HLnovel Chapter 630 Exchange of Prisoners of War
Chapter 630 Exchange of Prisoners of War
Chapter 630 Prisoner Exchange
Penghu Port.
On this day, two fleets faced off tensely inside and outside Penghu Harbor. Outside the harbor was Wang Wenzhou's fleet, and inside the harbor was the Dutch fleet.
Since Wang Wenzhou moved from Penghu Island that day, Penghu Island has been occupied by the Dutch. Today, the exchange of prisoners of war is taking place in Penghu Harbor.
Wang Wenzhou helped Daenerys onto the small boat, which slowly glided towards the waters between the two fleets. At the same time, another small boat sailed out from Penghu Harbor, where the Dutch Governor-General of Taiwan, Van der Burgh, sat.
Because the exchange of prisoners of war was necessary, but neither side trusted the other, the two highest-ranking officers met face-to-face. In reality, the two men were each other's hostages. If one side tried to do anything underhanded, Wang Wenzhou and Van der Burgh would immediately become targets of the other side's artillery fire.
The two small boats met, and Wang Wenzhou greeted Vanderbilt with a smile: "Hello!"
"Hello!" Vanderbilt smiled slightly.
The hostages were in place, and the two sides immediately began exchanging prisoners.
Wang Wenzhou and Van der Burgh chatted casually, with the help of their respective translators.
Wang Wenzhou said irritably, "Old Fan, you Dutch people really have nothing better to do than stay in Europe. Why don't you just stay in Europe and cause trouble near our Great Ming? We Great Ming are just asleep. When we wake up, we will definitely beat the pigs, conquer Amsterdam, kill them all, burn them all, and loot them all!"
Van der Burgh curled his lip. This high-ranking official from the Ming Dynasty is really good at bragging! Your Ming Dynasty is currently beset by internal and external troubles and can't even take care of itself. You still want to fight in Europe? Keep dreaming about your Chinese dream!
Van der Burgh was not angry. He smiled and said, "Lord Wang, our East India Company has come for peace, not to start a war with the Ming Dynasty. It's just that there's been some misunderstanding. I heard that you like blonde beauties, so I've specially prepared a few for you. When you return to your fleet, you'll surely see some delightful gifts on board."
During this era, Portugal, Britain, the Netherlands, France, and other countries established East India Companies in the East to carry out colonial activities.
"Pfft..." Wang Wenzhou was completely dumbfounded. Damn it, even the Dutch know about my reputation for being a womanizer. Can you please stop sending me sugar-coated bullets?
Seeing Wang Wenzhou's expression change, Van der Burgh assumed Wang was pleased and continued, "Lord Wang, I hope that the Netherlands can maintain peace with the Ming Dynasty. I wonder if you could facilitate peace talks?"
Wang Wenzhou curled his lip and said, "Talk my ass! My Great Ming Dynasty is the Celestial Empire, how could we negotiate with barbarians? Even in the Qing Dynasty, if it weren't for the Eight-Nation Alliance driving us to Beijing, we would never have negotiated with barbarians."
Wang Wenzhou said with a smile, "This is easy to discuss! Old Fan, you've been so kind as to prepare a blonde beauty for me, so I can't not reciprocate. Don't worry, once I get back, I will definitely write to the Emperor of my Great Ming Dynasty to inform him of your intention to negotiate peace."
"Thank you, Lord Wang!" Van der Burgh said with a smile. "As long as you can facilitate the peace talks and allow us Dutch to trade in the Ming Dynasty, I will definitely help you find a few more blonde beauties!"
"Pah!" Wang Wenzhou cursed inwardly, "Do you think I'm that kind of person? If you could do business in the Ming Dynasty, how much money could you make! Such a big business, and you're just going to give me a few girls to settle things? Do you think I'm some kind of country bumpkin?"
