Chapter 3513
In this Zhoushan Forum event, Haihan's forward-looking vision and organizational ability have been fully revealed.
Almost all the guests at the meeting praised this event. After all, such an orderly and relatively fair international exchange platform is unique in the world.
Every country attending the forum will have a voice here. Even Haihan's rivals, the Ming Dynasty and the Manchu Qing Dynasty, could express their views on the international situation here.
For the political figures attending this event, they can take this opportunity to showcase their talents and political stance to the world and select partners suitable for their country.
Especially those small countries with limited influence. In the past, they were not qualified to discuss issues on an equal footing with big countries, but here they also have the opportunity to win the attention of the international community.
For example, the Champa State publicly proposed at the forum that the "South China Sea Commercial Alliance" established by Haihan many years ago should be further expanded. Its trade scope should no longer be limited to the countries surrounding the South China Sea, but should be based on the actual control scope of the member states. Change accordingly.
For example, the East China Sea and Yellow Sea controlled by Haihan, and even the other side of the Pacific and the eastern Indian Ocean where it established colonies, should become the effective scope of the policies related to the South China Sea Commercial Alliance.
This actually means that no matter how big Haihan's territory is, the geographical scope covered by the "South China Sea Commercial Alliance" must also keep pace. This, of course, has many practical benefits for the member states of the Commercial Alliance, so once this proposal was proposed by the Champaign State, it immediately received support from many countries.
Regardless of whether the content of this proposal was planned by the Champa State on its own, or someone secretly instructed it, it really made Champa reveal its face, which also caused other small countries that were interested in showing off to follow suit.
However, this kind of idea of following Haihan to drink soup is basically proposed by small countries. Even if countries with some real strength come up with similar proposals, they are often more willing to negotiate privately with Haihan in bilateral talks. To reduce the number of people dividing the cake.
In particular, colonial countries like Portugal and the Netherlands have very rich experience in overseas expansion and interest sharing. Therefore, they hardly participate in the discussion of public issues. All negotiations are conducted one-on-one with Haihan. way.
Under Haihan's deliberate control, the armed conflict that occurred on the island of Ceylon in the Indian Ocean had not yet reached the Dutch envoy Su Keyi. Therefore, the project he discussed with Haihan on behalf of the Dutch East India Company was exactly what the two countries were doing. Division of spheres of influence in the Indian Ocean.
After Haihan sent troops to the western end of the Strait of Malacca last year and established a garrison base there, the Dutch gradually realized that Haihan's move was Xiangzhuang's sword dance, intended for Peigong. His goal was not as simple as controlling the Strait of Malacca, but to control the Strait of Malacca. Ensure that key shipping lanes into the Indian Ocean are fully under its control.
The Dutch also know that even if they launch a war, it is unlikely to prevent Haihan from entering the Indian Ocean. The top priority is to establish rules and divide the sphere of influence with Haihan.
To put it simply, Heihan is required to recognize the Dutch interests in the Indian Ocean and not to compete for areas where the Netherlands has already set foot.
It's a pity that this attempt came too late. If the East India Company had proposed it last year, there might still be room for negotiation, but now that both parties have already taken action in Ceylon, the conditions proposed by Su Keyi are no longer tenable. Of course, after Haihan took advantage, he would not take the initiative to make concessions.
Because Haihan had poor information, after rejecting Su Keyi, the Executive Committee took the initiative to propose a relatively compromise plan, that is, Haihan would only recognize the colonies that the Netherlands had occupied and operated locally for more than a certain number of years.
As for those areas whose ownership is still in dispute and which are not de facto occupied by the Netherlands, Haihan does not recognize them at all. In this way, the so-called "interests" of the Netherlands in Ceylon are not within the scope recognized by Haihan. There is no dispute about the armed conflict between Qian Tiandun's troops and him.
Of course, when Takahashi Minami fought with the Dutch colonial forces outside Colombo, he deliberately left some room and did not kill the Dutch. When the Dutch were defeated and evacuated from Ceylon, he did not continue to pursue them and allowed the Dutch fleet to return to Colombo. Chin Colony.
This "merciful" approach also left a large buffer space for the subsequent negotiations between the two parties in Zhoushan.
Haihan's plan is actually within the acceptable range of Su Keyi. Although it does not fully comply with the wishes of the Batavia authorities, it can at least ensure that the Dutch's local base will not be invaded by Haihan. It can be regarded as a guarantee. protocol.
But before he agreed, he still had to find out what Haihan wanted to get there. After all, with Haihan's shrewdness, there is absolutely no way that the Netherlands can only take advantage without paying the price.
"Our request is very simple, that is, the Netherlands shall not interfere with our country's colonization, trade and military garrison in the Indian Ocean. If there is any behavior that obviously harms our country's interests, then our country also has the right to make any form of counterattack."
The answer Tao Donglai gave was very tough. To put it simply, he told Holland to stand far away and not block the road, otherwise he could beat Holland for any excuse.
Although this kind of request cannot be said to be humiliating, it does not save much face for the Netherlands. It is just that the wording is more official and does not sound so harsh.
Su Keyi took a deep breath and tried to calm down his emotions.
Although he had long been accustomed to the domineering attitude of these big figures in the Haihan Executive Committee, Su Keyi could not help but feel a little angry. After all, the Dutch East India Company was a powerful player in the Indian Ocean, but in the eyes of these high-ranking officials, it was just an existence that could be called upon at any time.
Moreover, the conditions proposed by the Executive Committee seemed to leave no room for Su Keyi to argue.
Even if the Dutch do not agree, Haihan will probably implement it unilaterally and withdraw the guarantee agreement previously promised to Su Keyi.
Su Keyi disliked Haihan's oppressive negotiation method, but he was unable to counterattack the opponent's suppression. He sighed and said, "It seems that this is the final plan prepared by your country?"
Tao Donglai said with a smile: "Our purpose in proposing this plan is just to hope that both parties can reach an agreement as soon as possible and avoid wasting time on unimportant details."
Yes, you can’t argue in the end anyway, so it’s better not to set up any room for bargaining from the beginning. Just follow Haihan's wishes and reach an agreement, which saves both parties time in arguing.
Su Keyi smiled bitterly and said: "Then what else can I say? My lords, just follow this!"