Zheng Jiayou sent a large amount of information about the Dutch East India Company.

Yang Chao also seized the time to read through the materials before negotiating with Nassau.

The Zheng family is still very cooperative these days, especially after they were beaten by the Qing army after they left Jiangxi last time, the Zheng family seemed to understand that the land was not suitable for the Zheng family, so they began to contact Yang Chao more actively, and there was a posture of wanting to form an alliance.

Yang Chao was happy to accept Zheng's kindness.

It is not easy to obtain the information sent by the Zheng family this time, because this is a copy of the East India Company's operation in the whole of Asia, and it is impossible for non-insiders to see it.

But it is not a top secret, after all, the East India Company is a joint-stock company, and in the stock market in Amsterdam, they are to publicize the results, but in Asia there is no such obligation, and it is impossible for the Zheng family to go to Amsterdam to find out the news, so they can only obtain it by buying the people of the East India Company.

This information was obtained by bribing a clerk of an East India Company in Batavia, and after copying a copy, they immediately sent it to Yang Chao.

"Good, good!"

The information is detailed and rigorous, and it is the operation of the East India Company in the last three years.

The East India Company established 35 bases in Asia, including Japan and Taiwan, and Japan and Taiwan were the top two bases, with Japan accounting for 35 percent of the total revenue, and Taiwan accounting for more than 25 percent.

Taiwan accounted for more than a quarter, and the annual profits of the East India Company from Taiwan were as high as 400,000 guilders, equivalent to four tons of silver, which was only profits, excluding the cost of new investment and operation, which showed the importance of Taiwan to the Dutch.

Because Taiwan's occupation by the Netherlands has always been a thorn in Yang Chao's heart, Yang Chao will not let the Dutch occupy this place as he wishes, but now it seems that Taiwan is very important to the Netherlands, so it is not so easy to take it back.

There are other things that are worth Yang Chao's attention, and there are still some situations. For example, the place where the East India Company imported the most silk fabrics was not the Ming Dynasty, but India.

Whether it was cotton cloth or raw silk or silk, the East India Company imported several times more than China. The specific reason is because of the high tariffs adopted by Yang Chao, from which Yang Chao earns millions of taels of silver every year, which forces the East India Company to India, anyway, India's silk is better than that of the West, and it is also sold for a large price when brought back to Europe.

However, the East India Company imported the finest raw silk and silk in the Ming Dynasty. Apparently sold as a luxury item, the target customers were those of the aristocracy.

India, in fact, is very similar to China from ancient times to the present, such as a huge population, such as a prosperous economy, and even production is very similar, it is a big producer of silk fabrics, China ranks first in history, India deserves to rank second, and even in some fields. India is still ahead of China for a long time.

For example, cotton textiles, China only began to really develop in the Ming Dynasty, because in the early Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang ordered every household to plant cotton, and one acre of cotton was planted in five acres of land, which led to a significant increase in cotton production in the Ming Dynasty, and the clothes of the Chinese gradually began to shift from linen to cotton, and cotton cloth went to the people on a large scale.

And India is a big cotton textile country in history, because just like silk originated in China, cotton originated in India, and they naturally have natural advantages.

And India has a warm climate. The rivers are abundant, the geography is dominated by plains, and agricultural production is much more favorable than that of China, although the area is only a quarter of that of the Ming Dynasty. However, the arable land was three times that of the Ming Dynasty, and they were better qualified to operate this kind of cotton production, which had a large draft, required long hours of sunshine, and was labor-intensive.

The battle of dragons and elephants!

Yang Chao couldn't help but feel surprised, he didn't expect that the dragon and elephant controversy, which later generations liked to talk about, had actually started in ancient times.

However, the details are not very detailed. Yang Chao will have to continue to pay attention, but the issue of India must be on the agenda.

Three days later, in mid-June, Nassau finally invited Yang Chao to negotiate the East India Company's trade.

"Your Excellency, on behalf of the East India Company, I would like to obtain the following patents for monopoly operations!"

At this time, the patent grant often refers to the right to trade, for example, the Dutch East India Company was granted exclusive trading privileges in the East Indies by the Netherlands.

Unexpectedly, the Dutch hit themselves with the idea, and even hoped that they would also provide them with some privileges.

"Duke of Nassau, what privileges do you need?"

Yang Chao asked first, to see what goods the Dutch were interested in, but Nassau had been in Nanjing these days, maybe he thought of new goods by himself.

"Count Zhongyi, the East India Company hopes to obtain the exclusive right to operate Daming green tea, the monopoly right to sell porcelain to Europe, and the exclusive right to import Daming silk fabrics!"

Yang Chao smiled: "Duke of Nassau, you only make requests, do you think that I owe you the Netherlands, what are you going to take in exchange?" ”

Power and duty are reciprocal, if you want to obtain power, you have to pay obligations, but the Dutch, like their descendants for centuries, rely on the fact that the Orientals do not understand international law, and the treaties they sign are full of obligations that the Orientals need to bear, and the roots do not mention their own obligations, while the most basic one of the treaties signed by the Westerners is mutual reciprocity.

Nassau couldn't help but be stunned when he heard Yang Chao's rhetorical question, he really didn't think of this question, the experience of the Dutch in Eastern countries such as India, Burma and Japan, the Oriental people don't seem to care about the so-called reciprocal issues at all, often the Dutch plead, and then the monarch of the East will look at the face and agree to something at will, and the Dutch can rely on this little privilege, and then infinitely amplify it through commercial means, and finally squeeze out huge profits.

