I

  Chapter 491 488【Tu Hua】

"According to statistics, since the emperor of China opened the port, the price of Chinese goods going to sea has become lower and lower. This is also due to the effective rule of the emperor of China. He rectified the Chinese currency, stabilized the Chinese commercial tax, and cleared the Corrupt officials and gangsters. There are more and more maritime merchants in China, and they can get goods at a lower price than us. When Zheng’s pirates were incorporated by the Chinese emperor, although the port tariffs increased, they no longer paid protection fees to pirates. The profit margins of the merchants have been greatly improved..."

"Gentlemen, taking into account the consumption of goods purchased in Guangdong and the loss of ships, the overall cost of Dutch merchant ships going to Guangdong to purchase goods in person is at least 10% higher than waiting for Chinese merchants to ship them directly in Batavia...Therefore, I propose that Dong Merchant ships of Indian companies no longer go to China to do business in person. Of course, Japanese trade must be preserved.”

   "In the future, the East India Company can retain these three trade routes in the Far East..."

   "Article 1, Chinese merchants shipped goods to Batavia, and the East India Company shipped goods back to Europe from Batavia."

   "Article 2, Japan - Zeelandia (Tainan) - Vietnam - Batavia - Europe."

   "Article 3, Spice Islands - Batavia - Europe."

As soon as the East India Company Director-General of Eastern Affairs finished speaking, Governor Anthony Van Diemen firmly opposed it. He said angrily, "Gentlemen, don't you only see that little profit? Withdrawing from China now, Waiting for Chinese merchants to sell their goods to Batavia. After the rise of Chinese merchants, they will inevitably promote the development of the Chinese navy. At that time, we may not be able to stay in Batavia, and even the Straits of Malacca will be taken away by the Chinese!"

Director-General Huis smiled and said: "Your Excellency, you don't understand the Chinese. The Chinese only care about their land, and they have no interest in the sea. In the eyes of the Chinese emperor and ministers, the rich Chinese mainland already has enough Why do you have to brave the storm to venture into the dangerous ocean? In Batavia, I often heard the story of Zheng He. The Chinese official Zheng He led a huge fleet more than two hundred years ago. All the way to Africa. But they are going to show off their force. As long as the countries are willing to pay tribute, they will not do other things. Chinese merchant ships are not suitable for oceangoing, and shipping goods to Batavia is the limit. Batavia and Malacca, will always belong to the Netherlands."

   "No, I understand the Chinese, especially Chinese businessmen," Anthony said, "Their greed and courage are no less than European adventurers. Today the Netherlands withdraws from the South China Sea, and tomorrow it will be forced to withdraw from the Far East!"

  Huys said: "Your Excellency, your worries are unnecessary."

  Anthony was so angry that he slapped the table: "No one here is more familiar with the Far East than me. You are doing a stupid thing! In order to reduce the cost by 10%, you even gave up the business route from China to Batavia!"

  Antony, governor of Batavia, was born as a businessman, and he was an unsuccessful businessman.

  He is more suitable to be at the helm!

  He united Chinese businessmen and Malay natives, defeated the Sudanese army, occupied Batavia with fewer victories, and built the city of Batavia himself. Together, they took a group of natives and captured Sri Lanka and Malacca from Portugal. Through diplomacy and war, the Governor of Goa (Portugal) and King Fars were forced to sue for peace, and obtained the monopoly rights of local peppers, spices and other commodities.

  The trade between Japan and Vietnam was also initiated by him.

  He sent an expedition fleet and discovered strange lands such as New Zealand, the north coast of Australia, Tonga, and Fiji.

  He even formulated the "Batavian Code" himself, opened Latin schools, Catholic churches, hospitals, orphanages everywhere, and carried out cultural colonization while colonizing by force.

  Such a far-sighted and overall-looking governor, he single-handedly created a stable situation in the Far East for the Dutch East India Company.

   But after the situation is stabilized, there are more and more obstacles, and it is very likely that the Dutch headquarters did it deliberately!

  Huys did not quarrel with Anthony, but said: "Let's vote with a show of hands. Those who agree with the proposal, please raise your hand."

  Members of the council, more than 80% raised their hands in favor.

  Huys looked at Anthony: "Your Excellency, do you need another vote?"

