As victory was assured for the French and many Portuguese left from the defeated colony, Coligny had to put his sword down and deal with the realities of actually administering a colony, installing himself in the capital of Salvador, the admiral turned Governor General started the rebuilding as well as an series of reforms he wanted to implement.
Firstly, with the capital of Brazil being wrecked by the fighting, he took the opportunity to implement the grid he wanted all future cities(especially capitals) to be based in a few characteristics: Starting with the layout of the cities with broad long streets made up in grid to allow for the circulation of people and goods, the administrative buildings and houses of commerce would be in the center of it all, the focal point where the whole city would need to converge to, it was also stressed the "taming" of the soil, mainly by the draining of swamps(which unbeknownst to him, would make much to drop the death rates via things like yellow fever now that mosquitos didn't have as good of a breeding area) as well as the building of infrastructure that would help in moving around like bridges that connected plots of land together as well as canals and roads, pavementing the streets, at least in the areas considered "important", would do very much in helping making the cities more attractive to live and conduct business in[1]. For coastal towns, the enlargement of the harbors for transporting of goods and troops was also seen as mandatory alongside better manning, installation of more batteries and having the fortresses with its walls further stuffed with dirt to make them better resistant towards cannon fire.
Example of the city Coligny would've wanted, he was quite the perfectionist.
On paper, this guideline was ideal and places like Henriville, Salvador, Ilhéus, Porto Seguro, Port-Vitrail(OTL Recife), Natal and Olinda all managed to implement most of those(Port-Vitrail in particular took those to heart as a way to show off their "superiority" towards their rivals in Olinda), many towns in the interior or even coastal towns without much importance were not, while many of the ideas were good those places simply lacked the money or materials to properly update their layouts, while they would implement the cheapest ones or ones that had more immediate pressing benefits that the places needed. So while Coligny had certainly implemented the right ideas, it was still far from being his desired effect, nonetheless he considered it a victory.
Up next in his priorities was the establishment of proper land grants and how they should be classified, meeting with members of the Fazenda[2] (the Portuguese name for the ministry responsible for finances which they would retain out of a simple fondness) he delineated a guideline on how the plantations would be taxed: for example, a large sugar cane plantation with plenty of slaves and good production would significantly pay more taxes compared to a medium plot of land where 3 or 5 slaves worked on. It would also help with census gathering and better organize the tax collection and give an approximate number of how much the colony was making, the same process was applied to merchants, officials and others who had some significant wealth in order to properly catalog everything and serve as a base for future census.
Of course this was met with resistance, mainly from the Luso-Brazilian landowners [3] as well as emerging "Tobacco Barons" and "Coffee Marquis" of French origin, but given the fact the three main man in the colony where military man with complete loyalty of the army and navy, revolt was just asking for suicide, although the grumbling continued and the Lusitanian elite wouldn't forget this slight…
Speaking of them, there was another controversy thanks to the non Catholics moving in, mainly the Calvinists that while most decided going further South was ideal, many were still attracted to the already large population centers in the northeast for economic reasons if not by anything else, meanwhile the new Jewish population was even worse in the eyes of the Luso given many remembered when the Inquisition came in to reinforce orthodoxy and while many New Christians and Crypto Jews were finally happy to see that their religion was now free to be practiced and indeed many started to openly practice their religion in the open, although some still did it hidden knowing the situation was far from stable. This was "solved" by the fact that the countryside remained still in the control of the original Portuguese while the Jews preferred sticking to the cities and the Huguenots were also mostly city dwellers in the northeast but became more rural the further South they went.
Synagogue Kahal Zur Israel, the oldest one in the New World and founded in Port-Vitrail and yet another reason for it to feel superior towards their rivals in Olinda.
A small passion project Coligny would start in his own however would the Jardin Botanique Royal (Royal Botanical Garden), an initiative he started once he had received the coffee beans and the Dragon's Blood tree seeds from his admiral friend[4] decided these would be put to better use beyond just economic reasons, he knew that Brazil and the new world in general were home to many incredible types of plants that the natives used for medicinal reasons not to mention cooking or dye extraction, the benefits were obvious and soon Coligny established a "reward law" where someone could receive a payment for giving him rare seeds of the plants alongside what exactly they were useful for, to prevent people from giving him simple seeds and claim it was something else, payment wouldn't be delivered until the plant was fully mature.
