"Cheers to the health of His Excellency Governor Taborah! Cheers to peace and prosperity! ”

At the banquet at the Governor's Palace in Manila, Yan Xiaosong and Zhang Chunrui stood up at the same time, raising their wine glasses, and the European diplomats present stood up one after another, each smiling.

After a difficult night, the Oriental Conference took a dramatic turn, and the issues and the contradictions that arose were resolved in an efficient manner, and the Manila Accords were officially signed and entered into force.

When the talks between the United States and the Kingdom of Spain were in a state of anxiety, they suddenly announced that they would abandon their demand for reparations from the Dutch East India Company, and the Portuguese representatives, who had to follow Huamei as their younger brother, were naturally unable to express their opinions. Governor Taborah and the representative of the English East India Company, who thought they could bite off the Dutch this time, were dumbfounded, and after several weak "regrets", they could only accept a symbolic compensation of 100,000 guilders.

In exchange for the diplomatic goodwill gestures toward China, the Dutch first recognized the protection and preferential terms of Chinese businessmen in the Manila Accords, and all Chinese businessmen going to Batavia were only required to pay the previous 60% cargo tax, but even then it was only restored to normal levels.

Secondly, the Dutch East India Company recognized Spain's claim for rights and interests in shipping routes, and all Dutch East India Company merchant ships on the route to and from Japan would pay a certain toll tax to the Spanish colonial government of Manila. With the exception of the Portuguese, who themselves enjoyed special care from Spain, the other countries could not afford to trade much with Japan, so it was still largely a unilateral commitment of the Dutch East India Company.

Thirdly, the Dutch relinquished their control of the Timor route and recognized all Portuguese rights and interests in the island of Timor.

The last concession made by the Dutch was to greatly reduce trade with Siam and Indochina, which was to be shared between the English East India Company and the Portuguese.

At first glance, almost half of the Manila Accords were dividing up the plates of the Dutch East India Company. But in essence, under the "mediation" of Yan Xiaosong, an American diplomat in China. The Dutch East India Company's monopoly on the spice trade in the Maluku Islands, Sumatra, Java and Sulawesi remained 100 per cent intact, and the Indian trade was not cut.

The English East India Company, which had been beaten to the ground by the Dutch East India Company, finally obtained most of the trade monopolies in Siam and Burma, as well as the right to trade with Macao; The Portuguese regained the island of Timor and gained some additional trade rights in Indochina; The Danes were given the right to trade between Macau and Manila; Spain's demands were almost entirely secured, and even under the "auspices" of China and the United States, it was granted an additional exclusive trade qualification with the United States; All the participating countries have obtained the right to trade in the overseas territory of the Pearl Island of the United States of America and enjoy the most favored trade treatment.

Finally, all countries recognize the "protection and preferential treatment of Chinese businessmen" clause, and all merchant ships that have received "Chinese merchant identity certification" on Pearl Island. will be subject to this provision.

On the surface, the Manila Accord did not have too direct benefits for China and the United States, but almost all European diplomats privately believed that China and the United States would gain the most from it, because every rule in the agreement was defined by China and the United States.

……

At night, in the hotel that temporarily served as the residence of the Chinese and American diplomatic representatives, two Chinese military and political officials, one Chinese and one young, were fanning themselves with fans and eating smoothies vigorously to ward off the sweltering heat before the heavy rain in Manila.

“…… The contents of the Far Eastern Conference of the National Assembly were basically completed this time. The only regret is that other Eastern projects were shelved. Yan Xiaosong drank the last ice water in one gulp, and leaned back in the chair with a hint of regret in his eyes.

"Xiao Yan. This bureau is already quite large, counting the events of the next few decades, it is estimated that Li Guozhu will wake up laughing when they dream. Zhang Chunrui, commander-in-chief of the expeditionary fleet, smiled and pointed in the direction of the Governor's Palace, "Maybe this will also change the history of the Chinese in Southeast Asia!" ”

"There is no eternal peace. For the countries of Europe, it is not a respite, and perhaps the next war will come against the rules we have set...... And that's not what we're pursuing, is it? Yan Xiaosong once again launched the Chinese version of the Manila Agreement. His eyes swept between the lines, and the regret on his face was even worse.

