Gou was a member of the imperial family in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 1305 Hijacking
"Gentlemen, I think we should prepare two plans," Director Jacob said, clearing his throat.

Directors James and Otto looked up at him, their eyes asking what exactly his two proposed solutions were.

Director Jacob spoke up, "Since we're going to negotiate, we need to show sincerity. We can start by proposing some conditions to see how the Ming Dynasty reacts. Also, we should prepare a bottom line. This bottom line should ensure that we can accept the maximum extent possible. If the negotiations break down, that would be the worst outcome. But personally, I think that since the Ming Dynasty has indicated that they are open to negotiations, they probably won't push us to the brink. It's just a matter of how much benefit we can gain."

Upon hearing this, the other two's eyes lit up, and they nodded repeatedly.

Jacob is right, and his analysis makes a lot of sense. Even if the Ming Dynasty sets a time limit, since they've accepted the possibility of negotiation, there's room for discussion. As for the time limit, it's simply a negotiation tactic; as company directors, we're not idiots, we can understand that.

Asking for the moon only leads to haggling. Negotiations, like business transactions, always have a price and an acceptable range. And once negotiations break down, the result is continued war. Although the Dutch are currently at a disadvantage, and have even lost their naval advantage due to the destruction of their main fleet, they still have the strength to fight on land. Relying on their strong city defenses and troops, it won't be easy for the Ming Dynasty to conquer Batavia.

Since we can obtain what we need through negotiation, even if we are slightly short of it, why insist on using war to achieve our goals? The commanders of the Ming Dynasty are not fools, and the Ming Dynasty's willingness to negotiate has already been demonstrated. Therefore, the plan proposed by Director Jacob is quite feasible.

With this in mind, the group felt slightly more at ease and began a heated discussion about the proposal put forward by Director Jacob. The three of them discussed behind closed doors for two full days, ultimately coming up with two plans: one was a probe into the Ming Dynasty, and the other was their acceptable bottom line. They would use the first plan as a negotiating condition, then bargain step by step until they settled on a price within the acceptable range. If the Ming Dynasty still didn't accept this, then there was no need to continue negotiations; even if war broke out, that would be the only option. For their own and their company's interests, even if Batavia was engulfed in war, there was nothing they could do. This was their final thought.

And so, the merchant who had served as the envoy once again went to Sulumayi to negotiate, carrying the peace terms offered by the three directors.

When he arrived in Sulumayi, he met Zheng Hongkui and Wang Fuzhi and presented the three directors' terms for peace talks. After reading the terms, the Dutch couldn't help but laugh. After laughing, Zheng Hongkui righteously rejected the terms, stating that the Ming Dynasty could not accept them at all. The Dutch were only willing to redeem all the prisoners and offered to compensate the Ming Dynasty with 1.5 million florins. In other words, including the redemption of prisoners and war reparations, the total was 2.7 million florins. Although this was a huge number, it was not considered sincere at all for either the Dutch East India Company or the Ming Empire.

Furthermore, the Dutch relinquishment of the colony was limited to the Mataram region, which is the area surrounding Sulumayi currently occupied by the Ming Dynasty. This amounted to merely acknowledging the de facto Ming Dynasty control of Sulumayi, but for the Ming Dynasty, why would it need the Dutch's recognition?
As for its influence in the South China Sea, the Netherlands only promised not to target Ming Dynasty's vassal states through colonial expansion. Even if there were territorial or other disputes between the two sides, it would not directly use force to conquer them, but would instead discuss and resolve the issues with Ming Dynasty.

This situation almost placed the Netherlands and the Ming Dynasty on the same level, offering no real benefit to the Ming Dynasty.

As for the culprits who had previously intercepted Ming merchant ships and triggered this war, the Dutch downplayed their role, claiming it was a private act by an individual within the Dutch fleet, and that the person responsible had been killed in the battle where the Ming dynasty annihilated the main Dutch fleet. They stated that no one else could be handed over, but to show their sincerity, the Dutch were willing to add 300,000 to the 2.7 million florins in reparations, bringing the total to 3 million.

These conditions were utterly laughable; it was no wonder Zheng Hongkui and his men would never agree. They immediately rejected the other side's terms, indicating that they had no sincerity in negotiating. It seemed that war was inevitable, and the Ming fleet would set sail immediately to attack Batavia.

"Your Excellency, the terms are still negotiable! They are still negotiable!" Hearing Zheng Hongkui's threat, the envoy hurriedly said, "Negotiations cannot be concluded in a day. According to your previous reply, the final deadline is still far away. Before I came, the directors had already given instructions that if you are not satisfied with the terms proposed by the directors, you can directly state the terms you require, and I will take them back for discussion. There is no need to start a war immediately! Once this war breaks out, the dead will all be innocent people, all children of God!"

