Chapter 691 Negotiation Results
"Implement condominium management of the Ambrosia Islands?" Tao Donglai couldn't help laughing after hearing the report: "The Dutch are trying to save face by force! They even said the word condominium... How did Xiaobao reply? Theirs?”
"Xiaobao was very stubborn. He only said that civilian ships were allowed to dock locally and did not mention the management rights at all." When mentioning Yu Xiaobao, his proud disciple, Schneider also looked proud: "With these Dutch people, The envoys have been negotiating for more than a month, and Xiaobao's progress is indeed obvious. I think that when this negotiation is over, Xiaobao can directly work in the Ministry of Commerce. "
"Where's the deal with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs?" Gu Kai said no, "Didn't we already agree that Xiaobao should work in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs?"
"Let's slow down the affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for now. There are too many things to do during the Autumn Trade Fair. The Ministry of Commerce is simply overwhelmed now and needs to mobilize people to help. There are not many cadres like Xiaobao who can take up the job without training. This candidate is Just stop arguing with me." Schneider didn't even have the slightest intention of giving in.
"Let's put aside the issue of Xiaobao's work allocation for now, and let's get the business done first!" Tao Donglai had to redirect the conversation that was about to go awry: "Since the Dutch have a tendency to accept weakness, let's strike while the iron is hot. It is best to complete the negotiations as soon as possible. It is best to avoid the eyes and ears of the Dutch as much as possible. After all, it conflicts with their interests."
The "conflict of interest" mentioned by Tao Donglai mainly refers to a series of trade agreements that Haihan will reach with all parties during the Autumn Trade Fair. These trade agreements will help Haihan win over maritime merchants from various countries so that they will use the ports under Haihan's rule as their final destination. These measures will inevitably affect the daily trade of the East India Company. Those merchants who would have traveled thousands of miles to Batavia for transactions may in the future choose Haihan, which is closer and has significantly lower tax rates. The port serves as a distribution center for supplies.
Of course, the conditions that affect merchants' choices are not just distance and tax rates. Local market conditions, port conditions, products, safety, and the government's attitude towards merchants, etc., are all external conditions that need to be comprehensively considered. After combining these conditions, Haihan's advantages will be further highlighted.
Batavia can provide many commodities, but now Hainan Island can also produce most of them. What is lacking are only a few locally produced crop products, and their economic value is not high. On the contrary, the various Haihan specialty products produced in Hainan Island are often scarce goods that cannot be seen in the Batavia market, and many types are limited-time and limited supply to the market, which means that only those who maintain the same relationship with Haihan Businessmen with good cooperative relations, for example, voluntarily sign a reciprocal trade agreement with the Haihan Ministry of Commerce, so that they can have the opportunity to purchase these in-demand commodities with high value and high profit.
In recent years, Batavia has been lenient to the Chinese in terms of taxation. In order to attract more Chinese to settle there, the East India Company established the Kapitan system and transferred all local retail businesses, including coastal trade contracting rights, to They were all handed over to the Chinese leader Kapitan. Among the 21 taxes levied by the Batavia authorities on retail, gambling, import and export trade, entertainment and other industries, Chinese are responsible for 17 of them. From the perspective of tax rate alone, Haihan does not have a particularly obvious advantage. It is just that some details are better than the other party, such as statistics on the value of goods and tax settlement methods, etc. Its operational efficiency is actually higher than that of Batavia. The Dutch are much taller.
In terms of port conditions, Haihan clearly has an advantage. The development and construction of every trading port in the area under the rule of Haihan was very careful. Although the engineering technology is difficult to reach the level of later generations, the developed areas and port designs are almost based on the materials of later generations, plus more advanced The port management system widely uses mechanical loading and unloading methods, and its operating efficiency far exceeds that of its contemporary competitors. All merchant ships that have visited Haihan Port have obvious feelings. Whether it is loading and unloading goods or going through customs clearance procedures, the time spent at Haihan Port is only about one-third of that in other places. This also creates a disguised problem for maritime merchants. They save the time needed to make a few more trips each year.