"I'm a soldier, so I'm sorry to ask you what you think, but I also think that this Far East plan, the bureau laid out, has far exceeded the sum of what we have done in Daming in the past, just to maintain the operation of a Pearl Island, it is not an easy task, not to mention that there are several more families that we need to worry about. I heard that this year, the various expenditures of the expedition have exceeded 3 million yuan, and if you add the surrounding expenses, I am afraid that 4 million yuan will not be able to suppress it. How much is the country's budget for a year? Caterina has given you another baby girl, what's not to be satisfied with? Xiao Yan, if you want to hurry, you can't reach ......"

Zhang Chunrui got up and walked in front of Yan Xiaosong, reached out and pressed the other party's shoulder, and shook his head gently.

"I understand, hehe......" Yan Xiaosong smiled, understanding the kindness of this big brother-level soldier.

……

"The plan proposed by Yan Xiaosong can be summed up as the '3+1+1' model."

More than a dozen time zones away, at noon, in a corner of the Mancheng City Government Restaurant, Su Zining was drinking coffee with Erlang's legs crossed, and Finance Minister Liu Xin opposite was worried.

“3+1+1？ What is this model? Just listening to this string of numbers, you know that it is a "difficult to serve" guy, Liu Xin couldn't help frowning.

"Three regional agents, one Ming interface, and one Far East core influence." Su Zining crossed his fingers and said word by word, "This is basically the most perfect model that Yan Xiaosong has found so far, and it is also the best combination expected by the domestic Eastward Advancement faction." ”

"Liu Xiang, Li Guozhu, and the Yan family, the three of them will share the trade role of the Ming East China Sea and Nanyang when Yan Siqi was alive in the past. Liu Xiang is active in the South China Sea, the Strait of Malacca and the Indochina Peninsula, which are very mature Southeast Asian trade areas; Li Guozhu's Luzon Chinese merchant consortium would actively participate in the trade between Luzon and the southeast coast of the Ming Dynasty, which had previously been monopolized by Yan Siqi and the Zheng family; The Yan family, with Dayuan as a base, will contain Zheng Zhilong, and continue to cooperate with the Portuguese, actively infiltrating trade ties with the Ryukyus, Korea, and Japan. ”

And Zheng Zhilong and Xiong Wencan behind him. He is the best interface for us to deal with the Ming Dynasty, and his open connections along the Ming coast are much more important than the Yan family, and it is the best 'official' channel for us to carry out large-scale immigration. What we have to do is to pass through the Yan family, so that the Ming Dynasty has to maintain a tolerant attitude towards Zheng Zhilong, and even deliberately approach Xiong Wencan for the future layout. ”

"Finally, there is our overseas Pearl Island, which Yan Xiaosong intends to build into a template for our country in the East. Declaring a sense of existence, suppressing European countries, influencing all Chinese businessmen in Southeast Asia, and even influencing the Ming Dynasty itself, such as Hainan Island...... Of course, the above-mentioned oriental layout is not a simple guy, it all depends on the ability of your Liu Butler. ”

After speaking, Su Zining smiled. It is obviously hinting at Liu Xin's position as finance minister.

"Damn it, where can I find so much money to fill this 'bullshit's '3+1+1'! You also think about the whole, okay! Liu Xin's face fell, and the cup in his hand fell heavily on the table, completely losing his voice. Next year's total budget is only 19 million yuan, and nearly 2 million yuan of maturing treasury bonds will be repaid, and there are still many project expenditures that have been delayed for one year and need to be made up next year. There can't be more money for anything other than the immigration budget! ”

"So, Congress and the Prime Minister. It's all 'Path'......" Su Zining spread his hands, revealing an innocent expression, "It didn't cost you much money to support the Yan family and aid Portugal before." Most of them are 'self-funded' from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, well. I'm just going to explain Yan Xiaosong's thoughts to you, you know, I'm not all the way to Yan Xiaosong's pervert this time. If his proposal is approved, then the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will really not be able to do enough. ”

"You should have read Lao Qi's budget before us, right? According to the Congress's intentions, it is necessary to increase financial support for state-owned groups starting next year. In this case, the proportion of profits paid by state-owned groups should also be adjusted, right? If you can speak in the SASAC, you Liu Xin will be the second, and no one will dare to be the first. Speaking of managing money, Lao Qi doesn't have as much courage as you in this regard. After Su Zining finished speaking, he smiled and picked up the coffee cup.

