Chapter 1562 Competition in Arms Purchase
The task assigned by the East India Company Governor Van Diemen in the letter seems to be one thing, but it is actually two things. The first is to apply to Haihan to purchase weapons and equipment, and the second is to prevent the envoys from the Matalan Kingdom from purchasing arms in Haihan. But for Su Keyi, it is not easy to accomplish any of these things.
Judging from Van Diemen's letter, he probably wrote this letter after hearing about the departure of the Matalan people. In other words, when this letter arrived in Su Keyi's hands, the Matalan mission may have already I arrived in Sanya secretly for several days. If the Ma Dallan people had already negotiated an arms purchase contract with Haihan at this time, then no matter how hard Su Keyi tried, it would be difficult to change the established facts.
Su Keyi's top priority is to quickly inquire about the movements of the Ma Dalan Mission and try to get involved in time. However, he was feeling a little sleepy after sitting all night, so he didn't plan to do this himself. Instead, he left the matter to his subordinates. He himself had to seize the time to recharge his batteries, because after the movement of the Madalan Mission was confirmed, it would be his turn to come forward to negotiate with the other party.
Sanya, as the capital of Haihan Kingdom, is also the most prosperous port city in the South China Sea. The number of foreigners arriving and leaving the city every day remains at least hundreds or even thousands. Sanya has a relatively strict registration and management system for foreigners' activities in the local area. Especially in the Fort Victory area, which has many government departments and is the political center of the country, many areas are prohibited to non-nationals, and most of them are temporary. Foreigners staying are only allowed to move within the port area.
Countries with close ties with Hainan, such as Portugal, Annan, and the Netherlands, have successively built embassies in Sanya in recent years. For small countries that are far away from Hainan Island and do not have the conditions to set up specialized diplomatic missions, Haihan has also established embassies in Sanya. Their official staff prepared a guest house to take charge of the reception. If a delegation from the Matalan Kingdom really comes to Sanya, they must be staying in the official guest house. You only need to check it out. Even if the other party moved in anonymously and quietly, Su Keyi had stayed in Sanya for so long, so he would naturally have a way to find out the real situation.
The men sent by Su Keyi went to the Guest House and found some familiar employees to give them some benefits. They easily found out that the Matalan Mission had checked into the Guest House four days ago and was led by a senior military attaché. There are eight people in the team. The ship that the Madalan delegation came on has been docked at Pier 3 of Port Victory in the past few days. However, the information that can be obtained can only go so far. After all, the employees found by Su Keyi are only people from the guesthouse, and they do not know the real purpose and activity arrangements of the Madalan mission in Sanya. Those affairs are only handled by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It became clear.
After Su Keyi got the news, he was no longer sleepy at the moment. Since the delegation from the Madalan Kingdom has really arrived in Sanya, it means that the news sent by Batavia is more reliable. The other party is really coming to Haihan. While buying equipment. The other party has been here for four days, and must have been in contact with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Haihan. The contract may have been negotiated, and if they don't act quickly, the matter may be done by the people from Matalan.
Su Keyi washed and changed clothes, packed up, asked his servants to prepare carriages and horses, and then left the embassy for Fort Victory. He knew that it was too late to do some circuitous peripheral investigations at this time, so he could only go straight to Fort Victory to find several senior officials of the Haihan Executive Committee.
Ning Qi is currently in charge of Haihan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Schneider and Tao Donglai will also come forward to assist with some diplomatic affairs when they have time. It can be regarded as a very important department in Haihan's government agencies. However, Ning Qi did not expect that Su Keyi from the East India Company would come to the door just two days after the previous intelligence leak case was investigated. Could it be that there was something not done properly in the previous case that made Su Keyi have trouble? The reason for making trouble? But the previous case clearly had nothing to do with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Even if Su Keyi wanted to complain, he should go to Schneider.
