Branden looked at the grand imperial palace before him, a look of awe on his face.
His trip to Qingzhou Province yesterday had left him with deep emotions. The Great Yu Empire’s changes were simply astonishingly rapid. Qingzhou City now, to him, had completely transformed.
“Councilor Branden, please follow me.” Qian Dafu appeared at the palace gate.
Branden had submitted his application to the imperial palace through the Dutch negotiation team stationed in the Great Yu Empire yesterday. This morning, he received a reply.
“Thank you very much.” Branden bowed to Qian Dafu and, with reverence, walked into the palace.
Compared to his first visit, this time he had a mission, and it concerned the fate of the Dutch maritime trade routes.
Soon, the two arrived in front of the imperial study. At this point, he saw Xiao Ming, the Emperor of the Great Yu Empire. Compared to two years ago, this young Emperor looked even more like an emperor. Every gesture seemed to convey a will that could not be defied.
“Branden greets the Emperor of the Great Yu Empire.”
Entering the imperial study, Branden removed his hat and bowed.
At this time, Xiao Ming was looking at a memorial sent by the Agricultural Department. He looked up and smiled. “Branden? I remember you. You came to Qingzhou Province once two years ago and even bought a steam engine to take back.”
“Precisely.” Branden acted cautiously. He said, “If not for the great distance between our two countries, I would be very happy to visit the Great Yu Empire often.”
“That is indeed a pity.” Xiao Ming narrowed his eyes. He said teasingly, “So, what is your purpose for coming to the Great Yu Empire this time?”
Branden liked Xiao Ming’s straightforward nature. It saved him from wasting too many words. He said, “Esteemed Your Majesty, this time I have been sent by the Dutch Parliament once again. I hope to reach more cooperation with the Great Yu Empire at sea. I believe Your Majesty must be aware that British and Portuguese merchant ships have been continuously attacking our respective merchant ships. So, if we cannot provide protection for this shipping route, then our trade will suffer continuous impact.”
Hearing this, Xiao Ming let out a laugh. He said, “Envoy Branden, the British and Portuguese are attacking Dutch merchant ships, not Great Yu Empire merchant ships. You seem to have made a mistake about this.”
Branden choked for a moment. He had indeed been trying to be clever on this matter. In fact, trade between the Netherlands and the Great Yu Empire was basically a trade surplus for the Netherlands.
Every time, Dutch merchant ships purchased goods from the Great Yu Empire and transported them back to Europe. The Great Yu Empire never sent merchant ships to Europe to purchase anything. Even if there were, they were merchants from the south, not controlled by the northern imperial family.
So, along the route from Asia to Europe, they were the ones who continuously suffered losses.
“Your Majesty is right, but after all, we signed a treaty, didn’t we?” Branden reminded him.
“I certainly remember. However, the treaty clearly states that the Great Yu Empire only guarantees the safety of Dutch merchant ships on Asian shipping routes, does it not?”
“Indeed. Therefore, this is my reason for coming to the Great Yu Empire this time. I hope Your Highness can cooperate with our Netherlands.” Branden’s forehead began to sweat. This Emperor of the Great Yu Empire was truly a difficult character to deal with.
Xiao Ming frowned. Although Britain was constantly causing trouble for him behind the scenes, it had not yet explicitly started a war with the Great Yu Empire.
If he rashly took action with the Dutch against the British navy, he would add another battlefront after the three existing ones with the barbarians, Japan, and the State of Chu.
And this was something the Great Yu Empire could not afford. After all, the Great Yu Empire’s civil war could break out at any time.
Most importantly, among the European countries, he truly did not have high hopes for the Netherlands.
According to the news he received from other European merchants, the current Netherlands was Europe’s largest lending nation.
It could be said that the current Netherlands was a treasury guarded by its navy.
The problem, however, was that when the Netherlands lent money to every European country, it also meant it had to maintain good relations with those European countries.
If it went to war with Britain or France, it would mean these European countries would immediately stop paying most of the loan interest, thus causing great harm to its overall prosperity.
The worst problem was that no matter which European country the Netherlands got involved in a war with, it would mean fighting its own debtors.
For this reason, the Dutch avoided full-scale conflict with any single country. However, following the hard truth that “those who owe money are kings,” the lending countries were not at all polite to the Netherlands.
While lending, they continuously created disputes with the Netherlands, which led to the Dutch constantly being drawn into wars, supporting military expenses while also losing huge amounts of interest.
It was said that the Netherlands suffered significant income loss during the French Revolution due to this.
Furthermore, the Netherlands had a small land area, no resources, and insufficient development momentum. On land, it was easily dominated by countries like France, Tsarist Russia, and Prussia. Therefore, relying on the Dutch to be his loyal allies in Europe was completely unreliable.
However, although the Dutch were somewhat in decline during this period, centuries of accumulation still made them a major wealthy power in Europe.
Otherwise, the Netherlands would not be called the world’s bank by contemporary Europe.
All these reasons made Xiao Ming only willing to develop economic trade with the Netherlands. Otherwise, he might very likely be betrayed by the Dutch.
However, besides this reason, his rejection of the matter also involved an exchange of interests, so he first tried to suppress Branden.
Like the European countries that urgently needed funds, Xiao Ming also wanted to borrow some money from this wealthy power.
“This is a very risky action. Beyond Malacca lies the dominion of the British Navy. I cannot risk this. Moreover, such a risk is not commensurate with the actual benefits gained,” Xiao Ming continued to deny.
Branden was a bit anxious. The gradually declining Netherlands needed cooperation with this Eastern empire. He said, “Esteemed Your Majesty, I know this request is a bit excessive, but this is also for the long-term prosperity of trade between the Great Yu Empire and the Netherlands. To achieve cooperation, we can accept the reasonable demands put forth by the Great Yu Empire.”
Xiao Ming’s eyes flickered. It seemed the Dutch understood the rules between nations better than he thought. He said, “National interaction is all about interest. It seems you understand this principle. If that’s the case, then I will speak. As I understand it, the Netherlands has provided huge loans to Britain, France, and even Tsarist Russia. These loans have greatly promoted the development of these countries. Now, the Great Yu Empire is in ruins, waiting to be rebuilt, and also needs huge funds to support it. Therefore, I wish to borrow ten million ducats from you.”
“Borrow? Ten million ducats?” Branden felt a dizzy sensation. The ducat was the current gold coin circulating in the Netherlands. One ducat weighed three grams. Ten million ducats was basically equivalent to six hundred thousand taels of gold. For the Netherlands, this was also a huge loan.
“Esteemed Your Majesty, the amount of this loan is truly enormous. Most importantly, the Netherlands and the Great Yu Empire are so far apart. Guaranteeing repayment is a problem,” Branden was a councilor and also a merchant; he was not foolish.
Without a guarantee, he was unwilling to sign such a large order.