But now this loyal earl is not going to give privilege as a reward, but needs to exchange it for something else.

"I wonder what Count Zhongyi wants the East India Company to pay in order to obtain this privilege?"

Nassau simply asked.

Yang Chao said with a smile: "Craftsmen, I need the East India Company to help me recruit a group of craftsmen, including shipbuilding, cannon casting and other craftsmen. ”

Yang Chao didn't have any reservations after saying it once, because he didn't want to expose his thoughts all at once, so he would be passive.

Nassau shook his head: "No, no, no, if you need a ship, our East India Company can provide it in large quantities." ”

Yang Chao said: "You can only send a few ships a year, I need many, many ships, and I need it urgently." ”

Nassau said with a smile: "This point has been considered by the company for Count Zhongyi, so the company has decided to open a large shipyard in Taiwan. By the end of this year at the latest, it will be possible to supply ships to Piaget on a long-term basis, and if Piaget wishes, we hope to sign a long-term order! ”

Yang Chao was slightly surprised, and then he was relieved that the East India Company already had shipyards in Asia. However, they can only repair seagoing ships, and I have not heard that they can build large ships, but the Dutch are the world's largest shipbuilding country, and if they are willing to slightly modify the ship repair base in Asia, it is not a problem to use it for shipbuilding. It's just that a group of shipbuilders need to be sent.

For the purchase of warships from the Dutch, Yang Chao feels that it is not an obstacle at this time, until now the Longjiang Shipyard has still not been able to copy the big ships of the Dutch, if you want to form a large-scale production capacity, I don't know how many years to wait, and Yang Chao needs to open up sea trade, naturally needs his own fleet, and the current is only limited to the mouth of the Yangtze River, which is obviously not enough, at least he needs to have the ability to cruise to Japan and Vietnam. Otherwise, they will have to rely on Zheng Zhilong to protect the colonies on the Mekong River.

So Yang Chao nodded and said: "I can consider this, but it must be based on the premise that the East India Company can help me recruit cannon casting craftsmen, otherwise I will not want a ship from the East India Company." ”

The military industry must be independent, Yang Chao has more than 1,000 artillery craftsmen in Xinjiangkou, but the manufacturing capacity is only limited to small-caliber general cannons and other infantry cannons, red-coat cannons, naval guns and fortress guns, there is still no manufacturing capacity, to form manufacturing capacity, the fastest way is to hire experienced craftsmen.

Nassau sighed, "I'm sorry for that, but the Netherlands' cannon casting technology is not very strong. The cannons on the Dutch warships were purchased from the British and Swedes, and this is something that we cannot meet. ”

Yang Chao didn't know if this was a pretext, but Yang Chao would never believe that the Dutch did not have the technology to make artillery.

Yang Chao snorted: "Then this point is over." Talk about other issues. ”

Yang Chao made up his mind to tie the issue of purchasing sea ships and casting cannons together. But that doesn't mean that Yang Chao is reluctant to negotiate other trade issues, it's a matter of mutual benefit, and Yang Chao takes it as seriously as the Dutch.

Nassau looked regretful, but then made other requests.

"The East India Company hoped that Piaget would reduce the export tariffs to at least thirty per cent on porcelain and raw silk, which were now in excess of three hundred per cent. This was grossly unreasonable and unfair to the East India Company. ”

Three times the tariff, in fact, Yang Chao has been reduced a lot, you must know that the earliest supply to Zheng Zhilong, but five times the market price, which is equivalent to four times the tariff.

Yang Chao said: "There is no need to reduce the tariffs on porcelain and raw silk, and large-scale export of goods may not be of any benefit to me, but will greatly increase the price of silk and porcelain, so that the people of our country cannot afford to use porcelain and silk." ”

Nassau said: "No, no, no, you are wrong, Earl, if the tariffs are lowered, the scale of trade will increase on a large scale, and the tariffs you charge will increase greatly." ”

Yang Chao said: "A large amount of silver may not be a good thing for me, the price of grain in Nanjing has increased by two to three times compared with five years ago, which is inevitably related to too many silver imports, I think this common sense Duke of Nassau will not be unaware." ”

Nassau's expression couldn't help but move, he didn't expect Yang Chao to know this financial knowledge, which is really very rare among the Eastern monarchs at this time, which made Nassau a little surprised, he didn't expect it at all.

"Oh well! The East India Company also did not want to export too much silver to your country. So we want to exchange goods for goods. ”

"No, no, no! The goods of the East India Company are not popular in Daming, and there is no market for yours here. ”

"If the Earl is willing, I believe that the people of Daming will like our goods."

"Change the subject!"

Yang Chao was impatient to argue with Nassau word by word, and he wanted to firmly grasp the rhythm of the negotiation.

Nassau said: "Then if none of the above demands are met, the East India Company wants to gain free access to the port of Daming." ”

Yang Chao said: "There is no need to negotiate this, I can allow your merchant ships to dock at Wusongkou and Nanjing, but free access to all ports, this point is absolutely non-negotiable." ”

Nassau said: "Then as a substitute, the East India Company hopes to obtain a permanent piece of land in the Zhoushan Islands to build a warehouse!" ”

Yang Chao snorted: "Dream! ”

The Dutch still want to build a colony in Zhoushan, which is really unreasonable!

After Yang Chao finished speaking, he immediately brushed his sleeves and left.

The first negotiations were terminated. (To be continued.) )