Starting in Saarhu, it is a bit difficult to make a comeback.

Chapter 234 Crazy Tulips (Seeking monthly tickets)

In the 17th century, the Spanish Kingdom, the world's earliest "empire on which the sun never sets," was already in decline.

And England, the future "Empire on which the Sun Never Sets," has not yet fully risen.

The maritime overlord at this time was the Netherlands.

In the 16th year of Wanli (1588), the Netherlands established the world's first republic founded by the bourgeoisie.

Then this small country with a population of only 150 million unexpectedly got out of hand and became a maritime hegemon with tens of thousands of merchant ships.

Unfortunately, the rising Netherlands encountered the also rising Chinese Empire.

As early as the third year of Tianqi (3), Li Xianzhong drove the Dutch out of Taiwan and Penghu.

Afterwards, Zheng Zhilong’s East Ryukyu Company dominated the Japanese market.

The Dutch East India Company was forced to reach an agreement with Li Xianzhong, in exchange for the opening of Southeast Asia in exchange for trade qualifications with Liaodong.

But the cunning Dutchman hedged his bets.

They keenly grasped the contradiction between the Ming court and Liaodong, and used warships and flintlock guns to open up the Ming market. It's a pity that they bet on the wrong thing again. In just a few years, Li Xianzhong, a warlord who ruled in Liaodong, actually became the emperor of the Chinese Empire.

Hans Putmans, as the representative of the Dutch East India Company on this mission to China, shoulders the important task of negotiation.

His colleague Song Ke told him that the Emperor of the Chinese Empire, Li Xianzhong, was very difficult to deal with!

So this time the Dutch East India Company also spent a lot of money.

They transferred three giant Galenic sailing ships with a displacement of 2400 tons from the Netherlands.

Each battleship was equipped with 108 24-pound smoothbore guns.

In addition to three 3-ton giant ships, 2400 12-ton warships were also mobilized to form the largest Far East fleet in history.

This time Putmans went north to the capital and brought a 1-ton giant Galenic sailing ship. It was obvious that he wanted to intimidate the Chinese navy.

Today's Chinese naval force is divided into three major fleets.

First, the Liaodong Navy is responsible for guarding the Bohai Sea, the Korean Peninsula and the Shandong Peninsula. Its home ports are located in Lushun, Liaodong, Dengzhou, Shandong and Incheon, North Korea.

Then there is the Nanhai Navy, which is responsible for guarding Guangdong, Guangxi, Fujian and Taiwan. Its home ports are located in Huangpu, Guangzhou, Keelung, Taiwan and Yuegang, Fujian.

Finally, there is the Donghai Navy, which is responsible for guarding the Yangtze River and the coasts of Jiangsu and Zhejiang. Its home ports are located in Zhoushan and Chongming Island.

Of course, in addition to these three major naval forces, Zheng Zhilong's East Ryukyu Company also has a huge escort fleet located in Naha, Ryukyu, and Tamsui, Taiwan.

The three major naval forces were completely separated from the Liaodong Navy.

However, considering that there is not much threat from the north, the Nanhai Navy has the strongest combat power, followed by the Liaodong Navy, and finally the Donghai Navy.

After all, those Japanese pirate ships were really poor for naval battles!

As early as six years ago, the Liaodong Navy had built a new 1800-ton Galen sailboat.

However, Li Xianzhong knew that Galen was destined to be eliminated if he capsized.

At most five years later, England will build the world's first sailing battleship, the King of the Sea.

It can have more deck-mounted artillery, and both the sail design and the artillery configuration are far superior to the current Galen sailboat.

The performance of this sailing battleship far exceeds that of today's galleons.

Although the Sea King's full load displacement is only 1680 tons, it can easily install hundreds of 32-pound or more heavy guns, and its power and endurance are far superior to the current Galen sailboat.

Once this kind of battleship comes out, it will soon change the direction of the world's navies.

And because of this multi-deck design, the tonnage of battleships has achieved rapid breakthroughs.

