These three people led the army to launch an expedition, and Zhao Xuening was relieved.
And his own mission was to go south to Batavia, kill people, bring down the colonial headquarters of the Netherlands, and completely destroy the colonial symbol of the Netherlands.
What's especially important is that he cannot simply act, but must shame the Netherlands in front of the indigenous forces in this sea area.
He was going to declare to these people—
From then on, the master of this sea area is no longer the European colonists, but me!
This will be of great significance to his future governance and integration of forces to develop production. Those small countries and small forces that have been ravaged, split, and mixed up by the Netherlands will see clearly. Zhao Xuening will have the ability to The ability to completely destroy them.
Kill one to serve as a warning to hundreds, kill a chicken to serve as a warning to monkeys.
I'm sorry, Netherlands, I'm going to use you as a sacrificial flag today!
Preparations for a military operation soon began.
More than half a month later, after the first batch of free saltpeter assistance from the British arrived at the Seoul seaport, Zhao Xuening began to order to gradually provide additional meals to the soldiers. The soldiers' meals began to increase in fat and protein, and the military logistics department began to prepare for the military expedition. supplies, especially grain and various sauces used as salt.
As the saying goes, the three armies should move forward before food and grass are used. This matter is the most important, so much so that Zhao Xuening has to take time to go to the logistics department to supervise logistics matters.
If necessary, he will also provide computing power and use his mathematical abilities to perform a series of complex military calculations.
The Ministry of Industry also seized the time to package and transfer the firearms, artillery, and ammunition scheduled to be handed over to the army, and the army escorted them onto ships to prepare for storage.
Everything is being prepared in full swing.
On the other hand, Petrus and his wife were smoothly sent to Seoul to reunite with Zhao Xuening and Anne.
When Petrus was taken out of the prison, he was completely confused, because he was shocked to find that the person who came to take him out was Lanfang's foreign minister Chen Qilong.
He was very confused at the time and thought that Zhao Xuening and Conley had reached some agreement, so he asked Chen Qilong, but Chen Qilong said that he came in quietly and that Conley didn't know and would definitely shoot him if he knew.
Petrus watched Chen Qilong walk out of the prison in a swaggering manner, without any scruples about the armed Dutchmen at the door. They even nodded and bowed to Chen Qilong in a friendly manner, looking quite flattering.
In this way, the journey was smooth, and after leaving the city of Batavia, which in Cornley's eyes was impregnable, Petrus, who was a little unstable, asked Chen Qilong.
"How far have you controlled Batavia?"
"To the point where I can get you out easily and without Mr. Cornley knowing."
"I know that. I mean the military aspect."
"That's easier."
Chen Qilong smiled and said: "It will take about a day or two to easily enter Mr. Cornley's residence and invite him to drink tea where the president is."
Petrus knew instantly.
Unbeknownst to him or Cornley, Batavia had been infiltrated by Zhao Xuening into a sieve, with young men and women running around everywhere, and everyone was a little Fengxian.
He even had reason to suspect that if Zhao Xuening was asking for Conley's head, there would probably be more people working for him in exchange for his favor.
After all, in fact, the East Indies to which the Netherlands belongs is already considered Zhao Xuening's, except for the city of Batavia.
So after arriving at the Presidential Palace in Seoul and meeting Zhao Xuening and Anne, Petrus, after a brief hug with Anne, stood in front of Zhao Xuening and looked at him seriously.
"Your Excellency, what exactly do you want to do to Batavia?"
"You are Annie's father, and also my father. My biological father is no longer here, so you are my only father. Just call me Xue Ning. You have the qualifications."
"No, I don't have this qualification."
Petrus shook his head: "Your Majesty the President, please answer my question."
"All right."
Zhao Xuening motioned with his eyes to Anne to take her mother to the back room to rest, then asked Petrus to sit down and poured him a cup of black tea with milk - the legendary milk tea.
