Lin Gao Qiming

Chapter 820 Governor De Carpentier

"Is this the information you got from that woman?" In an official residence in the city of Batavia, the governor of the Dutch East India Company, De Carpentier, looked at the report in his hand, and turned to the respectful Spanish veteran in front of him. asked.

A man of medium build stood in front of the fireplace.This man had a haughty and ferocious expression, sharp eyes, broad forehead, two mustaches around his mouth, and a short mustache under his lips, which made his thin face look elongated.Years of exposure to the East Indian sun had given the skin an unhealthy tan.Although he was only in his early forties, his hair was grizzled—the East Indies were not a hospitable place.

This person is the governor of the Dutch East India Company in Batavia: De Capontier.As the successor of Yang Peter Cohen, the founder of the East India Company in Southeast Asia, he is also an outstanding Governor of the East India Company in Batavia. He has all the characteristics of the senior managers of the East India Company: shrewd, cruel.Calm and stoic.

"Yes, my lord," said Savanchi Gonzalez, "it cost four thousand guilders."

"It's quite a lot." The governor blurted out in a businessman's way.Gonzalez felt contemptuous in his heart—although he was just a so-called "squire" in the countryside of Castile, he had the character of a so-called "Spanish lord".It is incompatible with the Dutch "small shopkeeper" thinking.

De Capontier looked carefully at the bound booklet in his hand.The answers to the 125 questions he asked were written on it in a beautiful cursive script of a graceful woman.Some answers are very simple, with only a few words, while others write dozens of pages in one go.

He rang the bell on the desk, and his secretary walked in.

"Translate this pamphlet. In German," said the Governor. "Quickly."

"I searched overnight. I'll send it to you tomorrow morning." The secretary bowed and retreated.

The Dutch Governor-General could not read Portuguese.He could only wait for his subordinates to translate the pamphlet before reading it carefully.But this "Sea Bank" in front of him - has been in Macau for several months, and should have collected a lot of useful information from the local area.

"Well, since you are from Macau, you should have heard a lot about these Australians. It is said that there is a trading point they frequent."

"Yes, my lord."

"Tell me about what you have seen and heard." De Capentil picked up a wine glass from the tray on the table, filled it with the very rare Portuguese wine and handed it to him.

"Thank you, my lord." Savanchi Gonzalez gratefully accepted the wine glass and took a big sip.To be honest, this wine is not good - more than a year of rough seas and an average temperature of more than [-] degrees Celsius here have made the wine too sour.But for those who have been without wine for a long time, this glass of wine is like nectar.

"I heard many stories about Australians in Macau and saw their products..."

"Start at the beginning and tell me what you think of that Portuguese woman."

"She's beautiful!" Savanche Gonzalez laughed, "and hot. Kind of like a Creole woman. She's smart and cunning. For God's sake, there must be a little devil hiding inside her!" "

"It is said that she is very influential in Macau?"

"Yes." Savanchi Gonzalez said, "It is said that she is ruthless, and people who are against her often die unexplainably or disappear without a trace. She got a lot of wealth from the sea, so in the There is also a lot of power in the upper echelons."

The governor nodded.He also learned this from the Macau intelligence network: Li Siya relied on bribes to have a strong influence in the Macau Municipal Council.She is generous and asks for little, and she is a welcome benefactor of the city councilors.

"Although she seemed to me to be a reclusive person, she never appeared in public in public, and many people had heard of her, but had never seen her. Few even knew where she lived."

"How did you meet her?"

"At the tavern, and someone took me there—brought me a blindfold."

"She's careful," the governor said to himself.It seems that Li Siya has many enemies.Macau is not a very big place, and it is not easy to hide.

"Tell me about the Australians."

Savanchi Gonzalez recounted his various experiences since he arrived in Macau, especially the various "Australian goods" sold in Macau: a large amount of rum and Chinese spirits, various papers: from Everything from the best writing paper to toilet paper; all kinds of candy, the most popular white sugar, rock candy and fruit-flavored candies...

