Chapter 477: We Have to Get Out There!

Prohibiting Dutch merchant ships from passing through the Taiwan Strait

When Van Diemen heard the words translated by Johann Adam Schall von Bell, his face darkened so much it nearly dripped water!

If Dutch ships could not pass through the strait, then not only would trade with China become impossible to continue, but trade with Japan would also run into major problems.

Without the China–Japan trade route, the Dutch East India Company's financial reports would suffer enormous losses!

Of course, he could choose to blockade the Strait of Malacca, completely cutting off the trade lines between China, Japan, and the West, and pressure the Great Ming Empire through a trade blockade.

But would a commercial company whose foremost task was making money go to war over trade blockades with a feudal agrarian empire, all for the sake of four unprofitable castles?

Playing it that way would bankrupt the company!

If Van Diemen actually did that, his governorship would be finished.

"Governor Diemen," Zhu Cilang said gently at this moment, "in this world there are many islands and lands larger and richer than Taiwan Island — without masters, without disputes, free for the East India Company to occupy. Why must you cling to Taiwan? You established a foothold on Taiwan Island for no other reason than to facilitate trade with China.

Now We grant you permission to open a trading house and an embassy directly at the mouth of the Yangtze. What value would Taiwan Island still have then? Apart from deerskin and sugar, that place has nothing but deadly malaria.

Furthermore, our Great Ming is now at war with the Tartars in the north, and needs a great many Western cannons, arquebuses, and gunpowder — this is a huge business! From now on, the East India Company's merchant ships can arrive laden with guns and cannons, and depart filled with silk and porcelain — one inbound, one outbound, two great deals!"

Indeed! Van Diemen thought to himself: A great deal! How could he refuse? That would be immoral! At bottom, he was the East India Company's manager, and his first duty was to be responsible for the shareholders' investment. The shareholders put up money to earn profits, not to conquer the world!

And as for territory roughly the size of Formosa — where couldn't he get that? Perhaps with an even more pleasant climate, and without all those deadly tropical diseases!

He had made up his mind, but Van Diemen could not let it show in his words. Giving in too early would not befit a wily old profiteer.

"Your Highness the Crown Prince," Van Diemen said, "I will seriously consider your proposal. However, General Zheng Zhilong has not yet arrived in Nanjing, and I hope to negotiate with him directly on the matters of navigation and the island.

In addition, I hope to further inspect the Shanghai trading port, to determine whether it can replace Formosa."

Heh! Zhu Cilang sneered inwardly: What's with the act? Could a profiteer like you really leave a pile of silver unearned?

"Thousand Years, Imperial Relative Zheng has arrived. He is waiting outside the Donghua Gate."

No sooner had Van Diemen left than Huang Xiaobao brought Zhu Cilang word that Zheng Zhilong was seeking an audience.

Zheng Zhilong had actually arrived in Nanjing one day earlier than Van Diemen. The moment he reached the Duke of Quan's residence in Nanjing, he received the happy tidings sent from the palace — his daughter Zheng Chagu had truly done him proud and was already carrying the Crown Prince's child!

So when Zheng Zhilong met Zhu Cilang today, he was grinning so wide he could hardly close his mouth!

And Zhu Cilang gave Zheng Zhilong full face as well. He did not sit waiting inside the Hall of Literary Splendor, but went out to greet him at the Wenhua Gate. Seeing that Zheng Zhilong was about to kneel before him, he waved his hand and said with a smile, "No need to kneel. We are all family here, and this is not the court."

Zheng Zhilong did not kneel, but still performed a bow with clasped hands: "This subject respectfully wishes His Highness the Heir Apparent golden peace."

"Dispense with the formalities, dispense with them. Come, let us first go see Chagu. She has been missing you these days." As Zhu Cilang spoke, he walked with Zheng Zhilong toward the Pavilion of Eternal Spring behind the Hall of Literary Splendor.

The Pavilion of Eternal Spring was not a single tower, but the collective name for a large compound and five towers — one large and four small. The larger three-story tower in the center served as the shared bedchamber of Zhu Cilang and Wu Sanmei. The four smaller towers stood to the east, south, west, and north of the main tower. The eastern, western, and northern towers belonged respectively to Zheng Chagu, Ning Xiangyu, and Fei Zhen'e. The southern tower, the South Pavilion of Eternal Spring, which stood close to the Hall of Literary Splendor and the Hall of Overcoming Hardship, was used to receive imperial relatives who came to the palace to visit their kin.

