Colin's proposal was opposed by the majority.

At this time, the power structure of the left battalion was still divided into three units, and Zhou Lang, as the nominal highest official, the eastern director of the China East India Company, now with the arrival of Xie Qinggao and the organization of more than sixty Nanyang soldiers, the strength in his hands has been enhanced, and he is no longer a bare-bones commander like before. However, Colin was still the most powerful force, because he not only controlled all the Hessian mercenaries in his hands, but also his strength increased even more, not only the twenty mercenaries led by Fischer, who arrived with Xie Qinggao, but also the three hundred local soldiers he recruited from the local area. The other force was the sailor force represented by Harald.

Zhou Lang's plan has always been to gain time to repair the ship and then set sail. Therefore, the previous military operations against the left battalion also revolved around the theme of gaining time, which was supported by Harald.

But now, Harald had organized sailors and craftsmen to work overtime to repair the ship, but Colin suggested continuing the attack rather than setting sail as soon as everyone had agreed.

Three forces, and Colin is the largest one, plus he is always worried about the East India Company behind Colin, Zhou Lang has always been reluctant to clash with Colin head-on. Strictly speaking, Colin was not Zhou Lang's subordinate, unlike Harald, Colin was a representative of the British (East India) Company to the Chinese (East India) Company, and he was a shareholder representative, not an employee of the Chinese Company.

Out of the purpose of not wanting to directly clash with the British East India Company too early, Zhou Lang used the excuse of launching such a big operation, and he should discuss it with others, he brought in Xie Qinggao and Harald, Xie Qinggao's identity is also the major shareholder of the China (East India) Company, and Harald is the current flagship captain.

Sure enough, Xie Qinggao and Harald resolutely opposed the pointless military operation, and the two of them had the same attitude, that is, they would set sail immediately and rush to Macao as soon as possible to prepare for trade, and their reasons were also very good, if they delayed any longer, they would probably not be able to catch up with the wind period of returning to India, and they would have to wait until next year.

Due to the opposition of Xie Qinggao and Harald, this made Colin have some scruples even if he wanted to take tough measures, after all, Harald held the power of merchant ships, and Colin's mercenaries could not completely leave the sea route.

So it is very important to win Zhou Lang's support, as long as Zhou Lang, the director, supports, he has a reason to stay here, but the question is what is his reason for staying here?

"Zuoying as a trading base for the Chinese (East India) Company?"

This is Colin's advice to Zhou Lang.

Colin lobbied Zhou Lang privately after the meeting, and for him, only with Zhou Lang's support can he carry out military operations without scruples. So he had to tell the true motive he had hidden in his heart, because if the other party couldn't work together, even if he mobilized the force in his hand to stay here, he couldn't hold on for a long time, once he tore his face with Zhou Lang, Haral and Xie Qinggao left in a boat, and his little people stayed here without backup, and it was meaningless.

As long as Zhou Lang can accept the suggestion and be willing to put effort into running this place, and use it as a commercial base for the China (East India) Company, it will be able to sustain itself for a long time.

"Yes, don't you think the geography is very advantageous?"

Colin asked in a seductive tone.

Zhou Lang shook his head again and again: "No, no, no, I don't know where your basis comes from, but I think this is the most unsuitable place to be used as a base." ”

Zhou Lang emphasized: "We are a commercial company! Of course, we would like to open up a commercial base in China, but Zuoying is really not suitable as a commercial base because there are no conditions for commercial development here. ”

"You're busy with the military these days, and you probably don't know much about the local business conditions. I conducted a survey here, and unfortunately found that there was a scarcity of products that could be used for trade. The products with potential for trade are nothing more than salt, sugar, wine, furs, etc., but these are of low value, and short-distance trade may be profitable, while long-distance trade is not profitable. What we want in China is nothing more than tea, silk and porcelain, and none of these three products are available locally. ”

Zhou Lang said to Colin.

