"As long as I am willing, I guarantee that we will capture Fort Geranje within a month. Your four battleships are now locked by our navy and 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 Batavia of the Dutch East India Company, Zhu Yihai opened his mouth to threaten Chi Guoguo.
"Compared with my Qingdao Fushan Fortress, Relanjia Fort is far different, right?"
"In Shandong, I have nine forts, including Langya Fort, Qingdao Fort, Yantai Fort, Chengshan Fort, Weihai Fort, Penglai Fort, Laizhou Fort, Qingzhou Fort, and Tiemen Fort. Each of them is far superior to Relan Zhe.
The navy has thousands of ships and thousands of cannons.”
Van der Laan had to admit in his heart that the emperor's words were true, although he also knew that most of these fortresses were still under construction and were not really perfect.
After being defeated in Taiwan, he rested in Nagasaki, Japan, and then took a Japanese tribute ship to Qingdao Freezing Port, where he saw the excellence of Qingdao Port. It is an excellent natural deep-water port, and it does not freeze in winter. The Ming army even
Due to this vigorous operation, Qingdao Port not only built a new county seat, but also built a military city that was originally Fushan Front Station. In addition, a new Fushan Bastion was built. On Huangdao in Mawan, there was also a water camp and a fortress fort.
The Ming army also reopened the Jiao-Lai Canal built in the Yuan Dynasty, crossing the Denglai Peninsula in Shandong from north to south and connecting the Yellow and Bohai Seas. The canal diverted from the watershed east of Yaojia Village in Pingdu to the north and south. The south flow entered Jiaozhou Bay from Mawankou and became Nanjiao.
The Lai River is 30 kilometers long. The north stream flows from Haicangkou into Laizhou Bay and is the Beijiao Lai River, which is more than 100 kilometers long.
This was originally a grain transport river built during the Yuan Dynasty for the convenience of transporting grain by sea. It was neglected during the Ming Dynasty. After Zhu Yihai advanced into Denglai and accepted a large number of refugees, he began to use work as relief and re-dredging this 200-mile river.
of canals.
Although the canal was frozen when Van der Laang arrived, it was very convenient to travel along the canal by ice truck.
I have seen Fushan Bastion in Qingdao, Star City in Laizhou, and several fortresses in Dengzhou. Van Der Lang was really shocked. He felt as if he had suddenly returned to Europe, with castles everywhere.
Looking at these bastions from his professional perspective, he had to admit that they were very professionally built. Compared with the half-baked bastions like Relanze, which only built a main fort, they were indeed much stronger, and the artillery in the Ming army's castle was much stronger.
The equipment was very high, and the soldiers stationed by them also had a large number of muskets. They were not the cold-weapon troops he had dealt with before in the Ming Dynasty.
I think back then, a few ships guarded a small fort on Penghu Island, and they were able to withstand the siege of 20,000 Ming troops in July and August. But now, the Ming army has attacked Taiwan. Although it has been fighting for several months, the intensity of its attack has far exceeded
before.
Even after coming to Dengzhou and seeing the fortresses of the Ming Army and the elite Guards at the military parade, he realized that the Ming Army in Taiwan was at most a partial division, and the truly elite ones had not yet been dispatched.
Faced with such a powerful but tough-minded emperor, Van 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 the Ming Dynasty, we just want trade cooperation!"
Zhu Yihai sneered.
"The Dutch East India Company does not represent the Netherlands. You are just a private company authorized by the Republic of the Netherlands. It is just a large company where the government holds stocks and gives you overseas colonization, especially the colonial monopoly in East India. You
It is true that you can sign agreements with other countries, issue currencies, 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 was actually very proficient in Ming dialect. He could fully understand the emperor's words without translation. He was surprised that the emperor knew so much about the Netherlands and the East India Company.
"The East India Company pays an 18% dividend to the Dutch government every year. Your company was formed by the merger of 14 companies focusing on East India trade. It consists of six offices including Amsterdam, and has more than 70 people.
The board of directors, but only seventeen directors hold real power, is called the seventeen-member board of directors.
You have established a headquarters in Batavia. It is said that you have more than 150 merchant ships, 40 warships, more than 40,000 employees, and more than 10,000 mercenaries. The dividend is as high as 40%. You do.
It is a very profitable company.
But I want to say that you are just a chamber of commerce composed of a group of profit-seeking businessmen. Your company may be very powerful to other people, but as the emperor of a country, I will not be afraid of a group of businessmen.
I have more than 10,000 merchant ships, thousands of warships, tens of millions of people, and millions of troops." Zhu Yihai said it even though he was boasting.
Van der Laan was surprised by the emperor's understanding of their details and felt powerless, but he still emphasized, "Dear Your Majesty the Ming Emperor, our East India Company has authorized the Netherlands to obtain a trade monopoly over the East India region and has signed a contract.
The right to declare war, issue currency and colonize.
But we have always respected the Ming Dynasty, and we just hope to cooperate and trade."
Zhu Yihai sneered disdainfully.
