Chapter 691 Negotiation Results

"Implementing condominium management of the Ambrosia Islands?" Tao Donglai couldn't help laughing after hearing the report: "The Dutch are trying to save face by force! They even said the word condominium... How did Xiaobao reply?

Theirs?”

"Xiaobao was very stubborn. He only said that civilian ships were allowed to dock locally and did not mention the management rights at all." When mentioning Yu Xiaobao, his proud disciple, Schneider also looked proud: "With these Dutch people,

The envoys have been negotiating for more than a month, and Xiaobao's progress has indeed been obvious. I think that after the negotiation is over, Xiaobao can directly work in the Ministry of Commerce."

"Where's the deal with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs?" Gu Kai refused, saying, "Didn't it already be decided before that Xiaobao would work in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs?"

"Let's slow down the affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. There are too many things to do during the Autumn Trade Fair. The Ministry of Commerce is simply too busy now and needs to mobilize people to help. There are not many cadres like Xiaobao who can take up the job without training. This candidate is

Just don't argue with me for now." Schneider didn't even have the slightest intention of giving in.

"Let's put aside the issue of Xiaobao's work allocation for now, and let's get the business done first!" Tao Donglai had to redirect the conversation that was about to go awry: "Since the Dutch have a tendency to surrender, let's strike while the iron is hot.

Complete the negotiations as soon as possible. Regarding the Autumn Fair, it is best to avoid the eyes and ears of the Dutch as much as possible. After all, it conflicts with their interests greatly."

The "conflict of interest" mentioned by Tao Donglai mainly refers to a series of trade agreements that Haihan will reach with all parties during the Autumn Trade Fair. These trade agreements will help Haihan win over maritime merchants from various countries and enable them to control the maritime trade under Haihan's rule.

Various ports serve as the final destination. These measures will inevitably affect the daily trade of the East India Company. Those merchants who would have traveled thousands of miles to Batavia for transactions may choose to stay closer in the future.

Haihan Port, which also has a significantly lower tax rate, serves as a material distribution center.

Of course, the conditions that affect merchants' choices are not just distance and tax rates. Local market conditions, port conditions, products, safety, and the government's attitude towards merchants, etc., are all external conditions that need to be considered comprehensively. These are all external conditions that need to be considered comprehensively.

Only when the conditions are combined, Haihan's advantages will be further highlighted.

Batavia can provide many commodities, but now Hainan Island can also produce most of them, but what is lacking are only a few locally produced crop products, whose economic value is not high. On the contrary, Hainan Island produces

Various Haihan specialty products are often scarce goods that cannot be seen in the Batavia market, and many types are limited to the market for a limited time, which means that only those merchants who maintain a good cooperative relationship with Haihan

, for example, voluntarily sign a reciprocal trade agreement with the Haihan Ministry of Commerce, so that you can have the opportunity to purchase these in-demand commodities with high value and high profit.

In recent years, Batavia has been lenient to the Chinese in terms of taxation. In order to attract more Chinese to settle there, the East India Company established the Kapitan system and contracted all local retail businesses, including coastal trade contracting rights.

All were handed over to the Chinese leader Kapitan. Among the 21 taxes levied by the Batavia authorities on retail, gambling, import and export trade, entertainment and other industries, the Chinese contracted 17 of them.

From the perspective of tax rate, Haihan does not have a particularly obvious advantage. It just does some details better than the other company, such as statistics on the value of goods and tax settlement methods, etc. Its operating efficiency is actually better than that of Batavia's Netherlands.

The person is much taller.

In terms of port conditions, Haihan clearly has an advantage. Every trading port in the area under Haihan's rule was developed and constructed with great care. Although the engineering technology is difficult to reach the level of later generations, the developed areas and port designs are almost based on

According to the information of later generations, coupled with the more advanced port management system and the widespread use of mechanical loading and unloading methods, its operating efficiency far exceeds that of its competitors at the same time. All merchant ships that have visited Haihan Port have obvious feelings, whether loading or unloading cargo.

