1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 690 Key Points of Negotiation

"The Dutch should be in a mess at this time, right?" Schneider raised his head and asked.In front of him was Yu Xiaobao who was standing respectfully. He had just returned to Fort Victory from the Guest House, and came to see Schneider to report the progress of the negotiations.

"If they are not extremely stupid, they should be able to notice the information I revealed during the negotiation." Yu Xiaobao's expression is very relaxed. In the past month, he has almost always come forward to negotiate with the Dutch envoy, and he has already adapted to it. the stress of the job.Coupled with the guidance of senior staff like Schneider and Ning Qi behind the scenes, the scene was basically under control all the time.

"Then they are probably thinking of a way to get out of here now." Schneider said with a smile on his face: "These guys have been refusing to leave, and they really regard our place as a nursing home!"

"But I don't quite understand. Why do we have to make such hints to the Dutch? It's just so wasteful, wouldn't it be good to delay the Abunna Islands for a little longer?" Yu Xiaobao asked puzzled.

Schneider put down the pen in his hand and explained to him: "Now the Executive Committee hopes to put more pressure on the Dutch, forcing them to express their attitude on Fujian affairs and no longer maintain any form of cooperative relationship with Shibazhi. If they If you can agree to such a condition, then the ownership of the Abuna Islands will no longer be a problem."

"That means...the executive committee is going to take action against Shibazhi?" Yu Xiaobao was also a smart person, so he immediately realized it.

Eliminating Shibazhi is one of the established goals of the Executive Committee in Fujian, and Yu Xiaobao also knows this.However, because Shibazhi is backed by the Dutch, if they really want to fight, there are still many practical problems.Although Haihan is not afraid of the East India Company now, he doesn't want other forces to get involved in the process of destroying Shibazhi. If he can take the initiative to persuade the Dutch before doing anything, that will naturally be the most ideal result.

"The first half of next year at the latest." Schneider gave an approximate time: "Xu Xinsu doesn't want to procrastinate any longer. He hopes that we can start as soon as possible, the sooner the better."

"Then Xu Xinsu must have offered us a lot of money?" Yu Xiaobao said with a smile: "The executive committee has changed its original plan. It is estimated that Boss Xu has spent a lot of money this time."

Although Haihan's side did have a plan to eliminate Shibazhi in Fujian and attack the Dutch, they were not in such a hurry.Since Haihan currently does not have a decent base along the coast of Fujian, large naval forces will face many practical problems if they want to station in Fujian and conduct operations.According to the original plan of the military, it is hoped that after the military base on Kinmen Island is completed, it will consider the combat plan to attack Penghu.

But for Xu Xinsu, every time the time to eliminate Shibazhi was delayed by one month, he had to bear a lot of economic losses for it.And if Shibazhi exists for a day, variables may still appear. Now that there is a strong support from Haihan, Xu Xinsu wants to avoid the situation of long nights and dreams as much as possible, and get Shibazhi as soon as possible.And just as Yu Xiaobao guessed, in order to get the Haihan people to make an early move, Xu Xinsu did promise a very considerable exchange.

"You can just listen to the conditions issued by the Fujian government here, and don't go out and talk about them. You understand the confidentiality regulations." Schneider warned.

Yu Xiaobao nodded again and again, "Of course, even my father wouldn't say that."

"In addition to paying most of the combat military expenses, Xu Xinsu also promised to hand over Penghu to us after the matter is completed." Schneider announced the answer: "The news was sent back only two days ago, and the executive committee could not resist such a condition. So I decided to change my attitude of negotiating with the Dutch, so as to gain the initiative on the Fujian issue.”

"Give Penghu to us? But if we wiped out Shibazhi, wouldn't it be logical to take Penghu?" Yu Xiaobao asked puzzled.

"The nature is different." Schneider explained: "The meaning of the Fujian government is to imitate the treatment of the Portuguese in Haojingao and hand over Penghu to us as a concession. Of course, the rent and other conditions are symbolic. The key lies in legality, which is of great significance to our future demonstration in the coastal enclosure of Daming."

