sjar Chapter 321 The Envoy of Southeast Asia
Chapter 321 The Envoy of Southeast Asia
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After hearing Gao Jie's reply, Kun felt that negotiating with this arrogant Ming Chinese was a waste of time. He had previously thought Gao Jie was alright, but now he decided to abandon this unpleasant conversation.
"Perhaps I can get the answer I'm looking for from your boss. This meeting ends here. You may need to stay in Batavia for a few days to wait for the company council to decide whether to agree to relinquish the position."
Gao Jie nodded: "I am willing to wait a few days. However, I hope you will make a decision as soon as possible, because the time we are giving you to consider is not to obtain your consent, but because we do not want to expend too many resources to launch a war that is of little significance—even if it is one that we are bound to win. The few hundred soldiers in Fort Zeelandia may not be able to hold out for three days under our attack. I hope Your Excellency can recognize this reality!"
Kun waved his hand dejectedly: "Thank you for showing me another side of you. Now you can go."
As Gao Jie reached the door, he turned back and added, "By the way, I personally think that the Dutch East India Company was too much of a businessman and had very low decision-making efficiency. It was far inferior to the British East India Company, which combined military, political and economic power—in comparison, it was more like a country than a humble company subservient to its shareholders."
Kun was about to vomit blood. He really changed his mind so quickly. If he had a gun, he might have shot this despicable Ming Chinese.
"The Dutch East India Company was the richest company in Europe. Before you denigrate it, please understand the greatness of this company: it owned 150 merchant ships, 40 warships, 50000 employees and 10000 soldiers, and its return on investment was 40%, which is incomparable to the old-fashioned bureaucratic British East India Company!"
Gao Jie smiled. He had already done as the general had instructed him. He did not continue arguing with Kun about which of the two East India Companies was greater. He turned and left.
Watching Gao Jie's figure disappear through the door, Kun snorted and then summoned his personal attendant.
"Go and inform all members of the company's review committee that I will request a meeting of the review committee members tomorrow to submit an important proposal for discussion."
Although Kun disliked Gao Jie, as a competent governor, he truthfully reported all the details to the company council. After two days of suffocating and tense debate, the council members finally made a decision.
The East India Company decided to relinquish its occupation of Daimyo, but stipulated that the handover of Fort Zeelandia must be accompanied by sufficient compensation to cover the enormous financial and human costs invested by the company. It would retain the Japanese market while obtaining exclusive trading rights, becoming the sole recipient of Ming Dynasty goods for export to Europe. Given the unfriendly attitude of the Ming fleet commander, the company decided to send its own representatives to Lingao to communicate and negotiate with Liu, the true decision-maker. The negotiating representative was former Daimyo administrative chief, Putmans.
Having completed his mission, Gao Jie led the fleet back to port. Not long after, Putmans, having changed his identity, also embarked on his journey to Lingao. At the same time, the envoys from Manila also set off.
Two weeks later, the Qiongzhou fleet, along with envoys from Batavia and Manila, arrived at Bofu Port. Liu Ye, who had been waiting for a long time, quickly met with the Dutch and Spanish. Considering the animosity between the two countries, he did not arrange for the representatives from both sides to meet directly, but instead negotiated with the Spanish first, and then with the Dutch.
The envoy from Manila was Mayor Isabella. After introducing himself, he took out a draft agreement and read it to Liu Ye, clause by clause.
"Manila is willing to relinquish its strongholds in Keelung and Tamsui, withdraw all its soldiers... provide Manila with porcelain, tea, and silk worth at least 300,000 pesos annually... and assist Spain in re-entering the Japanese market..."
After listening to the terms with great patience, Liu Ye replied bluntly: "Mr. Isabella, first of all, please understand that I am not begging you to resign from the position of Grand Minister, nor do I intend to give you any compensation for this. Secondly, because of the exclusion of Catholicism, the Japanese Shogunate has restricted your commercial activities, but this has nothing to do with me, and I have no obligation to help you return to Japan. Finally, regarding the supply of goods, I can only guarantee one thing: you will be allowed to purchase goods in Lingao and transport them back to Europe for sale, provided that you pay taxes as required by me. Apart from that, you cannot trade privately in any port of Ming Dynasty."
Isabella exclaimed excitedly, "These conditions are too harsh; I cannot guarantee that the governor will agree..."
“If we can reach an agreement, we will talk; if we can’t, we will fight,” Liu Ye replied coldly. “If you do not agree, you will not only lose your right to conduct commercial trade within the Ming territory, but you will also have to bear the losses of war—we will send troops to expel the Spanish soldiers from Danshui and Keelung.”
After seeing Isabella off, Liu Ye then summoned the envoy from Batavia.
Seeing Putmans, an old acquaintance, Liu Ye relaxed a bit and joked, "Mr. Putmans, how does it feel to come to Lingao in a different identity?"
Putmans smiled wryly, “I feel a lot of pressure. The council has given me a task that seems impossible to complete…” He briefly explained the council’s decision, including the terms regarding compensation for Zeelandia and the monopoly on trade.
Liu Ye laughed and said, "A businessman is a businessman after all. He's good at calculating and doesn't want to suffer any loss."
Putmans helplessly spread his hands: "As the former governor of Dayuan, I am also reluctant to hand over Fort Zeelandia, after all, it embodies a lot of our hard work. But I also know that there is a saying in the Ming Dynasty: 'The victors should not be blamed, and the losers must swallow all the bitter pills.' In this contest, we are the losers, and we can only choose to accept it..."
Liu Ye nodded: "That's called 'the victor is king, the loser is villain,' your understanding of Chinese idioms is very accurate!"
Putmans continued, "As for the right to monopolize trade, it was originally a demand we made from the perspective of the victors when we started the war, and it is indeed somewhat unreasonable for us, as the losers, to make the same demand again..."
Liu Ye chuckled and said, "A scholar should be viewed with new eyes after three days of separation. You didn't have this attitude when you were captured. Now that you've come back, you've become a wise man. It's just a pity that the magistrates of the Batavia council don't understand this."
Putmans smiled as well: "I haven't finished speaking. These conditions aren't unnecessarily unchangeable. The council has given me some room to maneuver..."
Liu Ye was quite surprised: "You've revealed your hand so quickly, aren't you afraid I'll try to raise the price?"