On June 1, 1652, the just-concluded Fifth Qingdao Autumn Commodity Fair was a complete success. Merchants from all over the world gathered at the expo hall and signed a total of 1,613,000 yuan in procurement contracts, directly generating a profit of 508,000 yuan, which made a cadre of officials of the Ministry of Trade laugh from ear to ear -- the negative impact on the economy after the loss of the French market has been greatly weakened by the Peruvian smuggling market and the local exposition, and the people on the east coast have already adjusted the economic structure and survived the most difficult period.

Among the turnover of more than 160 yuan, the largest number is still textiles, but its proportion has decreased a lot compared with previous years, accounting for less than 40%; Followed by the second place is steel bars, metal farm tools, hardware products, machine parts and other goods; Military products ranked third in terms of sales, followed by dyed leather goods, crude leather, refined flour, etc. There are many other products besides these, but they are scattered, and the proportion of each of them is not very large, and the total is only in the early 20%.

All in all, after years of continuous industrial adjustment, the economic transformation of the East Coast has begun to bear fruit, and the deformed economy that was originally extremely dependent on textiles (it seems that it is still very dependent on textile exports...... has been greatly improved. The number of factories and handicraft workshops in China has increased by more than 60% compared with a few years ago, and the industrial population has accounted for about 20% of the total population of the whole society (only regular workers, a large number of workers are active in building material factories (and mines are not counted), and the posture of a primary industrialized country is becoming clearer.

"According to the latest statistics, the total population of the country has reached a historic 338,000 (about 45% of the Ming people and about 19% of the mixed-race East Coasters). If you add non-national workers. The total number of people has exceeded 400,000. The country has developed to this day. As long as there is no big difference in our behavior, and the external environment can give us a period of 10 to 20 years of strategic opportunities, the national fortunes of our East Coast Republic of China can be truly stabilized. In the magnificent expo hall, Xu Xin, a member of the Central Executive Committee in charge of trade, was excited by the booming trade, and expressed the above feelings to the representatives of the manufacturers on the east coast who participated in the meeting.

Before the delegates woke up from the memories of hard work, Xu Xin was invited by the secretary to the next room. Here, the representative of the Dutch, Hemmer from Cape Town. Governor de Young had been waiting for a long time for Xu Xin, who was also in charge of the diplomacy of the Eastern Republic.

Governor de Young's letter of arrival had been reported to the secretary in advance. I also learned a little bit about it. That is, he was entrusted by the government of The Hague in the Netherlands to come to the east coast and ask the people on the east coast to use their own transport ships to ensure that the supplies of the Dutch overseas colonies such as Cape Town, Dutch Brazil and the West Indies, the Dutch West African stronghold, and the Tourare trading post would not be cut off in the event of a possible Anglo-Dutch war.

"There's really no sincerity at all." Xu Xin lit a pipe for himself and said something to himself in Chinese. Are the Dutch taking us for fools? Are you embarrassed to say such a condition? Xu Xin suddenly felt that he should not slap the Dutchman's face, so that they would not always look at no one like this?

"The English are really powerful...... Xu Xin took a puff of his cigarette and said leisurely.

"What?" Governor Dejan was a little stunned.

From 1649 onwards, Cromwell was determined to overcome financial difficulties and expand the size of the English navy. In 1650. They have already increased the size of the navy several times by building new ships and renovating merchant ships. It has reached an astonishing scale of more than 70 professional warships. I heard that last year, 20 new ships were under construction and about to be completed in the major shipyards along the Thames, and they also ordered a batch of new ships in Portugal and Spain, with a total number of 20 or 30 ships. Throwing such blood into the navy, Cromwell will always want to get something back, otherwise an idiot will do it. Instead of answering Governor DeYoung's question, he pulled up the seemingly untouched "gossip," and only listened to him continue: "Most Englishmen believed that British trade would flourish only if Holland was damaged. And they did the same, do you want to continue to hear, Lord De Young, the British captains who came to the port of Qingdao to trade boasted that from the beginning of October last year to the end of the year, the English Navy had captured more than a dozen Dutch merchant ships in North America, and in the Strait of Dover, the British were said to have captured dozens of Dutch transports, and in a raid operation in December last year alone, they intercepted and confiscated as many as 16 Dutch transport ships loaded with high-value commodities because they did not comply with the "Navigation Regulations" and at the same time refused to pay a 'flag-raising salute' to the British......"

