When Rod heard this, he laughed, and the more he laughed, the louder it became, which made Inhofer very unhappy.

The contradiction between the two is the most direct, Inhove is the commander of the fleet, the admiral, but Rhodes manages the merchant fleet, and only a small number of the ships of the East India and Du companies are clearly warships, and most of the ships are both warships and merchant ships.

The two had a conflict because of this, Inhofer certainly wanted more warships, but Rhodes always felt that this would affect the company's profits.

So unlike the tepid relationship between Matt Solko and Van Dimen, the conflict between Rod and Inhove is almost open.

"Is it that funny?" Fan Dimen asked in a voice.

Rod no longer laughed out loud, but said, "Lord Governor, our admiral is a pessimist who believes that the empire you and the seven great governors before you will be wiped out by someone else in ten years.

It was the biggest joke I've ever heard, so I didn't hold back. ”

Van Dimen also felt that his friend was exaggerating, but he also firmly believed that the Oriental Trading Company was a threat.

"The Oriental Company is a threat, they are located in Formosa, like a poisonous snake entrenched there, ready to choke our trade routes with Japan." Van Dimen said.

Rhodes asked: "Yes, does the current Oriental Company have this ability?" ”

"Yes, they probably have more than ten Yahat-type armed merchant ships, and when we went north to Nagasaki, we only had four ships." Inhove said.

Rhodes covered his mouth, held back his laughter, and after a while said, "Obviously, our admiral is in favor of peace and trade between the Company and the Eastern Company. ”

"What nonsense are you talking about?" Inhofer said angrily.

"Isn't it," said Rod, "you said that the present Oriental Company has the ability to establish peaceful trade relations with Japan at once in order to avoid the interruption of our trade with Japan, so that the viper, instead of blocking our routes, will help us." ”

Inhove slammed his fist on the table: "You are misinterpreting what I mean, I mean, we should send a fleet to the north, destroy the Oriental Company, and make friends with the Japanese government by the way." ”

"Gentlemen, stop arguing." Van Dimen said loudly, stopping the argument.

"There is no such possibility, my friend."

When everyone had shut up, Army Commander Carmen said in a deep voice that he was the oldest man present and highly respected, so everyone stopped while he spoke. Carmen said, "Inhofe, my friend, there is no such possibility as you say.

Your navy can wipe out the fleet of the Eastern Company, but my army does not have the ability to take Freshwater City. I don't want that disaster in Malacca to happen again.

You should take a good look at the report submitted by Moder, he is from the army, and his report is very informative, and after reading it, I don't even want to try it. ”

No one could have imagined that Carmen, who was known for her bravery and good fighting, would give such a pessimistic answer. The commissioners hurriedly took out the report submitted by Moder, and even Matt Solko was no exception, apparently he did not pay enough attention to it.

Moder lived in Tamsui for twenty days, arranging the commercial activities of leaving the ship behind before leaving, during which time he went in and out of Tamsui City, where he came into contact with all aspects of Tamsui City as much as possible, and learned a lot of useful information through inquiries and bribes.

According to Moder's estimates, the Eastern Trading Company's army force had already exceeded 1,000 men, many of whom were native, and it also had a very strong relationship with the Kedagran tribe.

All weapons and equipment of the army units are produced by European standards and cannot be measured by Eastern standards.

Moder praised the arquebuses and field guns of the Oriental Trading Company, and also mentioned the defensive strength of Tamsui City, the core of which was a double-storey quadrangular fortress built on a corner of the city, and a special fort, the number of people in Tamsui City was estimated to be between four thousand and seven thousand according to Model, but it was very complete in various categories, especially capable of casting artillery and producing muskets by itself.

As for the Dutch East India Company, the weakness of the army is a permanent pain for the Dutch, and their invincible posture on the sea cannot be extended to the ocean.

In particular, the facilities of the four-cornered bastion in the Moder report made the corners of Van Diemen's mouth twitch.

It is true that his capture of the city of Malacca is an important achievement, both now and in the future, but the battle of Malacca is an unbearable past for the Dutch.

The siege of more than 2,000 troops, but most of the time more than 700 soldiers were sick, and during the four months of siege, the number of dead was far less than the number of people who died of disease, at least 370 soldiers died of illness, and two commanders and two army commanders died of illness under the city of Malacca.

This is still under the premise that the Sultan of Johor will provide manpower to help.

If you go on an expedition to Tamsui and are surrounded by enemies, how many people will die? It's hard to even win.

Carmen, as the commander of the army, did not even have the guts to try.

Everyone was silent, and after a moment of silence, Matt Solko asked, "Lord Governor, leaving aside the threat to the future of the Eastern Company, what do you think of the terms they offered?" ”

Van Dimen said lightly: "It's basically reasonable, but I feel doubts about their ability to fulfill the treaty." Do they really have that much influence in Guangdong? ”

The conditions given by Lee Zhaoji were indeed very sincere, and he hoped to sign a 10-year treaty that would establish a relationship of peace, trade and equality between the two sides.

