Chapter 676 Tough Negotiations

Su Keyi didn't expect that the two people actually had such a relationship, and he couldn't help being surprised when he heard this. He just saw that Yu Xiaobao was young and easy to talk to, and was far less difficult to deal with than Gu Kai and Schneider, so he wanted to get close to him to ease the situation.

It's just a negotiation atmosphere, but I never thought about finding myself an elder Haihan. As a negotiator of the East India Company, if you have a personal relationship with your opponent, it will only lead to a good result. If the negotiation fails, then this will happen.

Isn’t it time for me to shoulder the blame alone?

"Mr. Shi really likes to joke... let's get down to business!" Su Keyi hit such a soft nail, so he had to give up the idea and return his energy to the negotiation.

However, even if both sides changed people, the pace of negotiations still did not change significantly compared to yesterday. The East India Company could only continue to protest weakly, while Yu Xiaobao easily followed yesterday's approach and

The various requests put forward by the other party were rejected one by one. No matter how dry Su Keyi was, the negotiations still made no progress. And every time he wanted to play some tricks to interfere with the other party, Schneider would always speak out at an inappropriate time.

Break it and make him fail.

After a few rounds, Su Keyi finally understood that the other party was a master taking an apprentice as an intern, and he was slowly getting familiar with the business, and he was the unlucky sparring partner. If Yu Xiaobao was singled out, Su Keyi believed that he could still give him a hand.

If the opponent stumbles, at least he can gain some upper hand with his words, but with Schneider, a seasoned person watching the situation, it will be difficult for Su Keyi to implement even if he has any ideas.

"It is of no use to both of us to continue such an endless debate. Why not calmly look for it and see if there are any common interests. Maybe there will be no need to use war as a means to solve problems in the future." Su Keyi tried various methods.

After all were declared invalid, we could only settle for the next best thing and try to reach a peace agreement with Haihan first while ignoring the dispute.

"Common interests?" Upon hearing this word, Schneider couldn't help but take the initiative to take over the conversation: "The object of your common interests is a vassal like Shibazhi who is willing to obey orders, not an opponent who can be on an equal footing with you."

"Mr. Shi, even the Eighteen Zhizhi have some common interests with the Ming Dynasty government. What you said is a bit arbitrary. It should be noted that the Eighteenth Zhi has always occupied a certain share of Fujian's maritime trade." Su Keyi

He countered that Haihan's comparison of the East India Company and pirates was their main argument for banning Dutch ships from entering the disputed waters of the Natuna Islands. Sukeyi also wanted to debate this with Schneider.

"Is Shibazhi a pirate?" Schneider asked immediately.

"We think they are just a group of maritime merchants who are not tolerated by the Fujian government. They do have private armed forces, but this does not mean that they are pirates. Haihan is also a businessman with private armed forces, right? I believe Haihan and Shiba

Just like Zhi, organizing armed forces is just to protect one's own interests." Su Keyi defended.

Schneider responded: "If charging high protection fees from passing ships, looting places, buying and selling by force, resisting the government, and armed riots are not considered piracy, then please tell me, Mr. Su, what do you think

What kind of behavior is what a pirate should do? Should I have the word pirate tattooed on my forehead?"

"Private ships attacking other ships at sea cannot simply be regarded as piracy. At least in the Netherlands, the overlord country of the East India Company, this is an act approved by the government!" Of course, Su Keyi could not directly respond to Schneider's question, and could only avoid the important and take the easy.

, secretly change the concept to deal with it.

But this trick obviously had no effect in front of Schneider. He responded with a sarcastic smile: "I know that many countries, including the Netherlands, allow ship owners to attack ships of hostile countries at sea, but in English, 'Pirate'

They are two completely different words from 'Privateer'. The East India Company's attack on Portuguese and Spanish ships at sea can be regarded as an official act, but no one behind the Eighteen Zhizhi authorized them to do so. In the Ming Dynasty,

From the government's point of view, they are a group of pirates wanted by the government. There is no dispute about this. You can see wanted notices about Zheng Zhilong and others at the city gate whenever you go to Zhangquan and other places. By the way, Zheng Zhilong

The bounty on his head has recently dropped from the original five thousand taels to three thousand taels, and the loss of Nanri Island is obviously a huge blow to his reputation."

