Seeing that Mr. Nicolas Yiguan ignored him, and listened to the rash on the side coughing again and again, Anthony bowed to Zhu Cihong and said, "Your Royal Highness the Crown Prince, on behalf of the Republic of the United Provinces of the Netherlands, I offer you a gift, I hope you like it." ”

As he spoke, his deputy, Maier, stepped forward with the gift box and slowly opened it.

The courtiers of the Ming Dynasty were also curious, and turned their heads to glance at them with their spare eyes, wanting to see what treasures the red-haired devil could offer.

The moment the box was opened, Zheng Zhilong smiled, frowned, and Zhu Cihong's face slowly sank.

It turns out that the gift box is a large conch shell, although the shape and color are very good, it looks very high-end, but it is just an ordinary conch, the kind of rotten street by the sea.

Zhu Cihong smiled faintly and said, "Is your Netherlands a scrap yard?" This thing can also be offered as a treasure? ”

Anthony was very surprised, he didn't expect this crown prince to recognize this thing, his face did not change, and said: "His Royal Highness the crown prince of Daming, this conch was brought by me from the coast of the Netherlands, and it took me to come to Daming after 100,000 miles of sea, you have a saying, courtesy is light and affection is heavy, I don't think there is anything wrong with this gift." ”

Mao Xiang was angry and said: "I have a lot of land and resources, who is rare about your gift from this rotten street?" ”

Zhu Cihong waved his hand to tell him not to be too aggressive, and then he spoke: "Yes, you Dutch people at least know how to give gifts, and you have a bit of a look." ”

Anthony laughed and said: "I heard that the Ming Dynasty will give gifts in return, but I don't know ...... His Royal Highness the Crown Prince."

In fact, this conch was only picked up on Dayuan Island, and Anthony wanted to give a preliminary understanding of Daming's foreign policy through gifts, so as to prepare for the next negotiations.

Good guy, I treat you as a friend, you treat me as a fool, and the ruffle is knocked on Lao Tzu's head, and the red-haired ghost is very good at playing!

Zhu Cihong decided to return the color, he glanced around, and finally fixed his gaze on the Buddha dust in Wu Zhong's hand: "Wu Zhong, give the Buddha dust in your hand as a return gift to the messenger of Niland." ”

"Yes!" Wu Zhong reluctantly held the Buddha dust he was carrying with him and sent it over with both hands.

Wu Zhong as Zhu Cihong's personal eunuch, and the chief of the interior, most of the time will carry a Buddha dust, when Zhu Cihong needs to sit down when walking, Wu Zhong will use this Buddha dust to pat the dust and ask him to sit down, summer can also get rid of mosquitoes, is a good sanitary appliance.

Anthony looked at it over and over for a long time, raised his eyebrows and said, "What is this?" Is it worth it? ”

Wu Zhong explained solemnly: "This is called Buddha dust, it is made of silk and animal hair, it is very expensive, and it is rewarded by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, which is even more expensive, you must take good care of it, don't be careless, it is best to enshrine it in your parliament in the Netherlands!" ”

"Wow! OMG! So valuable? Anthony carefully took the Buddha dust and turned it over.

Although he didn't know what silk and linen were, he knew that silk was very valuable, and when he saw so many silk threads on it, his face was full of excitement.

Several courtiers of the Ming Dynasty almost couldn't help laughing, pointing at them, and scolding them in a low voice.

The Portuguese governor on the side also almost laughed, and said in stiff Chinese: "Mr. Anthony, I know this Buddha dust, the market price is less than one tael of silver, if you need it, I can buy a thousand and sell it to you, only half a tael of silver." ”

"What?" Anthony was not satisfied, and shouted: "Isn't Daming rich? has always been generous in return, why is His Royal Highness the Crown Prince so stingy? ”

Zhu Cihong frowned slightly, and said: "A Buddha dust for your broken thing, Da Ming is already very generous, this palace will be regarded as an equivalent exchange, if you want to do business with my Da Ming, you must follow our rules!" ”

Anthony exclaimed, "This conch I brought from Amsterdam, in the Netherlands, is of great significance, and it is not comparable to that of a lowly Buddha." ”

The governors of Spain, England, and Portugal were all watching the play on the sidelines, wanting to understand the bottom line of the Ming Empire through the domineering Dutch.

