The new nations have always learned from their examples, and the Dutch had gained a foothold on some islands a few years ago by opposing Portugal and supporting the local princes and people as a fig leaf. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 info

Inevitably, the British Indian Company used the same tactics against the Dutch, who had already gained a foothold.

The contradictions between the two sides can be exploited, and at this time, the Dutch and British Indian companies are only staring at spices, which occupy more than seventy percent of the import trade and profits.

It's not that Jian Chen is not interested, but this thing is like dog food. If you want two dogs to fight instead of biting yourself together, it's best not to touch that bone.

In Chen Jian's view, it is a pity to discard this bone if it is tasteless, he does not want a large amount of domestic capital to pour into the spice plantation, and the cost of ruling is too high, and it is meaningless in the long run.

can't monopolize it, this thing is the price of cabbage. If you want to monopolize, you have to burn and loot, and the key is to pay expensive fortress maintenance costs and garrison costs.

In twenty years at most, things like tea, coffee, sugar, and cotton will become really profitable, and early preparation is the right way.

In the past, the lengthy negotiations were all about seemingly inconsequential issues, or at all issues of practical interests.

Whether the Dutch believe in the strength of the republic or not, they must talk patiently with Jian Chen.

For the Orange faction, they needed arms, explosives, and new weapons, as well as a new power that was at least neutral rather than close to Spain.

For the Indian company, they need all kinds of goods that Jian Chen brings.

The simplest cotton cloth, which is of high quality, strong without the need for hemp, and comparable to Indian homespun cloth, is hard currency in the Spice Islands.

The use of cotton cloth as a medium for exchanging spices with the islanders was sometimes more popular than silver, which stemmed from the bloody monopoly policy of the Dutch.

In addition, it is often inconvenient for precious metals to be transported from Europe to Asia, and from the point of view of maximizing profits, it is to take silver or some European commodities and weapons to India to exchange cotton cloth, and then send cotton cloth to the Spice Islands to exchange spices. If you are lucky enough, you can take the spices to India and exchange the cotton cloth as a kind of intermediary similar to money.

For some of the islands ruled by the Dutch in blood, two points could be a monopoly on the spice trade: cotton and rice.

Controlling the imports of these two things, and sending patrol boats to inspect smugglers, could theoretically monopolize the spice trade at low prices.

But after Chen Jian showed these people the goods he brought, he also brought a false news: another fleet of the Republic sailing around the world, departing from the Pacific Ocean, is estimated to have reached Asia at this time.

Such news made the Dutch extremely uneasy. They simply can't invest too many troops in Asia, especially at this time, two or three thousand soldiers are already the limit, and the company's financial resources will not be able to sustain it any more.

They didn't suspect that Jian Chen was lying, because some of what Jian Chen said did sound like it was true, and he knew no less about places like Japan, the Ming Dynasty, and Thailand than some people who held the company's secrets—at least there were no loopholes in the conversation.

It was a long voyage around the Cape of Good Hope, with the Portuguese still occupying Malacca and the Spanish blocking the route in the American Islands.

This long voyage has greatly threatened the Dutch spice dream. Portuguese and British Indian companies are vying for trade in the Cape of Good Hope.

However, there are also Muslims. The overland route from the Red Sea to Venice was also a trade route no less than the amount of spices that the Dutch had at their disposal.

Now there is such a variable.

In the eyes of the Dutch, the greatest benefit that can be won is nothing more than two things.

The republic is not involved in the spice trade. Cotton cloth, machetes, and other goods that were in high demand in the Spice Islands could be traded in the Netherlands.

If these two things can be achieved, it will be as perfect as a dream.

What are spices? It's no secret now, and you can't hide it if you want to, and it's clear that the negotiator knows where the spice comes from.

At this time, it was difficult for European handicraft products to be sold in Asia. The Dutch Indian company urgently needed the many handicraft samples that Chen Jian had brought with him as a loan for their spice trade, and it would be best if they could barter in Amsterdam.

However, they could not figure out what the republic lacked.

In fact, there is a lack of everything, far from the level of great material abundance. But for businessmen, there must be profit to mean shortage, and there is no shortage without profit.

What made them even more nervous was that there seemed to be no market for spices in the Republic at this time, but some of the reports sent by them said that these "Chinese people were very concerned about the trade in spices in the Amsterdam market, and tried to distinguish the quality of the spices, and their professional merchants and skilled accountants no less than Venice quickly saw the crux of the problem......

It's not that no one has thought of killing these people and cutting off the possibility of their circumnavigation of the world. But the problem is that Spain is aggressive, and the republic behind these people does not even need to send troops, it only needs to do two things: give Spain a loan, sell weapons.

It was no secret that there were Spaniards in the fleet, and the Dutch knew that Jian had gone to the Spanish port of St. Friday before coming to Amsterdam, where he had a cordial meeting with the governor.

