1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 2240
If you want to buy someone, of course, you have to offer a price that can make the other person's heart beat. In this link, Su Keyi really can't come up with any favorable conditions that can make Li Nai give up his principles.

As the largest foreign trade merchant in Guangdong and Guangxi, Fu Ruifeng does not lack such a customer as the East India Company.Even if, as Su Keyi said, the trade of the East India Company in the Guangdong and Guangxi regions is handed over to Fu Ruifeng to act as an agent, this part of the profit is still not attractive enough for Fu Ruifeng.

What's more, Furuifeng's main trading partner is Haihan. If he secretly violates the ban and cooperates with the East India Company, it means a betrayal of Haihan, unless the trade scale provided by the East India Company can completely replace Haihan, so that Fu Ruifeng is really profitable, and there may be a chance of realizing it, but this is obviously an impossible situation-Sanya is much, much closer to Guangdong than Batavia, no matter from which aspect Look, the East India Company is unlikely to replace Haihan's trading position.

With the methods commonly used by the East India Company, if the lure fails, it is of course intimidation. It was this route that was followed in the armed confrontation with Ming in Penghu.However, this move is okay for opponents whose level of force is inferior to that of the East India Company, but Furuifeng’s backer is Haihan, and his subordinates are also in charge of the most powerful civil armed organization in the southeast coastal area of ​​Ming Dynasty. Those who want to threaten by force If there is any way to get Fu Ruifeng to submit, it is likely that he will only make himself miserable in the end.

Su Keyi knew this very well, so he naturally wouldn't resort to such means against Li Nai. Threats and temptations won't work, and Su Keyi really couldn't think of any better way at the moment.

With Li Nai's perspective, how could he fail to see through Su Keyi's purpose? If it weren't for Su Keyi being a Han Chinese, Li Nai probably wouldn't have the patience to deal with him slowly on this kind of topic.

Li Nai said: "I understand your eagerness to expand the scale of trade, but since there are corresponding rules now, it is better for us to follow the rules."

Su Keyi nodded in agreement, but he was extremely dissatisfied in his heart. Right now, it is obvious that the Dutch businessman is negotiating trade cooperation with the Ming businessman, but he needs to follow the business rules formulated by Haihan. What kind of rules are these?

Who has the final say on this matter, after all, it still depends on whose fist is bigger and more powerful. If the East India Company hadn't been defeated in the armed conflict with Haihan, how could it be so passive now? .Today's international trade rules in East Asia are formulated by Haihan. No matter how unconvinced the Dutch are, they can only honestly abide by the rules set by Haihan.

"But under the rules, we should be able to find some compromises to further expand the existing trade scale?" Although Su Keyi agreed with Li Nai's views, he still tried to win more benefits for his employer .

Li Nai replied: "This is easy to handle. As long as the goods are not on the restricted list, you can buy them freely. You only need to increase the purchase volume. Freedom will try its best to organize enough supply for you."

Of course, Li Nai understood that what the other party said was just an excuse, and the real purpose was still those special commodities that were under trade control.As for daily necessities such as rice, grain, oil, and cloth, there are no purchase restrictions. As long as the Dutch can afford the price, they can get more goods and sell them.

The smile on Su Keyi's face couldn't help being a little stiff: "Brother Li is right, and I'll make a suggestion to Batavia next time to see if there is any need, and then discuss it with Fu Ruifeng."

"Then wait for the good news from Brother Su!" Li Nai raised his glass with a smile, seemingly oblivious to Su Keyi's embarrassment.

Haihan's trade restrictions on the East India Company can be described as simple and crude. For all commodities included in the restricted list, no matter whether the East India Company purchases from Haihan or other Haihan allies, it must first obtain Haihan's permission, otherwise it will be destroyed. All trade between the East India Company and the region was forcibly terminated by Haihan.

