Macaulay eventually had no choice but to go back - in fact, it no longer made sense for Macaulay to stay on Liu Wenbing's flagship.

Liu Wenbing's attitude is so tough, either release people and compensate for military expenses, accept the conditions of the Ming Dynasty, or prepare the army to fight, and England can choose whether it is at sea or on land.

Liu Wenbing said that for the sake of fairness, the number of troops and warships dispatched by the Ming Dynasty will definitely not be one more person than that of England, nor will there be one more ship, but only the exact same number of people and warships.

Jiang Haijun on the side even said that otherwise, Daming would not have transferred troops anymore, and his own detachment would have fun with them - with the same number of soldiers and warships, isn't this bullying?

Regarding Liu Wenbing's, Macaulay thinks that he is not a fool, so he naturally cannot be fooled.

It's not that I haven't fought before, I have fought several times on the continent of Africa, and if I did, would I still be in the situation like today?

Besides, Macaulay didn't get such a big mandate from Cromwell.

If Liu Wenbing's request is only to release people, then there is no problem, Macaulay can agree now, even if little Ellis is released together, England will have no problem admitting this dumb loss.

However, Liu Wenbing's request was not only as simple as releasing people, but also included compensation for military expenses and asked England to agree to other conditions of the Ming Dynasty.

The biggest headache for Macaulay is these two, because these two are not specific conditions at all, and can only be regarded as a framework at best.

For example, on the issue of military spending, how much military spending should be compensated? Is the settlement unit franc or the gold and silver of the Ming Dynasty?

For example, how many other conditions are there? One or two? Or is it eight out of ten? What if there were other conditions that England could not accept?

Cromwell, who was rewarded, was equally troubled by these two conditions: "Did they say anything else?" ”

Macaulay bowed and said, "No, that's what the Marquis who led them said. But from my personal point of view, I would suggest that it be better to drag it out, to talk to them slowly, and to bring Charles I in as well. ”

After a sigh, Cromwell asked, "Why?" ”

Macaulay squeezed a hint of bitterness on his face and spoke, "Because of their warships." They had six warships, and with the exception of the South Cape Town, there is no way of knowing how many ports they shelled, such as whether Edinburgh was also shelled by them.

Because we don't know how many ports they shelled, let alone how many francs they cost a shell, we have no way of judging how much they are asking for military damages.

As for the last condition, to agree to the other conditions put forward by the Ming Empire, we have no way to agree to them now, because the people in the country will not agree.

If we agree to the other conditions put forward by the Ming Empire, the people at home will think that we are greedy for life and afraid of death, and we are betraying the interests of England.

There is a high probability that the people who would have supported us will turn to Charles I, and then the situation will become very passive. ”

After nodding, Cromwell suddenly turned his gaze to Lambert: "Lambert, how is it in France?" Have there been any recent developments? ”

Lambert bowed down and said, "I'm sorry, there is no good news from France, I guess those noble lords are still discussing, right?" ”

Cromwell hummed and said, "If, I mean, if we have a war with the Ming Empire now, how sure are we that we can drag those people in France into the water?" And how many are likely to drag other countries along? ”

Lambert shook his head and said, "I may disappoint you, Your Excellency. With the exception of France, which we deliberately spread the news, there will be no one in the remaining countries who will stand by us.

After all, now the whole of Europe is in chaos, all the countries are busy fighting, and the arms of these countries are purchased from the European agents of the Ming Empire, the East India Company.

For example, the Holy Roman Empire, it is said that they have formulated a new policy, that is, any Ming citizen who enters the territory of the Holy Roman Empire automatically has the status of a citizen.

Another example is the Netherlands, now more than ninety percent of the arms in the entire Netherlands come from the Ming Empire, and the East India Company fell to the Ming Empire early, otherwise there would be no Ming Empire to stand up for them this time.

Perhaps, only Spain, which suffered a big loss at the hands of the Ming Empire, is it possible to stand with us and jointly fight against the evil Ming Empire? ”

Fairfax sneered and said, "Spain? There's no way they're going to stand with us, cowards, cowards who want to bury their heads in their crotches!

They don't even have the courage to open up new territories, and now let them stand with us against the Ming Empire? How could they have the guts?"

Lambert said, "Who knows? I'm only talking about possibilities. In fact, the only ones who are most likely to be dragged into the water by us are the French, and as for the rest of the country, I don't have much hope. ”

After a moment's hesitation, Lambert continued: "Moreover, I have been thinking about another issue all this time. ”

Cromwell asked curiously, "What's the problem?" Why don't you say it and let's think about it together? ”

Lambert said quite entangledly: "Judging from the information in our hands, not only the Holy Roman Empire is buying arms from the Ming people, but the Holy See is also buying arms from the Ming Empire.

In other words, the current relationship between the Holy See and the Ming Empire is in a honeymoon period, if we declare war on the Ming Dynasty now, what will happen to the Holy Roman Empire Ignore it, what about the Holy See?

If the Holy See is firmly on the side of the Ming Empire, what will happen at that time? What's even more terrifying is that once the Holy See has issued an excommunication order again? ”

Lambert's words sent a chill down the minds of everyone present.

Excommunication may not be so frightening for other countries, but for England it is a different story.

Because the Roman emperor who was excommunicated by the Holy See was Henry IV, and England also had a king named Henry IV.

Just like there are always some people in the Ming Empire who call them dogs or stones, there are many people called Henry in Europe, but there are only three who are called Henry IV.

One was Heinrich IV (Henry IV), who was excommunicated, Henry IV, King of Bourbon, and the other was the first Lancastrian monarch of England.