So far, Haihan has not had an open dispute with Daming over territorial ownership, although Haihan has now occupied almost the entire Hainan Island, and has acquired a lot of land along the coast of Guangdong and the Pearl River Basin, and actually controls the most important land in Guangdong. However, these areas still belong to the territory of Ming Dynasty in name.For Hai Han and his group of pragmatists, these places still belong to Daming in name, which can bring many benefits, such as trade, immigration and other aspects are more convenient, as long as the actual control is in their own hands.Of course, Penghu can be occupied after the elimination of Shibazhi, but the executive committee does not want to bear this bad reputation, so as not to be resisted by the local government when it expands northward in the future.Now the Fujian government also understands Haihan's plan, and voluntarily offers this place as an exchange condition, and Haihan's side is naturally willing to accept it.

Only then did Yu Xiaobao roughly understand, and suddenly realized: "Then this condition must also be the result of General Qian's negotiation over there."

"This guy Qian Tiandun is not only good at leading troops now!" Schneider responded with a smile: "After he passed, he even took over the duties of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The past few years in Annan are indeed not in vain!"

As a matter of fact, Qian Tiandun was also involved in the negotiation process of the several concession territories that Haihan obtained in Annan, especially the southern region, and the military cooperation agreement between Haihan and Annan.After going to Fujian, Qian Tiandun also quickly took out the experience he had accumulated in Annan, and began to bargain with the Fujian government to strive for more benefits for Haihan.The terms of exchange for Penghu were one of the results of the negotiations between him and Xu Xinsu.

As for the reason why Haihan values ​​Penghu so much, it has a lot to do with the special geographical location of Penghu.The Penghu Archipelago is located in the strait to the west of Taiwan Island. It consists of 64 islands with a total land area of ​​nearly 11 square kilometers, but only [-] of them have an area of ​​more than one square kilometer, and those islands that are too small do not have the potential for development. value.

This place guards the main waterway of the Taiwan Strait and is also an important springboard between the mainland and the island of Taiwan.In the original history, when Zheng Chenggong regained Taiwan, he used the Penghu Islands as a bridgehead-of course, in this time and space, it is probably no one's turn to recover Taiwan Island.

To occupy Taiwan, first occupy Penghu, this strategy is very clear, and compared to Kinmen Island, which is next to the mainland and under the eyes of Daming, the location of the Penghu Islands is obviously more suitable for Haihan's consistent development needs.After occupying it, you can attack Taiwan when you advance, and you can defend when you retreat. Moreover, the local conditions are much better than that of Anbuna Island. Penghu Bay, which is surrounded by three islands, is about 12000 meters long from north to south, and 8000 meters wide from northeast. The water depth is more than 10 meters, and it is a natural sheltered port with excellent natural conditions. It is no problem to station one or two fleets in it.

In addition, it is only a few tens of nautical miles from Penghu to Dayuan Port, the stronghold of the East India Company in the southern part of Taiwan Island, which can be easily placed within the radiation range of force.Whatever the East India Company will do in the future, it will really be liquidated in minutes.

The Dutch mission did not discuss any feasible solutions during the lunch break, so when it was time for negotiations in the afternoon, Van Longen could only raise the commonplace topic again: "I suggest that both of us speed up the negotiation, after all, we have already discussed It has been more than a month, but no consensus has been reached so far, so it is of no practical significance to both of us."

"You are right. We are also very experienced with the current negotiation process. After a month of constant debate, the negotiation has not yet been announced." After listening to Su Keyi's translation, Yu Xiaobao responded with a smile: "Say To be honest, the leaders of our side are not very interested in continuing this negotiation. Instead of spending so much time arguing with you about who is right and who is wrong, it is better to contact all parties directly and formulate a joint agreement against the East India Company."

"You are threatening us!" Van Longen responded to Yu Xiaobao's threat with a gloomy face: "The East India Company will not be afraid of any enemy!"

