"Envoy Gao, it's good to see you come and see me, although it seems like I've been embarrassed lately." In a villa outside Amsterdam, Konrad van Boiningen said with a wry smile.

This is his home, but he can only live there for a short time. Because in about a month, he may have to pack his bags and go to Berlin to become ambassador, leaving the center of power completely, which is also a very bitter thing to say. However, he could not refuse the appointment, because the Prince of Orange had a good reason: the importance of the very active thug of Brandenburg-Prussia was growing at a time when Sweden, a traditional ally, was moving further and further away from the United Provinces, and Berlin was in dire need of a veteran diplomat to fight for the interests of the United Provinces.

This big hat is buttoned down, even if Van Boiningen is reluctant in his heart, he has nothing to say on the bright side. The country needs you now, and if you push back and thwart again, then the Orange faction will naturally be able to hype up and make your reputation plummet, and then you think that what you do and say will not be as effective as before. Therefore, knowing that going to be ambassador to Berlin would be very bad for his future, Van Boiningen still had to go.

"We recently approached the East India Company's Committee of Seventeen, but once again to no avail." After finding a chair, Gao Wengang sat down, spread his hands towards Van Boiningen, and said: "I don't remember how many times I have approached the East India Company, but each time it has not achieved much. Personally, I don't think it's the East India Company that doesn't help, in fact they have helped several times, and they have also knocked on the side through their business partners, but each time they have been refused, and I heard that the biggest obstacle to this matter is the Prince of Orange. Well, to tell you the truth, I don't know where he got so much resentment, and he never refused to pardon Speaker DeWitt and let him return to the United Province, and he did not hesitate to offend many people for this. ”

"Then it can't be helped. Moreover, I am afraid that Mr. John DeWitt does not wish to return to the United Province by being pardoned. Because that means that the charges against him have not been cleared, but only pardoned for punishment, and the only person who has the right to pardon him is his lifelong enemy, and he will not agree to such an undignified way. "The only way now is to mobilize the provincial courts to submit a motion to retry the case," Van Boiningen said. ”

"Is it likely? If you want to send at least two judges from seven provinces at the same time, I don't think it's a good thing. Friesland, Groningen and other Orange factions have a huge advantage, I'm afraid they won't agree to do this, right? Gao Wengang motioned to the secretary to take a match and lit a cigarette for himself, and after spitting out a smoke ring leisurely, he said: "If there is really no play, what are you going to do?" The post of Speaker of the Estates-General cannot be left vacant for a long time, much less for the Orange faction. Now that you have the upper hand in many city councils and the power of the provincial councils is growing, it is time to work in that direction. If you need anything, you can come to me, you know where we stand, the Republic of China likes to deal with the republican government, and we can provide the necessary help for this. ”

Konrad van Boiningen politely thanked him. However, when he heard that he could ask for help from the East Coast, he inexplicably thought of the scene of "help" when bayonets flew at the gate of Gwangenpotter Prison, and he couldn't help but shudder for a while. Of course, he also knew that now the republicans needed the help of the people on the east coast, especially in the next war that might break out, if the troops from the east coast of China could stand by them without hesitation, it would be a great merit for the republicans, which would be very helpful in improving their situation.

"Shall we have dinner together?" Van Boiningen also had the servant bring matches, tobacco, and pipes, intending to have a good time. Since the signing of the sale agreement between the East and the Netherlands of the Dutch South African colony (the Netherlands sold it to the east coast for 200,000 guilders), the political climate between the two countries has eased, and the people-to-people technical exchanges and commercial cooperation have also resumed, although the scale is still very limited, but it is indeed somewhat restored, for example, the matches that Van Boiningen took out at the moment were imported from the east coast in the last year, after all, there is no second company on the planet that can provide matches.

"No, thank you." Gao Wengang waved his hand and said, "Actually, I just came to see you. At this time when you are about to leave your home country, I think it is better to leave more of your time for your family. As for my arrangements for the afternoon and evening, I will have a banquet for a few distinguished guests from Russia in the embassy, and if you are interested, you can also come over. ”

Having said that, since the normalization of relations with the Netherlands - and only normalization, and you know with your toes that there is no going back to the past - Gawain has just set up his office in Amsterdam, after all, this is the center of Europe, where all kinds of people gather, and it is very convenient to negotiate business and find out news.

For example, Gawain just spent less than 30,000 yuan on his accounts to obtain a great deal of first-hand information about the Peace of Ainaut: the Peace of Ainaut was signed at the beginning of this year (1680) to end the great war in Europe caused by the Franco-Dutch War. In this peace treaty, the French won a great victory, not only Franche-Comté, Lorraine and other places, but also the South Netherlands, which had been coveted for many years, was also gnawed into a lot of land, if you count the territory obtained during the last inheritance transfer war, the ten provinces of the South Netherlands have been encroached on by the French a lot, and they may be swallowed up at any time - it is worth mentioning that as the main force of the East Ludeutsche coalition army at a certain stage (before the Prussians reached the battle line), Charles V, Duke of Lorraine, also obtained the right to recover the principality, but because he could not bear the garrison rights of the French, he refused to sign the peace treaty, so the Duchy of Lorraine continued to be occupied by the French army, and Charles V became the famous "landless king", which is also an interesting matter.

The Dutch were not without gain in this war either. Although the territory was not lightly damaged during the war, King Louis XIV of France gave the Dutch a low tariff rate that they had not been willing to pay for many years before the outbreak of the war, and opened the door to the import of Dutch goods, which made the Dutch merchants happy, and then continued to push the government to agree to various conditions of the French to reach a peace treaty as soon as possible, of course, this is also one of the aims of the French, and the two sides seem to take what they need, which is a win-win situation.

