1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 491 Bargaining
"Why bother to find you when you can rent me directly!"

After hearing Tao Donglai's answer, Thomas had only this thought in his mind.It is not that the Macau Council has not considered this approach, but the possibility of success is too low, so it chose to ask Haihan for help.That's right, although this meeting is said to be an exchange of information, the essence is to hope that Haihan can negotiate with the Annan court and settle this matter on his behalf.

Thomas firmly believed that the old and cunning Tao Donglai must have understood his intentions, but the other party still played circle games with him as always, which made Thomas feel more depressed.He really wanted to stand up and grab Tao Donglai's collar, and ask him why he made it so difficult for him, but from the standpoint of a diplomatic envoy, he could only hold back his resentment and honestly talk to Tao Donglai. bargain.

"Mr. Tao, there are some obstacles in the negotiation between our country and the current Annan court. I believe you are aware of it. Even if we ask Annan to lease land, they may not agree to it." Thomas paused, feeling this The weight of the statement is still not enough, so he continued to add: "We hope to set up a stop in the southern part of Annan is not just out of self-interest considerations. In the past six months, the shipping between Manga and Sanya has been And being obviously affected, if this situation continues, it will also hinder the business we are currently cooperating with, I think you don't want to see such a situation happen, do you?"

Thomas knew that Hai Han and his group were very realistic, and it would be more useful to directly present the stakes instead of talking to them.Sure enough, after listening to it, Tao Donglai murmured: "I have to find a way to solve the problem of affecting shipping..."

Thomas was overjoyed, but what Tao Donglai said next made his heart sink again: "...Since you are lacking in shipping capacity, we should do more. Thomas Don't worry, sir, this year we will set up a fleet to go to Malawi to assist you in transporting goods."

Take advantage of the fire!This is definitely a blatant robbery!Thomas has a new understanding of the bottom line of the Haihan people.

Thomas instantly combined the various abnormal behaviors of the Haihan people after the Annan Civil War with what Tao Donglai said now—the Haihan people were preparing to take such an opportunity as an entry point to participate in the shipping competition in the South China Sea.

In this era, Portuguese merchant ships have sailed almost all over the oceans of the world. In addition to personal qualities such as courage and persistence, the advantages that Portuguese navigators are famous for are also their advanced navigation technology. The reliable ships built, and the best routes found by generations of navigators through practice on the vast sea.Even opponents such as the Netherlands, Spain, and the United Kingdom that can compete with them have no advantages in these aspects.

However, the Haihan people are definitely an outlier that Thomas knows. The knowledge reserve of this group of people of unknown origin is simply terrifying.Thomas was fortunate enough to see the charts they used when he was on a Haihan ship, which was much more refined than the abstract charts on Portuguese merchant ships.Moreover, the Haihan people also have some kind of very precise marine timing tool in their hands, which allows them to quickly and accurately calculate the speed and distance of the voyage on a long-distance voyage.There are still many such advanced means on the Haihan people's ship, and some tools Thomas can't understand their uses at all.

And there is no doubt about the shipbuilding technology of the Haihan people. The sailboats they built can be said to have both the advantages of Eastern and Western sailboats. There are many unique features in hull design. Even Thomas, who has always been proud of Portuguese sailboats I have to admit with a bit of sourness that Haihan sailing boats are indeed better than the existing Portuguese merchant ships in terms of sailing performance at sea.

As for the warship, Thomas only had a glimpse of it when it entered the port, so he was unable to comment yet.However, Portugal did not deploy any warships in the area east of the Strait of Malacca. At most, they were armed merchant ships. In terms of combat effectiveness, they certainly could not be compared with the professional warships built by Haihan, so there was basically no comparison value.

In addition to these, the Haihan people also have terrible organizational coordination and action capabilities. What they decide to do, they can almost complete the preparations and start implementing them in a very short period of time.Compared with the Haihan Executive Committee, Thomas can only give the Macau Council a failing score for its efficiency. One step is slow, and every step is slow. If the Annan civil war had just ended in the first half of last year, it would have started to take targeted actions. Now Portugal will not fall into such a passive situation.

It is obviously impossible to prevent the Haihan people from intervening in the shipping market in the South China Sea. The fleet they own is getting bigger and bigger, and sooner or later the shipping routes will radiate to a farther range. Thomas still has a very clear understanding of this.It's just that the timing and method chosen by the Haihan people really made Thomas feel unacceptable, but for the benefit of Portugal, he had to continue to deal with Haihan.

"Mr. Tao, we do not lack sea transportation capacity. The main problem we are currently facing is that there is no stable supply port on the coastline south of Annan. If you can help solve this problem, then our cargo ships can fully afford it." Start the shipping mission between Sanya and Malaga." Thomas still tried hard to get the situation back a little.

However, he still underestimated the extent of Tao Donglai's black belly, Tao Donglai slowly shook his head and said: "We really can't help this matter, although we have delineated several places in Annan to build ports, but because Due to manpower reasons, we don't have engineering personnel to send to the local area to supervise the construction of the port terminal, so..."

Tao Donglai paused for a moment, and then said: "...so if you want to stop at a port for supplies, I think you might as well send people to build some temporary facilities on the site designated by us. What do you think, Mr. Thomas? "

When Thomas heard this, he felt that the idea was a bit plausible, and was about to say yes, when he suddenly realized the trap—this place is the concession of the Haihan people. After the wharf is built, what about the ownership of this place?
At that moment, Thomas asked cautiously: "Then if we build a dock and other facilities in the local area, the right of ownership..."

"Of course the right of ownership belongs to our Haihan." Tao Donglai responded with a look of course: "The right of ownership belongs to me, and the right to use it belongs to you, but all kinds of local laws and regulations must be implemented according to the standards we have formulated. .”

