"The Dutch must have been in a mess by this time, right?" Schneider asked, looking up. ≧, in front of him was Yu Xiaobao, who was standing respectfully, and had just returned to Victory Fort from the State Guest House, when he came to see Schneider to report on the progress of the negotiations.

"If they weren't particularly stupid, they should have taken note of what I revealed during the negotiations. Yu Xiaobao's expression was very relaxed, he had almost come forward to negotiate with the Dutch envoy in the past month, and he had already adapted to the pressure of this job. Coupled with the fact that there are high-level staff like Schneider and Ning Qi behind the scenes, the scene is basically under control all the time.

"Then they're probably figuring out how to get out of here. Schneider said with a smile on his face: "These guys have been coming and refusing to leave, and they really treat us here as a nursing home!"

"But I don't quite understand why we are making such a hint to the Dutch?

Schneider put down his pen and explained to him: "The Executive Committee now hopes to put more pressure on the Dutch to make a statement on Fujian affairs and to no longer maintain any form of cooperative relationship with Shibazhi. If they could agree to such conditions, then the ownership of the Ambuna Islands would no longer be a problem. ”

"That is to say...... Is the executive committee going to do something to Eighteen Zhi?" Yu Xiaobao is also a smart person, so he reacted immediately.

The elimination of Shibazhi is one of the stated goals of the Executive Committee in Fujian, and Yu Xiaobao also knows about this. However, because Eighteen Zhi has the support of the Dutch behind him, if he really wants to fight, there are actually many practical problems. Although Haihan is not afraid of the East India Company now, he does not want other forces to be involved in the process of exterminating the Eighteen Zhi, and if he can take the initiative to persuade the Dutch to retreat before he starts, it will naturally be the most ideal result.

"By the first half of next year at the latest. Schneider gave an approximate time: "Xu Xinsu doesn't want to drag on any longer, he hopes that we can start sooner, the sooner the better." ”

"Then Xu Xinsu must have given us a lot of conditions?" Yu Xiaobao said with a smile: "If the executive committee can change its original plan, it is estimated that Boss Xu has made a lot of money this time." ”

Although Haihan's side did have a plan to eliminate Shibazhi in Fujian and fight the Dutch, he was not so eager. Since Haihan does not currently have a decent base along the coast of Fujian, the large naval forces will face many practical problems if they want to station themselves in Fujian and conduct operations. According to the military's original plan, it was hoped that after the military base on Kinmen Island was built, the operational plan for attacking Penghu would be considered.

But for Xu Xinsu, every month after the elimination of Eighteen Zhi, he had to suffer a lot of economic losses because of this. And since there is now a strong reinforcement of Haihan, Xu Xinsu wants to avoid the situation of long nights and dreams as much as possible, and get Eighteen Zhi as soon as possible. And as Yu Xiaobao guessed, in order to get the Haihan people to make an early move, Xu Xinsu did make a very considerable exchange condition.

"The conditions issued by the Fujian government, you just listen to them here, don't go out and say it, you understand the secrecy regulations. Schneider admonished.

Yu Xiaobao nodded again and again: "Of course, even my father won't say this." ”

"In addition to paying most of the combat military expenses, Xu Xinsu also promised to hand over Penghu to us after the matter was completed. Schneider then announced the answer: "The news that came back only two days ago was that the Executive Committee could not resist such conditions, so it decided to change its attitude towards negotiating with the Dutch, so as to gain the initiative on the Fujian issue." ”

"Give Penghu to us, but if we destroy Eighteen Zhi, can't we also take Penghu logically?" Yu Xiaobao asked puzzled.

