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Chapter 1316 Signing an Unequal Treaty with Pirates

"I can only control the pirates in Algiers. As for the Barbary pirates in other places, I cannot guarantee that they will not attack your merchant ships."

Murat reluctantly signed the unequal treaty.

There are three main contents of this unequal treaty. The most important one is to compensate the coalition forces with 100 million taels of silver, of which 50 taels of silver needs to be paid in cash, gold and goods, and the other 50 taels of silver needs to be paid within the next 10 years.The second is that the pirates in Algiers are not allowed to plunder or capture the merchants of the Allied forces except the Knights of Malta. The third article is that the merchant ships of the Allied forces can freely enter the port of Algiers and live here.Algiers became one of their trading posts on the Mediterranean.

The Barbary pirates in the city were all beaten to lose their temper. Most of them didn't dare to provoke the ships with dragon flags anymore.

Gold, silver and jewelry worth 50 taels of silver was a considerable sum, and the three-party coalition forces were very satisfied with the plunder.The Chinese got 30 taels from the pirates, Britain got 10 taels, and the Knights of Malta got 10 taels.The three parties are very satisfied with the gains that seem to be divided.The remaining 50 taels will be levied by the Chinese from the Algiers pirates every year, and only 10 taels need to be distributed to Britain, and the Knights of Malta have already made up for it this time.

Their income is not only direct cash compensation, but also treasures plundered from pirate ships and on the shore. These plundered treasures can make up for their military expenses, and the surviving soldiers have benefited greatly from the plunder.

"In addition to the 100 million taels of compensation to our tripartite coalition forces, 10 taels will be paid to Li Jinde as a moral loss," Sun Chuanting said.

"An extra 10 taels?!" Murat's eyes were red, the other party really wanted to exploit him!
"10 taels..." Li Jinde himself felt that the compensation was too much. He lost his fortune and invested only 3 taels in a Western company. Now he can get 10 taels of silver after being imprisoned by the other party for a period of time?

Sun Chuanting reached out his hand to stop him from speaking, and continued to say to Murat: "This is a punishment for you Barbary pirates attacking our merchants. If there is another time, we will still come to ask for compensation. What? If you don't want to pay compensation, Then our army will never leave here."

Murat felt that he was really a dead dog, and the compensation was changed from 100 million taels to 110 million taels. Didn't he just arrest them all!
"Well, I will personally take out a gold bar worth 10 taels of silver as compensation to this person." Murat gritted his teeth and paid out the compensation himself.

The 100 million taels of silver was lost, and the extra 10 taels of silver was nothing.

"It seems that you, Master Pasha, still have the energy to spare. You can easily come up with 10 taels of silver." Zheng Zhibao on the side smiled half a smile, as if he was still thinking about how to squeeze him again.

"There is no money! After you leave here, I have to pay the pirates commission here, and restore order here, all of which require money!" Murat roared hysterically.

Although the opponent's general called him Master Pasha, he felt a sense of irony.

"Then next, Lord Pasha, please restore the order here, and load us military compensation worth 50 taels of silver and personal compensation of 10 taels of silver on our ship as soon as possible. By the way, during the period, the money given to us in the city Soldiers find a place to rest and greet them well, and we will leave when we make up the amount of compensation.” Sun Chuanting, the chief negotiator, said.

"We will pay you compensation..." Murat and the other pirate chiefs who were in charge of compensation looked at each other and said.

If the Imperial Navy could arrive before the enemy shipped the compensation, it might be able to intercept the compensation.

Seemingly seeing what they were thinking, Zheng Zhibao added: "You must hand over a total of 60 taels of compensation to us within three days, or you will add 1 taels of silver every day later. If your Ottoman navy is in the period It would be great to come, we are trying to take on your Imperial Navy."

"We will definitely pay you compensation within three days." Murat couldn't help being a little bit scared when he saw that the other party saw through the thoughts of his group and showed no fear of the imperial navy.

The compensation of 60 taels is fine. If the delay continues, an additional 30 taels of silver will be paid in a month. No one can afford such compensation.

During the withdrawal, Algiers was still occupied by the Fourth Fleet and the Far West Expedition, while the less disciplined Knights of Malta and the British militia were stationed in the port area.

What is even worse is the 500 mercenaries composed of Arabs and Berbers that the Dutch pirate Janson helped recruit. its role.They plundered a lot of wealth from Algiers, and Sun Chuanting did not confiscate the treasure they robbed, and he did not need to pay them commissions as a consideration.They were ordered to remain on board while order was restored in Algiers, to be transported back to Morocco, to avoid further looting in the city.

"The cause and effect of the matter is like this..." After Li Jinde was rescued, he told the officers of the Fourth Fleet why the Barbary pirates wanted to catch him.

"It turns out that it has something to do with the monopoly of the spice trade in our Nanyang Province. I didn't expect this." The naval officers of the Fourth Fleet were deeply surprised when they learned that Pasha's son in Algiers was executed in Batavia for smuggling spices. .

The spice trade was still very profitable, but this caused friction between the two empires.

The strength of the Ottoman Empire was established at the junction of the East and the West, and it could gain a lot of benefits from the trade between the two sides. However, the opening of the Age of Discovery broke its monopoly on east-west trade. As a new monopoly, the Chinese It also monopolized spices, so that other countries need to purchase spices such as pepper, nutmeg, and cloves from Southeast Asia at high prices, reducing trade profits and triggering a large number of smuggling activities.

"The Nanyang Province currently controls several important ports, and most of its political achievements come from the spice trade. If local officials want to be promoted, they must rely heavily on the control of the spice trade. It is not difficult to understand why the smuggling of spices is severely cracked down there. This is unavoidable..." As a businessman, Li Jinde knew how lucrative the spice trade was, and many of the merchant ships of their Western company's fleet to Europe had spices.Among them, the price of nutmeg and clove is higher than that of pepper, and the demand for pepper is greater.

"However, the prospect of spices is limited, but the quantity of output is increasing, and the price of spices, which are regarded as gold by Westerners, has been falling. If the output is controlled, the profit margin will increase on a large scale, and sales will not increase. The side will also look for alternatives in the West Indies and Africa. The Nanyang province needs to find another industrial pillar to rely on."

(End of this chapter)