The Grand Governor of the East Indies, Kun, shook his hand and looked at the agreement spread out in front of him, and then looked up at the three subordinates standing in front of him. After a moment of silence, he picked up a quill pen in the pen holder without warning, dipped it in the ink on the edge, and signed his Latin name on the agreement.

Van Dimen was stunned, and he could not understand why, after only one night, the governor who had been inclined to him had changed his mind.

Kun signed his name on the agreement, put the quill back in the pen holder, and then calmly said to the three subordinates: "I thought about it all night last night, and finally made this decision.

Mr. Van Diemen has a point, and this agreement may not be the best option for the company. But for Batavia now, it is the most suitable trade deal.

According to the information I have gathered, 47% of the company's annual profits come from the spice trade, and 28% of the profits come from the silk and tea trade, and the amount of the silk and tea trade is still expanding.

And these achievements were achieved under the Ming Dynasty's ban on trade activities against us. If a trade deal can be reached as soon as possible, the scale of the silk and tea trade may not be as large as the spice trade.

This is obviously beneficial for the company. What's more, if we can trade directly with the Ming Kingdom, we will no longer have to endure the exploitation of those second-hand profiteers.

The biggest advantage is that the company no longer has to rely on Manila, a Spanish-owned transshipment port for goods, and it can also undermine the Spanish business interests in Manila and weaken the Spanish power in Southeast Asia. ”

"Your Excellency the Governor's decision is truly wise, and I am sure that the 17-member Board of Directors will greatly appreciate your decision." Hendrik Brower immediately complimented the Governor.

Kun glanced at Brouwer, then at Peternats, who was standing beside him with a smile on his face, nodded at the two of them and said, "Regarding the important role of the two in facilitating the agreement between the company and Mingguo Trade, I will write a separate letter and report to the board of directors..."

When Hendrik Blauwer and Peternac walked out of the governor's room, his face was full of joy, and he said to Natz beside him: "Yesterday I saw the look on the governor's face, I thought something would happen, but I didn't expect that after one night, he would be a different person..."

With a smile on his face, Peternat, who whispered to him from time to time, couldn't help but think of the last night when he saw the governor.

Under the light of the bright blubber candles, two cloisonné utensils shone brightly, this kind of utensils that Europeans had never seen before, so that the governor Kundu, who had seen many rare treasures, subconsciously held his breath.

After a long while, the governor exhaled a long breath and said to Peternatz, "This is cloisonné?" However, the Emperor of the Ming Kingdom sent things, how can they not match, this soup bowl and a dinner plate, it doesn't look like a pair. ”

Reluctantly taking his eyes off the two cloisonné utensils, Petronatz's heart was also quite painful, and the Emperor Ming handed him 5 cloisonné utensils as a gift to the Grand Governor of the East Indies.

When Peter Natz left the city of Beijing, he planned to make it his next heirloom. When the conflict between him and the Japanese merchants was resolved, he felt relieved that it would be enough to leave three things for the governor.

As a result, after going ashore, he picked out two pieces of cloisonné ware of inferior quality, and he could not pick out a third one. So he simply took only two cloisonné utensils and handed them to the governor.

"Ah, oh, this kind of cloisonne treasures are the royal things of the Ming court, and the Ming people have a saying: a cloisonne, ten boxes of official kilns. It can be seen that the production of cloisonné is difficult. Moreover, the Ming people are different from our aesthetic concepts, and have never paid attention to symmetrical beauty. So—" Peternats racked his brains to find a reason to try to clear himself.

The Governor-General's mind did not seem to be on Peternat's justification, and he interrupted Nats's words and said, "Again, the conditions that the Emperor Ming asked you to bring to me. ”

"As long as this agreement can be reached," Natz immediately repeated: "As long as this agreement can be reached, the Governor will receive 30 cloisonné utensils per year, a duty-free trade quota of 100,000 guilders, and the right of first refusal. ”

The Governor leaned back, and finally looked away from the cloisonné appliance, and said subconsciously: "Isn't it not counting the profits from trade exchanges, and a bribe of 5,000 guilders a year?" It's a lot of money for an ordinary merchant, but isn't it cheaper to buy the Grand Governor of the East Indies? ”

Natz hesitated for a moment before whispering, "This tax exemption is given to His Excellency the Governor personally, and even if His Excellency leaves the position of Governor, this amount is still valid. ”

Quinton was silent, and when the Dutch East India Company was founded in 1602, the share capital was 6 million guilders, and each share was worth 3,000 guilders, a total of 2,000 shares.

