Lu Ming

Chapter 220 Prepare with both hands
The dark clouds were dense, and the golden light broke through. The thick clouds in the sky had completely covered the sunlight.Although in terms of time, it is now 3 o'clock in the afternoon, the surrounding sea area including Dayuan Island is covered by a black cloud before the storm at this moment, and only a few rays of light occasionally split from above the cloud layer will tell People, this is not the night.

The fleet of the Dutch East India Company, flying the red, white and blue VOC flag, had already parked in the sea off Dayuan, 2 kilometers away from the entrance of the channel.

"These exiled nobles have already dug the channel?" After retracting the telescope, Hans Putmans, a tall man with a resolute face, stood on the bow of the Middelburg and said in surprise: "There was no such thing in the last report." Mention the matter at length, otherwise I suppose my flagship should be the Levalton."

"These people have a lot of unique skills, Your Excellency." Johannes van der Hagen, an old friend of the time traveler, said respectfully at the side at this time: "Perhaps in Maujer's eyes, this is not the most important thing, after all, the report Too much magic to mention."

"These questions should be answered shortly. I've seen the comms out of the way. Mr. Maujer will be on it, won't he?"

"It must be so, sir."

What did the Dutch fleet come to do? This has to start from 5 months ago.

When the Sloten led by Peter Nuiz returned to Batavia 5 months ago, the whole Batavia was a sensation.

Governor Jane Peterszorn Cohen, who was the governor of Batavia at the time, inspected the goods, read the letters, and listened to the reports from Nuiz and the Walking Four, and immediately convened the city council. Batavia high-level officials reported the incident.

After the meeting, Nuiz and several people including Van der Hagen immediately became the stars of Batavia.Because Governor Cohen publicly presented letters and personal gifts written to him by the "Governor Governor" at the meeting: friendly business commitments and incomparably beautiful pearl jewelry.

All doubts disappeared in front of the raw silk and porcelain brought out of the Sloten's cabin.The stars shuttled between various receptions every day for a week, constantly describing every detail of the crossing forces to the big shots.In addition, whenever they take out those strings of pearl necklaces that have been inlaid by later generations, they will get endless amazement and appreciation.

No one cares about the loss of soldiers and shops.The federal republic is now in its golden age, and the Dutch East India Company, which has contributed a lot to this, is the world's first truly "borderless" trading company.These merchants who can do business with the enemy at any time, and sell their motherland by the way, don't care about that little human life, let alone the business house that is not even a castle.

Governor Cohen himself also meant the same thing: start a trade with that mysterious force.

As the greatest founder, hero, executioner, and genocide of the East India Company in South Asia, Cohen, who has always treated the aboriginals with no mercy, this time he found for the first time that A best-of-both-worlds solution for the Javanese.

In Batavia in 1628, life was not easy.

Historically, during the second term of Governor Korn, that is, during the two-year term of 1628 and 1629, the most powerful Matalan Sultanate on Java Island had besieged Batavia twice.In fact, not long after Nuyz and the others returned to Batavia, the news that the native kingdom had assembled a large number of fighters had already spread in the city.

The Sultanate of Mataland was the most powerful indigenous kingdom in the Java Islands in the first half of the 16th and 17th centuries. The current leader is Sultan Mas Langsan.In history, the sultan almost unified all of Java, and extended his power to Palembang in Sumatra, Banjang and Sukadana in Kalimantan.

And from this year (1628), Langsan Sultan, who believed that the country had reached its peak, began to order soldiers to gather soldiers, preparing to pull out the only nail on the island of Java: Batavia City, the base camp of the Dutch.

This kind of siege is very cruel. The two sides launched a series of low-intensity attacks and defenses around the city wall in a few months. Few people died of disease and various collateral injuries.

Governor Cohen is the prime example.At this moment, he still doesn't know that he will die of dysentery in the second siege of the native kingdom next year.People in the besieged city could not drink clean water, and even the 43-year-old governor died of dysentery in the end.

Therefore, Governor Cohen, who already had a premonition that the war with the natives was inevitable, saw the letter of intent to purchase the natives from the cross-travelers, so it can be said that he fell asleep and met a pillow.

The focus of superiors is different from that of others.What Cohen cares about is the large amount of military expenditure that Batavia spends on driving and massacring the natives every year.Now, if there is a channel that can turn the natives into money, then there is no doubt that the losses in wars with the natives in the future will be minimized, and even profits can be made-the example of black people is there, and anyone can see it.

In addition, due to the unique appetite of the mysterious force, the slave trade has well made up for the other side's share of spices that are not needed. No matter how you look at it, the business list that Nuiz and the others brought back is extremely suitable. The current state of business here in Batavia.

