Now that the mind has been decided, the peace talks can naturally begin. Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 infoThe Dutch openly declared war with Da Ming this time. It stands to reason that even if there are peace talks, it should be peace talks between the Dutch government and the Ming court. However, this peace talks have nothing to do with the two governments. One of the two parties involved in the peace talks was the Dutch East India Company, and in fact, the so-called declaration of war on the Ming Dynasty was not at all the Dutch government, which was busy fighting with Spain, but directly the Dutch East India Company. On the other side were local armed leaders under the banner of the Ming Dynasty.

The Dutch representative was called Hahn Putmans, a large man of 1.9 meters tall, about forty years old, who was the nephew of Hans Putmans, the head of the Dutch East India Company in Batavia, who had been transferred to Taiwan by the East India Company three years earlier to take charge of Taiwan's trading points. Some time ago, the East India Company made up its mind to start a war with the Ming Dynasty, and Hans Putmans played a key role. It is said that it was his nephew who prompted Hans Putmans to make this decision. The recent defeat of the East India Company has led to the almost complete severance of trade routes with China, and it is not known when it will be restored, and even trade with Japan has been greatly affected. The disruption of trade with China is not enough, and trade between the Dutch and China has not been smooth for the past two years, and their trading point in Taiwan has been losing money for two years in a row. Even before the war, the Chinese had insisted on trading only with the Portuguese and Spaniards, and the Dutch ships could not enter any trading ports. The only way to do this is to smuggle by sea. Trade had always been limited, and the East India Company was crazy with jealousy when they saw the Portuguese and Spaniards making a lot of money in their trade with China. The reason why the Dutch chose to use force was that on the one hand, they wanted to gain the right to trade in this way, and on the other hand, it was not without the meaning of breaking the jar, in the eyes of many Dutch, the trade volume with China was still very small anyway, and the loss was not unbearable.

However, to the surprise of the Dutch, the losses in this battle were so large. The company lost six of its eleven warships in the Far East, (one of the three ships that broke out of the bay sank on the way back to Batavia) and the remaining five warships were also seriously damaged, although there were also ship repair yards in Batavia, but the conditions were absolutely impossible to compare with Amsterdam, these warships could not be repaired in a few months, and they would never be able to go to sea to fight again. At least for these months, the Dutch East India Company did not have any warships available at sea.

No opponent, not only the Oriental pirates like Zheng Zhilong, but also the Spaniards and the Portuguese, would not let go of this period of weakness for the Dutch. With only one mind, anyone can imagine the fate of the Dutch ships that sailed the route from Batavia to Japan in the course of a few months, and the merchant fleet, deprived of the protection of the fleet, would become the target of the bloodthirsty sea sharks. Chinese pirates, Spanish and Portuguese pirates, and even even the pirate-flagged navy would round up these Dutch merchant ships. Since news of the defeat at Sarawa Bay returned to Batavia, all merchant ships bound for Japan had stopped sailing, at least until the situation turned in the Dutch favor, and they were temporarily confined to the harbor.

Trade with Japan brought the Dutch a great deal of income every year, and for the present time these revenues accounted for about thirty-five percent of the total profits of the entire East India Company. Disruptions to air routes to Japan, even for a few months, can cause huge financial losses. What's more, even if the remaining five warships were repaired and returned to sea after a few months, the mere five warships would not be enough to ensure the safety of Dutch merchant ships in the Far East. Therefore, until more warships are sent from Europe, it is almost impossible for the Japanese route to be fully restored. And to send warships from Europe, it will take at least a year. A one-year suspension of flights to Japan is absolutely intolerable for a profit-driven company. At this time, the best way to recover the damage is to immediately sue for peace with China, and if peace can be achieved with China, at least the impact on Japan's shipping routes will be much reduced. Therefore, in line with the principle of "whoever provokes the problem, he will solve it", Hans Putmans had no choice but to take on the task of making peace.

Of course, Hans Putmans would never personally come to negotiate with the Chinese, in case the Chinese directly detain themselves, and then cut off their heads and report to the top and say "kill the chief of Yi", isn't it too unjust to die? Therefore, it is only natural that his nephew, Hahn Putmans, who had strongly advocated war against China in the first place, must also shoulder the responsibility and serve as the representative of this peace talks.