Most of these restricted commodities are related to military use, such as steel, copper, saltpeter and so on.Of course, the purpose of the restrictive measures is also very clear, that is to make it difficult for the East India Company's armed level to return to the state before the siege of Batavia in 1632, so that it can no longer pose a direct threat to Haihan in the South China Sea area.

However, the direct beneficiaries of such restrictive measures are far more than the Haihan family. The old opponent of the Dutch, the Portuguese, who is also from Europe, is of course happy to see this, and has been secretly promoting the implementation of relevant restrictive measures .

At the same time that Su Keyi was entertaining Li Nai, Thomas, the Portuguese Minister in Sanya, also had a secret meeting with Schneider, the chief steward of the Haihan Ministry of Commerce, in another place in the city.

For Thomas, Schneider, who has a mixed Chinese and Western face and can speak a little Portuguese, is the only one among the high-ranking officials in Haihan that he can feel close to.As for Schneider's somewhat strange background, it is not unusual for Thomas. The Portuguese have settled in Macau of Daming for more than half a century, and there are many descendants of mixed Portuguese and Han people there.

Although Thomas also learned a lot of Chinese during his stay in Sanya, he was not as comfortable as his mother tongue after all. Although Schneider is not of Portuguese origin, he can speak Portuguese, which made the communication between the two parties much easier.

The purpose of Thomas' meeting with Schneider today is to hope that Haihan can further increase trade restrictions on the Dutch East India Company and expand the restricted list of commodities from military-related to a wider range.

"Mr. Schneider, if your country can increase trade restrictions on the Dutch, it will help promote the friendship between our two countries, and the part of your trade that is affected by this can be transferred to our businessmen. Once completed, more Portuguese businessmen will come to your country and build a maritime silk road between the East and the West!"

Schneider smiled after hearing Thomas' remarks: "Your idea is very good, but there is still a problem. The prices of the various commodities that the Dutch obtain through us are at least [-]% higher than those of merchants in your country. The short-sought goods may even be [-]% to [-]% higher. Regarding this point, you are not clear, right? If our country transfers the trade share that originally belonged to the East India Company to your country’s merchants to operate, then this part of the premium income, your country’s Can merchants also accept it?"

The problem Schneider mentioned is the difference in treatment between allies and non-allies.The Dutch often need to pay a higher price than the Portuguese to buy the same goods from Haihan. The increase in procurement costs weakens the price competitiveness of the goods. In order to be able to sell those goods smoothly in the European continent, the Dutch can only lower their own In order to maintain the same level of selling price as the Portuguese.

Of course, the transaction price of bulk commodities is a commercial secret. Even if the Dutch can vaguely guess that their trading conditions are inferior to those of the Portuguese, there is no accurate information that can be used as a bargaining condition for them.Therefore, in recent years, the Portuguese have taken advantage of the preferential treatment enjoyed by their allies in the commercial competition with the Dutch.

What Schneider meant was to let the Portuguese bear the economic losses that Haihan might suffer, and then talk about the transfer of trade shares.From Haihan’s point of view, this kind of proposal is understandable, but for Thomas, he also has to face the same lack of information—the terms of the transaction between the Dutchman and Haihan are also commercial secrets. How big is the premium? It was just a number that the Haihan people said casually.

Thomas said: "Mr. Schneider, maybe we can consider other ways to make up for this part of your country's losses, such as expanding the scale of trade between us, and using more transactions to bring more profits to your country."

Schneider smiled and said: "The idea is a good idea, but I'm afraid it's not as easy to realize as you said. As far as I know, your country's colonies in Brazil have been eroded by the Dutch in recent years. The gold, gemstones, and sugar produced locally , grains are greatly affected, so your country's overseas income is also declining. In addition, I heard that an armed uprising broke out in your country's Eivor region last year because of tax issues, and the Spaniards are mobilizing troops to try to quell your country's Resistance. The future direction of this war may be beneficial to your country's independence, but for now, the war will only make your country's financial revenue worse."

