Hans had previously decided to send troops to assist Eighteen Zhi in attacking Nanri Island, firstly, for the sake of silver, he felt that there was such a windfall in front of him, and there was no risk in collecting it, anyway, the fleet only went to the periphery of Nanri Island to assist in the defense, and did not participate in the landing and seizure of the island. With the strength of the Dutch armed fleet, there should be no risk. Second, Hans still had a glimmer of hope for Zheng Zhilong's Eighteen Zhi to counterattack the mainland, hoping to save the current unfavorable situation of Eighteen Zhi through guò military support, and to exert pressure on the Ming Fujian government through Eighteen Zhi. Third, since the Haihan people had already intervened in the war in Fujian, the East India Company could not completely ignore it, and let the Eighteen Zhi weigh the weight of the Haihan, and by the way, observing its means of warfare was also one of the reasons for sending troops.

There was also an inhumane reason for his nephew, Vanderwegen, to pave the way for his future advancement within the East India Company. Of course, it was clear that the idea did not go smoothly enough, and Van der Wegen not only failed to achieve decent success, but lost two-thirds of his men and ships, and was lucky to be able to escape back to Dayuan Port alive.

Van der Wegen has a few pounds and a few taels, and Hans, the uncle, still knows it, and if he doesn't have real skills, Hans will not be so confused that he will give Van der Wegen the company's armed sailboat to use as a toss. In fact, Vanderwegen was definitely a powerful young talent within the East India Company, whether it was navigation or commanding operations, he had a certain level, and what he lacked was an opportunity to make a name for himself. But after this setback in Fujian, Van der Wegen probably won't have the opportunity to be entrusted with a heavy task anytime soon, even more to Hans's chagrin than the loss of a few sailboats in the battle.

As soon as the news of Zheng Zhihu's death in Nanri Island arrived, the envoys of the Fujian government came to ask for compensation. In this situation, Hans was in no mood to talk to the Ming envoy about any compensation, so he naturally pushed things clean up first, and bit back, trying to change from passive to active.

However, this attempt pale under the premise that his side had just been defeated, and the Ming envoy did not even refute it, so he got up and took his leave, except that he would stay in Dayuan Harbor for three or five days, and if Hans changed his mind, then the two sides would make another appointment to negotiate. The pair of +7+7+7+7, m.▼.co◆mstyle_tt; There was a fearless expression that made Hans itch his teeth - what qualifications did the messenger of the Ming Dynasty have to put on such a victorious posture in front of him?

Although very reluctant, Hans had to start seriously considering what would happen if he vetoed the request of the Ming envoy. Hans ordered Vanderwegen to be summoned to discuss with him what to do.

"What do you think about the Fujian government's demand for compensation from us?" asked Hans straight to the point.

"If the other party's messenger is real, then we probably have no other way to pick up those who have fallen back into their hands than to pay the ransom. Van der Wegen was also very unsightly, after all, he was the commander of the fleet, but it was a great shame that two-thirds of his men did not follow him back to Dayuan Harbor, and were chased by his opponents to demand a ransom for the prisoners of war. Nine years ago, that is, in the second year of Ming Qi, the Dutch fleet blocked the mouth of Zhangzhou with seven warships and 900 soldiers, so that the Fujian Navy Division could not fight at all. Nine years later, the Dutch fleet was beaten by almost the same opponents in the same sea, and this gap was really unacceptable.

While it was common in Europe to ransom prisoners of war with gold, silver, jewelry, or other valuables, it was rare for the Dutch to be so passive in the Far East, and most of the time the natives paid ransoms to the Dutch to ransom their captives after their defeat. Even when the Ming army was defeated and withdrew from Penghu in the fourth year of the Apocalypse, and twelve Dutch soldiers were captured, the East India Company never paid a ransom of copper coins to the Ming Dynasty.

Of course, at that time, the Ming Dynasty did not mention the ransom at all, and the Fujian government directly escorted the captive Gao Wenlu and others into Beijing to ask for merit, and later these prisoners of war were beheaded in Beijing to show the public, and Ming Xizong also issued a special decree to announce to the world, and from beginning to end he did not plan to reconcile with the East India Company. For the Ming Empire, face is much more important than silver.

But this time, the attitude of the Fujian government has changed significantly, not only has the attitude become tougher, but also sent people to the door to ask for money, which must have played a role in the Haihan people. The most hateful thing is that the Haihan people actually opened their mouths to ask for compensation of 50,000 silver, which was really unacceptable to Hans. If it weren't for the fact that there were hundreds of captives in the hands of the other side, Hans would really want to tear his face on the spot.

"But it is impossible for them to ask us for 100,000 taels of silver as war reparations!" Hans said gloomily, "If the gentlemen of Batavia know that I have agreed to such conditions, they will definitely send an executioner to Dayuan Harbor to hang me." ”

"We don't have any more than 100,000 taels of silver to give in exchange. Vanderwegen added frustratedly.

It's not trading season, and Dayuan doesn't have much silver reserves. According to the arrangement of previous years, the Batavia side will probably arrange silver ships to deliver large quantities of silver to Dayuan Port between September and October. In the past, these silver ships had to go to Japan, but in the past two years, due to the Hamada Yabei incident, the open trade between the East India Company and the Japanese shogunate has been suspended, and only a few smuggling channels are still operating in the shadows, and the place of exchange has been changed from Hirado, Japan to the Ryukyus. However, because the Spaniards are now active in the north, Hans has ordered that this year's transaction with Japanese smuggling maritime merchants be changed to the port of Oyuan.

Even if Hans had the heart to reach an agreement with Daming to exchange prisoners of war, Dayuan Harbor would not have so much silver to mobilize now, at least until two months later. Moreover, the silver brought from Batavia was to be used for this year's bulk trade, and if it was diverted for other purposes, no one would be able to fill the hole.

