As mentioned before, although the Ming Dynasty is strong, it is only a novice in the Age of Discovery. The sailor of the Ming Dynasty also needs such a guide.

Mao Jue fell in love with the Dutch East India Company, there are three aspects, first of all, these red-haired and red-nosed Dutch have been doing business with Dongjiang for more than ten years, and they can be regarded as acquaintances, and secondly, the Dutch are indeed the first maritime power at present, but the most important thing is the third point!

At this time, the Netherlands had reached its peak, and even they didn't realize that they had begun to slowly decline.

The Age of Discovery is divided into two periods, Spain and Portugal can be regarded as the first period, and after the Anglo-Spanish Sea War, it can be regarded as the second period, and the rise of the Netherlands is between these two periods, there is an extremely large factor of chance and luck, first of all, it caught up with an extremely golden age, the Thirty Years' War!

With the geographical discoveries of Spain and Portugal, the silver of the Americas and the wealth of Asia continued to flow into Europe, so that the strength of the merchant class gradually rose, and commerce gradually opened up its own new space between feudal castles and farms, and with the Renaissance of the fourteenth to sixteenth centuries, bound by the Holy See, the viscous like a pool of stagnant water of thought gradually flowed, people no longer believed that the Pope was the only keeper of the keys to heaven, and Protestantism such as Lutheran came into being. Whenever a new idea emerges, there is always a fierce and bloody struggle with the old school and the inherent forces, which is the Thirty Years' War.

It was also the first all-European war in history! The Netherlands was fortunate to be on the side of Protestantism.

At that time, Germany, Austria, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and a series of Central European countries, Spain, Portugal, and even part of Italy, all belonged to the same family, especially the Habsburg family, which was able to marry a daughter-in-law and have children, this family monopolized the throne of the Holy Roman Empire, and the Pope of Rome together formed the spiritual and political rulers of the Middle Ages, but there is an old saying in China, the wood is beautiful in the forest, the wind will destroy it, the Habsburg family is too powerful, and it must also attract the envy of other European powers.

So after the first horn sounded in the Bohemian War of the Holy Roman Empire's civil war, neighboring countries have sharpened their knives and joined the war, first of all, Denmark and Sweden, and then since the Magna Carta, the United Kingdom, which has become increasingly tense with the Holy See and formed its own Protestant church, also joined the war, France was originally a Catholic country, and because of interests, jealous of the rolling dividends brought by the division of the world between Spain and Portugal, France also joined the Protestant alliance and sent troops to attack Spain, which was a royal branch of the Habsburg family.

In this sharp contradiction, the Netherlands, which had been at war with Spain for decades and sought its own independence, naturally became an ally of these surrounding powers.

But now, the situation in the West is not the most in full swing of the Thirty Years' War, after Mao Jue's Western father-in-law, Adriana's father, Duke Sagan, and Imperial Marshal Wallenstein were executed by the emperor, the Holy Roman Empire can no longer have any decent characters to compete with the great powers for hegemony, Denmark, Sweden have sent troops one after another, and France has also defeated the Spanish Army, which is known as the strongest army in Europe.

Then, the role of the Netherlands in containing Spain was greatly weakened.

Ruferi was still full of pride in the Protestant Alliance, but he didn't notice that there had been a serious crack in the Protestant Union so far, after all, whether it was France, England, Denmark or Sweden, it was by no means an internationalist warrior, and its goals were the rights of the Holy Roman Empire and the gold of Spain, which was squinted and scarred, and you made a fortune there, is it possible?

Even if Mao Jue has blurred his historical memory, he also remembers that in a few years, the Netherlands will be unlucky, his allies Britain and France will have to declare war on it one after another, and France seems to have occupied the Netherlands for a time, even if the Netherlands has the world's most powerful navy, it can't change its innate capital of just a small country.

If Mao Jue really took a stake in the Dutch East India Company, when it was time to turn his face, Mao Jue would definitely send the Ming Army west to the European continent to support the Netherlands, which was an excellent excuse to meddle in the Western continent.

It's a pity that history has no ifs, since Lu Feili, who represents the seventeen-member board of directors, feels so good about himself, then Mao Jue has nothing to say, and getting on the pole is not a business.

Besides, there is more than one East India Company in the world!

The group of Brits in front of them rushed to cooperate with Mao Jue!

The British can be regarded as pragmatic, in history, during the British Empire, in order to obtain trade with China, the British Magherny mission to meet the old Tartar of Kangxi is also three bows and nine knocks, this face to face Mao Jue, but also put his head deep on the ground, compared to the arrogant appearance of Lu Feili a few days ago, Mao Jue's cronies and ministers around him immediately felt comfortable, this is the treatment that my heavenly kingdom should have!

It's a pity that this Mao Jue can definitely be regarded as bullying the soft and afraid of the hard, several Britons are respectful, but he didn't even give a good face, arrogantly walked past the heads of a group of British gentlemen, sat down on the soft big chair, and shook his sleeves, Mao Jue hummed slowly.

"Get up!"

"Thank you, Lord Regent!"

Don't ask a few Brits why Nanjing dialect is so slippery, if you want to do business with Chinese these years, you have to learn Chinese well, we are so tough!

After kowtowing again and thanking them, these people could be regarded as standing up, but obviously they didn't even have a place to sit, but several English gentlemen were still nodding their heads there happily.

"Hearing that the Lord Regent had sent a trade invitation to the Company through Father John, the entire Company was overjoyed, and the Board of Directors sent several people to carry a gift of three thousand pounds of spices on the Red Deer as a gift to the Regent!"

"The company hopes that the regent will take pity on us foreign barbarians, give us the trade franchise of the Ming Dynasty, and give us a way to make a living!"

