Tianjin Customs Office of the Qing Dynasty.
"Prince An, what Governor Masui Ke means is that the countries in the Nanyang area now include Beizheng and Nanyang in Vietnam, Champa, Chenla, Siam, Myanmar, Malacca, Java, and Borneo Countries such as Japan are extremely worried about the rise of Pseudo-Ming. They are all afraid of being subdued by Pseudo-Ming again and becoming its vassal states. In addition, Japan in Japan also has the same worries. They are worried that Pseudo-Ming will once again At one time, they took away the small country Ryukyu they protected. Therefore, these countries are willing to stand with the Netherlands and Spain to curb the ambitions of hypocrisy. But these countries are all small countries, and the mainland of the Netherlands and Spain are far away from Southeast Asia and East Asia, so All countries hope that the Qing Dynasty can step forward and become the leader of this anti-Ming alliance!"
It was Nan Huairen who spoke. He came to Tianjin with Yue Le and served as Yue Le's deputy envoy and concurrently as general secretary.
After hearing what he said, Prince An Yue Le frowned slightly and asked Nan Huairen, "Uncle Dun, are those small countries in Southeast Asia really so afraid of false claims?"
Nan Huairen smiled and said: "That's what Governor Ma of Batavia said..."
"I'm asking about you!" Prince An Yue Le said, "Those countries are all countries that were not conquered by the Ming Dynasty. Except for Vietnam and Myanmar, other countries have not been beaten by the Ming Dynasty, and they still have thick and thin exchanges. For more than two hundred years... now they don't want to go back and be a vassal state of the Ming Dynasty?"
"This, this..." Nan Huairen smiled awkwardly, "Your Majesty, you are wise! There is no point in exposing this matter. In short, as long as the Qing Dynasty can take the lead, it will be easy for these small countries to talk.
Of course, the Qing Dynasty can no longer ask these countries to surrender..."
"What do you mean?" Yue Le frowned, "Do you want our Emperor of the Qing Dynasty to be equal to the King of Java?"
Nan Huairen explained: "That's not what I mean. It's just that this small country also has the sovereignty of a small country. A big country cannot despise the sovereignty of a small country just because it is strong and let the other party regard itself as the master..."
"Nonsense!" Yue Le was unhappy, "According to your statement, what does it say about the relationship between the Qing Dynasty and North Korea?"
Nan Huairen said: "North Korea voluntarily accepted the Qing Dynasty as its suzerain. Without the protection of the Qing Dynasty, North Korea would have been bullied by the pseudo-Ming Dynasty..."
Yue Le burst into laughter: "Aren't you telling lies with open eyes? If the King of Korea had volunteered, he would have sent someone to Nanjing to declare himself a vassal!"
"This..." Nan Huairen didn't know how to talk to Yue Le.
Yue Le is a very smart prince, so why is he so ignorant on diplomatic issues?
"Tell the truth!" Yue Le saw Nan Huairen still hesitating, "Are those small Nanyang countries frightened again when they heard about the Pseudo-Ming Dynasty, and everyone wanted to go over and hug him?"
"Not everyone wants to..." Nan Huairen had no choice but to tell the truth, "Zheng Zheng of Myanmar and Vietnam doesn't really want to..."
"That's right," Yue Le said, "Burma tied up Yongli and gave it to Wu Sangui to be killed, and Vietnam was destroyed by Yongle again. But these two countries probably don't dare to confront the Puppet Ming, right?"
Nan Huairen said: "I don't dare...but as long as the Qing Dynasty can take the lead, they are willing to follow."
Yue Le nodded, "I understand, the Dutch want to use the name of the Qing Dynasty to draw these small countries into an alliance against the Ming Dynasty. But what are the benefits of the Qing Dynasty?"
Nan Huairen knew that he could not coax the prince Yue Le, so he had to turn to the Dutchman Masui Ke and said: "Your Majesty the Governor, the prince of the Qing Dynasty wants to know what are the benefits of the Qing Dynasty coming forward to organize an anti-Ming alliance?"
Ma Suike frowned and said: "For the Qing Dynasty, wouldn't it be better for the more countries to oppose the Ming Dynasty?"
Nan Huairen shrugged, "Your Majesty the Governor, the Prince of the Qing Dynasty knows that these countries do not have much strength."
Masuik thought for a moment and said, "Ferdinand, ask him what kind of help he wants?"
