Van Dellentron went through the handover procedures with the original merchantman of the "Magdeburg". The ship had only been sailing from the Netherlands for a few months and was in pretty good condition after being repaired. Because this time we are sailing to a port of unknown forces, there are certain risks. The personnel on board have been strengthened. The ship was manned by one hundred and twenty sailors and forty soldiers. The ship was originally equipped with only 4 cannons, and 4 additional cannons were installed. Although the route to Hainan Island can only be regarded as a short voyage, the ship is still equipped with two military doctors to take care of the crew - although it is difficult to say how useful they are. There is no voyage where the ship does not throw more than ten or even several bodies into the sea. Of ten corpses. Of course, there is also a chaplain on board to look after the souls of the crew.
Van Drantron held a brief meeting with the captain, Gonzalez, and Leib Trini. The task given by the Governor to Van Delantron was to open up trade with the Australians and at the same time collect as much intelligence on them as possible. To achieve the goal, the first step is to choose the right trade goods: if the Australians are not interested in the goods they ship, then neither trade relations nor intelligence gathering will be possible.
Van Dellentron felt very troubled. No one here had any trade dealings with the Australians, and no one knew what they liked or needed. Since the Australians are on the coast of China, they will definitely be able to get a sufficient supply of Chinese goods: silk, raw silk, and porcelain, and a large amount of sugar and paper will be exported from them. When it comes to glass products, they themselves have very strong manufacturing capabilities. After much deliberation, Van Drentrön concluded that the only products they were interested in in the entire East Indies might be spices. Pepper, cinnamon, and cloves are among the few commodities that the Chinese are willing to import in large quantities from the Dutch.
If he can't find suitable bulk export commodities, Van Drentron will have no choice but to transport a large amount of silver to trade with the Australians. This is the trade situation that the company least wants to see.
The Governor-General's Secretary gave him a pamphlet on the basic conditions of Australians. Van Drentrell carefully studied the Australian imports. They imported a wide variety of things, but the largest commodities were rice, lumber, pig iron, various metals, and cotton products. Especially for cotton products, the import figures are very large. Van Dellentron was shocked because, according to what was said in the pamphlet, the cotton cloth and cotton yarn they bought from India from just one trader exceeded the amount of textiles that the East India Company had traded with China over the years. The total amount of Chinese sales. In fact, the East India Company not only failed to sell many cotton products to the Chinese, but instead imported a large amount of "Nanking cloth" from Chinese merchants every year for transportation and sales.
Apparently they have a big demand for textiles. thought van der Lenter. But I'm afraid he is incompetent when it comes to cotton products. Most of these things are shipped and sold by the British. Batavia has no inventory of cotton products unless it sends a ship to purchase and transport them from India - which is obviously too late in time.
As for pig iron and metals, they are even more scarce. Whether it is iron, lead, or copper, so far they have either been shipped from Europe or imported from China and Japan. It was already quite scarce and could not be exported.
But Batavia had a large amount of Dutch linen - a large export industrial product from the Netherlands. Because of the low prices, dumping actually occurred in the European market. At that time, someone described it as being so cheap that "the poorest people could use it to make shirts." In addition, he is also preparing to ship some high-quality woolen fabrics. Although woolen fabrics are not popular in China, some people have always purchased them as luxury goods.
I thought about it again and again and read this booklet again and again. Van Dellentron finally arranged a cargo list for "Magdeburg", and the goods to be shipped to Lingao for sale included: a large amount of spices, Dutch linen and logs, and a small amount of high-quality woolen fabrics. Because he saw from the pamphlet that Australians wore mostly blue and gray clothes, he judged that Australians lacked dyes other than indigo. Dyes such as hematoxylin were added to the cargo list. Finally, he loaded several hundred bales of local rice. Even Europeans in East India could only rely on rice as their staple food.
Since no one among the Dutch has been to Hainan Island, they know the exact longitude and latitude of Lingao, and the Dutch often travel to Vietnam for trade, so they are not ignorant of the local conditions. Referring to the nautical charts and the collected intelligence, Van Delendron roughly knew that Lingao was in the Qiongzhou Strait. He only needs to take the route to Vietnam, and after arriving in Vietnam, he will turn and sail westward and enter the Qiongzhou Strait to find Lingao.