Lee Siu-kee hoped that the fleet of the Oriental Trading Company could go to Batavia, including the Dutch, to control the port trade, and also welcomed the Batavia fleet to Hong Kong and Tamsui trade.

In each party's respective sphere of influence, each side guarantees the security of the other, and after a problem arises, they can negotiate and station envoys in each other's cities.

Li Zhaoji is willing to provide Dongyin and Du Company with Daming's advantageous goods at relatively favorable prices, regardless of whether these goods are sold to Europe or Japan.

At the same time, Li Zhaoji also proposed a relatively interesting clause, that is, the exchange of gold and silver.

The gold produced in Jinguashi and Sado was willing to be exchanged entirely for silver from the Dutch, but the exchange rate was negotiable, and it was higher than that in the East, but it was also lower than that in Europe.

Of course, we also need to cooperate in specific matters, such as the Japanese side.

Lee Siu-ki hoped that the Dutch would be able to send a fleet of ships to help Japan, but not really make enemies of the trading companies, and the two sides would just need to put on a show.

Matsolko believes that these are reasonable conditions, because Li Zhaoji's conditions are negotiable, and it is better to send someone who can make the decision to Guangdong to negotiate.

"Your Excellency the Governor, if they do have the influence they claim, do you think the conditions of the Eastern Company are reasonable?" Matt Sokol asked.

Fan Dimen nodded and said: "Their threats aside, I think it is reasonable based on the fact that they really have the claimed influence in Guangdong." ”

Obviously, Van Dimen presupposes two conditions, the first of which, in his opinion, is unsolvable.

"Whether it is really influential or not, it is easy to solve, and the schooner fleet going north can go to see and prove it." Rhodes said.

"What about threats, can you ignore threats for the sake of money?" Inhove said.

Matt Solko shook his head, "Of course not, Admiral. Only with life can you enjoy all that wealth brings. So, we need some smart ways to solve this problem, so I propose to call He Bin to see if he has any unspoken conditions that can reassure you. ”

"Well, I heard he's fluent in Dutch." Fan Dimen said lightly.

When the waiter went to summon He Bin, Matt Solko said: "I have an idea, since some people think that the Eastern Company is a threat, then the treaty should not be signed for too long, five years, how about it?" ”

Rod smiled: "Admiral, do you think five years is enough time for the other party to build a fleet to fight Batavia?" ”

It's a clear monsoon, and Inhove said, "Five years can turn a small trouble into a big one." ”

"Wrong is going from an unsolvable trouble to a bigger, but still inherently unsolvable problem." Rhodes said with a smile, "Dear Commander Carmen said that our army can't break through Tamsui City.

Of course, some people may think that they can cooperate with Nicholas as an official, but Nicholas is now a courtier of the Ming Taohuashi Emperor, if I were that Li, I knew the news, and I would also take refuge in the Taohuashi Emperor. ”

He Bin, who had been waiting for a long time, was brought into the office, he used to be an employee of the Dutch East India Company, but he had never had the qualifications to contact the committee, and now he had it, and he could sit in a chair and meet with these seven people in a fair manner, just because there was a new owner behind him.

Van Dimen clasped his hands on his chest and didn't say a word, and when Matt Solko saw that he didn't speak, he took the initiative to say: "He, there is no willing to bargain with you meaninglessly.

We can be honest with you that we believe that your existence is a threat to us. Your growth, especially of your fleet, threatens our maritime interests. ”

He Bin nodded slightly: "This is a reasonable opinion, if it were me, I would think the same." ”

"yes, you think so, what about your boss, what about that Lee?" Matt Solko nodded slightly, he liked He Bin's outspokenness.

He Bin said: "He also thinks so, but he just thinks that it will not become a reality, in fact, our company has no plans to compete with your company for maritime supremacy." Unless you are not satisfied with ruling the Eastern Indies and the Du Islands, but want to conquer the Eastern Continent. ”

"You are not qualified to limit our sphere of influence." Carmen spoke.

"Yes, I just wanted to tell you. My boss's heart is on the mainland, not on the ocean. It's just that in the early days of his business, only the sea brought him profits. But even then, he liked only the merchant fleet, not the fleet.

He preferred the profitable merchant ships of Yahat to the Galen ships and cruisers that looked powerful but were extremely expensive to maintain. He Bin said.

Inhove sneered, "You just don't have the skills to build Galen ships. ”

"Don't say those meaningless words, the committee already has a common will, but there is one problem that cannot be solved," Matsolko reminded. That is, your boss, how do you assure us that he is not a threat to us?

This assurance, not by swearing, not even the gods will not gain the slightest trust from me, I need this assurance, so that everyone present can approve it. ”

He Bin smiled: "I thought that that condition could be put to the end." Obviously, if I don't give a perfect answer today, I won't get a second chance, right? ”

"Clever."

He Bin said: "Okay, then I'll tell you my boss's conditions, if you still don't agree, then there is no need to talk about it."

My boss promised that as long as the treaty was signed, our company would not make any kind of double-deck boat, whether military or civilian.

During the term of the treaty, our ships had at most a single gun deck, and so did our partners. ”

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