unclear

Chapter 982 Governor Cohen 3
"Governor Cohen, I am not here to visit you this time, but to eliminate a major hidden danger for both of us. If your company still wants to continue cooperating with the Empire, you must show the proper attitude and means."

"…the East India Company is willing to assist Your Majesty in eliminating the harassment of commercial routes by the Kingdom of Sulu."

Faced with the Ming Emperor's blunt and impolite opening remarks, an option suddenly emerged in Cohen's mind: the Ming Empire is finally going to take action on the archipelago south of Luzon Island.

It is no secret that there are many ethnic groups on those islands that are dissatisfied with the rule of the Ming Empire. Merchant ships from various countries, including Chinese merchants, will all stay away from that sea area.

Now the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty has come here in person with a huge fleet, and is obviously going to attack these islands unexpectedly from the south, while at the same time making it clear to himself that he has no intention of intervening in the Spice Islands.

This is certainly a good thing. Although the East India Company does not want to see the Ming Empire dominate the entire South China Sea, it is even more unwilling to allow the Sulu Kingdom to grow and become stronger.

Because it not only opposed the rule of the Ming Empire, but also opposed the influence of the East India Company in the Spice Islands. If the country could be wiped out with the help of the power of the Ming Empire, or replaced with a more moderate king, it would be more beneficial than harmful to the development of the East India Company.

"Sulu? No, no, no, those useless islands are not worth the emperor's personal expedition. I want to attack the Sultanate of Aceh. It invaded the old port, killed Chinese merchants, and attacked the port of Malacca many times, seriously undermining the peace and commercial order among the Southeast Asian countries. It does not take the empire seriously at all. This behavior must be severely punished.

I heard that there are many Minangkabau people living in Batavia. Their territory is adjacent to the Sultanate of Aceh and has also been invaded. It is just right to find a few Minangkabau people who are familiar with the sea routes and the ports of Aceh, and let them lead the fleet. "

Hong Tao basically knew what Cohen's attitude was towards the expansion of the Ming Empire and what important suggestions he had given to the East India Company. The original Statistics Department and the current Advisory Office had been operating in Southeast Asia for twenty years. Batavia had always been one of the key areas of work, and the intelligence network had long since infiltrated the trading houses and the Governor's Office.

I dare not say more, but if necessary, I can kill this young governor overseas in a minute, or find a way to have the East India Company headquarters replace him.

The reason why he has not been touched for many years is entirely for the sake of the overall situation. Cohen is very smart, has a good business sense, and has a good sense of the overall situation, but he is not arrogant or presumptuous.

Having such a person in a high position in the East India Company was not only not harmful to the expansion of the Ming Empire in the South Seas and the Indian Ocean, but rather a kind of protection.

The more he knows and thinks, the more he will be fearful and cautious in his response. In other words, the easier it is to figure him out and the easier it is to cooperate with him. If a new governor who knows little about the Ming Empire and the situation in Asia and who thinks too highly of himself comes, the chances of accidents will be higher.

"The Sultanate of Aceh... Your Majesty wants to occupy it?"

This answer was totally unexpected. Cohen hesitated. After thinking it over, he still couldn't figure out why the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty would travel thousands of miles with a huge fleet to attack a country that had nothing to do with commercial routes.

In fact, if anyone was more hostile to the Sultanate of Aceh, it was the East India Company. If it was allowed to conquer the island of Sumatra without being stopped, the two settlements established by the company across the strait would probably also be affected.

As a sultanate that believes in Islam, it has a natural resistance to Christians, and it is difficult to reach an agreement based on commercial interests alone. It's not that I haven't tried before, but I have never seen hope of success. Now the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty is going to attack, which should be a good thing, but Cohen firmly does not believe those reasons that sound reasonable. There must be other reasons, and they are probably hidden.

"It's not occupation, it's punishment. The specific method depends on the attitude of the King of Aceh to admit his mistakes. If he can't effectively control his subordinates and manage the country, we might as well change him. But I don't know much about the situation in Aceh. You should be able to provide help in this regard, right?"

Hong Tao's answer was very clear. The Ming Empire had no interest in Aceh's territory, but it had requirements for the rulers of Aceh. If the East India Company had the same idea, they could join in the action.

"... Will Your Majesty send a governor or troops to Aceh?" Faced with such a blatant invitation, Cohen's breathing involuntarily became rapid.

Sumatra is rich in pepper, and its quality is no worse than that of the Spice Islands. However, the natives here are unwilling to cooperate with the East India Company, and they have limited manpower. On the one hand, they have to control the trading posts in the Spice Islands, and on the other hand, they have to defend against the Kingdom of Banten and Mataram that are spying on Batavia City. They really can't spare the energy to develop on Sumatra.

If we could gain a foothold on Sumatra with the help of the Ming Navy, the amount of pepper shipped to Europe each year would increase by at least 50%, and the cost would be lower.

With such outstanding achievements, he would not only be able to keep his position as governor, but could also go one step further and have the hope of taking on a more important position in the head office or even becoming a shareholder.

But there is a prerequisite, we must figure out what the Ming emperor wants to turn Aceh into. If it is treated as an overseas territory like Luzon Island, this piece of fat meat will lose a lot of oil and water, and it may even add a competitor. Who can guarantee that the Ming emperor will not be tempted by the pepper trade?

"There is no such plan at present. I plan to build a Taoist temple in Aceh to make them convert to Ming Daoism. Do you think it is possible?" Hong Tao shook his head and denied the overseas territory plan with certainty. But it is not a waste of effort to leave nothing behind. Spreading Taoist culture is a condition.

"This... shouldn't be easy... but as long as Your Majesty is willing, the East India Company will do its best to provide assistance." Cohen nodded, finally understanding what the emperor was going to do.

In recent years, the Ming Empire has been committed to spreading Taoism and has achieved success in Luzon, Annan, Cambodia and Thanlyin. Under the temptation of new schools and medical clinics, local people gradually changed from disbelief to firm belief and rejected all other religions.

Now the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty is going to take action against Aceh again. As long as this sultanate, which was the first to embrace Islam, is turned into a Taoist country, the connection between the Southeast Asian countries and the Islamic world will be geographically cut off. Like a flock of trapped sheep, they can only accept the result of being slowly assimilated.

Cohen was determined not to see this situation from a religious standpoint. Although the Dutch were not keen on missionary work, they also knew the necessity of long-term rule. But the Ming emperor obviously understood it better and took action earlier, and had no intention of leaving any room for the Dutch.

If the East India Company had revealed its missionary intentions at this time, it is estimated that this huge fleet would have immediately turned its guns around and fired at the city of Batavia.

There is an old Chinese proverb that says, "When you are under someone's roof, you have to bow your head." Now Cohen no longer expects to occupy the Spice Islands and the Port of Batavia forever. He only hopes not to provoke the overly powerful emperor during his term of office and to make as much profit as possible for the company.

(End of this chapter)