Mao Xiang walked out and said seriously: "Mr. Anthony, Buddha dust is the magic weapon of my two major religions, Ming Buddhism and Taoism, to kill demons, and its existence is more meaningful, and it is not lowly!" ”

Anthony spread his hands and said, "Oh, you're so rude, and not as hospitable as rumored, and I'm disappointed in you as a state of etiquette." ”

Zhu Cihong patted the dragon throne and said coldly: "If you want to get benefits for free, wait for your Grand Speaker of the United Republic of the Netherlands to sign and let your Netherlands become a vassal state of my Ming Dynasty, and the palace will naturally reward you with valuable gifts." ”

Seeing that he couldn't get any benefits, Anthony had no choice but to change the topic and ask: "Your Royal Highness the Crown Prince, you want to trade with us directly, can you have full authority to represent the Ming Empire?" ”

Zhu Cihong affirmed: "Naturally, can you represent Deniland with full powers, on behalf of the seventeen old fellows on the board of directors of your East India Company?" ”

Anthony was stunned, he found that the crown prince of the Ming Empire above seemed to be very familiar with the Netherlands and the company, and even the speaker and the board of directors had seventeen people?

Anthony suddenly felt that this business was not negotiable, and he replied honestly: "I can be a plenipotentiary, you can put it down!" ”

Anthony is also a capable man, he was a sailor in his youth, and he was also a merchant who drove his own merchant ship to run goods, but unfortunately, society gave him a deep beating, he went bankrupt, and even lost his pants, so he could only join the Dutch East India Company to work and make a living.

Since Anthony changed his pants, his luck began to turn around, he mixed well in the new company, and even coaxed and deceived to make a lot of orders, and was sent by the company to Batavia, the Asian headquarters, and within a few years he became the governor of the Dutch East Indies!

Antony, who became governor, not only monopolized the overseas trade between Vietnam and Japan, but also successfully expelled the Portuguese and occupied the colonies of Ceylon and Malacca in several wars against the Portuguese colonies in the East.

If he succeeds in Daming's business, his position in the company will be more stable, and the dividends will be more and more.

On the way from Shanghai to Nanjing, Anthony saw the rich cities south of the Ming River, the well-developed water and land transportation network, and the prosperous industry and commerce, all of which made him feel that this was the way for them to make a fortune for the East India Company.

Thinking of this, Anthony's attitude changed drastically, and said: "Your Royal Highness the Crown Prince, I heard that the Ming Dynasty is going to open several coastal cities as ports for maritime trade, when will we be allowed to open up navigation and trade?" ”

Zhu Cihong nodded and said, "When the issue of Dongfan and Haojingao is negotiated, you will naturally be allowed to open up navigation and trade." ”

Anthony smiled: "I, the Dutch East India Company, am willing to send troops to expel the Spaniards from Dongfan and monopolize the trade rights of Dongfan, I wonder what His Royal Highness the Crown Prince wants?" ”

Without waiting for Zhu Cihong to speak, the Spanish governor in Manila, Sabignano, was dissatisfied, and he said angrily: "Anthony, don't be complacent, with your little strength, you can't take our stronghold in Dongfan!" ”

Discussing the ownership of the Ming Dynasty in front of himself, Zhu Cihong suddenly became angry and shouted: "Dongfan has been the sacred and inseparable territory of my Ming Dynasty since ancient times, and it is not your turn to put your beak!" ”

Zhu Cihong continued: "The Ming Dynasty is not the Qing Dynasty, and will never do that kind of dirty thing that will be compensated even if it is far away, if you want to go as you wish, look for colonies, although you can go to the peninsula to find Manchuria!" ”