In a mansion covering an area of four or five acres outside the South Smoke Factory, standing on the steps of the lobby, Zheng Cai watched vigilantly, and the representatives of the Dutch East India Company and the representatives of Manila slowly approached, but fortunately this time the two sides only glared at each other a few times, and did not taunt each other and start again.

Zheng Cai finally breathed a sigh of relief in his heart, and waved his hand to let the guards on the side retreat. As the emperor said, it is not easy to get these Europeans to sit down.

Although the Europeans knew what they had gathered for before they met, the Dutch and Spaniards finally quarreled over minor issues and even started to fight. If it weren't for Zheng Cai's confiscation of the weapons carried by everyone before the meeting, it is estimated that the first meeting would have caused bloodshed.

The Dutch and the Spaniards disputed in what capacity they each participated in the East Asian maritime trade dispute body. For example, Britain at this time was actually two independent kingdoms, namely the Kingdom of Scotland and the Kingdom of England, of course, during the Elizabeth I period, the title of the British Empire was also used, but European countries did not recognize this country name, so no one mentioned it now.

After much thought, Methwold decided to join the institution in the name of the Kingdom of England, even though the current King of England was from the Scottish royal family.

Although the Portuguese and the Spaniards formed a confederation, the Kingdom of Portugal maintained its independent status, so although the Portuguese representatives present were vassals of Princess Isabella, who claimed the Portuguese throne, the Spaniards only recognized them as representatives of the Kingdom of Portugal, not vassals of Princess Isabella.

But for the representatives of the Dutch East India Company, they naturally wanted to use the name of the seven provinces of the Netherlands, and the Spaniards naturally did not agree, after all, the war between Spain and the Dutch was still going on, and they did not have the courage to recognize the independence of the seven provinces of the Netherlands overseas.

The first meeting ended in a brawl between the Dutch and the Spaniards, merely as a matter of discussing the names of their respective representatives. To Zheng Cai's surprise, the British and the Portuguese, the allies of the Dutch, turned a blind eye to the brawl between the two sides, and could still stand aside and talk cordially and watch the excitement, which was a group of barbarians who did not know etiquette.

Although Zheng Cai thought so in his heart, he did not stand by like the British and Portuguese, and quickly called the family in the mansion and separated the two sides of the brawl. Over the next half month, he spent more than 30 separate talks before finally getting the representatives of the Spaniards to promise not to provoke the Dutch over the issue of their names, and the representatives of the Dutch finally gave up joining the talks in the name of the seven republics of the Netherlands.

After consulting with several assistants, Putmans chose the latter among the names of the Dutch region and the Dutch East India Company. Putmans and his assistants believed that the use of the Netherlands as a member of the dispute body would damage the reputation of the Republic, and that any damage to the reputation of the Dutch, who had just begun to inspire a national consciousness, would not be tolerated. Of course, after a long time, Putmans regretted that he did not choose the identity of the Netherlands, which was the choice that would lose the most for the Netherlands.

However, the current Puttmans obviously did not realize this, and he took his assistant William Kick to look at Manila's representative Sevikos proudly, and then raised his neck and walked towards the main hall first. Not to be outdone, Severikos snorted and took a few quick steps, trying to overtake Putmans and the others.

Behind the Dutch and Spaniards, who were at odds with each other, were Methwold, who was talking to the Portuguese representative Antonio Father Che, and his assistant Wilson.

After Zheng Cai returned the salute to the arriving people one by one, he led everyone into the side hall. Although this side hall is smaller than the main hall, it looks empty after removing many of the furnishings. In the middle of the side hall is a long table made up of several square tables, surrounded by high chairs.

In this way, the Dutch and Spaniards were separated by the long table, and it was not so easy to get their hands dirty. Zheng Cai's rearrangement of the meeting venue, these Europeans are more adaptable. After all, face-to-face conversations can make it easier for them to observe the changes in each other's expressions, and it also allows them to make better judgments.

After arranging for everyone to sit down, Zheng Cai, who was sitting on the north side, said to everyone: "After more than half a month of consultations, we have finally reached an agreement and established this Permanent Conference for the Coordination of East Asian Maritime Trade Disputes, referred to as ASEAN.

In addition to the Ming Dynasty, the Kingdom of Spain, the Dutch East India Company, the Kingdom of England, and the Kingdom of Portugal, the countries, regions, and companies participating in the ASEAN Association also included the Kingdom of Korea, the Kingdom of Cambodia, the Sultanate of Bo Ni, and the Kingdom of Siam.

Putmans finally couldn't help but interrupt Zheng Cai's speech and said: "Dear representative Zheng Cai, the Dutch East India Company participated in the ASEAN Association established by the Ming Dynasty with the intention of maintaining the right of freedom of navigation and trade at sea.

