The standard aristocratic etiquette and conversation proved that Claire was a true nobleman. Pen, fun, and www.biquge.info

Rod acted as an interpreter between the two at this time, and he translated Claire's words to Xiao Ming.

Xiao Ming nodded slightly, stretched out his hand and motioned for Claire to sit down, and he said, "Welcome to Dayu Country, to Dengzhou." ”

Sitting down, Claire glanced at Xiao Ming again, and what surprised him was that this vassal king of the Great Yu Kingdom was so young, and he began to understand why this King of Qi was so tough.

In his perception, young people have always been impatient, but they are always hot-blooded and impulsive.

After being silent for a while, he spoke first, "Your Royal Highness the King of Qi, I think you are very clear about the purpose of our visit this time, and I hope that there will be a negotiation result that satisfies both sides on the Ryukyu issue, which is why I am here this time." ”

In the middle of the two is a long table, at this time Rod and Claire sit opposite, while Xiao Ming and Yang Chengye sit on the other side, like a modern negotiation posture.

Hearing this, he said: "This king also wants to be able to negotiate a settlement of this matter, and no one likes to risk the lives of his soldiers." ”

"In that case, please allow us to keep the city of Geranza, and in addition to that, are we willing to agree to your other requests?" Claire said.

Claire said this and agreed that Xiao Ming would dominate the trade routes in East Asia, and at the same time only trade between Dengzhou and Ryukyu, but like Rhodes last time he came to Qingzhou, Claire also refused to withdraw the Dutch soldiers from the city of Geranza.

Xiao Ming tapped his fingers on the table, his gaze swept over Claire's body, Claire's face was calm, and he couldn't find a trace of emotional fluctuations, and the tone he spoke just now was also very firm.

"If you don't withdraw the garrison, then you need to give this king a reason." Claire's presence this time meant that the negotiations would end between the two.

Therefore, Xiao Ming had to be cautious at this time, this Count Claire was much calmer than Rhodes, and he was a character who was not easy to deal with.

"First of all, we can't do without the protection of the army until our safety can be guaranteed, the fleet of the Ryukyus in addition to protecting the shipping routes of East Asia also has a purpose to prevent the plundering of caravans by privateers, I wonder if Your Highness understands what a privateer is?" Claire's words were tentative, and he wanted to find out if the king of Qi in the Great Yu Kingdom had profound knowledge.

"Privateers?" Xiao Ming frowned.

A privateer is a type of civilian vessel authorized by the state to possess arms and used to attack the merchant ships of other countries, which is essentially a state-sponsored act of piracy.

In modern times, from the 16th to the 19th centuries, European powers used all means, including "encouraging pirates to attack other countries' ships," in their struggle for maritime supremacy.

Although all countries have declared their opposition to pirates on the surface, behind the scenes, they have wantonly recruited pirates for their own use.

It is against this background that armed civilian ships are created.

"Could it be British and Spanish privateers?" Xiao Ming said lightly, "It is said that Britain started with a group of pirates, and even said that the whole of Britain is a large group of pirates, and the Queen of England is the biggest pirate leader."

Claire's expression moved slightly, and he was a little surprised in his heart, King Qi's answer was exactly the same as their Dutch description of the British and Spanish.

Sighing, Claire said: "That's right, it is the privateers from these two countries, who are already seriously threatening our merchant ships, and now they are even appearing on the route near Manila. ”

"Well, that's a reason." Xiao Ming said, "But how can the soldiers of Geranza City explain that the privateer ships are infested at sea, I don't think they will rashly attack Geranza City." ”

"These soldiers are there to guard against the Japanese nation." Claire's eyes flickered, "I'm sorry, we in the Netherlands first started trading in Nagasaki, and some merchants who were carried away by gold actually sold the skills of arquebuses to the Japanese people, in our opinion, the current Japanese country is more dangerous than the Great Yu country, because the Japanese country now produces arquebuses with very high skills, and now the Japanese country with firearms troops has the ambition to expand, which is very dangerous for us." ”

When it came to the Wa Kingdom, Xiao Ming's face was very ugly, and he said: "Thanks to you, now the Wa Kingdom is planning to invade Goryeo and Dayu Kingdom, this is your own doing, you should know very well that the nature of the island people is no different from pirates, in Europe it is the United Kingdom, and here in the Wa Kingdom, they are all the same, always thinking about robbery and murder." ”

"I have to say that I agree with you." Claire suddenly laughed, "It's just a pity, you also have a problem in the Great Yu Kingdom?" This problem prevented us from trading with you in the first place. ”

"Oh, what's wrong?" Xiao Ming asked.

"Arrogance." Claire was very polite.

Xiao Ming nodded, "This king admits that this is a mistake, but it doesn't seem to make sense to discuss these now, let's go back to the main topic of negotiations." ”

"Isn't that enough to explain why we keep our garrison?" Claire said.

"Yes, but you can only keep 2,000 men and four warships." Xiao Ming said with a smile.

Claire was stunned, the real Dutch garrison on Ryukyu Island was only 2,000 people, and this King of Qi had a very vicious vision, and he believed that this King of Qi also figured out the information about the city of Geranza.

Now, eight of the twelve warships in the Ryukyus were originally colonized in Manila, and it was only in order to stop the adventurous actions of the King of Chu that he mobilized another eight warships from Manila to arrive in the Ryukyus.

"It seems that His Highness has understood everything." Claire smiled bitterly.

Xiao Ming sneered, for these Europeans, they no longer cared about the life or death of the indigenous army, and it was easy to use these indigenous troops to take risks.

With this in mind, he kept Claire in a purely Dutch army, so that the Dutch would have to think about it before provoking a war in order to reduce casualties.

"This is already the bottom line of this king, and at the same time, I will also send 2,000 soldiers to the city of Geranza to protect you." Xiao Ming smiled maliciously, then he looked at Claire and waited for Claire's answer.

Frowning tightly, Claire's eyes wandered, he knew very well what the purpose of this King of Qi was, he was testing whether they were sincere.

After being silent for a long time, he hesitated and said, "Okay, I accept this condition." ”

Hearing this, Xiao Ming's heart was relieved, this was the last test of the Dutch, if the Dutch had a ghost in their hearts, they would naturally not accept his request to garrison in Geranza City.

(To be continued.) )