After shaking his head, Cromwell spoke: "Render to God what is God's, and to Caesar what is Caesar's, and the Holy See's excommunication decree is not as good as it used to be, and it may not be able to do anything to us, especially if we drag France into the water together." ”

Deliberately making a relaxed gesture and squeezing his shoulders, Cromwell continued: "Who knows if the Holy See owes money to the vampires of France?" You know, there is no one who France does not dare to lend, and they are always able to recover the loan. ”

Fairfax shook his head and said: "Even if the Holy See owes France money before, it is impossible for the Holy See to owe France money now—how can the Holy See still be short of money when the printing press for indulgences is activated?" ”

At the level of Cromwell, Fairfax and Lambert, they have long seen everything thoroughly, and they can see things like indulgences even more clearly.

According to the Roman Catholic Church, the blood of Jesus and the saints who were later martyred was more than enough to atone for the sins of mankind, and accumulated to form a "treasury of sanglican goodness", which could be held by St. Peter's successor——— that is, the Catholic Church represented by the Pope of Rome, to atone for the sins of specific people on behalf of God and open the door from purgatory to heaven.

The question is, how many years have passed, and the blood of those saints in the "Holy Father's Treasury of Good Nature" has long been used up, right? Especially since they have sold so many indulgences before, and the remaining ones are probably not even enough for a plate of blood tofu......

After a long silence, Cromwell spoke: "Let's do as Macaulay said, drag it out, talk to them about military spending, and then ask them what the other conditions are."

As for the two businessmen of the Ming Dynasty and Little Ellis, it is better to be imprisoned for the time being before these conditions are negotiated. ”

Regarding Cromwell's decision, everyone else present nodded in agreement.

Those who can mix in this position, in addition to the family's heritage, have to rely more on their own abilities, otherwise they will be played to death by others long ago.

Everyone who is like a human spirit knows very well in their hearts that once the two merchants of the Ming Empire and Little Ellis are released now, there will be no other bargaining chips that can be used to negotiate on their side, so it is better to wait for everything to settle before talking about releasing people.

Lambert let out a long sigh of relief and said, "Actually, that's good news, isn't it?" At the very least, everything is still talked about at the moment, the fleet of the Ming Empire is not here to help Charles I, this is already good news, right? ”

Cromwell nodded and said, "Yes, in this regard, this is indeed good news, perhaps, we can talk to the fleet of the Ming Empire?" ”

Fairfax asked a little confused, "Talk to the fleet of the Ming Empire?" What to talk about? ”

Without waiting for Cromwell to explain, Lambert said directly: "Hire them, of course." We can talk to them now and hire them to bombard the ports under Charles I.

Even, can we talk to them about hiring them to fight for us? ”

Fairfax exclaimed, "Absolutely impossible! ”

Seeing that everyone else's eyes were on him, Fairfax explained: "Let's not mention whether we can negotiate with them successfully, and no matter what the final result is, but one thing is for sure, we must not hire them!"

Gentlemen, think about it, if they can come all the way to England to shell our ports for the sake of two merchants, and we hire them to fight for us, what will the people of England think? What will the nobles think? What will the rest of the country think?

Even if we don't think about these issues, we have to think about the cost – how much do we have to pay to hire them?

And there is an even more vexing question, that is, when the war is over, will they leave? Who can guarantee this?

Don't say we can make a contract with them, in fact everyone knows that contracts are meant to be torn up, they were, they are, and they will be. ”

Fairfax's words caused several people to fall silent together, and the atmosphere that had just been somewhat light became solemn again.

Some things are like window paper, which can be broken when they are poked, but when they are not pierced, many people will look at things with a fluke mentality.

Just like many people playing the lottery in later generations, knowing that their chances of winning the lottery are not great, they still can't help but comfort themselves, what if they win?

Now Cromwell, Lambert and others are in the same mindset - what if the talks come to fruition? What if Charles I was killed with the help of the naval fleet of the Ming Empire?

You must know that Charles I was about to be unable to hold on, and in a year at most, it is estimated that he can be sent to the guillotine.

However, after Charles I obtained a batch of arms from the Ming Empire through the East India Company, the situation of the war directly reversed and began to push the parliamentary army southward.

If it weren't for the fact that the Parliamentarians also got a batch of munitions through the East India Company, I am afraid that things would have gotten worse, and they might even be counterattacked by the royalist army.

It was under this circumstance that Cromwell and Lambert both came up with the idea of hiring a Ming army to fight.

Judging from the current situation, offending Daming is a sure thing, if according to the normal operation, it is to release people, and then compensate for military expenses, and then agree to some other conditions, in order to expose this matter.

However, if you are offended, you are offended, even if you expose this incident, does the mustard still exist? When the Ming Empire thinks about it in the future, is it still a big trouble?

And hiring the Ming Empire's naval fleet to help the Parliamentarian army take out the royalists, then things immediately became different.

First of all, the military expenditure of the Ming Dynasty will be borne by the royalists, even if it is borne by the parliamentary army, it can be completely made up for by the royalists.

The second is to repair the relationship - as long as the army of the Ming Empire is hired, it is a lifelong friendship that has fought together, and the relationship will always be much better than now, right?

It was with this idea that Cromwell and Lambert planned to gamble, but their dream was punctured by Fairfax's fluttering words.

PS: Whisper a few words, last year's Chinese New Year's Eve and the first day of the Lunar New Year, I was in the codeword, and this year is the same...... What about tipping? What about monthly passes? What about referral tickets? Give them all to me, or I'll drag you to the East Factory!"

.。 m.