Soon enough, people from all over the colony and especially natives from the more friendly tribes were eager to share and even some freed Africans brought stuff like coconuts, bananas and oil palm trees to be planted. The result was a massive complex of a multitude of plants from all over Brazil, it would expand in the future as more of the colony was conquered and others plants from around the world would be delivered in, each plant was registered in a book detailing it's life cycle, any potential hazards, how to grow it properly, how it looked and smelled as well as the uses it could have, copies of the book were made and sent all over the major cities in case it was ever needed as well as to France, much to the delight of botanists who were supremely interested in how the flora of the New World and beyond worked.
An final idea was that the seeds could be distributed around in someway, to many people, the New World was akin to a Eden waiting to be colonized and named much like Adam had done, therefore it was not seen as a problem for the seeds to be spread around, something especially useful for the farmers or plantation owners looking to diversify what they were growing and even the more rich urbanites making their inland gardens. The idea proved so popular it actually became official in France where the government stockpiled seeds from various foods the peasants usually planted like wheat, maize, turnips, garlic alongside those coming from the New World and beyond like rice, corn, tomatoes and potatoes. The latter of which was perfect in making the population of France explode, especially in the regions that were getting depopulated as emigration towards the New World and towards the growing cities was really picking up and of course the extra population meant not only higher birth rates and bigger numbers of people around but also meant an increase in people going to Brazil (and to a lesser extent, Africa).
Coligny also oversaw the founding of two important cities: St. Louis(OTL…. São Luis)[5] and Dorian (OTL Belém do Pará), both founded on natural harbors and the latter on the mouth of the Amazon river and therefore a perfect staging ground for any inland incursions, the fortress Charlemagne and Charles Martel respectively defending the two burgeoning cities, for now they would remain small but both would be important later on.[6]
Example of the architecture used in Saint Louis by the mixed French Catholic and Luso colonizers, the use of tiles was so well received the local mayor actually forbid any other type of material be used in the construction of "important" buildings like government offices and ministers as well as the home of the wealthy. The "exotic" buildings and houses would be cause of pride for the people, even if they weren't aware it wasn't actually all that Arabic and actually pretty common in the Iberian countries.
Finally there was the aspect of slaves, simply put, with the introduction of tobacco and coffee that were fiercely competing with sugar(especially as British and Swedish production took off in the West Indies), the demand for slaves, both from Africa and America became much more intense, in this, the people of São Paulo proved themselves exceptional in bringing in droves of captured native slaves towards the plantations all over Brazil, the interior brutally raided by what the Jesuits and other defenders of natives called "the pirates of the Sertão"[7], while Coligny wasn't exactly thrilled hearing what they were doing, it was still bringing in slaves as well as conveniently "emptying" space for arriving colonists and plantations. These raids against native tribes by the Paulistas wouldn't be the first nor especially the last, soon enough, the Bandeirantes would terrorize the Sertão for decades as much as they would be essential in mapping out the interior and making a clear map of expansion.
But while the Ameridian slaves were good, there was the fact that they simply weren't built for the intense sugar plantations and even the less demanding coffee and tobacco ones prove too much for them who are not used to both such intense work hours under the harsh sun nor to the brutality of the whip, thus they die in droves, which increases their demands and the Paulistas are more than eager to raid deeper and deeper into the interior to meet the demands of the market, during these raids, the first maps of the interior detailing rivers, mountains and other natural landmarks start to show up, them being promptly copied and sent to the office of the General-Governor who starts giving orders for the settlement of the "empty plots of land" as well as giving charters towards "any willing man to take up arms and men and brave the interior in search of precious gemstones and metals or slaves" all but making the practice of it something legal and sanctioned by the government, while those in the northeast and as far as Henriville wouldn't be too much enthusiastic about it given the production of monocultures in their states already, São Paulo so far proved to be the only one where there was a sufficient number of "explorers" to take up the gun and sword.
This meant of course that the importation of African slaves was driving up even more, to the point Portugal was actually unable to keep with demand as they sent Africans to both their colonies and the French ones, thankfully negotiations had abound by the Portuguese and French government about the situation and the monopoly was ended[8], although Portugal would still have a presence in selling slaves, the Compagnie Royale Africaine(Royal African Company) would be using the fort Trois Rois to send slaves from the Gulf of Biafra towards Brazil, first making a stop at Principe and São Tomé to resupply (which made those Islands more important) before heading off and landing in Salvador, Recife, Olinda, Natal, Henriville, etc. The company was the first example of taking a page out of the Dutch book in the concept of "shares" with the government having 51% of the company and the rest made up of private investors, and while it would the major one, other companies[9] would soon come and start supplying the colony with more slaves.