It won't be long before sailing battleships of more than 3000 tons appear.

Because of this, all shipyards in China did not build giant Galenic sailing ships with larger tonnage.

Instead, they focused on developing and building the latest sailing battleships.

Li Xianzhong provided advanced design concepts, coupled with nearly ten years of exploration and development.

Now China already has its own battleship designers, a large number of workers with advanced shipbuilding technology, and large shipyards capable of building sail battleships.

And launched 2 brand new sailing battleships.

This sailing battleship is 60 meters long, 17.7 meters wide, 25.17 meters deep, and has a draft of 7.8 meters. The ship has a full load displacement of 2083 tons and has 5 decks. The ship has three masts, with crown sails hung on the mainmast and foremast.

The ship is equipped with 11 anchors alone, and the lightest one weighs 2 tons.

Equipped with 128 32-pound rifled guns, this kind of firepower is unprecedented.

There are as many as 800 sailors, artillerymen and crew on board.

The cost of building a single warship is as high as 50 taels of silver, and the construction period is as long as 18 months.

He is a complete gold-swallowing behemoth.

The appearance design of the sail battleship is easy to imitate, so it is currently strictly confidential in China.

At this time, the Dutch fleet led by Putmans was sailing to Tianjin with great power.

Since the Dutch informed them of the purpose of their visit in advance, the Nanhai Navy did not intercept them but only sent three 3-ton warships to follow them.

Putmans's face inevitably showed a trace of pride.

Although China has built many Galen ships of 1800 tons over the years, they have never seen a giant ship of more than 2000 tons.

Therefore, the Netherlands still has its own negotiation capital.

They went all the way north from Batavia to Tianjin Port, and arrived in the capital from Tianjin.

The Dutch have actually been in contact with the Ming Dynasty for a long time, and they visited the Ming Dynasty many times after the Longqing switch.

They have only one purpose, which is to dominate the trade in East Asia.

Soon Putmans and others were taken to the Forbidden City.

As the largest palace complex in the world, the Forbidden City is not only for the emperor's luxury, but also symbolizes the strength of an empire.

When all the envoys came here, they were all shocked!

Putmans was in the same mood, but there was a hint of greed in his eyes!

When the Dutch sailed the 2400-ton warship to Tianjin, Li Xianzhong knew that they were coming with bad intentions this time, and naturally he would not give them good luck.

The eunuchs deliberately led them around in a large circle before taking them to the Huangji Palace.

By the time Putmans saw Li Xianzhong, he was already sweating profusely and his legs were weak, so he naturally knelt down.

Putmans said: "Putmans, the envoy of the Dutch East India Company, expressed his respect to the emperor of the Chinese Empire on behalf of Hendrik, the Dutch ruler!"

"And brought a lot of gifts to His Majesty the Emperor!"

Originally, the Dutch always liked to send some arms to Ming Dynasty as a promotion.

But now China is not lagging behind the West in terms of guns and warships, so they instead send gifts such as chiming bells, sound boxes, and ivory, gems, and spices.

Although "send off" is really unlucky, these Dutch gifts are not fooling you.

Naturally, China’s reward will not be too shabby!

In addition to some porcelain and silk, Li Xianzhong also gave back some glass products and tulips!

Putmans quickly put forward the conditions of the Dutch. They could sign a trade agreement with China and the two sides would open ports to each other.

However, the Dutch hope that China will not trade with European countries such as Portugal, Spain and England, but instead sign a separate trade agreement with the Netherlands.

Li Xianzhong naturally rejected this proposal. Putmans knew that Li Xianzhong would not agree directly, so he said: "The East India Company will naturally not let the Chinese Empire cut off trade with other countries in vain!"

"We are willing to increase the tariff to China from 15% to 18%; and reduce the tariff to China from 15% to 12%."

“Who is China trading with that is not trade?”

"We Dutch merchants have the largest number of merchant ships in the world and abundant capital. We have enough funds to purchase Chinese goods."

Naturally, the Dutch have abundant funds and there is no problem, but if they form a monopoly, they will lose their pricing power in the future.

