Xinshun 1730

Chapter 273 The Inevitability of Batavia
"Without these Chinese, Batavia would not be able to develop to where it is now. But now, these Chinese are the negative assets of the whole of Java."

"They are too hardworking, leading to an oversupply of sugar locally and seriously affecting the interests of the company. This is all their sin."

"Perhaps, it's time to clear them from here."

Through the glass window, Valkner looked at the Chinese Kapitan and Lei Zhenlan who were waiting outside to welcome the new governor, and expressed his thoughts to the sugar owner Douglas.

The current East India Company in Batavia is like the last years of the empire, full of corruption and leaks everywhere.

Smuggling is rampant, employees carry smuggled goods, can only control Batavia and around the bastion of Java, and completely lose control outside the city.

The Kapitan and Lei Zhenlan in the city have no control over the sugarcane plantations and Chinese villages outside the city.Moreover, when the poll tax is levied under the tax package, the tax packager will also make false accounts, pay the poll tax for ten people, and accept bribes for fifteen people, but there are actually thirty people.

Neither the Batavia Governor's Mansion nor the council know how many Chinese people live around Batavia.

Internal corruption, Dashun switch, and spice prices plummeted, all of which made Batavia a "chicken rib" existence.

Money can solve a lot of problems, but... no money.

In particular, Amsterdam and Zeeland will set up a special trade committee with China. Without Batavia's transit, Batavia has been unable to make ends meet.

The Netherlands started its bloody rule in Southeast Asia at the beginning. In order to ensure the monopoly of spices, it carried out massacres; in order to ensure the scarcity of spices, it cut down spice trees and burned spice forests in Southeast Asia on a large scale.

This way of ruling is doomed to revolt one after another.In order to be able to rule, they can only build bastions and garrison troops, all of which require money.

The previous governor, who was just investigated, always followed the bloody oppression and expanded the taxpayer population, which led to a lot of resentment and a crisis in the rule.Coupled with the confrontational policy after the conflict of interest between the China Trade Council and Batavia, the 17-member committee carried out a major cleansing of the upper echelons of Batavia.

As for the reselling of residence permits without permission, it is just for outsiders to hear, and it is not a serious crime: Governor-General, the power does not need to expire, and whoever is the Governor-General does not use power for personal gain to earn more money?What a big deal, how could it really be investigated because of this.

It's just that the blood of the previous predecessor was a bit too much, and many sugar factories in Batavia have been unable to sustain it.

At this time, the sugar owner Douglas, who was standing next to Valkner, gave the following explanation when questioned by the committee:
[The plight of the Chinese sugar factory has nothing to do with the low purchase price of sugar.The real reason is that many owners of sugar factories borrowed money to operate, and the loan interest was too high.This is just the internal friction of the Chinese, and has no direct relationship with Batavia's policy of low sugar prices. 】

This is a very confusing answer... Why do Chinese sugar factories rely on loans to maintain them?
But, magically, this nonsense answer was just rounded off, the committee turned a blind eye and let it go.

In the past few years, there is no room to lower the sugar price to make a profit. After the Persian market was closed, the sugar industry has become a dangerous existence that may detonate Batavia: the more the owner owes money, the more he wants to squeeze the business. , in order to be able to catch up with the price increase of sugar and pay off the previous arrears in one go.In order to squeeze out the business, it is necessary to increase manpower, and immigrants through normal channels are prohibited and have to pay poll tax, so a large number of Fujianese people are smuggled into slave labor.

Douglas quite agrees with the idea of ​​this trustworthy governor. If the Chinese in Batavia can be eliminated, it will indeed be beneficial.

However, there is still a very serious problem: what about trade with China?
The company's headquarters has set up a special committee for trade with China, and the business office in Guangdong directly trades with Dashun.

If Batavia expels the Chinese, Batavia will benefit, but it will inevitably affect the company's headquarters' trade with China, and I'm afraid the headquarters will not agree.

"My lord, how do we get rid of these useless Chinese? If they all pay the poll tax and check the population, this can also increase their income. They are considered useful people. But if the population is checked and the poll tax is paid, the sugarcane plantations And the sugar mills are bound to close on a mass scale, they won't be able to make a living, and there may be chaos."

Douglas is still very aware of the current status of the sugar industry in Batavia. It has been squeezed too hard in the past few years. Smuggling has been strictly prevented and at the same time forced to be purchased. The price of sugar is too low. Not only is the living environment of slave labor getting worse, but many The owners of the sugar estates could barely hold on.

As a newcomer, Valkner can only formulate policies through these statistical reports.

In the past few years, the company's life has not been easy, and there have been some problems with the outflow of funds. Batavia has become a big pit that cannot be thrown away but does not make money, and must be invested in it every year.

The 17-member committee didn't let Valkneer take the blame, but hoped that he could rely on radical means, relying on a sudden breakthrough, to make Batavia turn a profit.

However, this is like the situation at the end of the Ming Dynasty, with hundreds of years of abuse, it is as ridiculous to expect a cabinet chief assistant to solve all the problems.

But Valknir was ambitious, thinking that with his own means, he would be able to solve all of Batavia's problems.

At least, he thinks so, and has his own plan.

