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Chapter 980 Governor Cohen
"Stop it, shut up! Everyone, get up and do what you need to do... First mate, send a signal to all the ships, and have the captains gather on the flagship. When everyone is here, go to the cabin and call me! You also go change your clothes, and don't mention this to anyone first. I will ask Zhu Haiou and Huang Nanping after I return to Beijing."

As the saying goes, the greater the hope, the greater the disappointment. The reason why Hong Tao lost his temper in public was because he was very disappointed that the navy, the benchmark of the military, had a serious bureaucratic phenomenon.

In less than 30 years, the Navy, which had been painstakingly built up, had entered a vicious circle of degeneration and was beginning to be overstaffed. When problems arose, instead of comprehensively analyzing the pros and cons and making timely adjustments, they used compliance with the rules as a shield to avoid responsibility and save trouble.

If the rules were immutable, then I should not have violated the ancestral system and launched new policies, nor should I have built a large navy. We cannot say that the rules set by the emperor must be blindly followed by generations.

Before establishing military regulations including the Ming Code, I had clearly emphasized to the executive departments more than once that rules are time-limited and imperfect, and there will always be inappropriate and unreasonable aspects.

Don't be afraid of defects, just make up for them in time when you find them. This is the function of the Dali Temple and the General Staff at all levels. However, as time goes by, some people slack off, some neglect, and some forget.

At this time, we must use heavy hands to awaken their memory and attention with pain. However, this cannot be done at this time, and there is no need to disrupt the plans that have been prepared. There is still a long way to go and there is still enough time.

The sudden appearance of such a large fleet on the sea really surprised the Dutch in Batavia. If he hadn't seen the yellow dragon flag hanging on the mast, Governor Cohen would have almost thought that the Ming Empire was going to turn against the United Provinces Republic.

This thought accompanied him almost all the time he served as the Governor of the East India Company's Indian Commission, and often appeared in nightmares. Whenever he was awakened in the middle of the night, he would look out to the sea from the second-floor balcony of the Governor's Mansion, using facts to convince himself not to think too much.

As the only official in the United Provinces and even in Europe who had met and chatted with the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty several times and discussed economy and strategy, Cohen never believed that the Ming Empire would be a long-term ally of the United Provinces.

There are three reasons: First, the size of the Ming Empire and the United Provinces Republic is too different, and the difference is getting bigger and bigger over time. In addition to the territorial area, this size also includes many parameters such as population, economic scale, and military scale.

No matter how many overseas resources the United Provinces Republic possessed, it was still a tiny thing in front of the Ming Empire and was at an absolute disadvantage in almost every parameter comparison.

In the relationship between people, it is important to be well-matched. In the relationship between countries, it is even more important to be well-matched. If the comprehensive strength of both parties is not at the same level, the weaker party must rely on the stronger party, otherwise they cannot get along for a long time.

Secondly, the development trend of the Ming Empire in recent years. As the Governor-General of India, Cohen had to live in Batavia all year round, and had the opportunity to come into contact with more locals and Ming people, and also to study their culture and personality traits in more depth.

Then we come to the conclusion that the Ming Empire is very unique in the whole of Asia, with almost no similarities. Compared with all Asian countries, it is more keen on business and is constantly expanding its influence.

Speaking of expansion, the Mongol Empire in ancient times, the Ottoman Empire, the Mughal Empire, and the Safavid Empire today were all very keen on expansion and are still expanding. Why is the Ming Empire so unique? This is the result of Cohen's research. He found that the expansion of the Ming Empire was more purposeful and planned than that of other Asian countries. It was not blindly annexing every country around it, but was very selective and carefully selected.

For example, after annexing Annan and Luzon Island, the Ming Empire had two important maritime bases, thus radiating its influence to the entire South Seas, including the Spice Islands.

These two regions are not only strategically located, but also have relatively complete infrastructure and similar cultural attributes. In other words, Luzon and Annan are more developed and easier to manage after occupation.

Facts have also proved this point. Now Luzon and Annan have become official provinces of the Ming Empire, and the assimilation work in all aspects has been going relatively smoothly. Not only have they become the main bases of the Ming Navy, but they have also provided the Ming Empire with sufficient food, timber and other natural resources.

Replacing Luzon with Borneo and Annan with Johor, although the strategic position is more important, the management difficulty will increase by several levels, and a large amount of manpower, material resources and time will be required to obtain benefits. The cost-effectiveness is far less than Luzon and Annan.

It is hard to say that this was not the result of careful planning and calculation. No ruler and his ministers would choose the strategic direction by guessing and be right every time.

If you don't believe it, then look at the next big deal of the Ming emperor, Enniao Port. At that time, even Cohen himself couldn't understand why the Ming emperor helped the East India Company transport goods and invested huge sums of money to build a port at the remote Cape of Good Hope.

With the naval power of the Ming Empire at that time, it was entirely possible to expel the East India Company from Southeast Asia, monopolize all profits from the Spice Islands, and then sell them to European countries through the Portuguese.

The Portuguese promised that they would be happy to play this role, and if necessary, they would even be willing to help the Ming Empire attack East India Company ships. So it is no more difficult than building Enniao Port, and the profit is even greater.

But after these years of personal experience, Cohen finally figured out the reason, at least in part. The Ming emperor was not ignorant of business, nor did he not see the high profits, but he was too treacherous and cunning. The East India Company was the fool, and it was being used by others without knowing it.

If the Ming Emperor expelled the East India Company and chose to cooperate with the Portuguese, he would encounter a very thorny problem once the religious wars in Europe broke out: it would be difficult for Portuguese merchant ships to transport goods to northern Europe through the English Channel.

Because England and France completely controlled the English Channel, they would chase and attack the ships from western Spain and Portugal, and the ships of the United Provinces that had lost the Spice Islands would not spare them either.

As for whether Portugal and Spain are of the same mind, outsiders will not care. Since they have the same king, just beat them together!

(End of this chapter)