However, Su Keyi didn't have the energy to go around slowly with Ning Qi. After sitting down, before Ning Qi's secretary could serve tea, he took the initiative to explain his purpose: "Minister Ning, I came here today to ask you something, Ma Dalan." Has the country’s mission already arrived in Sanya? ”
When Ning Qi heard Su Keyi's questioning tone, he had already guessed about his true intention. There is a deep feud between the Dutch and the Malayan people. Even though they are both members of the South China Sea Trade Alliance, they still cannot resolve their past grievances. Ning Qi naturally knew the reason for the Madalan mission's visit to Sanya, and he was not surprised that the East India Company had such a direct reaction after receiving the news. If it weren't for Sanya, Su Keyi might not have come to Victory Fort at all, but directly summoned his men to work with the Madalan Mission.
However, even if Ning Qi knew Su Keyi's intention, he could only respond to him in diplomatic terms at this time: "Mr. Su, from our country's standpoint, the Netherlands and Matalan are both partners with the same status. Matalan The Blue Mission’s visit to our country is also a normal diplomatic exchange. There is no need to report it to your country first, right?”
Su Keyi was not in the mood to go around so slowly with Ning Qi. He pointed out the topic directly and said: "I heard that the purpose of the Madalan mission's trip is to purchase combat equipment and ships from your country. According to our relationship with your country, According to the diplomatic agreement signed by our country before this, your country is not allowed to sell any weapons and equipment that are not sold publicly to our hostile countries. I must have remembered it correctly, right?”
This agreement seems to be a mouthful to say, but in fact, to put it simply, Haihan will not sell weapons and equipment to the Netherlands, nor to other countries that are enemies of the Netherlands, to show fairness. The feud between the Matalan Kingdom and the East India Company is well known to everyone. If Haihan sells weapons and equipment to it, it will be tantamount to violating the agreement with the East India Company. Of course, if Haihan is willing to lift the original embargo imposed on the East India Company, he can safely sell arms to both parties at the same time.
Ning Qi guessed Su Keyi's purpose of coming, but he didn't expect that the other party's attitude would be so aggressive. He brought up the diplomatic agreement without saying a few words. However, regarding the purchase of arms by Matalan Country, the Executive Committee has not yet made up its mind. After all, this matter is not a simple arms trade, and it is very likely to affect the strength of the surrounding areas of Matalan Country in the future. The executive committee must be careful about the balance, and even the diplomatic relations between Heyhan and the Netherlands.
However, the confidentiality work of the Matalan Kingdom was obviously not very satisfactory. The mission had only been in Sanya for four days, and the formal negotiations with the relevant departments of Haihan had not made any progress. The East India Company approached the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to ask for an explanation. .
This time the matter is different from the previous intelligence cases between Portugal and the Netherlands. The Matalan country wanted to purchase warships and other weapons and equipment from Haihan. There was no formal negotiation with Haihan before. It was only after he came to Sanya that he revealed his thoughts in this regard to Haihan. Therefore, there is no need to investigate the source of the Dutch intelligence this time. It must be the problem of Matalan itself. Ning Qi considered his words before responding: "Mr. Su, don't be so excited. Regarding the purpose of the Madalan mission, I think there may be a misunderstanding. I believe you are also very aware that our country has been working hard to maintain The country hopes to resolve conflicts and hatred between countries through commercial and cultural exchanges and opposes the use of war to solve problems. It is precisely because our country has always adhered to this concept that it has set some conditions for arms trade. We should try our best to prevent the weapons produced by our country from becoming the cause of wars in other countries. Therefore, whether it is the East India Company or the Matalan Country, we would rather see a peaceful coexistence than selling weapons to you and then watching you. Starting a war and fighting each other. Mr. Su, I hope you can appreciate the goodwill of our country and not make one-sided wrong judgments based on personal likes and dislikes.”
When it comes to speaking in an official tone, Ning Qi is definitely one of the most powerful figures among Haihan's senior management. When Haihan encounters complex diplomatic issues that need to be resolved through negotiation, Ning Qi often steps in to solve them. So when Su Keyi came to question him, Ning Qi naturally used the method he was best at, and first talked about the truth to make the other party faint.
Su Keyi was really overwhelmed by these words. He obviously came to the door to make demands on his own initiative. Why did Ning Qi say it in a few words? It seemed that the arms sales restrictions set by Haihan on the East India Company and the Matalan Country were actually It has become a kind act, and you should be grateful for it. But the problem is that Haihan did not sell arms to this side in the past, so the war between the East India Company and the Matalan Kingdom still broke out?
