1635 Han style rises again

Chapter 423 Peace Talks ([-])

The chief representative of the Dutch East India Company's peace talks, Wright Mapplesopulo, stared angrily at the Prime Minister of Hanzhou in front of him, and was very dissatisfied with some of his statements refuting the terms of the agreement.

"You Hanzhou robbed Ambon twice, and also looted Kubang, as well as some of our East Indies trading posts. All the wealth there is the inherent property of my East India Company, and you must return it!"

"Mr. Mapplethorpe, attacking the trading posts and strongholds of your East India Company is an act of war." Pan Qifeng said seriously: "Our Hanzhou only attacked several of your strongholds for military purposes. But Our soldiers in Hanzhou strictly observe military discipline and have never committed any acts of looting. As for the looting and destruction of some of your commercial strongholds, I think it should be the work of the local natives."

"..."

"No, your Hanzhou's special rights and interests in the northern part of Timor Island can only be limited to Dili City and cannot be expanded. This is the minimum requirement of our East India Company."

"Our Hanzhou's daily travels in Dili City naturally pass through the entire northern tip of Timor Island. During the period, we set up individual supply points. This is the most reasonable and appropriate request for our Hanzhou."

"According to your division of Hanzhou, the entire Timor Island, you occupy almost two-thirds of the entire island, which seriously erodes the existing rights and interests of our East India Company."

"As far as I know, your East India Company doesn't have much commercial interest in Timor Island. It's just a supply point for you to and from the Spice Islands." Pan Qifeng smiled, "And, once we sign the peace Agreement, our Dili City, oh, no, it has been renamed Zhenhai City, and it can also provide supplies for your East India Company's merchant ships. So, you see, your East India Company has not actually lost anything. There is also a temporary stop for supply."

"..."

"Batavia is the ruling center of our East India Company and the most developed commercial center in the entire Far East. We have fully opened the market here to your Hanzhou, and we have expressed our greatest sincerity. However, your Hanzhou only The markets on Timor Island in Dili City and Xinxiang City are open to us, which is obviously unequal.”

"Why not?" Li Renchang, Shangshu of the Ministry of Industry and Commerce of Hanzhou, replied solemnly: "In the future, Dili City and Xinxiang City will be our main foreign trade windows. Convergence, it will eventually flow to our Hanzhou mainland. This is equivalent to our Hanzhou completely opening up the entire market to your East India Company."

However, our East India Company wants to directly monopolize all the import and export material trade in your Hanzhou by virtue of our superior maritime transportation capabilities and mature business methods, instead of letting your Hanzhou just set up a trade transfer station on Timor Island. Selectively buy what we ship.

The peace negotiations between the East India Company and Hanzhou lasted for nearly ten days, and they only reached an agreement on a few items. Afterwards, the two sides proposed to take a break for a while and submit their objections to their respective decision makers in order to make a concrete decision. deploy.The next phase of negotiations will move to Batavia next month.
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Batavia, Governor's Palace, 1641 June 11.

"If we admit that they occupy the entire Hanzhou continent, then the Hollenburg we built not far from Jianye City (now Kitts Harbor in northern Australia) will be a very embarrassing existence in the future." Batavia Colonel Dachman Barek, commander of the navy, said with a wry smile: "Besides, we have spent a lot of manpower and material resources to build this stronghold. If we give up because we want to reach a settlement with Hanzhou, it would be a pity... .”

"How long do you think it will take for Hanzhou to discover Hollenburg?" Governor Cornelis van der Lin asked.

"This...is hard to say." Colonel Dachman Barek hesitated, and said, "Maybe a few months, maybe a few years, it may depend on God's will. However, Hollenburg is hidden deep in the bay. Here, by the side of a small river, if you don’t search deliberately, it will not be easy for people to find.”

"Is there any property of economic value near Hollenburg?"

"Except for the endless forest and many jumping pocket beasts, there seems to be no valuable property. If those trees can be cut down and processed, they may be considered a little valuable. However, with the current situation of Hollenburg, I am afraid that for at least one or two years, we will need to go there regularly to bring the supplies needed by the garrison personnel."

