Putmans shrugged: "There's no need to talk to smart people, as long as the company has a stable supply of goods, I think we can cooperate to a certain extent, after all, Spain is our common enemy." Pen %Fun %Pavilion www.biquge.info"

"A common enemy?" Xia Nan didn't understand a little, "I do have a theoretical conflict with Spain, and you are just a competitive relationship, and each has its own colonies, so it should be that the well water does not interfere with the river water, right?" ”

Putmans gave him a science lesson: "Our country, whose full name is the United Republic of the Seven Provinces of the Netherlands, was ruled by Spain in the last century, and it was only in 1581 that a union was formed to declare independence and abolish the Spanish king's rule over the Dutch provinces. Although it became a de facto state, the King of Spain did not admit that our war with Spain was not limited to the Far East, but also to Europe itself, and that de jure we were not a real country. ”

Xia Nan realized that at this time, the Dutch were still messing around separating from Spain, and they were not theoretically independent, so it was no wonder that the two sides were so incompatible.

Speaking of which, a new idea popped into his head.

"It's not impossible to work with you. I have a proposal: that you send troops to expel the Spaniards from the chicken coop and fresh water—and if necessary I can provide support by sea—destroy these two strongholds, and then hand over the city of Geranza, and I may consider giving you fifty thousand lirs for labour. In addition, you are free to enter and leave the port of Bofu to trade, and at the same time I will refuse the Spaniards to enter any port of the Ming Kingdom for private trade, what do you think? ”

Xia Nan's idea was very simple: the soldiers of the Qiongzhou battalion landed in Taiwan to fight, and aside from the problem of attrition, it was also a small problem to adapt to the water and soil. Hainan has a long summer and no winter, the temperature is high in all seasons, and the climate is dry, while Taipei, where the chicken coop is located, belongs to the subtropical monsoon climate, the climate is hot and humid, and the army soldiers who are accustomed to the tropical climate will definitely have non-combat attrition in the past. It is better to take advantage of the contradiction between the Dutch and the Spaniards and let them eat dogs, which not only achieves the goal of expelling the Spaniards, but also saves the army from the pain of traveling, killing two birds with one stone. On the question of trade rights, since the Spaniards did not know the current affairs, they might as well completely exclude them from the situation and not take them to play, and at the same time gave the Dutch the illusion of "monopolizing trade rights". As for the cost of labor, if 50,000 lili could hire Dutch soldiers to fight the war, plus the reception of a well-equipped castle like Geranza, it would not be a loss - how much time and money would it take to build a castle of this size? It should be used as a forced demolition and resettlement fee for the Dutch.

Putmans thought about it carefully, felt that it was not unacceptable, and replied: "There is no problem in expelling the Spaniards, and free trade is acceptable—although it is not a monopoly on trade, but excluding Spain, we have one less of our greatest competitors." But 50,000 lili is too little, the minimum is 100,000 li! ”

The two began to bargain. Xia Nan stretched out his hand and compared the word "six": "At most, 60,000 li, no more." ”

"Ninety thousand miles! That way I'll be able to report to the council. ”

"Eighty thousand liers, if you love to do it or not, you won't give me a single lille if you are verbose."

"Deal!"

This price code makes both parties more satisfied. For Putmans, although 80,000 lili is only a drop in the bucket of the cost of building Geranza, it is better than nothing, if the Qiongzhou battalion wants to attack, there is no one, and the most important thing is to be able to obtain a stable supply of goods, and there is no Spain, the biggest competitor. For Xia Nan, this money is worth it to take Geranza bloodlessly, and by the way, hire the Dutch to fight the Spaniards.

The deal was negotiated, and both parties were in a good mood. Xia Nan took the initiative to send out an invitation: "After the business is over, why don't you drink two glasses in the evening and taste our Oriental liquor?" No worse than brandy, I promise. ”

Putmans laughed, "It's a pleasure to have dinner with you." But the Manila guest? ”

Xia Nan understood and stretched out his hand: "These Spaniards don't know how to advance or retreat, Qiongzhou doesn't welcome such guests, just drive them away." ”

"Hehehe......" both laughed.

Before poor Isabella could figure out what was going on, she was told that the negotiations had broken down and that she was ordered to leave Lingao and return to Manila by tomorrow at the latest. In the summer, Nan pulled one faction to fight one faction in Nanyang, and the strategy of long-distance friendship and close attack was released.

The Qiongzhou battalion's plan to dominate the seas of East Asia was in full swing.

After the East India Company accepted the conditions put forward by Xia Nan, it sent the soldiers of Geranza, under the cover of the naval bombardment of the Qiongzhou battalion, to easily pull out the two Spanish strongholds of chicken coops and freshwater in the north of Dayuan, and then evacuate the military personnel and merchant house managers in the city of Geranza as agreed, and sent them back to Batavia. Dutch merchants and civilians who were reluctant to evacuate were allowed to stay, and their lives did not change substantially, except for a change of administrator.

After the senior staff was purged, Zheng Zhifeng, who had recruited enough people in Fujian, officially settled in the city of Relansha as the tax supervisor of the Qiongzhou battalion, and began to build a team and assign tasks to prepare for the upcoming tax collection work. Because the Dayuan has not been formally included in the jurisdiction of the Ming government, the title is very confusing, the Ming government called it Dongfan, the people have the title of Dayuan, Taiwowan, Taiwan, etc., the Dutch called Dayuan, the Portuguese called Formosa, and Japan called Takayama Country, so Xia Nan restored the name of the later generations - Taiwan, and by the way, also changed the awkward name of Gerancha back to Tainan, which is convenient for the Chinese to call. The official name of the tax agency located in the original city of Relansha is called Qiongzhou Yingtainan Tax Customs, which is taken from the banknotes of the Ming Dynasty, because it does not collect taxes with paper money, so it is not called banknotes, and at the same time it also avoids stimulating the imperial court, after all, banknotes can only be set up by the imperial court.

Qiongzhou is naturally Bofu tax customs, and the person in charge of taxation is selected as Zhang Mingli. The power of the Qiongzhou battalion in Guangdong is already very stable, and the sales of cotton cloth and other commodities can be managed step by step, and ordinary shopkeepers can manage it well, and there is no need to set up a separate person in charge. Moreover, after the opening of Japan's trade routes and the establishment of two major tax customs, the main source of income of the Qiongzhou camp in the future has changed, and the sales revenue of cotton cloth and shochu has become negligible in the total income. So Zhang Mingli was transferred out and placed in a more important position.

Batches of Wuxiang-class patrol ships were dispatched to the coastal areas of Fujian and the Jiangnan estuary to announce the new rules to all maritime merchants: Fleets selling goods to Nanyang or Japan must pay taxes and fees at one of the ports of Tainan or Bofu, and only with written certificates after paying taxes can they sail safely, otherwise as long as tax evaders are found, they will be seized and confiscated with their ships.