No matter how clumsy the reasons the East India Company found, it was finally accepted by the Zheng family.

It's all about planning... Good thing, if you don't accept it, Zheng Zhilong won't come here at all. Besides, the real culprit has almost been wiped out at the mouth of the Tamsui River, and the Zheng family's anger has already come out, and pretending here is just to get more benefits.

Of course, if the Dutch side wants to settle the matter, it is certainly not enough to rely on a "temporary worker" excuse, the ships and weapons captured in the Battle of the Tamsui River are trophies, and they are not compensation, and if they want the Zheng family and the Fujian officials behind them to raise their noble hands and let them pass, they will have to take out something with real money.

As for the specific compensation, Pang Yu and others did not interfere, Zheng Zhilong is also a hero, and he can afford to let it go, and he must have a success in this regard. They just intentionally or unintentionally, through guò chatting with Zheng Zhihu, revealed some of the strength of the Dutch East India Company recorded in their "Goldfinger Reference Book" to the Zheng family during this period, so that the Zheng family could know the opponent's family background and not be too outrageous when asking for things.

In the negotiations in the next few days, Zheng Zhilong and the others really made good use of this information and slashed the Dutch fiercely--it can be seen from the faces of old Gorman and others. Soon after, an inside report from Diego confirmed this - the Zheng family had extorted five boats from the Dutch!

"The Zheng family can be regarded as earning it this time."

Just hearing this number, Pang Yu and the others seemed to be able to see the Zheng family's face at the negotiation table - they must have told the Dutch: Since you have sent ten ships to attack us, it must not be difficult to come up with another ten, so let's compensate according to this scale! And the old Gorman and the others must have complained loudly, and ...............the two sides bargained, and finally determined the amount of compensation for the five boats.

At first glance, it doesn't seem like a lot of five boats, but what the Zheng family can look at is definitely not a small boat that they can build themselves, but a big sailing ship that can sail the ocean! During this period, the Dutch East India Company was on the rise, but according to the Historical Records, even in its heyday the company had only 150 merchant ships and 40 warships, which is still counting the number of European headquarters.

Here in Asia, after being driven out of the island of Taiwan, Putmans waited for more than a year to wait for ten ships from mainland Europe to avenge him, a rare indication of the rarity of these ocean-going sailing ships. Moreover, Pang Yu and the others are still very strange - according to their understanding, the Dutch East India Company adopted the principle of ship shareholding, that is, the merchant shipowner uses his own ship as capital to join the company, and personally operates or hires other captains and runners to make money under the framework of the company, but the ship itself still belongs to the shipowner, I wonder how Old Gorman dared to agree to compensate the ship to the Zheng family?

But in any case, since the Dutch are willing to be slaughtered by this knife, then even if the Zheng family passes this hurdle for them, Old Gorman and the others have gone through a lot of hardships and can finally start this mission to negotiate with the Joan Navy for business.

"Your Excellency, please."

"No, no, no, noble lady, of course you invite ...... first"

-- While the Dutch were working hard to achieve their goal, the Spaniards who had been "invited" by Ade were like fish in water on Hainan Island, and they were accompanied by people every day to visit and play around the island. As a major tourist province in later generations, Hainan Island has good natural scenery, but when it comes to natural scenery, it may not be much stronger than the previous Cebu Island. But at this time, Carlos was intoxicated, as if he was in heaven.

The reason is very simple - at this moment, there is a peerless beauty not far from him smiling and accompaniing: Anatasida de Medici, this South European and American talent is first-class, and in recent years, he has learned a full set of modern makeup techniques from Wang Jiaojiao and other girls, including what to match with clothing, which is also a very mature concept in later generations. I don't know how many times stronger than the people of this era.

Usually she lives in a group of "well-informed" modern people, and no one thinks how to blame, but Lou Ran appeared in the eyes of a group of Europeans in this time and space, and the shocking effect is indescribable - when Anna and Jack were first introduced to Carlos and others, Zhao Lide had been talking for a long time, and none of the dozen or so people on Carlos's side reacted, all of them stood in place and just stared at each other, and they were "shocked" on the spot.

And in addition to her appearance, Anna's identity also shocked these Spaniards: the direct blood of the Florentine Medici family, the descendant of the Grand Duke of Tuscany! These Spanish nobles were entitled to look down on the Dutch, but they were absolutely worthy of a hundred and twenty points of respect for the members of the Italian papal family. Not to mention that Anna's own talent and conversation are so outstanding that these Spaniards are completely destroyed almost as soon as they meet.

