Li Jin's secret sigh was quickly overwhelmed by doubts.
The level of understanding of the Western situation that Yin Feng showed was definitely not what the Chinese in the Ming Dynasty could have at that time. Where did this person come from? Moreover, the Chinese Company seized Penghu and assembled hundreds of ships in advance to deal with the Dutch.
, cutting off the contact between the Dutch and mainland officials, etc., and being one step ahead of the Dutch in almost everything. Could it be that this Yin Feng had already known that the Dutch would come to Penghu, and when he would come!
Yin Feng reached out and took a piece of paper from Chen Zhongji. After reading it briefly, he said to Wei Malang: "Your Excellency, General, we can discuss the issue of trade in detail after returning to Taiwan; about your captured subordinates.
I can clearly promise you the remuneration: 200 taels of silver per soldier and 500 taels of ransom for each officer, which are the lowest figures."
Wei Malang shook his head: "No, no, such a high ransom is blackmail!"
Yin Feng ignored him and continued: "As for you, I can tell you right now that you are free. We are willing to release you free of charge."
Wei Malang was still shaking his head, suddenly startled, he sighed for a moment, and still shook his head calmly: "Your Excellency, you are joking, but all my subordinates are detained by your army. It means nothing to me that I am free alone.
It's meaningless." He looked at Li Jin, who hurriedly said: "General, you still have a lot of property on the ship."
Li Jin was speaking in Dutch, which Yin Feng could not understand, but he also anticipated this step and immediately said with a smile: "Your Majesty General, all the property carried on your Orange is now my trophy."
Wei Malang cursed the other party as despicable in his heart, but he had no choice but to say: "The problem is that I cannot return to the East India Company alone. Also, you cannot guarantee the status of Penghu..."
Yin Feng interrupted him with a sneer: "You still don't believe in the strength of our Zhonghua Company, and you don't understand the political system of our Ming Empire. The tax eunuch Gao Cai has no right to decide on the cession of territory before he gets the emperor's authorization.
; it is Fujian’s civil service system that has the power to decide to trade with you. In any case, it is impossible for you to openly trade with the Ming Empire. Therefore, your only choice is to trade with our company; the China United Company is the only company along the coast of China that can guarantee
Organization of commodity supply.”
This is a bit big. At least the seven major families of Fujian maritime merchants would not agree. At least the total number of overseas seagoing ships owned by them and other Fujian maritime merchants is much larger than that of the Chinese company. The difference is that they are scattered and work independently.
Yes, the Chinese company is unanimously open to the outside world.
However, except for Huang Cheng, a big businessman in Nan'an, Quanzhou, who knew a little bit of Portuguese, the other businessmen present did not understand what Yin Feng was talking about, so no one came to expose him.
Wei Malang and Li Jin were also dubious, but it was an ironclad fact that the Dutch East India Company was defeated by the Chinese United Company, and there was no point in even questioning this.
Li Jin was actually a refugee from the bottom of Chinese society. He went to sea to make a living, and accidentally became the first messenger of Sino-Dutch exchanges. When he was in China, he was deeply impressed by the domineering and domineering mining supervisor.
This time, the eunuch Gao Cai sent Pan Xiu to attract him, so he persuaded Wei Malang to go on an expedition to Penghu and bribed the eunuch Gao Cai to occupy the land for trade, thinking that by pacifying the eunuchs, the government could be pacified. As for the conflict between the civil service system and the eunuchs, the upper echelons of the imperial court
Common people like Li Jin don't know much about intrigues and intrigues. It's understandable that they simply think that bribing eunuchs can solve all problems.
In fact, at that time, the common people kept a distance from the government, and small businessmen and hawkers were even more afraid of the government. The eunuchs who went around collecting taxes unscrupulously were even more of a nightmare for small businessmen and hawkers. With the support of the Dutch, Li Jin dared to risk returning to Fujian.
Come to deal with the government. If you want to say that he is a traitor, he is indeed, but he is also a traitor who is forced and unconscious.
Li Jin had a deep-rooted fear of the government, but instead had hope in the government. He pulled Rawei Malang and whispered to him: "Our life and death are in their hands now, and they naturally refuse to do so."