In 1610, an Amsterdam merchant united 17 Dutch financiers to buy the Dutch East India Company, and then started raising funds again, and then raised 6.5 million dong in a month, from the rich to the maids.

For the first 10 years, the East India Company did not pay any dividends. It wasn't until half of the Spice Islands was occupied that the company's shares paid dividends of almost 25 percent of their annual par value.

As the Grand Governor of the East Indies, Kun's annual salary adds up to almost 3,200 guilders, which is the income of an ordinary person in the country for 21 years. As the Grand Governor of the East Indies, he also had the advantage of using the company's ships to carry goods for smuggling transactions, about 8,000 guilders a year.

The annual income of more than 10,000 dong is considered a very high annual income even in the Netherlands. But for Kun, who has a large family, there is actually not much savings every year.

After all, the East India Company had just gained a foothold in Southeast Asia, and he was transferred back to China. The company's operation of the Spice Islands is still in the stage of steady expansion, and has not yet entered a mature income period.

Rp 100,000 of Chinese goods, plus trade priority, is enough for him to pick the best Chinese goods. Whether it is silk, tea or porcelain, it is at least twice the profit to ship it back to Europe.

Even if he doesn't directly operate it himself and entrusts merchants to trade, he will have at least a profit of more than 50,000 dong per year.

Although Kun values his own honor, he wants to open up a new world of colonization for the company in Southeast Asia. But the company's shares he owns are only 50,000 dong, and according to the current rate of return on shares, it is only more than 10,000 dong per year.

After a moment of consideration, Kun chose to accept Natz's suggestion and decided to broker an agreement between Ming Guo and the company.

After Hendrik Brouwer and Peternac walked out of the room, Kun looked at Anthony van Diemen, who was standing silent, and said with a smile: "You seem to be very reluctant about my decision. ”

Van Diemen spread his hands and sighed, "Your Excellency, I have made my position clear to you yesterday. Since I arrived here 9 years ago, I have been dealing with the local Aboriginal and Chinese.

I have never seen a more industrious farmer or craftsman than the Chinese, nor have I ever seen a more cowardly people than the Chinese. I thought that with the right amount of force, I could force the Ming to negotiate better terms of trade.

I have heard that the Spaniards in Manila had a plan that with only 10,000 or 12,000 Spanish, Italian, or other soldiers, plus 5 or 6,000 Japanese soldiers and an equal number of Filipino soldiers, they could easily conquer the whole Ming kingdom.

Of course, the Spaniards, perhaps, exaggerated their own power. However, I think that as long as we gather 12-15 warships, we can completely reproduce what Zheng Yiguan's pirates did off the coast of Ming last year. ”

The Doge shook his head and said, "Now is not the time, before that, we must first deepen the contradictions between Spain and the Ming Kingdom. ”

"The contradiction between Spain and the Ming Kingdom?"

"Yes, according to Natz, the Ming Emperor did not want to establish trade relations not only with companies, but also with other merchants from various countries who came to Asia.

The only ones who could threaten the company's share of trade with the Ming were the Spaniards. The city of Manila, founded by the Spaniards, was closer to the Ming Kingdom, and the Spanish galleons could bring silver from the Americas to buy Chinese goods.

Had it not been for the loss of their enterprising spirit and their desire to find gold and silver mines in the colonies or to engage in a comfortable entrepot trade, the Spaniards would have taken a more active position in the archipelago.

It was the inaction of previous governors of Manila that allowed the company to gain the upper hand in the war in the Spice Islands. But the current governor of Manila seems to be a little restless, and actually sent people to set up a base in northern Taiwan.

The actions of the Spaniards in Taiwan have jeopardized the safety of the company's routes to Japan. If they are allowed to establish trade ties with the Ming Kingdom, then the company will have a strong competitor in Southeast Asia in the future.

Allowing the Spaniards to profit from trade with the Ming not only reduced the company's profits, but also jeopardized the war between the mainland and the Spanish Empire. After all, there is a great possibility that these profits will be used to finance the Spanish army attacking the United Provinces. ”

The Governor's words silenced Van Diemen, and after a while he said to the Governor with some reluctance: "Then what does His Excellency the Governor want to do now?" I will definitely follow your instructions. ”

Governor Kun stood up, walked to the window and looked at the sky outside, before continuing: "Look at the sky, it will rain again soon. Mr. Natz had been stupid in the past, but this time he gave me a brilliant idea.

On the pretext that the company's ships were attacked by pirates in northern Taiwan, we invited the troops of the Ming Kingdom to attack with us, and the Spaniards stationed in northern Taiwan..."