"Trade cooperation must be based on the principles of fairness and voluntariness, rather than coercion. In the past few decades, you Dutch have repeatedly invaded our borders with the Ming Dynasty. You still illegally occupy the Danyuan area in Taiwan and repeatedly send ships to plunder the coast.
Merchant ships at sea and villages on land robbed merchants, robbed our people, and even massacred our Ming merchants in Batavia."
"Do you really think that I, the Ming Dynasty, will not send troops to go all the way to Batavia and destroy you?"
Vanderlan did not dare to refute. He kept his mission in mind and was not here to quarrel. He did not believe that Ming had the ability to run to Batavia.
There is no point in arguing with each other.
"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.
Although several ministers from the Prime Minister's Office participated in the entire negotiation, Zhu Yihai did not let them speak.
He knew the details of the East India Company better than anyone else.
They are indeed very powerful, especially in East India, that is, East Asia, in recent years, they can be said to be the only one.
The old Spain and Portugal have weakened here. They established a new headquarters in Batavia, monopolized the trading rights of cloves, and extended their trade footprint to Japan, North Korea, and the Ming Dynasty.
They acquired Galle in Sri Lanka a few years ago, drove away the Portuguese, thereby breaking the Portuguese's cinnamon trade monopoly, and even captured Malacca, controlling the important waterway of the Strait of Malacca.
He also drove away the Spanish and Portuguese in Japan and monopolized Japan's trade monopoly.
But they also have weaknesses.
For example, the East India Company now has thirty-five strongholds in Asia, but the Japanese stronghold brings them nearly 40% of the profits. The Taiwan stronghold is an important transit point for its trade with the Zheng family.
As well as a transit point for trade with Japan, it also brings them a quarter of Asia's trade profits.
The trade profits of these two strongholds alone account for more than 60% of the trade profits of the thirty-five strongholds in Asia.
Therefore, for the entire East India Company, there is no room for loss in these two places, but their strength is not strong in these two places.
Their headquarters, Batavia, is too far away from Taiwan and Japan, making it difficult to project combat power.
With the rise of the Ming Dynasty, they can no longer protect Taiwan, and now they can only hope to maintain the Japanese route.
And Zhu Yihai knew this very well.
The Dutch had previously reached a trade agreement with Zheng Zhilong. Although the Dutch could not openly trade directly with the Ming Dynasty, they could actually open up the Chinese market through the Zheng family.
But now that Emperor Shaotian of the Ming Dynasty has continued to increase his control over Fujian and other places, it is already difficult for the Dutch to trade freely with the Zheng family as before.
Because the Zheng family has now lost its monopoly on foreign trade, the Ming Dynasty only opened trade at Zhangzhou Yuegang. After the Zheng family took control of the sea, they built Xiamen under their control into a new trading port.
But the problem now is that Ming Dynasty 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, and had no choice but to trade at sea or in Taiwan. But now Taiwan is about to be captured, and the Dutch have actually lost the Ming Dynasty market.
Previously, the Dutch allied with the Zheng family to block Manila's trade with China, but now Zhu Yihai united with the Portuguese in Macau and the Spanish in Manila to block the Dutch's routes to Nagasaki and Taiwan.
They are losing their most important market in Asia.
How to not panic.
He wanted to use force to restore the situation, but the current failure in Taiwan made Van Der Lang understand that this road was blocked. The governor of Batavia also instructed that negotiation must be used to repair relations with the Ming Dynasty and strive to restore trade rights.
The initiative is entirely in Ming's hands.
This kind of negotiation has never been experienced by the East India Company before. Their giant ships and cannons opened the way, blasted open the gates of other countries, and then came to the city with troops and forcefully demanded the opening of trade, and even ceded land for their colonial strongholds.
"I remember, please remember." Zhu Yihai said to Fan Delang.
"First of all, the Dutch East India Company's Fort Jelandia in Taiwan should immediately and unconditionally surrender to the Ming Dynasty, hand over its weapons, and surrender out of the city,"
"Secondly, the four warships that were withdrawn from Taiwan to Japan should be handed over to Ming Dynasty as compensation for the defeat."
"Third, the East India Company should pay war reparations for the two invasions of Penghu, the occupation of Taiwan, and the Battle of Liaoluo Bay,"
"Fourth, after the Dutch East India Company surrendered its stronghold in Taiwan, returned it to Taiwan, and paid the compensation, Ming Dynasty could open its trading port to the Netherlands.
Fifth, the Dutch who come to China for trade must abide by the laws of the Ming Dynasty and pay customs duties. They must abide by the laws of the Ming Dynasty in ports and other places within the Ming Dynasty. If they violate the laws of the Ming Dynasty, they will be tried and dealt with by the Ming Dynasty officials.
Sixth, Dutch merchant ships sailing in the Ming Sea must also abide by the laws of the Ming Dynasty. They are not allowed to rob merchant ships and fishermen of the Ming Dynasty, as well as merchant ships of North Korea, Japan, Lucius, Portugal, Spain and other countries that have friendly trade with the Ming Dynasty. Otherwise, they will be regarded as attacking the Ming Dynasty.
The attack will deprive them of the right to trade with the Ming Dynasty, and they will retaliate by attacking Dutch merchant ships.
