Late Ming Dynasty: Oops, I am surrounded by the Donglin Party

"Tell me, what do you want?" Zhang Shikang asked back unhappily.

It's just thirty galleons. Even without them, the Ming Dynasty will not die. This idiot has been pretending to be hypocritical until now, and finally his true colors are revealed.

In that case, just tell me what you want and let’s see how thick-skinned you are.

"Your Excellency the Duke, do you know the situation in Japan?" Of course, Da Vinci did not speak directly, but instead turned the topic to the East.

"As for the Japanese, the Ming Dynasty will have to reform them sooner or later, what do you think?" Zhang Shikang said without even thinking.

This was almost his subconscious thought, but Da Vinci was shocked. Seeing that Zhang Shikang didn't seem to understand, he had to explain again:

"Not long after the war ended in Japan, the shogunate issued a national isolation order again last year, prohibiting trade with any other country except the Netherlands."

There was some pride in Da Vinci's words. It was because of this contribution that he was promoted to director by the top management of the East India Company.

"You want the Ming Dynasty to only trade with you Dutch? Did you get kicked in the head by a donkey?"

Zhang Shikang almost laughed out loud when he heard what Da Vinci said.

Japan is a tiny country, feudal, corrupt and backward. It just ended the Warring States and Village Wars era, and you Dutch took advantage of it. Do you feel superior to them?

Do you have the ability to monopolize the trade with the Ming Dynasty?

“Your Excellency the Duke, Governor Bolger also cares very much about your friend.

You hold a very important position in the Ming Dynasty. I heard that the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty trusts you very much.

If you can accomplish this, the Dutch East India Company will certainly not let Your Excellency the Duke's help in vain.

Once the payment for this order arrives, our Governor-General will certainly make a statement, at least one million taels of Ming silver notes." Darwin showed a look of understanding.

Damn, kickbacks!

This guy is blatantly bribing him.

It's true. If this had happened before Zhang Shikang punished corrupt officials from the Donglin Party in the southeast coast, it might have actually worked.

But maritime trade is an important investment direction for Zhang Shikang in the future. How can he possibly hand over all the trade to you, the Netherlands?

One million taels is probably a huge fortune for any official.

But for Zhang Shikang, haha, does he lack money?

Even if he is short of money, if he asks his brother for it, how can his brother not give it to him?

"Mr. Da Vinci, I can officially tell you right now that this is impossible, so you'd better forget about it.

The ocean has infinite wealth, you know, and I understand it too.

I have no grudge against you, why do you treat me like a fool?"

In fact, Zhang Shikang has been polite enough. It is not clear whether the Zheng family, the Dutch, or the Fruit and Vegetable people are enemies or friends.

He was pretending to be stupid just now, just wanting to know the Dutchman's bottom line, and now he has achieved what he wanted.

Stop pretending, show your cards.

"This... Since Your Excellency the Duke answered like this, it will be difficult for me to explain this to Lord Bolger. I'm afraid this contract..."

"Hmph, who cares? If you Dutch don't do it, I'll ask the French to do it." Zhang Shikang looked nonchalant.

Galleons were the main warships of the entire Europe, and both large and small Francois could build them. Although the craftsmanship might not be as good as that of the Dutch and the cost might be higher, they were still there.

Of course, he said this on purpose to anger Da Vinci.

Zhang Shikang knew very well that trade was one reason why the Dutch came to him, but it was definitely not the only reason.

The Dutch had too many enemies. In faraway Europe, they were fighting a war of independence with the great French Empire, or Spain, and were mortal enemies.

The small French country, also known as Fruity Tooth, was also in a serious state of hostility because of the colonial conflicts in the South Seas, where the Dutch robbed many of its islands.

This was what the Governor of Haojing, Shi Luobao, told him. Shi Luobao was very worried that Zhang Shikang or the Ming Dynasty behind him would have contact with the Dutch.

The Ming Dynasty had huge market potential. The reason why Shi Luobao was able to sell artillery and merchant ships to Zhang Shikang at a relatively low price was of course because he hoped to do business with the Ming Dynasty in the future.