Wang Wenzhou had no intention of negotiating with the Dutch. In his view, even though the Netherlands was the current maritime superpower, it was still too far from the Ming Dynasty. It would take four to six months to travel from the Netherlands to the Ming Dynasty. Even if he conquered Taiwan now, the Netherlands could only watch helplessly.
Even if the Netherlands were willing to wage war against the Ming Dynasty, given the logistical limitations of that era, a Dutch army arriving in Ming China would likely have starved to death due to logistical failures. Even in the late Qing Dynasty, if the Manchu army had possessed any real fighting ability, they wouldn't have allowed the enemy to reach Beijing. In fact, the Qing Dynasty did manage to win some battles against Europeans in the late Qing period, such as the famous Battle of Zhennanguan. Unfortunately, the Qing were too intimidated by these victories, and the French won a victory without actually winning.
Wang Wenzhou felt that since he had transmigrated to the Ming Dynasty, he couldn't let these ancient Chinese territories be taken by barbarians. Moreover, he had already planned to send a submarine tonight to launch a surprise attack on the Dutch fleet anchored in the harbor. Once the Dutch fleet was destroyed, recovering Taiwan would be a piece of cake.
At this time, the "Ugly Duckling," which was holding prisoners of war, docked with two Dutch warships. The Dutch were exchanging girls captured from their colonies for prisoners of war captured by the Ming army.
Liu Wei and Zheng Zhihu were in charge of this prisoner exchange. Although the Liu and Zheng families had a deep-seated hatred for each other, they were both working under Wang Wenzhou, so the two of them maintained a harmonious relationship on the surface.
Now that Liu Li is Wang Wenzhou's baby, Liu Xiang's family has become Wang Wenzhou's relatives. Similarly, Zheng Chenggong recognized Wang Wenzhou as his godfather, making Zheng Zhilong's family Wang Wenzhou's relatives. In some ways, Liu Wei is also related to Zheng Zhihu.
Zheng Zhihu looked at Zheng Chenggong and said with a laugh, "What are you doing following me here?"
Zheng Chenggong said in a serious tone, "Uncle, I'll help my godfather look for a particularly beautiful girl."
"You little rascal, you're not old, but you know a lot!" When Zheng Zhihu heard his nephew say this, he didn't object to Zheng Chenggong being present. After all, his nephew was smart enough to know how to flatter Wang Wenzhou.
Liu Wei curled his lip, cursing inwardly: "Your Zheng family is indeed full of thieves and prostitutes. Look at your children, they've never been good people since they were little!"
Zheng Chenggong was very serious; he would carefully observe every girl who walked past him.
Zheng Zhihu was very pleased to see his nephew like this; his nephew had grown up and was very sensible. No wonder Lord Wang liked him so much and even adopted him as his godson.
An hour later, the exchange was completed.
Zheng Zhihu asked with a smile, "So, after looking at so many girls, haven't you found many pretty ones?"
Zheng Chenggong pouted and said aggrievedly, "Where did these girls come from? They all look like little black people. Even if there are some pretty girls, their faces are like they've been smeared with ash, all gray and grime. My godfather wouldn't like them! Uncle, I'll take my leave!"
After Zheng Chenggong finished speaking, he pouted and turned to leave.
"Haha!" Liu Wei laughed, "These southern barbarian women have darker skin, so it's normal that you don't like them."
"Hmph!" Zheng Zhihu sneered. What's there to be so smug about? So what if your cousin became the lord's concubine? I heard the lord likes blonde barbarian women. When I get back, I'll help him find a few too. I'll make sure your little bitch doesn't get any favor with the lord. Your Liu family can forget about riding on our Zheng family's head.
Zheng Chenggong hurried along, muttering to himself as he went: "What's going on? So many girls, why doesn't any of them look like Sister Mei?"
If Zheng Zhihu knew that his nephew had fallen for Wang Wenzhou's concubine and wanted to find a girl who looked like Li Mei as a substitute, Zheng Zhihu would definitely uphold justice and kill his own nephew. This wicked son had to be killed; if he lived, the entire Zheng family would be executed!