  Anthony said: "I vote against it in the name of the governor of Batavia! The result of the vote of the council cannot be passed under the objection of the governor. It needs to be taken back to the Netherlands and submitted to the seventeen-member meeting for voting."

   "Of course, this is the governor's power, and the proposal will be brought back to the Netherlands soon." Huis smiled.

  Dominate East Asia?

  Hehe, the board of directors of the Dutch headquarters has no interest in this. The gentlemen of the seventeen-member meeting only need to be responsible to the majority of shareholders and to the investors of the stock exchange.

  Reduce the total cost of freight transportation by a full 10%, this proposal must be passed, and the evacuation of Dutch merchant ships is a matter of time.

Huis also said: "After the Chinese emperor opened the sea, more and more Chinese businessmen came to Batavia. Many of them opened trading houses and left Chinese employees to do business. There are also more and more Chinese people in Batavia. .In order to win over the Chinese, I propose to allow one or two Kapitans to be elected as city hall councilors, with the right to listen and make suggestions."

  This power was originally promised to Chinese leaders, but it has never been truly implemented.

   Anthony said: "I agree."

   Unanimous vote.

  There are too many Chinese, it is inconvenient to manage, and they often have disputes with Dutch officials.

   It is very cost-effective to recruit one or two Chinese leaders into the city hall to be dogs.

Huis also said: "The Chinese Jiapitan in Batavia requested to open a school in the Chinese residential area, and also requested to build a Mazu Temple in the Chinese area. Although this is under the jurisdiction of the city hall, it can also be discussed in today's will be voted together.”

"I object!"

  Anthony said: "Batavia can only build Latin schools, only Christian churches. If the Chinese are allowed to build schools and temples, their influence will become greater and greater."

  As long as no monetary interests are involved, basically follow the governor's orders. Anyway, if you take it back to the Dutch headquarters, you won't get any results.

  The construction of Chinese schools and the construction of Mazu temples were all rejected by the council!

  The Kapitans in Batavia were very disappointed by this, but they had no choice but to run a private school in their own home for the concubine.

  Anthony immediately transferred the city hall files, and the rapid increase in the number of Chinese shocked the governor. He felt that the development could not be allowed to continue, nor could it be directly expelled. Taxes on the Chinese should be raised to force some Chinese to leave Batavia.

  Historically, the Manchu Qing briefly lifted the sea ban, and a large number of Chinese flocked in that year, and another governor did the same.

   But it went even further, directly prohibiting the Chinese from staying, arresting and expelling the Chinese on various charges.

  When the number of Chinese is uncontrollable, then... Massacre!

   "Your Excellency, there is great news from the Philippines!" The adjutant rushed in.

  Anthony opened the letter to check, and was shocked. The content was: Tu Hua, Spain!

   This Tu Hua incident should have happened four years ago. At that time, the Spanish governor did not kill the Filipino Chinese in order to do business with Zhao Han, which can be said to have changed history.

  However, after Zhao Han agreed to open the port to Spain, Spain did not directly benefit.

  Because more and more Fujian businessmen are going to the Philippines to do business, they have almost grabbed the market share there.

   What is even more frightening is that there are more and more Chinese, and it is difficult to govern at all.

  The Spanish colonists were very panicked by this. Just 40 years ago, they massacred 30,000 Chinese at a time. At that time, there were no barbers, tailors, shoemakers, cooks and farmers in Manila. They robbed countless goods but could not buy goods.

  Spain’s colonial rule in the Philippines almost collapsed due to mass slaughter of China!

  The scar is healed and the pain is forgotten, and now the tragedy is repeating itself.

  This time, the Spanish governor of the Philippines had exactly the same idea as Anthony: there are too many Chinese people, it is not easy to manage, and heavy taxes are imposed to drive some away, and forced labor to kill some.

  So, the Filipino Chinese rose up.

Don't think that the Chinese are just being bullied by others. In the Philippine massacre 40 years ago, tens of thousands of Chinese rebels killed all the way to Manila, and even made Lügong vehicles for attacking the city (a few years before the official uprising, the unbearable Chinese hired Bing, directly killed the Governor of the Philippines).

  Philippines, Manila, Balian.

