Chapter 249
In Batavia East Harbor, the setting sun in the distance gradually submerged into the sea. It burned so hard that the sea surface in the west was pulsing with blood-red color.
Brewer, the Governor of the Dutch East India, stood on the pier of the port, letting the evening sea breeze blow up the skirt of his clothes. His eyes just looked into the distance. I don’t know what I’m thinking.
The Dutch East India Combined Fleet has more than forty warships and armed merchant ships, large and small. The tall figures of those warships are sailing towards the depths of the ocean with the last ray of sunlight.
Coconut City Port, also known as Batavia West Port, is what the Dutch East India Governorate wants to take back. After all, if Ning Haijun is stationed here, it is equivalent to a sharp sword hanging over the heads of the Dutch.
If a wolf wants to eat a sheep, he will find an excuse no matter what.
There are many Chinese living in Batavia, most of them living in Donggang District. What's more, the Dutch are used to bullying the Chinese. If something like this happens again, and the Dutch bully the Chinese, something similar to what happened in Luzon Port will inevitably happen. It was the Ning Navy that bombarded the East Port area of Batavia.
This problem is really too serious, but the problem is that the Dutch East Indies cannot compromise without restrictions, and his biggest concession cannot satisfy Ning Haijun's appetite.
Letting the warships leave the port at night is a sense of crisis and a temporary escape. Without the protection of the fort, these warships are not necessarily safer in the port than at sea.
"Your Majesty the Governor!"
"Dear Hans, are you back?"
"Yes, Your Excellency... I'm so sorry!"
Brewer looked at Putmans's face and knew that he must be disappointed. Ning Haijun did not agree to the peace talks.
Putmans smiled bitterly and said: "The Ming people are too greedy. They not only want money, they also want Sumatra, and they asked us to provide war compensation of 80 million taels of silver!"
"This is impossible!"
"Now that negotiations have broken down, there is only war!"
Putmans looked frustrated: "With the strength and power of our Dutch East Indies, it is simply not enough to resist the attack of the Ning Navy, but the location of Sumatra Island is too important..."
Brewer knew that there was no way to support them in the Kingdom of the Netherlands now: "The only way is to delay for a while!"
"I'm afraid the people of Ming Dynasty won't give us this time!"
"You are like this... go there again and tell them that our Dutch East India Company's greatest sincerity is to compensate them 50 million guilders, and that the Governor-General of the Dutch East India Company can guarantee that similar things will not happen in the future! "
Fifty million guilders was also a huge sum of money for the Dutch East India Company, and it was an astronomical sum. According to the current normal exchange rate with the Ming Dynasty, one tael of silver (37.125 grams) can be exchanged for 3.9 guilders, five thousand guilders. Ten thousand guilders is equivalent to 12.82 million taels of silver (the most recent exchange rate cannot be found, the exchange rate in 1637)
This is almost equivalent to about 70% to 80% of the profits of the Dutch East India Company.
Of course, due to the Netherlands' high international status, the actual purchasing power of the Dutch guilder far exceeds that of the equivalent pound.
After learning about this situation, Xie Jinglin reported to Cheng Shijie.
"What are you going to do, Commander?"
Cheng Shijie stared at the huge world map hanging on the wall opposite. The most eye-catching blue color on the map shows the sphere of influence of the Dutch East Indies. Except for scattered dots, most of Sumatra Island has been It was painted blue, and there was the Port of Medan, which shocked Cheng Shijie.
In comparison, the scope controlled by the Ning Navy is much smaller. In addition to Dajuan and part of Luzon Island, there is only the West Port area of Batavia, which is less than 5% of the Dutch East India Company's territory in Southeast Asia. .
Cheng Shijie smiled bitterly and said: "The military contest between us and Zheng Zhilong is over. The next battle can only be fought in the imperial court. I must return to the capital immediately!"
"What should we do here?"
"There's no way we can spit out the territory we eat!"
Cheng Shijie said: "We only give the Dutch two choices, either to pay back with money, or to exchange for Sumatra and Medan Port!"
"If the commander leaves, will the fleet also follow?"
"Some of them will definitely have to leave, and now the Navy is going to reorganize!"
Cheng Shijie said: "I am fighting life and death now. I will not leave without getting benefits. Tell the Dutch that they will have three days to make a decision. If they don't make a decision, Ning Haijun will send troops to retaliate immediately!"
"Really?"
"Of course we can't really fight!"
The problem Cheng Shijie considered was that the Spanish Empire needed to persist longer in Europe, and at the same time, the Dutch could not be too weakened. Otherwise, how could the Dutch suppress the British?
Without the four Anglo-Dutch wars, Britain's rise would have been faster. This would have been a worldwide war. A decisive naval battle would not be easy. The key problem is that if the other side does not want to fight openly, it will adopt a method of breaking up the engagement. , Cheng Shijie will also have a very headache.
