Chapter 491 Bargaining
"Why should I come to you if I can rent it directly!"
After hearing Tao Donglai's reply, Thomas had only this thought in his mind. It is not that the Macau Council has not considered this approach, but the possibility of success is really too low, so it chose to ask Haihan for help. Yes, that's right. Although this meeting was said to be about exchanging information, the essence was that he hoped that Haihan would come forward to negotiate with the Annan court and settle the matter on his behalf.
Thomas firmly believed that the cunning and cunning Tao Donglai must have understood his intentions, but the other party still played a roundabout game with him as always, which made Thomas feel more depressed. He wanted to stand up, grab Tao Donglai by the collar, and ask him why he was making things so difficult for him, but from the standpoint of a diplomatic envoy, he could only hold back his anger and follow Tao Donglai honestly. bargain.
"Mr. Tao, there are some obstacles in negotiations between our country and the current Annan court, and I believe you are aware of it. Even if we ask Annan to rent land, they may not be willing to agree." Thomas paused, feeling this The weight of the statement was still not enough, so he continued to add: "Our desire to set up a docking station in southern Annan is not just out of considerations of our own interests. In the past six months, the shipping between Manchuria and Sanya has been affected by this. If this situation continues, it will also hinder the business we are currently cooperating with. I think you don’t want to see such a situation, right?”
Thomas knew that people like Haihan were very realistic. Instead of trying to reason with them, it would be more useful to directly lay out the stakes. Sure enough, Tao Donglai pondered after hearing this: "We have to find a way to solve this issue that affects shipping..."
Thomas was overjoyed, but what Tao Donglai said next made his heart sink again: "...Since you are lacking in shipping capabilities, we should put in more effort. Thomas Don’t worry, sir, we will set up a fleet to go to Malacca this year to help you transport your goods.”
Take advantage of the situation! This is definitely a naked robbery! Thomas has a new understanding of the bottom line of Haihan people's work.
Thomas instantly combined the various abnormal behaviors of the Haihan people after the Annan Civil War with what Tao Donglai said now - the Haihan people are preparing to use this opportunity as an entry point to participate in the shipping competition in the South China Sea.
In this era, Portuguese merchant ships have sailed almost all the world's oceans. In addition to personal qualities such as courage and persistence, the advantages that Portuguese navigators rely on to become famous are also the advanced navigation technology they have mastered, and their ability to operate in the local area. Reliable ships built by generations of sailors and the best routes found through practice on the vast ocean. Even opponents such as the Netherlands, Spain, and the United Kingdom that can compete with them have no advantages in these aspects.
However, the Haihan people are definitely an alien species that Thomas knows. The knowledge reserve of this group of unknown people about navigation is simply terrifying. Thomas had been fortunate enough to see the charts used by Haihan ships when they were aboard. They were much more refined than the abstract charts used by Portuguese merchant ships. Moreover, the Haihan people also had some kind of very accurate maritime timing tool in their hands, which allowed them to quickly and accurately calculate the speed and range during long voyages. There are many such advanced means on the Haihan people's ships, and there are some tools that Thomas simply can't understand the purpose of.
There is no doubt about the shipbuilding technology of the Haihan people. The sailboats they built can be said to combine the advantages of Eastern and Western sailboats. There are many unique features in the hull design. Even Thomas, who has always been proud of Portuguese sailboats, I have to admit with a sour taste that the sailing performance of the Haihan sailboat is indeed better than Portugal's existing merchant ships.
As for the warship, Thomas only caught a glimpse of it when it entered the harbor and cannot comment yet. However, Portugal has not deployed any warships in the area east of the Strait of Malacca. At most, they are armed merchant ships. In terms of combat effectiveness, they are certainly not comparable to the professional warships built by Haihan, so there is basically no comparative value.
