Win the Ding 1617

In the twelfth month of the sixth year of Chongzhen, Mr. Van Basten, as the extraordinary and plenipotentiary negotiator of the East India Company, once again came to Hue to meet Shou Han and negotiate on the cessation of hostilities.

To be honest, Mr. Basten is in no hurry!The Managa Waterway was closed to the Dutch East India Company, but plywood ships flying his personal flag could still travel freely, as long as all and full taxes were paid.

Therefore, in view of this situation, the longer the confrontation between the two sides lasts, the closer it will be for Mr. Basten to destroy the East India Company and establish his own business empire.

Looking at the densely lined artillery on the head of Hue City, on the horse’s face, and on the fort, and then thinking about the fleets on the sea that are performing maneuvers, with the roaring sound of bursts of white Smoke and the smell of gunpowder floating with the sea breeze, Edwin, a senior company employee who came with him?Fan?Germany?Mr. Sa couldn't help but exclaimed, "I seem to see that the artillery of the whole of Europe is here!"

"Foreign plate!"

Mr. Basten mocked Edwin in his heart, but he didn't know that the original intention of this sentence was to ridicule those Frenchmen from the West, similar to old hats and turtles.

However, it is not so easy to ask to see Shou Han this time.

First, he was searched carefully by the soldiers of the Guards Battalion, and even the authorization certificate issued by the East India Company for Basten and others as a full-fledged negotiator was rudely opened and read.

After finally seeing Shou Han himself, he was teased by Shou Han with a half-smile. "Basten, come this time, what are you going to steal from me?"[

Hearing what Tong Shi said, Basten's heart sank suddenly, it's over!It seems that he discovered the missing blueprint!But after all, it is an old Jianghu who has gone through a lot of wind and waves, and his heart is disturbed, but his face has not changed at all.

"This time, I was authorized by the company's board of directors to stop military operations with the South China Army and fully resume normal trade activities."

"This?! It's not that you can fight and talk if you want!" Shouhan snorted from his nose, and glanced at the plenipotentiary of the East India Company with disdain.

"Before, I thought that fighting would be of no benefit to both sides. Our sages said, 'Soldiers are an ominous weapon! Use it as a last resort.' I intend to end this kind of thing that is not beneficial to everyone. However, Your damned East India Company took my good intentions as weakness and tried to blackmail me, yes! I closed the Managa Waterway and banned your ships from passing through the Managa Waterway. Let’s see who is afraid! Without you Dutch, there are Portuguese, English, Spaniards, French, and there are people who do business with us!"

"No!" Hearing the series of thunderbolt and lightning reprimands of Shou Han in a low voice, Edwin groaned from the bottom of his heart!If Dutch ships are not allowed to pass through the Managa waterway, then the Dutch market in Europe will be quickly overwhelmed by the British, French, Spaniards, and Portuguese, especially those Portuguese under the banner of Portuguese Restoration[***], They will be like sharks in the sea, devouring the European market and wealth.

Basten also yelled in a serious manner, "No! Your Excellency Governor, you can't do this! Last time, some confused and short-sighted guys from our company caused me to offend you because of their behavior. I apologize to you here. I hope you can accept our peace request for the sake of my friendship with you."

"Stop talking nonsense! If you can't fight, if you're defeated, you're here to ask for peace! Don't ask for peace!"

In Edwin's eyes, Shou Han's behavior was suspected to be a rude oriental monarch, different from those Arab sultans and Mongolian Khans, but there was nothing he could do.

Who let you beat it?

This group of European gentlemen in beautiful robes is like this. You reason with them and they play hooligans with you.After you waved a brick, a kitchen knife, and a shotgun to greet these wolves, they smiled and asked you to maintain a gentlemanly demeanor.

Seeing the faces of the two negotiators in front of him turn red and turn white, and finally freeze into blue-gray expressions, Shou Han felt relieved, "I won't give you some color to see, I don't know that the pot is made of iron, I don't know that Lord Ma has three One eye!"

"Two representatives, what are the requirements and conditions for your company to send two representatives to seek peace this time? Since you are here to seek peace, you must have some sincerity."

An Tianhong, the Rishi Chengzheng who has negotiated with various forces and groups many times, spoke of the crucial point between the two with very experienced experience.

"Is it to cede the land, is it to compensate our army for the various military supplies and supplies consumed in this battle, or something else?"

"At that time, the army of King Ayutthaya of Siam clashed with our South Central Army's southern conquest troops. In order to punish this offensive behavior against our military prestige, our army surrounded Ayutthaya. The cession to my lord, the compensation for military expenses, the promise of tax exemption for all kinds of goods in Siam, and the election of the daughter of the royal family for marriage, the lord then ordered the withdrawal of the army. I wonder what you can do? Can you? Is there a daughter of your king to serve as my lord?" [

An Tianhong's words, with a gun and a stick, really hurt the Dutch people.