Still going through customs clearance procedures, the time spent at Haihan Port is only about one-third of that in other places, which in disguise saves maritime merchants the time required to make several more trips every year.

As for security, Haihan's undefeated record in recent years has said everything. No one doubts whether Haihan is capable of protecting the security of the port. Because even the most powerful pirate group in the Far East, Shibazhi, has recently

In the past few years, it has suffered several defeats one after another at the hands of Haihan. Even a big boss like Zheng Zhihu died in the hands of Haihan. In terms of results alone, the performance of Haihan Navy in recent years has even surpassed that of the Ming Dynasty.

Navy. One of the important reasons why Haihan stationed troops in places such as Annan, Guangdong and Fujian was to ensure that all commercial trade related to Haihan would be safe.

This is not just talk. In the waters north of Hainan Island, from Annan to the entire coastline of Guangdong, there are almost no pirates anymore, because they have all been killed by the Haihan militia. And the unlucky ones

The Dutch's defeat in the Ambrosia Islands has been deliberately publicized by some well-intentioned people - the Dutch cannot even deal with a group of pirates, so how can they ensure the safety of the lives and property of the maritime merchants?

Various departments of Haihan used various means to openly or covertly promote the trade advantages of Hainan Island compared to Batavia to the merchants from various countries participating in the Autumn Fair, with the purpose of competing with Batavia for South China Sea trade.

central position. If the Dutch envoys discover what Haihan is doing, there is no doubt that it will explode immediately. This is much more serious than the armed conflict in Fujian and the dispute over the sovereignty of small islands in the South China Sea. It is not just Bada that will be shaken.

Via City's prospects, but also the entire East India Company's trading base.

Of course, with the end of the Autumn Trade Fair, Haihan's methods will spread to Batavia through various channels sooner or later, but when the East India Company can respond, it will be next year at the earliest. And this paragraph

Time was enough for Haihan to complete the fortifications of Ambona Island and prepare a battle plan against Shibazhi in Fujian. By the time the East India Company wanted to turn against them again, it would have lost the opportunity.

Five days later, the negotiations between the East India Company and Haihan finally came to an end, and the two sides signed a draft peace agreement. Of course, this draft cannot take effect immediately, because this is only the result of the current phased negotiations, and the East India Company's

The mission must return to Batavia with this draft and submit it to the board of directors for discussion and approval before notifying Haihan of the specific effective date. If the company's board of directors thinks that there are problems with the content of this draft, it may still

If there are some back and forth, you might have to make changes to it and then go to Sanya to continue bargaining with Haihan.

In this draft, the East India Company agreed in principle to terminate all forms of contact with the Shibazhi gang in Fujian and no longer provide any military assistance to them. However, out of consideration for its own interests, the East India Company also

Haihan is also required to keep the contents of this agreement confidential and not to publicize it publicly, otherwise the agreement will automatically lose its validity. Haihan does not have much objection to this. The executive committee only cares about the results, not the form. Back off.

Wan Bu said that the Executive Committee actually hopes that the East India Company will not really implement this agreement completely. It is best to leave some clues so that Haihan will have more information to attack the Dutch stronghold on Taiwan Island in the future.

for good reason.

As for the sovereignty dispute over the Ambrosia Islands, the East India Company had no choice but to swallow its silence. Although the East India Company did not admit in the agreement that the ownership of the area had changed hands to Haihan, it also clearly promised that it would not

Expelling the Chinese or Haihan people on the island by force - this is the most tactful wording that Van Longen and others can think of that can save the face of the East India Company. At least in this way, it seems that the East India Company still occupies the island.

The same initiative. Of course, as for the co-management and co-governance they requested, it was not mentioned at all in this draft. It was only recorded that "the East India Company can station commercial representatives locally, and the local ports allow Dutch merchant ships."

Free access and supplies."

The East India Company made such a big concession, of course, not without any exchange conditions. In fact, Van Longen also made corresponding demands. Ruhai and Han must promise not to support or participate in any hostilities between third parties and the East India Company.

, no more provocation, interception, attack, etc. against Dutch ships in Fujian waters, the Dutch crew members captured in the battle of Nanri Island in Fujian must be released, and the previous claims made by Haihan against the East India Company must be abandoned, etc.

