Finding that he seemed to be a little out of shape, Jones couldn't help but get nervous in his heart, Western nobles are very polite, and a small faux pasto will be regarded as disrespectful and have very serious consequences, he secretly glanced at Yang Chao, fortunately, this Ming count didn't seem to care very much about it, and he couldn't help but rejoice.

Jones then did not shy away from expressing the East India Company's demand, they hoped to sign a trade treaty with the Ming Dynasty, but this was vetoed by Yang Chao, but Yang Chao said that he personally welcomed the Dutch to trade.

He explained to the Dutch the current situation of the city, and bluntly told Jones that the tariffs collected by the city's department were the military expenses given to him by the imperial court, that is to say, the amount of taxes collected by the city's department was Yang Chao's, and the court did not care about sea trade.

This made Jones unbelievable, the only customs in a country, handed over to one person, and it was a huge country like the Ming Dynasty, he looked at Yang Chao's expression full of awe, in his opinion, it was simply unimaginable to have the wealth of the Ming Dynasty Customs.

Then he discussed with Yang Chao, or asked for advice, what kind of goods did Daming need, and he listed a lot of things, what glass balls, what self-striking bells.

Yang Chao shook his head when he heard this, the Dutch regarded the Ming Dynasty as an indigenous who had never seen the world, and it was just a matter of ringing the bell, and the glass ball was completely a trick to deceive black Africans and American Indians, even the Indians couldn't deceive them, and they still wanted to deceive the Ming people?

"Okay, Benjue doesn't have anything else to do with you, you should know that Daming is at war, right?"

Jones nodded.

Yang Chao said again: "Don't you think war is the best trade opportunity? ”

Jones nodded desperately, he knew too well that there was a thirty-year war going on in Europe, but this did not prevent the Dutch from getting rich, although this time the Dutch also participated and were affected a lot. But the wars at other times were great opportunities for the Dutch to make a fortune.

But Jones was still cautious, the country of Daming was too different from other countries he had seen.

I couldn't help but ask carelessly, "What does Your Excellency Earl mean?" Daming is willing to purchase military supplies from the Netherlands? ”

Yang Chao shook his head: "To be precise, it's me." I have an army of 100,000 under my command, and if your goods are worth procuring. I don't mind equipping my army! As for money, I don't think that's a problem. ”

Jones nodded harder and withdrew money from the person who controlled the Ming Customs, which was a joke.

But he was still not at ease: "Your Excellency the Count means that you are willing to purchase military supplies from the Netherlands to equip your army?" ”

Yang Chao shook his head again: "It depends on whether your Dutch goods are worth my purchase." ”

Jones was able to serve as the representative of the East India Company not only because he could speak Chinese, but because he was a shrewd business representative, and he was so well versed in the doorways of business.

What supplies are needed for the war. He knew it too well, and immediately smiled and said, "Your Excellency the Earl can rest assured that we Dutch can provide satisfactory military supplies to the whole of Europe, and I believe that Your Excellency the Earl will also be satisfied." ”

Of course, the Dutch themselves were not necessarily so productive, but they controlled the transportation, and they could buy arms from Sweden and from Venice and sell them to any European monarch.

Yang Chao nodded: "As long as I am satisfied, I am willing to purchase." ”

Jones said, "I don't know what kind of military supplies Your Excellency wants?" ”

Yang Chao never mentioned exactly what he needed, because he didn't know much about European arms and weapons in this era, and he didn't plan to really buy a lot from Europe. A few samples are enough, and if he thinks it's worth equipping, the skilled craftsmen of the Ming Dynasty will definitely be able to copy them. Not to mention anything else, under the artisan household system, Daming has the largest group of craftsmen in the world.

Yang Chao shook his head: "Benjue doesn't know the military situation in the Netherlands, so he can't make a conclusion. But for now, I'd rather buy a bunch of ships! ”

Warship?!

As soon as they heard the warship, Jones and Zheng Hongkui couldn't help but glance at each other, this is really too sensitive, the strength of these two sides is equivalent to controlling the trade of the entire East, precisely because they have overwhelming sea power in their hands. Therefore, it is quite sensitive to the procurement of warships.

"That's right, it's a warship! Don't you Dutch have warships? ”

Jones hurriedly shook his head: "Your Excellency, Earl." If you don't know much about the Netherlands, we have the largest shipyard in the world. No matter how many warships can be built. ”

"Is that because you won't sell?"

Yang Chao asked, deliberately showing displeasure.

Jones hurriedly denied: "No, no, no, it's definitely not like that." I just don't know what the purpose of the Earl's purchase of the warship is? ”

Yang Chao smiled: "Isn't this obvious enough, our country is in a period of war, do you still need a reason to build a navy?" ”

Jones nodded, he still couldn't make up his mind at this point, if he sold the warship to Daming, after Daming established a powerful navy, he was unwilling to trade, and it was more troublesome at that time, so he couldn't help but make eye contact with Zheng Hongkui again.

Yang Chao knew that if these two maritime forces did not communicate well, it would be impossible to rashly introduce new forces.

waved his hand: "Okay, I can't sit with you because of my busy military affairs." Say goodbye first, and talk about it another day! ”

After saying that, he left, as if he was not in a hurry at all.

The Dutch did not leave, and could not wait to communicate with Zheng Hongkui, and both of them said that they had to report to the above, Jones wanted to report to the East India Company, and Zheng Hongkui also had to let Zheng Zhilong know.

In fact, Jones came on behalf of the East India Company, the purpose was to sign a treaty of commerce, they heard that the Ming Dynasty had opened the city, thinking that it was going to open customs trade, so they couldn't wait to come, Jones was not without any power, he was authorized to negotiate on behalf of the East India Company.