“……”

Quietly looking at the foreign minister opposite, Liu Xin fell into silence, and understood the fundamental purpose of the other party's sudden talk to him today.

……

The northeast monsoon in the Indian Ocean is upon us again, and all the ships of the first expeditionary fleet, the second and third convoys, converge in the eastern harbor of Pearl Island.

The geographical conditions of the port in Pearl City are far inferior to other good ports in Southeast Asia, so since March, the construction of the port has not stopped, and even part of the artificial pier trestle must be built, which is purely an individual work. Fortunately, the residents of Pearl Island now have no other livelihood than farming, and under the organization of the acting mayor George, they bring sand and gravel and timber from the interior and carry out the work slowly.

The Portuguese fleet carrying more than 2,000 Daming refugees has set off as early as September, and now on Pearl Island, in addition to the original more than 2,000 residents, more than 5,000 Daming refugees from various channels are boarding the ship in turn under the guidance of the staff.

After loading a large amount of supplies and raw materials purchased by Yang Xiaohua and others from the Far East, the three Chaoyang-class large-scale sailing merchant ships and four Aoguang-class large-scale flying scissors merchant ships still barely managed to stuff more than 5,000 immigrants, but they were already far below the safe boarding standards for ocean-going navigation stipulated by China and the United States.

As a result, the number of Daming immigrants sent from Pearl Island this year finally exceeded 10,000, reaching the highest record since the implementation of the Far East immigration plan.

In less than half a year, in addition to Zheng Zhilong's skill, it is also thanks to a series of cooperation agreements reached by Yan Xiaosong and Liu Xiang, Li Guozhu, Su Minggang and others. In the absence of a more suitable opportunity, the channels of the Yan family and Zheng Zhilong together can obtain more than 6,000 displaced people every year, and the remaining number is shared by a large number of Chinese businessmen who travel to and from Nanyang.

According to the provisions of the latest "Manila Agreement", Chinese businessmen from all over the country who run the Nanyang maritime trade can "apply" for a kind of "Chinese businessman identity authentication" that can "stay in place and protect their lives" on Pearl Island, with this certification, whether it is Luzon Manila, Java Batavia, Malacca, or even the Portuguese port in India, they can pay a lot less taxes than in previous years.

However, this kind of "Chinese business identity authentication" is only valid for half a year, and it has one certificate per ship. In addition to a very small cost of each certification application, another hard cost is the need to bring 30 displaced people to Pearl Island.

In the face of today's world of selling children and daughters everywhere, or a few taels of silver can sell the whole family into slavery. This cost is paediatric compared to the experience of being slaughtered by European colonial ports. Only Liu Xiang used his connections to bring Guangdong maritime businessmen to Mingzhu Island more than 500 refugees from Guangzhou.

At present, it is estimated that there will be no less than 70 merchant ships that need to come to Pearl Island to apply for Chinese certification every year, that is, at least 140 certifications are required. This seemingly piecemeal model can quietly transport at least 4,000 Ming refugees to Pearl Island every year.

Another advantage of this model is that it has invisibly turned Pearl Island into a Nanyang trade transit station for Daming maritime merchants. As there is no economic development project of its own, and the daily life is still in the "comprehensive package of the government" Pearl Island overseas residents, it can provide a lot of job opportunities.

The number of immigrants in the Ming Dynasty exceeds 10,000 every year, which seems to be a harvest that everyone is happy to see. However, in order to really transport people back to the Atlantic, in addition to the capacity of the Portuguese, China and the United States must send 10 Aoguang-class merchant ships to Pearl Island every year, and the capacity occupies almost half a year, and at present, the entire China and the United States only have a total of 12 such large clippers, which are still the absolute core and main force of Atlantic trade and transportation. This means that in order to obtain more of these immigrants, the country will not lose less than $5 million in Atlantic import and export trade every year, not to mention the loss of national tax revenue, and it will also lead to a decline in the operating rate of domestic enterprises. As a result of the ripple effect of rising production costs, the average cost of immigrants from the East has significantly exceeded the level of previous years.

