Joining forces against the Dutch? This is undoubtedly the most heartwarming sentence Enrique has heard since he began contact with the Haihans. (Baidu search update is the fastest and most stable dìng), the latest chapter visit wèn:.

As a powerful empire that once divided the world with Spain, Portugal had a deep fear of the rising star Netherlands. Although the Dutch entered Asia nearly a hundred years later than the Portuguese, they were not slow at all, and up to now, the Dutch have owned a large number of colonies in the Far East, such as the East Indies, Taiwan, the Coromandel in the Bay of Bengal, and Malabar in India.

The Portuguese were most disturbed by the Dutch-controlled colonies of Batavia and Taiwan. Batavia cut off the main shipping lanes for other Western countries to the seas east of Java, while Taiwan was positioned to control the shipping lanes to the richest regions of the Ming Dynasty, Jiangsu and Zhejiang, as well as the Korean Peninsula and the Japanese archipelago, enough to make other competitors jealous.

If they could, Portugal would have already begun to expel the Netherlands from the Far East, but the Netherlands had a powerful East India Company, which could not be provoked.

The Dutch East India Company was a joint trading company formed by the merger of fourteen maritime trading companies, and was authorized by the Dutch National Parliament to enjoy a monopoly on trade in the vast area between the Cape of Good Hope in Africa and the Strait of Magellan in South America. Of course, this company is not just a maritime business, it has great authority, not only can organize its own mercenaries, issue currency, but also sign formal treaties with other countries, and has the power to impose colonial rule abroad.

The development of the East India Company is a history of the use of force, beginning in 1619 when Cohen, the governor of the East India Company, established the company's new headquarters in Batavia, and the East India Company continued to use force to occupy and seize the colonies. In the original history, the biggest victim of the Dutch entry into the Far East was Portugal, in the past half century, Portugal was robbed by the Dutch of Sri Lanka's Galle, Manchuria, Colombo and other colonies, by 1659, the Portuguese on the Indian coast of the stronghold was almost looted by the Dutch. In fact, it doesn't have to wait a few decades for the Portuguese to feel the pressure of the Dutch by now.

However, it was not easy to expel the Dutch by force, and in the 17th century, the Dutch East India Company had 150 merchant ships, 40 warships, more than 50,000 employees and more than 10,000 'private' people. In fact, after the Dutch established a foothold in Taiwan, they tried to cut off the exchanges between the Ming Dynasty and Manila, and monopolized the foreign trade of Japan, Korea and northern China, which made the Spaniards very dissatisfied, but the two sides 'fought' many times, and the East India Company was not driven out of the Far East, but became more and more powerful.

In order to expel the East India Company, it was far from enough to rely on the Portuguese alone, not to mention the lack of unified deployment and command of the Portuguese colonies in the Far East, even if they could integrate their resources, it would be difficult to withstand the naval forces of the Dutch. The odds would have been better if they had pulled in the Spanish force, which was both friend and foe, but the Portuguese were reluctant to go to Manila in a low voice to plead with the arrogant Spanish nobles, who would most likely have to pay for the Spanish troops in addition to the sneers and ridicule.

In contrast, the Haihan seem to be much easier to 'deal with', and although Enrique can always feel a condescending sense of superiority from the other party's speech and demeanor, at least this is a group of gentlemen who can sit down and 'exchange' opinions on an equal footing, rather than a shameless person who only makes all kinds of harsh demands like the Spanish aristocracy. Of course, the most important point is that the Haihan people have fully proved their strength in the military field through the table xiàn on the battlefield. If there were some doubts about the combat effectiveness of the Hai Han militia, after watching the demonstration of the live ammunition 'shooting' just now, Enrique could have come to the conclusion without hesitation that if the armed forces of the East India Company encountered the Hai Han militia on land, the results that awaited them would probably not be much better than that of the peasant army of South Vietnam.

Enrique still calmly limited the scope of the battlefield to land for the time being, because he had already noticed that there were not many warships in Haihan during his time in Victory Port, and the total number was only about ten, which was far less than that of the Dutch. So far, it seems that Haihan's navy has not encountered a real opponent in actual combat - the South Vietnamese naval division that has been wiped out is certainly not qualified, and even in the eyes of Enrique, a 'doorman', the South Vietnamese naval division seems too amateurish, and there are not even a few decent warships.

