On April 10, 1648, the third round of armistice negotiations between the Eastern Republic of China and the Kingdom of Spain began as scheduled in Valladolid. Unlike last time, there were a few more people in the negotiation venue this time, they were from Genoa, as the mediator of this negotiation, they first said some words, probably hoping that the two sides would show great sincerity and create peace and other nonsense, and then left, leaving Mo San and Balboa and others to look at each other.

"The weather in Valladolid has not been good lately, and His Majesty has returned to Madrid, are you still used to living, Mr. Mo?" Balboa broke the silence first, only to see him say while inviting Mo San and the others to take a seat.

"It's okay, Valladolid is a beautiful city, I like it a lot. Especially the delicate goat meat, you know, that's my favorite food. If you have the opportunity to travel to the East Coast in the future, then I will be happy to point you to a restaurant that also makes very authentic lamb, made from our bighorn goats from the East Coast, and if it is accompanied by the dry red wine of Xiangshan produced in the Duck Lake region of China, it is really a rare pleasure of life. Mo San first thanked Balboa, then sat down in the chair pulled by the secretary, and then responded with a smile: "Of course, Spain is also a beautiful place, especially Catalonia. I've been there, but now it's occupied by a mob, and that's not God's will, and the order must be restored, isn't it, Mr. Balboa? ”

"I undoubtedly agree with you." Speaking of which, Balboa's face was also a little unpleasant: "The Catalans betrayed their king. This must be corrected. The despicable and shameless French even tried to take possession of the Southern Netherlands and Catalonia. This is simply wishful thinking. It is absolutely impossible to achieve this, and the Kingdom of Spain will fight for it at the last moment......"

Mo San's ears automatically filtered this passage from Secretary Balboa, and he lit a pipe for himself without changing his face, and then said slowly: "I haven't been here for a long time, Eric, I remember that the last two negotiations were also held here. ”

"I haven't been here for a long time because there have been some unfriendly currents of thought against you in the country recently." Balboa stared at Mo San and said with a smirk: "The fleet returning from the Caribbean Sea reports that you attacked Callao six months ago. and captured a considerable number of our transport ships, and the merchants, nobles and clergy suffered heavy losses. Enraged, they approached the king and demanded that you pay for the damage and punish the murderers, or the negotiations would be postponed indefinitely. The king took a great deal of time to appease them, and the fierce naval battle between your fleet and the Mediterranean fleet off the coast of Cartagena at this juncture, deepened the resentment of you again in the country, and the king had to seriously consider peace negotiations with you. ”

"It's normal for anything to happen during the war." Mo San shrugged his shoulders and said, "I personally feel sorry for the merchants, nobles, and priests who unfortunately suffered losses, but this is war, and no one is immune to it. We act as diplomatic negotiators. All that can be done is to do everything possible to end this senseless war so that the tragedy will not be repeated. Isn't it? Do you want to repeat the Callao tragedy next year? ”

Balboa also didn't pay any attention to Mo San's verbal threats, and at this time, the two had a small verbal fight, and it was time to end the nonsense and get to the point.

"Regarding the matter of war reparations, Mr. Mo, how have you thought about it? I have to tell you unequivocally that the Kingdom of Spain must receive reparations from this war, and that is the bottom line, otherwise there will be no basis for negotiations, can you understand that? Registrar Balboa asked expressionlessly as he looked at Mo San's face hidden behind the smoke.

"I think it's better for us to avoid this topic for now, otherwise we might have to wait until next year when we actually make a decision. I have already brought my opinion back to the homeland, but I cannot predict whether, how much, or under what name my government will approve it. Of course, once our government decides, maybe they will ask the Navy to send a fast liaison ship to Spain, then we may not have to wait until next year to know the final results. But before that, I think we might be able to talk about other issues, which is also important, because if your country is completely unable to meet these conditions that we have put forward, then the negotiations will still fail. After thinking about it for a while, Mo San decided to avoid the sensitive topic of "reparations" first.