……

At the dock of the naval base, waves of Daming refugees are still boarding the ship one after another, and the voices of occasionally crying or calling for their families are endless. Many of them fell to their knees and kowtowed to the north with tears in their eyes as they boarded the ship. The residents of Pearl Island, who were watching, silently continued to do their work, as if they had become accustomed to these compatriots who were about to travel far away.

"Huzi. Take good care of yourself, mother is leaving......" A middle-aged woman led a young man in ordinary clothes by the side of the boat. Tears rained down, "I thought that when I got here, our family would be able to live well, but I didn't expect ......"

The two girls beside the middle-aged woman hurriedly stuck up, stretched out their hands to support their mother, and then muttered goodbye to the young man.

"Mother, don't worry, it's good that you and your sister go there!"

Huang Hu'er knelt in front of the middle-aged woman, her face was calm, and she turned her head sideways to the two younger sisters: "Eldest sister, second sister, when you get there, there will naturally be people from the gorgeous government to settle you, don't argue with others." In addition, the family members of Wang Erxi and others also help take care of it, and naturally there will be people who will come to pick them up. I'll be back in a few days. ”

"Yes, big brother." The two younger sisters nodded hurriedly.

"Huang Hu'er!"

As he spoke, a tall, blonde-haired Chinese naval officer walked over and looked at the family who were saying goodbye with a smile.

"Chief Tang......" Huang Hu'er subconsciously wanted to stand up and salute, but suddenly thought that he was no longer a navy soldier now, and the hand he had just raised slowly lowered again.

"The frigates Dandelion and Yueji will be stationed at the Pearl Island Naval Base, and the General Headquarters decided yesterday to allow you to be reinstated, but your rank will be demoted back to private, and you will have to start all over again. If it's no problem, you can report to the monthly quarterly number! ”

Tang Hannah handed a notice to the young man, and nodded slightly to the family members beside him.

The Yueji, the flower-class sail frigate that escorted the third convoy to Pearl Island a few months ago, was incorporated into the Asian Fleet of the Chinese and US Navy, together with the light cruiser Dark Crystal and the sister ship Dandelion, with a one-year duty period, and the acting commander of the Asian Fleet was Captain Kent of the Black Crystal, who had been specially promoted to lieutenant commander of the Navy.

The role of the Asian Fleet was to carry out symbolic anti-piracy patrols on major shipping routes in the vicinity and to assert the presence of Chinese and American naval forces in the Far East.

A cannon salute sounded on the Republic, the flagship of the expeditionary fleet, and the officers and men of the two infantry companies (one company each of the Wehrmacht and the Foreign Legion) in charge of guarding Pearl Island stood at the port fortress or dock and cheered, and some Ming maritime merchants who were still unloading their cargo at the port also clasped their fists in salute.

The light cruiser Republic, spitting soot, was the first to leave the berth. By the window of the command cabin on the bridge, Yan Xianping's eyes were red, and he was holding a handkerchief with tears in his eyes.

"It's not alone, isn't the seventh aunt also going with her, and some of your cousins and cousins are also in Manchester City." Sun Yang leaned over with a smile, intending to reach out to wipe the other party's tears.

"I want you to care about ......" Yan Xianping turned sideways, covered his face with a handkerchief, and said in a low voice.

On Friday, October 5, 1629, the Ming Empire celebrated August 19 in the second year of Chongzhen. At the end of the year-long expedition to the East, the returning formation will arrive at Nanshan Port in a month with the help of the convenient Indian Ocean monsoon.

Standing on the side of the ship, looking at the sea and sky in the north, Yan Xiaosong was still in a daze, and the cigarette butt in his hand was about to burn his fingers without noticing.

"My dear, Uncle Kuan's family is willing to go back with us, and we can see each other often in the future, I like Qiao Xiaomei's child very much." Caterina walked to her husband with her sleeping daughter in her arms, and while kissing her daughter's little face dotingly, she didn't expect to touch her husband's cheek, "I haven't seen Yan Shuhong for more than a year, I really miss that little guy." ”

"Well, this time I went back and was jealous of Su Zining, hum, I also have a daughter!"

Yan Xiaosong suddenly changed his smile, took his daughter Yan Shuzhen, and then held it high above his head. The child seemed to be scratched in the face by the sea breeze, and woke up crying, so frightened that Caterina hurried to grab it. (To be continued......)