Naturally, Li Xianzhong couldn't do this kind of thing that would destroy his martial arts.

But he can still dig holes for the Dutch.

He said: "We in China have always advocated equal trade. Moreover, we have already signed trade agreements with these countries. It is not easy to break the agreement again!"

"In fact, the Dutch East India Company already controls Nanyang. Even if China signs trade agreements with these countries, they still have to look at the face of the Netherlands if they want to pass through Malacca!"

When Li Xianzhong mentioned Malacca, Putmans' expression changed slightly.

He didn't expect that this Chinese emperor even knew about Malacca. It seemed that he was really not easy to fool!

Li Xianzhong added: "In fact, it is very simple for the Netherlands to dominate trade with China!"

"The reason why you have nothing to do with the Portuguese and the Spanish is that they have supply ports in East Asia, the Portuguese have Macau, and the Spanish have Manila!"

"Now that I have taken back Macau, I will simply do my best to help you bring back the Spanish Manila."

"As a result, the Spaniards have no foundation in East Asia. Wouldn't it be easy for the Netherlands to take advantage of them?"

Putmans did not expect that the Chinese emperor had such a big appetite and actually fell in love with the Spanish Manila!

He said: "His Majesty the Emperor wants to take Manila?"

Li Xianzhong said: "When the Spaniards massacred my Chinese people in Manila several times, I naturally wanted to seek justice for those dead people!"

"You Dutch didn't take Manila because you were worried that if you did things too badly, the Spaniards would use France to attack the Netherlands from land."

"Otherwise, with the 2400-ton giant Galenic sailing ship owned by the East India Company, how difficult would it be to capture Manila?"

Putmans is no longer surprised now. It seems that the Chinese emperor knows everything about the relationships between European countries.

He said: "The relationship between us in the Netherlands and the Spanish is not as bad as His Majesty imagined. If the Spanish ask us for help, we will be in a very difficult position!"

Putmans obviously has a threatening intention in it. If China attacks Manila, the Dutch are likely to assist Spain. Of course, the premise is that the Spanish give the Dutch enough benefits.

Li Xianzhong said: "I know that the East India Company's commercial interests come first, and I cannot delay you in making money. The Dutch fleet's aid to Spain in the form of mercenaries will not affect the trade agreement we signed!"

"Mr. Putmans should consider whether to sign this trade agreement with China."

"Zheng Zhilong will continue talks with the Netherlands on my behalf. If you have any ideas, you can talk to Zheng Zhilong!"

After saying that, Li Xianzhong ordered Putmans and others to be sent away.

Afterwards, Zheng Zhilong said: "Based on Wei Chen's understanding of the Dutch, although they have no dealings with the Spanish, they will never sit back and watch us take over Manila. The Dutch will definitely help Spain."

Li Xianzhong said: "Don't worry, I have a way to control the Dutch."

"After Putmans sees that there are tulips in my return gift to the Netherlands, they will definitely come to you, and they will definitely compromise."

The birthplace of tulips is said to be the Tianshan Mountains. After the Ottoman Empire expanded its power, they discovered tulips and became fascinated with them. After the Turks captured Constantinople (today's Istanbul), they built a majestic palace and began to cultivate several varieties of tulips locally and improve their varieties. Later, tulips appeared on clothing and paintings.

In the 16th century, tulips were widely spread throughout Europe through merchants.

After the rise of the Netherlands, tulips began to rise.

Tulips are a plant that is difficult to reproduce in large numbers in a short period of time, which is why they are out of stock during "Tulip Mania" and become highly priced.

There are two ways to cultivate tulips, one is to cultivate them from seeds, and the other is to copy the daughter bulbs from the mother bulb.

The former method may produce new species of tulips through hybridization, but it will take 3 to 7 years before they bloom.

The latter method can bloom from the mother bulb in the same year. One mother bulb can produce about 2 to 3 daughter bulbs. It takes a while for the daughter bulbs to grow into the mother bulb. In addition, the number of seeds that do not germinate and the mother bulb is also small. few.

