Qiu Qiu lay on the back seat of the car, giggling non-stop, and finally she was so happy that the guards driving the car looked at her in the rearview mirror in surprise. Xiang Xiaoqiang sat next to her and coughed several times before Qiu Qiu stopped.
Laughing, stroking his chest, grabbing Xiang Xiaoqiang’s arm, he said with a smile:
"Oh... it's so fun... I was so nervous just now... I was afraid of showing off my flaws, and I was afraid that I wouldn't be able to remember my lines..."
Xiang Xiaoqiang shook his head and smiled: "Forget it, your lines are much less than mine..."
Qiu Qiu smiled and said:
"Hey, I can't compare with you. I know you best. You were born as a fox and are the best at lying. I can't do that. I'm terribly stupid..."
"Not bad, little girl," Xiang Xiaoqiang smiled, stroking Qiu Qiu's head, and praised, "You performed very well this time, there is nothing to fault..."
Qiu Qiu shook her head in his palm with satisfaction, squinting her eyes as gently as a kitten. After a while, she opened her eyes and asked:
"Xiaoqiang, do you think he will be fooled?"
"I don't know," Xiang Xiaoqiang shook his head, but he still said cheerfully, "We will do our best and listen to fate. Anyway, we tried our best to act. Whether it succeeds or not is up to us. We will know tomorrow at the negotiation table..."
Xiang Xiaoqiang was completely relaxed at this time, thinking about every part of this scam... That John Van Berg was an old diplomat with rich experience, and he must have seen a lot of various deceptive tricks. However, he
This bureau was not a simple one. A large amount of manpower was used. In order to occupy 12 restaurants within a two-kilometer radius, two companies of Ming army soldiers were urgently mobilized. Several restaurants were also allowed to set up "
"Racist" sign to keep Feinberg out.
According to this arrangement, Feinberg had no other place to eat, and most likely had to walk all the way to the last seaside restaurant. However, in order to ensure 100% certainty, four Dutch and five Chinese were arranged along the way for Fanberg.
When Berg asked for directions, he directed him there. These five Chinese passers-by were played by male and female officers recruited from the People's Guard. It was better. Two of the four Dutchmen were selected from the surrendered Dutch officers, and two were directly recruited.
They approached the Dutch officials at the Governor's Palace and gave them a high price of 100 mingyang each, asking them to point them to where such an old Dutch man came to ask about a restaurant.
There were many diners on the second floor of the restaurant, most of them Chinese. The officers of the People's Guard quietly invited them out, leaving only a few tables of Europeans. Then they told the Chinese waiter on the first floor to explain
When I saw any Chinese trying to go upstairs, I would stop them all. No matter it was because the upstairs was full or for maintenance, we had to ensure that there were only Europeans on the second floor.
In this way, Xiang Xiaoqiang and Qiu Qiu are the only Chinese couple on the second floor. In Feinberg's opinion, it is reasonable for them to "take advantage of others' inability to understand Chinese" here and say a few words about negotiations on a whim.
Already.
What's even more rare is that this series of arrangements were completed in less than two hours, just in time before Feinberg disembarked. The People's Guard's work efficiency is getting better and better.
…
Feinberg walked back slowly and heavily along the street, wiping his sweat with a handkerchief as he walked. This journey took ten minutes when he came here and a full half hour when he returned. However,
Just as he entered the hotel door, a thought suddenly flashed through his mind:
I won't be deceived by these two chicks, right?
When this idea first appeared, Feinberg almost felt a burst of ecstasy throughout his body: If it was a hoax, that would be great! The last large colony of the Kingdom of the Netherlands would not be dismembered, and this time it would not be the end of his diplomatic career.
A stain...
But he thought carefully as he went upstairs. When he returned to the room, he realized that the so-called "scam" was just his wishful thinking.
If the scene just happened in the restaurant downstairs of his hotel, it would almost certainly be a scam. But this is the place where he walked a long way and found several restaurants before finally entering by chance. Xiang Xiaoqiang wanted to set up a trap to deceive him.
