Take the arsenal to Da Ming

Chapter 128 "Chaozhou Agreement"

Today was the busiest day in the entire Tang Manor. Those who came in through wedding invitations not only had status in Chaozhou Manor, but also had a good relationship with Tang Ning.

Of course, there are a few exceptions, such as the very reluctant Dutch.

Thinking of being tricked by Claudia for 1 taels of silver, Jia Long felt even more upset.

And Claudia seems to be very suitable for this occasion, and also adapted to the customs of Daming, and it didn't take long to get along with the guests in each seat.

On the contrary, Jialong and a few Dutch people occupy a table alone. No one knows them, they are in a bad mood, and they don't want to communicate with others. Naturally, no one wants to talk to them.

Claudia did not forget Mr. Jialong who made her earn 1 taels of silver. She brought a few members of the chamber of commerce she just met, pointed at Jialong and the others, and said in not very fluent Daming dialect:
"They, Mr. Tang, yes, good friends. Drink..."

The group immediately understood what Claudia meant. It turned out that these foreigners were good friends of Master Tang.

It's not difficult to understand that the foreigners who can enter the Tang residence at this time must not be ordinary people, and they must have a good relationship with Mr. Tang.

Needless to say, on this happy day, you must drink a few more glasses, so a group of people rushed forward to toast.

As if afraid that Jialong would not understand what everyone meant, Claudia stepped forward and reminded: "Today, Mr. Tang, it's a good day. You must drink. You can't refuse. It's very rude to refuse."

Claudia's words were agreed by everyone.

The translator told Jia Long about Claudia's words, and Jia Long suddenly felt a little bad. He knew that this Portuguese girl was going to set a trap for him again.

"Master Tang, good friend, drink." Claudia raised a small bowl to signal to everyone.

"This friend who came from afar, today is the day when Mr. Tang is very happy, we will not return if we are not drunk. Come, I will do it first as a respect."

A fat middle-aged man, after finishing speaking, he directly raised his head and drank a small bowl of wine.

After finishing the wine, he raised the empty bowl.

Everyone immediately urged Jialong, "Drink, drink."

Jia Long refused to take it off, so he could only drink the wine in front of him.As soon as he took the wine, he felt his throat was burning and it was difficult to swallow.

But at this time, he also knew that he couldn't spit it out, so he could only bite the bullet and drink it.

Just after drinking the first one, Claudia introduced the second person up, and introduced it to Garon in a serious manner, as if he had a relatively big background, and he must have a drink.

After drinking two small bowls in a row, Jialong was a little upset, seeing Claudia recommending another person, he said, "Why don't you drink?"

Claudia seemed to have an excuse, and hurriedly said: "Da Ming's customs, women are not allowed to participate in this kind of ceremony. I am a foreigner, so I make an exception. But I can't, drink a lot of wine, get drunk , would be very rude."

"Men, you must, drink. Otherwise, it's rude. Everyone, will you be happy."

Claudia's words were intermittent and a little difficult to understand, but she spoke slowly, and after thinking about it, she could basically understand the meaning.

As soon as her words fell, everyone agreed, and Jia Long had nothing to say, feeling that today was a doomed day.

When Garon drank like a dick, Claudia started agitating for a drinking order again.

Drinking order is a game that men at the wine table prefer. Claudia said that she would also participate, which immediately aroused everyone's interest.

A very popular game she suggested was called Jiu Ling Doll, or tumbler.

A person is spinning in the center with a wine jug, and whoever is facing the face after stopping will drink.

Claudia is a girl who is inconvenient to drink, so she acts as a wine carrier, and everyone has no objection.

Jia Long, who is Mr. Tang's "good friend", also participated in half-pushed and half-forced.

Maybe it's because of the good luck today, Jialong got the most tricks, unknowingly, he already drank an unknowing amount of alcohol, and finally collapsed to the ground like mud.

The lively wedding ended when Jialong was unconscious. Tangning finally married Meijiao Niang and spent a good night together.

After waking up the next morning, Tangning was shocked by the gift list handed over by the housekeeper. The total value of the gift received exceeded 150 million taels.