The aforementioned Bight of Biafra, it would be the main place the French colonists would get their slaves from alongside those of Angola and Mozambique brought over by the still present
The last noteworthy event was the sacking of Olinda by the captain Francis Drake who set off with sugar, tobacco, coffee as well even some seeds that were to be sent towards France, the result was both the second rebuilding of the city well as the installation of "proper" dockyards in the colony, setting up themselves in Recife, Salvador and Henriville, the French Royal Navy would use the place both as basis for defending the waters from pirates as well as the building of more ships for the navy given that France didn't have many good ports nor good wood for ships, therefore the Brazil wood and harbors in the colony were key in making some of the best ships of the navy and thus starting a sort of triangle trade[10] between the 3 colonies of Cape Verde, Arcadia and Brazil: in Cape Verde it served as the main stop for ships coming in from both France and colonies, where sailors would resupply and rest and the ships would get repaired, from there, the orders for ships were sent towards Brazil where they would be built with Brazil wood before going to Cape Verde again and setting off towards Arcadia where the ship, sailors and admirals would test themselves in the cold choppy waters and learn to deal with things like sudden storms and how the direction of a cannon ball can change thanks to the wind on the fly, after a year of training, they would head back to France where the admiralty would choose whether they would be stationed in.[11]
While things would be somewhat smooth for now, Coligny wouldn't last forever and the tensions in the colony would soon boil over one way or another….
Kept you waiting huh?
In all seriousness though, I've been very busy lately, I've gotten back to working because I need the money, I had the final of my semester to deal with so I was studying a lot as well as assignments afterwards because wasn't that a good idea? Not to mention I have to do one final exam to help me pass a subject so I'll also be studying this week too. Apologies if this chapter didn't come out too well or too short, I'll promise I'll do better next time!
Anyways let's get to notes:
[1]: These plans are based on the Dutch's actual efforts to make a "example city" when they first built Recife/Mauritsstad, even amongst the other towns built later, few could compete with Recife when it came to the way it was well organized and we'll built, something the people of Pernambuco and especially Recife feel proud of.
[2]: I know that realistically it would've been changed from Fazenda towards something like "Colonial Treasury" but I really like Fazenda so I'll decided to keep the name around.
[3]: These guys will give a lot of trouble and headaches to the French given both their radical Catholicism, their desires to expand sugar to above and beyond and the fact they're ultra pissed they no longer have sole mastery over the cities nor the government and army, but France still needs to play nice with them because they're the only ones who know how to properly grow and process sugar so for now they're tolerated.
[4]: Remember that? This is what was leading up to as the creation of a garden that one of it's main purposes is medicinal would be a great asset not only for doctors and Apothecaries but also any potential medical school. Likewise the idea of distributing and receiving seeds to those who need it, especially farmers, is an idea that is seen as novel in France and would help the distribution of New World crops and polyculture of all types of crops.
[5]: Too good of a chance to pass it up.
[6]:So far, these are the most northern posts France has in South America and one of them just so happens to be the ideal place for inland exploration following the Amazon and the other is a great natural harbor, much like OTL, their relevance will only come later on.
[7]: An actual nickname used by the Jesuits who particularly hated the Bandeirantes and more than once tried (and actually succeeded before it was retracted) to get native slavery banned. Given the fact that for a long time São Paulo's biggest export before coffee had been slaves and wheat, I don't see much reason to change it here yet given that so far the "Coffee Marquis" are focusing on OTL Rio de Janeiro/TTL Henriville, something that will be a source of friction with the Tamoios seeing their land taken over by the whites they thought they could trust and will be the focus of the next update.
[8]: Will be addressed in the next chapter that deals with the ascension and reign of Henry III in France.
[9]: Needless to say, this will help both develop French finances as well as establish a more powerful merchant class that will not only be invested in the current colonial aspect but also it's expansion, working side by side with the government and serving as richer and more reliable administrators than the nobility, which is another thing the regency under Catherine de Medici is hoping for as it's another way to depower the nobles and increase centralization.
[10]: Yes it's not exactly a trade triangle as much as military movement that also happens to increase employment and trade of the places the sailors are in(especially in Arcadia and Cape Verde which helps them get populated) but I couldn't think of anything else to call it.
[11]: Of course all this movement of troops, training of sailors in better harbors and conditions as well as improved naval doctrine post Battle of Lepanto and even better material for ships from Brazil wood and Russian Timber towards Moroccan copper for the cannons alongside the development of how the navy operates at sea (something I will touch on the next chapter) will make the French navy a powerful thing to contend with.