But if you want to sit back and watch these hundreds of prisoners of war be captured and punished by the Ming Dynasty, it is also difficult for Hans to explain to Batavia, you must know that this fleet is almost concentrated in the elite of Dayuangang, and the ones who participated in the war are also the best local armed sailing ships.

"It's a big responsibility, and I have to report it to the company headquarters. Hans looked at Van der Wegen and said slowly, "I must send a client back to tell the gentlemen of the board of directors what had happened." ”

Van der Wegen's face turned a little pale, and he understood why Hans had called him alone to discuss the matter, and had planned to send him back to Batavia to report in person - in view of the fiasco in Fujian, this report was likely to turn into a backlash, after all, someone had to stand up and take responsibility for the defeat. It is clear that Uncle Hans intends to push himself to the front of the stage and take on the corresponding responsibilities, which is definitely not a good errand.

"If I could, of course I would prefer to go back to Batavia and explain to the board of directors the causes and consequences of this war with Daming and Haihan, but you also know that my duty is to leave the affairs of the senior ...... behind" Hans looked at his nephew's pale face, and his heart was also uncomfortable, and he sighed and said: "You have to remember one thing, as long as I don't fall, you will always have a chance to get up, if even I fall, then no one will be able to support you in the future!"

Vanderwegen didn't know that there was a Chinese saying that he lost his car to protect the handsome, but he could also understand the priority of the uncle asking him to understand the matter. Returning to Batavia to take responsibility for the defeat is likely to be punished by the company, but at least he can keep his uncle's position and have a chance to make a comeback in the future. But if Hans lost his position as chief because of this, it would be difficult for Van der Wegen not to be implicated, and it would be difficult for the uncle and nephew to be reused in the Far East in the future.

"Uncle, I see what you mean. Van der Wegen was silent for a long time before finally speaking: "I will go back to Batavia as much as I can, and report to the board of directors on this action." But how to explain to the board about our fallen sailors and soldiers?"

"According to my law to the envoy of the Ming Dynasty, this is a deliberate attack by Haihan against us! Our fleet was attacked in a completely unguarded state, and Haihan's action was to start a war unilaterally, and it was necessary for the Board of Directors to understand that such an act must be retaliated!" Hans immediately instructed him.

"But then we will lose the captives completely!" Van der Wegen was a little worried: "The Haihan people have come up with such harsh quid pro quo that if we refuse, they probably won't be kind enough to release the prisoners." ”

"You're still too young!" Hans shook his head and said, "Do you think the conditions proposed by the other party are really feasible? Compensation of 100,000 taels of silver, and a promise to Da Ming not to take any hostile actions in the future, they did not come to negotiate with us with sincerity at all, they just wanted to embarrass us and make us lose face!"

"But what's in it for them? just to show off the pride of the victors in front of us?" Van der Wegen asked puzzled, "I used to hear that the Haihan people are very pragmatic and don't waste time doing unrealistic things, do they have other plans to do this?"

"Perhaps, but I can't figure out what their purpose would be right now. At this point, Hans's expression was also a little confused: "If the Haihan people just want to fight us, then there is no need to propose any prisoner of war exchange conditions, everyone will win or lose on the battlefield." But they sent people to negotiate peace, and the conditions they put forward were completely impossible to achieve, and I really couldn't understand what their intentions were. ”

The following paragraphs will be updated later

Hans looked at his nephew's pale face, and felt also uncomfortable, sighed and said: "You have to remember one thing, as long as I don't fall, you will always have a chance to get up, if even I fall, then no one will be able to support you in the future!"

Vanderwegen didn't know that there was a Chinese saying that he lost his car to protect the handsome, but he could also understand the priority of the uncle asking him to understand the matter. Returning to Batavia to take responsibility for the defeat is likely to be punished by the company, but at least he can keep his uncle's position and have a chance to make a comeback in the future. But if Hans lost his position as chief because of this, it would be difficult for Van der Wegen not to be implicated, and it would be difficult for the uncle and nephew to be reused in the Far East in the future.

"Uncle, I see what you mean. Van der Wegen was silent for a long time before finally speaking: "I will go back to Batavia as much as I can, and report to the board of directors on this action." But how to explain to the board about our fallen sailors and soldiers?"

"According to my law to the envoy of the Ming Dynasty, this is a deliberate attack by Haihan against us! Our fleet was attacked in a completely unguarded state, and Haihan's action was to start a war unilaterally, and it was necessary for the Board of Directors to understand that such an act must be retaliated!" Hans immediately instructed him.

"But then we will lose the captives completely!" Van der Wegen was a little worried: "The Haihan people have come up with such harsh quid pro quo that if we refuse, they probably won't be kind enough to release the prisoners." ”

"You're still too young!" Hans shook his head and said, "Do you think the conditions proposed by the other party are really feasible? Compensation of 100,000 taels of silver, and a promise to Da Ming not to take any hostile actions in the future, they did not come to negotiate with us with sincerity at all, they just wanted to embarrass us and make us lose face!"

"But what's in it for them? just to show off the pride of the victors in front of us?" Van der Wegen asked puzzled, "I used to hear that the Haihan people are very pragmatic and don't waste time doing unrealistic things, do they have other plans to do this?"

"Perhaps, but I can't figure out what their purpose would be right now. At this point, Hans's expression was also a little confused: "If the Haihan people just want to fight us, then there is no need to propose any prisoner of war exchange conditions, everyone will win or lose on the battlefield." But they sent people to negotiate peace, and the conditions they put forward were completely impossible to achieve, and I really couldn't understand what their intentions were. ”