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Chapter 1414. Governor of the Netherlands.

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    ¡­ ¡­ ¡­ As the saying goes, ¡°The Lord is worried about the humiliation of his ministers, and the Lord is concerned about the humiliation of his ministers and their death.¡±  For Ouyang Bo and Qian Bodao, although they are Zhao Junchen's aides in the palace, they are now ordered to assist Huo Zhengyuan, and Huo Zhengyuan is their temporary chief.  Under such circumstances, the attack on Huo Zhengyuan was the top priority in their minds.  What's more, Jiang Zheng is a colleague they have never met, and now he is seriously injured and his life or death is uncertain. They should rush to visit and express their concerns as soon as possible.  Therefore, even without Huo Zhengyuan's instructions, they would immediately drop everything at hand and go directly to Nanjing.  But at this moment, they could not find their third staff member, Guo Min.  When Ouyang Bo and Qian Bodao received the news, it was already afternoon time. Considering that Suzhou and Nanjing were not far apart, if they set off immediately and traveled overnight, they could arrive in Nanjing before tomorrow morning and meet Huo Zhengyuan.  Meet as soon as possible.  On the other hand, if they were delayed waiting for Guo Min, they might not be able to leave Suzhou before evening, and their arrival in Nanjing would be delayed until tomorrow afternoon.  In this way, the difference between the inside and the outside is half a day.  Under an urgent situation, this time is enough to delay many major events, and it is also enough to decide many major events.  Therefore, after discovering that they and others could not find any trace of Guo Min, Ouyang Bo and Qian Bodao were both anxious.  "What's going on with this Guo Min? Even if he's mysterious on weekdays, when he doesn't need his help, you can just see him wandering in front of you, but when you really need him, you can't find him! He  If you need to leave for something, why don't you even say hello? Where on earth are we going to find him? " Ouyang Bo lost his cool in a hurry, and he was a little rude when he commented on Guo Min.  Ouyang Bo's greatest advantage is that he is capable in doing things, so he has a quick temper, and he can't stand others' procrastination and delays.  On the other side, Qian Bodao hesitated for a moment, and finally couldn't help but said: "Actually I can roughly guess where Guo Min is going at this time" After Ouyang Bo was stunned, he quickly asked.  : "Oh? Where is Guo Min? Why didn't you tell me earlier? Let's send people to find him now!" Qian Bodao's expression became more and more embarrassed, and he explained hesitantly: "Mr. Ouyang, you  I also know that I have been ordered by Zhao Gechen to assist Master Zuo Huo in handling all accounts and receipts. Mr. Guo has been mysterious and mysterious since he arrived in Suzhou, and has repeatedly withdrawn large sums of money from me.  , but he was never willing to explain why he wanted to withdraw a large amount of money Considering that his brother Guo Tang had an old feud with Zhao Gechen, and he himself had taken refuge with Zhao Junchen not long ago, I was a little worried.  After withdrawing a large sum of money, he secretly followed his whereabouts" After hearing Qian Bodao's deliberate explanation, Ouyang Bo immediately frowned again, and looked at Qian Bodao with an extremely stern look.  Qian Bodao's behavior can be said to be cautious and loyal at best, but to be suspicious of and spy on colleagues at worst. It can be said to be serious in nature.  Ouyang Bo could roughly guess what Qian Bodao was thinking. This person was the old accountant in the Zhao family. Before Zhao Junchen expanded his staff team, this person was the teacher and treasurer in the Zhao family who was second only to Su Xiqing.  Zhang has always claimed to be a loyal veteran.  Therefore, Qian Bodao probably believed that he had an obligation to help Zhao Junchen monitor Guo Min, a suspicious person, so he followed and monitored him on his own initiative.  Ouyang Bo didn't care about Qian Bodao's seniority at all, and immediately accused him sharply: "Hu Tu! Do you think that Academician Huo and I don't know about Guo Min's mysterious behavior? But why did the two of us never spy on him secretly?  ? Because Academician Huo and I both know that Guo Min was assigned a secret mission by Zhao Gechen, and Zhao Gechen is willing to believe him, so we should trust Zhao Gechen's judgment and not be suspicious of him at will, let alone follow him at will!  , it may affect Guo Min's secret mission, and may even reveal Zhao Gechen's secret plan! Mr. Qian, I know that you are a senior member of the Zhao family and have always been loyal to Zhao Gechen! But something like this,  I hope you will never make your own decisions again! Regarding your performance this time, I will conceal it from Academician Huo and Guo Min to prevent them from being biased against you, but I will also report it to Zhao Gechen truthfully.  It¡¯s up to Zhao Gechen to judge!¡± Upon hearing Ouyang Bo¡¯s accusation, Qian Bodao smiled bitterly and nodded, not daring to make any further rebuttal.  And after Ouyang Bo paused for a while, he asked again: "Thenwhere do you think Guo Min is now?" Qian ?Dao replied: "I secretly followed him twice and found that every time he would go around in circles to a store called 'Haiyu Chamber of Commerce' in the east of the city. I also personally visited that store. The products sold in the store were  Everything is a rare specialty from the West If nothing else, Guo Min would still go there now! Only when going to that store would Guo Min deliberately conceal his whereabouts? " Ouyang Bo's eyes flashed and he nodded: "In that case.  If so, then send someone immediately, make several detours, and secretly rush to the Haiyu Chamber of Commerce. Contact Guo Min as soon as possible, inform him of the news, and ask him to come back as soon as possible and rush to Nanjing with us. " " Qian Bo.  Dao was stunned and asked: "If we contact him directly like this, aren't we afraid of affecting his secret mission?" Ouyang Bo glanced at Qian Bodao, his expression became more and more dissatisfied, and explained: "When you follow him  After discovering the place 'Haiyu Chamber of Commerce', his secret mission was at risk of failure and leakage. Therefore, we sent someone to contact him directly just to let him understand that the place 'Haiyu Chamber of Commerce' had been exposed!  I reminded him to abandon this place as soon as possible to prevent more people from discovering his traces. He also reminded him that he should be more cautious in hiding his whereabouts in the future and no longer allow people to follow him at will." Qian Bodao suddenly nodded and said, "Then I will do it now!  Just go make arrangements!¡± In order to make up for his mistake, Qian Bodao was particularly active at this time and immediately got up and took action.  Looking at Qian Bodao's leaving figure, Ouyang Bo couldn't help but shook his head slowly, took the opportunity to find paper and pen, and began to write a letter to Zhao Junchen to inform Zhao Junchen.  * Just as Qian Bodao guessed, Guo Min was in a hidden room in the "Haiyu Chamber of Commerce" store at this time, making contact with Zuo Qiuci, the big shopkeeper of the "Haiyu Chamber of Commerce".  This Zuo Qiuci has a strange appearance, with extremely deep facial features, a straight and big nose, short and thick black hair and beard, and gray eyes. He is a Chinese-Dutch man.  As for the identity of the big boss of the "Haiyu Chamber of Commerce", it was just Zuo Qiuci's disguise in the Ming Dynasty. His true identity was the important leader of a famous pirate fleet in Nanyang. He had extensive connections among pirates in Nanyang, and he also  Maintained close relations with the Dutch East India Company.  Before Guo Min joined Zhao Junchen, he was his business partner in the Ming Dynasty.  More than three months ago, Guo Min was ordered to contact Zuo Qiuci on behalf of Zhao Junchen and proposed a big deal to Zuo Qiu Ci.  This big deal was extremely important and could even affect the future situation of the entire Nanyang. Therefore, Zuo Qiuci did not dare to make the decision without authorization, so he went to Nanyang to contact various pirates and the Dutch East India Company. He had just returned from overseas two days ago.  After Guo Min learned the news of Zuo Qiuci's return, he quickly came here to meet Zuo Qiu Ci.  After the two met, Zuo Qiuci still had a bold attitude, laughing loudly and hugging Guo Min warmly, which made Guo Min extremely uncomfortable.  After finally breaking away from Zuo Qiu Ci's embrace, Guo Min quickly stepped back and distanced himself, and asked straight to the point: "Master Zuo Qiu, it's been a hundred days since you and I last met, but  I wonder if your trip is going well during this period? And about the deal between us, does your boss behind the scenes agree to cooperate? "Zuo Qiuci knew very well that Guo Min didn't like the overseas courtesy of hugging each other, but every time he saw it,  Guo Min will still do this forcefully in the future, just to make Guo Min feel uncomfortable and then gain the upper hand during negotiations.  