So after the first meeting, Carlos and the others went to visit "Sir Lady Anderson" when they had nothing to do, and showed great hospitality to Anna in the midst of their conversations, which was not an obstacle to their custom.

And Anna herself is also very happy to meet a group of real "kinds" here, which allows her to look back on the atmosphere of her old life. Although Spain and Italy are far apart, and the traditional aristocratic customs of the two countries are not very different, they belong to Europe after all, and many things are still in common. Especially in this place far from home, the past can be ignored even with small differences. For Anna, it was comforting to be able to learn some information about her hometown from the Spanish aristocracy, even if it was just a few rumors.

So for those Spanish guests who obviously asked for meetings too often, she tried to accommodate them as long as she could find time. In addition to accompanying the guests to go out to play, he organized several banquets at home one after another, and invited those Spaniards to come to the door.

In this era, salon parties were often held in the homes of Western aristocracy, and it was common for hostesses to entertain guests.

Of course, Anna was very clever, and whether she was away or at home, she was always with old Jack when she met with European guests, and her words and deeds only showed the generosity and kindness of her hostess, but did not give any hint of misunderstanding - her husband was still the first in her mind.

Speaking of which, although Anna was very "rebellious,..., she grew up in such an environment after all, and she was imperceptible since she was a child, and she was also quite envious of those long-sleeved and delicate hostesses who danced in the salon. It's just that Anna was still very young at that time, and she was more disdainful of the old world of her elders, and now, as she grew older, especially after coming to such an environment and marrying people, her original most interested natural sciences, as well as the pursuit of religious skepticism, have been fully satisfied in the modern community, and even far beyond the scope of what she can accept. For example, Old Jack once told her about surgery, and although Anna knew that it was all very useful knowledge, she still couldn't help but feel resistant and disgusted - after all, she was born into a theocratic family, and even if she doubted the existence of God, it was difficult to agree with the modern medicine's practice of completely dismantling and studying the human body thoroughly.

In this environment, on the contrary, the "old-fashioned" life of the elders gradually made her nostalgic, and after marriage, she often talked to Jack about how grand and gorgeous the family banquet was when she was a child. Therefore, I completely agree with my wife's main focus on socializing during this time, and I have always accompanied her and entertained guests together as a male host.

The profession of a doctor, which has always been regarded as a member of high society in Western society, copes with the conversation of old Jack, and it is not difficult to talk to those Spanish aristocrats. Especially since this guy is also a doctor and is proficient in psychology, he can often grasp the initiative in his hands with just a few words, and naturally becomes the center of the party. Although Carlos and the others were arrogant and sneered at old Gorman and others, they did not have the slightest suspicion in front of this "Sir Anderson" of unknown origin, but consciously or unintentionally learned the other party's demeanor and demeanor, thinking that it was in line with the style of a real gentleman.

In short, this period of time on Hainan Island can be said to be a rare adventure in the lives of Carlos and others. If there is one thing that Joan's modern-day men have in common with the Spanish aristocracy of the 17th century, it is that they are very concerned about quality of life and material comforts. The living conditions here, run by modern technology and ideas, must have far exceeded those of any other place in this era, and the aristocratic families of Europe were no exception. And the Count Carlos and his attaché were all particular people, and they were particularly attentive to these details of life. They soon fully appreciate the benefits of modern life -

These Orientals are really good at enjoying it, not only food, clothing, housing and transportation, but also paying great attention to small things such as toilets and baths that don't seem to be worth paying attention to. Their house doesn't look very gorgeous on the outside, but inside it is very comfortable, and His Majesty's palace is like a cowshed compared to it!

-- This is Carlos himself's sentiment after enjoying an air-conditioned room during the hot summer of August.

One day, when Zhao Lide mentioned the topic of returning to Europe in the exchange, Carlos showed a reluctant look: "Don't worry, don't worry, we still have a lot to know about each other, and there are still a lot of things to talk about." The Spanish count replied that he had completely forgotten that he had been captured, and that when he was semi-forced to come to Hainan by Zhao Lide, he was bent on finding an opportunity to leave early.

"Be happy here, don't think about it" - if Carlos could have known this old saying like Anna at the beginning, he would have shouted it without hesitation.