"Based on these circumstances, I have reason to believe that your country is in the midst of very bad internal and external troubles. Except for the slightly better trade situation in the East, I am afraid that it is difficult to expect that the colonies in other parts of the world can bring more economic benefits to the country. income. But the war will compress the consumption capacity of your country's domestic market, even if merchants are willing to bring back more rare goods from the east, not so many people will be able to buy them. In other words, your proposal to expand the scale of trade , In my opinion, it is difficult to achieve, merchants are not stupid, if they realize that the domestic market is shrinking, they will no longer purchase those expensive silk and porcelain in large quantities in the East."

Thomas didn't expect that Schneider's information was so detailed, and he even wondered for a moment whether a Portuguese businessman was Haihan's spy.

But the inference made by the other party based on the information made it difficult for Thomas to refute. He could only respond in a low voice: "There are many countries in the Europa continent, and the goods we ship to the local area will also be sold to other countries. Mr. Schneider, You don't have to worry about the sale of these goods at all."

Schneider said: "Mr. Thomas, we are old friends, and we should be more honest with each other. Since I even know the situation in Portugal, don't I know the situation in that continent? Please tell me, which country Is it at peace? Maybe you want to say France, but the French are already at war now, aren’t they? There is no environment suitable for cross-border trade there, and businessmen can’t change the situation there.”

The Thirty Years' War was in full swing on the European continent, and with the entry of the French, Spain was under increased war pressure.After Denmark, Sweden, and the Protestant princes of the Holy Roman Empire were all defeated, the French finally couldn't hold back and sent troops under the command of Prime Minister Richelieu to join forces with Sweden to fight against the Habsburg Dynasty.The official participation of France in the war also symbolizes that the 30-year war has entered the fourth stage, that is, the stage of all-European melee.

By this time, the major countries on the European continent had been involved in this protracted war, and many countries had become battlefields.Commercial activities have been greatly affected by this, and the commercial routes between many countries have been completely cut off. Even the bold Portuguese may not dare to brave the flames of war to sell the goods they purchased from the East, let alone May bring countries to a truce.

Limited by the means of information transmission in this era, Thomas may not be as clear as Schneider about the status quo in Europe. After hearing this argument, he can only sigh secretly, knowing that his rhetoric may not be able to impress this well-informed Haihan senior official. .

"Actually, I know that the relationship between your country and the Netherlands is very delicate. You compete for natural resources, key shipping lanes and colonies all over the world, but in Europa, the Dutch are fighting to the death with the Spanish. In a sense, they are helping Your country is independent, isn't it?" Schneider said jokingly.

"Mr. Schneider, your statement is not appropriate. The war that broke out between the Netherlands and Spain was not intended to help our country achieve independence. Even if it played such a role objectively, our country will never admit that we are on the same side as the Netherlands." On the front line...it's just that we all happen to have the same enemy!"

Regarding this issue, Thomas did not dare to be sloppy, and quickly clarified his position.Portugal and the Netherlands have been competing on a global scale for a long time, much earlier than the 30-year war. At least in Thomas's mind, he never agrees that his country and the Netherlands are divided into the same camp because they both have a common enemy of Spain.

"Okay, but anyway, in the near future, the Dutch may be of great help to you, and I don't think there is any need to rush to kill them all." Schneider saw that Thomas was righteous, so he didn't talk to him. Continue to dwell on this topic.

In the original history, the Dutch navy defeated the main force of the Spanish fleet in one fell swoop in the Downs naval battle that broke out in October 1639.The Spanish fleet, consisting of 10 battleships, eventually lost 77 ships and about 43 men in the naval battle.Because of Spain's defeat in this war, it was not possible to rebuild its naval superiority until the early 6000th century.The Netherlands thus replaced Spain and became the most powerful naval force in the world in this era—of course, after Haihan appeared in this time and space, this statement may no longer be true.

Therefore, Schneider's claim that the battle in the Netherlands will help Portugal get rid of Spanish rule in the future and regain independence is not unfounded.

(End of this chapter)