Chapter 507

However, Su Qiao sent a letter to Sun Chuanting, who was still in Fuzhou Prefecture, and produced the imperial edict himself.

Sun Chuanting subsequently stood in the same trench as Su Qiao, and Su Qiao used his status as an imperial envoy to suppress the others.

The order to expel the Dutch was passed immediately.

Yet the absence of Dutch messengers did not mean no people from other nations were involved.

Indeed, when the Dutch failed to see Su Qiao and the officials of Quanzhou Prefecture several times,

the anxious ones could not help but contact merchants from other nations they knew and were familiar with to relay messages.

Su Qiao and his party naturally kept sending people to watch them.

Any movement they made could not escape the surveillance of the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

These spies, who might or might not belong to the Dutch, were quickly grasped by Su Qiao and his party.

Although they are not needed now, there is no guarantee they will not be needed later.

Who knows when plotting against the Dutch, these people might come in handy.

……

The negotiation venue was inside the yamen of Quanzhou Prefecture.

A long table, negotiators, recorders, plus painters, and so on.

The painters were specifically requested by Su Qiao.

Since this was an important negotiation, Su Qiao naturally wanted to preserve this moment.

So several painters were recruited in Quanzhou Prefecture.

No one opposed it; on the contrary, they regarded it as an opportunity to show their face.

As for the Dutch, they had even less right to object!

"Very well, this negotiation is between the Dutch East India Company and the Great Ming court. Let it begin!"

Following Su Qiao's request, nothing flashy was done.

They directly and decisively entered the negotiation process very quickly.

With that time wasted on dithering, one might as well discuss more conditions and secure more benefits!

So although somewhat surprised, everyone immediately got into the swing of things.

Negotiations always proceed from easy to difficult, which also facilitates mutual adjustment and testing of each other's bottom lines.

Sitting directly opposite Su Qiao was the Dutch negotiation team leader, also the Dutch Far East head, General Reynolds.

Looking at this old man, he was about fifty or sixty years old, yet his blue eyes sparkled with cunning.

One could tell at a glance he was not someone easily fooled.

Su Qiao was not worried, after all, the Great Ming had won and held the upper hand.

Only Zheng Sen, standing slightly behind and to the side of Su Qiao, remained somewhat tense, motionless like a pillar.

"Mr. Su, let us discuss the first point first; we Dutch need to ransom back our captives."

Both sides used translators; although Su Qiao knew simple English, it was not outstanding, so simple communication posed no problem.

However, for detailed technical terms and the like, Su Qiao was quite lacking.

Naturally, he had no intention of deliberately making a fool of himself, so he listened obediently to the translator's explanations.

Since Reynolds opened the discussion on the captive issue first, Su Qiao naturally had no objection.

Dutch captives were nothing rare and wasted grain; the other side wanting to ransom them back aligned perfectly with the Great Ming's wishes.

Only the ransom amount needed discussion.

Su Qiao opened with five hundred taels per person.

Over twenty thousand people directly equaled ten million taels!

This was truly a lion opening its mouth wide!

Not only were the Dutch negotiators, including Reynolds, startled, but the people on the Great Ming side were equally dumbfounded...

After all, he is the Imperial Envoy; his vision is simply different.

I was still thinking five or ten taels of silver per person would be good enough.

Who would have thought the Imperial Envoy would open with five hundred taels per person directly.

This gap is too huge!

"No, this price is too high!"

Even though the Dutch were mentally prepared, they still felt the price was high.

If the captives cost only ten million taels, how much would the war indemnity cost then?

Before Reynolds and his party arrived, they had all discussed what level of compensation should be controlled.

If it exceeded the limit, they could not accept it either.

"Oh, then how much do you think is appropriate?"

Su Qiao took it lightly; asking for the sky and settling for the ground is very normal.

Reynolds said without thinking: "Twenty taels per person is good enough."

"Oh, are your sailors only worth twenty taels each? Know that the wealth they helped you plunder, the wealth plundered individually, is not less than five hundred taels, right? Is asking for five hundred taels very high?"

Su Qiao said directly with a half-smile.

Reynolds immediately refuted.

Not only did Reynolds' side refute, but the Great Ming people could not just watch Su Qiao fight alone.

Especially since Zheng Zhilong had been a pirate, he naturally knew some pirates' wealth.

He also joined in.

In an instant, the entire hall suddenly became like a marketplace, arguing over prices like a 5.6.

Fortunately, they didn't roll up their sleeves and grab each other's arms to start fighting!

Even so, everyone's faces and bodies were spattered with quite a bit of each other's saliva.

After arguing for about half a shichen, they finally reached an agreement.

Four hundred taels per person, totaling over twenty thousand people, nearly nine million taels!

In fact, Su Qiao had the Dutchmen right where he wanted them.

First, he knew that even the captured Dutch sailors each had a high price tag, with gold reserves of over five hundred taels each.

Secondly, the Dutch East India Company had colonized many places; they weren't short of money, they had plenty!

Finally, Great Ming had won the war, and the Dutchmen feared Great Ming retaliation would affect their colonies and cut off their revenue streams.

That was why they agreed so readily.

Just this one item, nine million taels, made Zhou Xun and others look at Su Qiao with eyes that glowed!

361, return journey!

They truly hadn't expected to demand so much, and the Dutchmen had actually agreed.

It was simply a great start, a huge surprise!

With the first clause of the contract settled, the next issue was war reparations.

The victor has the right to demand compensation from the defeated.

Great Ming also spent quite a bit of money on this war.

The Dutchmen had guessed this long ago.

So when Great Ming brought up the demand for compensation, Reynolds and the others showed no expression of surprise in their eyes.

However, after Su Qiao opened his lion's mouth wide once more, Reynolds and the Dutch negotiation team couldn't help but roar in protest again.

Who else could Su Qiao open his lion's mouth wide to demand one hundred million taels of Bai Yin or equivalent gold and jewels?

Even though the Dutchmen were wealthy, they couldn't accept this price.

For them, this price was also an astronomical sum!

Zhou Xun and the others were once again dumbfounded.

However, shock aside, anger aside.

Just as Su Qiao had envisioned, asking for the sky and settling for the ground.

28

Both sides were testing each other's bottom lines.

For the Dutchmen, they needed time.

For the Great Ming people, they too needed time.