Chapter 673 Disguised House Arrest

"How many "naturalized people" like him are there in the Haihan people's current ruling area?" Van der Wegen also asked curiously.

"This...I don't have more detailed figures, but based on the population of Qiongzhou Island and Haihan's continuous introduction of immigrants in recent years, the number of 'naturalized people' who are loyal to Haihan should be at least

More than 100,000." Su Keyi does not have a definite conclusion on this, and can only make rough inferences based on the information currently known. However, such inferences are not accurate at all, and the error may be ridiculously high.

"One hundred thousand..." Van der Wegen whistled softly: "No wonder they have the confidence to send troops to expedition to Annan and Fujian."

The war potential of a force is directly proportional to the number of people under its rule. Without a certain population base, it will be difficult to withstand the huge consumption of war. There is nothing wrong with Van der Wegen's view, but Haihan is an anomaly in this regard.

When the expedition to Annan was launched to intervene in its civil war, there was not much population under the rule of Haihan, and the military strength was extremely limited. The Haihan Executive Committee took great risks and sent most of the regular army to the battlefield of Annan. And

This kind of adventure also brought huge war dividends to Haihan, making Annan the main commodity sales market and labor source in the early stages of Haihan's development.

As for the two attacks in Fujian this year, there is no longer much pressure on Haihan from an economic or military perspective. What's more, the return Haihan will receive from his investment in Fujian is also

It will not be less than that in Annan. It can be said that it is a good deal with profit and no loss. If it were not considered that the distance between Fujian and the Sanya base camp is far away, and there are many practical problems in the supply of combat materials, the Haihan Military Commission would actually be able to take advantage of the victory and pursue it.

idea.

"Although the armed forces organized by the Haihan people are called militia, they are actually a professional army." After a brief contact with the Haihan people, Van Longen already got the answer: "It may even be more professional than our East India Company's army.

high."

Although the East India Company has thousands of standing armed personnel, these people only exist as sailors and crew members in peacetime, rather than as professional soldiers who are completely off-duty in the true sense. In terms of nature, the Haihan Militia is purely used for military purposes.

Only the armed forces of the path can be regarded as a true professional army.

"Their professional army is much more powerful than the Ming Empire's army!" Van der Wegen had personal experience, and he couldn't help but smile bitterly when he heard this. In fact, Van Longen also faced the sea in the Battle of Amborna Island.

Han Militia, but he didn't know the other party's true identity.

As expected, Yu Xiaobao did not appear again that day. Although the three Dutch representatives complained a lot, they could only make do with this stuffy hut for one night. And their wish also changed from "seeing the Haihan people as soon as possible" at the beginning.

It became "move to a more comfortable place as soon as possible".

When they woke up the next day, except for the seafood porridge breakfast, nothing seemed to have changed. The trio could only continue to lean against the wall and listen to the training calls for a long time.

It wasn't until the sun was about to set in the afternoon that Yu Xiaobao appeared in front of them again: "The three special envoys have just received the latest instructions from the Executive Committee. Please move to the Guest House."

Although they didn't know what kind of place the guest house was, but from the fancy name, it must be much better than this airtight hut. The three of them got up and walked out almost instantly.

However, after walking outside, they did not gain freedom of movement. There was already a four-wheeled carriage with black curtains parked outside. Yu Xiaobao diligently rushed in front and opened the door: "You three, please get in the carriage.

"

At this time, the three of them had nothing to worry about and got on the carriage directly. After nearly an hour, the carriage stopped. Then Yu Xiaobao opened the door from the outside and asked the three of them to get out.

"What a great place!" After the three of them got out of the car, Su Keyi couldn't help but sigh when he saw the scene in front of him.

The place where they got off the bus was next to a three-foot-square flower garden, which was full of various seasonal flowers and fragrant. Behind the flower garden was a two-story house with a bamboo and wood structure, but its appearance was obviously different from the traditional Chinese style.

The building does not have a structure like carved beams and painted pillars, but is square and square, with very simple and clean lines. This house is located on a hillside, and there are several similar buildings nearby, all of which are built according to the terrain and are well-proportioned.