  The city of Manila was also built by the Chinese. However, the Chinese are not allowed to enter the city, and can only live in Balian outside the city. The Chinese call this settlement "Jiannei".

  Once the Spanish colonists choose to attack the Chinese, the artillery on the city can directly bombard Jiannei!

   "Boom boom boom!"

  Spain took action because they learned that the Chinese in Jiannei might rebel.

   "Father-in-law, let's go!"

  Wan Zhaoan grabbed his uncle's wrist, dragged him outside the shop, and ran to the back house to pick up his weapon.

  Long Xianmin panicked: "How can you run around under artillery bombardment? Quickly find a place to hide."

  Wan Zhaoan said anxiously: "After the artillery bombardment, there will be troops to kill. If you don't hide now, you won't be able to escape in the future!"

  Forty years is enough to make people forget the past.

   What's more, the massacre 40 years ago almost killed all the Filipino Chinese, and now they are all latecomers of re-immigration. In order to restore the colony, Spain tried every means to invite Chinese merchants back, and even gave various tax incentives at the beginning.

  Wan Zhaoan took his father-in-law's family and the Chinese guys in the store, and soon came to the street with a bag.

  The streets were already in chaos, and a large number of Chinese civilians fled around.

  Seeing that there is no way out, Wan Zhaoan suddenly drew his sword out of its sheath, and shouted, "Is there a Datong army? Datong army gather!"

   Shouted for a long time, but no one responded.

  Wan Zhaoan could only drag his wife along with his father-in-law's family to continue fleeing.

  He is a disabled veteran, with a broken left **** and ring finger. He could have been assigned to be a policeman, but he came to the Philippines to make a living because there was a child relationship here.

  Wan Zhaoan ran for a while, the shelling gradually stopped, and the Chinese fleeing ahead suddenly ran back.

   "There are red-haired soldiers ahead, run back quickly!"

   "The blunderbuss is powerful, you can't rush!"

   "..."

   Not long after, a large number of Chinese fled in another direction.

  The Chinese settlement was surrounded by several sides, but the number of Spanish soldiers was not enough, so Japanese mercenaries and local indigenous soldiers were brought in to make up the number.

  The local native soldiers are weak chickens, and they are very active in massacring civilians, but they will flee when encountering fierce battles.

  Thousands of Chinese rushed towards the native soldiers together, and they could only break out from here.

  But soon, the Chinese civilians at the entrance of the alley were overwhelmed and ran back one after another. The entrance of the alley was completely blocked.

   "Fire, fire!"

  The Spaniards even set fire, trying to burn all the settlements and the Chinese to death.

   Seeing fire on all sides, these Chinese finally went all out and rushed forward with the butcher's knives of the native soldiers. The native soldiers were frightened instead, let go of the alley, turned around and fled.

  Wan Zhaoan squeezed out of the street with the crowd. At this time, Spanish soldiers and Japanese mercenaries had already chased and killed them from both sides.

  The Chinese jumped down the Bashi River one after another, crossed the river and fled to the swampy area further north.

  Spanish officers chased them down on horseback and slashed at the last Chinese who escaped. The native soldiers pulled their bows and shot arrows into the crowd of Chinese. The Japanese mercenaries raised their Japanese swords and chased them all the way.

   After more than 3,000 people died, the Chinese finally rushed into the woods.

   Regardless of men, women, or children, they picked up branches and stones to make weapons, and then helped the old and the young to go to the swamp.

   During the massacre 40 years ago, the last more than 400 Chinese also fled to this swamp. Facing the pursuers, they collectively jumped into the swamp to commit suicide, unwilling to be caught by the Spaniards.

Wan Zhaoan rushed to the crowd and shouted: "I am a soldier of the 1st Brigade, 3rd Regiment, and 6th Battalion of the 7th Division of the Datong Army. I served as a soldier for His Majesty the Emperor of Datong. Those who trust me will obey my orders. Now, whoever Have you brought a rope? Come ten people and follow me into the swamp. Tie your waist with a rope and pull it out if you sink in. No one is allowed to wander around. All line up and grab the clothes of the compatriots in front! Go deep into the swamp and get out of it. After chasing troops, all supplies will be distributed uniformly!"

  (end of this chapter)