By the time Zhu Cilang and Zheng Zhilong walked into the South Pavilion chatting and laughing, Zheng Chagu had already been waiting there for a while. Although her pregnancy had been diagnosed, she was only about a month along, so nothing showed at all, and it did not hinder her movements. When she saw Zheng Zhilong and Zhu Cilang arrive together, she leaped high into the air and cried, "Daddy!" Then she lifted her skirts and dashed over as if flying. This gave the two older palace maids attending her — both of whom had entered the palace with Zheng Chagu and were old serving women who had looked after her for years — a terrible fright, and they hurriedly chased after her. But how could they catch up with the daughter of the Pirate King? The Pirate King's daughter moved as if flying even on a rocking, swaying sea vessel. The two older women had run only a few steps when one of them tripped and fell, and the other hurried to help her up — a fine flurry of confusion.

Zheng Zhilong frowned at the sight of his daughter bouncing and leaping about — what sort of manners was this girl displaying? Even if she had married into an ordinary wealthy household as a young mistress, she could not behave like this, let alone after entering the palace!

But Zhu Cilang watched Zheng Chagu with smiling eyes. As Crown Prince, he had a taste for exactly this sweet, naive type. Chagu and Sanmei were both of that sort, and so they were much to his liking. The solemn and dignified Ning Xiangyu and the little fox-spirit Fei Zhen'e, by contrast, were not his cup of tea.

By now Chagu had reached Zheng Zhilong. She curtsied in greeting, then took hold of Old Zheng's rough, calloused hand, her eyes reddening. Zheng Zhilong was a plain-spoken man and did not know how to say anything sentimental. He simply looked at his daughter and said with a chuckle, "Is your silver still enough to spend? Daddy has brought you another fifty thousand taels this time, all deposited in the Maritime Merchant Bank."

Zhu Cilang, standing nearby, heard Zheng Zhilong's words and shook his head: "Father-in-law, don't spoil Chagu too much. She has little to spend money on inside the palace."

Zheng Zhilong also smiled: "This girl has been spoiled since she was little and has no sense of money. I, her father, have a bit of wealth, so let her spend freely."

In truth, Zheng Chagu was not at all a girl with no sense of money, and Zheng Zhilong, the richest man in the land, was not the sort to spoil his children to the heavens — he had so many children that he could not have spoiled them all even if he tried!

The reason he was now stuffing money into Chagu's pockets in great handfuls was so that Chagu could scatter it around inside the Ming imperial palace. If Chagu's belly did her proud and she bore Zhu Cilang a son, and if she was ordinarily generous with her money, then with the Zheng family backing her, the next Crown Prince would very likely be Chagu's son.

Zhu Cilang naturally understood Zheng Zhilong's thinking, but he did not interfere in who ranked higher or lower in the inner palace. Only his word counted there.

The father-daughter meeting came to an end. After they had lunch together and chatted about family matters for a while, Zheng Zhilong followed Zhu Cilang back to the Hall of Literary Splendor. Father-in-law and son-in-law both entered the study in the East Warm Pavilion. Once seated, Zhu Cilang began discussing the negotiations with the Dutch with Zheng Zhilong.

"Father-in-law," Zhu Cilang said, "Van Diemen cannot prevail against us this time. He has few bargaining chips. But we cannot look only at the immediate gains. We must look further ahead."

"Look further ahead? How far ahead?" Zheng Zhilong, ever the plain-spoken man, asked directly.

"At the farthest — look to the continent of Europa!" Zhu Cilang said. "We must send people to Europa — to trade, to study, to invite their craftsmen, teachers, military officers... and sailors!"

"Sailors? We have sailors!" Zheng Zhilong patted his chest. "As many as you need — no problem!"

Zhu Cilang glanced at him. "Can your men sail ships to Europa, to the New World? Can they handle those soft-sailed great seagoing vessels?"

"Well..." Zheng Zhilong thought for a moment. "In truth, before the Battle of Liaoluo Bay, this subject did build ten soft-sailed galleon-style barbarian ships, all with double gun decks, and mounted movable Hongyi cannons in the barbarian manner. A pity that before they could be commissioned, they were raided by the red-haired nation's East India Company warships, and all ten warships were destroyed in a single stroke. A great pity indeed!"

(End of Chapter)