Chapter 506

If the people of Great Ming are extremely angry and insist on doing this or that, such as killing captives or launching a counterattack,

they will have to consider other options.

If negotiations are possible, that would naturally be best.

With a different attitude, the Dutch will respond differently.

They are not fools!

The messenger bowed deeply with great respect, "Yes, my lord. We will notify the Marshal immediately; he will likely send a delegation for negotiations very soon!"

"Good, resolve this quickly and bring it to an end as soon as possible!"

The distance from Great Ming to the Strait of Malacca is not short; if messages must be sent back and forth, it will take at least several months.

It could even take more than half a year.

However, the Dutch moved very quickly; no one knows where they had been holding their discussions before.

Less than a month after the Dutch messenger left, their negotiation team appeared at the port of Quanzhou.

There were three warships in total.

They were all very large warships equipped with numerous cannons.

They were no different from the main Dutch warships that had been captured earlier.

One warship carried the personnel responsible for negotiations, while the rest were escorts.

They were spotted by patrol warships of the naval forces when approaching Taiwan.

They were then "escorted" all the way to the port of Quanzhou.

Since they were the defeated party coming to negotiate, they did not cause any trouble along the way.

They obediently were brought to the port of Quanzhou.

Ma Kui came immediately to report the news.

"Mr. Su, the Dutch red-haired people's delegation for negotiations has arrived."

"Hmm, arrange temporary lodging for them for now; there is no need to attend to them."

Su Qiao said this without a moment's thought.

They have already been defeated; they are not important figures. Should I personally go to welcome them?

Don't dream of it!

Ma Kui had been following Su Qiao for quite some time and knew some of Su Qiao's preferences.

Seeing the expression of disgust on his face, he immediately understood what to do.

"Yes, this subordinate will go and make the arrangements right away!"

The guest house was already fully occupied by Eunuch Wu, Su Qiao, and other members of the Embroidered Uniform Guard; there was not a single empty room.

So they rented an entire inn and arranged for all the Dutch negotiators to stay there.

Of course, they were not completely ignored.

At the very least, a certain level of security had to be guaranteed.

Furthermore, they had to prevent harassment from others.

Therefore, many people were arranged to patrol the area near the inn and so on.

As for inside, their own people would provide the guard.

For seven consecutive days, Su Qiao showed no intention of negotiating.

The Dutch urgently requested to see him several times, but he brushed them off each time.

This made the Dutch go from calm at the beginning to somewhat anxious and restless later on.

Zheng Sen continued to follow Su Qiao to learn.

He certainly did not learn any military strategy or tactics; even The Four Books and Five Classics, Su Qiao would not teach.

It was merely learning through example and personal instruction.

When Zheng Zhilong returned after the battle, he specifically called Zheng Sen home to ask what he had learned from Su Qiao.

Zheng Sen did not hide anything; he recounted everything Su Qiao had taught him or what he had learned by observing Su Qiao's actions.

Zheng Zhilong was very pleased and specifically sent a hundred pieces of supreme quality black pearls.

He also instructed Zheng Sen to continue learning by Su Qiao's side.

Zheng Sen, who had been reserved before, now very naturally boiled water and brewed tea for Su Qiao: "Mr., this student has a question I do not understand."

After placing the tea cup before Su Qiao, Zheng Sen did not leave; instead, he asked his question.

"If you want to ask something, ask directly!" Su Qiao said with a smile, looking at him.

Su Qiao was very satisfied with this student, Zheng Sen.

He was smart, eager to learn, good at thinking, and knew when to advance and when to retreat.

Although he had not learned the full extent of Zheng Zhilong's abilities, he had grasped some of the essence.

Of course, warfare was excluded.

Seeing that Su Qiao was in a good mood, Zheng Sen asked directly: "What this student is puzzled about is: wasn't it you who agreed to negotiate with the Dutch? Why have the Dutch representatives tried to see you three times and four times, yet you have refused?"

"I do not believe you cannot guess the reason for this!"

Upon hearing this, Su Qiao glared at him; this young man was starting to play evasive games with him.

Caught red-handed by Su Qiao, Zheng Sen awkwardly grinned, "Well, I know you are deliberately putting pressure on the Dutch to seize the initiative in the negotiations. However, you have always said before that you intended to completely eliminate the Dutch. Does this mean you plan to let them go this time?"

....... 0

"Oh, you want to ask about this? How do you know I intend to completely eliminate the Dutch?"

Su Qiao did not answer the question but instead asked a counter-question first.

Zheng Sen's face showed a bewildered expression. "Didn't you say several times that you wanted to drive the Dutch out of the Strait of Malacca and out of Asia?"

"I see. Then perhaps I let it slip. Indeed, I do want to drive the Dutch out, but that has nothing to do with negotiating with them. Don't think that because we won this time, we can easily resolve the Dutch issue. Although we won and seized the initiative in Asia, we still need to digest the fruits of victory."

"The war indemnity must be paid by the Dutch. The ransom for the Dutch prisoners must also be paid by them. Naturally, all this money must come from the Dutch. If we can get money for nothing, why fight now? We must at least confuse the Dutch, make them think we Great Ming people have given up, before proceeding to the next step!"

Su Qiao explained to Zheng Sen with a chuckle.

At this moment, Zheng Sen finally understood; it was purely deception.

"Isn't this negotiation about discussing a peace treaty?"

He was still a bit dazed for a moment.

Su Qiao's face instantly turned cold. "How old are you, and yet you are still so childish? Treaties themselves are meant to be torn up! Where is there true peace? Peace is merely backed by military force. You will need to take over your father's position in the future, so I hope you best stop being so naive!"

Seeing Su Qiao so serious, Zheng Sen immediately felt immense pressure and hurriedly agreed.

360, Negotiation!

"Uh... Mr., this student has learned from you!"

Su Qiao looked at Zheng Sen's somewhat youthful face and found it truly difficult to imagine his later resolute and decisive side.

Perhaps it was precisely because of some naive thoughts in his youth that he always revered the Great Ming in history and never had any thoughts of surrender or rebellion.

Although Zheng Sen's mind was somewhat chaotic, with myriad thoughts.

He was, more or less, influenced by Su Qiao.

Seeing that he seemed somewhat absent-minded, Su Qiao knew he had not yet figured it out.

Thus, he did not force him, believing he would figure it out on his own.

He waved his hand, allowing Zheng Sen to leave for the time being.

After dragging things on for quite some time, just when the Dutch patience was nearly exhausted.

Su Qiao finally agreed to meet them and consented to negotiations.

Hearing this news, the Dutch negotiation team could not help but breathe a long sigh of relief.

They were truly somewhat worried about the issue of the prisoners.

Fortunately, from the intelligence gathered, it appeared the Great Ming people did not have a habit of indiscriminately killing prisoners.

This gave them a slight comfort.

During this period, Su Qiao did not simply ignore them for nothing.

Before the Great Ming went to war with the Dutch, the Dutch stranded within Fujian were expelled.

The main purpose was naturally to prevent military intelligence leaks.

At the beginning, officials led by Zhou Xun mostly disagreed.