Lower the ransom and trade conditions. Should we wait for news from the Fujian government? Based on my experience, the Ming Empire government will not allow forces like the Chinese Company to exist. If they are opposed by the government, they will inevitably turn to us. When the time comes
Then we can renegotiate and strive for better trade conditions."
Wei Malang thought for a moment, nodded, turned around and said to Yin Feng: "As for the ransom issue, I can only agree now, but my decision is not equal to the East India Company's decision. After I go back, the company will still discuss us
If there is a trade agreement between two parties, the final decision on such trade agreement rests with the company’s board of directors.”
In fact, with hundreds of Dutch people in his hands, Yin Feng is not worried that they will go back on their word; according to European tradition, it is common for them to redeem their war prisoners. As for the trade agreement, the Dutch are in urgent need of Chinese products;
In Europe, the endless war between the Netherlands and the Spanish, and the high cost of the war, made the Netherlands urgently need high-profit Chinese products. Therefore, Yin Feng was not worried that the Dutch would not want this trade agreement.
Yin Feng nodded: "I understand this. The agreement between us must be discussed and decided by our company's major shareholders." He turned around and took another piece of paper from Chen Zhongji's hand, looked at it and said, "Now, let's talk
Let’s talk about your compensation for our material and property losses.”
Wei Malang's face had just become a little better, but now he turned livid again. He sneered and asked: "Compensation? What compensation? Is it just a few shabby houses here?" He pointed to the thatched huts here and sneered: "I admit it.
, we did attack first and destroyed several of your straw huts, haha, how much do these cost?"
Yin Feng patted the table and said loudly: "Zhenquan, bring someone with you!"
Yan Siqi agreed, turned around and dragged in a Dutchman from the outside, who was the helmsman of the Eunice. When the Eunice was captured, the captain and other senior officers and crew members were all killed in the battle. The helmsman and boatswain was Eunice.
He was the highest-ranking Dutchman alive. This guy had been raised on the island of Taiwan for more than half a month, and now he was put to use. He saluted Wei Malang in embarrassment.
Wei Malang stood up with a livid face, frowned and said, "What's going on! Eunice, could it be...?"
Yin Feng smiled faintly: "The Dutch warship Eunice, suspected of piracy off the coast of South Australia and Dongshan Island, has been detained by our company in Taiwan Port."
Wei Malang sat down slumped; just now in private, he had hoped that the Eunice could escape and report to the East India Company, or come here to rescue him, but now there is no hope. He said angrily: "You guys
Haven't you already captured the Eunice? Your goods should still be on board, so what compensation do you need?"
"Human life!"
Yin Feng said loudly: "Twenty-one crew members of the China Company were killed in the attack on the Eunice. Two of them were senior staff of our company and three were general shareholders of our company. Our request is: the East India Company must
Each person who dies in our company will be compensated 2,000 taels of silver!"
Wei Malang opened his eyes wide, Li Jin was startled, and Huang Cheng, who barely understood the conversation, stood up suddenly.
Li Jin trembled: "This price is ten times higher than the Dutch ransom!"
Yin Feng looked at Li Jin with sharp eyes and said word by word in Chinese: "What's wrong? Do you think the lives of Chinese people like us are cheaper than those of red-haired barbarians?"
"No, no, that's not what I meant..." Li Jin retreated, wiping the sweat from his head while translating what Yin Feng just said to Wei Malang.
Wei Malang shook his head and said in Portuguese: "I disagree. I don't think Chinese lives are worthless, but since it is compensation, please provide the basis for compensation."
Yin Feng was well prepared and handed a piece of paper to Li Jin. Li Jin was sweating profusely: written on the paper was a list of the deceased, including age, place of origin, positions held during his lifetime, and those who needed support in the family.
Personnel, etc. Li Jin translated the content of this note to Wei Malang, and Yin Feng took the opportunity to add: "If your East India Company does not believe the information we provide, you can send someone and let us lead the way.
On-site inspection. However, I cannot guarantee the safety of your company's personnel by then."
Li Jin's suspicions deepened: These information had been prepared long ago. Did the Chinese company already know the whereabouts of the Dutch? And knew that they would definitely win this battle?
