In March, Batavia, located near the equator, is already very hot, but the southeast coast of Daming is still breezy and breezy.

On this day, on the sea south of Dongfan, an ocean-going fleet of eleven sailing ships was slowly moving forward.

Don't look at the scale of this fleet, but the firepower is quite amazing, the ten large warships similar to the Fu ship on the periphery have a giant cannon on the front and back, each of which is no less than the newly developed thousand-pound Buddha Lang machine developed by the Fujian Navy Division of the Ming Dynasty, and the three layers of super giant ships in the middle are densely packed with cannon doors on both sides, and the number looks like it makes people's scalp tingle.

Chief Commercial Representative of the Dutch East India Company, Van Fan. Mount. Brock stood on the bow of the superbattleship Catwick with mixed feelings, frowning and pondering.

If it was a few years ago, with a super battleship and ten high-level armed merchant ships, he would have dared to declare war directly on the Ming Empire!

However, now, with this fleet that is enough to destroy a medium-sized indigenous country, he doesn't dare to have any thoughts about the Ming Empire, because he knows that this strength is not enough to pose a threat to the Ming Empire, and this strength can't even beat the fleet under the southeast governor of the Ming Empire!

Of course, he didn't come to war with the Ming Empire, he was only ordered to negotiate with the Ming Empire.

A negotiator, with a super battleship, the East India Company has never been so extravagant, but to negotiate with the Ming Empire, it is necessary to bring such a super battleship, the company's top management just wants the Ming Empire to see the real strength of the East India Company.

The East India Company now has forty such super battleships, and if we are provoked and frantically prepare for war, it will be easy to expand to hundreds within a few years with the terrifying shipbuilding capacity of the Dutch United Provinces Republic.

I hope that the legendary arrogant southeastern governor of the Ming Empire can be interesting, otherwise, a big war is inevitable!

A black line slowly appeared in front of him, and Formosa finally arrived. Mount. Brock took the binoculars from the guards and looked at the coastline ahead.

What a huge island, what an important location, what a good commercial base, but now it has been taken back by the Ming Empire!

He was scanning the long coastline and sighed in his heart, when suddenly he froze and looked horrified.

How is this possible, the castle of Geranza, which the company planned to build in more than ten years, was completed, and it was only less than a year, how did the Ming Empire do it!

This is a huge three-story fortress, how could the Ming Empire complete the follow-up project so quickly, and the fortress is a very high-end building in Europe, from the first fortress to the present less than a hundred years, the technology is fully mature is a matter of decades, how could the Ming Empire build the fortress!

He has seen the drawings of Geranza Castle, the area is so large, it is rare in Europe, even if the Ming Empire is superior in technology and can complete the follow-up project with drawings, it should not be so fast.

If Zhang Bin was here, he would definitely mock mercilessly: "Do you think that the Ming Dynasty is a big country like you, you use thousands of people to escort hundreds of reluctant migrant workers, it will naturally take more than ten years, I have tens of thousands of loyal Ming soldiers under my command, does it take so long to build a small fortress?" ”

The distance is getting closer and closer, and the scene of the fortress is getting clearer and clearer, exactly the same, really exactly the same as on the drawings. Mount. The look of shock on Brock's face grew thicker and thicker, and suddenly, he shuddered, as if he had seen the devil.

Lack of ke, the Ming Empire is even equipped with artillery, such a huge artillery is almost exactly the same as the main gun on a battleship, and it is dense, everywhere!

Hell, he hurriedly lowered his binoculars and yelled, "Quick, lower the sails, slow down, and get ready to drop anchor." ”

With a wave of the command flag, all the battleships quickly lowered their sails, and the entire fleet slowly began to slow down.

The captain of the Catwick, Navy Captain Putman, suddenly burst out of the cabin and ran to Van Hut. Mount. Behind Brock, he said anxiously, "What's the matter, Mr. Brock?" ”

Brock said with palpitations: "They have built the castle of Geranza, all the artillery is also complete, the fortress is the nemesis of the battleship, even a super battleship like the Catwick can't do anything with the castle of Geranza, we can't continue to move forward, and if we go further, it will be within their range." ”

Putman said in disbelief: "Does the Ming Empire's artillery have such a long range?" ”

Brock was about to reply, when a terrible whistle suddenly sounded from the bow lookout, and he subconsciously looked at the lookout, where the sentry was pointing ahead in horror.