After the "Magdeburg" set sail, it passed through the Palembang Strait and sailed through Sumatra Island and the Philippine Islands. After thirty-five days of sailing, it arrived at Kimberland Bay. After replenishing food and fresh water locally, "Magdeburg" "DePauw" will turn its course to the northeast, preparing to cross the Beibu Gulf to find the entrance to the Qiongzhou Strait.
Since Li Siya provided the approximate latitude and longitude of Lingao, the voyage went smoothly. The "Magdeburg" sailed past Bailongwei Island in early February 1631, and the sailors on the ship discovered six places - according to the charts in their hands, this should be Hainan Island.
The "Magdeburg" sailed cautiously along the coast - so far, no European ship has entered the Qiongzhou Strait. After sailing along the coast for several days, they finally found the entrance to the narrow strait. However, at this time, the sailor on the top of the mast gave a warning of "an approaching ship."
"Prepare for battle" the captain immediately gave the order.
After hearing the news, Van Delantron rushed out from the stern and immediately shouted: "No shooting without orders."
He was deeply afraid that the incoming ship was an Australian ship. If there was an armed conflict, it would have a negative impact on his mission.
Sure enough, from the two compass points on the port side, a sloop gradually appeared on the sea level.
Van Dellentron rested his hands on the side rails of the ship and stared at the schooner approaching with its full sail. This kind of ship is very rare on the waters of East Asia. It is a typical European-style ship. This ship does not look big, but its shape is very beautiful. It reminded him of the sloops he had seen along the Mediterranean coast and in the English Channel.
Flying on the top of the mast was a flag he didn't recognize. He cast his gaze towards the stern of the ship, where a blue and white flag was flying - exactly as the brochure said, this is the Australian Navy.
"This is a weird boat," Gonzalez said. "Where did they get the schooner? I've never seen anyone use a boat like that in East Asia."
The businessman glanced at the officer who was speaking next to him. He was a Spaniard - Van Delantron hated all Spaniards. He had heard a lot about the horrific atrocities committed by the Spanish during the War of Independence.
"Lower the pennant," commanded Van Drentrell. This is a way of paying tribute to the other person and showing no harm. Of course, it’s hard to say whether the other party understands the meaning. However, Van Dellentrön believes that since the Australians use a typical European-style ship, they probably also understand navigation signals.
Sure enough, the other party returned the same gift. And the sailboat was gradually approaching.
Leib Trini also came out, holding his notebook. He quickly drew the words of the sailboat on the notebook with a charcoal strip, and asked: "What do you think they want to do? They are waiting on our route. Are they going to contact us?" Leib Trini was the first A visit to East Asia is also my first voyage.
"I don't know. Maybe they want to contact us. Maybe they want to attack us. Let everyone be on alert immediately." Gonzalez said, "Their boat is small, and the total number of them can only be fifty people at most. Not to mention ours The side of the ship is much higher. Even in hand-to-hand combat, it will be an advantage. Have people load all the small rotating cannons."
"Don't drop the sails, keep sailing," ordered Van Dellen. It was dangerous to stay close to a strange ship at sea. It is not uncommon for a large ship to be attacked by a gang of smaller ships and ultimately captured in hand-to-hand combat.
"...ship inspection..." someone shouted from the other side.
"Oh, it sounds like Spanish? What are they talking about?"
"Stop the ship for inspection!" The shout from the boat on the other side was louder. Although it was in Spanish, the accent was very strange.
"It's strange, they spoke in Spanish." Gonzalez frowned, "They want us to stop the ship for inspection."
"We are clearly flying the prince's flag."
"Maybe they don't know the prince." Gonzalez didn't like the Dutch, and certainly didn't like the prince either.
"Oh, this is the first time I've encountered such a thing." The Spaniard laughed. "What do you think we should do? Dear Mr. Businessman, do you want them to board the ship for inspection on this vast sea?"
"Of course not, it's not safe - and besides, they may not be Australians," Van Drentron said, "keep sailing."
But the opponent's sailing speed is very fast, and the ship is much more flexible than them. Soon the dhow was abreast of them. This way they can see each other more clearly. This dhow looks very new. It must have been launched not long ago. There are cannons on the deck and the gun jackets have been taken off. Some sailors in blue jackets were running on the deck.
Everyone became nervous. The gunners and musketeers lit the matches, and the off-duty sailors of the "Prince's Team" were also armed with weapons such as machetes, axes, and daggers, ready to go into battle at any time.
At this time, a figure appeared on the stern of the schooner. He put a cone cover on his mouth and said something loudly in Chinese. . ..
