Haisheng Mingdi

Chapter 550 War Reparations
"As long as I am willing, I promise to take Zeelandia Fort within one month. Those four warships of yours are now locked by my navy. I can sink them to the bottom of the sea at any time!"

After the banquet.

Zhu Yihai specially summoned the Dutch envoy Van der Lang.

Facing this red-bearded man who claimed to be the commander of the Far East Fleet under the command of the Governor of the Dutch East India Company Batavia, Zhu Yihai opened his mouth as a threat from Chiguoguo.

"Fort Zhelan Zhe, compared with my Fushan Bastion in Qingdao, isn't it very different?"

"When I am in Shandong, there are nine bastions, including Langya Fort, Qingdao Fort, Yantai Fort, Chengshan Fort, Weihai Fort, Penglai Fort, Laizhou Fort, Qingzhou Fort, and Tiemen Fort. There are thousands of naval ships and thousands of artillery pieces."

Van der Lang had to admit in his heart that the emperor's words were true, although he also knew that most of these bastions were still under construction and hadn't really been perfected.

He was defeated from Taiwan and went to Nagasaki, Japan to rest, and then took a tribute ship from the Japanese country to Qingdao's ice-free port, where he saw the excellence of Qingdao port. This is an excellent natural deep-water port, and it is not frozen in winter. In addition to the newly built county seat, Qingdao Port also has the original military city in front of Fushan, and a newly built Fushan bastion. On Huangdao Island in Mawan, there are also water camps and fortresses.

The Ming army also dredged the Jiaolai Canal built in the Yuan Dynasty. It traverses the Denglai Peninsula in Shandong from north to south, connecting the Yellow Sea and the Bohai Sea.Nanliu flows from Mawankou into Jiaozhou Bay, which is Nanjiaolai River, 30 kilometers long.Beiliu flows from Haicangkou into Laizhou Bay, which is Beijiaolai River, more than 100 kilometers long.

This was originally a grain canal river built in the Yuan Dynasty because it was convenient to transport grain by sea. It was neglected in the Ming Dynasty. After Zhu Yihai advanced into Denglai and received a large number of refugees, he began to use work as a substitute for relief and re-dredged the two hundred miles. canal.

When Van der Lang came, although the canal was frozen, it was very convenient to drive along the canal on an ice cart.

Having seen Fushan Bastion in Qingdao, Star City in Laizhou, and several fortresses in Dengzhou, Fan der Lang was really shocked. It felt like he had suddenly returned to Europe, with castles everywhere.

Looking at these bastions with his professional eyes, he had to admit that they were professionally repaired. Compared with the half-built bastions like Zeelandia, which only built a main fort, they were indeed much stronger, and the artillery in the castle of the Ming army The configuration is very high, and the soldiers they garrison also have a lot of muskets, not the kind of cold weapon army he used to deal with the Ming Dynasty.

Back then, they defended a small fort on Penghu Island with a few boats, and they were able to resist the siege of [-] Ming troops in July and August. But now, the Ming army attacked Taiwan. Although they fought for several months, the intensity of their attack has far exceeded that of Taiwan. before.

Even when he came to Dengzhou and saw these fortresses of the Ming army, as well as the elite guards on the parade, he realized that the Ming army in Taiwan was at most a partial division, and the real elite had not yet been dispatched.

Faced with such a powerful but tough emperor, Fan der Lang did not dare to be arrogant anymore, and kept his posture very low.

"We in the Netherlands have no intention of becoming an enemy of Ming Dynasty, we just want to cooperate in trade!"

Zhu Yihai sneered.

"The Dutch East India Company does not represent the Netherlands. You are just a private company authorized by the Federal Republic of the Netherlands. It is just a large company that holds stocks and gives you overseas colonization, especially the monopoly of the East India colonization. You It is true that you can sign agreements with other countries, issue currency, establish colonies, etc., but you are not the Netherlands.”