Cheng Shijie thought of the countries established by the Chinese in various parts of Nanyang in later generations, including the Lanfang Republic established by Luo Fangbo, the Daiyan Kingdom established by Wu Yuansheng, the Jiexu Kingdom established by Zhang Jiexu, an officer who defeated the Nanming army, and the Sanfoqi Kingdom established by Zhang Lian. There is the Suntha Kingdom, and the most famous one is the Luoshe Kingdom, which is the Thonburi dynasty established by Taksin in Thailand.
However, these countries established by the Chinese have only been around for a short time. The Sanfoqi Kingdom has been destroyed by the Manchujia Kingdom. It will take more than thirty years for Zhang Jiexu to establish a country. Now it is not known whether Zhang Jiexu was born or not.
Cheng Shijie looked at Xie Jinglin and said, "You stay in Nanyang to do something big!"
"What's the big deal?"
"Chinese have been immigrating to various places in Southeast Asia for a long time. For example, in Medan, Semarang, Surabaya and other places now, the Chinese are very powerful, but they are all oppressed by the Dutch!"
Cheng Shijie thought for a while and said: "Now they must have received the conflict between us and the Dutch. You don't need to go to them, they will come here to find you!"
It's not that the Nanyang Chinese are not united, but at that time, they had no choice. Now that Cheng Shijie has stepped forward, if they don't seize this opportunity, they deserve to be bullied.
"If these representatives want to accept the protection of Ning Haijun and go to Luzon or Yecheng Port to register and obtain their household registration, they will be protected by our Ning Haijun!"
Cheng Shijie said: "Whether they are mixed-race Chinese or Chinese, they can all obtain the household registration of the Ming Dynasty. Each household registration costs no money and only requires one hundred pence for the cost of labor. In addition, we seized two coins from the Dutch East Indian colonial army. There are more than a thousand muskets, as well as a large number of weapons and armor. If these equipment are not enough, then transport them from Liaodong!"
"yes!"
Xie Jinglin smiled and said: "Commander, I'm afraid this is wishful thinking. These Chinese are used to being bullied in Nanyang. How should I put it? They are a bit cowardly. Even if they are given weapons, they don't dare to resist!"
"Don't be afraid of this. The enemy of your enemy is your friend. As long as you are willing to go against the Dutch and resist their colonial rule, you can buy any equipment or training with money!"
Xie Jinglin said: "Price!"
"The production cost of our weapons is not high, but transporting it to Nanyang is also very laborious. Doubling it tenfold shouldn't be too much!"
"Not too much!"
Cheng Shijie said: "If no one is willing to take the lead, let's train a few. Lin Bufan, who is on the executive committee, do they have any clansmen in Medan?"
"It is said that there is, but the relationship is relatively distant!"
"Don't be afraid of distance. We were one family five hundred years ago!"
Under the colonial control of the Dutch East India Company, the East India economic system was dominated by a single colonial economic system. The single colonial economy brought many benefits. East India was an important producer of coffee, rubber, palm oil, and cane sugar. In the past, the Dutch These crops were purchased from plantations and sold to Europe, and then various industrial products were imported from Europe. Huge profits were obtained over and over again, which became an important income for the Dutch government.
Now this part of the income will be transferred to Liaodong. Liaodong itself has strong industrial production capacity. Various industrial products can be produced in Liaodong. However, due to the insufficient population in Liaodong, the scale of the Liaodong market is not large, which seriously restricts Liaodong's industry. develop.
Now, with Luzon, Dajuan and Yecheng, Liaodong's industrial production capacity will undergo a new round of expansion.
Xie Jinglin said: "Then what's the difference between us and the Dutch?"
"Where do you see the difference?"
Cheng Shijie smiled and said: "In the eyes of the natives, we are invaders just like the Dutch. It's just that under the rule of the Dutch, the Chinese in East India are like leeks. They grow and cut every time they grow. Under our rule Down here, the Chinese are the rulers, at least we don’t just plunder, we can also build.”
The real reason why Cheng Shijie did not expand on a large scale in East India is that he had a clear understanding of his own power. Strength and ambition are directly proportional. Ning Haijun is so powerful that he only dares to occupy Yecheng Port now. Expansion is because the territory is too large and the troops are scattered and defeated by the Dutch one by one.
Although the Tiaodang Camp is very powerful in combat, in fact the heavy infantry, which mainly uses cold weapons and equipment, has really fallen behind. If the Dutch charged directly with casualties and used volley fire, the Tiaodang Camp would also suffer. heavy losses.
This is what Cheng Shijie does not want to see. He will continue to increase troops. Luzon is Ning Haijun's base in Nanyang, and Yecheng Port is a tentacle of Ning Haijun's reach out to Nanyang.
Before leaving, Cheng Shijie made adjustments to the personnel arrangements of Yecheng Port. First, he integrated the 4,500-strong Tiaodang Camp and the Chinese garrison of more than 1,600 people into the Yecheng Garrison Brigade. .
This garrison brigade has four regiments, two heavy infantry and two light infantry. Li Weiluan serves as the major general brigade commander.
Guo Bingren served as the colonel's chief of staff and the commander of the third light infantry regiment, and Li Shiji served as the colonel's deputy brigade commander and the commander of the fourth light infantry regiment.