Petrus hadn't had milk tea for a while, and he was a little greedy, so he didn't think much, picked up the cup and drank it. After drinking it in one go, he felt much better.
Zhao Xuening waited for him to finish drinking, then poured him another cup of milk tea, and then slowly told him the contents of his conversation with Cornley and Marek, without hiding anything.
Then Petrus couldn't hold himself any longer. He originally planned to drink a second cup of milk tea, but as soon as he picked up the cup, his hand lost his balance and the cup fell to the ground, spilling all the milk tea on the carpet. Fortunately, the President's Office was paved. Carpet, otherwise Zhao Xuening's trousers will be completely wet.
"What? Are you going to form an alliance with Britain? Are you going to declare war on the Netherlands?"
"This is a decision I made after careful consideration and I think it is the right decision."
Zhao Xuening said slowly: "The United Kingdom will dominate the situation in Europe for a long time in the future. At present, the only one that can compete with it is France. However, France's navy is not strong enough, and its influence in the spice sea is still quite weak. It cannot influence My judgment, so I can only choose to cooperate with the British.
Of course, I am quite satisfied with the price offered to me by the British. I would be even more satisfied if they agreed to my other requests, which the Netherlands is unwilling and unable to give me. I am Lan As the president of the Republic of China, I have to be responsible for my country, so father, I'm sorry. "
"you……"
Petrus pointed at Zhao Xuening and struggled for a long time. Finally, as if he had lost all his strength, his raised arm fell slumped, and he leaned on the chair, without any energy at all.
Finally, he reached up and covered his face.
"It's my fault, it's all my fault. I chose you and fell in love with you, which led to this result. If I had known about today, I would never have let you get to where you are today!"
"Father, you shouldn't think like that."
Zhao Xuening said slowly: "You did nothing wrong. If Pierre's gang hadn't pushed too hard, I wouldn't have fought with him and embarked on this road of no return. You didn't make any mistakes. If it weren't for Pierre, I will not betray the Netherlands, and the main fault lies with Pierre, not you, and not me."
Petrus raised his head and roared: "So I still want to thank you, right?"
"That's not necessary."
Zhao Xuening smiled and said: "I believe you will also understand that this matter is essentially a problem for the Netherlands and the entire company. It cannot be changed by you alone. If there is no Pierre, there will be others.
They cannot tolerate the company's interests being placed above their personal interests. Such a villain is not worthy of your worries. In addition, the company and the Netherlands have obviously decided to abandon you and bring you back to the country as the culprit and try and punish you.
I think they may even sentence you to death, so that they can barely appease those in the country who bought East India Company shares and maintain their interests and status unshaken to the greatest extent possible. "
Petrus looked at Zhao Xuening blankly and said nothing.
"I could have done nothing and watched you being brought back to the Netherlands for trial, execution, becoming a laughing stock, and a shame to this country, but you are my father, and I don't want you to be humiliated, and so does Anne. No, so we sincerely hope you can live here and stay.”
Petrus was quiet for a while, and finally gave a wry smile and shook his head.
"Do I still have a choice? Your Excellency, the President, you have really pushed me to the point of no where to go!"
"I told you, you can call me by my name."
"No, I don't have that qualification. Your Majesty the President, I'm just a prisoner seeking asylum under your command."
Petrus sighed, stood up slowly, and sighed: "I don't dare to ask for anything anymore, and you don't have to feel sorry for me. Everything is caused by what I have done. If God must let me Going through these things should make me atone for my sins, and I admit them all."
After saying that, he turned and left without looking at Zhao Xuening again.
Zhao Xuening smiled and didn't care about his attitude. He stood up and sent him away.
Anyway, these are not important, as long as Annie can feel at ease, that's all.
Petrus was already in his hands, and Batavia's last "talisman" was gone. The next step was to tighten the encirclement and let Cornley feel the "warmth" from Seoul.
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PS: Occasionally eating some light noodles with a few slices of luncheon meat is also a good breakfast. Well, it’s very comfortable. I’ll add another chapter~
