1635 Han style rises again

Chapter 359 The Temptation of Peace

On December 1639, 12, the 6th year of Chongzhen, Hanzhou, Jianye City.

Mr. Senard Karamet, Senior Commercial Counselor of the Dutch East India Company, looked at the smiling young man in front of him, and without saying a word, he just looked at him quietly, feeling a burst of embarrassment.

"Although I was captured by your Hanzhou, my personality will not be insulted by you." Senad Karamet said loudly: "And, you don't want to get any information about the East India Company from me."

"We didn't want to insult your personality, and we didn't want to get any information about your East India Company from your mouth." Qi Tian said with a smile: "It's just that the world has changed so much. I still remember that last year you brought The Dutch negotiating delegation came to Jianye City, as if it happened yesterday. So, for a while, I don’t know whether to say, it’s been a long time? Or, it’s nice to see you?”

Senard Karamet stared coldly at the young man in charge of civil affairs in Hanzhou in front of him, took a deep breath, and said, "Are you going to try to tease a senior representative of the Dutch East India Company? I think, You have made the wrong idea. No matter you Han Zhou tortured me with cruel means, or teased me with absurd language, or even killed me, I will maintain my decency as a gentleman."

"Oh, isn't it decent for a noble?" Qi Tian said: "Then, you should belong to the Republican faction in the Inter-Provincial Republic? You should have more nobles from the Orange Royalist faction among the army officers."

Senard Karamet was a little surprised that Qi Tianneng knew that the Netherlands was still divided into republicans and royalists. Could it be that Hanzhou had started collecting and analyzing intelligence on the Netherlands very early on.

"Actually, no matter which faction you belong to, you probably don't like the Spaniards. I really don't understand why you Dutch people insist on targeting us in Hanzhou when you put Spain in Luzon aside? I remember a few years ago, we still Partners who cooperate with each other. We, Hanzhou, have even shed blood and worked hard for the interests of your Dutch East India Company. Now facing this situation, who do you think is responsible?" Qi Tian said.

"It's because of your Hanzhou's provocation." Senad Karamet said coldly: "Your behavior is enough to pose a provocation and threat to our East India Company."

"Because we captured Dili City and don't want to hand it over to you, is it considered a provocation to the East India Company?" Qi Tian said calmly, "You may regard our Hanzhou as one of the many kingdoms in the Nanyang region. One of them. Here, I have to regret to tell you that our Hanzhou is different from them. We need equality, respect, trade, immigration, and many things, but the only thing we don’t need is threats. There is war."

"Mr. Karamet, you have also seen it. The war you launched against us cannot cause actual harm to us. We still occupy Dili City, our Hanzhou mainland, our Xinxiangbao, and even as far away as Indochina Peninsula Xinsheng Island, all safe and sound. On the contrary, it was your Ambon, which was attacked twice by us. In addition, your stronghold in Taiwan was also captured by Zheng Zhilong. Oh, and the Kingdom of Cambodia, they also attacked you in Phnom Penh A nearby trading station. I heard that your Batavia was attacked by the two kingdoms of Mataran and Banten. I don’t know how much you lost?”

"Hmph, all of this is only temporary." Said Senad Kalamet said, "As for the enemies of our East India Company, we will defeat them one by one and finally eliminate them. You, Hanzhou, are no exception!"

"Are you capable of dealing with so many enemies at the same time?" Qi Tian smiled and said, "Look, the Spaniards, Portuguese, natives on Java Island, Cambodians, and Zheng Zhilong from Ming Dynasty, plus Go to our Hanzhou. You have offended many people. You know, you are still facing the threat of the Spaniards in Europe. At sea, does England also pose a threat to you?"

"England?" Senard Karamet smiled contemptuously, and said, "With those pirate ships in England, can they still threaten our powerful inter-provincial republic? On the European continent, there are only Spaniards, and they deserve our attention."

Qi Tian was stunned for a moment after hearing the interpreter's words. At this moment, is England's navy much weaker than that of the Dutch?Didn't they defeat the mighty Spanish Armada?In the end, didn't it also knock down the crown of the Dutch global empire?

In fact, during this period, the Dutch sea power was the time when it was the best in the world.Its shipbuilding capacity ranks first in the world. Hundreds of shipyards gather in the capital Amsterdam, and the whole country can start building hundreds of ships in one day. built here.

In terms of quantity, around 1640, the Netherlands had more than 1.2 merchant ships. By about 1650, the Dutch merchant ships had reached more than 1.6, and the tonnage accounted for three-quarters of the total tonnage of Europe at that time, equivalent to that of Britain and France. The sum of the four major maritime powers of China, Portugal, and Spain, other countries can hardly compete with it, and almost monopolize the world's maritime trade!
As for the three subsequent wars with England, the first two were also dominated by the Dutch on the battlefield, but on land, they were pushed to the ground by France several times for friction. In addition, the emphasis on commercial trade hollowed out the domestic industry. Under the blow of the three Anglo-Dutch wars, it slowly declined.