His plan was radical, but he only talked to Douglas about clearing it up, but he didn't say the details, but avoided the topic, saying: "Let those Chinese Jiapitan, Lei Zhenlan and taxpayers come in. It's time for them to pay homage to the new governor."

Soon, the Chinese leaders of Batavia filed in, and the one who walked in the front was Jiapitan Lian Fuguang, a Chinese from Batavia.

Lian Fuguang is less than 30 years old this year. His father is one of the six Lei Zhenlan in Batavia. He married the daughter of the six Lei Zhenlan. Dan.

Now he has become the Kapitan of Batavia, rich people are relatives with broken bones and tendons.

When the Hongxi massacre occurred in history, three of the six Chinese in Batavia, Lei Zhenlan, chose to inform the Dutch in Batavia that the Chinese slave laborers were about to rebel; A year ago, Lian Huaiguan, the leader of the uprising, was reported for "misconduct, and I hope the authorities will pay attention to this person."

After the Hongxi tragedy, the Chinese merchants in the city went on strike collectively, and it was he and Lei Zhenlan who came forward to ask the merchants to reopen.

The result of such kneeling and licking did not bring him a very good end.

Because "I did report the misconduct of Lian Huaiguan, the leader of the uprising a year ago", he was supposed to be sentenced to five horses to hang his body on the city wall, but was eventually commuted to exile on Ambon Island, and all his property was confiscated.

At this time, Lian Fuguang had just become a Chinese Kapitan in Batavia. With a "sense of mission" in his heart to make the family prosperous, he knew that he must marry the new governor.

According to the rules, after presenting the precious gifts, Valknir signaled the Jiapitan and Lei Zhenlan to sit down.

"Gentlemen, I think you are aware of the fact that the previous governor issued residence permits indiscriminately for personal gain."

"And I heard that many Chinese working in sugarcane fields do not have residence permits and do not pay poll tax. This will seriously damage the interests of Batavia and is also against the law."

"Mr. Lian Fuguang, as a Chinese in Batavia, Kapitan, I heard that you have nearly thirty sugar factories and sugarcane gardens? I hope you can give me an accurate answer. In your sugarcane gardens, in the end How many slave laborers are there without a residence permit and who do not pay the poll tax?"

Those who can pay homage to the governor will speak Dutch fluently.

Lian Fuguang said: "Master Governor, all my sugar factories and sugarcane gardens have been sublet out. In fact, I am only responsible for collecting rent. The operation of the sugar factory has nothing to do with me. This is a commercial issue, and I I don't think I can give instructions to the operators of the sugar factories. At least I can guarantee that when the sugar factories and sugarcane plantations were managed by myself, I didn't take in anyone without a residence permit, and I didn't underpay anyone. poll tax."

He quickly made a guarantee to the governor, and said that if the governor needed, he could go back home to retrieve his lease contract at any time, proving that all his sugar factories had been rented out.

Lian Fuguang did not lie. As a member of the upper-class Chinese circle in Batavia, he was well informed and had a good relationship with the local Dutch officials.

I knew early on that there was a problem with the company's sugar sales, and I rented out all the sugarcane gardens early on, and just sat at home to collect funds.

"Your Excellency, the business I'm running now is to sell some goods and open a casino. And I pay the casino tax on time."

"The servants in my family have also obtained residence permits, and they also pay poll tax on a monthly basis. I can guarantee this."

Valkneer asked the rest of the Lei Zhenlans, and the six Lei Zhenlans also agreed that their sugar cane gardens and sugar factories were leased to others.

The industry I am engaged in is either lending money or doing business, and I do not operate these physical industries.Although many sugarcane gardens and sugar factories are recorded in their names, they do not operate them themselves, and they do not care about the affairs of the sugar factories and sugarcane gardens.

Valknir had just arrived and didn't know what to do.Douglas on the side hastily reminded: "Master Governor, I want to remind you. We can only govern a few cities such as Batavia and Ambon. We lack control over things outside the city. We can only rely on these must Dan and Lei Zhenlan are indirect management."

Douglas may not have a good impression of these wealthy Chinese businessmen, but he is just worried that Valknell will not understand the situation and give some strange orders.

He also wanted to remind the new governor that the Chinese living in the city are useful people.They are very loyal to Batavia, and most of them are taxpayers and businessmen, who pay the poll tax on time and provide some information about the Chinese.

The real garbage population that needs to be eliminated are the poor hired laborers who neither pay taxes nor make any profit from sugar sucrose, and who have a fighting spirit.

He hoped that the new President Du would be more sober, knowing that using Chinese to control Chinese is Batavia's long-standing policy.If these "loyal" Chinese are squeezed too hard, it may cause the Chinese to become one-hearted.These people are rich and well-connected. If they are forced to stand with the Chinese who are hired workers, it will be a big deal.

Valkner was a little displeased with Douglas' interruption, and was about to say something, when several cannon shots were heard outside.

The glass window was shaken slightly, and the people in the room suddenly became confused, thinking that something had happened.

A Dutchman hurried in.

"Governor, please don't worry. It's just a routine seizure and inspection of the Swedish East India Company's ships. The one that fired the cannon was an armed merchant ship from Dashun, but its captain was an officer, and it just fired the salute according to the rules!"

(End of this chapter)