"The envoy from the central government came so quickly?" Next to a bonfire, the commander of the 12th Mixed Battalion of the Army leaned on a wooden box, looking at Xiang Zirui, the director of the Preparatory Office for the Construction of the Fourth Fort of the Corps in front of him.

The two of them are currently the two people with the heaviest positions in the land in front of them, one in charge of the army, the other in charge of the people, and the combination of civil and military. Of course, in terms of the status of the two sides, there may be some asymmetry, Battalion Commander Jiang is a major, one of the high-level leaders of the army system, but Xiang Zirui is only a small director at the deputy section level. And this is the east coast, not the Ming Kingdom, and there is no environment where that small seven-rank civil official can raise eyebrows at the general soldier, so the two really have to study it carefully, it is still based on Jiang Ning, and Xiang Zirui has to listen to him many times.

At this time, Xiang Zirui had just rushed over from the newly built shack that had been used as his own—the house of the small Spanish nobleman who had been exterminated had been occupied by the army as a battalion headquarters—to discuss things with Jiang Ning. Jiang Ning was resting in the courtyard of the battalion headquarters, and several orderlies were setting up a pot of stewed meat for him, which was also enjoying.

In front of them was a large three-legged iron pot with animal hooves and elbows and the like, and under the pot was a burning firewood. Three orderlies were busy around the iron pot, one with a knife in his mouth, and two hands were stirring in the pot with a huge wooden spoon; One was half-kneeling on the ground, carefully adding firewood to the bottom of the pot; The last person is preparing spices, sauces and other accompaniments, and the division of labor is clear and familiar.

There was a sound of footsteps, and a non-commissioned officer with a military hat and a rough face walked in quickly, threw a flamingo weighing four or five pounds on the ground, and then looked proudly at the three orderly soldiers who were busy in front of the iron pot, as if showing off. Xiang Zirui also laughed when he saw it, but this person has a reason to show off, because this Chilean flamingo also has a feather arrow stuck in its body, it is obvious that he shot it down with a bow and arrow, which is very remarkable, and I don't know what his background is, it should be a Shandan or a Mongolian, otherwise who can have this amazing archery skill in these years.

The man with the knife in his mouth saw this, his eyes lit up, and he immediately came over and picked up the flamingo, ready to pick it up and stew it to eat. Jiang Ning was also very happy to see it, and even claimed that Xiang Zirui was lucky, and he would eat rare food such as geese and geese as soon as he came, and it would be good if he continued to have good luck in the next negotiations with the Spaniards.

"The central envoy has arrived at Maolin Harbor, and he has come day and night, and I heard that there are many tasks, and they are not limited to the mess we are doing here." Major Jiang Ning moved his chair to the big iron pot, and while looking at the bubbling pot noodles, he said to Zirui: "Director Xiao Xiang, can you have a little snack now?" The central authorities have sent officials with real power from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to come here solemnly, with the aim of settling everything once and for all, and this is obviously more beneficial to you and me. The little pitiful foundation that I got here in front of me will probably not be removed, I will mix up a little credit, and you will get the future. Do a good job, Xiaoxiang, a lot of the big guys have gone out from South Chile, and you can too. ”

Xiang Zirui smiled shyly when he heard this, and said, "Battalion Commander Chengjiang, your auspicious words. However, this time, the authorities sent a special envoy to negotiate, and it is difficult to say what the specific talks will be. I heard that the envoy of the Spaniards had just arrived in Valdivia and had not gone to the port of Maurin, what was the reason for this? Is something wrong? ”

"Probably not." Jiang Ning pondered for a moment before replying, "The Spanish envoy came on the orders of the governor of Peru. As a plenipotentiary envoy, he naturally needs to go to the place where the incident occurred to understand the situation before talking, and I believe that after learning about these things, he will have a new understanding, and then rush to Maolin Port to negotiate. ”

"Besides, there are some things I said, and you'll know sooner or later anyway." Major Jiang Ning turned to the bowl of broth handed over by the orderly, and after smelling the aroma intoxicatedly, he said to Zirui: "I just received an official letter from the War Department and some letters written to me by my colleagues the day before yesterday, and I learned that the special envoy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs came to Maurin Port to negotiate with the Spaniards, mainly to implement three things. ”

