After standing silently for a while, Waldes finally woke up to the fact that the young man in front of him may be very powerful in China, but no matter how powerful he is, he may not be able to make such an easy decision on the distribution of millions of guilders every year.

Feeling that what he was facing might be just an unreal promise, Valdes could finally hold back his heartbeat and say to Chongzhen, "Honorable lord, are you joking with me?" Millions of pesos a year, how can you distribute it so easily..."

Zhu Youzhen interrupted him unceremoniously, "When it comes to money, I never joke. Also, you are not the only channel of communication between me and the Governor of Manila. Before you arrived, your subordinate Garcia was on his way to Manila. ”

Chongzhen's answer surprised Waldes, and he suddenly asked a little dazed, "Since you already have Garcia, why do you still want to find me?" ”

Zhu Youzhen smiled and said: "There will always be accidents in this world, so I like to be insured when I do everything, and Garcia's status is too low." But at the end of the day, it's the Governor of Manila who decides the whole thing, not the one who delivers the message, doesn't it?

Also, you or Garcia, it's just a random choice for me. But for you, it may be your only chance to become a millionaire.

Of course, whether you are willing to accept my offer or not is entirely up to you. If you don't want to, you can just turn around and leave, and someone outside will send you back.

But if I were you, I would definitely think about whether you would regret not taking this opportunity when you returned to your hometown empty-handed. ”

Valdes thought for a long time before cautiously asking, "If you don't mind, can you tell me how you plan to distribute the remaining nine spices?" ”

"After working so hard, I naturally want to leave a copy for myself. The Dutch have gone too far, but as long as they are willing to listen to persuasion and relinquish monopoly on the Spice Islands, I will leave them two.

As the main promoter of this matter, I Daming naturally have to take two shares. The Portuguese in Macao have already agreed that they will follow the Ming Dynasty in this matter, so they can naturally get a share.

If the governor of Manila could support the Ming in this matter on behalf of the Kingdom of Spain, then Manila would naturally be able to get a public income.

And the last two parts that remain should naturally belong to the indigenous people of the Spice Islands after independence. ”

Valdes, who had been listening intently to Chongzhen's words, couldn't help but blurt out after hearing the last paragraph: "You don't have to leave anything for those natives, money doesn't mean anything to them. Giving them too much money will only make them more depraved. ”

Zhu Youzhen looked at his eyes quietly, and it was not until Valdes knew that he had lost his words and lowered his head to avoid his gaze, and then Zhu Youzhen said with a slight mockery: "Mr. Valdes, the Spice Islands are still in the hands of the Dutch, and we don't have even half of the spices in our hands."

Now we are settling accounts with the Dutch in the name of justice for the natives, and if nothing is done to the natives of the island, then why should the natives help us against the Dutch?

I just wanted to make a fortune in the Spice Islands, and I didn't want to be there in a long war of conquest against the Dutch and the natives. ”

Valdes' face was a little red, but he quickly returned to normal, and he thought carefully about Chongzhen's proposal, and realized that there was a great chance that this thing would succeed, and Manila would not invest much.

What's more, if the Portuguese in Macao had already participated in this matter, then in terms of naval warfare, the Ming Dynasty would already have the ability to cross the coastal sea. Whether Manila joins the Daming side will not change the outcome of the war, but will only make it easier for the Chinese to win.

With a small investment and huge benefits from the spice trade, it only took a moment for Valdes to make a decision. No matter how much the King of Spain could get after this war, as long as he could get his share of the benefits.

Valdes took a deep breath before meeting Chongzhen's gaze and said through gritted teeth, "I want half of the proceeds of the spices, and the other half for the governor of Manila and other personnel." If you can grant me this small request, I can assure you that I will convince the entire Governorate of Manila to take the side you wish. ”

Hearing Valdes' answer, Zhu Youzhen was very happy, and he said with a smile: "Of course there is no problem, as long as you can convince the Manila Governorate to cooperate with Daming." I can assure you that when it succeeds, you will have half of the proceeds of the spices. As for how the other half of the proceeds will be distributed, you can also arrange it. ”

Hearing Chongzhen's answer, Valdes' heartbeat suddenly accelerated a little uncontrollably, but he still calmly asked a question, "So how are you going to tell Garcia about this?" ”