"What the hell are you trying to say?" Governor Dejan's face was already a little unsightly, very pale.

"My meaning is very simple, that is, the British are very determined this time, and they have also invested heavily in building a navy in the past two years, and the old Royal Navy strength was also completely digested or purged last year, and now the British Navy is one mind, and they are looking around to break your commercial hegemony in Europe." Xu Xin said bluntly, "In the face of such an angry Britain, anyone who confronts them will be under great pressure. Your country wants our help in maintaining some of your overseas colonies, and to be honest, the pressure is very high, and the British will be jealous of us, and it is difficult to say whether we will be drawn into the war at that time......"

Xu Xin's worries are not unreasonable, the British Parliament is quite vindictive, and they can remember clearly who supported the royal party and who sheltered the royal party members during the British Civil War. Just because you don't settle accounts now doesn't mean you won't settle accounts in the future. You see, the Dutch supported the royal party during the war, and after the war they aided the Scottish and Irish rebels, so didn't the English settle their old scores with their new hatred?

What's more, in this regard, the people of the East Coast are also faintly worried. Because of the immature and changeable policies of the past (as the white shirts viewed), the navy not only privateered English merchant ships in the Caribbean, off the coast of Virginia, etc.—and even fought less intense wars with colonial institutions such as the British East India Company, the Guyana Company, and the Virginia Company—and some of the historical crossers also encouraged the government to give the British crown a certain amount of assistance to help them train a new army of small size. This kind of "black history" is now much more mature than ever that the rulers want to get rid of and forget, but it's not easy to say! If you do it, you will do it, and as long as the British have the heart, they can use this to attack the east coast at any time!

"What do you want?" Governor Dejan stopped beating around the bush and asked bluntly.

"A lot." Xu Xin glanced at Governor Deyan with a smile and said, "First, your country needs to promise to restrict the actions of the East India Company, and immediately cease all commercial and political relations with the Qing government in the Far East, and we need to see results within a year; 2. Please rest assured that your country will sell the Tulare trading post on New China Island, the Cape Town colony in South Africa, and the Formosa Island in the Far East to our Government in its entirety, and the Chinese Government will give a reasonable consideration for this. 3. Open the Strait of Malacca, allow Chinese ships to navigate and berth freely, and allow two ships on the east coast to purchase spices on Ambon Island every year; 4. The Government of China and its authorized commercial companies shall be allowed to do business and colonize India, and the East India Company shall not make any difficulties for any reason; 5. Further opening up the markets of Sweden, Denmark and North Germany, allowing Chinese businessmen to do business, and at the same time allowing Chinese banks to open branches; 6. For all kinds of materials in the Amsterdam market, if they are urgently needed by our country, our government or businessmen have the right of priority to purchase. ”

"That's all for now, and I'll add it when I think of it." Xu Xin made up for Governor Deyang, whose facial muscles were already extremely stiff, and said with a smile.

"These conditions are too harsh for the Hague government to accept." Governor de Young stood up sharply and said with great disappointment: "The great United Republic has its pride, and you cannot imagine how large our fleet is, and how experienced our sailors are. The English want to step on our corpses and rise, that is wishful thinking, and in the same way, those who want to take advantage of the fire to rob and reap the benefits of the United Provincial Republic are also delusional! ”

"The British may not be as strong as you at sea as a whole, but their naval strength has undoubtedly left you behind. The British now have at least 14 of them—and probably more later—large ships equipped with more guns than your flagship, the Bradford, don't they? Let's face it, Dutch. Xu Xin also got up and said unhurriedly.

Governor de Young, who was dressed and wearing a hat, paused for a moment, and then retorted: "Our sailors are experienced and high-spirited, far from being matched by the English robbers, and there is no doubt that we will be victorious in the end." ”

"Perhaps." Xu Xin shrugged his shoulders, then stretched out his right hand to shake the hand of Governor Deyan, and said: "We also cherish our friendship with your country, please report our conditions to your government, I think they will have a comprehensive assessment of this." My doors are open at all times, and you are always welcome to come back here. Until then, our port will be fully open to Dutch ships, where you can shop, resupply and even seek refuge. ”

"Thank you for being able to do this." Governor Dejan shook Xu Xin's hand vigorously and said, "But I still do not think that the Hague government will accept your terms, unless you can make a serious change to it. (To be continued......) R1292