As for safety, Haihan's undefeated record in recent years has said everything. No one will doubt Haihan's ability to protect the security of the port. Because even the most powerful pirate gang in the Far East, Shibazhi, has suffered several defeats one after another at the hands of Haihan in recent years. Even big bosses like Zheng Zhihu died at the hands of Haihan. In terms of results alone, the Haihan Navy's performance in recent years has even surpassed that of the Ming Navy. An important reason why Haihan stationed troops in Annan, Guangdong, Fujian and other places is to claim that the commercial trade related to Haihan should be safe.
This is not just talk. In the waters north of Hainan Island, from Annan to the entire coastline of Guangdong, there are almost no pirates anymore, because they have all been killed by the Haihan militia. The unlucky Dutch's defeat in the Ambrosia Islands has been deliberately publicized by some well-intentioned people - the Dutch can't even deal with a group of pirates, so how can they protect the lives and property of sea merchants?
Various departments of Haihan used various means to openly or covertly promote the trade advantages of Hainan Island compared to Batavia to the merchants from various countries participating in the Autumn Fair, with the purpose of competing with Batavia for South China Sea trade. central position. If the Dutch envoys discover what Haihan is doing, there is no doubt that it will explode immediately. This is much more serious than the armed conflict in Fujian and the dispute over the sovereignty of small islands in the South China Sea. It is not just the city of Batavia that will be shaken. prospects, but also the entire trading base of the East India Company.
Of course, with the end of the Autumn Fair, Haihan's methods will spread to Batavia through various channels sooner or later, but it will not be until next year at the earliest when the East India Company can respond. This period of time is enough for Haihan to complete the fortifications of Ambona Island and prepare a battle plan against Shibazhi in Fujian. By the time the East India Company wanted to fall out again, it would have lost the opportunity.
Five days later, the negotiations between the East India Company and Hayhan finally came to an end, and the two sides signed a draft peace agreement. Of course, this draft cannot take effect immediately, because it is only the result of the current phased negotiations. The East India Company's mission must return to Batavia with this draft and submit it to the board of directors for discussion and approval before notifying Haihan specific effective date. If the company's board of directors thinks that there are problems with the content of this draft, it may go back and forth, and may have to make changes to it and then make a trip to Sanya to continue bargaining with Haihan.
In this draft, the East India Company agreed in principle to terminate all forms of exchanges with the Shibazhi gang in Fujian and no longer provide any military assistance to them. However, out of consideration for its own interests, the East India Company also asked Haihan to keep the contents of the agreement confidential and not to publicize it publicly, otherwise the agreement would automatically lose its validity. Haihan doesn't have much objection to this. The executive committee only cares about the results, not the form. To say the least, the Executive Committee actually hopes that the East India Company will not really implement this agreement thoroughly. It is best to leave some clues so that Haihan can take action against the Dutch stronghold on Taiwan Island in the future. There are better reasons. As for the sovereignty dispute over the Ambrosia Islands, the East India Company could only swallow its anger. Although the Middle East India Company did not admit in the agreement that the local ownership rights had changed hands to Haihan, it also clearly promised not to expel the Chinese or Haihan people on the island by force - this is already what Van Longen and others can do The most tactful wording that comes to mind can save the face of the East India Company. At least in this way, it seems that the East India Company has taken the initiative. Of course, as for the co-management and co-governance they requested, it was not mentioned at all in this draft. It was only recorded that "the East India Company can station commercial representatives locally, and the local ports allow Dutch merchant ships to enter and exit freely." Supplies are available."
The East India Company made such a big concession, and of course it was not without any exchange conditions. In fact, Van Longen also made corresponding demands. For example, the Han side must promise not to support or participate in any hostilities between a third party and the East India Company, and shall no longer carry out provocations, interceptions, attacks, etc. against Dutch ships in Fujian waters. It must be released. Dutch sailors captured in the Battle of Nanri Island in Fujian, and the renunciation of the claims previously made by Haihan against the East India Company, etc.
