The "Dutch" arrogantly stated that freedom of navigation and free trade are overriding natural norms on the sea, and any act of interception and interference with trade at sea by the Qing Dynasty is a violation of this sacred norm and will inevitably be opposed by all freedom-loving human beings in the world, including the people of the Qing Dynasty. Pen | fun | pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 infoSo the "East India Company" will continue to defend the right of mankind to conduct free trade at sea.

Still, the "Dutch" did admit that if my ships did not interfere with free trade, they would have the same right to sail freely at sea. At the very least, this is a guarantee that the merchant ships that I go out to transport cannons will not run into trouble.

Of course, this goodwill of the "Dutch" is not unconditional. The Dutch demanded that the Qing Dynasty intervene and demand that Korea agree to open its market to the "Dutch East India Company" and allow the "Dutch" to establish a trading house in Pusan and conduct trade. In return, the Dutch East India Company agreed to stop selling Fu to any Qing people other than the Qing officials. Longevity. In other words, the smuggling problem that caused the Manchus a headache could be temporarily solved.

Of course, if the Dutch were allowed to establish a merchant house, and according to the Dutch, there would be some "consular jurisdiction" or something, and it is estimated that the Koreans would be very dissatisfied. But it's better for the North Koreans to be uncomfortable than for the Dutch. Besides, the Dutch only asked the Qing to put pressure on North Korea. If the DPRK does not know each other, the rest of the troops will not need to be cleared by me, and the "Dutch" will do it themselves.

Gao Hongzhong felt that such a result was still acceptable, so the two sides reached an agreement verbally.

……

"Major General, there is information from Jeju Island." A teenager handed a document to Zheng Sen.

Zheng Sen took the document, looked at the wax seal on it, and nodded. The boy walked out.

Zheng Sen opened the file and looked at it.

"The Manchus actually really sent a boat out? Nice, nice......"

……

Half a month later, a North Korean-style merchant ship approached an island near Manila. There is a little-known private port here.

"Why don't you just go to Manila and trade here?" Gao Hongzhong, one of the representatives of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, asked Jimny, who was in charge of piloting.

"For safety. The Zheng family in Fujian has a lot of business with the Spaniards, and they have a wide range of eyeliner in Manila, if it is a small business, it is fine, such a big business, and it is a new businessman, such a thing will spread very quickly in the business circle, and it is impossible to hide it from the Zheng family. So, our boat can't go directly to Manila. Of course, if you are not afraid of being intercepted by the Zheng family on the way back, you can go directly to Manila. ”

"I don't believe it," said one monk-like man, "and I don't believe that anyone can notice that Manila is a big trading port, and people come and go." ”

Jimny glanced at the monk and said, "The tall man is not very conspicuous, but you are like you, even if you shave your head and pretend to be a monk, you are still conspicuous." ”

"It's a big deal, Lao Tzu won't go ashore when he arrives at the place!" The monk said.

"It's even more suspicious that there are still people who don't go ashore when they sail to the port. Of course, if you must go, I have no objection. It's your own business anyway. Jimny said.

After saying this, the monk didn't say anything.

This monk is called (Harmony) Aixin, and he is a white-armored soldier with a blue flag. In order to be inconspicuous, he simply shaved the tail of the money rat behind him and pretended to be a monk. It's just that the robber has a shaved head, and he doesn't look like a monk at all.

Aixin also knows this problem of mine, and this is the first time to trade, so it is also appropriate to be cautious.

The boat approached the harbor gently, and a small boat came out of the harbor, and the boat approached, and Jimny had the rope ladder dropped, and the two men climbed up the rope ladder. One of them, Gao Hongzhong, recognized it as Yuri, and the other was short and black, like a local native.

"Ah, Mr. Gao, I finally see you again. I have to say, your boat is a lot slower. As soon as Yuri got on the boat, he gave Gao Hongzhong a bear hug.

"You ...... Mr. Yury, you ...... "It is obvious that Gao Hongzhong is not used to Yuri's enthusiasm, not to mention, as a European, Yuri has a common bad habit of Europeans of this era - he does not like to take a bath. So the smell on Yuri's body was very touching, so much so that Gao Hongzhong burst into tears and sneezed a few times.

"Mr. Yurui......" Gao Hongzhong finally broke free from Yurui's embrace, "Mr. Yurui, are your cannons ready?" ”

"Of course, as long as I see those lovely silvers, the cannon is yours." Yuri clapped his hands and said, "Let's go to the port." ”

So under the guidance of the native, the ship entered the harbor. After that, the delivery went very smoothly, Yuri got the money, and I got the coveted three cannons. Considering that this was the first transaction, the Manchu ordered not much in quantity.