Van der Lang was surprised by the emperor's words. He had been in the Far East for many years, and he was actually very proficient in Ming dialect. He could fully understand the emperor's words without a translator. He was surprised that the emperor knew so much about the Netherlands and the East India Company.

"The East India Company pays 18.00% dividends to the Dutch government every year. Your company is formed by the merger of 70 companies focusing on East India trade. It consists of six offices including Amsterdam and has a board of directors of more than 17 people. There are only seventeen directors with real power, called the [-]-member board of directors,
You established your headquarters in Batavia. It is said that you have more than 150 merchant ships, 1 warships, over 40.00 employees, and more than [-] mercenaries. The dividend is as high as [-]%. You are indeed a very profitable company .

But I want to say that you are nothing more than a chamber of commerce formed by a group of profit-seeking businessmen. Your company may be very powerful compared to others, but as the emperor of a country, I will not be afraid of a group of businessmen.

I have more than [-] merchant ships, a thousand warships, tens of millions of people, and millions of troops. "Zhu Yihai opened his mouth when he was bragging.

Van der Lang was amazed by the emperor's understanding of their details and felt powerless, but he still emphasized, "His Majesty the Ming Emperor, our East India Company has authorized the Netherlands to obtain the monopoly of trade in the East India region, and has the right to sign contracts,

The right to declare war, issue currency, and colonize.

But we have always respected Daming, and we just hope to cooperate in trade. "

Zhu Yihai sneered a few times in disdain.

"Trade cooperation must be based on the principle of fairness and voluntariness, not by coercion. You Dutch have repeatedly invaded our Ming border for decades, and are still illegally occupying the Dayuan area of ​​Taiwan, and have repeatedly sent ships to plunder the coast. Merchant ships on the sea and villages on land, robbed merchants, plundered my people, and even slaughtered my Ming merchants in Batavia,"

"Do you really think that I will not send troops to Batavia to destroy you?"

Van der Lang didn't dare to refute. He kept his mission firmly in mind, he didn't come to quarrel, and he didn't believe that Daming had the ability to go to Batavia.

There's no point in arguing with words.

"Your Majesty, I would like to apologize for our previous wrong behavior."

"We hope to abandon the past and start a new friendly cooperation."

"Hahaha!"

Zhu Yihai laughed several times.

Throughout the negotiation, although several ministers from the Prime Minister's Office participated, Zhu Yihai did not allow them to speak.

He knew the details of the East India Company better than anyone else.

They are indeed very strong, especially in East India, that is, East Asia, they can be said to be the only one in these years.

The old Spain and Portugal have both weakened here. They established a new headquarters in Batavia, monopolized the right to trade cloves, and extended their trade footprints to Japan, North Korea, and Ming Dynasty.

They acquired Galle in Sri Lanka a few years ago, drove out the Portuguese, thus breaking the Portuguese cinnamon trade monopoly, and even captured Malacca, controlling the important shipping lane of the Strait of Malacca.

They also drove away the Spanish and Portuguese in Japan, monopolizing Japan's trade monopoly.

But they also have weaknesses.

For example, the East India Company now has 35 strongholds in Asia, but the Japanese stronghold brought them nearly 40.00% of the profits, and the Taiwan stronghold, because it is an important transit point for its trade with the Zheng family, and for its trade with Japan The transfer station also brings them a quarter of Asia's trade profits.

The trade profits of these two strongholds alone accounted for more than 35% of the trade profits of the 60.00 strongholds in Asia.

Therefore, for the entire East India Company, there is no room for loss in these two places, but their strength in these two places is not strong.

Their headquarters in Batavia is too far away from Taiwan and Japan, and it is not easy to project their combat power.

With the rise of Ming Dynasty, they can no longer keep Taiwan, and now they can only hope to keep the route to Japan.

And Zhu Yihai knew this very well.

Before the Dutch reached a trade agreement with Zheng Zhilong, although the Dutch could not directly open trade with Daming, in fact, through Zheng, they could also open up the Chinese market.

