Tohoban. The city of Geranza.

“…… That's more or less the case. Berthman glanced at the stern-looking councillors, and added in a dry voice, "By the way, the official surnamed Huang also emphasized that if someone attacks merchant ships in the waters around Ming Kingdom in the future, they will immediately send a fleet to encircle and suppress them, even at the cost of declaring war." ”

Then a voice shouted angrily, "According to the trade method set by the Ming Kingdom, the profits of the East India Company will be reduced by at least half!" This is absolutely unacceptable! ”

"Mr. Wellsland is right," echoed Groot, the senior commercial representative of the East India Company, "and we must maintain the maritime position of the Far East by strong means!" ”

He stood up and said to Bess passionately: "General, since the Easterners want to declare war, then we will let them know the horror of war!"

"I will ask the company for a special war budget. You're going to be able to teach these yellow-skinned guys a good lesson, right? ”

The commander-in-chief of the fleet did not answer immediately, but looked at his first mate, "Cesario, you have personally been to the capital of the Ming Kingdom, and you have also collected a lot of information about their fleet, tell me your opinion. ”

"This ......" Although Cesareo was a staunch "hardliner", the trip to Nanjing hit his confidence hard, and after thinking about it for a while, he finally spoke, "Compared with the warships of the Ming fleet, they have advantages in quantity and quality, but the advantages are not ......."

As soon as his words fell, he immediately aroused an exclamation of surprise all around.

In the past, the Dayuan fleet always pressed the Daming Naval Division in combat effectiveness, but later Zheng Zhilong gathered more than ten times the number of warships and paid heavy casualties before defeating them with difficulty in Liuluo Bay. Therefore, the Helan people always have a pride in their subconscious, feeling that the naval combat ability of the Oriental people is very average, and they can barely deal with Helan by relying on the "boat sea" tactics.

However, at this time, Cesario told them that the ships of the Great Ming Naval Division had surpassed Helan in quality!

Although 10,000 of the councillors in the audience did not want to believe it, they knew very well that Cesario was a very experienced officer, and he rarely bowed his head to people, and even he looked up to the Great Master of the Marine, then there should be no doubt about it.

Cesario quickly regained his hard-liner nature, and quickly repeated the number of ships and the cannons equipped by the Ming fleet, and continued: "You see, their advantage is not too big. If we consider that our sailors are more experienced, even if we start the war now, we still have a chance to win! ”

Bess shook his head slightly, and said to the Supreme Administrator, "Mr. Ovat, I don't think it is appropriate for us to go to war with the Orientals until we have reinforcements from Batavia. ”

Owatt's eyes were fixed on the notepad in front of him, and his brow furrowed. He knew that even if he could defeat the Ming Kingdom, as long as the Great Fleet suffered too much loss, the Spaniards would immediately return to Dongfan in high spirits to avenge Helan's attack on Jilong Mountain.

He thought for a long time, then looked up at the House of Representatives, and said in a low voice, "Everyone knows very well the importance of Far East trade to the East India Company and Helan.

"Although the Ezebayou have signed a peace agreement with us, they are still not dead set on the Netherlands, and may raise troops again at any time. The Consul Frederick was recovering the area of the Erde River, and the military expenditure was enormous. In addition, the French and the British have been eyeing each other, expanding their navy, waiting for our weak opportunity.

"That is, if the huge profits of the Far East are lost, our army and navy will soon be in a dangerous situation due to insufficient military spending."

Groot was quick to add, "Surely the many shareholders of the East India Company are not willing to accept such an outcome." ”

"But we can't take any chances." "Manila is waiting for us to make mistakes. He turned to Bess, "General, if I can convince Batavia to reinforce our three warships of about twenty guns, are you sure that you can defeat the Ming fleet?" ”

"At least four, which must include the Dordrecht, as well as many more small auxiliary warships." Bess had already calculated many times in his mind, "You also heard Cesario say just now, there is a fifty-gun battleship in the shipyard of the Orientals, and we must not take it lightly, only the Dordrechet can deal with it. ”

Owat rubbed his forehead, the Dordrecht was the flagship of the Batavia fleet and the only fifty-gun warship in Asia, which needed to be used to deter opponents in India, Manila, Goa, Dammam and many other Western colonies.

He was not entirely sure that he would convince the Governor of Batavia, but in the current situation, he had to fight for it with all his might.

So he nodded to Bass and said, "I see." However, even if we go to Batavia now to ask for reinforcements, and then arrive at the commander when the reinforced warships are ready, it will take nearly two months, or even three months, which is not slow. ”

He looked at the councillors again, "Before we prepare for a decisive battle, I'm afraid we will have to compromise with the Ming Kingdom for the time being." ”

Groot exclaimed: "You want to accept the conditions of the Orientals?!" ”

"Yes." "Accept it for now." It's only three months, and it won't affect us much.

"The ports on the Japanese side are only open to us and the Ming Kingdom, we have more merchant ships than the Ming Kingdom, and they haven't traded with the Japanese for a long time, so most of the business is still ours.

"As for the Ming Kingdom and Luzon, India, Siam and other places, they originally had little to do with us. And the trade from the Far East to Europe, even if there is fair commercial competition, no one is our opponent for the time being.

"So even if we let go of the Far East in a short period of time, the losses should not be more than acceptable. As long as the reinforcements from Batavia arrive, the Far East will be back under our control. ”

After listening to him, most of the members of the council who were present felt that this was being done as a way of insurance, and after a while of discussion with each other, they voted to approve Ovat's plan.

"Your Excellency," Groot, not wanting the company to lose profits for too long, urged Ovat, "please send someone to Batavia as soon as possible to ask for help, and get the battleship to come early." ”

"I'll go myself." Owat knew that it would not be easy to come to the Dodrecht, and then remembered what the Governor of Batavia had entrusted him with, so he looked at his assistant Hemer, "Hemmer shows how the matter of Priest John is resolved?" ”

"This," the latter said with a bitter face, "they were sentenced to death by Ming Guo for espionage. He didn't wait for the supreme administrator to reprimand, and hurriedly continued, "But after my private mediation, the Ming official said that he could replace him with ransom. ”

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