After the delivery, Yuri smiled and loaded the silver onto the ship and sailed away.

"The waters of the South Seas are not very peaceful, and you know that, because I have told you many times." As he was leaving, Yuri said, "So, don't stay here for long, especially in a private port like this, where many pirates have returned." ”

"And you're still letting us here?" Aixin said angrily.

"No way, the Zheng family is much more dangerous than pirates. The trade at sea is a knife that licks blood, otherwise I would dare to ask you for such a high freight just to send it? I've also bought you the supplies you need for your return trip, right next to the cannon, which I gave you. Put these on board and go. Yuri said with a smile.

As soon as Yuri left, Gao Hongzhong let the ship leave the port overnight.

The next morning, before Gao Hongzhong was too awake, someone woke him up: "Mr. Gao, Mr. Gao, I found a boat over there!" ”

Yu Rui told Gao Hongzhong about the sea, and in the vast sea, it is rare for a boat to encounter another ship. If you do, if you don't have any bad intentions, you will generally run away, and if a boat follows you closely, or even keeps moving closer to you, it is probably ill-intentioned.

So Gao Hongzhong immediately jumped up, and rushed to the deck without even bothering to put on his shoes.

There was indeed another boat over there, and there was smoke on it, as if it were on fire. But the boat didn't come closer to them.

"Mr. Gao, I think there seems to be something wrong with that boat, should we take the opportunity to go over and grab him?" Aixin, who had been listening to Jimny's pirate stories, suddenly became interested.

"I'm afraid this won't work, after all, the emperor's major affairs are important." Gao Hongzhong said.

So the two ships gradually got farther and farther apart.

Of course, if Gao Hongzhong's boat had approached at that time, they would have found that the boat was not on fire at all, it was just a whaling ship of the Zheng family.

As the demand for whale oil grows, the output in the waters near Taiwan is clearly insufficient. So recently, the Zheng family has begun to put some whaling ships into the ocean. It is impossible for such whaling ships to bring whale meat back, and even the cut blubber is difficult to bring back to the port before it decays, so the Zheng family installed a set of large furnaces on these whaling ships, and when they caught whales, they directly used this furnace to refine whale oil. This allows a boat to run at sea for months, hunt dozens of whales and go back.

After that, the ship ran peacefully at sea for two more days, and then ......

"Ship found!" Gao Hongzhong was called to the deck again.

"That's?" Gao Hongzhong looked at the sail shadow in the distance and asked.

"It's the Zheng family's sea patrol ship." Jimny put down the binoculars in his hand and said with a serious expression, "Hang up our flag, the one we bought for two thousand taels of silver." ”

This is a flag of the Zheng family, it is a proof that the ship has paid taxes to the Zheng family, and on the sea in this area, it is a pass-like existence. So the sailors hurriedly hung up the flags.

"Lower the mainsail. Drop anchor and let them come over. Jimny said, "Our boat can't outrun people." As soon as I ran, people became more and more suspicious. After a while, their people will definitely come up to check on the boat, Mr. Gao, you will take out the silver you have prepared, and invite the brothers on these boats to drink, otherwise you will be in trouble. Well, I'm going to get out of the cabin and let them see me, maybe there's going to be trouble. ”

A total of three Zheng boats approached, and one of them approached until it was a few steps away from the Manchu ships. The boat over there set up a gangplank. Seven or eight Ming soldiers boarded the ship. The leader was an officer in his thirties and a half-year-old, followed by fourteen or fifteen half-aged children. And there were more Ming troops on the ship over there, and they all had muskets and other weapons in their hands.

"Where are you ship, and what are you selling?" The Ming army at the head asked.

"General, we are going to North Korea to do business, and we are selling some grain and other worthless things." Gao Hongzhong accompanied the sales.

"We're going to check." The officer said. By this time, Jimny was slowly approaching the side of the ship.

"The smell in the cabin is terrible." Gao Hongzhong walked over and stuffed some silver tickets into the officer's hand.

The officer looked at the silver ticket and said, "You are still sensible." Who is this monk? ”

Gao Hong's center was tightened, and he hurriedly said: "This master's Dharma name is Keats, and he is practicing closed-mouth meditation. Doctors on our ship. ”

"Doctor? Just right! We have a brother on the ship who is sick, so why don't we ask this master to come with us? The officer said.

This situation was completely unexpected by Gao Hongzhong, and Gao Hongzhong didn't know how to deal with it for a while.

"Hehe, a monk! Can a monk's tiger mouth have such thick calluses? I think you're all pirates! Go back with Lao Tzu to check, Lao Tzu will never let go of a bad person, nor will he wronged a good person! The officer's face changed suddenly, and he pulled out a short hand.