"Does your navy really want to have this stronghold, in order to deal with the threat of Hanzhou in the future?" Governor De Lin asked.

"Yes, if our East India Company occupies Hollenburg, whether we launch an attack on Hanzhou or carry out a blockade of Hanzhou in the future, it will be a wrong place to stop supplies." Colonel Barek said .

"In the next stage of negotiations, we can admit that they own the entire continent of Hanzhou, but they must also recognize and respect our special rights and interests over the entire East Indies. Without our permission, they are not allowed in any East Indies Establish a stronghold." Governor Delin said decisively: "As for the Hollenburg we built on the Hanzhou mainland, in order to ensure that it will not be discovered by the Hanzhou people, I suggest that the navy designate an armed merchant ship to replenish it regularly. The number of people in this stronghold is limited to a minimum number of personnel."

"In terms of market opening, Hanzhou must also list their homeland as an open location, allowing our East India Company to go to trade without restriction. As a reciprocity, our East India Company can promise that the strongholds we control and The sphere of influence is also open to Hanzhou. Can a local power that has only been established for six years still explode into a strong industrial output power?"

"As for the return of the property seized from our East India Company during the war, we don't have to pursue it. But all the employees captured by them must be released unconditionally, and the so-called repatriation mode of individual will cannot be implemented. Because we don't know, the Hanzhou people Will they use coercive means to keep our former employees in Hanzhou?"

Rowlett Mapplethorpe, the chief representative of the peace talks, hesitated for a moment, and asked softly: "My lord, the Hanzhou people asked us to clearly delineate the sphere of influence of the entire East Indies, so that when they build new strongholds in the future, they can avoid it. Open an island belonging to the East India Company."

"The entire East Indies is so vast, and there are thousands of islands. How can we clearly divide it?" Governor Delin asked in amazement: "Could it be that the Hanzhou people can describe the geography of the entire Hanzhou continent?"

"Your Excellency, the Hanzhou people... have really clearly described the entire Hanzhou continent and its affiliated islands." Rowlett Mapplethorpe said: "Moreover, I also read the map they drew. , The geography of the northwest, west, and south of Hanzhou is basically similar to the sketch drawn by Major Abel Tasman, and they also drew the geography of the east and southeast of Hanzhou."

"How do they do it?"

"How did they do that?"

Governor Derling and Colonel Barek asked in unison.

"How the Hanzhou people did it, I don't know. But when they showed me the map of the Hanzhou continent they drew, they seemed very confident and proud. I think that the Hanzhou people have done a good job in the past few years. The entire continent has been investigated in detail." Rowlett Mapplethorpe said: "Therefore, they are very determined to occupy the entire Hanzhou continent and its affiliated islands."

"Mr. Mapplethorpe, since you have seen the map drawn by the Hanzhou people, what is the shape of the entire Hanzhou continent? Can you draw it from memory? ... How big is the entire continent?" Barek asked the Colonel curiously.

"The entire continent of Hanzhou is shaped like... like a crab shell, with a long pointed horn protruding from the north..." Rowlett Mapplethorpe picked up a pen in his hand and drew while talking, " From my point of view, the continent of Hanzhou is equivalent to two-thirds of the size of our entire Europe."

"Such a vast land!" Colonel Barek said in surprise: "How many Hanzhou people need to immigrate to fill this continent?"

"If they want to occupy this continent, they really need countless immigrants, so the various materials they need must also continue to grow." A strange light flashed in the eyes of Governor Delin, "If our East India Company can monopolize Most of their commercial channels, this is undoubtedly a very large market. They will be like Russia now, commercially barren, let us gallop."

"Governor, do we need to make certain concessions to Hanzhou's territorial claims?" Rowlett Mapplethorpe heard from Governor During's words that the most important terms of the East India Company were commercial aspects, that is, Han Chau was required to fully open its market to the East India Company.

"We can make certain concessions to them. I can't imagine that on that barren and desolate continent, without a large input of foreign resources, Hanzhou can continue to develop healthily."

(End of this chapter)