"Your Dutch sea power is powerful, but in the East Indies area, I'm afraid it's hard to beat with two fists." Qi Tian said: "Besides, the purpose of your East India Company coming here is for profit, to earn golden The gold and silver currency. Is it meaningful to fight our Hanzhou to death like this?"

"You Hanzhou want to seek peace?" Senad Karamet seemed to have detected a special meaning from Qi Tian's words.

"It's not that our Hanzhou wants to make peace." Qi Tian shook his head and said: "I just think that our current war seems meaningless. You will continue to lose and bleed, and our Hanzhou is blocked by you. , unable to trade and immigrate. It is all mutual injury and mutual weakening. Your many enemies of the East India Company should be very pleased to see your present position."

"As long as your Hanzhou is willing to give up Dili City and compensate us for the losses caused by the East India Company, I can persuade the Governor and the senior officials of the Indian Committee to agree to stop the war against your Hanzhou." Senad Kalla Metter said.

"If, if I remember correctly, our Hanzhou did not suffer a defeat on the battlefield, and your East India Company did not invade our Hanzhou mainland, why did we give up Dili City and make compensation to you? ?” Qi Tian looked at this senior employee of the Dutch East India Company strangely.

"Because..., because, this is a prerequisite for ending the war." Senad Karamet was a little speechless, but still said forcefully: "You know, our East India Company will be supported by the European fleet at any time. , we will block your Hanzhou mainland and all territories again, so that your Hanzhou cannot get any supplies from the outside world.”

"Hehe..." Qi Tian smiled, looked at Kalamet's bluff, and said, "Will your local government of the Netherlands mobilize a large number of warships from Europe to the East Indies at any cost for the benefit of your company? ? Or, are you East India Company willing to lose huge trade profits and never die with us in Hanzhou? You know, in Hanzhou, except for a large number of people, we can produce any other materials by ourselves. You Dutch , It is impossible to trap us to death. Or, you can also risk huge casualties and try to attack our Hanzhou mainland."

Senad Karamet fell silent for a while, and became more vigilant towards the young man in front of him. The other party actually knew the situation of their Federal Republic and the East India Company very well, and he was sure that Europe would not go to war and send many ships. , Come to fight Hanzhou to death.Perhaps, the only weakness of the opponent is the need for immigrants from Ming Dynasty.However, in such a huge Hanzhou, there must be a large number of indigenous people.As long as they are willing to include the aborigines in their management, it seems that immigrants from the Ming Dynasty are not their culprit.

"Tell me, besides the route that passes through your Batavia, does our Hanzhou have other routes?" Qi Tian said softly: "The ocean is vast and there are passages everywhere. As long as we pay some price, we will naturally find other routes. To other routes to Daming. Do you think so?"

"You tell me so much, what do you want to do?" Senad Karamet asked intently after being silent for a while.

"I think peace should be restored between Hanzhou and your East India Company." Qi Tian said, "We need to establish a peaceful relationship where both sides are equal."

------------

"Xiaotian, do you think the Dutch will agree to end the war?" Cao Xiong asked in a deep voice.

"I don't know." Qi Tian shook his head and said, "We are weak, so we should bring it up first and give the Dutch a step. Let's see how they respond."

"If the Dutch are not convinced, keep fighting. How long can we last?" Cao Xiong asked.

"If you continue to control various materials and commodities, it should last for another year." Qi Tian said: "But our current livelihood economy is somewhat deformed. All commodity circulation and capital expenditures are all based on the mining of gold mines in Montenegro. Basically, it can be said that the Hanzhou people’s government has already started to run a deficit. I estimate that some people in Hanzhou must have accumulated a lot of silver dollars in their hands. But the types and quantities of commodities we are satisfied with are seriously insufficient.”

"I have money in my hand, but I can't buy anything, hehe..., there must be many people scolding us!" Cao Xiong also smiled wryly.

At present, there is serious inflation in the entire territory of Hanzhou. As long as all controlled materials are put into the market, they will be swept away by the people according to their respective quotas.The shelves of department stores under the control of various civil governments are empty most of the time.

And those sailors who went to sea became the first generation of Hanzhou's "bad masters". They bought all the specialties produced in Jianye City, Daming, Weiyuan Island, Weihai, and even Xinxiangbao. Taking advantage of the convenience of going to sea, he resells various supplies and makes a lot of money.If the various supplies of the Hanzhou People's Government were not under control, they would probably be bought by wealthy sailors and Marine Corps officers and soldiers and hoarded at home.

Therefore, Hanzhou has been at war for more than a year. Considering the people's tolerance for lack of supplies, it is necessary to tentatively propose to the Dutch their willingness to end the mutual war.The Dutch have already given an impressive lesson. They should know that Hanzhou is not something they can easily provoke, let alone be easily subdued.In the future, everyone should live happily and peacefully, do business together, or fight the natives together, it is better than hurting each other like this.

Of course, if the Dutch thought that Hanzhou would not dare to fight with them and made excessive demands, then Hanzhou would have to accompany the East India Company and continue the war to the end.

(End of this chapter)