1635 Han style rises again

Chapter 357 Zheng Zhilong's Considerations
Zheng Zhibao and Chen Hui sat quietly in the hall, waiting for Zheng Zhilong to make a decision.

After more than two months of negotiations with the visiting senior business representatives of the East India Company, the East India Company and Zheng Zhilong reached a truce in principle, and made substantial concessions on the trade markets of Ming, Japan and North Korea.

Zheng Zhilong began to ask the Dutch East India Company to directly pay them a trade "franchise fee" of 100 million taels of silver every year, so that the Dutch could go to Japan and North Korea without restriction.However, if you want to buy goods from Daming, you have to change hands from Zheng Zhilong, and issue a flag of passage at sea, so that you can come and go freely.

However, the Dutch East India Company held the biggest objection to the annual trade "franchise fee" of 100 million taels of silver, and was only willing to pay 20 taels of silver to Zheng Zhilong.Just kidding, Daming's trade in goods has to be done by you, and your food looks too ugly.Insist on free trade in Daming without any restrictions.But out of respect for Zheng Zhilong, they can increase the "franchise fee" to 30 taels of silver.

You must know that in the original time and space, although the Dutch East India made some concessions in the face of Zheng Zhilong's strength in the coastal areas of Daming, they still made a favorable agreement with Zheng Zhilong in terms of Japanese trade by virtue of their strong sea power. .Zheng Zhilong himself does not do business with Japan directly. He provides the Dutch East India Company with suitable Daming raw silk and other commodities, and sells 100 million florins (generally used gold coins in Europe, each weighing about 3.5 grams) on credit every year, with a monthly interest of 2.5%. Three months, if there is no objection, it will be automatically renewed.

In exchange, the Dutch shipped 5 guilders worth of goods and 5 guilders worth of gold to Zheng Zhilong on their ship, which were recorded in the company's account, and Zheng Zhilong got [-]% of the final profit.

However, this kind of agreement was just a dead letter. After 1640, Zheng Zhilong's fleet continued to go to Japan for trade, earning a large amount of Japanese silver and gold, and occupying more than [-]% of the market share.

But now the Dutch East India Company is in much more trouble than it has encountered in history. Not only have they been hostile and besieged by various Western and local forces in Southeast Asia, but they have also lost Formosa (now Taiwan)'s two strongholds, trade with Japan, North Korea, and Ming Dynasty, was compressed to the extreme by Zheng Zhilong's forces, and there was even a faint danger of being expelled from the Far East trade circle.

After more than two months of back-and-forth negotiations, the Dutch East India Company increased the "franchise fee" to 40 taels of silver per year, and agreed to provide certain Ming products such as raw silk, cotton cloth, silk, and porcelain to the Dutch from Zheng Zhilong, but the price could not be guaranteed. More than 20% of the market price of Daming.

As negotiators, Zheng Zhibao and Chen Hui came to report to Zheng Zhilong whether they agreed to the conditions of the Dutch East India Company when the Dutch refused to make any more concessions.

"Didn't the Dutch mention their share in Japan's trade?" Zheng Zhilong asked softly after pondering for a long time.

"They didn't mention it." Zheng Zhibao said with a smile: "They should know that we are in an absolute advantage in Japan's trade. It would be nice if we could give them a sip of soup. How dare we ask for a share!"

Zheng Zhilong smiled, tapped the armrest of the chair lightly with his fingers, and then said: "I agree to them, but there is one thing, the annual franchise fee must be paid to Quanzhou before February, without delay."

"Brother, in fact, we can still have a hard time with the Dutch." Zheng Zhibao said: "The Dutch are anxious now. If we persist, maybe we will raise the franchise fee to 70 million taels of silver and re-export it to The price of their goods goes up a little more."

"Actually, we don't have much time to spend time with them." Zheng Zhilong sighed softly.

"Why?" Zheng Zhibao wondered: "We have almost cut off the sea route from the Dutch to Japan, and Taiwan has also begun to immigrate one after another. The situation is very favorable to us!"