Seventh, the Dutch must protect the life and property safety of Ming merchants in Batavia and other Dutch colonial strongholds. If there is any infringement, Ming Dynasty will be held accountable. If Ming merchants break the law and commit crimes in the Dutch colonies, they should also be punished.
Notify the Ming Dynasty and accept case supervision. If there is insufficient evidence, no conviction will be allowed..."
Zhu Yihai said seven things in a row.
Finally, regarding war reparations, Zhu Yihai asked the Dutch to compensate the Dutch for one million taels of silver, plus the four warships in Japan.
"At the current market price, one piece of Minglong silver is worth four Dutch guilders."
The boss, Vanderlan, was open-mouthed. He couldn't believe that the emperor's conditions required them to pay compensation for the war more than 20 years ago.
"Dear Your Majesty the Emperor, this is impossible."
"Nothing is impossible, and I am not bargaining with you. These are the final terms. Either accept it or reject it."
"If you can't accept it, then go back and continue fighting. I will capture Relanze. Then all the Dutch will become my prisoners. You can redeem them with silver. Your four warships in Japan,
There is no chance of returning to Batavia, and in the future, it is impossible for your ships to pass through the South China Sea, and don’t even think about trade between Japan and China!"
"How to choose, think about it yourself!"
Zhu Yihai said and waved his hand to ask him to retreat.
Seeing that the situation was not good, Vander Lang quickly lowered his attitude.
"Your Majesty, four million guilders is indeed too much, and it requires four ships. The Governor of Batavia will not agree to it, and neither will the seventeen-member board of directors."
"Haha, I think the Governor of Batavia and the seventeen-member board of directors will agree."
"Businessmen are only interested in profit, so I will settle the score with you."
"You previously hijacked a Macau Portuguese merchant ship outside the Port of Johor and robbed 1,200 loads of raw silk on board. After these raw silks were transported back to Amsterdam, they attracted the attention of merchants from all over Europe, and eventually sold 2200 loads of raw silk.
A high price of 150,000 guilders.
Nowadays, Chinese raw silk has a very high reputation in the European market. A pound of Italian raw silk is only worth 5.4 guilders, and a pound of Persian raw silk is only worth 9.6 guilders. However, a pound of Chinese raw silk is worth at least 10 guilders.
Six point two Dutch guilders, three times as much as Italian raw silk and one point seven times as much as Persian raw silk.
You sell Daming raw silk to Europe for more than 16 guilders. The price you purchased in Songkhla, Siam, is about 3.8 Dutch guilders per pound, and the gross profit when shipped to Europe is more than three times. You previously purchased raw silk from Zheng in Taiwan.
The buying price was only four Dutch guilders per Dutch pound.
For raw silk alone, your gross profit is as high as more than 300%, which is a huge profit among huge profits.
"In addition, you also buy porcelain, tea, textiles, medicines, rhubarb, turmeric, lacquerware, etc. in large quantities every year, and shipping them back to Europe is also very profitable.
You even sell deer skins and cane sugar from Taiwan to Japan, and sell raw silk, cloth, etc. to Japan, and you can make huge profits with just one hand.
Where did the East India Company have such huge profits and generous 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 Delang to calculate a simple account, return it to Taiwan, and then pay one million taels of silver in exchange for a comprehensive trade cooperation relationship with the Ming Dynasty, which would not only guarantee Japan's stronghold and trade, but also gain access to the Ming Dynasty's market.
Zhu Yihai also directly threw out another bait, "If the Dutch East India Company can accept these conditions of the Ming Dynasty and formally conclude a contract, as a token of my sincerity, I will give the Dutch East India Company a share of five thousand loads of raw silk this year."
The gross profit of raw silk is three times, one load of raw silk is two taels, five thousand loads of raw silk is exactly one million taels of silver, which is their compensation amount. They can sell it to Europe for three million taels of silver, which is 12 million Dutch
Silver shield.
The gross profit is at least 8 million dong, and the net profit will be several million dong. This alone can make a lot of money, and the compensation of 4 million dong is really not worth mentioning.
Vanderlan couldn't help but breathe quickly.
In the past, the Dutch were jealous and envious when they saw the Portuguese occupying Macau and enjoying exclusive trade with the Ming Dynasty. They always wanted to send troops to capture Macau and replace the Portuguese, but several attacks failed.
Now that Ming Dynasty is willing to directly open trade with them, aren't they excited?
"Only one year?" Vanderlan asked with red eyes.
"If the Dutch abide by the rules, Ming Dynasty is willing to guarantee a share of the supply of at least five thousand tons of raw silk every year." Zhu Yihai continued to seduce.
Van der Lang could not resist the temptation, "I need to report it to Batavia, and I have to wait for the seventeen-member board of directors to review the peace treaty."
"It doesn't matter, but you must discuss it quickly, because I will not let the soldiers stop besieging Taiwan, and I will not let your four ships go south before the peace treaty is reached."
Van der Lang has a headache, this emperor is really impeccable.
"Thank you, Your Majesty the Emperor. I will definitely ask them to give you a reply as soon as possible!"