Excitedly almost flying, a few businessmen hurriedly told their interests, but unfortunately, Mao Jue is not a rookie like Chongzhen, how can they let them give a gift of tens of thousands of taels plus some sweet words to fool? The old man's face was cold, Mao Jue snorted gloomily, and the words like ice slag splashed on their heads like cold water.

"You seem to be mistaken! This king did not call you to trade with you! ”

"What does the regent mean?"

Almost didn't bite his tongue, and in an instant, this Robert. Lord Smith's old face turned pale, and his words became stumbling, and he asked in amazement.

Mao Jue's next words made Robert even more excited.

"This king wants to buy your East India Company! This king wants to be the largest shareholder of your company, and the businessmen and shopkeepers under this king must also join the company's operation! ”

"This ......"

This is not the era of the developed Internet in later generations, multinational companies buy what they say, and now the East India Companies of various countries are all inextricably linked with the royal family, and there has not been a precedent for any East India Company to be bought by other countries, Mao Jue's proposal is not only for profit, it is equivalent to encouraging them to commit treason.

However, Mao Jue held too many hole cards in his hand, and he leaned forward arrogantly, and he smiled sneeringly.

"What you are most valuable is not the hundreds of thousands of pounds of assets of your company, those few small broken ships, the most valuable thing is the trade routes you have traveled and the supply depot strongholds that you have built, starting from the Lancaster's Golden Deer to travel around the world, these have taken you forty-four years, and this king wants to save these time! That's how I negotiated with you! ”

"If you don't agree, the Ming will still march to the sea, we have a dense population, lush forests, and unimaginably more funds than your East India Company, and Southeast Asia is at the foot of the Ming Dynasty, and India is not far away! In a few years, we will still go there, and if you think the Ming are better to deal with than the French, then let's go to war! Anyway, when you have sufficient benefits, this king will not give you a trade route! ”

Domineering declaration, aggressive attitude, looking at Mao Jue's murderous pupils, Robert was as cold as facing the most turbulent storm on the vast sea, and he was stunned for a few seconds, and then he shook his head with difficulty: "Your Highness, your request is too much!" We have sworn allegiance to the King in the name of God, how can we ....."

"The King? Your king is at war with the council! We have a proverb in the Ming Dynasty, grasshoppers after autumn can't jump for a few days! There are already many people who are dissatisfied with your East India Company's monopoly on Eastern trade, and once Parliament is in power, how long will your royal charter last? ”

In the incredible eyes of several Britons, Mao Jue whistled lightly, and then one of them also had brilliant red hair and blue eyes, but she was a beauty dressed as an oriental lady and hired Tingting to twist her little buttocks, and she also walked up proudly.

"Introducing my dear wife, daughter of the Duke of Sagan of the Holy Roman Empire, Adriana. Miss Wallenstein! ”

At this moment, several Britons immediately opened their mouths, full of surprise and envy and depression, and their eyes fell on Adriana who was sitting on Mao Jue's lap in a big way, Wallenstein was known as a coyote back then, and his daughter was naturally not a fuel-efficient lamp, since she took refuge in Mao Jue, it is not impossible for the West to be so well understood by Mao Jue.

But a few Brits really understand poorly here, no matter how powerful Adriana is, it has been more than ten years since she fled to the East, the war between the British king and Parliament only started last year, and she doesn't count, these are all Mao Jue's own abilities, what British bourgeois revolution, Cromwell Protector, Glorious Revolution, Bill of Rights, I talked about it again in junior high school, I talked about it again in high school, and I can't forget it.

"There is no difference, in my Da Ming, as long as you don't believe in the White Lotus Maitreya Religion, it doesn't matter what religion Lao Tzu believes, you still run the East India Company, and you are acquired by this king, and no one can snatch away the Eastern trade concession, because on the British side, this king only allows you to do trade, and there is no way for others to come, and you also have the Da Ming Sensen Iron Army behind you as a backing, in the world, who dares not to open the door to you?"

"In addition, the Dutch who run the Spice Islands, this king has been very unhappy with them recently!"

This is no longer a business negotiation, Mao Jue's words are like a poisonous snake to deceive Adam and Eve, and a trace of it has entered the ears of these East India Company shareholders, especially the last one.

Don't look at the fact that the Netherlands and Britain are now allies, but the two East India Companies have an enmity, and when they come to the East to operate, the British will naturally not let go of pepper and other spices that are comparable to gold in the West, but these are monopolized by the Dutch, where are the British allowed to get involved? In the fourth year of the Apocalypse, on the island of Anwen, the Dutch arrested more than a dozen British merchants and clerks under the pretext that the British were plotting to seize Anwen Castle, and they were quickly executed, which was called the Anwen Massacre by the British.

At this time, the East India Company was far from being as clamor as it was in later generations, and the company protested to the English king and demanded revenge, but James I also wanted to use the power of the Netherlands to suppress Parliament, so he did not agree! Mao Jue's willingness to deal with the Dutch East India Company was simply too much to match the appetite of these British.

"Your Majesty, this matter must be decided by all members of the shareholders' meeting, and I can't make this decision personally!"

After a pause, the British profiteer with a thin chin showed a treacherous smile, bowed to Mao Jue with a smile and said: "But personally, I am very willing to cooperate with Your Majesty, and I still have some personal notes on navigation over the years that I hope to give to Your Majesty, and I hope Your Majesty will not dislike it!" ”

"I still lack a few shrewd and capable knights, this king, Mr. Robert, is he very competent! Ha ha! ”

The most loyal of the merchant is still the shining gold and silver, and in the evil laughter, the results of the British navigation after forty-four years of struggle were so easily grabbed by Mao Jue.

(End of chapter)