Chapter 43 Dock Negotiations

Wenzhou's port and surrounding areas have been largely emptied.

Wen Tiren and Xiong Wencan stood on the forts around the port, holding binoculars to observe the armed merchant ships flying the Dutch flag and the East India Company flag on the ocean not far away.

Soon, a small boat could be seen departing from the armed merchant ship, and seven or eight sailors rowing long oars like a huge grasshopper towards the port of Fuzhou.

"Interestingly, the Dutch actually dried their goods in a place as large as thirteen whole cowhides, and replenished their supplies." Wen Tiren has been in Zhu Youzhen's big study for a long time, and naturally has a sense of pride. In his opinion, His Majesty can do it between the wind and the clouds, and everything will be wiped out, and he should be able to do it himself. These barbarians, how could they be the opponents of the Ming Dynasty.

"Are the cattle in Holland huge? Or is this the counting habit of those of them who raise cattle, and can only calculate the area from cowhides? Wen Tiren left the big study and spoke a little frivolously.

"Don't underestimate them, look at them, how can the country that can build such a ship that spans thousands of miles be what you call a barbarian? Put away your contempt, these fleets that can make Your Majesty say the four words of ruin, are still worthy of our seriousness. Lord Wen, do you say yes or no? ”

Xiong Wencan originally wanted to befriend Wen Tiren. No one is stupid, everyone knows that this person can be a secretary in front of His Majesty the Emperor, not to mention the later period, even now he has a bright future. Therefore, on weekdays, he is in the spirit of ten thousand words, and it is better to be silent as a motto of life, but in the spirit of being kind to others, he said a few more words.

However, he forgot to explain the truth of the words, and it seemed that on a whim, he said a little too much, and there was a little bit of the meaning of the superior reprimanding the lower official.

Wen Tiren's usual style is the same as his name, and he considers himself a gentleman who is as gentle as jade at every turn, but in fact, he is also a proud young scholar who wants to make progress, and when he heard this, he looked at the people around him for a while, and seemed to be a little unable to get off the stage.

Xiong Wencan attaches great importance to him, but in this case, how can he be more in the mood to pay attention to the small changes in Wen Tiren's psychology. He felt that he had said enough, and said to the people:

"Let's go, I'll go and meet the Dutchman again, and see what tricks they have. Keep your eyes peeled a little brighter, too. Don't go with rifle grenades or anything, keep spears and broadswords handy. ”

It was a priest who had come down from a little ill-fitting dress, and when he came down from the rickety boat, he was almost out into the sea. It made Xiong Wencan, who was dressed up here, laugh.

Xiong Wencan had no intention of letting these people into the city.

"Dear General, I wonder if the demands of our Dutch East India Company trading fleet will be met."

It was the second time that the Dutch interpreter had seen Xiong Wencan, and he didn't seem to have listened to his priest's rambling words, and directly translated and said.

"According to the rules of the civilized world, every port should unconditionally accommodate the needs of damaged fleets at sea. What's more, as you know, all we need is a place the size of thirteen cowhides. Where our bishops in the East Indies can pray to God. Our quartermasters can also buy the supplies we need at a higher price. Such as clean water, food, and vegetables. ”

When Wen Tiren took a step forward and was about to agree, he was stopped by Xiong Wencan.

"Without the rules of our emperor's seal, it doesn't seem to be the rules of this world. So, now that your warship needs to enter the port again, then I think there are a lot of things that need to be clarified. ”

Wen Tiren glanced at Xiong Wencan, and he realized that he had made a mistake. He didn't show it, but he seemed to feel that the eyes of the people around him looked at him as if they were full of mockery.

On the Dutch side, a sailor from behind also stood in front of the priest, and before the priest spoke, he said:

"General, the priest seems to be a little frightened, and if you allow me, let me explain to you, you seem to have a little misunderstanding about the civilized world. I have not seen a place that he called a civilized place without the gift of God. We've been to a lot of places, and a lot of people have told us that they're a part of this world too. But, let me say bluntly, if you don't know even the most basic communication, you really can't call it a civilization? ”

What are they going to do? The alarm bell in Xiong Wencan's heart was loud.

