Chapter 260: Negotiation

Considering the huge strength gap between the Netherlands and Spain, the Dutch government compromised very quickly, immediately ordering the ambassador stationed in Spain to contact the Spanish government to clarify the innocence of the Dutch government in the conflict between the two indigenous forces on the island of Kalimantan.

Of course, the Dutch government would not be so simple as to think that after it retreated, Spain would stop its actions.

On one hand, the Dutch government was prepared to lose the Kutai Sultanate; they did not hope to break out into greater contradictions between the Netherlands and Spain for the sake of a small Kutai Sultanate.

On the other hand, the Dutch government also hoped that European powers could mediate in the middle to ensure that the Netherlands' interests would not suffer too much loss.

If it was just negotiating with the Spanish side, Spain's lion's mouth opening wide was inevitable. The Netherlands would definitely be in a disadvantaged position in the negotiation, and by then, what the Netherlands lost would not just be a small Kutai Sultanate, but possibly the entire island of Kalimantan, or even several surrounding islands.

Because of the important geographical location of the island of Kalimantan, the Dutch government was not willing to completely lose the island of Kalimantan, and was even less willing to lose other major islands around the island of Kalimantan.

One must know that the island of Kalimantan is only 300 kilometers away from Java island, the core area of the Dutch East Indies. If Spain were allowed to occupy South Kalimantan, wouldn't it mean that Java island might also face covetousness from the Spanish?

Precisely because of this, after internal discussions, the Dutch government decided that the bottom line for retreating to Spain was the Kutai Sultanate.

Anyway, it was the Kutai Sultanate that attacked Lanfang; everyone has grudges to report and grievances to report, so don't implicate other countries that have no relationship.

As for the vast land south of the Kutai Sultanate and east of the Lanfang Republic, the Dutch would absolutely not retreat.

Because this was already the south of the island of Kalimantan, and it was the core area of the Dutch East Indies in the true sense.

If Spain were allowed to intervene here, the future Dutch East Indies would never be peaceful.

Of course, if Spain's appetite was really too big, the Netherlands could also make certain retreats in other aspects, such as New Guinea, which all countries were vigorously colonizing.

New Guinea could be seen as two parts. The only countries colonizing West New Guinea were the Netherlands, Spain, and Portugal, while the three major powers of Germany, France, and Britain were colonizing East New Guinea.

According to the current colonization progress of West New Guinea, the Netherlands, as the country that had worked here the longest, had hope of obtaining the largest colony.

Although Spain was the strongest among the three countries colonizing West New Guinea, because it had only been colonizing here for less than ten years, the current colonization progress could only be said to be slightly ahead of Portugal, and still had a certain gap with the Dutch.

If no accidents happened, the Netherlands would obtain a large area in the west of New Guinea island, Spain would be able to obtain some relatively important areas and islands, and Portugal could only pick up some remote areas and uninhabited small islands that neither country valued.

Although the area of New Guinea was larger than the island of Kalimantan, because it was at the easternmost end of the Dutch East Indies, the geographical location was not that important.

For the Dutch, if they could ensure that the land in the south of the island of Kalimantan still belonged to them by abandoning part of the land in New Guinea, this was absolutely a cost-effective deal.

Of course, the Dutch's tolerance was limited to this.

If Spain's appetite was too big, and the Kutai Sultanate plus part of the land in New Guinea could not satisfy Spain's appetite, then the Dutch could only ensure the safety of the Dutch East Indies by requesting mediation from the powers.

By the time the Dutch ambassador to Spain requested to see Gao Da, it had already been five days since the Lanfang army launched a full-scale counterattack.

The Dutch ambassador's mood was still relatively urgent. If they could not reach an agreement with the Spanish government before the Lanfang army completely occupied the Kutai Sultanate, it would not be so easy to negotiate once the flames of war burned to the Dutch colony.

Compared to the slightly urgent Dutch ambassador, Gao Da's mood at this time was obviously much better.

Currently, Spain's colonization in Africa and Southeast Asia was quite smooth, and the Congo territory, the Guinea colony, and the Philippines colony were all in a state of constant expansion.

Since Gao Da was crowned as the King of Spain, Spain finally stopped the trend of constantly losing colonies, and even obtained many important colonies with not small areas.

Although Gao Da did not have too much boasting about such achievements, the Spanish public was still very concerned about the expansion of their country's colonies.

