Listening to Putmans's words, Kun's face became ugly. Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ

In order to open up the commercial market in the Far East, in 1622, the Dutch East India Company occupied Penghu and used it as an entrepot for East Asian trade. The following year, the Ming government waged an eight-month war with the Red Hairs in Penghu to expel them. In the end, the Dutch were defeated, and they reached an agreement with the Ming dynasty to destroy the fortress and fort set up in Penghu, and in 1624 they were transferred to Dayuan, in exchange for which the Ming dynasty acquiesced in the de facto occupation of Dayuan by the Dutch. As the ruler and the main hub of foreign trade, the castle was a large castle that was not completed until 1632, after eight years. The East India Company spent a huge amount of money and energy for the sake of the big man and the Geranza, and now, a general of the Ming Kingdom actually wanted the East India Company to completely withdraw from the big man with a simple sentence, and gave up the city of Geranza.

Kun asked slowly: "I want to know, does this Ming general have enough confidence to put forward such an unbelievable condition?" Was his defeat of Zheng Yiguan luck or strength, and did he have the ability to rule the Far Eastern Seas for a long time? Your comments will be an important reference for me and the Council to make decisions. "The East India Company was still a joint-stock company after all, and any decision made was based on an assessment of inputs and returns, and everything was about money, and they were fundamentally different from the colonial government in Manila, and they would not fight unnecessarily for the sake of face, nor would they give up their interests easily because of a little pressure.

Putmans knew what the governor meant: if Xia Nan replaced Zheng Yiguan only because of luck and did not have the strength to dominate the Far East for a long time, then the East India Company would continue to invest troops to wage new wars; On the other hand, if Xia Nan's strength was indeed strong to a certain extent, the East India Company would abandon the war and choose to cooperate to maintain the trade routes in the Far East. War is only a means, and commercial profit is the eternal goal of the company.

He replied cautiously: "Judging from my personal experience, before Xia appeared, the company's Far East Fleet could not completely eliminate Zheng Yiguan, he had countless junk ships, tens of thousands of warriors used for hand-to-hand combat, and could send one or two hundred arson ships anytime and anywhere, even if we could defeat him in a local conflict, but we could not shake his fundamentals, and the consequences of long-term attrition could only end in our defeat." But it took Xia less than 24 hours to eliminate Zheng Yiguan, he had a fast, agile and powerful fleet, completely abandoned the eastern-style crowd tactics, and fought more aggressively than we did, and he also had a powerful army with a distinctive way of firing their muskets that were faster and more powerful than the arquebuses in the hands of our soldiers. In particular, their fleet also has a terrible weapon, capable of firing a 59-pound explosive bomb with a cannon, which can destroy a capital battleship in an instant, I think, our fleet cannot withstand such artillery, which is simply hellfire that only Satan can have......"

Kun was shocked by Putmans's words, the powerful fleet and the brave and warlike army were exciting enough, and there was actually a cannon that could fire heavy explosive shells? Shocked, he retorted, "Are you sure what you say is true and not apocryphal?" ”

Putmans sighed: "I also hope this is all fiction, but a few days ago, I saw them attack Manila with this kind of artillery, easily destroyed the shore defense guns, and sent explosive bombs into the castle, so that the stubborn Iberians obediently went out of the city to negotiate......"

Kun's face was grim, and it seemed that the situation forced him to make a difficult decision.

"I will tell the members of the Council everything you say. For the sake of our shareholders, we must make the right choices...... Let the fleet from the islands of the Far East enter the harbor before the Council makes a final decision, and I need to speak with their fleet commander......"

William did not wait long in the open sea, when he was told by Putmans, who had returned again, that he could enter the harbor and negotiate face-to-face with the governor.

After the fleet anchored, William followed Putmans to the Doge's Palace, where he handed over command of the fleet before leaving.

"Although I am sure that unforeseen things will not happen in Batavia, for the sake of safety, the command of the fleet is temporarily handed over to Murong, and in case of an accident, it is up to Murong to decide whether to attack Batavia or lead the fleet back."

In the Governor's Palace, Kun met the commander of the fleet, who claimed to be more powerful than the East India Company's Far East Fleet, younger than expected, and more importantly, he was a serious white man, not a yellow-skinned Ming man.

Kun looked him up and down, "Judging by your hair and eye color, it's clear that you're not Dutch or Flemish, and you don't look like a Germanic ......."

William puffed out his chest proudly: "I am a noble Anglo-Saxon, from the Kingdom of Great Britain, Your Excellency. ”

"British?" Kun asked suspiciously, "Why would you give a job to a Ming man from the Far East, and the British Royal Navy can't provide you with a decent position?" ”

William replied earnestly: "I used to be a member of the Royal Navy, but according to my seniority, it may take ten years or more to become the captain of a frigate, and I don't even think about the position of captain of a battleship - I have neither noble blood nor a prestigious title. And in the Ming Kingdom, I am now the commander of perhaps the most powerful fleet in the world, and it is clear that this choice is not difficult to make. ”

Quinn was speechless, and it was almost impossible to get an arrogant Englishman to admit that there was a fleet more powerful than the Royal Navy in the world - although Quint thought that the Royal Navy, which had defeated the Spanish Armada, was not enough to be called the first navy in Europe, most of the British themselves thought so.

He thought for a moment and changed the subject: "I will submit your proposal to the Council of Companies for debate, but I want to know first, what form of compensation will we receive if we withdraw the senior officers and abandon the city of Geranza?" Is it to pay the lille directly or to replace it with goods? ”

William replied proudly, "We have already defeated your fleet long before we launched the war with Zheng Yiguan, otherwise your senior commander would not have become our prisoner." As the losers of the war, you have no right to demand more. The meaning of our generals is clear: you must be like the Spaniards, completely abandon the Great Army, withdraw from the Far East, and trade as we demand. Other than that, I don't think the generals will give you any kind of compensation, and the victors don't need to bow to the vanquished. ”