"You!" It was the first time for Edwin to deal with the South China Army, and he couldn't help thinking that the South China Army in front of him was different from those sultans and kings, and he felt contemptuous and underestimated in his heart, and was about to reprimand him Take a look at An Tianhong's presumptuousness and courtesy.

"Does this gentleman have something to say?" An Tianhong saw the resentment and anger on Edwin's face, so he took the conversation before he could speak.

Edwin didn't speak, just snorted and looked at the ceiling.

"My general once said that when the strengths of the two sides are equal, diplomacy is strength. When the strengths of the two sides are very different, strength is diplomacy. If your company thinks that our formulation is inappropriate, please ask the two envoys to go back and rectify the military horses and ships. World War I. We won’t have to fight a big lawsuit here, everyone has seen it and understood it. I can also go to Batavia to accept the documents from the two of you!”

well!Does An Tianhong's words have the slightest hint of a ceasefire negotiation?It is clear that they will continue to fight!And the information revealed inside and outside the words is that the South Central Army is going to capture Batavia, completely pull out the leading stronghold of the Dutch in Asia, and accept the letter of surrender from the East India Company under the city of Batavia!

"No! Absolutely not!"

He almost yelled out his thoughts in his native dialect!

He glanced at Basten, who was sitting upright beside him, with a bit of resentment, and he couldn't help sighing in his heart, if he had established friendship with this group of orientals early like this guy, I wouldn't have to be afraid of the Dutch East India The company's influence in Asia has been destroyed, as long as my ship can smoothly return with the goods needed in Europe.But now I can only watch others make a fortune.

"Gentlemen, you are the plenipotentiary representatives of the East India Company, and Mr. An Tianhong is the Lisi Chengzheng of our South China Army. He is fully responsible for this matter. You just need to negotiate peace with him! I still have something to do!"

After finishing speaking, Shou Han waved his hand to signal that some soldiers came in and took Basten and Edwin out, leaving An Tianhong alone in the study to listen to Shou Han's instructions.

"Tianhong, just one word, deal with them severely, but don't force them to jump over the wall in a hurry."

"Understood! Slaughter the sheep!"

"Mr. An! I have to remind you what a friend should do. Although we were defeated in the naval battles off Fujian and Guangdong, our company still has at least a few thousand ships in the entire Asian sea! We were defeated by you." It’s just a drop in the bucket! It’s just a gold coin in Solomon’s treasure!”

In the Huitong Hall, Edwin vented his inner dissatisfaction towards An Tianhong in a threatening and flaunting tone.

"Really?! Then our navy will be more troublesome. We need to capture or sink these ships one by one. This Mr. Edwin, if you come to negotiate peace, you will have to make a peace This kind of bluff is useless. If your so-called thousands of ships are useful, I'm afraid you won't come here to sit here and negotiate with me, but I will go to your Batavia I seek peace from you!"

An Tianhong's words seemed like a sharp steel needle, piercing the balloon of Edwin's false threats.He sat down on the chair dejectedly, looking pitifully at Mr. Van Basten, the representative of the negotiation.

From the bottom of his heart, Mr. Van Basten enjoyed the situation in front of him very much: the South Central Army blocked the Malaga Strait, closed this vital waterway to the fleet of the Dutch East India Company, and at the same time ordered the Portuguese Fu[***] or simply the navy of the South China Army played the role of pirates and robbed the property of Dutch businessmen, but he, Mr. Basten, was not affected by this in the slightest.He can even take advantage of this state to make a fortune.

Mr. Basten hopes that this state can continue.However, in order to maintain the friendship with Nanzhong Army, he must give Nanzhong Army a suitable result.well!On the one hand, there are mountains of gold coins in front of him, and on the other hand, the road of friendship that can lead to gold mountains. He is really entangled!

The entanglement is entangled, and a decision must be made as soon as possible, otherwise, the South China Army and the East India Company will throw him into the thousands of miles of waves in the South China Sea!Let the sharks gobble it up, in that case, no matter how much money you have, it will be a blessing!

"My lord, on behalf of the East India Company, I would like to express my condolences to the soldiers of your army who were killed and injured in this battle. We will compensate your army for the ships, military supplies and military expenses lost in this battle."

Once the mouth is opened, things will be easy to handle later.Just like a woman who goes into the sea, after picking up the first customer, she doesn't care about the second or the hundredth time.

"At the same time, we will make appropriate concessions to express our apologies."

Seeing that An Tianhong's face became more relaxed, Edwin felt confident, "It turns out that we still have to give benefits! It's really gold and silver!"

"Since your company has shown its sincerity, I will represent my general to talk about our army's terms of peace."

Some of the conditions proposed by An Tianhong seemed simple and common, but some of them involved the interests of everyone in the East India Company.

"First, from the date of signing the peace treaty, all trades conducted by your company in the region east of Africa and Ceylon, including Ceylon, must be settled in the currency issued by our army. This condition, if Some people are willing to join, such as the Portuguese Restoration [***] in India, and those local kings are also included."

