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Chapter 639 Batavia
There is a large area of ​​islands between the vast Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean. One peninsula and two islands form a north-south semi-arc, closing the east-west traffic route on the sea.

But nature is not completely ruthless, leaving two gaps between the peninsula and the two islands. The ones to the north are called the Straits of Malacca and the ones to the south are called the Straits of Sunda. Due to their unique geographical location, these two straits have been very important and the only routes since maritime trade began.

Before the 15th century, exchanges between the East and the West were conditionally isolated. People and goods from Asia cannot enter Europe directly, and people and goods from Europe cannot be sold directly to Asia.

This condition is the Arabs. From the map, the Arab region is located right between Europe and Asia. With such a good geographical advantage, it would be a waste not to develop business.

The Arabs thought the same way. For a long time in ancient times, they were symbols of wealth and money. Their methods were very simple. They imported goods from Asia to the east coast of the Mediterranean and wholesaled them at high prices. Then I purchase goods from Europe and bring them back to Asia, and continue to raise prices.

The so-called richest Venetian merchants are actually just subordinates of Arab merchants. They can't eat the first bite of meat at all. At most, they can only eat ribs. The Arab merchants slaughtered them first, and then they went back and slaughtered the nobles of various European countries.

The most valuable and profitable goods at that time were several types of goods, such as silk, raw silk, porcelain, and tea produced in China. Among them, the most indispensable to Europeans were the specialties of Southeast Asia and India, spices.

With the opening of the Age of Discovery and the rapid development of navigation technology, Europeans were no longer satisfied with buying expensive spices from Venetian merchants. They wanted to bypass Arabia by sea and personally go to the mysterious East to find the origin of spices.

The main participants in this expedition were Portugal, Spain, Britain, the Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden and other countries. At the beginning of the 15th century, the Portuguese took the lead in finding the route to the East, defeated the Arabs in the Indian Ocean, and occupied a supply point on the west side of the Indian Peninsula.

Next, the Portuguese quickly discovered the importance of the Strait and occupied Malacca by force. It is worth mentioning that at that time, the city of Malacca had a population of more than 100,000, and the local sultan still ruled some surrounding small city-states, but he was defeated by hundreds of Portuguese soldiers on more than a dozen Clark sailing ships.

As the Portuguese brought back priceless spices from the Maluku Islands, European countries immediately fell into a desire for the East, among which the United Provinces of the Netherlands, known for its commerce, was the most active.

In 1594, the Spanish government closed the port of Lisbon, cutting off the Netherlands from the possibility of obtaining spices. So the Dutch began to wonder whether they could go to the mysterious Eastern Spice Islands to buy directly without being subject to the restrictions of the Spanish and the high prices of the Portuguese. .

In 1595, a trading company called the Dutch Distant Merchant Association funded an expedition and set sail for the legendary Spice Islands. It arrived in Sumatra 17 months later and the profits from the spices brought back reached 600%. .

The Dutch were greatly encouraged by this new trade route. In just 6 years, a total of 13 expeditions with more than 60 ships successfully reached the Spice Islands and established the first trade route in Banten, West Java. a colonial stronghold.

In 1602, the Dutch East India Company, which had some government functions, was established. The number of fleets heading to the Spice Islands doubled, and they successively drove away the Portuguese, occupied Ambon and Jakarta, and controlled the Sunda Strait.

Considering that Jakarta is located next to the Sunda Strait and has a very advantageous geographical location, the Dutch East India Company decided to make this place the company's headquarters in the East in 1610. It began to build the city, set up a governor's palace, and appointed a governor.

Jakarta was a commercial port before the Portuguese and Dutch came. Its specialty products are pepper, cloves, and nutmeg, which are called grappa in the local indigenous language. As early as the 12th century, maritime merchants from the Song Dynasty often traveled here, exchanging silk and porcelain for spices. Based on the numerous coconut trees here, it was called Coconut City. At the beginning of the 15th century, Muslim leaders defeated the Portuguese fleet that wanted to occupy this place, and changed Graba to Jakarta, which means the city of victory. This is where the name Jakarta comes from.

Perhaps because of their accents, Guangdong maritime merchants called this place Yejiada, and Fujian maritime merchants called it Bacheng. But Batavia is not the city of Batavia, but another name for the ancestors of the Dutch, the Badawis, which shows how much they care about this place.

Since the appointment of the Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies in 1610, there have been three terms. The former Governor-General Gerald Reinst was old, retired as Governor-General, and has returned to the Netherlands.

The third governor, Laurence Real, was directly appointed by the Conference of 17 and was said to have been highly recommended by Frederick Hendrick, Earl of Nassau.

Frederick Hendrik is the younger brother of Maurice Nassau, the ruler of the United Provinces of the Netherlands. He, Prince Maurice, and Grand Chancellor John Van Oldenbarnefeldt formed the ruling trio. This group of people firmly controls the military and political power of the United Provinces of the Netherlands.

The new governor has not arrived and the old governor has returned to the country. We cannot be leaderless. According to the regulations of the Dutch East India Company, the person who currently has the final word in the East India headquarters should be the steward of the East India Council, Jan Peterszohn Cohen.

Although he is already the second-in-command of the Indian branch, Cohen is still very young, only 29 years old. He was born in the town of Horn, a famous port city in the Netherlands.

When he was 13 years old, he went to Rome to study bookkeeping (accounting). He returned home after completing his studies two years later, just in time for the establishment of the East India Company, and a sailing ship in Horn Town became a shareholder, so he became the lowest-ranking company employee on the ship. , sub-businessman.

Seven years later, the 25-year-old Cohen was appreciated by the company's board of directors for his hard work and long-term vision, and was promoted to chief commercial officer, where he could command two armed cargo ships at once.

In 1614, the Dutch fleet defeated the Portuguese fleet and occupied the port of Dili, but they did not use it immediately, or they could not see how to use it.

Cohen, who was very knowledgeable about the Spice Islands, immediately wrote to the board of directors, planning the development prospects of Dili Port and urging it to be an important port for transactions with merchants of the Ming Dynasty.

Because Dili Port is located on Timor Island, which is rich in sandalwood, it is the favorite of Ming merchants. The raw silk of the Ming Dynasty is also very popular in Europe. If you make good use of Dili Port, you can get the raw silk of the Ming Dynasty.

At that time, the Dutch East India Company was worrying about how to develop sea trade with the Ming Dynasty. Cohen's analysis was exactly what he wanted, so the young chief businessman was appointed as the director and general bookkeeper of the Banten and Jakarta commercial halls, and he stepped into the business in one step. Senior Management.

(End of this chapter)