"The first thing is the trade between the two oceans, which everyone is most concerned about." Major Jiang Ning raised a finger and said: "To put it simply, the bigwigs of the Government Council want to implement the trade between the two oceans that has lasted for many years, the previous one is too vague, and it has long expired, this is not serious enough, and it can't be reassured, this time I want to confirm with the Spaniards in black and white, what should be done behind the trade between the two oceans." ”

In fact, the government of the East Coast Republic of China had long wanted to clarify the trade with the two viceroyalty districts of New Spain and Peru, but despite the fact that it had been busy with many other things before, and these trade were also continuing smoothly, it did not bother to ask too much. And this time, there happened to be some clashes between the east and west in the southern part of the Central Valley, and Spain even put forward the threat of interrupting trade, so the central government felt that it was indeed time to clarify what was going on, so as not to get entangled and change in the future.

The Ministry of Trade and the Ministry of Commerce and Industry jointly promoted the matter, and they recommended that the Special Envoy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for negotiations make every effort to reach the following agreement with the Spanish side: (1) that the existing Atlantic trade model should be maintained, but with minor adjustments, that is, the monopoly of Air Canada would end, but it would still manage the customs of the Kingdom of Spain in the five places of Belho, Veracruz, Havana, Cartagena and St. Augustine around the Caribbean Sea, and that other merchants on the East Coast could enter the area for trade without going through Air Canada; 2. The Pacific trade model has been significantly adjusted, and the five major customs offices of Acapulco, Panama, Guayaquil, and Lima, which are still managed by the Southern Rail Company (after the expiration of the Southern Rail trade concession, the Government Council will take over the entire company and continue to manage the customs), will be managed by the central government, and at the same time, the Governor of Peru will be asked to officially recognize that the Valparaíso customs are also managed by the East Coasters - after the annexation of the port of Maurin by the East Coasters, a considerable part of the merchants of the two countries who originally traded here were transferred to the outer port of Santiago for trade, This time, the people of the east coast were officially proposed, just to make up the number of ports opened by the Spaniards on the Pacific coast to five people; 3. In order to compensate the Spaniards, the New World Friendship and Mutual Bank, a policy bank wholly owned by the Government of the East Coast Republic of China, will grant the Royal Government of Spain a credit line totaling 4 million yuan for a period of 10 years, and will allow the Royal Government of Spain to issue long-term bonds of up to 3 million euros in the Qingdao financial market.

To be honest, this condition is still relatively generous. The people on the east coast controlled a total of ten customs in the two oceans, obtained a legitimate trade monopoly, and were free to fight the so-called "pirates" (in fact, most of them were smugglers, or the difference between the two is not too great...... Isn't this an ineffable benefit to dumping domestic goods, but not to the Kingdom of Spain? How can it be! The fact that the Kingdom of Spain was able to receive customs revenues (which were transferred by the people of the East Coast) was the greatest benefit!

In the past, with their incompetent management level, the ten major customs were basically the world of smugglers, and smuggling merchant ships from France, Britain, the Netherlands, and even Sweden, Denmark and other countries frequently "visited" these ports, sold a large number of goods from the Old Continent, and then pulled away the specialties of the Americas, one in and one out to make huge profits.

These commodities undoubtedly squeezed the profit margins of Spanish merchants (the Kingdom of Spain stipulated that only Spanish ships or foreign ships owned by Spanish merchants were allowed to trade in the New World), as evidenced by the fact that 90% of the goods on the American continent were supplied by smugglers throughout history. Smuggling is so rampant that the two viceroyalties of Peru and New Spain also charge tariffs on eggs!

Now after the East Coast people take over, although they collect taxes on their own trade, and the Spaniards can't supervise it, they will more or less transfer a lot of tariffs to them, and it will be a huge income for a long time, which is a real benefit. In the process, the Easterners reaped the proceeds of trade by fighting other competitors (in the name of fighting pirates and smugglers), and the Kingdom of Spain received tariff revenues from the sky, to everyone's delight.