Generally speaking, they don't want to provoke themselves right now. But why did these Dutchmen become so aggressive this time? His Majesty the Emperor gave him the bottom line of going to war, are we wrong in our judgment of these armed merchant ships? Or did the Dutch overestimate their own strength?

"If darkness and ignorance are what you would like to call civilized, then I agree with you. If you are arrogant about a culture different from your own, then your civilization is even more ridiculous. By the way, I am a general, not a literati. If you say that this is a discussion of culture, then please come back tomorrow morning, and we will also choose our monks and Taoist priests to wait for you here. For me, what I would prefer is straightforward communication, either in words or with a sword. I think you have a choice. ”

The other party was also stunned, what he didn't know was what the fundamental reason for Da Ming to be so proud. On the ocean, they had never encountered a Ming navy. From these ports, although there are some similar warships of the oriental style moored here, he also feels that they are not comparable to his own light warships.

Maybe it's a bluff.

"General, I think you misunderstood what we meant. We are just talking about the consensus of the majority of navies in the world. We didn't ask for much. Although we came with an armed ship, as you can see, the guns on our ship did not speak. If they had spoken, I don't think that would be the case now. Can't you really get us to the shore? ”

"If you want to dock, we need to inspect the merchant ships in advance, and according to the requirements of the civilized world of Daming, we will send our military team of Daming to take care of your artillery and warehouses. The area occupied by the thirteen cowhides is designated by us there. The port fee of 30,000 taels of silver for each piece of cowhide. Other supplies can only be purchased from us, you pay us, we pay the supplier,"

Xiong Wencan began to open his mouth widely, anyway, he had already offended the Dutch, and now he might as well offend even more. He hoped that these people would leave with their sleeves and start shelling Fuzhou, and he would have the right reason to fight back.

"General, you know that these are not the rules and prices of the world, but also the rules and prices that are unacceptable to the Netherlands."

"It's okay, you can look again and see what cities and ports can accept you." Xiong Wencan's words are light.

"I wonder if you have misunderstood, General, our armed merchant ships are just to escort their own merchant ships. Our captains will not allow you to board our ships, let alone allow your soldiers to control our artillery. ”

"Then there's no talk about it."

Xiong Wencan ended the negotiation with one sentence.

"You can continue sailing, I think you'll find a port that meets your requirements."

"Then dear general, our priests have come with gifts from the Bishops of Rome, and they want to transfer the bishops' gifts here to the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty through you. I don't think you would disagree with that. ”

Xiong Wenzang just wanted to reply, but he didn't expect Wen Tiren to speak first this time.

"Our Emperor will be very happy to see the gifts sent by the nations of the Western Regions. I think if it were just the priest who came ashore, we would have a welcoming ceremony for you. ”

"Isn't your emperor in the far north?" The other party seemed to be very sensitive to this, and when he saw Wen Tiren, he didn't speak, but just said with a smile.

"May I ask you, then, that we can have our fifteen soldiers escort our fifteen priests ashore early tomorrow morning, and present the bishop's gifts to you and the general?"

Wen Tiren did not notice these slight changes, and he indulged in the pleasure of having tributes and gifts. In his opinion, if he could send these people away after receiving gifts and concentrate on dealing with the affairs of Penghu, His Majesty should also breathe a sigh of relief.

"You're going to leave when you're done with the gifts?" One sentence is deflated.

"If we can receive some vegetables and accessories in return, we still have a long way to go, so why should we stay here. You may not know, do you know if you saw the biggest white flag flying on our ship? That is the symbol of the Holy See, which means that we are a merchant ship belonging to the Holy See. We have collected all that the Holy See needs, and I think that the bishops of the Holy See would like to see us in distant Europe more than I do. ”

"I think I happened to hold a ceremony attended by a retainer of His Majesty the Emperor. You can give me a list of what you need, and we will prepare it tomorrow morning, and then you will be on your way to home tomorrow. ”

"It's amazing. I think it would be an honour for me to be the first person to meet the retainers of His Majesty the Great Emperor of the Ming Dynasty, who was the Dutch East India Company and the Holy See's envoy. We will also be here on time after sunrise tomorrow. ”