.

The two Dutchmen were speechless looking in the other direction at this time. From where they stood, they could see the harbor in the distance. The sun had not completely set at this time, and the harbor was still a blur under the sunset.

It was a busy scene. What shocked them most was that there was a ship as big as a hill docked on the east side of the port, but it had no masts, no sails, and a very strange appearance.

"That's the legendary Haihan iron ship." Su Keyi also quickly noticed this strange sight and explained to the two of them: "Legend has it that the ship was made of hundreds of thousands of kilograms of fine iron and was driven by an unknown force.

The Han people came to Sanya on that ship."

"Surprisingly... such a ship can be built..." Fan Longgen's mood was very complicated. As an old sea dog who has been at sea for many years, he could naturally see how difficult it would be to build such a large ship. Regardless of the Haihan people,

Did he really cross the sea on this ship? Just talking about the shipbuilding technology, it is a level of technology that the Dutch cannot currently achieve.

Yu Xiaobao has long been used to this. However, any newcomer who arrives at Victory Port for the first time will inevitably be shocked and speechless by the "New World" in the port. I don't think he saw such a thing at the beginning.

When a huge ship sailed into Yulin Bay, I was so scared that I almost peed.

"Three special envoys, please come in!"

Following Yu Xiaobao's call, the three of them came back from their stunned state and followed him into the house. The furnishings in the room once again shocked the three of them. In addition to the elegant furniture, they could be seen everywhere in the room.

The porcelain and glass products also impressed them. Especially the Haihan-style ceramic sanitary ware and the bathroom inlaid with mosaic tiles made the three of them feel like they had found a treasure.

"Three special envoys, if you need anything, please come to the door and greet our waiter. As long as we can do it, we will try our best to provide it." After the waiter presented a large plate of fresh fruit, Yu Xiaobao also asked

The three of them said goodbye.

"Haihan people really know how to enjoy it!" After a moment, Van der Wegen sighed while lying on a beach chair while enjoying fresh coconut juice.

"No wonder those Ming maritime merchants looked obsessed when they talked about Sanya." Su Keyi couldn't help but sigh. Although he also came from a wealthy family, a residence with superior conditions and beautiful environment like Haihan Guesthouse was more popular in his past.

I have never experienced this in my life.

Of course, the main reason is that they have just been released from the confinement room at the army base. Comparing the two rooms naturally highlights the huge contrast in the environment.

But it wasn't until the next morning that they really felt the bustling scene here. The hillside where the guest house is located can have a panoramic view of the entire line from Victory Fort to Victory Port Pier, and this area is the most prosperous area of ​​Victory Port.

Both sides of the landscape avenue are lined with shops and restaurants, and the streets are bustling with people, no worse than those in big cities.

After seeing Su Keyi, he planned to go to the bustling area, but he could not put this idea into practice. There were soldiers with live ammunition standing guard on the way out, blocking them back. Although the reason was polite, it was indisputable:

We are thinking about the safety of the three of us to avoid problems.

The three of them had no choice but to accept this explanation and satisfy their curiosity by overlooking the prosperous scene of Victory Port from the second-floor balcony of their residence.

From this day on, whether it is three meals a day or other benefits, there has been a qualitative leap compared to the day they first arrived in Sanya. But other than that, their movements are still strictly restricted, and the people they can see are still strictly restricted.

There are only sentries, waiters and Yu Xiaobao who appears once every two days.

During this period, Su Keyi naturally made many requests to Yu Xiaobao to meet with Haihan senior officials, but Xiaobao also gave a lot of reasons. Today the chief is out to inspect the work, and tomorrow the chief has important matters.

There was a meeting to be held, but in short, I was "busy" and didn't have time to meet them.

After five or six days of this, the three of them had already noticed the smell - the Haihan people were consciously trying to hang themselves out, and their purpose was not only to give their own side a disincentive, but also to delay the negotiation.