Zhu Youzhen shook his head invisibly, and said nonchalantly: "There is no need for this, Garcia still doesn't know about the plan for the Spice Islands." He just represents the goodwill released by the Ming Dynasty, and hopes that Manila will not misunderstand that the Ming Dynasty has recovered the territory of Taiwan, not to start a war with the Spaniards. ”

After thinking for a moment, Valdes said again: "Then can you allow me to write a letter for someone to bring back to Manila, as Garcia, I am afraid it is not enough to win the trust of His Excellency the Governor." I am very willing to clear up this misunderstanding for your country as soon as possible, so as not to delay the cooperation between the two sides. ”

Zhu Youzhen nodded and said: "Of course there is no problem, after you go back, someone will naturally arrange the affairs you need for you." However, the cooperation between the two sides may not be so fast, and I hope you should be mentally prepared as well. ”

Valdes, who had just been aroused by Chongzhen's greed, suddenly asked in amazement, "My lord, isn't the matter of seizing the Spice Islands as soon as possible?" If the Dutch were to be aware of it, it would have caused us a lot of unnecessary obstacles. ”

Zhu Youzhen looked at him and said very sincerely: "With the Dutch on the other side of the ocean, even if he prepares for another ten years, he will not be my Ming opponent."

The key to accomplishing this plan is not how prepared the Dutch are, but how much trust there is between Manila and the Ming. As long as there is a basic relationship of trust between Manila and the Ming Dynasty, then no matter how much the Dutch toss, it will only be in vain. ”

The enthusiasm that Valdes had just mentioned suddenly cooled down a little, and he had to say, "What is the relationship of trust that adults want?" ”

Zhu Youzhen lowered his head and thought for a moment before he spoke: "If you want to transport an army across the sea and land on the Spice Islands, you must have a real fleet.

My Ming fleet has no experience in fighting across the seas, but I have heard that you Spaniards have a wealth of experience at sea, and are better than the Portuguese.

So I hope that Manila will send people to train our officers of the Ming Dynasty and let us understand the characteristics of cross-sea operations and naval warfare. Of course, we also hope that Manila will send shipwrights to build a few Manila-style ships as warships..."

Chongzhen's conditions made Valdes sweat again, and when Chongzhen finally finished speaking, Waldes said with a wry smile: "My lord, these requests you have made are beyond the bottom line that His Excellency the Governor of Manila can accept. I think it would be difficult for His Excellency the Governor to accept such conditions. ”

Zhu You raised his eyebrows and said, "Why?" ”

After talking to Chongzhen for so long, and the promise of great benefits from him, Valdes felt that he had some close relationship with the young nobleman.

Therefore, he thought about it for a while, and then said bluntly: "My lord, I can tell you the truth. For a country of China's size, if it learns the conditions you have proposed, it will be able to build a powerful navy.

When this navy is established, whether it is the Dutch or the Spaniards, I am afraid it will be difficult to maintain the current interests in Southeast Asia.

His Excellency Silva is a very learned nobleman, and I am sure that he will not fail to realize the dangerous environment that Manila will face in the future after agreeing to his terms. ”

Zhu Youzhen stretched out his hand and scratched his head before he spoke: "Listening to your introduction before, that Mr. Silva seems to have been the governor of Manila for a long time. How long does his term last, according to the rules of your country? If he leaves office, where will he go? ”

Wadeston was stunned, and His Excellency Fernando de Silva had been governor for less than two years. As usual, he should not be reappointed as governor of Manila, or stay on his estate in Luzon, or return home to seek a position.

But if you want to get a good job in Spain today, you need a lot of money to open the way. The great aristocrats who were in charge of the government in China had always regarded the officials who had completed their term of service in the colonies as mountains of gold. If you can't satisfy the ** of the great nobles, then Lord Silva will soon become an idler with nothing to do.

Looking at Valdes, who was still in a daze, Zhu Youzhen continued: "Whether I can build a strong navy and whether the Kingdom of Spain can retain the interests of the Philippine colony, what does it have to do with you and me.

Even if such a thing really happened, the loss of a mere Philippine Islands would be nothing to the Kingdom of Spain. Anyway, who knows when this will happen, but I can guarantee that no matter what happens, the spice income will still be stable. ”