Hearing William's answer, Quint felt that it was a waste of time to negotiate with the arrogant Englishman, and he decided to abandon this unpleasant conversation. Pen | fun | pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ

"Maybe I can get the answer I want from your boss, so let's end this meeting. Perhaps you will need to stay in Batavia for a few days and wait for the company's council to decide whether or not to agree to give up the membership. ”

William nodded: "I'm willing to wait a few days for this." But I want you to make a decision as soon as possible, because the time we give you to consider is not that we need your consent, but that we do not want to expend too many resources to wage a war that is of little significance, even if it is guaranteed to be won. The few hundred soldiers of the city of Geranza may not last more than three days under our attack, and I hope that His Excellency the Governor will recognize this reality! ”

Kun waved his hand depressedly: "Thank you for letting me see the conceit and arrogance of the British, now you can go." ”

When William reached the door, he turned around and made up for it: "By the way, I personally think that the Dutch East India Company is too merchant-like and inefficient in decision-making, and is far inferior to the military-political and economic British East India Company, which is more like a country than a humble company subservient to shareholders." ”

Quinn was about to vomit blood, and if he had a gun in his hand, maybe he would shoot the hateful British.

"The Dutch East India Company is the richest company in Europe, and before you denigrate it, understand the greatness of this company: it has 150 merchant ships, 40 warships, 50,000 employees and 10,000 soldiers, and the return on investment is 40%, which is not comparable to the British East India Company like an old bureaucracy!"

William smiled, and instead of continuing to argue with Kun about which of the two East India Companies was greater, he turned around and went out.

Watching William's back disappear into the doorway, Kun snorted, and then called his personal attendant.

"Go and inform all the council members of the company that tomorrow I will request a meeting of the council members to submit an important proposal for discussion."

Although Kun did not like to see William, as a qualified governor, he still truthfully reported all the situation to the company's council. After two days of suffocatingly intense debate, the members of the Council finally reached their decision.

The East India Company decided to renounce the occupation of the Grand Staff, but the transfer of the city of Geranza must be compensated sufficiently to cover the huge financial and labor costs invested by the company; Retain the Japanese market and at the same time obtain exclusive trade rights, becoming the only country to obtain Ming goods and sell them to the European mainland. In view of the unfriendly attitude of the commander of the Ming fleet, the company decided to send someone to Lingao to communicate and negotiate with the real decision-maker Xia, and the negotiator was the former chief executive, Putmans.

After completing his mission, William led the fleet back to the sea. Not long after, Putmans, who had changed his identity, also embarked on a trip to Lingao. At the same time, the emissaries from Manila also set off.

Two weeks later, the Qiongzhou Battalion fleet and envoys from Batavia and Manila arrived at Bofu Harbor. The long-awaited summer south quickly received the Dutch and the Spaniards, and considering that the two countries were not dealing with each other, he did not arrange for the people on both sides to meet directly, but negotiated with the Spaniards first and then with the Dutch.

The envoy of Manila was Mayor Isabella, and after introducing himself, he took out the draft agreement and read it to Xia Nan one by one.

“…… Manila was willing to abandon the strongholds of the chicken coops and fresh water and withdraw all the soldiers...... Porcelain, tea and silk worth at least 300,000 pesos are supplied to Manila every year...... At the same time, we will assist Spain in re-entering the Japanese market......"

After listening to these terms with great patience, Xia Nan replied unceremoniously: "Mr. Isabella, first of all, please understand that I do not mean to ask you to quit the ranks, nor do I intend to give you any compensation for this. Secondly, because of the rejection of Catholicism, the Japanese shogunate restricted your business activities, which has nothing to do with me, and I am not obligated to assist you in returning to Japan. Finally, with regard to the supply of goods, I can only guarantee that you will be allowed to purchase goods from Lingao and ship them back to Europe for sale, provided that you pay taxes as required by me, and that you will not trade privately in any port of Ming Kingdom. ”

Isabella said excitedly: "Such conditions are too harsh, I cannot guarantee that the governor will agree to ......"

"If you can talk about it, you can talk about it, and if you can't talk about it, you will fight." Xia Nan replied coldly, "If you don't agree, not only will you lose the qualification to conduct commercial trade in the territory of the Ming Kingdom, but you will also have to bear the losses of the war - we will send troops to expel the Spanish soldiers in Tamsui and chicken coops." ”

After sending Isabella away, Xia Nan summoned the Batavia's emissary.

For the old acquaintance of Putmans, Xia Nan's mood relaxed a little, and quipped: "Mr. Putmans, how does it feel to change your identity and come to high again?" ”

Putmans smiled wryly, "I feel a lot of pressure, the Council has given me a task that seems impossible...... and he succinctly explained the Council's decision, including the terms of compensation and monopoly of trade in Geranza.

Xia Nan said with a smile: "A businessman is a businessman after all, he has a good abacus, and he refuses to suffer at all." ”

Putmans spread his hands helplessly: "As the former administrator of the senior office, I am also very resistant to handing over the city of Geranza, after all, a lot of our efforts have been condensed here. But I also know that there is a saying in the Ming Kingdom that 'the winner should not be blamed in any way, and the loser must swallow all the bitter fruits', and in this battle, we are the losing side, and we can only choose to accept ......"

Xia Nan nodded: "This is called 'becoming a king and losing a king', your understanding of Chinese idioms is very accurate!" ”

Putmans continues: "As for the monopoly of trade, it is indeed unconscionable that we should have demanded it from the perspective of the victor when we waged the war, and now it is brought again as the loser......"

Xia Nan said with a smile: "Shibei should be impressed for three days, you didn't have this attitude when you were captured, but now you have come back in a circle, but you have become an understanding person." It's a pity that the lords of the council in Batavia don't understand this. ”

Putmans also smiled: "I haven't finished my words yet, these conditions are not negotiable, and the council has given me a little room and room to back down......"

Xia Nan was a little surprised: "You showed your hole cards so quickly, aren't you afraid that I will sit on the ground and start the price?" ”