Thomas frowned subconsciously. Just having the right to use it doesn't mean that the Haihan people can take away the right to use it whenever they want?One day these Haihan people will be unhappy and not allow Portuguese ships to dock at the port. Wouldn't the early construction work be in vain?

Here comes Tao Dong!Thomas secretly thanked himself for being sober-minded and not being tempted by the conditions thrown by the Haihan people.Although this condition is quite harsh, Thomas believes that since Tao Donglai took the initiative to throw out this plan, there should still be room for bargaining, so he continued to discuss: "If we come to organize the construction of the wharf, then the ownership It should be given to us at least half!"

"Half?" Tao Donglai seemed to have heard something ridiculous, and responded with a sneer: "Mr. Thomas, I think you must have made some mistakes. Now we are not talking about cooperation in port development, but our On the basis of our trading partners, we will give you some merciful help when you encounter difficulties. It is our goodwill to let you build docks and facilities locally, and goodwill cannot be used for bargaining. If you think this approach is wrong Appropriate, then just pretend I didn't mention it."

Tao Donglai is really confident about this. Although the development of the four southern ports in Annan is still at a standstill so far, Haihan's shipbuilding industry has not stopped for a day.At the same time as the Annan Civil War ended, the Ministry of Shipping had already begun to consider the development of ocean routes from Sanya to the Straits of Malacca.

The ports along the coast of the Indochina Peninsula are of course very important, but the Ministry of Shipping has also considered the endurance of the ship itself, and has begun to build a civilian version of the sailing ship based on the "expedition class" warship.

This kind of practice of applying military technology to the civilian field was not uncommon in the time and space before time travel. Almost all high-tech technologies will be first applied to the military field after being developed, and then turned to the civilian field after a period of time.But in this time and space, such an approach can be regarded as ahead of this era.

In addition to imitating a batch of Guangzhou Shipbuilding Fuchuan in the early days, Haihan Shipyard, from the launching of the "Exploration Class" to the later completion of the "Exploration Class", all used military models as blueprints to modify the ship types. Not only did the development time be short, but it was also practical. Sex is also stronger than another design.As for this kind of ocean-going cargo ship that will be used in the direction of the South China Sea in the future, four of them have been launched and will be put into use in the near future.

Due to the advantages of Haihan-style sailboats in terms of speed, the time required for the same voyage is at least [-] to [-]% shorter than that of contemporary sailboats, which means that the same amount of supplies is carried. The battery life will also greatly exceed that of contemporary competitors.The cruising capability of this "adventure-class" civilian version of the sailboat is sufficient to maintain its voyage from Sanya to the Strait of Malacca under normal sea conditions without having to dock for supplies on the way.

Taking a step back, even considering the possible supply problems, the professional supply ships currently used by the navy are very easy to use. The big deal is to add one or two cargo ships specially carrying supplies to the fleet. And the extra cost is still very cost-effective for this lucrative route.

Compared with the cost of building ports and wharves, this kind of cost is really a drop in the bucket.Therefore, the executive committee would rather let the port development projects temporarily stagnate, and turn to better shipping vessels to get through this period of tight capacity.

And Thomas' worries are not unfounded. The Haihan Executive Committee is indeed thinking about expanding the route to the south. On the one hand, it is to increase the profit of sea trade by reducing transportation costs, and on the other hand, it is also to gradually control the South China Sea in the next few years. Preparations for key waterways in the region.At present, the intelligence station in Batavia next to the Sunda Strait has started a normal rhythm of operation, and the Strait of Malacca, another main route into the South China Sea, is naturally the main target of the Executive Committee.

Although the Strait of Malacca is still in the hands of the Portuguese for the time being, Haihan, who knows the historical development process, knows that if they do not intervene in time, this place will soon be taken away by the Dutch, and the Dutch will take control of Malacca in one fell swoop. The Strait and the Sunda Strait, the two main throats connecting the South China Sea and the Indian Ocean, are not the situation that the Executive Committee wants to see.Rather than letting the Portuguese lose this strategic location in vain, the executive committee thought it would be better to find a way to take it over and control it earlier, or at least form a garrison there to help the Portuguese resist the expansion of the Dutch.

The Executive Committee does not intend to use force to seize control of the Strait of Malacca, because that will inevitably hurt the current good cooperative relationship with Portugal, and Portugal is the only channel for Haihan to the Western world. window, the Executive Committee does not want to prematurely abandon this tool that can serve many purposes.It would be great if other soft means could be used to coerce Portugal to voluntarily surrender control of the Malacca region.

This time Thomas made a request for help on behalf of the Macau Council. Tao Donglai was very sensitive to realize that this was an opportunity. Although it is impossible to realize the executive committee’s plan for the Malacca area immediately, at least it can send ships for Haihan The team went to the local area to carry out trade to find a suitable opportunity.

As for the request made by the Portuguese, Tao Donglai already had a plan for the next step in his mind - it is definitely impossible for the Portuguese to take over this place, and the permanent residence in the Indochina Peninsula can only be controlled by Haihan, and other Any western country wants to get this kind of treatment, unless they can defeat Haihan militarily first.Given that the cooperative relationship with Portugal has always been good, Tao Donglai thinks that after the completion of the port, the operation model of Sanya Port will be imitated, and a few fixed berths will be designated for the Portuguese to use.

As for the ownership rights that Thomas wants, Tao Donglai only thinks that he is really thinking too much.Even if the Portuguese really planned to contribute their own efforts to build basic port facilities in the Haihan Concession, Haihan would never use ownership as a bargaining chip.Even if you can't lose face, there is still a way out for Haihan's side - this land belongs to Annan Kingdom, if you really want ownership rights, then talk to the Annan court.

(End of this chapter)