Chapter 678: In the Netherlands (1)

The meeting with Frederick Henry made official Hong Xi vigilant and respectful. Frederick Henry is the governor of a country and the boss of the sea coachman. His private residence is small and decorated... Don’t say I’ve seen it before. Of the four European monarchs, even the home of the Earl of Stratford that Hong Xi had visited was more luxurious than his official residence!

In addition to Frederick Henry, there is also a leader of the Southeast Mansion.

Frederick Henry was a Dutch politician and military commander in charge of the Federal Republic of the Netherlands. His titles include Prince of Orange and Earl of Nassau.

He has outstanding military talents, and he has made great contributions to the Netherlands in the decisive struggle with Spain. He began to lead the entire Union Province Army in 1625. This army successively captured the Spanish rule of Kegrolo (1627), s-Hertogenbosch (1629), Maastricht (1632), Breda (1637), Ghent ( 1644), Huster (1645).

In order to force Spain to make concessions, Frederick Henry formed an alliance with France in 1635. He led the preparation of the final peace treaty with Spain. Thanks to Frederick Henry's efforts, the Netherlands finally realized a treaty with Spain that gave it the right to fight for a long time, namely the Netherlands-Spain Peace Treaty, thus truly achieving independence.

During the administration of Frederick Henry, the national power and influence of the Netherlands reached its peak.

Before his career is completed, he doesn't talk about enjoyment!

The conversation between the two parties was frank and friendly. First, official Hong Xi handed in a personal letter from the leader of the Southeast Mansion to the leader of the Netherlands, expressing his cordial greetings to the Dutch, focusing on friendship and trade. (Similar letter, every Hong Mao Fan leader has)

Frederick Henry expressed his gratitude to the Chinese for their friendship and open trade.

"What I never expected was that after we finished the war, the trade took a new step!" Frederick Henry expressed satisfaction.

The Southeast Government is committed to trade between the East and the West, regulating trade, establishing a credit system, collecting taxes reasonably, protecting the interests of merchants, providing preferential maintenance of ocean-going vessels, and ensuring the safety of waterways. As a result, the volume of trade between the East and the West has increased year by year. On the previous page, Hong Maofan accepted the reality and recognized the interests of the Southeast Government in controlling the east of the Malacca Strait, and did not want to go to war with the Southeast Government for the time being.

Everyone reviewed the bilateral relations and agreed to actively promote trade and make money together!

The day’s meeting was not a big success. Frederick Henry hosted the Chinese people. The dishes were nothing but bread (not comparable to the white bread in Paris), cheese, grilled fish (the fish in the sea is actually worthless) and so on. The four dishes and one soup are comparable.

During the banquet, Frederick Henry said to Kostit: "Unexpectedly, you are in such a high position in the Southeast Mansion. It seems that your leader does have vision."

Kostit smiled slightly and said: "Yes, the leader gave me a very high treatment, thank you for exercising in my hometown in Holland!"

Frederick Henry was generous and did not accuse Kostit of betraying the Netherlands.

Official Hong Xi said: "Mr. Costitte has helped us a lot. He also spoke to the leaders, saying that we should improve relations with Europe and develop trade. The leaders adopted his opinions."

"That's good, that's good!" Frederick Henry said.

On the second day, under the supervision of Frederick Henry, the signing ceremony of the bilateral friendly trade agreement was completed.

So far, official Hong Xi’s mission to Europe has been completed. The next step is to wait for the opening ceremony of the embassies in various countries. He has set up embassies in all five countries. Three people are stationed to provide envoys, apply for relevant documents, visas, etc., and promote the development of the East and the West. Trade, of course, and spying on intelligence.

In the Netherlands, all the officers and soldiers of the visiting fleet went ashore for vacation. Three hard-working boats were towed ashore for repairs and maintenance, removing the attached marine animals from the bottom of the ship, and repairing damaged places.

This is a happy time. The visiting fleet has booked a few hotels to organize the crew to visit and see the local scenery and taste the local food.

Amsterdam is the pride of the Dutch. There are hundreds of large and small waterways in the city, connected by thousands of bridges, roaming the city, the bridges are staggered, the canals are crisscross, and the water surface is like satin, like a spider web.

There are countless windmills by the seaside and canals. The largest is several stories high and 20 meters high. Some windmills are made from whole big trees processed into wooden boards.

The terrain of the Netherlands is low, lower than the sea level, so it is also called a lowland country. It needs to use windmills to continuously absorb and drain water to protect the land from sinking and man-made fish. In addition, windmills also mill rice and wheat and squeeze. Oil, pressure rolling woolen cloth, etc.

In terms of windmill production and machinery, there is something unique about the Dutch.

The officers of the Southeast Mansion acted as spies to learn about this knowledge. As a result, the enthusiastic Dutch overwhelmed each other, without reservations-the two sides were separated by half the earth. Could it be that the Southeast Mansion was so powerful that it exported windmills to the Netherlands?

At that time, there was no concept of patent protection.

The Netherlands is the hometown of tulips. It is regarded as a symbol of victory and beauty. However, in recent years, tulips have made the Dutch cry wet. They have experienced great failures in tulip speculation. At that time, the whole people fry the tulips, and the highest price is a delicate flower. Weak tulip flowers are worth 6,700 guilders, which can buy a mansion by the Amsterdam canal, or a full 27 tons of cheese, while the average annual income of the average Dutch is only 150 guilders!

Of course, after the bubble burst, the price of tulips plummeted, causing heavy losses to the general public in the Netherlands!

The Chinese in the Netherlands enjoy Dutch cheese. The cheese industry started in the 9th century. After years of evolution, the good taste remains. The deliciousness of Dutch cheese is hard to resist. The light, sweet feeling is even picky. The Chinese were also conquered!

Near the sea in the Netherlands, the processing of seafood into food has their uniqueness, and Chinese people are happy to enjoy it.

Of course not forgetting to work. The visiting fleet sold the silk, spices, tea, porcelain, toffee, etc. it brought to the public auction and made huge profits!

A pound of fine spices can make a pound of gold, and a pound of tea can make a pound of silver. The Dutch flocked to them, and even the British across the sea came here to bid together and let the Chinese make a lot of money.

Before coming, UU read www.uukānshu.com spent a lot of thought, carefully packing the goods, moisture-proof, and the quality is better than the Dutch brought back.

Taking this opportunity, the visiting fleet invited Dutch related industries, let them participate together, and set the standard of Eastern goods!

For example, tea leaves are divided into three grades. They are classified and judged by string, whole and broken, color, clarity, aroma, taste, soup color, and leaf bottom. The three grades of tea are displayed and written on paper to become the standard!

At the same time, introduce the types of Oriental tea, divided into black tea, green tea, white tea, dark tea, yellow tea and scented tea, various brands, follow the brand road.

As a result, it was warmly welcomed by the Dutch. The tea guild they previously established used this as a standard to judge the grade of tea and avoid selling low-quality goods at high prices.

Hong Xiguan attended the judging meeting in person, and he declared: "Establish standards, and promote the beautiful products of the East to everyone, and enjoy a good life!"

The arrival of the Chinese connoisseurs thoroughly determined the brands and grades of Eastern goods, which brought great benefits to the promotion of trade between the East and the West!

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