Probably the only ones who suffered were the smugglers from the Old World. Although they were able to circumvent the blows of the East Coasters by smuggling trade in other small ports, this undoubtedly greatly affected the efficiency and volume of trade (how can small ports compare to large ports?). The losses are still not small. Oh, by the way, we can't forget the moth-eaten officials of the Spanish colonies, and their losses are not small! These guys, in collusion with the smugglers, have been selling out the interests of the country for many years to enrich their private interests, and now they are naturally full of resentment when their incomes are drastically reduced by the East Coast, and the attack on the customs officials sent by the East Coast is a concrete manifestation of this dissatisfaction. Fortunately, after years of clean-up, the nine major customs under the control of the East Coast have long since gained a firm foothold, and these people basically can't make any waves.

Therefore, based on the above factors, it is very likely that the East Coasters and the Spaniards will reach an agreement on this. Although officials in Peru, New Spain and other places are not very happy, at present, the resistance is not very large, because a considerable part of them have been developed into comprador businessmen and formed a community of interests with the East Coast, so this is basically a sure thing to confirm in black and white, rather than vaguely as before, which is good for everyone.

"The second thing is the preparation for the construction of the four forts of the Corps that you are concerned about." After taking a sip of the fragrant broth from the bowl in his hand, Major Jiang Ning continued: "The official document given to me by the ministry shows that our department may be stationed here for a long time, at least for more than six months. And if we don't withdraw, there is a great possibility that you won't withdraw. Moreover, I also vaguely heard that the argument that the higher authorities sent people to fight for the establishment of the four forts of the corps this time was that this was a purely teaching institution, which had no military purpose, would not have any impact on the production and business activities of the Spaniards, would not interfere in the internal affairs of the Kingdom of Spain, and would not use it as a springboard to invade the gold and silver mines of the Kingdom of Spain. ”

As a matter of fact, as Major Jiang Ning just said, after several bigwigs of the Executive Committee held a closed-door meeting to discuss, the general premise of insisting on the existence of the Red Flag Prison and the Four Forts of the Corps was finally decided, and then negotiations with the Spaniards were launched on this basis, and the goal must be finally achieved. Liao Xiaoyao, chairman of the Executive Committee, believes that this is the best opportunity to test the bottom line of the Kingdom of Spain, and he believes that if the special envoy for diplomatic negotiations is shrewd and capable, he should be able to achieve a satisfactory result in the end.

In order to reduce the difficulty of negotiations and convince the Spaniards, the East Coast Negotiation Envoy is also ready to offer some bargaining chips that may make the Spaniards more excited. One of them was the sale of machinery, including mining equipment, to the Kingdom of Spain to help them more efficiently exploit the many minerals along the line from Valdivia to Villarrica. There is no doubt about the allure of this condition, even if it is a modified hydraulic machine, its design, materials, work efficiency, reliability, and life are very high, and it will definitely be of great help to the Spaniards, and they can't help but be unmoved. Second, the East Coasters will also promise to help the Spaniards build a road between Valdivia and Villarrica, a national highway of the second or third class by the East Coasters, for the transport of minerals, daily necessities, foodstuffs, and other things, which can be used by both sides and maintained at the same expense.

These two conditions were very tempting to the Spaniards, and if the negotiators had been more eloquent, it would have been possible to compel the Spaniards to admit the fact of succession, and to make them acquiesce in the existence of the Red Banner Prison and the Four Forts of the Corps, depending on their determination, that is, where their bottom line was—in this case, the Peruvian governor might have left the blame to Madrid and let King Carlos decide, although it would have been possible for him to make such a decision in his authority.

"The third thing is the commitment to help the Kingdom of Spain to eradicate the Araucan Indians, who are still active in the mountains and lakes of south-central Chile. Not only did these people not pay taxes to the Spanish colonial government and did not accept the Spanish colonial labor levies, but they also often rebelled, fled, and attacked the white settlers, which caused great headaches for the Spaniards. As such, we intend to send some of our men to help them clear out the Indian resistance in exchange for their acquiescence to our previous transgressions. Major Jiang Ning finally said: "Of course, this purge may not rely on our 12th mixed battalion, but more on the strength of the militia and garrisons in the six counties of southern Chile, and we may only serve as an auxiliary. Of course, I don't think it's worth doing, in my opinion, the relatively sparsely populated south-central region of Chile will sooner or later belong to our eastern republic, and these Indian tribes who are disobedient, freedom-loving, and hostile to outsiders are also a big threat to us, and they must be cleaned up. ”

These three things are what the above wants to implement. You, Xiao Xiang, should rest assured now, right? Major Jiang Ning finished drinking the broth in the bowl and said with a smile.