"Against the Dutch, we naturally have the upper hand, but our Ming court is in decline." Zheng Zhilong shook his head and said, "The thieves in the north are hard to get rid of, and the slaves in the northeast are becoming more and more difficult to control. "

In May, Zhang Xianzhong rebelled against Gucheng.On July 27th, Zuo Liangyu led his army to pursue Xianzhong, eighty miles beyond Fang County, and was besieged by Zhang Xianzhong.The left army attacked from a long distance, and the soldiers were short of food. The vanguard general Luo Dai was captured, Liangyu was defeated and returned, the army's seals were lost, more than tens of millions of military funds were abandoned, and tens of thousands of soldiers died.The emperor was shocked when he heard that, and on August [-], he specially ordered Sichang, the supervisor, to bestow Shang Fangjian with a cheap reward.

Xiong Wencan, the benefactor of Zheng Zhilong's former consolation, was locked up and imprisoned because of Zhang Xianzhong's rebellion again, which resulted in the failure of the consolation bureau (later beheaded in 1640).

On the first day of September, the emperor summoned Sichang to the platform.Si Chang said that the minister was ordered to set off at night. On the 29th, arrived in Xiangyang.On the first day of October, Sichang swore an oath to the three armies in Xiangyang to attack the peasant army.At that time, the generals of the Ming army accumulated arrogance and had no fighting spirit. Sichang whipped the deputy general, beheaded the military supervisor, impeached and arrested Huguang governor Fang Kongzhao, and rectified military discipline.

Chuangni, Li Zicheng's tribe, was ambushed by Hong Chengchou and Sun Chuanting in Tongguan Nanyuan, Weinan, and was defeated. He took the bandit leader Liu Zongmin and other 17 remnants to hide in Shangluo Mountain in southeast Shaanxi.

However, after sacrificing loyalty and rebelling again, affected by it, many peasant armies including Li Zicheng, who was hiding in hiding, also regrouped and rebelled, and the banditry resumed.

The establishment of slaves in the Northeast is also becoming more and more difficult to control. On June 6, the Ming court decided to train elite soldiers from all towns and levy "training salaries" because of the increasingly serious affairs in the east.The assistant minister Yang Sichang decided that the troops of Xuanfu, Datong, Shanxi, Yansui, Ningxia, Gansu, Guyuan, Lintao, Liaodong, Jizhen, and Baoding, Jifu, Shandong, and Hebei towns should be divided into general towns, governors, and general troops. Practice, coordinate with east and west, and come when you hear the police.

After defeating the bandits in Shaanxi in the First World War, the emperor appointed Hong Chengchou as the governor of Jiliao to preside over the battle against Jiannu.

In October, Jiannu attacked Ningyuan (now Xingcheng, Liaoning Province).At that time, Ningyuan's garrison general was Jin Guofeng, the commander-in-chief, and he commanded nearly 10 troops.When the Qing army attacked Ningyuan, the Ming soldiers were timid.Guofeng was furious, and led dozens of relatives out to occupy Beishangang to fight fiercely with the Qing soldiers. He exhausted all his efforts, and died in battle with his second son and all relatives.

Hong Chengchou, the governor of Jiliao, was weak in army and horses, and his morale was low. He did not dare to underestimate the enemy and marched forward.Prior to this, Jinzhou had been besieged for several months, and the outer city was broken by Jiannu, and the situation became more and more critical.

The Ministry of Household Affairs of the Beijing Division urged Nanzhili, Fujian and Guangdong several times to quickly send "training pay", "Liao pay", "suppressing pay" and taxes to Beijing for the purpose of raising money for training troops.The urgency of the official document and the harshness of the wording are the worst in the past.

"The decline of the imperial court shouldn't hinder us from competing with the Dutch at sea, right?" Zheng Zhibao asked cautiously.

"This world is already going to be chaotic." Zheng Zhilong said solemnly: "We must make long-term plans. At this time, it is not the time to compete with the Dutch. We are not only trying to control Quanzhou, Tong'an Zhongzuo and other key points in Fujian. Moreover, we have to develop in Chaoshan and eventually pass through Guangdong."

