Eighth year of Chongzhen

Chapter 778 The Dutch Want to Find Daming as a Helper
The trade representative of the East India Company who came to Daming this time was still Pahlavit, and the Dutch special envoy was still Van Bronhorst, and the two old acquaintances of Pahlavit, Fang Yizhi and Zheng Zhifeng, were still in charge of reception on the Ming side.

After some pleasantries, the talks between the two sides officially began. Pahlavit also made a selective explanation of the purpose of his visit. The general idea was to deepen the all-round cooperation with the Ming Empire in order to keep the Netherlands and the East. The huge economic interests of Indian companies in the Far East ensured that various commodities of Ming Dynasty could be exported to distant European countries.

Of course, the last reason seems to be for the benefit of Daming, but in fact it is not. The Netherlands and the East India Company are in big trouble this time, because they are isolated and helpless in Europe. De Ming, famous in Europe for defeating the Spanish army twice, sought help and support.

What the Dutch offended this time was the empire on which the sun never sets, which has risen strongly for decades. sense, and in some respects the Dutch have gone too far.

Decades ago, that is, at the end of the last century, after the end of the civil war, Britain stood out in Europe, successively defeated the Spanish and Portuguese navies, broke the colonial monopoly of Spain and Portugal, and gradually developed into a new but powerful colonialist countries.

The Dutch have almost monopolized the world's maritime trade by virtue of the number of merchant ships accounting for three-quarters of the total tonnage of European merchant ships and one-third of the world's transport ships.

Grain from the Baltic Sea coast is transported to the Mediterranean Sea by it.German wine, French handicrafts, Spanish fruits and colonial products were transported to Northern Europe through it, and Ming silk, porcelain, cotton cloth, paper and sugar were transported to Europe through it.

Not only that, Dutch businessmen also crowd out British businessmen everywhere.

In Russia and the Baltic countries, in the North American colonies and East Asian countries, in the Mediterranean and West African coastal areas, the Dutch relied on their strong capital and basically monopolized the trade of various countries.

And just last year, the Dutch government signed a treaty with Denmark to obtain the right for cargo ships to pass through the Sond Strait duty-free, thereby gaining a trade advantage in this area.

The most intolerable thing for the British is that the Netherlands actually caught fish and shrimps and other aquatic products wantonly in British waters, and even sold these aquatic products at high prices in the British market for huge profits. These situations have long aroused the anger of the British bourgeoisie.

Last year, that is, the 17th year of Chongzhen, [-] in the Western calendar, the British Parliament passed the new "Navigation Regulations", a targeted policy that has a fatal impact on the Netherlands, and then announced that the regulations will come into effect this year.

The "Navigation Regulations" stipulated that all goods imported into the UK must be carried by British ships, or shipped to the UK by ships from the actual place of origin.

The implementation of this regulation can be said to be a very heavy blow to the Netherlands, which has always been a trade intermediary country with a large number of merchant ships, large size, high efficiency, and perfect organization, and the center of commodity distribution around the world. For this reason, the Dutch government He and the East India Company publicly opposed the British policy many times and called on the British government to abolish this regulation, but they were firmly rejected by the British government.

What the Netherlands is worried about is whether other European countries will follow suit after the regulations come into effect. In addition, there is no other industry that can be exported to make money. Once the status of world middlemen is weakened and destroyed, the Netherlands will soon decline.

A country founded on commerce without strong industrial support tends to prosper and die suddenly. Although the Dutch do not know this famous warning from China, they are still very clear about the truth behind it.

In order to preserve the present and long-term interests in the future, the Dutch government decided to go to war with the United Kingdom, defeat the powerful Royal Navy, and maintain its maritime hegemony.

In fact, this is also the choice of the Netherlands as a last resort.

Because before that, the British naval fleet had already begun to control the Strait of Dover and the North Sea, trying to cut off all ties between the Netherlands and the outside world and force the Dutch to surrender.

In addition, Britain sent a fleet to northern Scotland to attack the silver ships of the Dutch East India Company, sunk or captured Dutch fishing ships in the North Sea, and even entered the Baltic Sea to disrupt maritime trade between the Netherlands and Northern and Eastern Europe.

There is no doubt that the use of this strategy and tactics is a fatal blow to the Dutch economy. For this reason, the Netherlands has also made corresponding deployments.

The strategy formulated by the Netherlands is to escort merchant ships with a powerful fleet, forcefully pass through the Strait of Dover, and ensure contact with the outside world.

However, although the Dutch navy has a great advantage in numbers, it is far behind the British navy in terms of gunboat firepower.

Before Pahlavit came to Daming, the naval fleets of the two sides fought fiercely in the Strait of Dover. In the end, the Dutch side lost more than [-] gunboats of various types, while the British side had more than ten gunboats destroyed. It was a tie.However, under the strangling blockade of the British navy, the weakest aspect of the Dutch economy-over-reliance on foreign trade, was soon exposed.

Due to the long-term inability to go to sea for trade, a small number of ship owners have gone bankrupt, and many families have lost their source of income. If this situation continues, the Dutch economy will be in a predicament of destitution, which is already visible to the naked eye. way is approaching.

Now there are only two ways to solve the immediate predicament: first, quickly defeat the British Navy and restore the state before the war; second, negotiate peace with the British government, recognize the "Navigation Regulations", and bear a series of consequences caused by it.

After several discussions, the Dutch government finally decided to reach an agreement with the Ming Empire after making some compromises. The navies of the two sides will form a joint fleet to completely defeat the British navy and protect the safety of maritime trade.

The flagship "Kunlun" of the Ming Dynasty North Sea Fleet was built with the help of the Dutch. This giant ship is also a new attempt by the Netherlands. Due to the high cost and the long construction period, the Dutch Navy No "Kunlun-class" warships were ordered.

For decades across the ocean, the senior generals of the Dutch navy developed an invincible mentality until they encountered the British fleet.And after being unable to defeat it in a short period of time, the high-level people in the Netherlands realized how ridiculous and naive it was to stand still in the past.

　Thank you Bubble Dragon for your reward.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)