"It's not the same. Schneider explained: "The meaning of the Fujian government is to emulate the treatment of the Portuguese in Ho Jing Ao, and hand over Penghu to us as a concession. Of course, the rent and other conditions are symbolic, and the key is legality, which is of great significance to our demonstration in the future of Daming coastal enclosure. ”

To date, the Haihan have not had any open disputes with the Ming Dynasty over territorial ownership, and although the Haihan have now occupied almost all of Hainan Island, and have encircled a lot of land along the coast of Guangdong and the Pearl River Valley, effectively controlling Guangdong's main shipping lanes, these areas are still nominally part of the Ming Dynasty. For the pragmatists like Haihan, these places were still nominally owned by the Ming Dynasty and could bring many benefits, such as trade, immigration, etc., as long as the actual control was in their own hands. Of course, this place in Penghu could be forcibly occupied after the elimination of Shibazhi, but the Executive Committee did not want to bear this bad reputation, so as not to be resisted by the local government when it expanded northward in the future. Now that the Fujian government also understands Haihan's intentions, and voluntarily takes it out as a quid pro quo, the Haihan side is naturally happy to accept it.

Yu Xiaobao roughly understood this, and suddenly realized: "Then this condition must also be the result of General Qian's negotiation over there." ”

"Qian Tiandun, this guy is not only able to lead troops now!" Schneider smiled and said: "After he passed, he even took care of the duties of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on his behalf, and he has indeed not worked in vain in Annan in the past few years!"

As a matter of fact, Qian Tiandun did intervene in the negotiation process of several concession territories obtained by Haihan in Annam, especially in the southern region, as well as the military cooperation agreement between Haihan and Annam. After going to Fujian, Qian Tiandun quickly took out the experience he had accumulated in Annan and began to bargain with the Fujian government to fight for more benefits for Haihan. The exchange conditions for Penghu are one of the results of the talks between him and Xu Xinsu.

As for the reason why Haihan attaches so much importance to Penghu, it mainly has a lot to do with the special geographical location of Penghu. The Penghu Islands are located in the western strait of Taiwan Island, consisting of 64 islands with a total land area of nearly 100 square kilometers, but only 11 of them are more than one square kilometer, and those small islands are not actually worth developing.

This place guards the main shipping lane of the Taiwan Strait and is also an important springboard between the mainland and the island of Taiwan. In the original history, when Zheng Chenggong recovered Taiwan, he used the Penghu Islands as a bridgehead - of course, in this time and space, it is probably not someone's turn to recover Taiwan Island.

The strategy of occupying Taiwan and Penghu first is very clear, and compared with Kinmen Island, which is close to the mainland and is under the nose of the Ming Dynasty, the location of the Penghu Islands is obviously more suitable for Haihan's consistent development needs. After occupying it, it can attack Taiwan and retreat, and the local conditions are much better than that of Ambuna Island, Penghu Bay, which is surrounded by three islands, is about 12,000 meters long from north to south, about 8,000 meters wide from northeast, and the water depth of the anchorage is more than 10 meters.

In addition, Penghu is only a few dozen nautical miles from the port of Dayuan, the stronghold of the East India Company in the southern part of the island of Taiwan, which can easily be placed within the radiation range of force. What tricks the East India Company wants to do in the future, it will really be liquidated in minutes.

The Dutch mission did not come up with any feasible response during the lunch break, so when it came time to negotiate in the afternoon, Van Longen could only bring up the same old topic again: "I suggest that both of us speed up the negotiations, after all, we have been talking for more than a month, and so far we have not reached any agreement, so it is of little practical use to both of us." ”

"You're right, we are also very experienced with the current negotiation process, and after a month of constant debate, the negotiations have not yet broken down. After listening to Su Keyi's translation, Yu Xiaobao replied with a smile: "To be honest, the leaders of our side are no longer very interested in continuing this negotiation. Rather than spending so much time arguing with you about who is right and who is wrong, it would be better to contact the parties directly and work out an agreement for a common purpose against the East India Company. ”

"You're intimidating us!" Van Longen responded to Yu Xiaobao's threat with a gloomy face: "The East India Company is not afraid of any enemy!"

"Yes, since you are so eager to fight, then I don't think there's much to talk about. Yu Xiaobao stood up and said, "I originally thought that I could make some quid pro quo to you in an effort to achieve peace, but now it seems that our side is too worried. Gentlemen, prepare for war!"