Su Keyi knew that he could not be led astray by Ning Qi, so he quickly calmed down his confused thoughts and said to Ning Qi: "Minister Ning, our request is very clear. If your country plans to relax the arms sales ban, it should We should treat everyone equally and accept our arms purchase requirements.”
When Ning Qi heard this, he understood Su Keyi's real purpose. Stopping the Matalan country's arms purchase plan was only one of them. What was more important was that the Dutch planned to take this opportunity to ask Haihan to relax the ban and sell weapons to them. equipment.
But this matter is not something that Ning Qi can decide. The model, quantity, delivery date, etc. of equipment sold by Haihan Foreign Military Industry have always been controlled by the military and Haihan Ordnance Industry. Which weapons can be sold, how much they can be sold, and who they can be sold to have all been reviewed by the relevant departments, so that the weapons and equipment sold abroad can play their due role as much as possible, instead of becoming a hidden danger that threatens Haihan's security. Therefore, in the past few years, Haihan's main arms sales targets have been almost all die-hard allies such as Annam, Champa, and the Fujian Ming Army. Western colonial countries such as Portugal and the Netherlands can buy extremely large amounts of arms from Haihan. It’s limited.
Therefore, countries like Annan already had Haihan provide technical guidance two years ago and built their own "Exploration-class" warships into service. However, the East India Company has not yet been able to order this level of warships from Haihan. warship. Even if the price the East India Company was willing to pay for this far exceeded Annan and the Fujian Ming Army, Haihan still could not get the weapons and equipment they wanted to purchase from the arms sales ban list. Su Keyi's visit this time was obviously to bring up old matters in the name of the Madalan Mission and apply for arms purchase to Haihan again.
Ning Qi quickly figured out the secret and said to Su Keyi: "This is not the first day Mr. Su has dealt with us. You should talk to Haihan Military Industry about buying weapons and equipment. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has also Don’t care about it.”
Su Keyi said: "I heard that Chief Bai, who is in charge of Haihan's military industry, will stay in the north for a while. If the Madalan delegation is willing to wait for him to come back before talking, then I can wait."
In order to negotiate the establishment of diplomatic relations with the Ming Dynasty, Bai Kesi traveled all the way to Liaodong and presided over several extremely important negotiations there. However, after completing his mission, he had already left Liaodong and headed south. He might have passed Penghu by this time, and he would be able to return to Hainan Island in a few days. But listening to what Su Keyi meant, it was obvious that he did not intend to wait for Bai Kesi to come back before talking, but wanted to keep in line with the progress of the Madalan Mission.
Seeing Su Keyi's stubborn attitude, Ning Qi was a little bit dumbfounded. From his point of view, he would inevitably feel that Su Keyi was a little too nervous. Negotiations on arms trade often last for a long time, and subsequent delivery times are also carried out in batches, which may last for several years. Even if Madalan Country can purchase the weapons and equipment they want from Haihan, converting them into real combat effectiveness is not a goal that can be achieved in the short term. Although the performance of Haihan's weapons and equipment is good, it will not have immediate effects once it is obtained.
Annan's army began to receive military training provided by Haihan in 1628, and it took several years to gradually cultivate a new army that followed Haihan's tactics and weapons and equipment. If Matalan wants to follow Annan's lead in improving the combat effectiveness of its own army, it will definitely have to purchase supporting training services together, and the time required for training will definitely not be short. Ning Qi thought that the Dutchman was so nervous, which was probably due to the psychological shadow of the horse defeating the blue army when they came to the city.
Ning Qi said: "If the Matalan Kingdom wants to purchase a large amount of arms from our country, it will definitely have to wait for the right owner to come back before we can talk. So I suggest you not to be so impatient and go back first to wait for the news. You have been waiting for several years. , there’s no rush at this moment, right?”
Seeing that Ning Qi wanted to dismiss him so easily, Su Keyi quickly responded: "Since Minister Ning is not sure, I have no choice but to pay a visit to Chairman Tao!"
(End of chapter)