"Second, each ship of your company operating in the area east of Ceylon needs to pay 2000 yuan per year as a license silver. Our army will register the ships that have paid the fee, and issue flags and licenses. In the future, if the navy discovers that there is no flag or does not match the registration information, it will be regarded as a pirate ship sunk."

"Thirdly, your company's Java Islands east of the Managa Strait were originally our Ming territory, and they must be returned under conditions. Since your company imports a large amount of spices produced on the island, after the treaty is signed, we will continue to send Your company will only increase the price accordingly."

"Fourth, your company's ships traveling to and from the Managa Strait must truthfully declare at the customs according to the tax rate set by our army, report the type of goods transported and pay customs duties, otherwise, our army will not protect them."

Historically, the so-called "East India" has a relatively loose geographical concept, which applies not only to the Java Islands of the Dutch East India Company, but also to the Malay Archipelago (the Philippines belongs to this archipelago), and can also extend to the entire Southeast Asia and India.

And our poor Dutch East India Company, since it appeared in the Java Islands in 1596 AD, which is the 24th year of Wanli, has worked tirelessly to quickly establish several trading ports along the coast of this area and set up its headquarters in Batavia City.The city of Batavia was controlled by the Netherlands in 1619, the second year after Shou Han crossed.With the city of Batavia as the center, the Dutch quickly expanded their surroundings. From the 1670s, the Dutch East India Company began to claim that it controlled various Muslim kingdoms in Java.

The peace treaty of the South China Army actually wants to swallow the fruits of decades of struggle in one gulp. How can this make the Dutch swallow it? !

"Mr. An, no! Mr. An, I think that although the first, second, and fourth articles of the four basic treaties you mentioned are very harsh, in line with the principle of stopping hostile military actions as soon as possible, my company I still reluctantly accepted it. However, what the third article said is absolutely unacceptable!"

"The purple cardamom, amomum, nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves, peppercorns, aniseed, cumin, woody fragrance, angelica dahurica, sanai, ginger, dried ginger produced here are the most important varieties of goods we export to Europe. Once the Java Islands are occupied by your army, our source of goods will definitely be affected! It is related to the life and death of the Dutch East India Company, and whether the treaty we signed can be implemented. Please think about it, Mr. An!"

There was a hint of threat in Basten's tone, but it was more of a plea.No way, the profit of spices is too great!To illustrate, the price of a pound of cassia oil is equivalent to six years' wages of a junior officer.This is why this group of red-haired gentlemen are salivating in the face of the spice paradise of the Java Islands. In order to obtain crops such as spices and coffee, the Dutch forced the natives to cut down other trees and could only grow a single species. Spices, which are later acquired with necessities such as salt and rice.Get huge profits from it that are far greater than the profits of drug trafficking!

Let me ask, who can easily let go of such a cash hen that keeps producing golden eggs?

"My lord! In order to show our sincerity in the peace talks, we are willing to cede another piece of land belonging to the Netherlands to your army to express our apology!"

Basten signaled to the accompanying clerk to fetch the map and spread it out on the table.On the giant map, point your furry finger to a huge island to the southwest.

"This is New Holland. It is a territory of our United Provinces. The land area is dozens of times larger than the Java Islands. In order to show the sincerity of peace, my company is willing to cede this land and its affiliated islands to your army!"

The continent Basten mentioned is the Australian continent we are familiar with. In 1606, the Spanish navigator Torres (lusvezetorres) sailed through the strait between Australia and New Guinea (Irian Island); in the same year, the Dutchman William?Jane's Duyfken (uyfken) has set foot in Australia and is the first recorded real landing of foreigners in Australia, and named this place "New Holland".

According to the so-called first-discoverer-first-serve principle of western gentlemen, this continent seems to belong to the Netherlands, but An Tianhong seems to be far less interested in this continent than the temptation of spices in Java.

"According to the business information we have, the cloves you bought in Maluku and shipped to your hometown in the Netherlands can sell for three Dutch guilders per pound. After deducting the transportation cost, you can also get ten guilders. It is said that at the worst time, one pound can be sold for 25 times the profit. No one seems to have the heart to give up such a good deal!"

An Tianhong simply tore off the painted skin, exposing the truth bloody to the sun and the air. Hearing such data, Basten and Edwin couldn't help but make Basten and Edwin's aching hearts twitch.

"You're right! If you lose this good deal, I'm afraid you won't have the ability to implement this treaty! Then wouldn't this text, which you and I have worked so hard on, become a piece of waste paper? "

Hearing An Tianhong's tone, it seemed that his request for the Java Islands was not so strong, and everyone in the East India Company couldn't help being overjoyed, and couldn't help nodding their heads in agreement.

"However," An Tianhong changed the subject, and threw their eager hopes into the icy water of the North Sea. "My lord's will cannot be changed." (To be continued.)