During Gao Da's reign, Spain obtained two large colonies, the South Morocco colony and the Congo territory, among which the area of the Congo territory was as high as several million square kilometers.

Besides this, the expansion area of the Philippines colony was also as high as nearly 100,000 square kilometers, and the title of "Third Colonial Empire" finally looked like it lived up to its name.

Although these were not expansions of the mainland, opening up colonies was also a great achievement.

Gao Da, who led the expansion of the colonies, was also enthusiastically praised by the Spanish public. Although it did not reach the level of the greatest king in Spanish history, it was enough to enter the top five of Spain's greatest king rankings.

It was mainly because of the foil of the father and daughter, Ferdinand VII and Queen Isabella, that made Gao Da, this king, look so great.

Of course, personality cult is actually a good thing for a monarchy. As long as this monarch possesses enough ability, there is no need to worry about the shortcomings of personality cult.

Thanks to the public's fanatical love for Gao Da, the Spanish government led by Gao Da also appeared quite relaxed when issuing decrees.

The vast majority of decrees did not need to worry about the public's reaction at all; the public would spontaneously support the decrees issued by the government, and there would basically be no opposing emotions.

Gao Da had also emphasized many times the importance of having more children, and currently, the Spanish public was also proud of having more children, and many multi-child families with more than three children had been born.

It was precisely these Spaniards who loved Gao Da and followed every decree issued by the Spanish government that made Spain's construction work proceed so smoothly.

It is no exaggeration to say that judging from Gao Da's popularity in Spain at present, there is no need to worry about any country invading Spain.

Even if it were super powers like Britain, France, and Germany, as long as they dared to actively invade Spain, Spain could at least exchange life for injury and drag down super powers of the Britain, France, and Germany level.

If it were a country like Britain whose army was not strong in the first place, as long as they dared to confront Spain on land, the one who would fail would definitely be the British.

Although personality cult has such or such shortcomings, for the army, enough worship can greatly improve military morale and spirit, achieving the effect that as soon as Gao Da gives an order, the Spanish army will go out in full force and fight without fear of death.

It was just that Spain's population was far inferior to powers like Britain, France, and Germany; otherwise, Spain at this time would not be so low-key.

Even if Spain could obtain military advantages by relying on personality cult and certain weapon technology, other countries could also drag down Spain through human consumption.

Therefore, before Spain's population reached a certain level, Gao Da did not intend to let Spain show too much in the international level.

After all, the most powerful country at this time was the British, and any country whose international influence threatened Britain would be targeted and hostile by the British.

The previous France was like this, the current Russia is like this, and the future Germany will be even more so.

Even it was not just the British; every super power that occupied the world's number one position would do so. The throne of world number one represented huge interests, and no country would hand over such a position to others.

This also meant that every time the world hegemon throne was replaced, it would face quite cruel blood and rain.

The name of the Dutch ambassador to Spain was William, a name very common throughout Europe, and many rulers of countries were also called William.

Of course, European names are generally very long, and the probability of completely hitting the name is still very small.

"Respected King of Spain, I, on behalf of my King William III and the Dutch government and the Dutch public, express deep respect to you." As soon as he saw Gao Da, Ambassador William performed a standard European noble salute to Gao Da for the first time.

The diplomatic ambassadors of various European countries in this era were generally nobles; after all, most European countries were monarchies, and diplomatic ambassadors had to see the kings and other nobles of various countries frequently.

If they were not nobles, they would already be a notch lower in status, and it would be quite difficult when meeting and saluting.

Just like the Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs, Everton, at this time, he held the title of Hou Jue, higher than a Count and lower than a Duke, which could also be considered a great noble.

If a Baron is the bottom line for measuring whether one is a noble or not, then the Hou Jue above a Count is the standard line for measuring whether one is a great noble.

Of course, in some countries, the standard line has become a Duke, but generally, it is about the same.

In Europe, no one would think that a Count is a great noble, even if this Count possesses vast land and property.

Similarly, no one would think that a Duke is a small noble, even if the Duke's property is not much.

Although there are many fallen nobles, after reaching the level of Duke, the probability of wanting to completely fall is very small, unless the family line is broken or the title is lost due to some accidents.

Facing Ambassador William's respectful salute, Gao Da nodded plainly, and asked with a faint smile on his face: "Ambassador William suddenly requested to see me, is there any important matter?"