The Haihan people wanted to fight with the Dutch on the sea, Enrique thought that it was not the best time at the moment, and he groaned for a while before he spoke: "Mr. Yan, please forgive me, the Dutch are not Annanes, and their ability to fight at sea is not much worse than the means of doing business. If you've heard of the Dutch East India Company, you'll know what I mean. ”

Yan Chujie nodded and said, "We know very well about the situation of the East India Company, and we may know more than you. Rest assured, we don't intend to face the Dutch head-on right now. ”

Enrique was slightly surprised by Yan Chujie's answer, the Dutch East India Company had officially entered the Far East for less than ten years, and the Haihan people had only settled on Qiongzhou Island for more than a year, how did they learn about the East India Company's intelligence? Could it be that they had already 'dealed' with the Dutch before?

Just when Enrique was in doubt, Yan Chujie added another blow to him: "Not only the Dutch East India Company, but also the situation of the English East India Company, we are also well aware of it! If the information we have is correct, the British have stolen a lot of the limelight from you in India in recent years, right?"

Enrique was shocked when he heard this, Portugal was suppressed by the British East India Company in India, this information is not something that ordinary people can know, even in Australia, only the upper class knows the inside story.

The British East India Company was founded at the end of 1600, two years before the Dutch East India Company. However, for a variety of reasons, the company, which was granted a royal charter by King Elizabeth I himself, has not been very good in Asia, especially when compared to the Dutch who entered the region at the same time.

As early as 1612, the British East India Company defeated the Portuguese in an armed conflict and gained the support of the Mughal Emperor Jahangir, who was then the ruler of 70% of the Indian subcontinent. Jahangir gave the British very generous treatment, and in addition to the right to settle and build factories, he was also given the right to free trade, which merchants coveted. Above all, the Emperor treated the English differently from the Portuguese, one as a close friend of the royal family, the other as a shameless predator and parasite.

This difference in attitude soon led the British to outgrow the Portuguese in India over those who had established a foothold in Goa and Bombay. By the mid-17th century, the British East India Company's influence in the Indian Peninsula had completely surpassed that of the Portuguese. The only good news is that the British did not use armed struggle as the main means of foreign competition, as the Dutch did, and most of the time they still valued practical commercial interests, and in recent years they have only put pressure on the Portuguese through guò trade rather than rudely using force to settle disputes between merchants between the two countries.

However, the main area of activity of the British is still on the coast of India, and they have not extended their tentacles too much around the Ming Dynasty, and it is unlikely that they will have too much direct contact with the merchants of the Ming Dynasty. The only thought that Enrique could think of at the moment was that since the Haihan people could grasp the movements of the Dutch and the English, it would be difficult to hide their own situation from them.

Looking at Enrique's slightly panicked eyes, Yan Chujie smiled and said: "You don't have to be so nervous, now we are not in a hostile relationship, and the reason why I tell you this information is also to hope that you will realize the sincerity of our side in seeking cooperation." ”

Enrique took out his handkerchief, wiped the sweat oozing from his forehead, and replied in a loud voice: "Of course, of course, I have fully felt your sincerity. ”

As soon as Yan Chujie said this, Enrique naturally thought that if the Haihan people had malicious intentions towards themselves, they would definitely not take out these hole cards for themselves to see. At this time, Enrique no longer planned to inquire about Yan Chujie's intelligence sources, because he knew that asking was in vain, and Yan Chujie would definitely use the previous excuse to prevaricate himself. In any case, Enrique had to admit that the intelligence work of the Haihan people appeared to be very good, far beyond what he had previously realized.

"A smart partner is at least better than a stupid partner. Enrique could only comfort himself silently in his heart.

"Why us?" said Enrique, a sudden question.

However, Yan Chujie understood what he meant, and immediately responded: "Of course, this is not a casual decision, in fact, we have also considered and considered it for a long time. Please forgive me for not being able to explain to you all the reasons for this, because there are various interests involved, and perhaps you will feel it slowly after we reach a partnership in the future. ”

Enrique was a little speechless at Yan Chujie's way of dealing with this circle, and he really wanted to 'figure' understand why the Haihan people chose Portugal as their partner among many Western countries, and this partner was still an opponent who had a direct conflict on the battlefield not long ago.

The reason why the Executive Committee has such a decision is indeed after comprehensive consideration as Yan Chujie said. If the Executive Committee wants to sell the industrial products produced to the West, and even gradually control the import and export trade of the Ming region in the future, it must have a trading partner from the Western world. And the selection of such partners must be limited to a few limited targets that already have colonies in the Far East. As for the selection criteria, it is mainly based on the future development plan to predict and eliminate the objects that may have conflicts of interest in the future, and use the elimination method to select the most suitable partner for Haihan.

