veracruz, so they couldn't just leave these French people here.

However, he also had to send a messenger to report to the Governor-General in Mexico City.

When the governor learned that the Russians were coming, he began to convene colonial officials and clergy to discuss countermeasures.

At this time, the attitude of Archbishop Francisco Javier de Lizana Beaumont of Mexico City is actually crucial.

The power in Spain has always been in the hands of the church. They can still call the shots, it just depends on whether it will have positive or negative effects.

"Gentlemen, I think the Russians have made it clear that they want to send French colonists to Russia's American territories. These people are from Saint-Domingue, and some of them are Spanish. What should we do?"

The opinions of most of the people present were not actually friendly. After all, Russians generally did not appear in the Americas, except in the Aleutian area, and these people's destination was the colony claimed by the Spanish, so many people expressed opposition.

The governor himself found it difficult to make up his mind, so he turned his gaze to the bishop, also asking for help.

"Sir, I think at this time, we can allow Russian immigrants to pass through our territory. But we only allow them to transit, not settle down. These people are all French, and they are allies of our King. But there is another problem, that is, the attitude of the Holy See towards the French."

"That makes sense, Bishop. You think we should let them go, but the number of troops stationed in the San Francisco Bay Fortress in the north is extremely limited."

"It's not a big deal, Governor. Aren't there still Indians there?"

Speaking of which, the Indians were brave and warlike, which did cause the colonists a lot of headaches.

"That's fine, but we still have to meet the Russian envoy. Now we can only ask them to drop the person off in Veracruz."

"Okay, they are just representatives coming to Mexico City, and there will be the Russian governor in Rossburg." The problem arises, after all, the visitor is the Duke of Enghien, and the governor of New Spain cannot be neglected in entertaining him.

The Archbishop himself was not alarmed when he heard that the visitor was the Duke of Enghien.

After all, in order to colonize and educate the indigenous tribes, the Spaniards established 21 colonial outposts in the coastal areas of California, where there were missionaries and a small number of troops stationed, and they were able to live in harmony with the indigenous people.

Although the Spanish have always been infamous for destroying the American Indians, Aztecs and Incas, some missionaries have felt guilty since the beginning of their colonization. When introducing colonization, they even exaggeratedly said that the colonization "destroyed" the original civilization of the Americas. The fact is that except for the Caribbean region where people were wiped out, there were still some local people in Spain's colonies elsewhere. In fact, in most areas of Peru and Mexico, the indigenous peoples still have a greater population advantage.

It's the Americans, on the other hand, who like to let others take the blame. They exterminated the Indians themselves and drove the rest into reservations. Except for a few chiefs who brought their tribes to gain "respect", those who did not want "respect" had already been "respected".

In the period of Carlos III, the number of indigenous people in this area of ​​California was estimated to be between 13 and 25. It would not be a big threat to them if a few thousand colonists settled directly in one area.

Moreover, it was not difficult to deal with the indigenous people. The pirate leader Drake once declared that San Francisco was the territory of Queen Elizabeth I of England. However, after he returned home, the British government did not make any comments on the matter and did not make any territorial claims.

The Spaniards knew nothing about this until the Spanish king was replaced by the Bourbon Philip V from the Habsburg clan. When Bering crossed the Bering Strait and came to the west coast of North America to explore, the Madrid court finally became alert.

That is why the Bishop now has such considerations and the Governor himself is a little nervous.

This required Prince Enghien and Soloviev to go to Mexico City, and they set out with their entourage.

When the Duke of Enghien came to the Spanish colony, he could pass through here with a swagger, unlike in Haiti, where people were highly wary of the French.

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

These refugees coming out of the Haiti also need to rest in Veracruz for a while. Fortunately, this journey crosses most of the Caribbean Sea, which is not far, and no one died on the road.

However, the doctor from Spain strongly requested that all the French people who had not been vaccinated against smallpox be vaccinated.

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

The doctor's purpose was simple: to prevent the diseases from being brought to the Indian tribes that had no resistance, and to ensure the safety of the local Criollo and indigenous people.

He will then go to Mexico City to meet the Governor in person and begin his vaccination tour in the countryside.

Solovyov didn't have to worry, because he knew he had been vaccinated before, but that was before his head was hit. At that time, the empress forced all the nobles to be vaccinated.

"Adela, have you been vaccinated?"

"Not yet, sir."

"When the doctor arrives in Mexico City, we should still be there, and we can vaccinate you then."

Although the safety factor of the smallpox vaccine is not high, it is still guaranteed if there are doctors here to get the vaccination.

The road from Veracruz to Mexico City is the same route that Cortes took to enter Tenochtitlan.

It's a bit of black humor that the descendants of Cortes, the conqueror of America, all stayed in Mexico.

However, the descendants of the conquered Montezuma II arrived in mainland Spain and became the Marquis of Montezuma.

Compared with the danger level of the colonists, the Spaniards are not that dangerous to the natives. Their main mission now has become preaching and making money. Only a Spaniard with no shame like Pizarro would take your life.

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

When Solovyov came to Mexico, he really saw the rich exotic customs.

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

Speaking of which, there is a game in which a Spanish missionary rides a donkey, which seems to be somewhat authentic.

"Sir, which way is it to Mexico City?"

"There are road signs all the way west from here. Where are you from, sir?"

"We came from Russia and landed in Veracruz, but the garrison commander didn't provide us with a guide, so we headed west, looking at the map and asking for directions."

"We're almost there. When we get to Xalapa Enriquez ahead, you should hire a guide. It will be more convenient on the road."

"Thank you, sir."

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

That is because there are so many donkeys locally. According to the customs of the Spanish, the habit they brought to Latin America must include eating donkey meat.

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

"Misha, what are you thinking about?"

"Your Highness, I was thinking that the people here in New Spain, who have so many donkeys, must also eat donkey meat."

"You are the descendant of a treacherous businessman. Even if you become a soldier, you still like to settle accounts like this."

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

"Of course we have to settle this account, but the real thing is, when we arrive in Mexico City and meet the governor of New Spain, we have to bargain with him about the Rossburg plot. The Spaniards may not agree with our proposal. I read in the newspaper I got in Veracruz that they have established a new province of Upper California in the northwest corner of New Spain, with Monterrey as its capital."

“This is all worthy of attention.”

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

(End of this chapter)