Chapter 674 Negotiation

However, this is not a big obstacle. Su Keyi can still communicate with the Haihan people in Chinese, but this makes it difficult to keep in step with the two partners.

Van Longen also introduced the identities of the three people on his side, and then the two sides sat down and began the negotiations that had been delayed for many days.

"First of all, on behalf of the East India Company, I would like to express my strong protest against your preparation for unilateral military action in the South China Sea!" Van Longen knew that meeting with the Haihan people was not easy to come by, and after so many days, he was not in the mood to go around in circles anymore.

Let's get straight to the point: "The Ambrosia Islands are a territory belonging to the East India Company. We have jurisdiction over the area. No armed force can land on the islands under any pretext without our permission!"

"Territory belonging to the East India Company?" Gu Kai smiled and said: "Do you know the deeds of the Sanbao eunuchs of the Ming Dynasty who went to the West two hundred years ago? At that time, this archipelago was already named Ampurna Island, and accepted the rule of the Central Dynasty.

Jurisdiction. Do you think you took over this island by force and then changed the name on your own, and this place belongs to you?"

"No, no, no, what we want to discuss is not the historical ownership of this island, but its actual ownership at this stage." Of course Van Longen knew that this place used to be an overseas enclave belonging to the Ming Dynasty. If we really want to discuss the historical ownership, then

He must have been unable to convince the other party, so he quickly changed his words.

"You want to say that at this stage, well, the island is now occupied by a group of South China Sea pirates. Even if you want to talk, you should talk to the pirates. What should you talk about with us?" Gu Kai retorted with disdain. The Dutch actually

Expecting to gain the upper hand in a verbal confrontation seems to Gu Kai to be a wishful thinking - when it comes to talking nonsense, I am a professional!

"Of course we will not let go of those daring pirates! But before that, Haihan must also stop the military action against the local area!" Van der Wegen saw that Van Longen was unable to speak to the other party, and he quickly helped.

Gu Kai shook his head and said: "Why are you dictating to us? The actual ownership of this island is not in your hands now, and the person we intend to fight is not you. In the final analysis, what are we going to do on Ambona Island?

What does it have to do with you directly?"

"No, sir, the ownership rights of the Natuna Islands belong to the East India Company. I must emphasize this again. This group of pirates who temporarily occupied the local area do not have such rights!" Van Longen felt that he was being led around in circles a bit.

Dizzy, I quickly re-examined my position.

"Then let me ask you, how did your company obtain the ownership of the local area? Did you go to Beijing and kneel down to ask the Ming Emperor to cede the local area to you? Or did you buy it from the Ming Dynasty with money?" Gu Kai looked sarcastic.

Zise said: "If so, please show us the relevant documentary evidence to prove that you have obtained the local ownership rights in a legal and reasonable way."

"This..." Van Longen immediately became silent. Of course, the East India Company would not use the method Gu Kai said to obtain the ownership of the colony. At the beginning, it only directly sent armed personnel to occupy the islands, although there was nothing legal and reasonable.

Procedure, but isn’t this the most normal method?

Gu Kai did not wait for Van Longen's answer and continued: "The East India Company used force to seize control of the area, and you think this approach is natural, but when others use the same means to impose it on you, you will

Not convinced yet?"

"I protest, there is a difference! Our East India Company represents the Dutch United Provincial Republic, and those pirates are just pirates!" Although Van Longen's momentum remained unchanged, he already seemed a bit harsh, because he also knew

, if everything depends on force, then the East India Company probably won't be able to take much advantage against its opponent Haihan.

"You are right. Of course, everyone shouts about beating pirates. There is nothing to say about it. But we Haihan are not pirates. The military action we took against Amborna Island has been authorized by the Ming Dynasty government.

The Qiongzhou Prefecture of the Ming Empire issued a commission document. The military actions we took represent the Ming Empire. Any opposition and resistance will be regarded as a provocation to the Ming Dynasty." Gu Kai paused and said word by word: "You guys

In the same way we took the Ambrosia Islands, we will take them back again in the same way!"