Selecting according to this rule, the first to be excluded are the Dutch. The method of military expansion they adopted had already foreshadowed the inevitable war with Haihan in the future, and the Executive Committee had regarded the island of Taiwan as its own since before the crossing, and the military aid to Fujian was also to pave the way for entering the Taiwan Strait in the future, and in order to do this, in addition to eliminating the existing "Eighteen Zhi", the Dutch entrenched on the island of Taiwan must also be expelled. Of course, the Dutch, who had made great efforts to establish a foothold on the island of Taiwan, would not be restrained, and it would certainly be expected that the two sides would turn their faces and fight each other at that time, so it was impossible for the Executive Committee to choose a target who would turn their faces sooner or later as its main trading partner.

The second to be excluded was the British, for a very simple reason, their colony was too far away from Hainan Island, and it was inconvenient to communicate, and it was useless to say anything. Even if trade relations can be established in the future, it is unlikely that there will be a large scale of trade. Moreover, Britain was one of the major participants in the Thirty Years' War in Europe, and the Executive Committee believed that it would be difficult for it to stay out of future arms sales and play a good role in the double-faced 'color'.

The next two options are Spain and Portugal. Spain, like England, was an active player in the Thirty Years' War, which influenced the final decision at some point. As a client state, Portugal's investment in the European battlefield was relatively limited, and their bent desire to break away from Spain's control and let Spain continue to consume its strength in the quagmire of war would undoubtedly be a result that the Portuguese were very happy to see. The Portuguese are at odds with the other three parties because of their conflicting interests, which greatly reduces the possibility of several European countries joining forces to trap the Han.

In addition, the position of the Portuguese colonial stronghold in the Far East was also a condition that the Executive Committee attached great importance to. In addition to the very convenient base of communication with Macao, the Portuguese also occupied the choke point of Manraka, which later became Malacca, in and out of the Far East. If there had been no external intervention, the place would have changed hands in a few years, and the Dutch East India Company would have taken possession of it. This was certainly something that the Executive Committee did not want, and rather than let this vital area be lost from the Portuguese, it was better to find a way to take it over from them and run it itself.

After considering various factors, the Executive Committee finally chose Portugal as its future trading partner for the West. Of course, this is not the case that everything will be settled after the selection, after all, the two sides have only clashed recently, and it will take a lot of effort to establish a mechanism of mutual trust and mutual benefit. After much deliberation, the Executive Committee decided to use the arms trade as an entry point to pull the Portuguese aboard their own ship.

The arms trade is a very sensitive business, and it cannot be said that it can be sold, and the attitude is too proactive, and it is difficult to explain if it causes unnecessary misunderstandings. After discussions with several high-level officials, it was decided to arrange a trick to invite the king into the urn to 'induce' the Portuguese envoy to offer the arms trade. The display of the weapons allows the other party to understand the real advantage of Haihan in weapon manufacturing, so as to dispel the idea of the other party using the purchased weapons to oppose Haihan. In addition, through guò's repeated explicit hints, Enrique realized the common denominator of the interests of the two sides, as well as Haihan's exclusive advantage in intelligence and judgment, and turned his fear of Haihan into awe and dependence in the future as much as possible.

These things are not complicated to say, but in practice, we must be careful everywhere, once we take a wrong step, then the Portuguese's understanding of Haihan may be biased to the other extreme, and it will be difficult to recover the image after losing trust. Fortunately, so far, everything has gone very smoothly, and as designed by the Executive Committee, Enrique has stepped into this pit step by step, and has begun to involuntarily move forward according to the train of thought arranged for him.

"As for the condition of the weapons, let's visit here today. As for the specific procurement plan, we can talk about it tomorrow. Yan Chujie also knew that the amount of information instilled in Enrique today was too large, and it was estimated that he would not be able to digest it for a while, so he took the initiative to postpone the negotiations on the arms trade for a day. Enrique did not object to this, and it was indeed difficult for him to concentrate on what kind of weapons to buy. Nowadays, this is not just the scope of the arms trade, according to the Haihan people, the cooperation between the two sides is likely to involve the future development prospects of the Portuguese in the Far East, and to put it more strictly, it will even affect the future national fortunes of Portugal! He must digest and digest it carefully before deciding how to bargain with the Haihan. When the members of the Executive Committee met Enrique the next day, his eyes were bloodshot. Instead of losing sleep, Enrique 'sprang' the night drafting a letter to the Australian Council. In addition to mentioning his many observations during his stay in Victory Port, the letter mainly reported to the Council on the latest progress of the negotiations between the two sides and the concept of cooperation proposed by the Haihan side, starting with the arms trade. Although Enrique is a special envoy, there are some things that he does not have the right to make decisions directly after all, and must still be reported to the council of Australia to make a decision. If he is a good one, then João Enrique Bardock Thomas will most likely become a hero in Portuguese history in the future because of what he is doing now.