"Hahn, what do you think of the prospects for this negotiation?" Before leaving, Hans Putmans asked his nephew.

"Uncle, our situation is not very good now, but it is still possible that the negotiations will succeed. Maybe it's even easier than the previous negotiations. Hahn replied.

"Oh, why do you think that?" Hans Putmans raised his eyebrows and asked in surprise, knowing that his nephew had always been an optimist, but he did not expect Hahn to be hopelessly optimistic.

"Uncle, one of the problems we faced in the past was that we couldn't find a real negotiator in the Ming Dynasty." Hans replied, "It's not like we haven't reached an agreement with the Chinese on whether or not to trade with us, but any trade deal we have with any Chinese official has in fact not been implemented." Uncle, I heard that it is because there are also many struggles among the Chinese. Now, although we have been defeated, the Chinese side is not without losses, but in terms of absolute numbers, their losses are definitely greater than ours. What's more, except for Zheng Zhilong, all other maritime forces are finished. We now have a negotiating partner who can really talk the talk.

Of course, Zheng Zhilong also promised us a lot of things back then, but none of them actually fulfilled them. Because at that time, his position in China was not enough to achieve this. But now it's different. ”

"Do you think he'll fulfill those promises now that he's capable?" Hans Putmans asked.

Zheng Zhilong won't care about those promises, but he will care about interests. and he will be loyal to his interests. Hahn replied, "Zheng Zhilong is a real businessman like us. There is no hatred for businessmen, only profit. Zheng Zhilong himself was able to make a lot of money through trade every year. When it comes to trade, he instinctively doesn't refuse. Moreover, I don't think any supplier wants to have only one distributor, and of course, no distributor wants to have only one supplier. It's just that since we have been defeated, then we can only recognize Zheng Zhilong's status as the only supplier. I think that if we agree that all the goods purchased from China will go through Zheng Zhilong, he will be more than willing to make peace with us. And now there are no other forces along the coast of China, as long as they are willing to provide us with goods, they can do that. And I can't think of any reason why Zheng Zhilong is unwilling to provide us with goods. This will not only bring us business, but also bring him more benefits. So, uncle, I think this peace talks should be successful, and it will probably really help us open the door to trade with China. ”

Hans Putmans thought for a moment and said, "My nephew, there is some truth in what you say, and I would like to see such a result - if you really talk to them about such a result, our previous defeat would not be a defeat at all, but a great victory. Of course, to achieve such an outcome, we may need to make some concessions, don't you think...... Do you think we can make the Spaniards and Portuguese lose the right to trade with anyone other than Zheng Zhilong? ”

It only took a few seconds for Hahn to understand what his uncle meant. If the Dutch could only change hands through Zheng Zhilong in their trade with the Chinese, then the price of the goods they got would definitely be much higher than if they went directly to buy them. In this way, if you want to maintain the same competitiveness as the Spaniards in Europe, that is to say, if you want to sell at the same price as the Spaniards, then the profit on each item will definitely be significantly less than that of the Spaniards. Although it is still possible to make money, and it is still a windfall profit, but, in any case, it is still unpleasant.

But if Zheng Zhilong can be encouraged to make a move on the Spaniards and force them to only trade with Zheng Zhilong, then the costs of both sides will be the same, and then, in order to ensure profits, the Spaniards will only increase their prices, and then the profits of the Dutch will naturally be guaranteed. As for Zheng Zhilong, he can also make an extra profit, from the perspective of Zheng Zhilong and the Dutch, this is definitely a win-win situation.

And Zheng Zhilong's current strength is enough to do this, as long as the Dutch are willing to help, Zheng Zhilong will soon be able to destroy Liu Xiang, and then, even if he doesn't directly turn against Spain, the way of pirate attacks is enough for Spain to honestly only trade with him. As for Portugal, that's even more so.

"Uncle, I think this idea is worth trying, although we and Zheng Zhilong were enemies before, but in this matter, we can be allies." Hahn replied.