But Schrobao was not like Da Vinci, who asked for trade monopoly as soon as he opened his mouth. He was crazy.

Sure enough, when Da Vinci heard Zhang Shikang mention the Big and Small Franji Countries, he immediately frowned.

He originally thought that the Ming noble in front of him was arrogant and greedy, but now it seems that he was wrong.

"Your Excellency the Duke, the little French country is greedy for profit and is not worthy of being a friend." Da Vinci said seriously.

"Come on, Schrobao is your enemy, of course you won't say good things about him. How much better can you Dutch be?" Zhang Shikang said with disdain.

But Dada Vinci seemed even more angry after hearing this, and immediately defended himself:

"We in the Netherlands are very concerned about integrity. Our business is spread across many places. We participate in trade in accordance with contracts and have always had a good reputation in Europe.

At least in this respect, we are better than the Francois."

"Even so, it is impossible for my Ming Dynasty to hand over all foreign trade to you Dutch. Don't dream on." Zhang Shikang decisively refused.

As a result, the conversation came to a standstill for a while. The main purpose of Da Vinci's trip was, of course, to trade and make money.

The first business may not be very profitable, but as long as we find a breakthrough with Zhang Shikang and obtain the exclusive trading rights of the Ming Dynasty, we will definitely be able to make more profits in the future.

But Zhang Shikang disagreed. If so, the deal would be too unprofitable for the Netherlands, and he would not be able to explain it to the company's top management.

On Zhang Shikang's side, of course, the Ming Dynasty's trading rights must be firmly grasped in his own hands. He has the final say on who to trade with and how to trade.

But this did not bother Zhang Shikang at all. Seeing that Da Vinci remained silent, he tried:

"It is impossible for the Ming Dynasty to give exclusive trading rights to you Dutch people. You don't have to hold out any hope for that.

But Mr. Da Vinci, don't you think that the Netherlands needs a powerful friend in the East?

You just said that a powerful country would never leave its coastal defense to a single family. "

The implication, of course, is the Zheng family.

After hearing this, Da Vinci immediately had an idea.

"My Lord Duke, are you planning to take action against that official Zheng?

I think if Lord Bolger knew this news, he would be very happy.

We may actually be able to work together, we have a common enemy!"

"Master, I am just giving you an explanation.

How about it, can we sign it now?" Zhang Shikang nodded at the two contracts.

"Of course! Since you said so, Ming Dynasty and the Netherlands will definitely be able to cooperate in the future!" After saying this, Da Vinci signed the contract very straightforwardly.

With this contract, even if the Ming noble in front of them changes his mind in the future, the Zheng family will never trust the Ming court again as long as they see this contract.

Once the chain of suspicion begins, there is only one possibility: turning against each other. Once the Zheng family loses the support of the Ming court, they will definitely not be able to defeat the Dutch in Southeast Asia.

“The advance payment can be delivered here in three days, and the matter with the Zheng family will have to wait until this transaction is completed.

You have all seen that our Ming Dynasty is now forming a navy.

Before the Galen warships become combat-ready, I will not fall out with the Zheng family.

Therefore, before this, I don’t want you to be clever. If I find out that you deliberately leaked the information to the Zheng family, I will unite with the Zheng family and the French, big and small, to deal with you Dutch.

You should understand the consequences." Zhang Shikang reminded.

The Dutch had too many enemies, but the Ming Dynasty court had never paid much attention to the ocean, so it had no external enemies.

Every European was jealous of the Ming Dynasty's market, which meant that if the Ming Dynasty wanted to make friends, it had many choices.

"Understood, understood. Don't worry, Your Excellency the Duke. We Dutch people value the spirit of contract the most. We will never do anything reckless."

Da Vinci finally left very happily.

Zhang Shikang finally breathed a sigh of relief. He looked at Zhu Cilang and said:

"Xiao Zhu, tell me, what did you learn from this negotiation?"

……