For the above reasons, the cultivation speed of tulips cannot keep up with the sudden expansion of demand.

So he has the conditions for hype.

In 1610, those who were initially attracted by the beauty of tulips were well-off plant lovers, because tulip bulbs were high-priced commodities from the beginning.

Later, these gardeners and enthusiasts tried to improve the varieties themselves, resulting in many famous varieties. Among them, the famous high-end varieties such as "Admiral Liefken" and "Admiral Von der" Eyk), "Viceroy" (Viceroy), "Generalissimo" (Generalissimo), etc.

In addition, there is another variety that fans are full of praise for, which is the "Eternal Emperor" (Semper Augustus) with purple-white stripes caused by lesions.

Although the single-color variety is relatively cheap, it still costs more than 1000 Dutch guilders (one tael of silver is approximately equal to 1 Dutch guilders). The price has increased as it is widely loved by the public.

The popularity of tulips has attracted the attention of speculators. They have no interest in cultivating tulips or admiring the beauty of the flowers, but only want to drive up prices and make profits.

At this time, the popularity of tulips spread from Leiden to Amsterdam, Haarlem and other cities, and the demand was expanding day by day. These speculators acted in a planned manner, and some people spent huge sums of money. There was even a record of a high-grade bulb being exchanged for a mansion.

At its craziest time, a tulip bulb can even be sold for 6000 Dutch guilders.

Li Xianzhong vaguely remembers that tulips were most popular around 1636.

Although there is not yet such a craze, rare tulip varieties are still like treasures in the hearts of the Dutch.

Li Xianzhong spent a huge sum of money to build the "Crystal Garden" for Hazia. After years of cultivation, it is now the largest tulip base in the world.

Among the gifts he gave back to the Dutch was an extremely precious mutant tulip variety "Eternal Emperor".

Putmans immediately found Zheng Zhilong after seeing the tulip.

Indicates that the Netherlands is willing to pay a high price for tulips.

Fifty taels of ordinary tulips, two or three hundred taels of rare tulips, or 500 taels of "Eternal Emperor" are no problem.

Li Xianzhong is not stupid. Fifty taels or even hundreds of taels for a flower is indeed a sky-high price.

However, once these things are put into the market in large quantities, the prices will quickly fall back and even lose their value very quickly.

Today, tulips are far from reaching their highest prices.

If he sells a large amount to the Dutch now, he can indeed earn millions of taels of silver, but it will not achieve his goal of plundering the wealth of the Netherlands and Europe in large quantities.

It will even put out the "tulip fever" in advance, which will actually save the Dutch.

Zheng Zhilong said: "These tulips are the best in His Majesty's imperial garden, and they are extremely rare."

"Forget it about selling. Your Majesty is not short of that little money. But if the East India Company agrees to your Majesty's proposal for Manila and signs a trade agreement with China, it can give Lord Putmans 100 tulips at a time, and there are many more. Cherish the variety!”

At this time, Putmans' mind was quickly calculating that 100 plants, even if there were some rare varieties among them, were actually worth three hundred thousand guilders.

In fact, it was less than one hundred thousand taels of silver.

But the problem is that it is difficult to buy this thing even if you have money, especially those rare varieties.

Take the "Eternal Emperor" plant for example. As long as he gives it away, he will definitely be promoted immediately. This cannot be measured by money.

It can greatly enhance one's social status.

He was fully confident that he would use these tulips to convince the governor of Batavia and the shareholders of the East India Company.

So Putmans quickly signed a trade agreement with China on behalf of the Netherlands and verbally promised that the Netherlands would not interfere with China's actions against Manila.

Zheng Zhilong is naturally not stupid. To show his sincerity, he first gave Putmans 50 ordinary tulips. As long as China takes Manila, he will definitely send the rare tulips to Batavia himself!

Thank you to all book friends for your support with monthly tickets, recommendation tickets, and follow-up subscriptions!

(End of this chapter)