So Governor Cohen is satisfied.

So, half a month after Nuyzi arrived in Hong Kong, he led five trading ships northward to the coast of Bangladesh and India.The maharajas of the Bengal region have saltpetre in their hands, while the Indian region has various furs and cotton, which are urgently needed goods by the officials.

When Nuiz returned to Batavia again, it was April 1628.

Five trading ships brought full loads of saltpetre, leather and cotton.At this time, the two-and-a-half-month siege of Batavia had just come to an end: the Kingdom of Mataland had just withdrawn its troops not long ago, and everything was moving in a good direction.

Then, the bad news came.

A speedboat expelled by the Japanese shogunate brought all the employees of the Dutch embassy in Japan, as well as documents from the shogunate ordering the termination of the Japanese-Dutch trade.After figuring out what happened in anger, Mr. Peter Nuiz was immediately confirmed by the Batavia Council as the culprit that caused the incident.
Of course, Nuiz is not wronged.

The bunch of bad things between Japan and the Netherlands have already been introduced in the previous article, so I won't repeat them here.In short, Mr. Nuiz did not handle the conflicts between the company and the Japanese well during his tenure as a senior officer. Not only did he fail to handle it well, but he also intensified the hostility between the two parties. Therefore, this pot must be handled by He will carry it.

So Mr. Nuizi became cold.

As a result, the originally scheduled post of Commander and Diplomatic Representative of the Grand Naval Fleet was also far away from Mr. Nuiz.

History seems to have returned to the original track here: Hans Putmans, who was supposed to be the chief executive of the Dayuan Shangguan in the next year, took over from Nuyz again in this plane a year earlier. mr. post.

Hans Putmans is a native of Middelburg, the Netherlands.In history, after this king succeeded Nu Yizi, he conquered the natives of Taiwan, developed trade with the Ming Dynasty, and launched the naval battle of Liuluowan. During the years when this person was the chief executive, the Dayuan Commercial Hall not only turned losses into profits, but also made great strides. Foundation.Among the previous governors of Taiwan, Hans Putmans is undoubtedly the best one.

So at the beginning of May 1628, under the leadership of Hans Putmans, who was originally the chairman of the Batavia Council, 5 large and small Dutch ships formed a fleet and set off from Bacheng with their goods. To Dayuan Island.

However, after the fleet took one and a half months to arrive at the sea outside Dayuan, they did not drop anchor, but set up a formation ready to maneuver, waiting for the arrival of the messenger.

After that, the scene at the beginning of this article appeared: as Putmans wished, Mao Zheer, a low-level businessman resident in the company, came to the Middelburg in a small boat immediately.

However, when Maujer met Putmans, he was stunned by the first question he was asked: "If we go to war now, does the fleet have a chance to take back everything on the island?"

After listening to Putmans's thoughts, Maozer stared wide-eyed, then waved his hands and said in surprise: "Oh, my God, this must be an idea that only a lunatic could come up with! Your Excellency, please allow me to directly Bai tells you: there is no chance of attacking the island in front of you!"

"Businessman, do you think we are not strong enough?" Putmans stared closely at Maozier at the moment: "We have 15 ships, and there are 125 crew members and 251 soldiers on my flagship. The entire fleet The total number of soldiers in our country exceeds 1000, and we still have heavy artillery, isn’t that enough?”

"Not enough, not enough!" Majer blushed at the moment: "The soldiers on the island have long-range muskets and 1-pound guns, and they also have fast schooners that can travel without sails. God, don't you come Didn’t you see those two ships here before?”

"I don't think those two ships can pose too much threat. They are too few in number and their tonnage is too low." Putmans couldn't help but glanced out of the cabin at this moment—the two destroyers passing through the crowd are currently off the coast of Dayuan. Cruising, and did not enter the port.

"As for those rifles and 1-pound guns." Putmans raised his beard slightly at this time: "The fleet has a total of 20 24-pound guns. I think this is enough to suppress those strange weapons."

Maozer was completely speechless at this time. He could only lean on the table with his hands and asked in frustration: "Is the attack on Dayuan Island an order from Governor Korn? I thought the fleet came here for trade."

"There are goods and shells on the ship. As for Governor Cohen, I am now executing the orders of my lord: to confirm the cooperation qualifications of trading partners."

"Okay, I think I understand." Mao Zheer raised his head and asked, "What do I need to do?"

"Tell me the detailed deployment of troops on the island, and then go back and tell those Ming nobles that I need to meet one of them."

"Okay, Your Excellency."

(End of this chapter)