In all these situations, Jian Chen doesn't need to do anything.

He just needs to be in the right place at the right time to get something he wants. However, the premise is that we must know the general situation of the world, and we also need to figure out the situation in order to control the world.

Chen Jian was not in a hurry, because in the days before the negotiations, he kept talking about the meaningless concepts of international law itself, which often appeared in the wrong words in grammar.

Today we will talk about the difference between discovery and control, tomorrow we will talk about freedom of navigation and the territorial sea on the high seas, and we will follow the methods commonly used by the provincial councils of the Netherlands, delaying the progress of practical issues with lengthy and repeated things.

Jian Chen can drag it, but the Dutch can't drag it.

The Hague belongs to the Netherlands, but The Hague is not only home to Dutch people. The persecuted Jews, the Puritans in France, the Puritans in England, and the ambassadors and diplomats of various countries, the aristocracy, ......

The news of the arrival of the fleet of the Republic, and the novelty or bargain cargo, had reached wherever it could. It's just a strait from England, a few southern provinces from France, and a stone's throw from Spain.

There is no need for Jian Chen to do this to prepare enough people and bring a large number of goods. Even if it is an official of the Ministry of Rites of the Ming Dynasty at this time, sitting here empty, as long as his identity is proven, people from all countries will try their best to get close to it, just asking for a right to charter trade.

The first stop in Europe chosen by Chen Jian is very good. Next to it is Britain and France plus the Spanish Netherlands, and to the north is Denmark, the only one in the north that has the ability to form an Indian company.

After such a long delay here, it is estimated that Britain, France, and Spain already know by this time, and the sense of urgency of the Dutch is heavy day by day.

This group of people is not religious at all, and it is meaningless to talk about the same religion and the same emotions with them.

The group lacked nothing, the only spice they could feel new, and they seemed to want to reach out to Europe for trade rather than ship it back home.

This group of people took a thousand soldiers around the world, not counting the sailors and gunners and the rest of the envoys, craftsmen, etc., which was enough to form an Indian company.

Chen Jian remained unmoved, and spent his spare time either hanging out or spending his own money on wine banquets, and with the help of Grotius he talked about humanitarianism and the prohibition of the slaughter of women and children, which was miraculous in fashion and seemingly harmless to humans and animals.

He could be so calm that the directors of Dutch India could not sit still.

There is already one more competitor in Asia, and they don't want another enemy who is considerate and intimidating. And the rest of the Dutch merchants couldn't sit still, such a good opportunity for entrepot trade, they didn't want to share it with anyone.

The Netherlands is the Netherlands of oligarchs and wealthy merchants, the Netherlands of commerce, not the Netherlands supported by handicrafts.

Some internal bargaining or fierce quarrels were also going on without Jian Chen's knowledge.

A young accountant of an Indian company who returned from Ambon last year came up with an idea for the company's board of directors.

If you control the cheap cotton cloth, you will also have a hand to control the spice trade. The British had no money, their trading companies had imperfect internal regulations, smuggling was rife among members, and their capital turnover was difficult, and British policy did not want to set aside large quantities of precious metals.

So, in this case, if you can get a large amount of cheap cotton cloth from the republic, you can use these cotton cloth as intermediates and thus control the spice trade in the spice producing areas. The quality of the cotton cloth of the Guijarat merchants was about or even inferior to that of these cloths, and those merchants traded in Aceh and had to pay taxes.

In the same way, since the British were short of precious metals, the best way for them to get involved in the spice trade was to use spices to exchange for cotton cloth in India, and then to exchange cotton cloth for spices, and then to ship the spices back to Europe for trading.

And as soon as the company had mastered the cotton cloth and the handicrafts needed in the rest of the Spice Islands, which were of low price and of good quality, the British could be crowded out. If the quality of cotton continues to drop in price, the British will not be able to hold on.

If necessary, it could even open a route similar to Manila to the Americas, from the east coast of the Republic, directly loaded with handicrafts and cotton cloth, to the trading post of the Spice Islands.

If you set up a bank or trading company, you can trade in Amsterdam by money order, which saves you the cost of transporting precious metals.

And if trust can be reached, there can even be a trust transaction, with the Republic's fleet transporting goods to the Spice Islands, and silver coins can be traded in Amsterdam, or repaid after the spices have been sold.

This will not only ensure that the British will be squeezed out at a low price, but also increase the turnaround period.

As the turnover cycle increases, the currency can do more things, especially with the Ming Dynasty that they have no interest in trading except silver.

Conversely, as long as the spice trade can be monopolized, high profits on spices can be ensured, and the sale of the same spices will not be a problem, and the cashing of silver coins for credit transactions will not be a problem.

The board of directors of the Dutch India Company appreciated the young accountant's proposal, but the most serious problems arose.

Why would the republic on the other side of the negotiation agree to this condition?