But now that Emperor Shaotian of the Ming Dynasty has continuously strengthened his control over Fujian and other places, it is already very difficult for the Dutch to freely trade with the Zheng family as before.

Because the Zheng family has also lost its monopoly on foreign trade, the Ming Dynasty only opened a port for trade at Zhangzhou Yuegang. After the Zheng family took control of the sea, they turned Xiamen, which they controlled, into a new trading port.

But the problem now is that Daming opened ports everywhere, and the trade volume of Xiamen Port has also shrunk rapidly.

Even under the supervision of the imperial court, the Zheng family no longer dared to openly trade with the Dutch directly in Xiamen, so they had to trade at sea or in Taiwan, but now Taiwan would also be captured, and the Dutch had in fact lost the market of Daming.

Before the Dutch teamed up with Zheng to block Manila's trade with China, but now Zhu Yihai has teamed up with Macau, Portugal and Manila's Spaniards to block the Dutch's routes to Nagasaki and Taiwan.

They are about to lose their most important market in Asia.

How can I not panic.

He wanted to use force to restore it, but the failure of Taiwan now made Van der Lang understand that this road was dead, and the governor of Batavia also instructed that he had to switch to a negotiation method to restore relations with Ming and strive for the restoration of trade rights.

The initiative is entirely in Daming's hands.

The East India Company had never experienced this kind of negotiation before. It was their huge ships and cannons that opened the way, blasting open the gates of other countries, and then marched to the city, demanding the opening of trade, and even ceding land for their colonial strongholds.

"I read, you remember." Zhu Yihai said to Fan der Lang.

"First of all, the Dutch East India Company Taiwan's Zeelandia Fort should immediately and unconditionally surrender to Ming Dynasty, hand over its weapons, and go out of the city to surrender,"

"Secondly, the four warships that were withdrawn from Taiwan to Japan should be handed over to Daming as compensation for the defeat."

"Thirdly, the East India Company should pay war reparations for the two invasions of Penghu, the occupation of Taiwan, and the naval battle at Liuluowan,"

"Fourth, after the Dutch East India Company surrendered its stronghold in Taiwan and returned it to Taiwan, and paid the indemnity, Ming can open its trading ports to the Netherlands.
Fifth, the Dutch must abide by the laws of the Ming Dynasty and pay customs duties when they come to China for trade. They must abide by the laws of the Ming Dynasty in ports and other places in the territory of the Ming Dynasty.

Sixth, the Dutch merchant ships sailing in the Daming Sea must also abide by the laws of the Ming Dynasty, and must not rob the merchant ships and fishermen of the Ming Dynasty, as well as the merchant ships of Korea, Japan, Liuqiu, Portugal, Spain and other countries that have friendly trade with the Ming Dynasty. The attack will deprive it of its qualifications to trade with the Ming Dynasty, and retaliate on an equal basis by attacking Dutch merchant ships.

Seventh, the Ming merchants in Batavia and other Dutch colonial strongholds, the Dutch must protect their life and property safety. If there is any infringement, Ming will hold them accountable. Notify Daming and accept case supervision.If there is insufficient evidence, there will be no conviction..."

Zhu Yihai said seven things in a row.

Finally, regarding the war reparations, Zhu Yihai asked the Dutch to pay 100 million taels of silver, plus the four warships in Japan.

"According to the current market price, one piece of Daming Dragon silver can be exchanged for four Dutch guilders of silver."

Fan der Lang's mouth opened wide, he couldn't believe that the conditions set by the emperor actually required them to pay compensation for the war more than 20 years ago.

"Your Majesty the Emperor, this is impossible."

"There is nothing impossible, and I am not bargaining with you. This is the final term. You can either accept it or refuse it."

"If you can't accept it, then go back and continue to fight. I will capture Zeelandia. At that time, all the Dutch will become my captives. You can redeem them with silver. Your four warships in Japan, There is absolutely no chance to return to Batavia, and in the future, it is impossible for your ships to pass through the South China Sea, and the trade between Japan and China, don't even think about it!"