The countries represented here do have the power to maintain freedom of navigation and trade at sea, and I would like to recognize, in the name of a company, that your country has the same maritime rights as a company.

However, Zheng Cai represents that among the four countries you just mentioned, apart from the Kingdom of Siam, which can negotiate again, what kind of power do the other three countries have that can allow them to share the same power with us? ”

Although he did not deal with the Dutch, Sevikos chose to support Putmans out of interest considerations. As for the British and Portuguese, although their power in East Asia is also not strong, it does not mean that they are willing to let their prey become their companions.

However, Zheng Cai did not intend to give in to them, so he said to them: "The Kingdom of Korea, the Kingdom of Cambodia, the Sultanate of Boni, and the Kingdom of Siam are all vassals of my Ming Dynasty, and the Ming Dynasty is also planning to reach a series of agreements with these four vassal states to make the connection between these vassal states and the Ming Dynasty closer.

Representative Putmans questioned the power of these countries, then I can tell you that the above four countries are negotiating two things with the Ming Dynasty, one is the customs union; The second is to form a combined fleet. In other words, the power of the Ming Dynasty is their power, and to question them is to question the Ming Dynasty..."

After listening to Zheng Cai's explanation, Methwald first got up and said: "The Kingdom of England has no objection to Zheng Cai's explanation, and we are willing to support ASEAN's admission of these four countries as member states." ”

Father Antonio also took the opportunity to stand up and echo the Englishman's statement. When Putmans was feeling a little lonely, Sevikos said: "What Deputy Zheng Cai said is something that has not yet happened, I am not questioning whether Daming has such power, I am worried that these four countries may not be willing to accept Daming's arrangement."

In order to keep the Association from becoming chaotic, I would suggest that the membership should be divided into two tiers, and that our five here... Not as the founder, and the next participating countries are ordinary members. However, when it comes to deliberations, the founders each have one vote to decide, but ordinary members can only count 05 votes..."

Putmans supported Sevikos' suggestion, and Zheng Cai argued with the two for a long time, but could not convince them. He finally thought about it for a while, thinking that even if it was half a vote, plus the Portuguese vote, Da Ming also had 4 votes in his hand, just more than half of the total votes, so he made concessions.

ASEAN's headquarters are located in Beijing, and three offices have been set up in Shanghai, Manila and Batavia. In order to conduct day-to-day business, it was agreed that a standing committee should be established, with one member for each of the five founders, and for general matters to be decided by the committee and special matters to be discussed by the General Assembly.

However, the power to determine ordinary and special affairs belongs to the current chairman of the committee, and the members take turns to serve as the current chairman, in the order of the Ming Dynasty, the Netherlands, Spain, the United Kingdom, and Portugal.

After a long day of difficult discussions, the organizational structure, rules and regulations, and the way to adjudicate disputes were finally discussed.

After seeing that the ASEAN Association was finally established, Zheng Cai was thinking about whether to hold a more formal ceremony in two days and hang the plaque of the ASEAN Association at the door, which could be regarded as making the signboard of the ASEAN Association public.

However, just as Zheng Cai was about to end the meeting, Putmans couldn't wait to put forward the first trade case after the establishment of the ASEAN. The Dutch raised the question of trade competition with the newly formed ASEAN Association regarding the export of raw silk and porcelain to Europe. Putmans argues that the Ming Dynasty adopted a one-sided preferential policy towards English and Portuguese merchants in the raw silk and porcelain trade, which was unfair to Dutch merchants.

The British and Portuguese, of course, were not to rest on their laurels, and not only refuted the Dutch's claims, but also complained to the ASEAN about the banditry of the Dutch intercepting their own merchant ships in the seas of Southeast Asia.

The dispute between the two sides was a big headache for Zheng Cai, who had just taken office as the rotating chairman of the committee, and he had to dismiss the idea of ending the meeting and mediate the trade dispute between the two sides.

And at this time, Guo Yunhou walked out of the Qianqing Gate with a heavy heart. After a long conversation with the emperor, he seemed to see a solution to the financial predicament of the Ming Dynasty. However, this road is not so easy to follow, as far as the emperor's admiration of large industries is concerned, although it can quickly increase wealth and absorb surplus labor from all over the country, it requires a large amount of capital investment.

In the past three or four years, the northern Zhili and Shanxi regions have indeed achieved great development, but the wealth accumulated in the people in the entire north has almost been mobilized. According to the data of the Ministry of Household and the Ministry of Transportation and Commerce, the total investment in the newly established handicraft workshops, mines, coal and iron factories, various workshops, and transportation facilities in these areas has exceeded 9,000 yuan.

"If you want to continue to promote the development of big industry, where should you look for capital?" Passing through the white marble square, Guo Yunhou thought worriedly all the way.