Su Keyi could not think of a reasonable argument to refute Schneider for a moment, so he had to change his direction again: "The behavior of Shibazhi was not instructed by the East India Company. It was just the personal wishes of Zheng Zhilong and others. The East India Company should not be held responsible for their behavior."

Bear the infamy on your back."

"Your washing posture is not good!" Schneider shook his head and sighed: "Xiaobao, come here."

Yu Xiaobao said with understanding: "But in fact, you have already participated in their piracy in Fujian. You sent armed ships to attack the warships of the Ming government. This actually started the war. In the view of the Ming government,

The East India Company and the Eighteenth Army are indeed a coalition with common interests, so they also issued a wanted reward for the East India Company officials involved in this matter. The reward for the chief officer, Mr. Hans Putmans, was 1,000 yuan.

Two, no matter life or death. And the other..."

When Yu Xiaobao said this, he looked at Van der Wegen with a smile and said: "...the other senior officer leading the team has a reward of three hundred taels for the living and one hundred taels for the dead."

During the battle in the waters of Nanri Island, a total of six ships of the Dutch fleet participated in the battle, but only two ships were defeated and escaped. Hundreds of prisoners were captured in the end. The information about Van der Wegen has naturally been mastered by the relevant departments.

On the night when the mission arrived in Sanya, the relevant information compiled by the Haihan Security Department had been sent to the Executive Committee. Because Yu Xiaobao was assigned the task of direct contact with them, he was also fortunate to learn this information. For Fan Dewei

He is also very clear about Gen's identity and deeds. However, Van der Wegen has not taken the initiative to mention Fujian since the beginning of the negotiations, and Haihan has not specifically mentioned his previous identity.

Su Keyi almost choked on his saliva when he heard this. For the sake of Van der Wegen's face, he decided to skip this paragraph when translating. This wanted order was more of a humiliation than a plan to kill the Dutch.

More—perhaps it was the Haihan people who encouraged the Fujian government to offer the reward.

Van der Wegen had no idea that the content of the conversation between the two involved him. His understanding of Chinese was extremely limited, and the conversation between the two basically left him in a state of relaxation.

"In view of the position of the East India Company, as an ally of Ming Dynasty, our attitude towards this is consistent with that of the Ming Dynasty government." Yu Xiaobao concluded the debate calmly: "What is Ming Dynasty's attitude towards you?

, that’s what our attitude is. Of course, out of diplomatic courtesy, we will give you the treatment you deserve as an envoy during the negotiation and guarantee your personal safety during this period."

Faced with such a statement, Su Keyi simply had no choice but to fight back. He was not afraid of the Haihan people putting pressure on the negotiating table. If the other party did that, he could still show his integrity by fighting, but the Haihan people's attitude was

He didn't take this negotiation seriously at all, and had even started to blatantly use this occasion to teach apprentices.

After Yu Xiaobao made this statement, Schneider next to him didn't even have the slightest intention to correct him, and Su Keyi's heart dropped - he had never thought about the outcome of the negotiation here, no matter how hard he tried,

That's just playing tricks on a cow. What's more, the initiative at the negotiation table has never been on the Dutch side from the beginning.

"It's getting late, I suggest that today's negotiations end here!" Schneider raised his hand to look at the time and spoke to end this one-sided debate. Although Yu Xiaobao's performance was really good, Schneider thought that some details

There is still room for improvement in his handling, and I will need to give him individual coaching later.

After the two Haihan people left, Su Keyi said with a tired look: "Gentlemen, what we are doing is meaningless. The Haihan people have been playing tricks on us. Do you feel it? The purpose of our coming here is not only to meet

Outside of the Haihan people, it can be said that nothing has been completed. The negotiations have made no progress at all, and we are under house arrest here. Without access to the outside world, we cannot obtain intelligence. The most important thing is that the Haihan people do not seem to continue the talks with us.

They don’t expect to gain anything from us, they are just using us to kill time!”