"How to choose, think about it yourself!"

Zhu Yihai waved his hands as he spoke, wanting him to back down.

Seeing that the situation was not good, Fan der Lang quickly lowered his attitude.

"Your Majesty, 400 million guilders is indeed too much, and four ships are needed. The governor of Batavia will not agree, and the board of directors with a maximum of 17 people will not agree."

"Hehe, I think Governor Batavia and the 17-member board of directors will agree."

"Businessmen are only interested in profit, so I will settle accounts with you."

"Before, you robbed a Portuguese merchant ship from Macau outside the port of Johor, and robbed 220 tons of raw silk on board. After the raw silk was shipped back to Amsterdam, it attracted the attention of merchants from all over Europe, and finally sold [-] million tons. Dutch guilders are expensive.

Now, Chinese raw silk has a very high reputation in the European market. A pound of Italian raw silk is only worth [-] guilders, a pound of Persian raw silk is only worth [-] guilders, but a pound of Chinese raw silk can be worth at least ten guilders. [-] guilders, three times that of Italian raw silk, and [-] times that of Persian raw silk.

You sell Daming raw silk to Europe for more than [-] guilders. The price you buy in Siam Songkhla is about [-] Dutch guilders per pound, and the gross profit when you ship it to Europe is more than three times. Before you bought raw silk from Zheng in Taiwan, The purchase price per Dutch pound is only four guilders.

For raw silk alone, your gross profit is as high as more than 300%, which is the biggest profit among huge profits.

"In addition, you also buy large quantities of porcelain, tea, textiles, medicines, rhubarb, turmeric, lacquerware, etc. every year, and shipping them back to Europe is also very profitable.

You even sell deerskin and cane sugar from Taiwan to Japan, and you sell raw silk and cloth to Japan, and you can make huge profits at once.

Where did the East India Company have such huge profits and huge annual dividends?

Can you really afford to lose the Far East market?
Do you really dare to offend the Eastern Dragon? "

Zhu Yihai asked Fan der Lang to do a simple calculation, return Taiwan, and then pay 100 million taels of silver in exchange for a comprehensive trade and cooperation relationship with Daming, which can not only guarantee Japan's stronghold and trade, but also get Daming's market.

Zhu Yihai also directly threw out another bait, "If the Dutch East India Company can accept these conditions of Ming Dynasty and formally conclude the contract, I will give the Dutch East India Company a share of [-] tons of raw silk this year as a token of my sincerity."

The gross profit of raw silk is three times that of two taels per load of raw silk, and five thousand taels of raw silk is exactly one million taels of silver, which is the amount of their indemnity. When they are sold to Europe, they can sell for three million taels of silver, which is 100 million Dutch silver guilders.

The gross profit is at least 800 million dong, and the net profit will be several million dong. This alone can make a lot of money. The compensation of 400 million dong is really not worth mentioning.

Van der Lang couldn't help breathing fast.

In the past, the Dutch saw the Portuguese occupying Macau and enjoying the exclusive trade with Ming Dynasty. They were jealous and envious. They always wanted to send troops to capture Macau and replace the Portuguese, but they failed several times.

Now that Da Ming is willing to directly open trade with them, aren't they excited?

"Only for one year?" Van der Lang asked with red eyes.

"If the Dutch obey the rules, Daming is willing to guarantee at least [-] tons of raw silk supply every year." Zhu Yihai continued to seduce.

Van der Lang could hardly resist the temptation, "I need to report to Batavia, and I have to wait for the 17-member board of directors to review the peace agreement."

"It's okay, but you have to discuss it quickly, because I won't let the soldiers stop besieging Taiwan, and I won't let your four ships go south before the peace treaty is reached."

Van der Lang had a headache, the emperor was really watertight.

"Thank you, Your Majesty, I will ask them to reply quickly!"

(End of this chapter)