As a result, I didn't expect that the Ming Dynasty did not open the customs, but completely handed over the customs to an earl, and this earl said that he was interested in trading with the Dutch, needed some military supplies, and made it clear that he wanted to purchase warships, but the problem of warships was indeed beyond Jones's authority, if it was in Europe, they would undoubtedly provide warships to other countries, but in the East, he was a little troubled.

Not only were they worried about the appearance of competitors in the East India Company, but the key was the attitude of the Zheng family, which they had to consider. You must know that the Dutch sold warships, affecting not only themselves, but also Zheng Zhilong, a trading partner.

Although it was not possible to meet Yang Chao's order requirements immediately. But Jones did not want to wait for the East India Company's reply, and he continued to ask Yang Chao to talk the next day.

Yang Chao refused to come. I hung him for three days before I met him again.

"Your Excellency the Earl, and the Prince of the East Indies is deeply concerned about the purpose of your purchase of warships. If it is convenient for you, can you tell us more about your clear purpose for forming the navy? ”

Yang Chao laughed: "I think Mr. Jones is too worried, are you afraid that Benjue's formation of a navy will hinder the interests of the Netherlands in the East?" ”

Jones is not obscure, and Westerners feel justified when they talk about interests.

"That's right. Dutch interests in the East cannot be violated. Therefore, I have some concerns, and I hope that His Excellency the Earl will understand. ”

Yang Chao nodded: "You can rest assured." Benjue did not mean to be offensive to the interests of the Dutch. On the contrary, Benjue was looking forward to working with the Dutch. ”

Yang Chao knew very well in his heart that with the Zheng family's route to Japan, I am afraid that it would not be possible for the city to collect four or five million tariffs every year, but the Dutch are different, they are sea coachmen, they have the resources of the whole world, although Japan's silver production in this era is the world's first, but the silver of the Americas should not be underestimated, and compared to silver, Westerners prefer gold. They prefer to trade with silver.

Jones was still not very reassured: "Your Excellency is willing to sign a treaty with the East India Company on this matter." Divide the scope of their respective interests, and neither side will infringe on the core interests of the other! ”

Yang Chao nodded: "Of course you can!" ”

Let the Dutch take the bait first, with the strength that even the pirates in Yang Chao's hands can't be intimidated. Even if you want to infringe on the Dutch, you can't do it.

Then Jones began to discuss with Yang Chao sentence by sentence.

During the period, Zheng Hongkui and Zheng Sen were specially invited to participate.

It seems that the Dutch and the Zheng family already have a tacit understanding, no wonder the Zheng family will introduce the Dutch, what kind of tacit understanding, Yang Chao can't guess, in his opinion, no matter what price the Dutch pay, it is not enough for the Zheng family to lose the privilege of trading with the Dutch.

After more than half a month of discussions, Yang Chao and the Dutch reached an agreement. The navy formed by Yang Chao had to notify the Dutch East India Company if it wanted to take military action in the South China Sea. and to obtain the understanding of the East India Company before acting, and the Dutch were obliged to do the same. The Dutch also demanded that the Zheng family sign the treaty.

But for the Dutch to demand that the treaty must be agreed by the Ming Emperor, Yang Chao vetoed it, this kind of thing can not be let the emperor at all, to be precise, let the civil officials know, otherwise a private hat will be buckled, and then a group of attackers, although Yang Chao believes that there is no harm in communicating with Westerners, but it can't stand the strange worldview of the Ming civil officials.

Yang Chao said that his seal of loyalty and righteousness would be unimpeded in the customs, and after Zheng Hongkui's assurance and coordination, Jones had to accept the condition that only the seal of Zhongyi would be stamped on the treaty.

After the talks, the treaty was drawn up and written in Chinese and French, and the reason why French was used was because Yang Chao could only understand French and English, while the Dutch resolutely did not agree to use English, and Yang Chao could not understand Dutch and refused to agree, so he finally adopted the form of Chinese and French.

After signing the treaty, Jones held a celebration dinner according to the habits of the Dutch, of course, the scale was a little small, because the Dutch were also cautious in the Golden Hairpin Tower, worried that they would be discovered by the people who had a heart in the Ming Dynasty and get into trouble, and Jones still knew the Ming Dynasty very well.

At the banquet, Jones asked Yang Chao how many warships he needed to order.

Yang Chao said: "Ten ships." But it must be a large ship of more than 4,000 materials. At least one of them is 8,000 materials! ”

Jones and Zheng Hongkui ignored each other, and then they were relieved: "No problem! ”

Yang Chao added: "I remind Mr. Jones that our treaty must not come into force until the Dutch have traveled the warship contract, otherwise the Lord has the right to question the credibility of the Dutch, and this treaty will have no effect." ”

Jones laughed and said, "The reputation of the Dutch is life, and Your Excellency the Earl can rest assured of this. ”

Yang Chao nodded and said, "I also hope that you will deliver the warship as soon as possible, and it is best to let me see the warship within a month!" ”

Jones was puzzled: "Your Excellency the Earl does not know, it takes at least half a year to build a ship, and it takes at least half a year to a year to sail from Holland to Daming, so it will take a year to deliver it at the earliest." To be honest, I hope that the treaty will enter into force as soon as possible. ”

Yang Chao shook his head and said: "Benjue can accept the old ship, not to mention the East India Company, there are not even ten ships in the East?" ”

Old ship!

Jones really didn't expect this, but since Yang Chao was willing to accept it, it depended on whether the East India Company was willing to accept it.

He could only say that he would report Yang Chao's request to the East India Company.

"Okay, then I wish us a happy cooperation!"

After everything was finalized, Yang Chao raised his glass. (To be continued)

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