These requirements are not too difficult for Haihan, and they will not hinder Haihan's next series of development plans, so the executive committee does not make things difficult for the other party too much. As for if there are any other changes in the future, the Executive Committee will not hesitate to directly tear up the so-called peace agreement. In fact, both parties know very well that the agreement reached this time only serves as a buffer. As long as there is a huge conflict between the interests of both parties, sooner or later they will still start fighting.
The last person to sign on behalf of Haihan was Gu Kai. After completing the draft agreement, both parties breathed a sigh of relief. Although the Dutch felt that they had avoided a catastrophe, the Haihan side also felt that they had finally been relieved of a heavy burden and no longer had to worry about the Dutch sending troops to the South China Sea all the time. Of course, driving away the Dutch mission that had been staying in Sanya for more than a month can be regarded as saving unnecessary daily expenses. In addition, the vacated villa must be put to use immediately. There have been too many foreign businessmen arriving in Sanya recently, and reception venues of all levels have begun to be in a hurry.
On October 10, 1631, the East India Company fleet led by Van Longen finally left Sanya Port and returned home. Before departure, Van Longen and others were allowed to visit the business district near Port Victory and Landscape Avenue, accompanied by diplomats. And they finally got what they wanted, seeing with their own eyes how grand the "No. 1 Port in the South China Sea", which Ming merchants used to call it, was.
There is no doubt that the commercial atmosphere here far exceeds that of Batavia. The rows of shops and the merchant fleets on the docks amazed the well-informed Van Longen. He believed that only a golden port like Amsterdam could compete with the Batavia. The prosperity of Sanya is comparable to that of Sanya.
Amsterdam in the 17th century was the center of European shipping and capital flows. A large number of merchant ships were sent from here to the Baltic Sea, North America, Africa and the distant East. It can be said that the foundation of the global trade network originated here. Among the East India Company's stock holders, Amsterdam merchants accounted for the majority, and this is also where the world's first stock exchange appeared. Even when the European War is raging today, Amsterdam's prosperity has not been greatly affected by the war, and it still maintains its status as the European economic center.
After seeing the situation in Victory Port, Van Longen also realized how terrifying the Haihan people's construction capabilities were. Amsterdam was granted city status in the 14th century and became the European economic and trade center in the early 17th century. It took nearly three hundred years to build this great port city. The Haihan people have only been here for a few years, and they have already developed a prosperous city. Although the scale of the city here is far smaller than that of Amsterdam, just think about the short and terrible development history of this small city. Van Longen couldn't help but feel wary. If the Haihan people are given ten, twenty or more years to develop, what will this place look like in their hands?
Before boarding the ship, Yu Xiaobao's words, whether intentional or unintentional, hit Fan Longen hard again: "There are at least two other port cities of the size of Sanya under construction on this island."
What Yu Xiaobao was referring to was naturally Qiongzhou Fucheng and Danzhou in the north. The natural conditions of those two places were indeed not bad, and it was reasonable for them to develop into regional business centers over time. However, Fan Longgen obviously understood that there was a slight deviation. He believed that the other two places mentioned by Yu Xiaobao had reached the scale of cities like Sanya, and his estimate of Haihan's strength had to be raised to a higher level.
Fan Longgen was still very happy to be sent as an envoy to Haihan this time. If he hadn't come here to see the situation in Sanya with his own eyes, it would be difficult for anyone to believe the rumors among sailors that the Haihan people in Sanya were extremely rich and had a lot of steel. They were so overused that they were used to build large iron ships and put them in ports as decorations. Coast defense forts were built all over the mountains and plains, with hundreds of thigh-high artillery pieces and so on. After actually seeing this place, I realized that the ridiculous scenes in the rumors were actually true, and they could not fully describe the power of this place. Just the entire row of warships docked at the military dock on the east side of Victory Port made Van Longgen He was horrified to see it - any one of them would be much larger in tonnage than the flagship in his own fleet.
(End of chapter)