Negotiations, from the beginning of the negotiation to the final consensus between the two sides, always take a certain amount of time and require everyone to pay a certain amount of energy. Like the secret negotiations between the English and the Dutch in Breda, which had been going on for several months, but there were so many differences between the two sides that until now in July 1667 there had been no progress.

In fact, in history, by this time, the two sides should have basically reached a consensus, after all, on June 19, the Dutch fleet led by de Knight sailed to the mouth of the Thames, raided the Chatham dock, and successfully destroyed twelve 1,000-ton warships of the British, and the Dutch fleet ran rampant on the Thames for three days, and finally all returned safely. Now, de Knight has been blocking the mouth of the Thames.

For the British, this is not just a shame, they have no power to fight back, and it stands to reason that the British should make concessions in the negotiations, but the British are holding on because they still have a bargaining chip.

This chip is Da Ming!

Perhaps the Dutch had an advantage in the war with the British, but in the face of the Ming Dynasty, they could only be beaten passively, not only because the Dutch were weak in Asia and in the waters east of the Cape of Good Hope, but more importantly, the Ming Dynasty's sea power was too amazing. Some even claim that the sea power of the Ming Dynasty is equivalent to that of the whole of Europe combined.

Whether it is true or not, no one knows, but it is certain that the Ming can help Britain in all aspects, and it is precisely because of this bargaining chip that the negotiations in Breda have repeatedly reached an impasse.

On this day, as in the past, in order to be able to reach an agreement as soon as possible, Pepis once again came to the palace where Xiong Cixu lived, perhaps because of the long time of contact, Pepis had learned the etiquette of the Ming Dynasty, and according to the etiquette of the Ming Dynasty, he bowed to Xiong Cixu and greeted him.

Then as soon as he sat down, he took the initiative to say.

"We have brought good news from the merchant ships of West Africa, I heard that your fleet met the Dutch fleet in West Africa, and then defeated their fleet......"

This is certainly good news for Peppis, and even for the UK. It is true that the Ming could not give the British the help they needed now - to defeat the Dutch fleet at the mouth of the Thames, but the conflict between them and the Dutch at sea could contain the Dutch power, at least in the next few years, the conflict between the Ming and the Netherlands will be unavoidable, and the Dutch parliament has made it clear that they will definitely recover the Dutch East Indies, the Cape of Good Hope and other colonies occupied by the Ming Dynasty.

The war between the Ming and the Netherlands was a good thing for Britain.

Listening to Pepys's mention of the conflict off the coast of West Africa, Xiong Cixu, who also learned the news, said in a rather complicated tone.

"It wasn't a fleet, it was just an unexpected encounter between two small warships sailing along the coast of Africa and a Dutch warship. What a pity, only one Dutch warship was sunk and the other escaped. If it were not for two small warships, but two cruisers, the Dutch would not have had a chance to escape, but this was nothing, and when the fleet in the South Seas reached the Cape of Good Hope, our forces in the Atlantic would have been strengthened, and at least the Dutch would not have had any advantage. ”

Xiong Cixu's words made Pepis sigh helplessly in his heart, the Ming Dynasty mobilized a fleet, which was enough to deter the Netherlands, but what about Britain? Thinking of the several warships that were destroyed, and even the "Royal Charlie" that was towed away, he couldn't help but feel a tingle in his heart. These warships were built at great expense by the British, and the British fleet, which now survived the war, could not even sail out of the Thames because the mouth of the river was occupied by the Dutch. At this moment, I heard that the British fleet was easily destroyed by the Dutch in the harbor. Peppis was naturally heartbroken. But heartache is heartache, and the most important thing now is for the future.

"This is for sure, the power possessed by Daming is by no means comparable to that of the Netherlands."

That's exactly what Britain has to borrow, especially after the plague, the fires, and the De Knight attack, and they don't have much leverage left.

Prior to this, although the Ming put forward their conditions, the king, especially the Parliament, did not immediately agree, but in the face of the Dutch's step-by-step pressing, in the end, the Diet decided to make concessions.

"The day will not be far off when Britain will regain its strength."

Xiong Cixu followed, but his tone seemed a little playful, after all, everyone knew that the current Britain simply could not come up with enough funds to restore its navy.

Although he knew about the situation in Britain, Pepis still echoed and responded.

"Yes, soon, maybe the war destroyed our fleet, but we will soon restore our strength, that's for sure."

"So Britain has decided to rebuild its fleet? Well, I'm sure the UK will do that in the next few years. ”

Xiong Cixu hurriedly turned his mouth to flatter.

The other party's flattery made Pepis feel more comfortable, but he didn't show the slightest smugness, but said calmly.

"Your Excellency, perhaps Britain can rebuild a navy in the next few years, but now we are facing unprecedented financial pressure, the fire in London has destroyed everything here, and the financial community in London is doing everything possible to raise funds for the reconstruction of London, and as for Parliament, it is no longer able to invest more money, and it is difficult to raise funds for the establishment of a navy."

Unlike the Ming Dynasty, which provided military spending according to the military budget, the British took a completely different approach to raising military spending, and Cromwell raised military spending in the form of short-term bonds, although he was able to raise a large amount of money in a short period of time, but the combined burst of repayment pressure bankrupted the Republic's finances. During the period of the Emperor's restoration, long-term and short-term bonds were used to raise military expenditures, short-term bonds were used for temporary expenses such as war expenditures, and long-term bonds were used for the maintenance of the fleet of Suri, and then gradually amortized with taxes, because the maintenance of the fleet of Suri was the largest military expenditure. Through this kind of leveraged equilibrium, although there were financial constraints during the period of the Restoration, there would be no bankruptcy.