Other countries, Sweden, an army power, were humiliatingly defeated by the Prussians during the war (Battle of Ferbelin), Skåne was recovered by Denmark, and the weak navy was wiped out on the island of Åland. Although they regained the territory occupied by the Prussian army during the war through the peace treaty (this part of the territory is also the land that Prussia was forced to cede when Sweden attacked Prussia thirty years ago), and also took back Skåne through the threat of war, but the weak situation has been clear at a glance, but they still have a lot of interests in this country, and I am afraid that they will still have to suffer in the future, Prussia and Russia are not good.

It was undoubtedly the Spaniards who suffered the most from the war. They had almost completely lost Franche-Comté and Lorraine, the tax-paying territory of the South Netherlands continued to shrink, and Sicily was ravaged by the French army. Gao Wengang is sometimes very strange, doesn't the country of Spain understand what it means to "taoguang and cultivate obscurity"? Constantly dying all day long, constantly teasing the French, constantly being rioted, constantly losing land, is simply a model of death, synonymous with mental retardation.

In addition to the Kingdom of Spain, the interests of some of the belligerents were neglected. For example, the kingdom of Brandenburg-Prussia, which participated in most of the wars, killed and wounded many soldiers, spent a lot of money (the little money provided by the Dutch was not enough to spend), and as a result, they were not able to recover the West Pomeranian homeland. The German princes, because the war had not been fought on their own territory, suffered little losses, and feared the threat of Louis XIV, so they also opposed the peace. Denmark, on the other hand, was disgruntled by the failure to recover the Skone homeland and was disappointed in its participation in the Dutch alliance.

The three countries were angry at the Dutch's betrayal of their allies by looking only at their own commercial interests, but they could only knock out their teeth and swallow blood in the face of French pressure. At this time, the British took the opportunity to intervene, and their envoys went around the courts of several countries and gained a great deal of goodwill, including the benefits of opening the market, and it was also a way to eat away at the commercial interests of the Dutch in order to enrich Britain.

To the surprise of the East Coasters, Denmark, Sweden, and Prussia were open to the entry of British goods into their own markets while also giving a very fair tariff level, which made some merchants in their countries begin to seek agency rights for East Coast goods - especially Sweden, after the Dutch withdrew most of their investment in the copper and iron smelting and processing industries, their country was already flooded with a large number of high-quality iron from the East Coast. Trade between the two countries was almost cut off, and the Swedes naturally found ways to establish direct contact with the east coast and develop bilateral trade, which was both beneficial to themselves and at the same time could slowly break free from the shackles of Dutch merchants.

Gao Wengang did not expect that the people on the east coast of the war could get so many benefits without doing anything, which was simply incredible, so he happily sent many business representatives to Stockholm, Copenhagen and Berlin to discuss bilateral trade matters. Although Dutch businessmen will definitely make a comeback in the commercial market of these three Baltic countries in the future, they can make a profit for a while, right? The money that leaked through the fingers of the Dutch, if you don't take it for nothing!

Van Boiningen is also well aware of the recent small moves by the East Coasters in the Baltic. However, now that the republicans are so virtuous, they rely on the East Coast in many places, so naturally they have no interest or energy to start commercial competition with the East Coasters at this time. These business matters should be talked about until the post of Speaker of the Third Assemblies is restored, so that the dominant position of the republicans in the government is more obvious, the Baltic Sea is close at hand, and it is like a back garden, and it cannot escape from the palm of the Dutch.

"Russians are slowly rising, and the commercial market is gradually expanding." Konrad van Boiningen was a little surprised that Gawain had just hosted a banquet for the Russians, but he was not too uneasy, because most of the people who ran the Russian business were the traditional Orange nobles, as can be seen from the fact that the merchant ships basically departed from the ports of Horen and Enkhuizen.

"In fact, in recent years, we, the English, have made a lot of money in Russia. Rye from Poland and Russia has greatly stabilized Amsterdam's grain market in the past few years, as even ordinary citizens know. Moreover, they have a very large population, but the country is very backward, and the thirst for advanced technology and goods is very high, and you have deepened the relationship with them, and you have really done a good business. But thank you, High Envoy, as you said, I think it's better to keep more of your time for your family. Interaction with the Russians, there will be opportunities later. Van Boiningen added: "Maybe in the next war, when we are in trouble with Sweden or Brandenburg-Prussia, it would be a good idea to invite the Russians into the war." ”

Gao Wengang was a little surprised when he heard this, and he was assessing in his heart how credible Van Boiningen's words were. If the Dutch were really willing to help the Russian Empire at a certain cost and at a certain cost, then this would be another big variable in the situation on the European continent. You must know that Russia can easily mobilize an army of 200,000-300,000 people, no less than the French, and once it moves westward, it will definitely frighten many countries, including Poland, Sweden, and Prussia, and thus indirectly affect the policies of these countries.

Gawain just knew that the Dutch were very likely to do this! You know, the Prussians were slowly supported by the Dutch because Sweden was not very obedient (of course, their own efforts were also a major reason), and now Prussia also has signs of disobedience, so it seems logical to support a new thug again.

"If the Dutch really invest resources to win over and buy Russia, then will our country also have to invest more? Otherwise, the influence of so many years of investment in Russia will be greatly weakened. Gao Wengang thought silently. Previously, he had only politely invited Van Boiningen to the meeting, but now it seemed that it was only right that the Russians did not come, so that the Russians would have caught up with the Dutch so quickly, even though they had come to Amsterdam for a purpose that was not pure.