Chapter 690 Key Points in Negotiation
"The Dutch should be in chaos by this time, right?" Schneider looked up and asked. In front of him was Yu Xiaobao, who was standing respectfully. He had just returned to Fort Victory from the Guest House and came to see Schneider to report on the progress of the negotiations.
"If they are not particularly stupid, they should be able to notice the information I revealed during the negotiation." Yu Xiaobao's expression was very relaxed. In the past month, he has been negotiating with the Dutch envoys almost all the time. He has already adapted to it. the pressure of this job. Coupled with the fact that senior advisors like Schneider and Ning Qi were behind the scenes, the scene was basically under control at all times.
"Then they are probably thinking about how to get out of here now." Schneider said with a smile on his face: "These guys have been refusing to leave. They really treat our place as a nursing home!"
"But I don't quite understand, why do we want to give such a hint to the Dutch? Isn't it good to just waste time like this and give the Ambrosia Islands some more time?" Yu Xiaobao asked puzzledly.
Schneider put down the pen in his hand and explained to him: "The executive committee now hopes to put more pressure on the Dutch, forcing them to express their attitude on Fujian affairs and no longer maintain any form of cooperative relationship with Shibazhi. If they If we can agree to such conditions, the ownership of the Ambrosia Islands will no longer be a problem.”
"This means...the executive committee is planning to take action against Shiba Zhi?" Yu Xiaobao is also a smart person and reacted immediately.
Eliminating Shibazhi is one of the executive committee's stated goals in Fujian, and Yu Xiaobao also knows this. However, because Shibazhi is backed by the Dutch, there are still many practical problems if we really want to fight. Although Haihan is not afraid of the East India Company now, he does not want other forces to get involved in the process of annihilating the Eighteen Zhizhi. If he can proactively persuade the Dutch to retreat before taking action, that will naturally be the most ideal result.
"The first half of next year at the latest." Schneider gave a rough time: "Xu Xinsu no longer wants to delay it any longer. He hopes that we can start earlier, the sooner the better."
"Then Xu Xinsu must have offered us a lot of money?" Yu Xiaobao said with a smile: "It can make the executive committee change its original plan. I guess Boss Xu has spent a lot of money this time."
Although Haihan did have plans to eliminate Shibazhi in Fujian and attack the Dutch, he was not so eager. Since Haihan currently does not have a decent base on the coast of Fujian, the navy will face many practical problems if it wants to station in Fujian and conduct operations. According to the military's original plan, it hoped to consider the operational plan to attack Penghu after the military base on Kinmen Island was completed.
But for Xu Xinsu, every month of delay in eradicating Shibazhi will cause considerable economic losses. And if Shibazhi exists for one day, variables may still arise. Now that Haihan is a strong support, Xu Xinsu wants to avoid the situation of long nights and dreams as much as possible and get Shibazhi as early as possible. And just as Yu Xiaobao guessed, in order to get the Haihan people to take action in advance, Xu Xinsu indeed made a very impressive exchange condition.
"Just listen to the conditions set by the Fujian government here. Don't go out and talk about it. You know the confidentiality regulations." Schneider warned.
Yu Xiaobao nodded repeatedly and responded: "Of course, even my father would not say that."
"In addition to shouldering most of the combat military expenses, Xu Xinsu also promised to hand over Penghu to us when the matter is completed." Schneider then announced the answer: "The news was only sent back two days ago. The Executive Committee cannot resist such conditions. Therefore, we decided to change our attitude towards negotiating with the Dutch in order to gain the initiative on the Fujian issue.”
"Leave Penghu to us? But if we eliminate Shibazhi, can't we also take over Penghu as a matter of course?" Yu Xiaobao asked in confusion.
"It's different in nature." Schneider explained: "The Fujian government's intention is to imitate the treatment of the Portuguese in Haojing'ao and hand over Penghu to us as a concession. Of course, the rent and other conditions are symbolic. The key is legality, which is of great significance to our future demonstration of coastal enclosure in Daming.”
