Chapter 120: The Ownership of Dayuan

Watching the endless stream of red-brick transport carts passing by, Nuytz finally understood — the destination of all those brick-laden boats that had been constantly passing the Sloten was right here.

Gauging the relative positions of the breach in the wall and the distant sand dunes, then glancing at the ground before the Shang Hall gates, once soaked with soldiers' blood, Nuytz sighed softly: "A slaughter. This is too cruel. God's children should not be treated this way."

"Indeed," Cai Feiming nodded in agreement. "Just as cruel as when Dutch soldiers slaughtered Ming civilians in Penghu..."

At that moment, Cai Feiming was like a tactless tour guide, utterly indifferent to his client's feelings. He revealed two neat rows of white teeth, smiled, and swept his arm in a circle before him: "Corpses covered this entire area back then. Ah, many couldn't be identified, because there were simply too many pieces. The laborers ended up using shovels to scoop the chunks into baskets. Sigh, it took three days before this place was cleaned up. Truly, it was far too cruel..."

... In that moment, Nuytz's furious gaze collided with Cai Feiming's gentle smiling face. The Dutchman suddenly realized that the eyes of this yellow-skinned man, who had worn a constant smile all along, were so utterly cold.

"Is it to strengthen the Shang Hall's defenses, Mr. Cai?" The provocateur ultimately backed down, for this was another's territory... At that moment, Nuytz's face paled. Changing the subject, he gestured with the ship-shaped hat in his hand toward the stacks of red bricks.

"No." Cai Feiming maintained his unchanging smile. As if nothing had happened, he enthusiastically began to explain: "These red bricks are in preparation for the 'Traveling Palace' that is about to be constructed."

He pointed toward the interior of Dayuan Island: "Our King will be crowned in the Traveling Palace."

Nuytz had not expected such candor and was momentarily speechless. "After coming to these remote seas, have these restorationists stopped bothering to hide it?" he thought silently.

Seeing the Dutchman fall silent, Cai Feiming extended a hand and began ushering the guests into the Shang Hall. Along the way, he enthusiastically told the Red Hairs: this dilapidated Shang Hall would be completely demolished, and in the future, this place would become a beautiful embassy district, with only high-ranking diplomatic personnel and a portion of the Transmigrators normally living on the island — this would minimize the shortage of fresh water.

The group went straight to the Mess Hall, where the old and new masters of Dayuan sat together. No matter how complicated their feelings, only smiles remained on their faces now.

The lunch was sumptuous: large cuts of venison, pork, and bear meat were brought to the table on red and blue Clark Porcelain plates. Grilled milkfish, mullet, and star grouper were served to the guests in succession. The Dutchmen lavished praise on every dish seasoned with Thirteen Spices, including sea vegetables and mountain delicacies like bamboo shoots and mushrooms — every portion on the plates was swept clean.

Beer and sorghum liquor had long gone extinct, so the luncheon featured yellow wine and plum wine shipped from Hangzhou. The globe-trotting Dutchmen would never refuse any kind of alcohol. Had they not considered the afternoon negotiations, that little bit of wine likely wouldn't have been enough for the Red Hairs to rinse their mouths.

After the banquet, the atmosphere between the two sides saw a qualitative improvement. At the very least, the sharp sense of antagonism radiating from Nuytz had diminished considerably. As Dayuan's nominal supreme leader at this moment, Xia Xianze also made a brief appearance after the banquet. After two perfunctory words of greeting, the leader vanished on schedule, leaving Cai Feiming, whose status was roughly equivalent to Nuytz's, to continue the proceedings.

At three in the afternoon, after a short rest in the guest rooms, Nuytz's team and Cai Feiming's team formally commenced negotiations in a room with a long table.

The Crossing Faction's negotiation terms had already been conveyed to Van der Hagen before this, so today's meeting was, in truth, Cai Feiming and his people unilaterally awaiting the Dutchmen's reply. And the Dutchmen sitting at the negotiating table now had spent the past few days analyzing the Transmigrators' proposed conditions countless times. Thus, for the Dutchmen, the pros and cons were already crystal clear.

No matter what, returning to Batavia with a ship full of raw silk and porcelain would improve the situation for everyone, Nuytz included.

In fact, if it could be confirmed that Dayuan under the Transmigrators' occupation was a stable channel for Ming commodities, then Nuytz and his men would stage an absolute comeback — transforming from a pack of homeless dogs who had lost their master's property into Silk Stars, golden huskies bringing rolling wealth to the Company.

As for the Shang Hall and the silver coins — from Amsterdam to Dayuan, then taking a turn to the Americas, the Dutch East India Company had countless trading posts being built and closed across global battlefields. If sacrificing one rammed-earth trading post and a few hundred thousand guilders in silver coins could blast open the raw silk channel of the Ming, any Council Member in Batavia would approve this deal without hesitation. What's more, the Transmigrators had cleverly recouped much of the Dutchmen's losses through the form of a loan...

In short, regarding the peace settlement for the Dayuan war and the future trade contracts proposed by the Transmigrators, Nuytz himself had no standing to reject them. He dared not, nor did he have the authority.

But none of this could hinder Mr. Nuytz's efforts to extract more benefits at the negotiating table. After all, trying wouldn't get one pregnant. So, the very first moment both sides came to the table, Mr. Nuytz pointed out: Dayuan Island was, without a doubt, territory designated to the Dutch East India Company by Ming officials three years ago during the Penghu War. Therefore, if the Crossing Faction, who claimed to hail from the "Kunlun" region of the Ming, still acknowledged the Ming as their suzerain state, they could not violate the agreement the Ming Court had originally reached with the Dutch.

Hearing this, Cai Feiming smiled. He rested his right forearm on the table, spread his palm open, and struck a pose reserved for beggars.

"What does this mean?" the Dutchman asked, puzzled.

"This is the universal international gesture for demanding proof. Please present the title deed for Dayuan Island issued by the Ming Court."

"What?!" Mr. Nuytz was furious. "The original agreement was approved by Governor-General Nan (Nan Juyi). It was the result of multiple discussions between Ming officials and us. Dayuan was granted to the East India Company by the Ming Emperor!"

"Sigh..." Cai Feiming shook his head at this. "Whether officials or emperors, if they can cede territory with nothing but mouths and tongues, without any treaties or documents, then they must be fake officials and fake emperors. Furthermore, if you now announced that all Ming territory belongs to the VOC, I wouldn't be surprised. After all, all you need is a mouth and a tongue, isn't that right?"

... Nuytz was a bit stuck at this point.

The ownership of Dayuan was, in truth, a muddled account.

During the Ming-Dutch War negotiations in Penghu three years ago, Fujian officials, through the intermediary/sea merchant Li Dan, conveyed to the Dutch two conditions: permission to establish a trading post in Dayuan, and consent for Dutch ships to trade in Fujian.