Seeing that Guo Min went straight to the topic, a hint of cunning flashed across Zuo Qiuci's rough-looking face, and he chuckled: "Sit down and talk! We have a lot to talk about next, so sit down and talk!" After that,  Zuo Qiuci dragged over a chair and pushed Guo Min to sit on the chair, while he sat beside Guo Min. The distance between the two parties was too close, which still made Guo Min feel uncomfortable.  Zuo Qiuci smiled again and said: "Boss Guo is so generous! During this period of time, I have not been in the Ming Dynasty, but Boss Guo did not wait for the cooperation to be concluded, so he came here several times to contact us, and spent a lot of money to bribe us overseas.  The people attacked the ocean-going fleet of the Ming Dynasty merchants, causing heavy losses to the Ming Dynasty merchants, which in turn accelerated the process of the great scholar Huo's establishment of the ocean-going fleet It seems that Boss Guo is very anxious! " Guo Min!  He frowned. He was also a veteran of shopping malls, so he naturally understood that when negotiating for cooperation, the party that is anxious always suffers the most.  Therefore, Guo Min immediately shook his head and denied Zuo Qiuci's statement, and said slowly: "I'm impatientit's not the case! It's just that I am idle and I can control a large amount of money at any time, so I want to take a little time before we cooperate.  Just test your strength! If your strength is not as strong as the legend, then there is no need for us to cooperate, right?Qiu Ci asked back: "Then what does Boss Guo think of our strength? Is it worthy of long-term cooperation?" Guo Min nodded and said: "The strength is indeed good, at least we have completed the task properly! I have done it five times during this period  You bribed you to attack the ocean-going ships of Ming Dynasty merchants once, and you finally succeeded three times Considering that it is not easy to search for ships on the vast sea, it is not satisfactory! " Zuo Qiuci didn't mind Guo Min's praise and criticism!  Instead, he said confidently: "Actually, our strength is far stronger than Boss Guo imagined! I hope Boss Guo knows that when I inform all parties in Nanyang that Zhao Gechen wants to cooperate secretly,  Not only have more than twenty powerful Southeast Asian pirates expressed their willingness to cooperate, but they have also directly alerted a big shot. "Oh? Who is it?" Zuo Qiuci replied solemnly: "It's the Dutch East India.  Governor Lutte of the company! He is very interested in cooperating with Zhao Gechen and even wants to meet with Zhao Gechen in person to discuss the cooperation in detail! Boss Guo, you may not know the capabilities of Governor Lutte. He has more than one person under his command.  One hundred and fifty merchant ships, forty warships, 50,000 employees, and 10,000 mercenary troops Compared with Governor Rutte, whether it is us Nanyang pirates, that is the Taiwanese Zheng family, or this  That's all" When talking about Governor Rutte, Zuo Qiu Ci was full of respect and kept giving a thumbs up. After mentioning the Zheng family in Taiwan, Zuo Qiu Ci looked disdainful and raised half of his little finger.  .  Speaking of this, Zuo Qiuci even pretended to be powerful and proud, showing off: "So, as long as you Zhao cabinet minister shows enough sincerity and gets the full support of Governor Lu Te, any actions he takes in Nanyang in the future will be  It¡¯s easy to get twice the result with half the effort!¡± Zuo Qiuci emphasized the word ¡°sincerity¡±.  Obviously, Governor Rutte also proposed a series of conditions to Zhao Junchen!  After hearing this, Guo Min couldn't help but be shocked.  He never expected that he would be able to contact the governor of the Dutch East India Company so smoothly.  But then, Guo Min shook his head and sneered: "One hundred and fifty merchant ships, forty warships, fifty thousand employees, and ten thousand mercenary troops It is indeed not to be underestimated, but what kind of big shot is he?  Isn't it too exaggerated? When we, Zhao Gechen, commanded the Shaanxi-Gansu war, we could mobilize hundreds of thousands of troops at will and wipe out more than 100,000 powerful enemies in one fell swoop. Moreover, Zhao Gechen also controlled the Ming Dynasty's treasury and handled the receipts and expenditures of tens of millions of taels of silver.  , with a little thought, you can affect the livelihood of tens of millions of people in the Ming Dynasty If this Governor Lu Te is also a big shot, then who is my Zhao Gechen? Or is it the deity in the sky that I, the Han people, believe in?  "Jesus God?" All transaction negotiations in this world are essentially no different from buying food at the vegetable market. When bargaining, you always need to belittle the other party.  Zuo Qiuci didn't mind that Guo Min belittled Governor Lu Te and promoted Zhao Junchen, but when he heard that Guo Min compared Zhao Junchen to Jesus God, he couldn't help but frowned.  ¡°Obviously, although Zuo Qiuci is a murderous pirate, he is also a believer in God who longs for redemption¡ªin Western culture, the two do not conflict.  So, Zuo Qiuci sneered and said: "In the territory of the Ming Dynasty, the cabinet minister Zhao is naturally stronger, but Nanyang Governor Lu Te has the final say! The cabinet minister Zhao is the most powerful in the territory of the Ming Dynasty.  No matter how powerful the power is, it is beyond the reach of the countries in Southeast Asia. They can only rely on Governor Lu Te's breath. " Normally, Guo Min would have been frightened by Zuo Qiuci's rhetoric, but after Zhao Junchen's advice, he was already convinced.  The real background of the seemingly powerful Dutch East India Company is very clear.  In short, it¡¯s just about being strong on the outside and doing things on the inside.  Therefore, Guo Min also kept sneering and said: "No matter how strong the Dutch East India Company is, it still needs to rely on the national strength of the Netherlands. Once the Netherlands begins to gradually decline, the East India Company will be a rootless tree.  It¡¯s just a piece of cake without water! As far as I know, the Netherlands is not simply declining in recent years. Because it lost the Dutch-French War and the Anglo-Dutch Naval War, its sphere of influence is being rapidly eroded by Britain and France, and even  There is also the worry of national subjugation! Under such circumstances, how long can the East India Company remain strong? Maybe in a few years, Britain and France will extend their tentacles to the Southeast Asia, and the Netherlands has already lost to them in the Western Ocean.  Is it possible to defend Nanyang? "In fact, Guo Min did not understand the changes in the situation in Western countries at all. He could not even distinguish the differences between the Netherlands, England, and France. At this time, he was just repeating what Zhao Junchen taught him.  But Guo Min knew very well that hisThis attitude can definitely scare Zuo Qiuci.  After a pause, Guo Min sneered again: "So, the strength of our Zhao Gechen is as stable as a mountain and has no worries for a long time! The strength of the Dutch East India Company is precarious and full of hidden dangers! Therefore, Zhao Gechen and  The cooperation between the Dutch East India Company and the Dutch East India Company not only requires each other, but also the Dutch East India Company wants more from our Zhao Gechen! I also want to remind Mr. Zuoqiu that my Zhao Gechen has far more choices than you. You can choose either way!  You, the Dutch East India Company, can also choose the Zheng family in Taiwan, you can also spend a lot of money to recruit a group of pirates to go it alone, or even you can find a way to contact Britain and France and invite them to enter Nanyang in advance! But your Dutch East India Company is different!  Zhao Gechen usually has a choice, but unlike Zhao Gechen, he can wait patiently! After losing the support of the Netherlands, if the Dutch East India Company still wants to maintain its sphere of influence in Nanyang under the covetousness of Britain and France, it can only rely on the Ming Dynasty.  Support, especially the support of Zhao Gechen! Governor Lu Te must be very aware of this, so he responded positively to Zhao Gechen¡¯s cooperation proposal, right? " Guo Min¡¯s words are obviously exaggerated, for example, Zhao Junchen  His official status in the Ming Dynasty was definitely not as stable as Mount Tai.  "But Zuoqiu Ci is a foreigner. No matter how proficient in Chinese he is, he will not know the actual situation of Zhao Junchen.  And although Guo Min doesn¡¯t understand the situation in Western countries, he understands human nature very well!  