Steel Dynasty - Chapter 450

[Chapter 450 Argument]

Standard aristocratic etiquette and conversation prove that Claire is a true aristocrat.

Rhodes acted as the translator between the two at this time, and he translated Claire’s words to Xiao Ming.

Xiao Ming nodded slightly, stretched out his hand to signal Claire to sit down, and said, “Welcome to Dayu Country, come to Dengzhou.”

After sitting down, Claire glanced at Xiao Ming again, which surprised him. What was surprising was that the vassal king of the Great Chongqing Kingdom was so young, and he began to understand why the Qi King was so tough.

In his opinion, young people have always been impatient, but always passionate and impulsive.

After being silent for a while, he spoke first, “Dear His Highness King Qi, I think you know the purpose of our coming this time. Regarding the Ryukyu issue, I hope to have a negotiation result that satisfies both parties. This is why I am here this time.” The reason here.”

There is a long table in the middle of the two people. At this time, Rhodes and Claire are sitting across from each other, while Xiao Ming and Yang Chengye are sitting on the other side, looking like a modern negotiation posture.

Hearing this, he said: “I also hope that this matter can be resolved through negotiation. No one likes to risk the lives of his soldiers.”

“In this case, please allow us to keep the city of Relanja. In addition, , are we willing to agree to your other requests?” Claire said seriously.

By saying this, Claire agreed with Xiao Ming to dominate the trade routes in East Asia and only conduct trade between Dengzhou and Ryukyu. However, just like Rhodes’ last visit to Qingzhou, Claire also refused to evacuate the Dutch soldiers from Relanja City.

Xiao Ming tapped the table with his fingers, and his eyes swept over Claire’s body. Claire’s face was calm, and there was no trace of emotional fluctuations, and the tone he spoke just now was also very firm.

“If you don’t withdraw the garrison, then you need to give me a reason.” This time Claire came in person, which meant that the negotiation would end between the two.

Therefore, Xiao Ming had to be cautious in his stance at this time. This Earl of Clare was much calmer than Rhodes and was not an easy character to deal with.

“First of all, we cannot live without military protection until our safety can be guaranteed. In addition to protecting the routes to East Asia, Ryukyu’s fleet also has a purpose to prevent privateers from plundering caravans. I wonder if His Highness knows anything about it. Is it a privateer?” Claire’s words contained a sense of probing. He wanted to find out whether the Qi King of Dayu had profound knowledge.

“Private ship?” Xiao Ming frowned.

A privateer is a civilian ship authorized by the state to be armed and used to attack merchant ships of other countries. It is essentially an act of state-sponsored piracy.

In modern times, from the 16th century to the 19th century, European powers used all means including “encouraging pirates to attack other countries’ ships” in order to compete for maritime hegemony.

Although on the surface, all countries have solemnly declared that they are incompatible with pirates, secretly they are recruiting pirates for their own use.

It was against this background that armed civilian ships came into being.

“Could they be privateers from Britain and Spain?” Xiao Ming said lightly, “It is said that Britain started with a group of pirates. It is even said that the whole of Britain is a large group of pirates, and the Queen of England is the biggest pirate leader.

Claire’s expression moved slightly, He was a little surprised. King Qi’s answer was exactly the same as the Dutch described the British and Spanish.

Sighing, Claire said: “Yes, it is the privateers from these two countries who are already seriously threatening us. Merchant ships, now they even appear on shipping lanes near Manila.

“Well, that’s a reason.

“

“Xiao Ming said, “But how can the soldiers of Relanja City explain that privateer ships are on the sea, I don’t think they will attack Relanja City rashly.

“These soldiers are for defense against Japan.

“

Claire’s eyes flickered, “I’m sorry, we in the Netherlands first started trading in Nagasaki, and some merchants who were dazzled by gold actually sold the skill of matchlock guns to the Japanese. In our opinion, the Japanese now are worse than Dayu is even more dangerous, because Japan is now very skilled in producing matchlocks, and Japan, which now has firearms troops, has ambitions to expand, which is very dangerous for us. “

When mentioning the Japanese country, Xiao Ming’s face was very ugly. He said: “Thanks to you, the Japanese country is now planning to invade Korea and Dayu. This is your own fault. You should know very well that the nature of the islanders is no different from pirates. , in Europe it is Britain, but here it is Japan. They are all the same, always thinking about robbery and murder. “

“I have to say that I agree with your statement. “Claire suddenly laughed, “It’s just a pity that you people in Great Chongqing also have a problem? This problem prevented us from trading with you in the first place.

“Oh, what’s wrong?

“

“Xiao Ming asked.

“Arrogant. “Claire was very rude.

Xiao Ming nodded, “I admit that this was a mistake, but it seems meaningless to discuss these now. Let’s get back to the main topic of negotiation. “

Isn’t that enough to explain why we keep the garrison?” “Claire said.

“Yes, but you can only keep 2,000 people and four battleships. “Xiao Ming said with a smile.

Claire was startled. The real Dutch garrison on Ryukyu Island was only 2,000 people. The King of Qi had a very vicious vision, and he believed that the King of Qi had also figured out the secrets of Relanja City. Information.

Now, eight of the twelve warships in Ryukyu were originally from the Manila colony. It was only in order to stop King Chu’s adventurous actions that he mobilized another eight warships from Manila and arrived in Ryukyu.

“It seems that His Highness has understood everything. Claire gave a bitter smile.

Xiao Ming sneered. For these Europeans, they no longer care about the life and death of the indigenous troops, and it is easy to use these indigenous troops to take risks.

Because of this, he asked Claire to only stay in the pure Netherlands. army, so that the Dutch would even consider it before provoking a war in order to reduce casualties.

“This is the king’s bottom line. At the same time, I will send two thousand soldiers to the city of Relanja to protect you.” Xiao Ming smiled maliciously, and then he looked at Claire and waited for Claire’s answer.

Frowning tightly, Claire’s eyes wandered. He knew very well what the purpose of King Qi was. He was testing whether they were sincere.

After being silent for a long time, he said hesitantly: “Okay, I accept this condition.”

Hearing this, Xiao Ming felt relieved. This was the last test for the Dutch. If the Dutch had evil intentions in their hearts, naturally they would not Will accept his request to garrison the city of Relanja.

(End of chapter)