I've seen the fortress, it's okay if you don't lean on, what's the panic, you're still afraid that the fortress will crawl over from the sea!

Brock shook his head and slowly raised his binoculars to look forward.

Hell, the eyes are full of warships, at least hundreds, and the main fleet of the Ming army is here!

Brock hurriedly yelled: "Quick, play the flag, we are here to negotiate." ”

Although the more than 100 low-level warships of the Ming army may not have capsized the Catwick, but in case they were capsized, Brock didn't want to be buried at the bottom of the sea for some reason.

Soon, the huge Ming fleet approached, and the two fleets faced off nervously at a distance of several miles.

After a while, the sentry shouted, "They told us to wait." ”

The wait lasted for more than an hour, and at last, the sentry said intermittently, "They said that the fleet must not move forward any further, and they asked us to send a representative over, at most three people." ”

When Brock heard this, he said angrily: "Tell them that it is impossible for three people." ”

Soon after the sentry raised the flag, he shouted, "They, let's, let us ......." ”

Standing here stupidly and waiting for more than an hour, Brock was already extremely impatient, and now the sentry was spitting again, and he immediately roared, "What should we do? ”

The sentry hesitated for a moment, but finally mustered up the courage to exclaim, "They let us go!" ”

Brock was so angry that he almost threw the telescope out and smashed it into the Ming army's fleet.

In the end, of course, he didn't throw the binoculars, just paced back and forth in the bow of the boat.

What to do?

Now he has three options.

Either turn around and leave, or take two people to negotiate, or make a desperate bet and give the order to open fire, defeat the Ming fleet in front of you, and let the Ming Empire know that you know the power of the East India Company.

It's impossible to turn around and go.

He really didn't want to take two people to negotiate.

It takes a lot of courage to give the order to fire, a super battleship and ten high-level armed merchant ships should logically be able to defeat more than a hundred low-level warships on the opposite side, but the Ming army has already defeated the East India Company twice, and it is notorious that they don't want to die, what if they die with themselves?

Just as he hesitated, the sentry shouted in horror: "The Ming Imperial fleet appears in the left front, and the Ming Imperial fleet appears in the left front." ”

Hell, how many warships are there under the hands of the southeastern governor of the Ming Empire, Brock hurriedly raised his binoculars and looked ahead to the left.

"Hiss", he gasped in fright, it turned out to be more than a hundred warships!

With more than 200 warships, the Catwick can't be defeated even if it's covered with artillery, so what should I do?

Soon, the more than 100 Ming warships were merged into the original fleet, and the front of the Dutch fleet was densely packed with warships, and a cold sweat broke out on Brock's forehead.

Suddenly, the sentry shouted in horror: "The Ming Imperial fleet appears in the front right, and the Ming Imperial fleet appears in the front right." ”

Also, how could it be, Brock hurriedly raised the telescope and looked ahead to the right.

"Hiss", he was so frightened that he almost threw away the binoculars, and it turned out to be more than a hundred warships!

Soon, the more than 100 Ming warships were merged into the original fleet, and the sea in front of them was almost covered with Ming warships, and Brock's back was almost soaked.

Suddenly, the sentry shouted in terror: "If they don't reply, they say, they will open fire." ”

More than 300 warships, pressed up, and he didn't have to run, Brock finally said helplessly: "Reply, let's negotiate." ”

After a flurry of flags, the Ming army gave a concurring reply, and an eight-man paddle lifeboat was placed on the side of the Catwick, and Brock, with a guard and a translator, rushed to the opposite Ming fleet in the lifeboat.

The Ming fleet on the opposite side quickly sent a centipede ship, and in the middle of the two fleets, it connected with the lifeboat to pick up the three Brocks, and directly passed through the Ming army's ship formation and rowed towards Dayuan City.

Brock was already a little frightened, and he was even more shocked along the way.

First of all, it is to pass by the castle of Geranza, and you can feel his solidity, his majesty, and his precipitousness when you look at it up close, this is a desperate fortress, with the number of its guns, ten super battleships may not be able to defeat it!

Then, it was to enter Dayuan Port, and there were dozens of warships with wheels parked near the port, and there were warships under the hands of the governor of the southeast!

Then, it is to enter the big city, a large city with a population of one million There is no continent in Europe at this time, and the whole Netherlands is only about a million people, and one city can hold the population of the entire Netherlands, Brock has been shocked beyond measure.

