"Mr. Marville, Mr. Howle, Mr. Schpaul, I am fully aware of the demands and disputes of the three of you...... Then let me make a fair ruling! Are you willing to accept it? ”

The Ming Emperor sat on a sofa, holding a cup of Mary's milk tea, smiled and listened to the demands of the representatives of Britain, the Netherlands, and Portugal about the Indian Ocean Settlement Bank, and then talked to himself about being a referee.

"Your Majesty, Portugal is willing to accept your ruling."

"Your Majesty, the Dutch East India Company is also willing to accept your fair ruling."

"The Republic of England is willing to listen to your advice."

The Portuguese ambassador and the Dutch East India Company did not think much about it, and simply admitted Zhu Cihong's right to adjudicate, while the British envoy was only willing to listen to the opinions - probably Emperor Zhu's ruling did not satisfy the British, so they did not listen, right?

Zhu Cihong didn't bother with the British, but smiled and said: "Then I said, the settlement bank in Tianzhu was organized by the British East India Company and opened in Goa, a Portuguese territory. The Dutch East India Company can participate in the Shenzhou Union Bank and can hold the Shenzhou Bank...... Huang Jiang and Jabs, how many shares of Shenzhou Bank can you give up, and what is the price? ”

Huang Jiang said: "You can give 20% of the shares of the Dutch East India Company, as for the price...... The principal of Shenzhou Xing is set at two million taels of silver, and the two achievements are four hundred thousand taels. ”

Of course, as many as two million taels of silver would have been shipped from Daming to Versailles, just outside Paris. Only a handful of furs and pearls of great value, as well as a small amount of silver (as start-up capital), would be shipped to Europe – according to Zhu's vision, at the same time as the Shenzhou Union Bank was opened, the Jiale City Bank and the Yiguan Chamber of Commerce (owned by Zheng Zhilong) would also be merged into Europe. The main business of the city of Jiale and the Yiguan Chamber of Commerce is to exchange furs, pearls, and tea for wine, raisins, butter, cheese, woolen wool, and other machinery and equipment produced in Europe.

In other words, the city of Jaller and the official chamber of commerce will not touch the cheese of the Dutch East India Company and the British East India Company.

In the Age of Discovery, taking people and money would lead to war at sea!

With the sea power of the Ming Dynasty, it could not touch the two "sea kings" of the Netherlands and England, so the bulk commodities of the East-West trade such as silk, porcelain, spices, and lacquerware could only be developed without touching their hands, and focusing on the development of new goods.

"Four hundred thousand taels," Zhu Cihong said with a smile, "It's not a big amount for the Dutch East India Company, is it?" ”

"Of course it's not a big amount, and we can accept the offer," Howle paused, "but we must send a director corresponding to the bid." In addition, I would like to know who the other shareholders of the company are and what their holdings are. ”

Jabbs took over the topic with a smile: "The Shenzhou Tour was jointly initiated by me and Brother Shiren (Huang Jiang), and at present, we are two shareholders with a share capital of two million taels. The board of directors has not yet been formed, but the number of directors will be allocated according to the proportion of shareholders' capital contributions, and the majority shareholders will be allowed to send management personnel to participate in the operation of the bank according to the proportion of capital contributions. ”

Zhu Cihong asked Howle with a smile, "Mr. Howle, what do you think?" ”

Howle nodded and said, "Yes." ”

"Your Majesty," Marwel interjected, "we in England are also to take a stake in the Bank of China, and the number of shares held should not be less than that of the Dutch East India Company. ”

Zhu Cihong smiled and said, "Mr. Special Envoy, this question should not be raised with me, I am not a shareholder of Shenzhou Xing. ”

Huang Jiang said with a smile: "Of course we welcome England's shareholding, but ...... Can you represent the Republic of England and set aside 500,000 taels of silver for foreign investment? That's more than 200,000 pounds!"