"It's not any important matter." Ambassador William said quickly: "Regarding the problems caused by the indigenous riots on the island of Kalimantan, I, on behalf of my King and your government, express apologies, and am willing to compensate for your country's losses.

Not long ago, another indigenous riot broke out on Java island. This riot caused the death of several of our immigrants, and the King was furious, ordering the East Indies government to mobilize troops to suppress the riot.

It was precisely because of the mobilization of troops that the military strength on the island of Kalimantan was empty, and finally, those damn indigenous people took advantage of the loophole.

We also want to suppress the indigenous riots, but because the situation on Java island is not stable, we are somewhat powerless at this time.

We are willing to invite your government to enter the Kutai Sultanate to suppress the rebellion, and the military expenditure incurred will also be borne by us, as compensation for the losses suffered by your country in the riots.

I wonder if your country is willing to accept such conditions, hoping to use this to make up for the friendly relationship between Spain and the Netherlands." Dutch Ambassador William said with a very sincere attitude.

Gao Da looked at Ambassador William with a smile on his face, and was not surprised by what Ambassador William said.

Facing the more powerful Spain, the Dutch government would most likely have to actively retreat. Since they were going to actively retreat, the first thing the Dutch government had to do was to clear its suspicion in this conflict, avoiding suffering greater losses.

Sure enough, in Ambassador William's words, a border aggression against the Lanfang Republic led by the Dutch turned into an indigenous riot caused by Dutch negligence.

Although the Dutch government still had a certain responsibility, Ambassador William's words were also very clear, which was that they were willing to compensate Spain with the Kutai Sultanate and a certain amount of funds.

The Dutch compensation was really a big deal. The total area of the island of Kalimantan is as high as 743,300 square kilometers, and the Kutai Sultanate is one of the largest indigenous countries on the island of Kalimantan.

Just the area of a Kutai Sultanate is at least 100,000 square kilometers, which is more than twice the area of the Netherlands mainland.

The Portugal that Gao Da was thinking about day and night also only had a total area of about 92,000 square kilometers. Although the Kutai Sultanate was far away from Europe, obtaining a piece of land with an area as high as over 100,000 square kilometers was also not a small gain for Spain.

The problem is that the Kutai Sultanate, as the main force invading the Lanfang border, had already been counterattacked by the Lanfang army.

Regardless of whether the Dutch government was willing to abandon the Kutai Sultanate, this place would soon become land controlled by the Lanfang Republic and actually controlled by Spain.

The Dutch army definitely could not personally stop the attack of the Lanfang army, which also meant that the Dutch losing the Kutai Sultanate was inevitable.

Looking at it this way, it was equivalent to the Dutch government hoping to solve this dispute through some reparations, not hoping to pay more costs.

The problem is, is this possible? The dispute was actively provoked by the Dutch, and now they want to take it lightly, they still have to look at Spain's attitude.

"Ambassador William, I have already understood the riot situation on the island of Kalimantan. In this indigenous riot, some of our immigrants faced relatively serious property losses and life dangers, which is something I, as the King of Spain, cannot tolerate.

Since the Netherlands is powerless to suppress the indigenous riots, then Spain naturally has the obligation to quickly suppress the indigenous riots to ensure the safety of the lives and property of the Spanish public.

Since we are going to liquidate these indigenous people, I think it is very necessary to liquidate the indigenous people of the entire island of Kalimantan, so as to prevent the next riot by the indigenous people in a short time.

I wonder what Ambassador William thinks? If your country does not have enough troops, the Spanish army is willing to serve." Gao Da's expression did not change at all, his face still carried a faint smile, and his attitude was very gentle.

Although Gao Da carried a smile, the words spoken sounded like threats one by one to Ambassador William.

Gao Da's attitude was also very clear: he recognized the indigenous riots mentioned by the Dutch side. But at the same time, Gao Da was also not satisfied with the conditions offered by the Dutch.

The Kutai Sultanate was already a piece of fat in Spain's mouth, and the so-called payment by the Dutch had no actual cost, which could not attract Gao Da at all.

If the Netherlands wanted to ensure peace in the Southeast Asian region through negotiation, it would be better to put forward some conditions that could truly move people's hearts, rather than areas that Spain had already actually occupied.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 261 =====