The commander of the Fourth Fleet is Rear Admiral Li Fang, who has 32 warships under his jurisdiction. Since the Sea Wolf class is not assigned in place, the entire Fourth Fleet now has a total of 28 Sea Shark class warships and four Jusha class warships. .
Xie Jinglin serves as the director of the Coconut City Executive Committee, and Lin Bufan, Li Sixi, Li Weiluan, Li Fang, etc. serve as members of the Coconut City Executive Committee.
Cheng Shijie attended the meeting of the Yecheng Executive Committee and made an important speech at the same time: "Now Yecheng is the Yecheng of the Ming Dynasty, and the Ning Navy will not withdraw. After reorganization, the Yecheng garrison consists of two parts: the navy and the army. It includes two heavy infantry regiments, two light infantry, brigade headquarters and field hospitals. The brigade has a total of more than 8,200 soldiers. The Navy's Fourth Fleet is permanently stationed in Coconut City, with a total of 32 warships in the fleet. The command headquarters, shipyard repair shop and support troops, the total navy has more than 11,400 people..."
Listening to Cheng Shijie's speech, all the Chinese representatives gave him even more warm applause. No matter in which era, an army that is good at fighting and has strict discipline will always be loved by the people without reservation. What's more, this army not only It can support itself and create countless jobs for the local area.
"In the future, we will build 16 primary schools, two middle schools, and one university in Coconut City..."
Cheng Shijie is very proud that the Chinese literacy rate in Nanyang is very high, and they do not have the pedantic thinking of the Ming Dynasty. This time, Cheng Shijie took more than 300 selected Chinese teachers to Liaodong to strengthen the teacher force in Liaodong.
During a break in the meeting, Xie Jinglin found Cheng Shijie.
"Commander!"
"Tell me what you have to say!"
"Commander, my disciples dare not say anything!"
"If you fart, let it go!"
Xie Jinglin blushed and said: "The four major Nanyang families in Coconut City, Li, Lin, Guo, and Xie each introduced a young lady who has not yet left the court. They do not seek status, they just want to serve the commander!"
"Is there a condition?"
"Yes, if the commander agrees, then we are a family!"
"What if I don't agree?"
"I never said anything about this, but the commander will lose a huge sum of money!"
"How many?"
"Each family has two million taels of silver. This is a real rich lady!"
Cheng Shijie was silent for a moment. Just as a sheep is being herded, so is a group of sheep. Once this gap is opened, it will not only be the Chinese in Yecheng, but also the Chinese families in Luzon.
Although this is a bad habit of the feudal dynasty, the problem is that they give too much.
The total amount of silver donated by the Chinese representatives of Yecheng to Ning Haijun was 8.8 million taels. If you include the dowries of the daughters of the four major families and other property, it is expected to exceed 20 million taels.
It is enough to see that the Nanyang Chinese are very rich, and this money is definitely not all their wealth. If the income in Luzon is included, Ning Haijun can make a net profit of more than 40 million taels of silver from this game.
Sure enough, the robbery came quickly.
In December of the seventh year of Chongzhen, the negotiations with the Dutch East India Company finally made a breakthrough.
Xie Jinglin reported to Cheng Shijie: "Commander, the Dutch are completely out of options. We have more and more Chinese armed forces. They agree to our request for negotiation and do not ask to return to Yecheng Port. They only ask us to return it to Yecheng Port." No more than 1,000 troops can be stationed at Coconut City Port, and they agreed to transfer Medan Port on Sumatra Island to us! However, we have to buy it!"
"How much?"
"One guilder, they sold it to us at Medan Port for one guilder."
The Port of Medan in this era was actually a large fishing village. It had little actual value and was just a transit port.
"How much will we be compensated?"
"Sixty-five million guilders, which is equivalent to one thousand six hundred and sixty-six thousand six hundred and sixty-six taels of silver! However, they asked to be paid in ten years, six and a half million guilders per year!"
"Tell them to pay it off in five years!"
Cheng Shijie pondered: "It's okay to use Yecheng Port as a commercial port, and it's okay to garrison no more than a thousand people!"
Cheng Shijie immediately established the Yecheng Port Inspection Department and moved the Second Heavy Armored Regiment and the Third Light Infantry Regiment of the Yecheng Garrison Brigade to Medan Port. As for the original First Heavy Regiment and the Fourth Light Infantry Regiment, they were all converted into Yecheng Armed police force.
Who doesn’t know how to play word games?
The Dutchman played a word game with Cheng Shijie, which was purely for bullying.
As the Nanyang incident was resolved, Cheng Shijie left Yecheng Port, along with Ning Haijun's main fleet. At the same time, Cheng Shijie also brought Nanyang's harvest, worth more than 20 million taels of silver, and four attendants who had never met each other. concubine.
Watching the huge warship slowly sailing out of the port, Brewer, the governor of the Dutch East India Company, wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and breathed a sigh of relief.
The god of plague is finally gone.
(End of chapter)