"We all know what you said." Fan Longen responded with a gloomy look: "But if we don't get any results, how are we going to report to the Governor after we go back? Mr. Su, you don't have anything to do. At worst, you can continue to go back to the trading house.

It’s what you should do, but Mr. Van der Wegen and I are both guilty persons. If we fail to achieve anything this time, I’m afraid the Governor and the Board of Directors will not give us good results after we return!”

"But if we continue to talk, we can't change the attitude of the Haihan people. We have no cards to play!" Su Keyi argued: "I think we should end this trip as soon as possible and return to Batavia.

, inform the board of directors of the attitude of the Haihan people, and remind them that they should prepare for war as soon as possible, because the Haihan people obviously have no intention of reconciling with us!"

"No, no, no, if we go back like this, the result will only be that we will be scolded by the board of directors for our incompetence, and then Mr. Van Longen and I will take responsibility for this, be dismissed from all positions in the company, and leave Badawi with shame and a few pieces of luggage.

Go back to the Netherlands!" Van der Wegen also stood up to express his attitude at this time. His view was the same as Van Longen's, that is, they could not just go back empty-handed, because neither of them could afford the consequences.

Before leaving Batavia, Governor Cohen had made a very clear request to them. If certain negotiation results were not achieved in Sanya, then the previous defeats in the Battle of Fujian and the Battle of Natuna would have to be settled with them.

Now the parties are responsible.

Even now that the negotiations have been frustrated and the prospects are dim, Van Longen and Van der Wegen are still unwilling to give up easily and continue negotiating with the Haihan people. Even if the Haihan people's attitude towards this is very obvious, they still have to persist, because giving up the negotiations is equivalent to

He gave up his future.

After listening to the two people's statements, Su Keyi sat down slumped. He knew that it would be useless to continue to oppose. This mission was originally based on the opinions of the two Dutch people, and he was just an assistant. These two people wanted to

If their own interests were to continue dragging this matter out, he could only obey the arrangement. After all, neither the Haihan people nor these two companions were likely to let him return to Batavia alone.

"Then I suggest you write a letter and ask the Haihan people to find a merchant to take it to Batavia and briefly explain the situation here, so as to avoid unnecessary misunderstandings after the company has not received news for a long time." Su Keyi can only do this now.

I can settle for the next best thing.

"The Haihan people may not agree, and what we write in the letter may be peeked by them." Van der Wegen has doubts about this.

Su Keyi shook his head and said: "We don't need to write anything too confidential. We just need to tell you that we have arrived in Sanya safely and are negotiating with the Haihan people, but the progress is not going well. That's enough. Put a paint seal on the outside and Haihan

The Han people probably wouldn’t open it and look at it on the way.”

"Mr. Su's proposal makes sense. We will make relevant demands to the Haihan people later." Fan Longgen agreed with this suggestion. Seeing that the negotiations have reached a deadlock, he doesn't know how long it will drag on in Sanya, so he should write a letter as soon as possible.

It's best to go back and report that they are safe, otherwise Batavia will not even know whether the three of them are dead or alive, and it will be easy to make wrong judgments on the situation. Of course, they have been under house arrest so far,

There is no contact with the outside world at all, and there is indeed no confidential information to report to the company.

But when they saw the Haihan people again, they found that even Schneider had not come forward, and only Yu Xiaobao came. When Su Keyi made an uneasy request to deliver a letter, Yu Xiaobao quickly said

Agree: "We can find someone to deliver the letter for you. After you write the letter, just hand it over to the service staff here. However, we can only arrange for the ship to leave south in the near future, so I don't know when it will be delivered to Batavia.

The law gives you a definite guarantee.”

Su Keyi was originally a little worried about Schneider's absence, and Yu Xiaobao couldn't make the decision, so he quickly responded: "It doesn't matter, I know that the voyage from here to Batavia is long and takes a lot of time, so this letter is just to be sent back.

It’s just a wish for peace, nothing else.”

Yu Xiaobao smiled and said: "It doesn't matter what you write, and we won't care. By the way, from today on, I will be the plenipotentiary representative of this negotiation."
Chapter completed!