, how did he know which restaurant he was going to enter? To be honest, he didn't know which restaurant he was going to enter at the time. If he went in first and Xiang Xiaoqiang and his wife came in right after, it might be a scam. But now it was obvious that he went in by himself
By that time, they had been eating there for half a day.
Besides, what Xiang Xiaoqiang said makes sense. He is a soldier, and a senior officer. Soldiers may not want to fight, but senior officers generally want to fight. His life is usually not in danger, and he can be promoted quickly. Even if
Xiang Xiaoqiang is in a high position at a young age, and it is unlikely that he will be promoted again. He still hopes to be awarded the title of Marquis or Earl, and he can become a noble by fighting in wars.
In this way, the situation is already very serious. The appetite of the entire Ming Empire, from the cabinet to the army, is much greater than they imagined. They have made up their mind that once they cannot get what they want from the negotiation table, they will continue
If you want to fight a war, take it upon yourself...and poor Holland can only tolerate it in this situation.
However, now there is a lucky thing - I accidentally know the bottom line of the Ming Empire's appetite.
…
The next day, at nine o'clock in the morning on March 14, Feinberg was taken to the Governor's Mansion for negotiation. To his surprise, he was not taken to the conference room or the living room, but to the Governor's Mansion.
in the garden.
Surrounded by lush tropical trees and flowers, there is a small piece of lawn in the middle, like a green velvet carpet. There is a small white round table in the center and a few white chairs around it.
"Mr. Feinberg," the guard who brought him here said with a smile, "there is no sunshine this morning, so Mr. Xiang wants to talk to you in this garden. Haha, after Mr. Xiang moved in, he really liked this garden."
"I'm very grateful to Mr. Xiang for this arrangement."
Feinberg put his leather bag next to the small table and looked at the negotiation place with his hands behind his back. Several peacocks dragged their colorful tails and walked on the lawn, stretching their heads forward and moving like chickens. Feinberg
Just when he was sighing that Xiang Xiaoqiang, or the former governor, would enjoy it, a sudden shout behind his head made him break into a cold sweat. He quickly turned around and saw a large metal bird cage hanging on a dwarf palm tree behind him.
There was a large macaw, with feathers as bright as a peacock. It tilted its head, looked at him with its small eyes, and shouted "Wow" without restraint.
While he was wiping away his cold sweat, someone behind him laughed and said:
"You must be Mr. John Van Berg, right?"
Feinberg turned around and saw a young man behind him, wearing a short shirt and shorts, holding a big dog, looking at him with a smile.
He recognized it at a glance: This was Xiang Xiaoqiang.
There are two old men behind Xiang Xiaoqiang. Unlike Xiang Xiaoqiang, they, like Feinberg, are all wearing solemn formal attire, which is in line with the importance of this negotiation.
"Oh, Mr. Xiang," Feinberg smiled very Chinesely and shook hands with him, "I have admired him for a long time, and this is Feinberg. Haha, Mr. Xiang, speaking of it, I listened to your advice when I was in Nanjing.
There are many heroic deeds.”
After a few people chatted for a while, they each took their seats.
He bent down to Xiaoqiang and touched the big dog’s head, and said with a smile:
"Go and play by yourself!"
After taking off the leash and letting the big dog out, he also sat down with a smile.
Then, a circle of guards appeared faintly in the bustling green trees around them. One guard brought them a few drinks.
Feinberg first started with the usual diplomatic compliments, praising Xiang Xiaoqiang's various heroic deeds in Nanjing with a smile. Xiang Xiaoqiang took out a cigarette, lit it, and gave one to each of his two advisers.
.Listening to Feinberg's compliment, the three of them smoked cigarettes and looked at each other and smiled.
Xiang Xiaoqiang flicked it into the ashtray, slowly removed his smile, and interrupted him calmly:
"Mr. Feinberg, I don't take the time to sit here just to hear compliments."