Gu Kai's words were so reasonable that the two Dutchmen didn't know how to refute them for a moment. Of course they could deny that the Ming Dynasty still had the right to rule the area, but they couldn't deny that the East India Company did occupy the area by force.

, and the permission and understanding of the original owner was not obtained during this process. To put it bluntly, this world is ultimately a law of the jungle. The Dutch understand that their opponents also understand that even negotiations are based on this rule. Strength.

The weaker party is not qualified to set the rules of the game.

The East India Company was not afraid of the Ming Empire turning its back, because they knew very well that the empire had no time to care about a small sea enclave far away from its territory, and it did not have the ability to send troops to regain its ownership rights from the East India Company. But the problem was that the Haihan people and the Ming Dynasty

They have no scruples about using foreign troops, let alone war. The most important thing is that the Haihan people are not afraid of facing the East India Company on the battlefield, and they can still gain the upper hand, which is something that the Ming Dynasty cannot

If you want to threaten Haihan into submission from a military perspective, the possibility of success is obviously very slim.

"If you insist on going your own way, it will affect future maritime trade relations with Western countries!" Van Longen also knew that his side seemed to have no advantage in terms of force, and could only turn to maritime trade as a condition for negotiation.

The East India Company still has some confidence on this issue. After all, the Strait of Malacca and the Strait of Sunda, the two main waterways connecting the South China Sea to the Indian Ocean, are currently in the hands of the East India Company. Even hundreds of years later, these two

This place is still an important node in the global sea lanes. Controlling this golden location is equivalent to controlling the maritime trade power of the Eastern and Western worlds. The East India Company spent decades on this,

Competed with Portugal for control of this area, and eventually gained the upper hand.

At present, goods from the Ming Dynasty, Korea, Japan, Ryukyu and other countries in the Far East are shipped to Europe. Most of them enter the Indian Ocean from this strait by sea. After crossing the Indian Ocean, they bypass the Arabian Peninsula and enter the Red Sea. They are transshipped overland in Egypt and enter the Mediterranean.

, and then transported to southern European countries. The goods shipped from Europe basically follow this route. After arriving in Batavia and other places in South Asia, maritime trading groups such as the East India Company will undertake the later stages of transportation and distribution.

Van Longen's threat was not empty talk. The East India Company did have such capabilities, but it was inevitable that he would be ridiculed by his opponents again.

Schneider, who had been silent for a long time, finally turned on the mocking mode: "Mr. Van Longen, you have lived here for a week. I don't know if you have noticed the furnishings and decorations here. Isn't this place much more comfortable than the dark castles where European nobles live?

?There are both Eastern ceramic products and Western glass products here. All kinds of goods that you brought all the way from Europe can actually be produced here. Whether it is glass, spices, weapons, or all kinds of products that you are proud of.

As long as we are willing, we can produce handicrafts at a lower cost and sell them to your former sales targets. If you want to interrupt the trade, fine, just go ahead and do it. I believe that the one who will suffer in the end is not

We are Haihan.”

How could Van Longen not notice the environment here? The three of them had eaten and slept this week, and their activity radius was this house. They had studied it countless times inside and out. The comfort level of the furnishings in this house was indeed

They are all the aristocratic residences that Van Longen has visited in the past. Although there are no gorgeous gold and silver ornaments here, whether it is the ceramic bathroom facilities, the transparent glass doors and windows, or the high-end furniture that I don’t know how to make.

The spring mattress cushions amazed Van Longen and his two companions.

During the three daily meals, he also noticed that the Haihan people's use of spices was much stronger than that in Europe. Many new spice crops that he had not known before were added to the dishes. If the Haihan people were not deliberately showing off,

Their financial resources can only show that they have completely mastered the cultivation methods of these spice crops, and this is indeed a big blow to the Dutch who are still looking for spice planting sites in various parts of Southeast Asia.

As for weapons, Haihan’s performance in Fujian has fully proved their technical advantages in arms manufacturing. Ever since the Ming army in Fujian began to switch to standard weapons provided by Haihan, the local war situation has changed significantly.