De Capentil listened very carefully—even though the Seabank soldier in front of him spoke in a confused and incoherent manner, it was the most authentic first-hand information.Combined with the information provided by Li Siya, it is enough for the Batavian authorities to determine the policy towards Australians
The appearance of the Australians did not attract the attention of the Dutch at first. At that time, Guangzhou, the largest trading port in China, was occupied by the Portuguese. After the East India Company’s attempt to open a trading port in Zhangzhou and Quanzhou failed, the trade window with China was transferred to Taiwan. Dayuan Port.That is to say, their main trading partners were merchants in Fujian, not in Guangdong.Not to mention Hainan Island, an island in the west of Guangdong.A group of foreigners from overseas occupied a remote island in China. It took almost half a year for the news to reach Batavia, and no one took it seriously.It was not until Leizhou began to sell high-quality sugar in large quantities that the "Australians" really came into the sight of the East India Company for the first time.

Sugar is one of the most profitable cargoes shipped by the East India Company from China. The East India Company not only shipped sugar from China to Europe for resale, but also shipped it to the coast of the Persian Gulf for sale. It was the most important commodity besides spices. trade products.There are now a large number of high-quality sugar products appearing in the markets of Guangzhou, Macau and Vietnam, which certainly attracted their attention.The report sent back by the businessman stationed in Taiwan said: According to the Chinese businessman who shipped the sugar, the sugar was shipped from Leizhou and Lingao—and reported that the business in Lingao has developed rapidly recently, and the import and export Trade is very prosperous.

The businessmen in Batavia immediately spread out their maps to look for the place "Lingao". The Dutch were relieved when they found that this place deviated from their main trading port.Then, they got more news from Liu Xiang, an ally along the coast of China: including a group of foreigners who claimed to be Australians in Lingao, who claimed to be descendants of the royal family of the previous dynasty, and so on.The most critical news is that the Australians have a strong military force, strong enough to protect themselves.They defeated the attacks of the Spaniards and pirates successively.This makes the business people nervous - which means that Australians are about to form a new force in Lingao.

Although the Dutch did not take any action, they kept their eyes on Lingao.The Dutch East India Company was most concerned about monopolizing the spice trade from the East Indies to the Middle East and Europe, and secondly trying to expand and guarantee its dominant position in trade with Japan and China.Whether the sudden appearance of Australians and the start of exporting a large amount of goods will affect the current situation is what they are most concerned about.

Overall, Australians are not active in overseas trade.Despite their massive imports and exports, it is clear that their main trading partner is Ming.Next is Beiqi.Those products that are finally sold outside of China are mostly sold in Macau, and some are traded in Guangzhou.The East India Company's commercial network in Southeast Asia has never reported that so-called Australian merchant ships have arrived at these ports-although Australian goods are continuously entering these ports.Obviously, the Australians lack the ability to sail long distances at sea.This reassures businessmen: as long as they can monopolize shipping, it means monopolizing the profits of trade.

In particular, Lingao's products are highly competitive.In addition to wine and sugar, glass products and paper also have great potential, the former has beaten the sales of Venetian goods in the Far East.Lingao's cheap glassware and mirrors flooded Southeast Asia and India.Venetian products, from the most expensive large glass mirrors to cheap perforated glass beads, are a complete failure.So much so that the council wrote a letter back to Europe, requesting to stop purchasing all Venice products and replace them with Lingao products.Even the businessmen found that, even with the high shipping cost, the cost of purchasing glass mirrors from Guangzhou and selling them in Europe is still lower than that of glass mirrors produced in Venice—especially for some large-scale products, the cost difference is particularly obvious.As for the wholesale price of paper, it was even more surprising to them. .

From this point of view, the Australians in Lingao are business partners who can cooperate rather than enemies. What the Dutch fear most is forces with powerful sea power, who spare no effort to eliminate or crowd out opponents with sea power, and monopolize commodity transportation. The route is their consistent purpose in East India and East Asia.

Lingao does not meet this.Although many sources point to the Australians having a navy, including an iron ship as large as a castle, no one has ever seen the iron ship move.So De Capentil believes that this is either a rumor, or that the big ship has lost the ability to sail, so there is nothing to be afraid of.

This is an issue that the governor is very concerned about. As a sea coachman, he is very aware of the potential threat of a super giant ship.Once the ship is able to sail, it will not only be a huge threat at sea, but also the cargo that can be carried by its super-large size is a number beyond human imagination.

"...About that big iron ship, it does exist." Savanchi Gonzalez said, "Many businessmen and sailors who have been to Lingao said that it is true. A man named Aragones went there personally. Go to the blog shop. Li Siya also said that it is true."

　Seabank is a derogatory term for the Spanish and Portuguese in the Dutch, and it originally meant bacon

　　
　
(End of this chapter)