The thick gift list recorded densely packed names. According to the steward, there were still many people whose names were not recorded, because those people left immediately after putting down their money or things.

It should be ordinary people, because the gifts they give are not heavy, just a string of copper coins, or a few pieces of silver, or their own eggs, food, and vegetables.

It's really hard to shirk it, and there's no time to shirk it on Mr. Tang's wedding day.

Because of this, the eggs, food and vegetables received are almost piled up.

Tangning immediately ordered all these supplies to be sent to the military camp, and the goods were sent to the chamber of commerce for valuation. Those that could be sold were sold, and those that could not be sold were kept in the chamber of commerce.

After calculating the total gift money, all of it was invested in Chaozhou and Huizhou prefectures to improve people's livelihood, build water conservancy, and so on.

As the saying goes, what is taken from the people is used for the people.

Tang Ning also personally wrote an article on "Ming Pao" to explain the matter, which made the people of the two prefectures cry and set a good example for the officials of the two prefectures.

Of course, this is something.

When Jialong woke up the next day, he didn't remember what happened the day before, only felt a headache.

What's worse, the negotiations will continue in the afternoon. How can we talk in this state?
The day went by like this, without making any progress.

Even on the third day after being drunk, Jia Long felt that he had not fully recovered, and his body was still a little uncomfortable, so he was in a bad mood.

While Jialong and the others were sorting out the materials and preparing for the afternoon negotiation, a person rushed over.

Seeing Jialong and the others looking up, the Dutchman hesitated and said, "Your Excellency Jialong, you should go outside and see for yourself."

Jia Long knew that something must have happened, immediately put down the materials, and several people came out in a single file.

On the street at this time, a large group of soldiers from the new army happily escorted the carts of goods, and the surrounding people cheered loudly, with excited smiles on their faces.

However, Jialong and the others were not happy at all, because many of the marks on the wooden boxes belonged to their Dutch merchant ships.

At the end of those mule-drawn carts were dejected foreigners, if they were not Dutch, who else?

Looking at this amount, I don't know how much I have lost.

Faced with this scene, Jia Long and the others were furious, but they couldn't do anything, they could only express their anger through words.

"Damn bastards, they robbed our merchant ship again."

"They were showing off to us, the bastard was humiliating us."

"He has no sincerity in negotiating, and we are wasting our time."

Watching the convoy and the crowd leave, the Jialong group returned back full of anger.

After calming down and thinking for a while, they felt that Tangning didn't do this on purpose, because the new army had to pass through here when they entered the city.

Yes, if the new army gains something at sea, they must enter the city through the south gate.

But what they didn't know was that these harvests were not from this time, but from last time. Tangning arranged for them to exit through the east gate and then go around and enter through the south gate.

Many of the boxes were even empty, just to use the markings on them to let the people in Garon know that they belonged to the Dutch.

In the afternoon's negotiation, Jia Long and his party were obviously in a bad mood and did not want to make concessions, but in the end they made concessions.

No way, no one is strong in the situation. If this continues, the price they desperately cut at the negotiating table will not be as much as the daily loss.

Isn't this the more the price is lowered, the greater the loss?

Finally, on September 22, the "Chaozhou Agreement" was formally signed.

In the agreement, the Dutch agreed to Tangning's three main conditions:

First, 550 million taels of silver will be compensated, 250 million taels will be paid in one lump sum first, and 300 million taels will be paid for the remaining 100 million taels every year. The payment should be made before September 22 of the Ming calendar every year, otherwise it will be regarded as a breach of contract;

Second, allow merchant ships related to the new army to enter all ports and colonies controlled by the Dutch East India Company for free trade;

Third, the annual transaction volume between the Dutch and their Chamber of Commerce here is guaranteed to be more than 300 million taels.

In return, Tang Ning agreed to release all the Dutch captives, and guaranteed that One Piece of the Caribbean would no longer rob Dutch merchant ships, and the two sides worked together to ensure the safety and smooth flow of the route.

(End of this chapter)