The Qiongzhou battalion expeditionary team triumphed and celebrated in the city. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 info People with a little insight know that from this moment on, the Qiongzhou battalion is no longer a local rich lord in a corner of the country, but a hegemon across the four seas, from Japan to the South Seas, the entire sea area of East Asia, is the world of the Qiongzhou battalion.

After returning to Lingao, Xia Nan summoned the high-level personnel of the Qiongzhou battalion to gather in the South Park Chamber. The war is over, but how to end the war and eliminate hidden dangers and how to reap the dividends brought by the war all need to be brainstormed and carefully scrutinized.

The first is the question of the end of the war. Putmans asked with a sad face: "Your Excellency, I have already written a letter according to your ideas, can you let me go back to the senior officer?" ”

Xia Nan replied: "There is no problem with this, I will be the talker, and after beating Zheng Zhilong, I will let you go back." But you have to give me a word: the East India Company must withdraw from Chinese waters and give up the strongholds of the Lords. You can keep the trade routes between Japan and Europe, but all the sources of goods must be in my hands, and the prices are also set by me. ”

Putmans' eyes widened in disbelief what he had heard: "Are you sure that Batavia would agree to such harsh conditions?" I admit that your fleet is powerful, but doing so will only force the company to start a new war! ”

"If you want to fight, I will accompany you at any time. But once the fight starts, not only will I take the city of Geranza, but I will also attack Batavia and drive the East India Company out of Asia completely. Xia Nan said without giving an inch, "What do you think of the big man compared to the center left?" Under our offensive, Zheng Yiguan couldn't hold out even for a day, not only was the fleet annihilated, but even the old nest was destroyed. And your fleet in the Far East can't even beat Zheng Yiguan......"

When Putmans heard this, he immediately became angry, the defeated generals were not brave enough, who let them lose at Liuluo Bay? He said a little unwillingly: "But the city of Gelanza is the strongest fortress in the Far East, and it is not comparable to Zheng Yiguan's small village......

Xia Nan was dismissive: "Not to mention that I have a way to smash the city of Reranza, even if I can't do it, won't I besiege the city?" What else do you have to do to resupply and get help from the local aborigines? How long will you be able to hold out after the siege? ”

Putmans was completely defeated and speechless. The city of Geranza only maintained a few hundred troops, and the rest were all the families of the officers, the elderly, the weak, women and children, once the city was besieged, no matter how long it could last, it would only end up running out of ammunition and food. Not to mention asking for help from the aborigines, who have a deep hatred for the Dutch, and will only take advantage of the fire to loot and hunt heads.

He was silent for a while, and then whispered: "But I can't guarantee that Batavia can accept such conditions, besides, although my position has not been officially relieved, but if I lose the naval battle, it is a matter of time before I resign or be dismissed, and I may not be qualified to pass on such news......"

"At least you are still the chief executive, even if you are fired, you are still the former governor, the affairs of the Far East, the successor will not know better than you, you can still speak." Xia Nan said, "As for whether the East India Company will accept such conditions and let your subordinates talk to you, maybe you will have a different opinion." ”

Van Bommel understood, and opened his mouth to persuade: "Sir, my new boss's fleet has a strength that you can't imagine, what you saw in the Battle of Liuluo Bay is only the tip of the iceberg, not to mention anything else, with a cannon that can fire 59-pound explosive bombs, all the fleets of the East India Company are no opponents." Abandoning the Far East is a wise choice. ”

Putmans jaw-dropping, cannon? 59-pound explosive bomb? This completely turned his perception on its head. But Van Bommel is a good soldier, he certainly doesn't lie, and all this is certainly true. Suddenly, he could understand why all of Zheng Zhilong's forces had been eradicated in one day.

He thought for a long time, and said helplessly: "Okay, I don't seem to have a better choice, I will do what you say, but everything is left to Batavia to decide." ”

Xia Nan nodded: "Very good, you go to rest first, and tomorrow I will arrange a boat to send you back to Dayuan." I'll give you a month, and you must give me an answer, otherwise I'll start a war, first the big men, and then Batavia. ”

After sending Putmans away, Xia Nan smiled and said to everyone, "It's time to talk about how we enjoy the dividends of the war." How should we control such a large ocean? ”

Sima De took the lead in speaking: "I heard that before the war, Zheng Zhilong had begun to distribute the Zheng family's flag to merchant ships, and the big ship paid 3,000 taels of silver every year, and the small boat paid 2,000 taels of silver, and those who did not plant the Zheng family's flag were not allowed to go to sea. There are thousands of merchant ships coming and going from the sea in Fujian, and in this way, hundreds of thousands of taels or even millions of taels of flags are sold every year. Why don't we follow suit? ”

Everyone was amazed, this should really be lying down to make money, and the money inevitably came too easily.

Xia Nan didn't think so, in his eyes, this method was a bit primitive, and the development and utilization of this gold mine was not thorough enough. "I have an idea, you can help me go through the details and fill in the gaps."

He pondered for a while, and said slowly: "The Zheng family has fallen, it is not impossible for us to sell flags instead of the Zheng family, but the way of collecting money can be changed, not according to the size of the ship, but to designate a place, all merchant ships must enter the port to inspect the goods, assess the value of the goods, and then pay taxes proportionally, my idea is that it is initially set at ten taxes and one." ”

This idea was put forward as early as when he first visited the governor of Guangdong, Mu Tianyan, but it was different from today, the Qiongzhou battalion did not have the strength it has today, and the situation at sea was not clear, so it was rejected by Mu Tianyan. Now it is different, even without the support of the government, the Qiongzhou battalion can do it on its own - Zheng Zhilong forced the merchants to give up the only legal port recognized by the imperial court, Yuegang, and instead traded in Zhongzuo Port, without the background of the government at all. Since he can do it, the Qiongzhou battalion can do it even more.

Sun Yuanhua said cautiously: "Isn't this too radical? The tax on land merchants in this dynasty is only thirty taxes and one, and it is probably inappropriate to collect such a heavy tax on maritime merchants......"

Xia Nan smiled: "Mr. Sun, regardless of the pros and cons of this dynasty's commercial tax for the time being, you forgot one thing, this dynasty is forbidden to the sea." Except for the opening of the Moon Port during the Longqing period, theoretically, the maritime merchants who went to sea in other ports were illegal, regarded as smuggling, and were not protected by the government and the law. Even ships going to sea from Yuegang were normally not allowed to go to Japan, and if they went without permission, they would be punished for the crime of "colluding with the Japanese" -- in fact, ninety percent of Fujian's maritime merchants went to Japan, and the government knew that it was powerless to stop it. Now that Yuegang has been deposed under Zheng Zhilong's repeated attacks, and the only legal port is gone, what is wrong with me collecting taxes and fees from smuggling profiteers with my ability? ”