"Really? Since you are so eager to fight, I don't think there is anything to talk about." Yu Xiaobao stood up and said: "I thought I could offer you some quid pro quo to try to achieve peace, but now it seems that We are too worried. Messengers and gentlemen, prepare for war!"

"Wait!" As soon as Su Keyi heard that there was something in Yu Xiaobao's words, he quickly stopped him: "What's the condition, brother Yu, why don't you tell me first?"

The reason why the East India Company sent them to Sanya was firstly to find out the strength of Haihan, and secondly to delay the time and try to avoid war in the near future.And now Haihan's threat is no longer a war, but to unite all the forces in the South China Sea region to deal with the East India Company. If this battle breaks out, the East India Company will face a very passive situation.

Yu Xiaobao stood still: "I don't think the two Dutch envoys really want to continue talking."

Su Keyi said in his heart that I haven't translated it for them yet, they don't know what the hell you are talking about, so they quickly translated Xiaobao's words.Sure enough, the two also responded after listening, and invited Yu Xiaobao to continue the negotiation.

"Our conditions are very simple, there are only two in total." Yu Xiaobao pointed out two fingers and said: "First, your company terminates all contacts with Shibazhi, whether it is trade or civil matters, of course , military aid, so there is no need to emphasize it. Second, stop all unfriendly actions towards the Abunana Islands, and unconditionally renounce the local sovereignty claims. As long as you agree to these two points, we are willing to sign a contract with you bilateral peace agreement."

"It's impossible." Van Longen reflexively refused immediately after listening to the translation: "The Natuna Islands are the property of the East India Company, and we will not agree to hand over its sovereignty to you unconditionally as you requested. "

After listening to the answer carefully, Yu Xiaobao asked with a smile, "That means you can accept it conditionally?"

After the three envoys whispered to each other, Van Longen said: "At least we need to achieve co-management in the local area. You must know that we have spent more than 20 years developing and building the local area. The resources invested cannot be said to be gone."

"The resources invested?" Yu Xiaobao smiled.The Abona Islands have always been the territory of the Chinese. Even after the East India Company occupied the area, there were only two or three hundred immigrants living there.As for development and construction, it is even more nonsense. At present, the local area still has difficulties in self-sufficiency in food, so how can we talk about development.However, Yu Xiaobao was not in a hurry to refute his words, he just asked, "What degree of co-management do you want?"

"We request that administrative officials be stationed locally and be able to use the local ports and docks freely." Van Longen thought for a while, but still did not mention the garrison.If the Haihan people can take the place from the pirates, they will definitely not allow the East India Company to send troops to the island again.

Yu Xiaobao shook his head and said, "Except for the right of civilian ships to use the port and wharf, there is nothing else to discuss."

"At least we have to send official representatives to ensure that the crew of our ships can receive fair treatment during the local docking." Van Longen had no choice but to back down half a step.

Yu Xiaobao thought for a while, but did not express his opinion immediately, but brought the topic back to the first condition: "What do you say about the Fujian matter?"

"We have no right to decide the company's position. We can only bring the conditions you proposed back to Batavia, and the company's board of directors will make a decision." Via's request.

"Then I suggest that we should discuss a draft as soon as possible. After our executive committee approves it, you can take this draft back to Batavia and submit it to your company's board of directors for a decision." Yu Xiaobao proposed a plan.

So the negotiation process, which had been deadlocked for more than a month, finally changed after Haihan's side suddenly changed their attitude.At this time, Van Longen and the others could no longer care about the "negotiation bottom line" instructed by the former Governor Cohen, and could only temporarily agree to the conditions proposed by the Haihan people.Fortunately, this is not the signing of a formal diplomatic agreement. Even if the two sides discuss a draft, they can still completely deny it after returning to Batavia.Taking a step back, even if a formal agreement is actually signed, as long as the conflict of interest is large enough, they can still tear up the agreement and go to war without fear.This kind of thing is very common in today's Europa continent. Countries are fighting today, fighting tomorrow, and fighting the day after tomorrow. Aren't the so-called armistice agreements and peace treaties all used to delay the preparation for the next war?
(End of this chapter)