But the fire in London and the surprise attack by the Dutch changed everything, and the British financial community, which had been hit hard by the fire of London, spent most of its money on rebuilding and could no longer provide funds to buy bonds, while the navy, which had suffered heavy losses, needed to be rebuilt.

"So, we need your country's support!"

In the previous negotiations, it was Xiong Cilu who said that the Ming could provide Britain with a huge sum of money for the purchase of their colonies, and Hyde, who was in charge of the negotiations at that time, did not immediately agree, after all, the sale of the colonies required the consent of the Congress.

And now Pelce is not hiding this, he is well aware that it cannot be hidden, because just a week ago, Congress had already vetoed the budget for the Navy, because Congress could not provide funds, and the financial industry in London could not provide this huge amount, and in the face of this situation, His Majesty the King had to make his own choice.

"Your Excellency, you should know that Da Ming's help is not gratuitous."

Xiong Cixu said this, and looked at Peer again.

"But I believe that our conditions are optimal, and believe me, that's a fact."

This is certainly true!

Pepis knew very well that in the target Europe, there was no country that could offer such lucrative conditions as the Ming Dynasty. But for Britain, there is still room for negotiation on these conditions.

"We felt that the idea of getting congressional support on the issue of selling the colonies was almost impossible, and it would be controversial."

Pepys said half-truthfully.

"In order to avoid unnecessary controversy, perhaps, we can go the other way."

"Oh? Another way? ”

Xiong Ci is a little curious, the purpose of this visit to Britain is to take advantage of the defeat of Britain, to get a handful from him, of course, His Majesty himself is also full of interest in British colonies in North America, especially the new Amsterdam that has been renamed "New York", His Majesty seems to want to use it as a colony of the future Ming Dynasty.

However, immigrating to North America is not an easy thing for the Ming Dynasty, and this is also the Ming Dynasty needs the United Kingdom to sell the island of St. Helena in the Atlantic, which is not only a springboard for the Ming to enter Europe, but also a springboard for the Ming to immigrate to North America, after all, the future Ming immigrants are likely to need to enter North America from the Pacific Ocean, not necessarily the vast Pacific Ocean.

"For example, the way of lending, compared with selling, is more acceptable to Congress, and of course, the way of payment by Daming has also been adjusted to borrowing."

"Lease ......"

Xiong Cilu pondered for a moment, as a scholar of the Ming Dynasty, of course he knew that the so-called "lease" and "sale" were actually just word games.

Face is not only a feature of the East, but also in Europe, and the sale is unacceptable for many people, with the meaning of force, but the lease at least gives England a chance to reclaim those places in the future.

It's just that for Daming, this seems to be a loss-making business.

However, after weighing it in his heart for a moment, Xiong Cilu still nodded and said.

"Lend-lease...... There is no problem, but if it is a lease, I think some of the corresponding terms will need to be renegotiated, what do you think? ”

Peppis nodded equally politely.

"Of course. Of course, the conditions need to be re-negotiated, such as the amount of the loan and the interest, and a series of other issues, such as the period of the loan, the immigration of Britain, and so on, all of which need to be discussed. But I believe we can come to a consensus, what do you think? After all, we have a common enemy. ”

"That's true."

Xiong Cixu took a sip of tea and replied with a smile, but there was a sneer in his heart...... A common enemy?

This is only temporary!

For the Ming Dynasty, at least for now, there are no so-called enemies in Europe at all. The Ming Dynasty's policy in Europe is very simple, that is, to take advantage of the contradictions between European countries to obtain benefits for the Ming Dynasty as much as possible. As for what so-called friends or enemies are, they are not within the scope of Da Ming's consideration at all.

Perhaps, for the Ming Dynasty, who was accustomed to the tributary system of Dongfang City, they were unfamiliar with diplomacy. But in the "Warring States Policy", in the history books of China's Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. It is not uncommon to see vertical and horizontal techniques. The scholars of the Ming Dynasty learned a lot of diplomatic skills and theories in history books. All that is needed now is diplomacy that could not have been used in the past. Apply to Europeans.

Today's Europe is like China in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. Contradictions and conflicts between countries are continuous. There is no so-called friendship between countries, only interests. That's why. It gave the daimyo room for further activities, and the space to use their own contradictions to fight for their own interests.

Of course, even if they are now on the side that goes against the strategy, the British are also ill-intentioned. It can be said that it is precisely because both sides have their own ideas that the negotiations have become smoother.

Because they both want something from each other, but they don't want to give more.

The negotiations went very well, and the British received the financial support they needed and, of course, a verbal and non-binding future alliance.

For Da Ming, he got the place he dreamed of, of course, Da Ming didn't get it without any price. It's just a bit of money, which is undoubtedly acceptable.

When the negotiations are over, both sides are very satisfied with the outcome of the negotiations, and they both feel that they are the victorious side, and as for who is the real winner, I am afraid that only history will know.

But at least on the surface, it seems that Daming has really suffered.

"We may have really lost a lot this time."

After the banquet, sitting in the car, facing the self-talk of his subordinates, Xiong Cixu, as the person in charge of the negotiation, just smiled slightly, and then said with a smile,

"Are we at a loss?"

Then he asked rhetorically,

"How did I not know that we were at a loss?"

"We had enough money to buy the place. Then you are a barren land, and we have spent so much money just to get a lease, and in a few decades, the British will be able to take that place back from us at any time, and then we will be empty. ”

"That's exactly what it is."

Xiong Cixu did not oppose this possibility.

"But sometimes the meat has to be eaten in the mouth before it can be eaten. If you can't even put the meat in your mouth, how can you eat it? ”

When the words fell, Xiong Cixu said again.

"And this is just the beginning, we have to continue to talk with the others, if we don't have meat on this side, maybe we can eat meat in our mouths on the other side."