"Heh, we are not God's people. We, the people of the Ming Dynasty, are descendants of Yan and Huang. We believe in Heaven, in gods and Buddhas, not God. Besides, you don't represent God either. Based on your previous actions, your God probably wouldn't consider you his people either," Zheng Hongkui mocked without any politeness.

"Yes, yes, but Your Excellency, I still implore you to state your terms first." The envoy humbly said this, secretly clutching the cross pendant on his chest, silently reciting "God forgive, God bless" in his heart, and looking at Zheng Hongkui with expectant eyes.

Asking the other party to wait a moment, Zheng Hongkui and Wang Fuzhi went to the inner room to discuss things privately. After an hour, they presented a new proposal to the envoy, telling him that this was the peace proposal put forward by the Ming Dynasty. If Batavia agreed, the peace talks would be based on this proposal, and other matters could be discussed later.

After reading the proposal, the envoy inwardly groaned; its harshness exceeded his expectations. The Ming Dynasty's offer for the ransom remained largely unchanged at 1.2 million florins, but the war reparations demanded 5 million florins, bringing the total to 6.7 million florins.

Furthermore, the Ming Dynasty demanded that the Netherlands cede its colonial territories, including Malacca, Mataram, Banten, and Aceh, to the Ming. Even the colonies east of Batavia, the headquarters region, had to be ceded. In other words, the Dutch would only retain Batavia and a portion of its western territory, with the rest of their colonies handed over to the Ming as compensation. Regarding the handling of those who instigated the incident, the Ming demanded severe punishment. The Governor of Batavia, Reinius, was absolutely required to be present, and Colonel Cohen, the true mastermind behind the incident, was also held accountable. Others could be spared, but these two individuals had to be handed over to the Ming Dynasty and sent to the Ming mainland as criminals for severe punishment under Ming law.

Besides these, there are other terms, which I won't list here. After reading them, the envoy's forehead was covered in sweat. He hadn't expected the Ming Dynasty's conditions to be so harsh, and he couldn't imagine how the three board members would react if he brought such conditions back.

However, since he had already taken on the role of envoy, he had no choice but to accept the task himself. He then quickly returned to Batavia with the terms and handed them over to the three directors.

Just as he expected, the three directors looked extremely grim upon seeing such harsh terms. However, they didn't fly into a rage; instead, they asked him to leave temporarily and then discussed the matter behind closed doors.

The next day, the envoy received another invitation from the three directors. This time, the three directors asked him to deliver a message to Sulumayi again. Upon hearing this request, the envoy secretly groaned, but he had no choice but to accept the task and go to Sulumayi once more.

In just half a month, the envoy made three trips back and forth, acting as an intermediary to relay messages between the two sides.

But just as he was returning to Batavia from Sulumayi, having just disembarked and arrived at the dock, before he could even head into the city to meet the three directors, a carriage suddenly rushed out from the side and intercepted him.

“Mr. Ribeck?” The carriage door opened, and a man dressed in black leaned out and asked.

Ribeck was slightly taken aback and subconsciously responded. Before he could react, the man in black suddenly reached out and grabbed his neck with unexpected strength, then pulled him into the carriage.

The moment Ribeck was pulled into the carriage, the carriage door slammed shut, and the driver started the carriage without hesitation, driving it away from the dock and heading towards the city.

Less than half an hour later, Ribeck, blindfolded, gagged, and with his hands tightly bound, was led to a location. After the carriage stopped, Ribeck was dragged out and pulled along, stumbling and falling. Unable to see anything and unable to speak, Ribeck was terrified and had no idea what was happening. He trembled violently, his legs weak, and he wouldn't have been able to stand if he hadn't been pulled along.

I was dragged forward like that, and I don't know how long it took before we finally stopped.

"How can you treat our guests like this?" Just as Ribeck was feeling uneasy and so frightened that his crotch was about to get wet, a voice suddenly rang out.

"No need for such rudeness, release our guest," the voice said leisurely.

Suddenly, everything went bright. The blindfold covering his eyes was removed, then the ropes binding his hands were cut, and the gag in his mouth was removed.

The sudden transition from darkness to light made Ribeck slightly uncomfortable, and he instinctively raised his hand to shield his eyes. At that moment, the voice that had spoken earlier rang out again: "Now, please have our guest, Mr. Ribeck, sit down. And, please, bring another cup of tea, a good cup of tea."

Upon hearing the sound, Ribeck instinctively looked in the direction from which it came. When he saw the face of a person sitting not far to his left, Ribeck was immediately startled, his face turning deathly pale. This person was none other than His Excellency Reinius, the Governor-General of the Dutch East India Company and the highest-ranking official in Batavia.

(End of this chapter)