Wei Malang didn't say much about the compensation issue and nodded in agreement; his psychological defense had completely collapsed when he learned that the Eunice had been captured by the other side. This Dutch expedition was completely complete.
Failure, if he could not reach a trade agreement with the other party and redeem the crew and soldiers, after Wei Malang returned to the East India Company, the only outcome would be to go to court to be tried, and then to serve as hard labor in a tropical colony for life until his death.
Only by opening trade routes for the company and bringing back a large amount of Chinese goods can Wei Malang have the opportunity to erase the shame of failure and even become a hero of the East India Company.
There is no need to wait for news from the Fujian government.
The day after the battle, which was also the second day of negotiations between the two sides, Guo Zhen, a businessman sent by Li Jin to deliver diplomatic documents to the Dutch, heard the news about Pan Xiu's arrest and did not dare to enter Fuzhou City. He was anxious.
He hurried to Penghu. As a result, he saw that all the Dutchmen had become prisoners. He was also captured by the Jinghai Gang brothers who patrolled the sea, and was taken to Lu Shitou and Maihai.
Finally, Guo Zhen was brought to the negotiation site between Yin Feng and Wei Malang; Pan Xiu was arrested, and the news that the Fujian Navy might send troops proved that eunuch Gao Cai's promise to cede Penghu was completely empty talk, and Fujian officials could not
Yin Feng made concessions on the matter of trade. Most of Yin Feng's lies that the Dutch East India Company could only trade with him became true.
After all, the Dutch United Provincial Republic was actually a United Merchant Republic; the East India Company was a smaller version of the United Provincial Republic. For commercial profits, everything could be valued on the scale of money. The Dutch had a monopoly on the Chinese trade routes.
The fantasy has not been eliminated, but the immediate interests cannot be let go. Since the Fujian official can't count on it, then reaching an agreement with a powerful company in coastal Fujian can also bring goods to the company, which is enough!
The subsequent negotiations were extremely smooth. Wei Malang even sent Li Jin a paper warrant to let the Orange anchor at the stern of Fenggui and hand over all gunpowder and guns and weapons to Feilong. If it weren't for the cannons that couldn't be moved,
Wei Malang even wanted to disarm the cannons. All the Dutch captured personnel boarded several Chinese company two-masted merchant ships and headed for Taiwan. All the captured materials were also loaded onto the merchant ships in batches and transported to the Taiwan base together with the Dutch prisoners.
During this period, Captain Van Leighton was very cooperative, taking the initiative to help the Chinese sort out the seized materials, actively cooperating with the head count, etc., etc., which attracted the attention of Lin Xiao, who was responsible for the placement of prisoners. Therefore, Captain Leighton was appointed as a prisoner of war.
Temporary leader of the battalion.
The Xinsheng took the lead in sailing out of Penghu Bay, carrying a large number of prisoners of war and captured supplies. A large number of ships followed the merchant ships of the China Company and sailed out of the bay. Some fishing boats and merchant ships sailed back to the coast of Fujian, defeating the China United Company - Huaxing Alliance.
News of the Red Maoyi was brought back to the mainland. Each fisherman recruited to participate in the war received a reward of 100 taels of silver each, which was enough for them to buy or build a new boat. The war dead also received pensions, and their children could join
Company, become a merchant seaman or battleship sailor of a company.
The Chinese company's war fleet lost more than 20 sailing ships, and together with the Feilong and Xinxing, there were more than 100 people killed in the battle. The infantry of the escort team also lost more than 20 people in the battle. Each of the dead in the battle received a pension of 1,000 taels.
As well as the family's child support plan, all were planned by Yin Feng.
Han Ping and others were worried about the source of these crew recruitments and pensions at first, but after seeing the countless shining silver, golden gold on the Orange, and the fine spices brought from the Spice Islands, they smiled and did not mention it again.
There is no shortage of funds. Not to mention the money that will come rolling in after direct trade with the Dutch East India Company begins.
In fact, the two sunk Chinese sailing ships also carried a lot of gold and silver goods from the Dutch. After being salvaged, they were still worth a lot of money. Unfortunately for Yin Feng, several of the chiming bells were soaked in the sea water.
Finally, it was completely useless after being salvaged.