.

These requirements are not too difficult for Haihan, and they will not hinder Haihan's next series of development plans, so the executive committee does not make things difficult for the other party. As for what will happen in the future

For other changes, the Executive Committee does not hesitate to directly tear up the so-called peace agreement. In fact, both parties know very well that the agreement reached this time only serves as a buffer. As long as there is a huge conflict between the interests of both parties,

Sooner or later it will start again.

The last person to sign on behalf of Haihan was Gu Kai. After completing the draft agreement, both parties breathed a sigh of relief. Of course the Dutch felt that they had avoided a catastrophe, but Haihan also felt that they had finally lost one.

We no longer have to worry about the Dutch sending troops to the South China Sea all the time. Of course, driving away the Dutch mission that has been staying in Sanya for more than a month can be regarded as saving a lot of unnecessary daily expenses. In addition, it frees up

The villa must be put into use immediately. There have been too many foreign businessmen arriving in Sanya recently, and the reception venues of all levels have begun to be in a hurry.

On October 10, 1631, the East India Company fleet led by Van Longen finally left Sanya Port and returned home. Before departure, Van Longen and others were allowed to visit Victory Port and the commercial district near Landscape Avenue, accompanied by diplomats.

.And they finally got what they wanted, seeing with their own eyes how grand the "No. 1 Port in the South China Sea", which was once called by Ming merchants, was.

There is no doubt that the business atmosphere here far exceeds that of Batavia. The rows of shops and the merchant fleets on the docks amazed the well-informed Van Longen. He believed that only a golden port like Amsterdam could compete with the Batavia.

The prosperity of Sanya is comparable.

Amsterdam in the 17th century was the center of European shipping and capital flows. A large number of merchant ships were sent from here to the Baltic Sea, North America, Africa and the far East. The basis of the global trade network can be said to have originated here. Stocks of the East India Company

Among the holders, merchants from Amsterdam account for the majority, and this is also where the world's first stock exchange appeared. Even when the European War is raging, Amsterdam's prosperity has not been greatly affected by the war.

influence, and still maintains its status as the European economic center.

After seeing the condition of Victory Port, Van Longen also realized how terrible the construction capabilities of the Haihan people were. From the time Amsterdam was awarded city status in the 14th century to becoming the European economic and trade center in the early 17th century, it took nearly three hundred years to complete.

This great port city came into being. The Haihan people came here only a few years ago, and they have already developed a prosperous city. Although the scale of the city here is far smaller than that of Amsterdam, you only need to think about how short this small city is.

The terrible history of development made Fan Longgen unable to help but feel wary. If the Haihan people were given ten, twenty or more years to develop, what would this place look like in their hands?

Before boarding the ship, Yu Xiaobao's words, whether intentional or unintentional, hit Fan Longen hard again: "There are at least two other port cities of the size of Sanya under construction on this island."

Yu Xiaobao was naturally referring to Qiongzhou Fucheng and Danzhou in the north. The natural conditions of those two places are indeed not bad. It is reasonable for them to develop into regional business centers over time. However, Fan Longgen obviously understood that there was a slight deviation. He thought

The other two places mentioned by Yu Xiaobao have already reached the scale of cities like Sanya, so the estimate of Haihan's strength has to be raised to another level.

Fan Longgen was still very happy to be sent to Haihan this time. If he hadn't come here to see the situation in Sanya with his own eyes, it would be difficult for anyone to believe the rumors among sailors that the Haihan people in Sanya were extremely rich and had a lot of steel.

So much so that they used it to build large iron ships and put them as decorations in the port. Coast defense forts were built all over the mountains and plains, and there were hundreds of thick artillery pieces. Only after I actually visited this place did I realize the ridiculous scene in the rumors.

It's all true, and it can't fully describe the power of this place. Just the whole row of warships docked at the military dock on the east side of Victory Port makes Van Longen tremble with fear - any one of them has a tonnage of

It is much larger than the flagship in his own fleet.
Chapter completed!