Colin insisted: "But the local area is close to the sea on one side, sandwiched by mountains in the north and south, and there is a lake in the rear, and from a military point of view, it is easy to defend and difficult to attack, so that we can invest the least cost to occupy it." As for the business interests, I think completely differently than yours, and I think there is a lot of business potential here. ”

Zhou Lang really didn't see the business vision from Colin, and he was also tempted, and asked, "Please tell me more about it." ”

Colin said: "Although the prosperity of commerce has a lot to do with whether the local products are abundant or not, this is not absolute, what is in the land of the Dutch, but the developed commerce of the Netherlands is even greater than that of England." ”

Zhou Lang didn't speak, and stretched out his hand to signal Colin to continue. Of course, Zhou Lang knows that the business of the Netherlands is developed, even now, the national strength of the United Kingdom has far surpassed that of the Netherlands, but in terms of business and cultural atmosphere, it is still not as good as the Dutch. Britain is strong in industry, but to a certain extent, a large part of Britain's original capital to leverage the industrial revolution is investment from the Netherlands.

The Netherlands loses because it has no property, loses because it is too close to the big country, but it also wins because it has no property, and it wins closer to the big country. The land of the Netherlands is reclaimed from the sea, the whole of the Netherlands is located below sea level, the population is only about two million, there are almost no mineral resources on the land, and there is no resource and human endowment for the industrial revolution; Geographically located around the continental powers, on one side is the powerful France, on the other hand is the powerful Germany, in the past hundred years, the reason why the Dutch lost their maritime supremacy, in fact, is not because of the blow of the British navy, the biggest reason is the Louis XIV period, the French attack on the Netherlands mainland, the Dutch directly blew up the reclaimed dam, the sea flooded the entire Dutch territory, all merchant ships, fishing boats were also destroyed.

However, it is precisely because of the barrenness of the Netherlands that most of the land is reclaimed from the sea, located below sea level, except for farming, there can be no high-value minerals on these reclaimed land, in fact, the Dutch have been able to rely on fishing for a long time to make a living. This lack of most of the country's products, and even the inability to provide for itself, made the Dutch have to trade with other countries, so the Netherlands was forced to go to the road of foreign trade very early; Geographically, located at the mouth of the European sea, the Rhine River that crosses the interior of Germany and the Maas River that flows out of France both flow into the sea from the Netherlands, which gives the Netherlands an excellent geographical advantage, and the Dutch boats can go deep into the interior of France and Germany, the two largest countries and regions in Europe. As a result, the Netherlands, which was forced to the commercial road by poverty, quickly became a commercial center on the European road with the help of its superior geographical location, and most of the commercial laws of the modern world came out of this small country. Important joint-stock companies and banking systems, such as the East India Company and the Bank of England, which brought glory to Britain, were actually born in the Netherlands.

Zhou Lang also understood that even if the Netherlands, which had fallen by this time, still had a stronger business atmosphere than the United Kingdom, which had a large number of country estates, he still could not connect Taiwan with the Netherlands, except that it had fallen into a Dutch colony, Taiwan had no intersection with the Netherlands.

"It doesn't convince me. Zuoying does not have the conditions of the Netherlands, except for the lack of abundant products, it is too different from the Netherlands in other aspects. ”

After Zhou Lang finished speaking, he continued to look at Colin, he needed to squeeze out the true thoughts in Colin's heart, he had always wondered why this person was so different from before and after, at first he was resolutely opposed to military action, and finally he resolutely advocated military action.

"You may not know that the Netherlands was able to develop trade because of its proximity to France, the German Confederation and the Baltic Sea. This is similar to Zuoying, although we do not have a detailed chart here, but I know to you that across the strait are Fujian and Guangdong, and those two Chinese provinces are not inferior to France and the German Confederation in terms of population and property. And now that Mr. Magalny is negotiating with the Chinese Emperor, I believe that soon the Chinese will open the north to us, so that our merchant ships can go all the way north. And northern China will be a much larger market than the Baltic Sea, and the strait will be the only place for this northward route, and Zuoying will be the only place for this route. So I think the potential here is greater than in the Netherlands. ”

"I disagree!"