Feinberg was stunned, his face full of embarrassment. Looking at the three cold people in front of him, he smiled with difficulty and said:
"Okay, then... let's talk about the issues between our two countries... Our government wants to know what we can do in order for your country to withdraw from our territory as soon as possible and for our two countries to restore peace... In order to express
As for the sincerity of our government, we can first listen to your country’s requirements.”
Xiang Xiaoqiang smiled and signaled. Song Ruhai on the side took out a document from his wallet and handed it to Feinberg solemnly with both hands.
Feinberg took it with both hands and looked down. The more he looked at it, the more his heart beat: This is almost the same as what he overheard in the small restaurant last night!
Although these conditions were within his expectations, he still raised his face in astonishment and murmured:
"God...in addition to compensating the Chinese in Batavia, he will also cede Batavia Island and Pazia Island, establish a military base in Borneo, pay 180 million yuan in compensation, and extradite the governor..."
He put down the document tremblingly, took out a handkerchief and wiped his forehead:
"This...this...Master Xiang, we can't talk about this..."
"Can't talk?" Xiang Xiaoqiang sat forward and stared at him, "What do you mean? Are you sure you can't talk?"
"Sir Xiang, this is really..."
"Let's make sure first," Xiang Xiaoqiang stared at him and asked, "When you say 'no way to talk', is it a common negotiation term, or is it really no way to talk?"
Feinberg was stunned. He didn't expect this young man to be so unkind and ask directly without leaving any room.
The big parrot behind the head shouted now:
"There's no way to talk! There's no way to talk! There's no way to talk!...Ha!...Ha!...Ha!..."
Feinberg's face suddenly turned the color of pig liver. He secretly said to himself: Fortunately, he heard his plan last night. At this moment, he must be calm and endure any rude words...
He picked up the drink and took a sip, and the smile returned to his face:
"My lord, to be honest, our country cannot accept the conditions you proposed. However, since it is a negotiation, the final result is always negotiated slowly. No one can come up with a condition at the beginning, unless
You want the other party to fully accept it. Is it right for you to tell your lord? Haha, you and your two assistants look like veterans of diplomatic negotiations... Haha, you don’t want me to believe that the conditions you just presented,
This is your final bottom line, right?"
The two old men, Song Ruhai and Sun Jiya, looked at each other and smiled slightly. Xiang Xiaoqiang also smiled slowly.
After winking at Xiaoqiang again, Song Ruhai sighed, shook his head and said:
"Although this is not our country's final bottom line, I can tell you that there is not much room for it... Oh, let's listen to your conditions."
Feinberg breathed a sigh of relief, finally able to control the situation and not break up the negotiation in the first round. He took out another document from his bag and handed it over with both hands.
Xiang Xiaoqiang took it and glanced at it with a frown, feeling ecstasy rising in his heart.
1. cede the northern peninsula of Pazia Island to the Ming Dynasty; 2. cede the Pontianak Port in Borneo as a naval and army base for the Ming army; 3. pay an indemnity of 80 million Ming Dynasty; 4. agree to comply with the requirements of the Ming Dynasty
The Batavia Chinese paid compensation.5 and agreed to extradite the former East India Governor.
This has far exceeded the bottom-line expectations of the Ming government. The Ming Dynasty wanted 100 million mingyang, and the Netherlands immediately promised 80 million. The most important thing is that the Ming government did not expect to cede Pazia Island. Now the Netherlands suddenly
Then half of Pazia Island was promised to the Ming Dynasty.
More importantly, this is only the first round of conditions proposed by the Netherlands, which means that there is still a lot of room for blackmail later.
It is certain to get 100 million compensation. With hard work, 150 million or 180 million are possible. Moreover, taking over the entire Pazia Island seems to be very realistic.
Last night's scam really worked. It seems that the territory of the Ming Empire will be changed this morning with just one mouth.