As for the reason for delaying time, everyone knows it well. The Haihan people issued an ultimatum to the East India Company to attack the Natuna Islands in the South China Sea. Obviously they did not use this as a condition to negotiate with the East India Company.

, but they really wanted to seize this place. For this reason, they even consciously avoided peace talks with the East India Company.

"I think we should do something to let the Haihan people know our attitude!" After dinner that day, Fan Longgen finally couldn't help but bring up the business: "It has been a week since we arrived in Sanya, but now we don't even have an authentic Haihan person.

We have never seen them before, and if we continue like this, we may have lost the Natuna Islands before we even see them."

"Mr. Captain is right, we must let the Haihan people know that delaying time is not a reasonable way to solve the problem." Van der Wegen also agreed.

"Then what do we do?" Su Keyi asked.

"We will start a hunger strike tomorrow. This is the only means of resistance we can use now." The method proposed by Van Longen is not really a good idea, but it is exactly as he said. Under the current situation, there does not seem to be any more resistance.

Good choice.

"Are these guys on a hunger strike?"

The next morning, when Tao Donglai heard the news, he couldn't help but smile: "Did they say they planned to go on a hunger strike for a few days?"

"They claimed that they would stop their hunger strike after meeting with the leaders." Yu Xiaobao also smiled: "It seems that they really don't have the patience to wait any longer."

"I think it's enough to let them dry for a week, what do you think?" Tao Donglai asked several other executive committee members present for their opinions.

"Roger's fleet arrived at the Ambunas Islands last week to complete the defense handover. Mu Xiabai also sent a telegram back the day before yesterday. He has returned to Cam Ranh Bay. The dust has basically settled in the South China Sea." Yan Chujie took the lead to clarify.

the military’s position.

Although there are still a large number of defenses that need to be built on the main island of Ambuna, this does not affect the overall situation. If the Dutch can organize a second wave of counterattack in such a short period of time, they will not need to send envoys to negotiate.

As long as the mobilization and deployment of troops is completed, for the military, this matter has come to an end.

Ning Qi also added: "They have lived in Victory Port for so many days, and they should have figured out our purpose. There is no need to delay it any longer. It will only waste our entertainment funds."

"Then inform Schneider and Gu Kai and let them arrange a time to meet with the Dutch envoy." Tao Donglai gave the order immediately.

The reason why Schneider and Gu Kailai were asked to take charge of this negotiation was mainly because of their language skills. Although neither of them spoke Dutch very well, they were very fluent in English and could communicate directly with the Dutch.

There shouldn't be any big problems with communication.

After the Dutch envoys conducted a hunger strike for two hours and thirty-three minutes, Yu Xiaobao appeared with good news: "You three, the chief has decided to meet you this afternoon, so your hunger strike can be stopped now.

Don’t delay and have lunch later. By the way, today’s lunch is the highly acclaimed Haihan Assorted Seafood Rice, which only comes once a week, so it would be a pity to miss it.”

After Yu Xiaobao finished speaking, he left, leaving the three of them staring at each other. It took a long time before Van der Wegen said, "If we had gone on a hunger strike a few days earlier, would the Haihan people have summoned us right then?"

"Maybe, maybe not, who knows?" Fan Longgen also couldn't laugh or cry at the reaction of the Haihan people. After eating breakfast, the Haihan people had already compromised. I really don't know what kind of considerations they had in making this decision.

Decide.

That afternoon, they finally met two Haihan people who came to visit their residence. To their surprise, one of them clearly had European features in appearance, and his obvious German accent after he spoke made them even more excited.

A Dutchman mistakenly thought he was from a European country.

"Gentlemen, I am an orthodox Haihan native. Although I have a German name of Schneider, I prefer to use the name Schneider. This Mr. Gu Kai and I are both members of the Haihan Executive Committee, so

Now you can tell us the purpose of your trip." Schneider introduced himself in English slowly.

Van der Wegen and Van Longen also speak English, but Su Keyi only knows Dutch and Chinese, so he is actually an outsider as a translator.
Chapter completed!