So far, Haihan has not had an open dispute with Ming Dynasty over territorial ownership, although Haihan has now occupied almost the entire Hainan Island, and has surrounded a lot of land along the coast of Guangdong and the Pearl River Basin, and actually controls the most important areas in Guangdong. sea lanes, but these areas are still nominally the territory of the Ming Dynasty. For pragmatists like Haihan, these places still belong to the Ming Dynasty in name, which can bring many benefits, such as more convenience in trade, immigration, etc., as long as the actual control is in their own hands. Of course, Penghu could be occupied after the Eighteen Zhi were eliminated, but the Executive Committee did not want to bear this bad reputation in order to avoid resistance from the local government when expanding northward in the future. Now that the Fujian government also understood Haihan's plan, they voluntarily offered this place as an exchange, and Haihan's side was naturally happy to accept it.
Only then did Yu Xiaobao roughly understand it, and he suddenly realized: "Then this condition must be the result of General Qian's negotiation over there."
"Qian Tiandun is not only good at leading troops now!" Schneider responded with a smile: "After he passed, he even took over the responsibilities of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He has indeed not worked in vain in Annan in recent years!"
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In fact, Qian Tiandun was involved in the negotiation process for the several concession territories Haihan acquired in Annan, especially in the southern region, as well as the military cooperation agreement between Haihan and Annan. After going to Fujian, Qian Tiandun quickly used the experience he accumulated in Annan and began to bargain with the Fujian government to win more benefits for Haihan. The terms of exchange for Penghu were one of the results of the negotiations between him and Xu Xinsu.
As for the reason why Haihan values Penghu so much, it has a lot to do with Penghu's special geographical location. The Penghu Islands are located in the strait in the west of Taiwan Island. They are composed of 64 islands with a total land area of nearly 100 square kilometers. However, only 11 of them have an area of more than one square kilometer. Those islands that are too small are not actually suitable for development. value.
This place guards the main waterway of the Taiwan Strait and is also an important springboard between the mainland and Taiwan Island. In the original history, when Zheng Chenggong regained Taiwan, he used the Penghu Islands as a bridgehead - of course, in this time and space, it is probably not someone's turn to regain Taiwan Island.
To occupy Taiwan, the strategy of occupying Penghu first is very clear. Compared with Kinmen Island, which is next to the mainland and right under the nose of Ming Dynasty, the location of Penghu Islands is obviously more suitable for Haihan's consistent development needs. After occupying it, you can attack Taiwan if you advance, and defend it if you retreat. Moreover, the local conditions are much better than those of Ampurna Island. Penghu Bay, surrounded by three islands, is about 12,000 meters long from north to south and 8,000 meters wide from northeast. The anchorage The water depth is more than 10 meters, making it a natural shelter port with excellent natural conditions. There will be no problem in stationing one or two fleets there. In addition, it is only a few dozen nautical miles from Penghu to the East India Company's stronghold of Taiyuan Port in the southern part of Taiwan Island, which can easily be placed within the radiation range of force. If the East India Company tries anything in the future, it will be liquidated in a matter of minutes.
The Dutch mission did not discuss any feasible response plan during the lunch break. Therefore, during the afternoon negotiations, Van Lungen could only raise the commonplace issues again: "I suggest that both of us speed up the negotiation. After all, we have already talked about it. It has been more than a month, but no consensus has been reached so far, and it will have no practical significance for both of us.”
"You are right. We are also very experienced in the current negotiation process. After a month of constant debate, the negotiation has not yet been declared broken." After listening to Su Keyi's translation, Yu Xiaobao responded with a smile: "Say To be honest, our leaders no longer have much interest in continuing this negotiation. Instead of spending so much time arguing with you about who is right and who is wrong, it would be better to contact all parties directly and formulate a joint agreement against the East India Company."
"You are threatening us!" Fan Longgen responded to Yu Xiaobao's threat with a sullen face: "The East India Company is not afraid of any enemy!"
"Really? Since you are so eager to fight, I think there is really nothing to talk about." Yu Xiaobao stood up and said: "I originally thought that I could offer you some exchange conditions to strive to achieve peace, but now it seems that We are overly worried. Dear envoys and gentlemen, get ready for war.”