"In addition, in order to have a stable future, Taiwan must step up immigration efforts and focus on effective development. Some workshop machinery in Quanzhou and Fuzhou, which can be built in advance, should be put into Taiwan as much as possible. Moreover, there must be a Shipyards, moreover, must make it possible to build large ships. The craftsmen, entertainers, gunners, musketeers, and sailors captured from the Spaniards and Dutchmen must not be let go, and all of them will be filled into the workshops and armies we build. It is believed to be effective."

"It costs a lot of money to develop Taiwan?" Zheng Zhibao visited the former Dutch stronghold of Zeelandia a few months ago, but now it has been changed to Tainan County.The climate there is hot and humid, plagues are rampant, and it is definitely not a place to live in a short period of time.

"Both the Dutch and the Westerners can manage Taiwan, and we can naturally occupy this place." Zheng Zhilong said seriously: "Taiwan will be well managed, its population will be abundant, and its self-sufficiency will be maximized. In the future, if things go wrong in the mainland , we can also guarantee a safe future. For this reason, we must now accumulate enough strength to prepare for a rainy day."

"There are countless refugees in the north, and Fujian, Jiangxi, Guangdong and other places are also flocked by hungry people. The navy needs to collect immigrants from various places every month, and send them all to Taiwan for reclamation and colonization. There are many species on the island, with fierce and unruly temperaments, so they must be stationed here. The Lu division went to attack and protect the immigrants. All of these required a lot of manpower and material resources from us. Therefore, it is really difficult to compete with the Dutch people."

"Then tomorrow, we will sign a joint agreement with the Dutch representatives who came here. I am afraid that they will not keep their word and repeat it afterwards." Zheng Zhibao said.

"Japan forbids the Portuguese to go to trade, and life in Haojing (today's Macau) must be difficult." Zheng Zhilong said with a smile: "Ten years ago, we received preferential treatment from the Portuguese in many places in Haojing. At this time, we might as well help them a handful."

"The Japanese shogun was angry at the Portuguese wanton preaching and bewitching the people, so they would definitely not allow them to enter Nagasaki for trade. If my brother went to persuade the Japanese shogun, I'm afraid it would be a bit thankless!"

"Of course I can't talk to the shogun." Zheng Zhilong shook his head and said, "But we can take their goods to Japan, and then bring back the goods they need from Japan. We only need to charge some shipping fees."

Zheng Zhilong's life in Haojing is unforgettable for him all his life, so he has a special preference for Haojing.At that time, Japan issued a ban, prohibiting the Portuguese of Oyster Mirror from going to Japan for trade, and Zheng Zhilong had the desire to repay them in his heart.

"The governor's move not only has a good relationship with the Portuguese, but also introduces Portuguese goods to Japan to squeeze the Dutch's share of trade. It is really clever!" Chen Hui said with a smile.

Zheng Zhilong looked at Chen Hui, suddenly remembered the matter of Hanzhou, and asked aloud: "In May, after the Hanzhou people defeated the Annan people again on Xinsheng Island, is there any new trend?"

"According to the news reported by the merchant ships returned by the Kingdom of Cambodia, last month, Hanzhou suddenly dispatched four large ships and [-] small boats. Together with the Champa, they broke up a coastal city of the Annan people and plundered for five days to obtain gold and silver materials. Countless." Chen Hui said: "Moreover, they also kidnapped three or four thousand women. They may return to the island they occupied in Ryukyu soon."

"The people of Hanzhou are really a bit... bold!" Zheng Zhilong was stunned for a moment, then smiled, turned to Zheng Zhibao and said: "In the future, this Hanzhou must make friends with them and use them as backup. They can make firearms and soldiers. If you are good at fighting, you will rise to become a powerful force in the sea in the future!"

When Zheng Zhilong and others were talking about the Hanzhou people in the Quanzhou Dudufu, a fleet of more than ten small boats led by four major ships slowly sailed into Quanzhou Port.

The immigrant season is coming, Luo Rucheng and his team loaded two thousand women from Annan and departed from Xinsheng Island and returned to Hanxing Island.At this time, they entered Quanzhou Port and stayed for three days temporarily to do maintenance for the ship.

At the Quanzhou Port Wharf, Luo Rucheng was very surprised to see a group of Dutchmen, accompanied by a group of Ming officials, who were about to board the ship and leave.

(End of this chapter)