In Guo Min's view, when the Netherlands is in rapid decline, pirates such as the Dutch East India Company and Zuo Qiuming, who accepted the protection of the Dutch East India Company, must be panicked and at a loss now, and he only needs to  By stating this directly, you can completely gain the upper hand during negotiations.  This is also the negotiation strategy taught to Guo Min by Zhao Junchen.  Sure enough, after hearing Guo Min's direct analysis, Zuo Qiuming couldn't help but feel at a disadvantage. His expression changed and he remained silent for a long time.  Guo Min, on the other hand, smiled like an old man and said: "Well, there is no point in arguing about these things. Let's continue to discuss cooperation! By the way, you just said that as long as Zhao Gechen shows enough sincerity, he can obtain that  Governor Lutte's full support, but I don't know what kind of sincerity does Governor Lutte want?" After Zuo Qiuci thought for a moment, he replied: "Zhao Gechen mainly proposed three cooperation contents, one of which is robbery?  We will plunder all the ocean-going ships of the Ming Dynasty merchants, and no longer cooperate with any Ming Dynasty merchants except for the ocean-going fleet formed by the southeast patrol envoys. Secondly, we hope that we will purchase large quantities of grain from various countries in Southeast Asia and transport it to the Ming Dynasty.  ; The third is to secretly purchase a batch of advanced ships and guns Governor Rutte has already nodded in agreement to these three cooperations! As long as Zhao Gechen pays the price, no matter it is the Dutch East India Company,  We Nanyang pirates are still willing to actively cooperate with Zhao Gechen! But Governor Lutte and some of my pirate allies have also put forward three conditions, hoping that Zhao Gechen can cooperate. "In fact, the Dutch East India Company and the Nanyang pirates.  A total of more than a dozen conditions were put forward, but because Guo Min hit the point directly, Zuo Qiuci did not dare to be aggressive, so he deleted those conditions that were too harsh and irrelevant, and only retained the three most core conditions.  Guo Min frowned and asked: "Oh? What are the three conditions?" Zuoqiu Ci replied sincerely: "These three conditions are not excessive to say the least, and they are even easier for Zhao Gechen!  The first is the conditions put forward by the Nanyang pirates In fact, among the Nanyang pirates, there are also a large number of Han people, who were once subjects of the Ming Dynasty, but they either committed crimes and were wanted by the government, or they lost their land and were unable to make a living.  , so they took the risk and went to Nanyang to become pirates And they hope that Zhao Gechen can find a suitable time to arrange for them to return to their hometown, especially those who are wanted by the government, and hope that Zhao Gechen can find a way to pardon their crimes. " Zuoqiu Ci.  He also knew that although this condition was a small matter for Zhao Junchen, Guo Min was not qualified to agree on behalf of Zhao Junchen, so he put forward the last two conditions on his own, saying: "The other two conditions are  It was proposed by Governor Rutte. First, he hoped that Zhao Gechen could allow the Dutch East India Company to enter the territory of the Ming Dynasty for trade, especially the gold and silver exchange business, which could no longer be monopolized by Portugal. Second, he hoped that Zhao Gechen could allow some Ming Dynasty refugees to  Sent to Nanyang to become an employee and mercenary of the Dutch East India Company" Just like Zuo Qiuci's expectation, Guo Min was not qualified to decide these matters and needed to ask Zhao Junchen's opinion.  So, Guo Min shook his head and said: "These three conditions are not trivial. I need to ask Zhao Gechen before I can give you an answer." Zuo Qiu Ci had already saidAs expected, just as he was about to say something else, he suddenly heard someone reporting outside the room: "Shopkeeper Zuo Ci, a customer came to our store and said he had urgent news that he wanted to report to Boss Guo!"  After speaking, Guo Min, who had been the old god just now and had the upper hand in aura, suddenly changed his expression!  The fact that I came to "Haiyu Trading Company" to meet Zuo Qiuci was a secret, and I thought my whereabouts were hidden. Why was my whereabouts still discovered?  Guo Min couldn't help but look pale when he thought that he might have revealed Zhao Junchen's secret plan. ?¡­ ?¡­ ?¡­
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