Zhou Lang is very resolute, this is complete nonsense. Although the Tagu Port (named Kaohsiung Port in Japan) near Zuoying in later generations developed into the largest port in Asia, it was mainly a deformed state formed under the condition that the entire continent was self-isolated, and after the opening of the mainland, the large ports in Asia, and even the world's large ports, were quickly replaced by ports on the mainland. What China can really compare with the geographical advantages of the Netherlands should be Shanghai, not Taiwan, which hangs overseas alone. It's about the same in Taiwan than in the British Isles.

Probably from Zhou Lang's decisive tone, he heard that the other party could not support him, and Colin also lost patience, and he finally had a showdown.

"I think we should listen to the board of directors for such a major matter, right?"

Colin said with a serious face.

Zhou Lang smiled: "I am the largest shareholder. ”

"It's true that you're the largest individual shareholder, but don't forget about the company's shareholding structure," Colin said. Your personal stake has been diluted to 27 percent. As a corporate shareholder, the British East India Company owns 25% of the shares, which is not much different from your shares. ”

Before the capital increase and share expansion, Zhou Lang's shares were 40 percent, after the first share expansion, it was reduced to 36 percent, and after the East India Company forcibly intervened, it was diluted to 27 percent, which made Zhou Lang very passive, because after dilution, Xie Qinggao's shares were reduced to 20 percent, which made Zhou Lang and Xie Qinggao's shares combined, unable to reach a simple majority, which means that he has legally lost absolute control of the company.

Zhou Lang objected: "I'm sorry, I am not only the largest individual shareholder, but also the person in charge of the entire China affairs, I have the responsibility to be responsible for all shareholders, I think the military operation in Zuoying is too risky, and this is a direct conflict with the Chinese government, which will affect the company's long-term trade, so I do not agree with your suggestion." ”

Colin has a showdown, and he has to be tough to the end.

"I don't agree with you. I don't think you're responsible for the company, on the contrary, you're giving up an important asset of the company at will. The left camp is already under our control, this is a port, it is a natural trading base, and you have to give it up easily now, I think this is a serious act to damage the interests of shareholders. Therefore, if you insist, I must exercise my power to request, on behalf of the East India Company, that a general meeting of shareholders be convened for discussion of the affairs of the Left Battalion. Pending the results of the vote, I demand that the status quo of the left battalion must be maintained. ”

Colin had a tough attitude, in fact, he was very nervous, because he did not have the relevant authorization, he actually did not have the right to initiate voting on behalf of the East India Company, Cornwally did not give him this authority, but now it is difficult to ride the tiger, and he must force Zhou Lang to agree to his proposal.

Who would have thought that Zhou Lang didn't even have a second of delay, and nodded very happily: "Okay." I have promised to support your military operations! ”

This made Colin, who had just mustered up the mentality of planning to fight, a little unsure of how to deal with it for a moment.

Zhou Lang continued: "But you must promise me one condition. ”

Colin said, "Speak." ”

Zhou Lang said: "The training time of those Chinese soldiers I recruited is too short, I will not allow them to participate in your military operations." ”

Colin objected, "This won't work! They were also the armed forces of the Chinese (East India) Company and had to carry out the unified military operations of the Company. ”

Zhou Lang still happily made Colin uncomfortable: "Yes." However, I insisted that they should not be placed on the front line of the attack, because as soldiers who were not properly trained, they would be sent to death if they attacked rashly, and their casualties would be the loss of the company's vital military forces. ”

This time Colin was also happy: "I can guarantee this!" ”

At the end of this conversation, Colin got what he wanted, but he always felt that success came too easily, which was very different from his previous experience with Zhou Lang, which made him feel very unsteady.

But with Zhou Lang's support, Colin can launch a military operation, Xie Qinggao and Harald's opposition, naturally Zhou Lang is balanced, and after Zhou Lang's consent, the fact that Zuoying is the company's commercial base is settled, which is the biggest gain, so although he is a little unsteady in his heart, he still feels that this is a great success.

But the reason why Zhou Lang agreed to Colin, this professional officer is completely unclear, in fact, in Zhou Lang's opinion, this time in the confrontation, Colin was completely defeated, and Zhou Lang himself won completely, because he finally figured out the plot of Colin and the East India Company behind Colin.