The Shibazhi, who had a certain advantage, suffered repeated defeats. In the end, the Dutch went to battle in person and failed to get a good deal in Fujian. Although I don’t know how the Haihan people did it, one thing is certain, the largest in the Far East

The potential customer, the Ming Empire, is unlikely to purchase weapons from the Netherlands or even other European countries in the future.

In this way, it seems that Western countries do not have any advantage in supply of goods. In particular, the East India Company, which is based on maritime trade, can traffic most of the goods from Europe to the Far East. They are also produced in Sanya, and the quality is very good.

, seems to have more competitive advantages in terms of variety and price. If the East India Company attempts to cut off the supply of certain commodities, Haihan may indeed take the opportunity to replace them.

"You are provoking the East India Company by doing this!" Van Longen no longer knew how to retaliate against the Haihan people. The opponent's cards were obviously better than his own, and it felt really uncomfortable to be suppressed by the opponent every time he made a move.

.

"No, no, no, Mr. Special Envoy, you have forgotten that we are still at war with each other and there is no provocation." Gu Kai reminded with a smile: "I don't think you will forget so quickly.

A fight in Fujian, right?”

How could we forget that Van der Wegen, who is here, was one of the witnesses at that time, but because the result of that battle was too one-sided, Van der Wegen did not have the shame to expose his shortcomings on this occasion.

"How about this? Let's talk about other things outside of the South China Sea first, if you still have related issues." Seeing that the two Dutchmen had nothing to say, Gu Kai took the initiative to change the topic.

However, Van Longen did not forget Governor Cohen’s instructions before setting off. He shook his head and said: “The ownership of the Natuna Islands is the bottom line of our negotiations. If we cannot reach an agreement on this issue, then there is no need to talk about anything else.

.”

Gu Kai and Schneider exchanged glances, stood up and left, suggesting that we talk again tomorrow. Van Longen also wanted to collect his thoughts again and try to save some face in the subsequent negotiations, and agreed with this proposal.

After the two Haihan people left, Su Keyi learned about the contents of the negotiation intermittently from their mouths. After listening, he couldn't help but sigh: "The situation is too unfavorable for us. We don't have any conditions that can blackmail Haihan.

, they can even ignore us.”

"Do the Haihan people really don't need to purchase goods from the West? I always feel that it is impossible for them to achieve self-production in all fields." Van Longen frowned.

"As far as I know, Haihan does have a few things that it imports in large quantities all year round." Su Keyi responded thoughtfully.

"Let's talk about it, maybe we can start from this aspect." Van Longen immediately urged.

"The first is the canvas produced in India. The Ming Dynasty merchants almost bought as much as they could, and these canvases were resold to Sanya and used on the sailing ships of the Haihan people. You two may have also noticed that their ships

The sails are different from the hard sails of the Ming Dynasty. They are soft sails like Western sailboats. However, I heard that the Portuguese are also ordering canvas from India for the Haihan people. It is estimated that it will be difficult to completely block this business." Su Keyi introduced.

.

Van Longen thought that this was indeed the case. The Portuguese still had many colonies in the Indian peninsula. If they wanted to completely ban the sale of canvas to Haihan, it would be difficult for the East India Company alone to do so.

"The second kind of goods is population." What Su Keyi blurted out surprised both Van Longen and Van der Wegen.

Su Keyi explained: "The Haihan people have been constantly importing people from the outside world. Annan and Daming are their main places of origin. As far as I know, the Portuguese are also constantly helping them import slave populations. At least 100,000 people were imported from the outside last year.

Fifteen Portuguese slave ships arrived in Sanya, trafficking black slaves to Haihan."

"Why have we never heard of this?" Van der Wegen asked in confusion.

"The Portuguese will definitely not take the initiative to publicize this news. This was witnessed by the Ming Dynasty merchants who have been to Sanya and had trade relations with the Haihan people." Su Keyi paused and added: "Of course they will not take the initiative to spread the news.

You Dutch talk about this kind of thing."
Chapter completed!