Zhu Hongyu was not angry and said in a very calm tone.
"The relationship between you and me is equal, harmonious and friendly!"
"Although there have been disputes before, these small disputes cannot affect the friendly bilateral relations between us."
"We should look forward. The purpose of this negotiation is for you and us to carry out business and exchange what we need. It is for future development, not to settle old scores."
"Negotiation is about seeking common ground while reserving differences."
Zhu Hongyu's words were very polite, but his meaning was also very clear.
Negotiation is possible, but if you want him to make compensation, that's impossible!
The Ming Dynasty's fine tradition of not ceding territory or paying indemnities for three hundred years, and not paying tribute to relatives, cannot be broken with him.
Sanchez also knew that it was impossible to ask the Liberation Army to compensate, so he changed the topic and spoke.
"I would like to know if you are willing to sell some iron tools to our tribe?"
For indigenous tribes, iron tools are what they need most at the moment.
In their daily production and life, whether it is hunting, gathering, farming, or other things, they need a large number of iron tools.
However, due to technical constraints, these indigenous tribes could barely smelt copper, let alone iron.
If you want ironware, you can only purchase it from outside.
And due to the bad relationship between them and the Spanish, and the Spanish's intention to control the indigenous force, they would not sell iron tools to the indigenous tribes at all.
Even if it’s just iron farm tools!
This also leads to the fact that among the indigenous people, iron tools are a sought-after hard currency!
Zhu Hongyu nodded and said.
"Of course that's not a problem!"
He wanted to do business with the natives and use the strength of the natives to develop the Liberation Army. He had to be able to provide something that the other party needed.
The current Liberation Army lacks everything, but due to the emergence of small blast furnaces, there is no shortage of iron.
If Zhu Hongyu doesn't sell iron, what else can he sell?
Selling ass?
In fact, as long as the natives could afford the price, Zhu Hongyu even dared to sell muskets and artillery to these natives in order to create trouble for the Spanish.
A hint of surprise flashed across Sanchez's face, but then he frowned, knowing that Zhu Hongyu was going to make an offer.
"Speaking!"
Zhu Hongyu smiled slightly and said.
"Since the iron ore and coal mines are within your territory, they are your property."
When Sanchez heard this, he thought Zhu Hongyu wanted iron ore and coal mines, so he nodded and said.
"Our tribe has no use for iron ore and coal mines. If you need them, they can be mined by you. Just provide a certain amount of iron to our tribe."
Zhu Hongyu shook his head and said.
"No, no, no, that's not what I meant!"
"The mine belongs to you, we won't rob it!"
"If you want iron tools, you can do it. Not to mention just iron farm tools, even muskets, artillery, knives and other iron weapons, I can also sell them to you."
"However, it must be exchanged for various materials, iron ore, coal, grain, sulfur, volcanic ash, saltpeter, wood..."
"As long as we need the supplies, you can exchange them for iron tools."
"Of course, if you don't have supplies, you can just exchange them with Spanish heads!"
Zhu Hongyu's calculation was very shrewd.
He was not prepared to continue with the mining business.
Since the indigenous people say that the mine belongs to them, then return it to them.
However, if the natives wanted iron tools, they could only exchange them for ores.
Zhu Hongyu thought very clearly about this matter. Instead of the Liberation Army mining, smelting iron, and then using iron tools to exchange mineral ownership from the indigenous people.
It would be better to simply return the minerals to the indigenous people, let them mine the mines themselves, and send the ore to the Liberation Army.
Then the Liberation Army would use the ore to make iron, and a small portion of the final iron would be given to the natives.
Inside and out, what the Liberation Army lost was only nominal ownership of minerals, but it was able to save a lot of strong labor.
What the Liberation Army lacks most now is strong labor. With so much strong labor saved, no matter where it is invested, it can meet urgent needs.
It’s not a loss at all!
Sanchez took a deep breath and asked.
"Are you really willing to sell us cannons?"
"Aren't you afraid that we will fall out and attack you with cannons?"
Zhu Hongyu shrugged and said with an indifferent expression.
"I can sell you one artillery piece, and I can make two, three, or even more artillery pieces myself."
"Tell me, why should I be afraid?"
The Liberation Army captured five light cannons from the Spanish last time.
Four of them were deployed on the completed simple fort, and the remaining one was sent to the weapons workshop for research.
As for the craftsmen in the weapons workshops of the Liberation Army, there were quite a few who knew how to forge cannons.
You know, the Spanish are planning to use these craftsmen to build a new gun factory.
After this period of research, these craftsmen have thoroughly understood the iron film casting method given by Zhu Hongyu.
Now the weapons workshop is preparing to cast the iron film and then start casting the cannon.
The iron film casting method does have various shortcomings. The cannons cast by this casting method are of poor quality, have limited service life, are relatively heavy, and the inner wall of the barrel is not smooth enough.
But his advantages are equally obvious!
That’s productivity!
The production efficiency of the iron film casting method absolutely surpasses any cannon casting method in this era.
It's not that Zhu Hongyu doesn't know a better way to cast a cannon, but to be practical, he still has to cast a cannon with an iron film.
Zhu Hongyu doesn't care about the quality and lifespan of artillery now.
All he wants is speed, so that the weapons workshop can cast cannons as quickly as possible.
As heavy as it is, it's meant to be placed in the fort anyway.
Life is short, so be it. Deal with the crisis before you before talking about anything else!
Therefore, as long as the natives can afford the price and can bring him a large amount of various materials urgently needed by the Liberation Army, Zhu Hongyu really doesn't mind selling them a few artillery pieces.
Sanchez took a deep breath, stood up from his seat, and spoke.
"I think coming to negotiate with you this time may be the most correct choice I have made in my life."
Zhu Hongyu smiled and said nothing.
But he was slandering in his heart, as the natives were indeed not very smart, and they didn't even know they were being led into a trap by him.
The reason why the natives pose a great threat is that they are familiar with the environment, are flexible and can turn quickly.
Although they can't fight head-on, they can sneak into the woods if they can't be defeated.
As long as they get into the woods, no one can do anything to them.
In the complex environment of the tropical rain forest, the blow darts and dog-leg knives used by the indigenous people can kill people much more efficiently than muskets and artillery.
However, when the natives began to use muskets and artillery, they began to queue up and shoot...
Heavy logistical pressure will slow down their transfer speed.
Do natives who have lost their transfer advantage still need to be feared?
This goes without saying!
Therefore, Zhu Hongyu really thought nothing of selling artillery to the indigenous people.
As long as he dares to buy, Zhu Hongyu dares to sell!
The negotiations between the two parties went very smoothly, and Zhu Hongyu's goal was achieved. He found coolies who brought their own dry food to mine for him, saving a lot of labor for the Liberation Army.
The indigenous tribes' goal was also achieved. They recovered the minerals and obtained a stable source of iron.
The Liberation Army was even willing to sell them muskets and artillery!