In addition to these, the Haihan people also have terrible organizational coordination and action capabilities. Whatever they decide to do, they can complete the preparations and start implementing it in almost a short period of time. Compared with the Haihan Executive Committee, Thomas can only give a failing grade to the efficiency of the Macau Council. One step is slow and one step is slow. If he had started taking targeted actions just after the Annan Civil War ended in the first half of last year, Now Portugal will not be in such a passive situation.
It is obviously impossible to prevent the Haihan people from intervening in the shipping market of the South China Sea. Their fleet is getting larger and larger, and sooner or later the routes will radiate to farther areas. Thomas still has a clear understanding of this. It's just that the timing and method chosen by the Haihan people are really unacceptable to Thomas, but for the benefit of Portugal, he has to continue to deal with Haihan.
"Mr. Tao, we do not lack maritime transportation capacity. The main problem we are currently encountering is that there is no stable supply port on the southern coastline of Annan. If you can help solve this problem, then our cargo ships can fully bear the burden. Starting from the shipping mission between Sanya and Malacca. "Thomas still tried very hard to bring the situation back a little bit.
However, he still underestimated the extent of Tao Donglai's evil intentions. Tao Donglai slowly shook his head and said: "We are really helpless in this matter. Although we have identified several places in Annan to build ports, because Due to manpower reasons, we currently do not have engineers who can be sent to the local area to supervise the construction of port terminals, so..."
Tao Donglai paused and then said: "...So if you want to dock at a port for supplies, I think you might as well send people to build some temporary facilities on the site we have designated. What do you think, Mr. Thomas?" ”
When Thomas heard this, he felt that this idea was somewhat reliable. He was about to agree when he suddenly realized the trap - this place was the concession of the Haihan people. After the dock was built, what would happen to the ownership of this place?
Thomas asked cautiously: "Then if we build a dock and other facilities locally, what ownership rights..."
"Of course the ownership rights belong to us, Haihan." Tao Donglai responded matter-of-factly: "The ownership rights belong to me, and the right to use them belongs to you. However, various local regulations must still be implemented in accordance with the standards we have set. ." Thomas frowned subconsciously. Just having the right to use it doesn't mean that the Haihan people can take away the right to use it whenever they want. If one of these Haihan people is unhappy and does not allow Portuguese ships to dock in the port, won't the early construction work be in vain?
Here comes Tao Dong! Thomas was secretly glad that he was still clear-headed and was not tempted by the conditions offered by the Haihan people. Although this condition is quite harsh, Thomas believed that since Tao Donglai took the initiative to propose this plan, there should still be room for bargaining, so he continued to discuss: "If we come to organize the construction of the dock, then the ownership rights You should give us at least half of it!”
"Half?" Tao Donglai seemed to have heard something ridiculous, and sneered and responded: "Mr. Thomas, I think you must have made some mistakes. We are not talking about cooperative development of the port now, but we are On the basis of being a trading partner, it is our goodwill to provide you with some kind help when you are in trouble. Let you build terminals and facilities locally. Goodwill cannot be used for bargaining. If you feel that this approach is inappropriate. It’s appropriate, then just pretend I didn’t mention it.”
Tao Donglai is indeed confident about this. Although Annan's four southern port development projects are still at a standstill so far, Haihan's shipbuilding industry has not stopped developing for a day. At the same time that the Annan Civil War ended, the Ministry of Shipping had already begun to consider developing an ocean route from Sanya to the Strait of Malacca.
Although the ports along the Indochina Peninsula are important, the Ministry of Shipping has also taken precautions to consider the endurance of the ship itself, and began to build a civilian version of the sailboat based on the design of the "exploration-class" warship.
This kind of application of military technology to the civilian field was not uncommon in the time and space before time travel. Almost all high-tech technologies were first applied to the military field after being developed, and then transferred to the civilian field after a period of time. In this time and space, this approach can be considered to be ahead of its time.