The pound sterling should theoretically be a pound of sterling silver, but England's finances before the industrial revolution were not sufficient, so there was no less adulteration when the pound was minted, and by the middle of the 17th century, a pound of silver only had more than 110 grams of silver, and the bank of the Ming Dynasty was a little more than two taels (the bank two was ninety percent silver), and 500,000 taels of silver was equal to more than 200,000 pounds.

In today's England, this is also a huge amount of money, not only Marville can't get it, even if the British East India Company can't take out so much money at once - Britain is not the hegemon of the sea in this era, and the Dutch have a greater share of the maritime trade!

Moreover, the capital strength of the Dutch East India Company was much greater than that of the British East India Company.

So the money that the Dutch East India Company could easily come up with, England could not come up with at once.

Huang Jiang knew what was going on in England's financial situation, so he said with a smile: "If England wants to take a stake, of course we will not object, but ...... Please wait until we get to Europe to discuss this! ”

Ma Wei immediately turned his gaze to Zhu Cihong: "Your Majesty, I hope you can guarantee the Republic of England's investment in the Shenzhou Union Bank. ”

"No problem." Zhu Cihong said in his heart: How much is the national honor of your Republic of England? This year is already 1657...... When did Cromwell die? In 1658? In 1659?

Zhu Cihong said: "We can sign a Settlement Bank Treaty to regulate the behavior of the five major settlement banks. ”

"Your Majesty," interjected the Prince of Condé, "France must also have the power to take a stake in the Intese des Incorporation at the right time!" ”

Britain has it, how can France not have it? Oh, except for the money! It is estimated that before Napoleon III came to power, France would not have the money to buy shares......

"Okay!" Zhu Cihong nodded.

Prince Condé added: "In addition, the name of the United Bank of Shenzhou is also inappropriate, and it should be renamed Shenzhou-United Bank of Europe." ”

Shenou Bank?

"Okay." Zhu Cihong didn't have any different opinions, it was just a name, "Then let's sign a "Shenou Settlement Bank Treaty", and the Ming Dynasty, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, France and Portugal will jointly set up five major settlement banks to be responsible for the settlement business between Europe and China. ”

"So...... What about the problem with loans? The French envoy Colbert asked, who was most concerned about getting a low-interest loan for France.

Zhu Cihong smiled: "There is no problem...... I personally provide a full irrevocable guarantee of 3 million bank taels! As he spoke, he stretched out his right hand, Mary. Mancini handed Emperor Zhu the letter of guarantee written in Chinese and French scripts.

Zhu Cihong took the letter of guarantee, handed it to Colbert, and said with a smile: "With this letter of guarantee, Shenzhou-European Bank will definitely provide loans with the best interest rate for the government of the Kingdom of France." As for the details of the loan, let's discuss it after the official opening of Shenzhou-European Bank. ”

He then went on to say to the British ambassador, Marveill: "I can provide England with the same amount of guarantees...... However, a resolution guaranteeing repayment is required by the Parliament of the Republic of England. ”

This can be delayed...... Parliament is not Louis XIV of "I am the state"! And it's hard to say whether Britain has a parliament now!

As for the Stuart dynasty after the Restoration...... Emperor Zhu is quite happy to provide support! Because he heard that the Stuart dynasty was quite reactionary and was the object of the bourgeois revolution in England, of course Emperor Zhu had to support them!

The party in the Pang Family Garden has now ended, and most of the guests have left, leaving only Zheng Zhilong alone.

Zhu Cihong and he still have something to say.

"Old Taishan," Zhu Cihong said, "I plan to set up a Pacific Passenger Transport Company, which is responsible for the passenger transport business in the Pacific, do you think this business can be done?" ”

Zheng Zhilong thought about it seriously and said, "The galleon of the Spaniards can run, and there is no reason why our ship can't run...... The problem is that the cost is high! How many people can a boat hold? How many round-trips can you run? How much will it cost the crew again?

Also, what do you bring back when you transport people to the Americas? If the transport ship is going to sail back empty, then the freight is too expensive! ”