Lu Jiude stretched out his hand and pushed aside Zheng Zhihu and Lian Shanxiang who were blocking in front of him, and said, "Okay, put away your weapons." I don't have to let these Dutch people laugh at me, and I don't have the courage to do it. ”

Lu Jiude walked in front of Bill, who was slightly bent, and the two looked at each other for a while before Lu Jiude spoke: "I, Daming, have always been faithful to etiquette, as long as you Dutchmen come to China to do business, then Daming will not deny you the opportunity to trade." But if you come with a desire other than normal trade, then you will know what the wrath of the Ming is. ”

Bill was unconcerned about Lu Jiude's threat, and although the Dutch were repeatedly defeated by the Ming army, the staff of the Dutch East India Company were scornful of the dilapidated ships and outdated naval warfare techniques of the Ming naval divisions.

For these Dutch, as long as it does not threaten their sea routes, then such a threat is ridiculous and naïve.

However, the meaning of allowing trade in Lu Jiude's words greatly stimulated Bill. In Peternat's absence, if he could complete the Sino-Dutch trade that even the former governor of Batavia, Wei Malang, could not do, this credit was enough for him to immediately surpass Peternac and become a real Taiwanese governor of the Dutch East India Company.

"My lord, do you mean to agree to trade with our Dutch East India Company?" Bill asked cautiously and excitedly.

"Yes, but before that you do, you need to put a break in the construction of this castle. Building such a castle on the land of the Ming Dynasty means that you are just ordinary merchants who come to trade? Lu Jiude pointed to the city of Geranza, which had begun to take shape.

Bill just thought for a moment and said, "This castle was built only to protect against pirates and savages on the island. However, if His Majesty the Emperor of China really allows trade with our Dutch East India Company, I may ask the Governor of Batavia to halt the construction of this castle. Until then, as a matter of personal goodwill, I will order a halt to the construction of the castle. ”

Most of the materials for the construction of the city came from Batavia, and even if Lu Jiud did not mention it, Batavia did not have any spare ships to transport the materials for the construction of the castle during the trade monsoon season, so Peternac had ordered the construction of the castle to be temporarily halted before leaving.

So Bill's promise was nothing more than a lie, but his deferential behavior won Lu Jiude's favor.

Unaware of the fact that the city had been halted due to lack of supplies, Lu Jiude thought that his words had convinced the Dutchman, and after a beating, he decided to give the Dutchman some benefits.

"I am rich in the world, and I don't lack anything, so I don't need to interact with you outsiders. However, my emperor is grateful to you for the difficulty of crossing the ocean, and I don't want you to return empty-handed and lose all your money. Therefore, our emperor has a graceful edict, as long as you Dutch abide by the law of my Ming Dynasty and do not commit adultery to the people of the Ming Dynasty, then our emperor is willing to give you a chance to obtain the right to trade with the Ming Dynasty. Lu Jiude carefully revealed some of the words that Chongzhen had given him.

Listening to Lu Jiude's words, Bill seemed to have seen a bright future for him personally. He couldn't wait to ask, "Then this nobleman, what should we do to gain the power to trade with the Ming Dynasty?" Where will Daming open up a market and trade with us? There are restrictions on the scale of this trade..."

At this time, it was afternoon, the sun was scorching, and Lu Jiude was already sweating. He looked at this eyeless fan with dissatisfaction, and couldn't help but interrupt: "We have to discuss these issues, it takes a lot of time, do you plan to stand here and discuss a result with me?" ”

Bilder suddenly came to his senses, he patted his forehead and exclaimed, "I'm really sorry, I was so nervous that I let you stand and talk to me under the hot sun." Please come with me, although we have not brought anything from Holland, but there is something that you do not have. ”

Bill turned around and pulled a few words from the officer beside him, and then walked towards the city of Geranza with Lu Jiude and the others.

The city is divided into two parts, the inner fort and the outer fort, and its location is on a sandbar surrounded by water on the south side of Dayuan Harbor. When the tide recedes, there is a sand bank that connects to the land of Dayuan Port.

The inner fort of the city of Geranza was more than half completed, and it was more than enough to inhabit and defend against the attacks of the wildlings. The outer fort has only laid the foundations of a few city walls, and it is still far from being completed.

Judging from the size and layout of the city, it seems that the Dutch did not use it as a temporary foothold, but as a bridgehead for trade with China.

To the southwest of the castle are the most well-built, three-storey fortified stone buildings with integrated living and defense. After Bill brought Lu Jiude and others here, he ordered his deputy Pete to receive the entourage brought by Zheng Zhihu in the hall on the first floor, and he personally took Lu Jiude, Lian Shanxiang, Zheng Cai, and Zheng Zhihu to the fortress command post on the second floor, which was his own reception room.

This room is not small, large enough to accommodate more than 30 people. In the middle of the rectangular room, there is a thick solid wood table, and against the south exterior wall are five cross-shaped windows side by side, in order to ensure that the defensive windows are very small, which also leads to the reception room is not very well lit, even in broad daylight, there are three rows of candles on the long table.

After Bill and the others were seated, he clapped his hands. Soon an officer with two soldiers walked in carrying a small oak barrel.

Bill opened the barrel with his own hands, and a rich aroma suddenly wafted out. Then the officer just now took out a wooden spoon and a few wooden cups.

After Bill poured the wooden cup, he personally sent it to Lu Jiude and said, "Please taste it, noble, this is a red wine from the monastery of Burgundy in France, Europe, and I have worked hard to get a barrel." I can assure you that this is also the only barrel in the entire East Asian region. ”

The tempting crimson color and intoxicating aroma of wine made even Lu Jiude, who was not very good at wine, speak with relish. On the other side of the table, after listening to Bill's introduction, Zheng Zhihu, who was a good winemaker, couldn't wait to pick up the wooden cup in front of him and take a big sip.

"Isn't there anything special about it except that it's not sour than other wines? It's not as good as my home-brewed rice wine. Zheng Zhihu said with some loss.

Regarding Zheng Zhihu's remarks, Bill could only roll his eyes. This barrel of wine from the famous abbey of Burgundy, France, although not among the best grades of the abbey, is already ten times the price of ordinary wine in Europe.

Bill went to great lengths to get a certain captain to bring such a barrel of wine, mainly to slap Peternat's ass. Now that Peternats is in a conflict with the Japanese, Bill, who knows how important Japan is to the Dutch trade in Asia, thinks that Peternats will not be in the mood to drink the rare wine he has brought.

So when Lu Jiude revealed his intention to license Sino-Dutch trade, Bill immediately contributed the barrel of treasure.