In addition to the early imitation of a batch of Guangzhou Shipbuilding Ships, Haihan Shipyard, from the launch of the "Exploration Class" to the later completion of the "Expedition Class", all used military models as the basis for modification of ship types. Not only did the development time be short, but it was also practical. It is also better than designing it separately. Four of this kind of ocean-going cargo ships that will be used in the South China Sea in the future have been launched and will be put into use in the near future.
Due to the advantages of the Haihan type sailing ship in terms of speed, the time required for the same voyage is at least 20 to 30% shorter than that of contemporary sailing ships. This means that when setting off with the same amount of supplies, the theory of the Haihan type sailing ship is Battery life will also be significantly greater than that of its contemporary competitors. The cruising capability of this "adventure-class" civilian version of the sailboat is sufficient to complete the voyage from Sanya to the Strait of Malacca without the need to dock for replenishment en route under normal sea conditions.
Taking a step back, even taking into account possible supply problems, the professional supply ships currently used by the navy are very easy to use. The biggest problem is to add one or two cargo ships specifically to carry supplies to the fleet. Even if this is the case, And the extra expense is still a good deal for this highly profitable route.
Compared with the cost of building ports and terminals, this kind of cost is really a drop in the bucket. Therefore, the Executive Committee would rather let the port development project temporarily stall and use better shipping vessels to tide over this period of tight capacity.
And Thomas's worries are not unfounded. The Haihan Executive Committee is indeed interested in expanding the route to the south. On the one hand, it is to increase the profits of sea trade by reducing transportation costs. On the other hand, it is also to gradually control the South China Sea in the next few years. Prepare for key waterways in the region. At present, the intelligence station in Batavia next to the Sunda Strait has begun its normal operation rhythm. The Strait of Malacca, another important passage into the South China Sea, is naturally the main target of the Executive Committee.
Although the Strait of Malacca is still in the hands of the Portuguese for the time being, Haihan, who is aware of the historical development process, knows that if they do not intervene in time, this place will soon be taken away by the Dutch, and the Dutch will control Malacca in one fell swoop. The Strait and the Sunda Strait are two chokepoints connecting the South China Sea and the Indian Ocean. That is not a situation the Executive Committee wants to see. Rather than letting the Portuguese lose this strategic location in vain, the executive committee believed that it would be better to find a way to take it over and control it earlier. At the worst, they should at least form a local garrison to help the Portuguese resist the expansion of the Dutch.
The Executive Committee does not intend to use force to seize control of the Strait of Malacca, because that will inevitably damage the currently good cooperative relationship with Portugal, and Portugal is Haihan’s only door to the Western world. Window, the Executive Committee does not want to prematurely abandon this tool that can still play many roles. It would be great if other soft means could be used to coerce Portugal to voluntarily hand over control of the Malacca region.
This time Thomas took the initiative to request help on behalf of the Macau Council. Tao Donglai was very sensitive to the fact that this was an opportunity. Although it was impossible to realize the executive committee's plan for the Malacca area immediately, he could at least send a ship to Haihan. The team went to the local area to find a suitable opportunity to carry out trade.
As for the request made by the Portuguese, Tao Donglai already had a plan in mind for the next step - it is definitely impossible for the Portuguese to occupy this place. The permanent residence in Indochina can only be controlled by Haihan. Others Any Western country wants to receive this kind of treatment unless they can defeat Haihan militarily first. In view of the fact that the cooperative relationship with Portugal has always been good, Tao Donglai believes that after the port is built, the most important thing is to imitate the operation model of Sanya Port and designate a few fixed berths for the Portuguese to use.
As for the ownership rights that Thomas wanted, Tao Donglai only thought that he was indeed overthinking. Even if the Portuguese really intend to contribute their own efforts to build basic port facilities in the Haihan Concession, Haihan will never use ownership rights as a bargaining chip in negotiations. Even if there is a time when face is lost, Haihan still has a way out - this land belongs to the Annan Kingdom. If you really want ownership rights, then go talk to the Annan court.
(End of chapter)