"Wait!" Su Keyi heard that there was something wrong in Yu Xiaobao's words and quickly stopped him: "What conditions does Brother Yu have? Why don't we talk about it first and listen to it?"
The reason why the East India Company sent them to Sanya was, firstly, to explore Haihan's strength, and secondly, to delay time and avoid war in the near future as much as possible. Now Haihan's threat is no longer to start a war alone, but to unite all the forces in the South China Sea to deal with the East India Company. If this war breaks out, the situation that the East India Company will face will be very passive.
Yu Xiaobao stood still: "I don't think the two Dutch envoys want to continue talking."
Su Keyi thought to himself that I haven't translated it to them yet. How could they know what the hell you are talking about? He quickly translated Yu Xiaobao's words. Sure enough, the two people reacted after hearing this and invited Yu Xiaobao to continue the negotiation.
"Our conditions are very simple, there are only two conditions in total." Yu Xiaobao pointed out two fingers and said: "First, your company will terminate all relations with Shibazhi, whether it is trade or civil matters, of course. , there is no need to emphasize military assistance. Second, stop all unfriendly actions towards the Ambrosia Islands and unconditionally give up our claims to local sovereignty. As long as you agree to these two points, we are willing to sign an agreement with you. Bilateral Peace Agreement ”
"This is impossible." After hearing the translation, Van Longen immediately refused in a conditioned reflex: "The Natuna Islands are the property of the East India Company, and we will not agree to hand over its sovereignty to you unconditionally as you requested. ”
After Yu Xiaobao listened to this answer very carefully, he asked with a smile: "Does that mean you can accept it conditionally?"
After the three envoys whispered to each other, Van Longen said: "At least we must achieve co-management in the local area. You must know that we have spent more than 20 years developing and building the local area, and the resources invested cannot be lost."< br>
"The resources invested?" Yu Xiaobao smiled. The Ambrosia Islands have always been the territory of the Chinese. Even after the East India Company occupied the area, only two to three hundred immigrants were permanently stationed there. As for development and construction, it is even more nonsense. The local area currently has difficulty even being self-sufficient in food, so there is no talk of development. However, Yu Xiaobao was not eager to refute his words, and just asked: "What level of co-management do you want?"
"We require that administrative officials be stationed locally and be able to freely use local ports and docks." Van Longen thought for a while, but still did not mention the garrison. If the Haihans were able to seize the place from the pirates, they would certainly not allow the East India Company to send troops to the island again.
Yu Xiaobao shook his head and said: "Except for the rights of civilian ships to use ports and docks, there is nothing else to talk about."
"At least we need to send official representatives to ensure that our ship's crew members receive fair treatment during their stay there." Van Longen had no choice but to give in half a step further.
Yu Xiaobao thought for a while and did not express his position immediately. Instead, he brought the topic back to the first condition: "What do you think about the Fujian matter?"
"We have no power to decide the company's position. We can only take the conditions you proposed back to Batavia and let the company's board of directors make a ruling." Van Longen skillfully shied away the responsibility and seized the opportunity to propose a return to Batavia. Via's request.
"Then I propose that we should discuss a draft as soon as possible. After our executive committee approves it, you can take this draft back to Batavia and hand it over to your company's board of directors for decision-making." Yu Xiaobao proposed a plan.
As a result, the negotiation process remained deadlocked for more than a month, and finally changed after Haihan's side suddenly changed its attitude. At this time, Van Longen and others could no longer care about the "negotiation bottom line" that Governor Cohen had warned before departure, and could only temporarily agree to the conditions proposed by the Haihan people. Fortunately, this is not a formal diplomatic agreement. Even if the two sides discuss a draft, they can still completely reject it after returning to Batavia. To put it bluntly, even if a formal agreement is signed, as long as the conflict of interest is large enough, the agreement can be torn up without scruples and a war begins. This kind of thing is very common in today's Europa continent. Countries are fighting today and fighting tomorrow, and fighting the day after tomorrow. Aren't the so-called armistice agreements and peace treaties just a means of delaying time to prepare for the next war?
(End of chapter)