In fact, the letters he brought back to the mainland had already elaborated on the process of the first two negotiations, as well as some pitifully small results. In this important diplomatic letter, Mo Sanjian continued to adhere to the original cap of 500,000 yuan in reparations, but could make some additional compensation to the Spaniards by way of guò cargo offset. For example, it can compensate the Spaniards with a considerable amount of weapons, medicines, food, steel, leather goods and other war materials to appease the anger of the Spaniards.

After all, Spain's finances are really difficult right now, and it urgently needs a blood transfusion. As for the name, it is easy to find, for example, in the name of "returning Spanish property looted during the war", it can be changed to pay reparations to the Spaniards. In that way, the East Coast people also look good, and the Spaniards also get the benefits, and both sides should be happy with this.

In today's form, Spain may have preferred war materials to cash. The French were gathering forces in the northeast, and a large-scale battle was inevitable, and anyone with a discerning eye could see that the Spanish army stationed in the South Netherlands, which was mostly recruits, was in danger, and a disastrous defeat in the battle was a high probability event. In that case, the Southern Netherlands, which accounted for a large part of the tax revenues of the Kingdom of Spain, would probably be lost.

The loss of the Southern Netherlands will be followed by the territories north of the Pyrenees, then Catalonia, Naples, Sicily, and perhaps finally the Basques, and in short, Spain has reached the most critical moment, when they are in dire need of large sums of material and personnel to counter the growing ambitions of the French.

Balboa also seemed to know that it was impossible to agree on the issue of reparations now, because their asking price was clearly beyond the scope of Mo San's authority, so he stopped dwelling on the topic and began to turn his focus to other aspects: "I don't think your country's proposal to set up a military buffer zone east of the Paraná River and west of the Uruguay River is inappropriate. The Paraná River is an important transport route for our country, with Santa Fe and Buenos Aires as important nodes, and we must ensure the safety of this transport route. If the area east of the Paraná River were to be designated as a military buffer zone, it would be difficult to guarantee its security, and my Government therefore believes that we should have the right to build forts and station troops there, and that foreigners should not interfere unreasonably. As for the demilitarization of Buenos Aires, it is even more impossible. ”

Balboa's remarks were based on the premise that the actual occupation of the area east of the Uruguay River by the Republic of China on the east bank of China had been tacitly acquiesced, and that this was the basis of negotiations, like the Spaniards' demand for reparations, and was non-negotiable, otherwise the war would continue.

Mo San was silent for a long time after hearing this, and only after a long time did he respond very bluntly: "But the stationing of troops in this region will affect the safety of navigation on our Uruguay River, which will make our government and people feel uneasy, and we cannot tolerate it. Let me tell you the truth, my government has been trying to develop the Uruguay River basin for a long time, and the conditions here are very good: the river is full of water, deep enough for large ships, and the land on both sides is very fertile, and if we can't guarantee the safety of this waterway, we will never be able to develop it on a large scale. ”

The meaning of Mo San's words is very straightforward, that is, if you are stationed in the area east of the Paraná River, then we will not be at ease. We're afraid of a surprise attack from you, so you'll have to get out of this area.

Balboa, of course, understands this, but he can't afford to back down on every issue without principle. Therefore, he and Mo San engaged in a lengthy argument on this point, and after much further discussion, it was finally decided that the Spaniards could build up to one fortress east of the Paraná River and west of the Uruguay River, garrisoning no more than 500 men, and at the same time they would be granted the right of navigation of the Uruguay River. In return, Spain pledged to maintain the state of law and order there, while Buenos Aires had only a small number of policing troops.

Of course, this concession by Spain was obviously not enough, but they also agreed to Mosan's proposal not to sell any territory of La Plata to any third government or citizen without the knowledge of the East Bank government. If, for some reason, the Spaniards did have to sell their land or minerals, the government or merchants of the Eastern Republic of China had the right of first refusal.

This was in fact a juxtaposition of the two terms proposed by the East Coasters, with the result that both sides took a step back and compromised with each other. The Spaniards kept their military presence in the region, albeit of little significance, and the East Coasters ensured that no other colonial power would pop up around their territory, reducing the risk to their own defenses.

After these two discussions, the topic gradually moved on to the most crucial part, that is, the question of whether the Kingdom of Spain should open its Pacific coast to the eastern republic of China. (To be continued......)