"Wait!" Su Keyi heard what Yu Xiaobao said, and quickly stopped him: "What conditions does Brother Yu have, why don't you talk about it first?"

The reason why the East India Company sent them to Sanya was to explore the strength of Haihan, and secondly, to delay time and avoid war in the near future as much as possible. And now the threat of Haihan is not to start a war, but to unite all the forces in the South China Sea to deal with the East India Company, if this battle starts, the situation that the East India Company will face will be very passive.

Yu Xiaobao stood still: "I don't think the two Dutch envoys really want to continue talking. ”

Su Keyi said in his heart I haven't translated it to them yet, how do they know what the hell you are talking about, so they hurriedly translated Xiaobao's words at the moment. Sure enough, the two of them also reacted after listening to it, and invited Yu Xiaobao to continue the negotiations.

"Our conditions are simple, there are only two in total. Yu Xiaobao gestured two fingers and said: "First, your company has broken off the relationship with Eighteen Zhi, whether it is trade or civil, of course, military assistance does not need to be emphasized separately." Second, we should cease our unfriendly behavior toward the Anbuna Islands and unconditionally renounce our claims to sovereignty over the islands. As long as you agree to these two points, we are willing to sign a bilateral peace agreement with you. ”

"It can't be. After listening to the translation, Van Longen immediately reflexively refused: "The Natuna Islands are the property of the East India Company, and we will not agree to give your sovereignty unconditionally to you, as you have requested." ”

After listening to this answer very carefully, Yu Xiaobao asked with a smile: "That means you can accept it conditionally?"

After the three envoys exchanged words, Van Longen spoke: "At least to achieve local condominium, you must know that we have spent more than 20 years to develop and build the local area, and the resources invested cannot be said to be gone." ”

"Resources invested?" Yu Xiaobao smiled. The Ambuna Islands have always been the territory of the Chinese, and even after the East India Company occupied the area, only two or three hundred immigrants were stationed there. As for development and construction, it is even more nonsense, and there are still difficulties in self-sufficiency in grain in the local area, so how can we talk about development. However, Yu Xiaobao was not in a hurry to refute his words, but just asked, "What do you want Cheng Dù's condominium?"

"We are asking for an administrative presence on the ground and free access to local ports and terminals. Van Longen thought about it, but still didn't mention the garrison. If the Haihan were able to take the area from the pirates, it would certainly not allow the East India Company to send troops to the island again.

Yu Xiaobao shook his head and said, "Except for the power of civilian ships to use ports and docks, there is nothing else to talk about. ”

"At the very least, we need to have an official representative to ensure that our ship's crew is treated fairly during their local docking. Van Longen had no choice but to retreat half a step.

Yu Xiaobao thought about it and didn't express his position immediately, but pulled the topic back to the first condition: "What do you say about Fujian?"

"We do not have the authority to decide the position of the company, so we can only bring your terms back to Batavia and have the company's board of directors decide. Van Longen skillfully shirked his responsibilities and seized the opportunity to make a request to return to Batavia.

"Then I propose that we should do our best to discuss a draft, and after our executive committee approves it, you can go back to Batavia with this draft and hand it over to your board of directors for decision. Yu Xiaobao proposed a plan.

As a result, the negotiation process, which had been deadlocked for more than a month, finally changed after the Haihan side suddenly changed its attitude. At this time, Van Longen and the others could no longer care about the "bottom line of negotiation" told by Governor Cohen before departure, and could only temporarily agree to the conditions proposed by the Haihan people. Fortunately, this is not a formal diplomatic agreement, and even if the two sides discuss a draft, they can still be completely rejected when they return to Batavia. Taking 10,000 steps back, even if a formal agreement is signed, as long as the conflict of interest is large enough, it is still possible to tear up the agreement and start a war without fear. This kind of thing is very common on the continent of Europa today, where countries are fighting today and tomorrow, and the day after tomorrow, and the so-called armistice and peace treaties are not all means of delaying time in preparation for the next war?