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Chapter 1200: Sky-high asking price


In the suburbs, Philip IV and Elizabeth were entertaining Zhu Youzhen, this time not for Chinese food, but for authentic Spanish food.

Philip IV looked at Zhu Youzhen, who was sitting still and had a calm face, looked at the woman next to him, and said, "Dear Royal Highness, this is Mary, she is my sister, her bloodline is very pure, knowledgeable, and understanding. ” Mary is a European woman, with brown hair and blue eyes, half a head taller than Zhu Youzhen, sitting there, looking straight at Zhu Youzhen, her eyes are full of excitement.

Mary was a rather remote bloodline in the Spanish royal family, and if it weren't for Philip IV's desire to marry, they would have forgotten about her.

Zhu Youzhen's education is the most traditional, stereotypical Confucian education, the words of the matchmaker of his parents, how could he fall in love with the Yiren woman of the "luanlun" country", even from a purely aesthetic point of view, this Mary also makes Zhu Youzhen hate.

Zhu Youzhen looked at Philip IV and said, "In my country, women are not allowed to serve at the table, they should stay in the inner courtyard." ” Philip IV naturally knew this, but there was still a sudden expression on his face, and Lang smiled and said: "Zhu, this is Spain, take it easy, you like it here, and you will like Mary." ” Mary was a remote member of the Spanish royal family, and in her mind, it would be a happy thing to be able to leave this terrible place and follow the distant prince to their kingdom.

"Your Highness, I will be obedient."

Mary whispered, a shy look on her face.

She was very moved by this prince who came from afar with a handsome face and extraordinary bearing.

Zhu Youzhen glanced at her, looked at Philip IV and said, "Your Majesty, I think we should talk about some serious things." ” Zhu Youzhen's words are obvious, the business is a man's business, and women should avoid it.

I don't know if it's the translation or other issues or Philip IV pretending not to understand, and said loudly, "Zhu, relax, today we are here to play, forget about other things, we have things, some serious things to talk about, but not today." ” Zhu Youzhen was dissatisfied with Philip IV's deliberate delay, frowned, and did not speak again, but also ignored Mary.

At the time when Philip IV was taking Zhu Youzhen on an outing, the negotiations in the palace banquet hall were changing rapidly.

As if they had probed each other's bottom lines, Okundo and the others became direct and aggressive, putting forward a lot of harsh conditions.

For example, to monopolize the foreign trade of the Ming Dynasty, their fleets, merchants, and missionaries can freely enter and exit the Ming Dynasty, and the trade in Asia is exclusive and exclusive to Spain, and the fleet of the Ming Dynasty has to help Spain deal with piracy, and even the Netherlands and France, etc.

Not to be outdone, Feng Zhu and others demanded that Spain be able to protect the Ming Dynasty with a sufficient amount of tea, porcelain, silk, spices, etc., amounting to 200 million silver, and demanded that the Ming Dynasty's merchant ships could freely enter and leave Spain and any part of the Spanish colonies, enjoy super-national treatment, and that the Ming navy could borrow all the ports ruled by Spain.

The two sides were asking for a price, refusing to give in to each other, and even began to quarrel.

But neither side left the wine table, coercion and inducement came out, both wanted to take the biggest advantage from the other party, but neither easily gave in.

Ao Bai played the role of a vanguard, spitting at each other with the Chancellor of the Exchequer, full of momentum.

Spain's Chancellor of Finance was also the main force, he craved silver from the Ming Dynasty and wanted more.

Feng Zhu and the others naturally wanted to strive for more benefits, so that they could only invite merit and receive rewards after they went back.

Until Philip IV and Zhu Youzhen returned, a group of people only reached a compromise on some inconsequential matters, and on most issues, each other, did not back down, and ended in failure.

Philip IV enthusiastically and reservedly sent Zhu Youzhen away and began a secret conversation with a group of henchmen.

Admiral said, "The Ming people have a joint fleet plan, and they want to integrate all the ports, bases, and fleets to deal with the pirates in a way of joint defense and extermination, but the commander must be their Ming people, and the military expenses will be shared and the benefits will be shared." ” "They have a whole plan, the focus is on supra-national treatment, their fleet is able to move freely in and out of ports all over the world, without inspection, without tax ......"

Philip IV listened, propped his cheek with one hand, and said with a rather happy expression: "They have a good idea. ” The admiral said: "Even if the combined fleet is really to be formed, it cannot be in the hands of the Ming Dynasty, and we cannot be controlled by others. ” The Chancellor of the Exchequer said, "There can be no so-called super-national treatment, otherwise the powerful Ming Dynasty will embezzle everything we have, and our trade must be our own decision, and we cannot let the Ming Dynasty slaughter it." ” Philip IV understood that the plans listed by the Ming Dynasty were too harsh for their side to accept, and all today's plans failed.

Philip IV's eyes flickered, he looked at Okundo, and suddenly said, "My general, what do you think?"

” Oquindo had a big beard on his face, and it was difficult to see his expression clearly, and he said: "Your Majesty, the Ming Dynasty is invincible in Asia, and it is not strange to make such a request. ” Philip IV looked at him with a calm expression, then looked at the other people for a while before he said, "What are you going to do?"

” The Chancellor of the Exchequer looked at Philip IV's expression and hurriedly said: "Your Majesty, the Ming Dynasty is a hundred times richer than the Americas, if we can't ally with them, not only will there be no way to solve the financial crisis, but if we let the Franks, England, or the Netherlands take the lead, we will be in big trouble." ” The admiral also said: "Your Majesty, our fleet has to deal with England, the Franks, the Netherlands, and the Ottomans, and we can't leave at all, and if the navy of the Ming Dynasty attacks us overseas, it will be difficult for us." ” Of course, Philip IV would not let go of the foreign aid of the Ming Dynasty, and seeing that all of his henchmen were like this, he smiled and said: "I am asking, how can we form an alliance with the Ming Dynasty as soon as possible, we need to hurry up." ” What Philip IV did not say was that he had sensed that the Ming people were trying to contact other countries, especially the Papal States, and this disturbed him.

"Then we will make some concessions, super-national treatment, free trade, we need to talk about it again, it must be in our hands, and we can't let the Ming Dynasty come at will."

The Chancellor of the Exchequer said with a dark face.

The admiral said: "We naturally have to watch and help each other at sea, but the combined fleet or others, the control cannot be in the hands of the Ming people, but it can not be completely in our hands, we can jointly control, control in sections, or take turns to control, and most importantly, to deal with our enemies, the Ming Dynasty is not our enemy yet." ” Okundo looked at Philip IV and said, "I believe that the Ming Dynasty is also ready to back down. ” a