Finally, when he entered the governor's yamen, he was speechless in shock, and the interpreter actually told him that this city-within-a-city, which was equivalent to a medium-sized city in continental Europe, was actually the place of the southeastern governor of the Ming Empire!

The office is equivalent to a medium-sized city, how big does the office have to be, and does an office accommodate hundreds of thousands of people?

Sure enough, the Ming soldiers who led the way in front took him directly to a huge room, this room, it is absolutely no problem to stuff hundreds of people, but the question is, how can there be a table and a chair inside, which is obviously where the host sits, and where the guests sit?

He asked the interpreter for a long time, and the interpreter actually told him that this is the place where the prisoners are interrogated, what is the lobby called!

Lack of k, too much deception, too much deception!

Brock was about to get angry, when suddenly, dozens of people instantly poured into both sides of the lobby, one by one holding thigh-thick wooden sticks, standing on both sides, raising their heads and chests, extremely powerful.

He didn't dare to get angry, the guards' weapons had already been confiscated, so many thigh-thick wooden sticks were enough to beat them into meatloaf!

After waiting for a while, with a shout, a young Ming Empire official finally turned out of the side door in front of the right and sat down on the only stool in the lobby.

Zhang Bin habitually picked up the shocking wood and smashed it on the public case, and then said loudly: "Who are you and what are you doing?" ”

Brock was startled, and then immediately became angry and said: "I am the negotiator of the great United Provincial Republic, do you talk about diplomatic etiquette?" ”

The translation process will not be repeated, Zhang Bin rolled his eyes, and said angrily: "Negotiation is a matter for both sides, you did not inform us that we were going to negotiate, and we did not agree to negotiate, what kind of negotiator are you, you can only be counted as a messenger who came to contact at most." ”

Brock argued in a loud voice: "I am the chief commercial representative of the East India Company of the United Provincial Republic, what courier, you are deliberately humiliating me. ”

Zhang Bin was in a good mood today and decided to play with him.

To humiliate it, to you.

He deliberately humiliated and said: "You can ask your translator, what is the status of the merchant in Daming, even if you are the governor of the East India Company, in our Daming, it is only equivalent to a big shopkeeper of a business, and it is also a lowly status, you know?" ”

When Brock heard this, he learned from the translator for a long time, and sure enough, the Ming Empire looked down on merchants, and the status of merchants in the Ming Empire was not as high as that of farmers, which was simply inexplicable.

He felt that it was humiliating to entangle the identity issue with the southeastern governor of the Ming Empire, so he simply argued: "The situation of each country is different, and the merchants of our United Provincial Republic are the leader, so you should give me the treatment I deserve." ”

Zhang Bin sneered: "I'm sorry, this is the Ming Empire, not your United Provincial Republic, here, you have to follow the rules of the Ming Dynasty." Don't be verbose, if there is something to say, the official is busy. ”

Brock was speechless, he gritted his teeth and thought for a long time, but he really couldn't think of a rebuttal, and in the end, he could only say helplessly: "I am ordered by the Governor to come to discuss the issue of Formosa with your Ming Empire." ”

Zhang Bin pretended not to understand: "What Formosa? ”

The interpreter rolled his eyes angrily, and had to explain, "Formosa is their name for Tofan." ”

Zhang Bin pretended to suddenly realize again: "Oh, Dongfan, Dongfan is the territory of the Ming Dynasty, what does it have to do with them in the Netherlands?" ”

When Brock heard this, he was so angry that he almost didn't jump to his feet, he said angrily: "Negotiation is not based on mouth, but on strength, you listened to the super battleships I brought, we have forty super battleships in the East India Company, do you know?" ”

Zhang Bin shrugged his shoulders and said: "In your words, the negotiation is not based on the mouth, you have a kind of trying to drive all your super battleships, what's the point of just talking." I can also say, if you provoke me, you will end your Batavia, are you afraid? ”

Brock is afraid of a fart, the Ming Empire is going to attack Batavia, this is simply a fantasy.

He was about to taunt Zhang Bin for a few sentences, but suddenly reacted that Zhang Bin was mocking him, the mouth of the southeastern governor of the Ming Empire was too powerful, and it could make people angry to death.

He found that he was not this guy's opponent at all, and it seemed that he could only come hard.

How did this hard come about?

It's very simple, I warn you, if you don't listen to the warning, I'll beat you!