Nan Huairen smiled and said to Prince An Yue Le, "Governor Ma, please make an offer."
Yue Le stretched out three fingers and said, "Three hundred thousand kilograms of sugar!"
"What?" Nan Huairen was stunned, "Three hundred thousand kilograms of sugar? What do you need so much sugar for?"
He originally thought that Yue Le would ask for flintlock guns and cannons, but he didn't expect that Yue Le would ask for candy!
"Eat!" Yue Le replied, "We Manchus like to eat sweets the most."
"Sweets?"
Speaking of this, Nan Huairen suddenly remembered that he hadn't had sweets for a long time!
He really wanted to eat chicken cakes a while ago, and he told the cook at Xuanwumen Cathedral, but the other party told him that he couldn't buy a single piece of sugar in Beijing now. Without sugar, the cake cannot be made.
So Nan Huairen could only ask the cook to spread out a few egg pancakes for him to eat...
Thinking of this, Nan Huairen said to Masui Ke: "Governor, the prince wants 300,000 catties of sugar."
"White sugar?" Masuike also frowned, "White sugar is very expensive now!"
"Very expensive?" Nan Huairen was stunned, "Why?"
Ma Suike said: "It is the Ming Dynasty that controls the sugar trade. I don't know why they do it? But this kind of thing does happen. And they also recalled the Chinese farmers who planted sugar cane on Java Island to extract cane sugar... ....It is said that a great price was paid!”
Nan Huairen frowned, thoughtfully, and after a while he said to Yue Le: "Your Majesty, the amount you want is a bit large, and the government is now pretending to restrict the export of sugar!"
While he was talking, he was observing Yue Le's expression, and he found that Yue Le was not surprised at all!
This shows that Yue Le has long known that Da Ming is controlling sugar exports, and he also knows the reasons why Da Ming controls sugar exports.
The reason is definitely not that they don’t want Manchus to eat sweets... Could it be that sugar can be used by the military?
Thinking of this, Nan Huairen tried again: "Your Majesty, of course the Dutch have some ideas, but the cost is huge..."
"How much will it cost?" Yue Le asked immediately.
"Five hundred coins per pound!" Nan Huairen quoted a price.
"That's five taels of silver..." Yue Le said, "Three hundred thousand jins is only 150,000 taels of silver. We will pay 100,000 taels, and the rest of the Dutch will pay!"
Nan Huairen seemed to understand something, and immediately turned back to Ma Suike and said, "Buy sugar! Your Highness is willing to pay one hundred thousand taels of silver for these sugars!"
"Okay," Ma Suike nodded, "We can pay for the remaining expenses, as long as the Qing Dynasty is willing to lead the anti-Ming alliance."
...
"Really? Are the Dutch really willing to help me get 300,000 kilograms of sugar?"
"Really! Governor Masuik personally agreed... Our people can't buy sugar now, but the Dutch still have a way. With the emperor's three hundred thousand kilograms, our sugar reserves can exceed It’s six hundred thousand kilograms, enough to handle several battles!”
In the study in the south of the Forbidden City, Yue Le, who had just returned from Tianjin, was reporting the good news related to sugar to Emperor Kangxi.
Although Kangxi was already preparing for a "sugar-free war", it was still best to get white sugar.
"Your Majesty, the Dutch and Spanish are still willing to help us piece together an anti-counterfeit alliance!"
Yue Le then dropped another piece of good news.
"Who is there?" Kangxi asked.
“There are Bei Zheng, Nan Nguyen, Champa, Chenla, Siam, Burma, Malacca, Java, Borneo... and possibly Japan and Ryukyu. "
"That's the Ten Kingdoms!" Kangxi counted on his fingers, "If you include us, North Korea, Wu Zhou, the Netherlands, Spain, Portugal... then we have the Sixteen-Nation Alliance!"
The Sixteen-Nation Alliance Army is twice as large as the Eight-Nation Alliance Army!
Although most of the sixteen countries are just a make-up, so many countries still sound quite majestic, and at least they can embolden their own people.
Yue Le continued: "What Governor Masui Ke means is that all our countries sign a treaty together to jointly oppose any changes to the status quo in East Asia and Southeast Asia, and then force Puppetry to accept this treaty, so that we can have a peaceful life in the future. "
Kangxi chuckled: "What's the use of this agreement? But as long as you can get sugar, just sign it!"
