"Is the Dutch East India Company really that strong?" Rear Admiral George Blake was shocked. "Didn't the Battle of Malacca in 1664 have a negative impact on the operations of the Dutch East India Company? As far as I know, The shares of the Dutch East India Company, which are listed in Amsterdam and London, have fallen a lot!”
William Beckett smiled bitterly: "Major General, the Dutch East India Company's stock price fell due to the decline in profits and dividends after the divestiture of the company's operations in the Indian Ocean... But the Dutch East India Company's operations in the Pacific region The situation is very gratifying, so our business is growing significantly!
In particular, their investment in Temasek Free City, owned by the Chinese Emperor, was a huge success! In the past three or four years, the Dutch East India Company has invested hundreds of thousands of pounds in Temasek Island to build cities, ports, shipyards... and also opened banks, trading stations, and plantations there. . Although these investments have not yet generated profits, with the rapid development of the thirteen vassal states established by the Chinese Empire near the Strait of Malacca and the increasing volume of east-west trade, Temasek Free City will definitely become a central city in the Nanyang region in the future. , will become as prosperous as Amsterdam and London! "
This is real? Major General George Blake thought to himself: If the Dutch profiteers cannot be squeezed out of the Pacific this time, when I return to London, I must buy more shares of the damn Dutch East India Company!
No matter what he was thinking, Major General Black had nothing nice to say. He snorted: "Damn Dutch profiteers, while following the French to contain the Chinese Empire, they also helped the Chinese Emperor develop Temasek Island... They Do you really have God in your heart?”
William Beckett shook his head and said: "Major General, of course the profiteers of the Dutch East India Company do not have God in their hearts! What else can they not sell in order to get money?"
"Then how can we win the support of the Emperor of China?" George Blake thought for a moment and then asked, "If we reveal the collusion between the Dutch and the Dashun Empire to the Emperor of China, is it possible for him to side with us? What about suppressing the Dutch?”
"Maybe..." William Beckett shrugged, "Major General, I don't know much about the situation in the Ming Dynasty, so I'm not sure whether the Emperor of China knows about the collusion between the Dutch and the Dashun Empire."
George Blake said with certainty: "He must not know...otherwise how could he tolerate the Dutch making money from the Ming Dynasty while supporting the enemies of the Ming Dynasty?"
William Beckett frowned and did not make any comment, but changed his direction and said, "Major General, it is said that the Emperor of China loves Aurangzeb's daughter Princess Nisha very much. If Princess Nisha can be asked to speak for us, maybe It would make the Dutch East India Company lose the trust of the Emperor of China."
"Princess Nissa? Will she speak for us?"
"It should be possible," William Beckett said, "because the Dutch and French are instigating the Dashun Empire to invade the Timurid Empire in India!"
George Blake frowned: "Is the news reliable?"
"It's just a rumor, but the possibility is very high..." William Beckett said thoughtfully, "But the French envoy Fouquet and the Dutch special agent Bruce Van Diemen came from Haidu Prefecture two months ago. We went to Kunming, the capital of the Dashun Empire!
Recently, the Dashun Empire lost a very rich province. It is said that millions of people have fled to Yunnan Province, where Kunming is located. They have difficulty in food and clothing and are desperate. They may take the risk and send troops to invade India. "
George Blake frowned deeply, seeming a little worried.
The invasion of the Timur Empire in India by the Dashun Empire was not necessarily a bad thing for Britain - because the British East India had a good relationship with the Timurid Empire and had long been an arms supplier to the Timurid Empire.
If the Timurid Empire and Dashun fought a war, the British East India Company would definitely make huge profits. But he was also a little worried that if the Dashun Empire really succeeded in taking over India, the British East India Company's trading privileges in India would probably be lost.
William Beckett looked at the frowning George Blake and whispered in a low voice: "Major General, the Dashun Empire does not have a usable navy. If we want to prevent the invasion, it is not impossible... The problem is just Will the Dutch and French intervene?”
The British East India Company had many armed merchant ships in the Indian Ocean, and George Blake also brought a fleet. Although Britain's maritime power in the Indian Ocean is still weaker than that of the Netherlands, it can still pose a fatal threat to Dashun's weak navy.
"No!" George Blake shook his head, "His Majesty the Protector believes that we should avoid war with France and the Netherlands...Britain should remain neutral in this conflict as much as possible in order to seek maximum economic benefits, maybe His decision was correct."
While the two people were talking, there was a sudden knock on the office door, and then they heard a clerk from a business office loudly report: "Mr. Beckett, the Dashun Empire's Haidu Prefecture has sent someone over, please go to Haidu Prefecture immediately. I went to the government office and it was said that Gao Zhifu from Haidu has returned and wants to see you by name."
William Beckett and George Blake looked at each other and smiled bitterly: "Major General, it seems that the Dashun Empire also knows that our maritime power can pose a great threat to their invasion."
George Blake sighed and said: "William, let me go with you... I always want to reassure the people of the Dashun Empire. In addition, I also brought a treaty to the Dashun Empire to cede Fort St. George. Text. I think this treaty should give them a full understanding of Britain’s position!”
The text of the treaty brought by George Blake was the treaty ceding Fort St. George on the Coromandel Coast, approved by the Board of Directors of the British East India Company.
Fort St. George has now become Fort Shunfeng, a free city owned by the Dashun Empire and jointly managed by the Dutch India Trading Company and the officials of the Dashun Empire.
Losing this fort may seem detrimental to the British East India Company on the surface, but it also gave the British a common enemy with the Ming Empire and the Tamerlane Empire...and the enemy of an enemy should be a friend. Bar?
The British ceded Fort St. George and the British navy's fleet visiting the east almost reached Temasek, the bustling free city at the southeast entrance of the Strait of Malacca.
As William Becket told George Blake, with the help of the Dutch East India Company, this city developed prosperously. In just three or four years, it surpassed Batavia and Malacca and became The largest and most prosperous city around the Straits of Malacca.
This city, like Shanghai, is a combination of Chinese and Western styles. Although it is much smaller than the latter, it is cleaner and neater. The road is straight and wide, with sewers covered with stone slabs excavated on both sides, and similarly closed water diversion channels built - for a city located in a tropical miasma, the city's water diversion and sewage treatment facilities are very important. !
The Governor's Palace of the Dutch East India Company has now been moved from Batavia to Temasek City, right on the busiest street in the city. Of course, this "governor" is actually just the general manager of the company, not the general manager of the city.
The governor of Temasek City is elected by a political council composed of city investors and then appointed by the emperor of China. This "free city model" may seem incredible to traditional Eastern civilization, but it is indeed a far-reaching management system. The best way to place a colonial city.
Building a city requires a lot of investment, and it also requires the introduction of industry and commerce to provide lasting financial resources... so the model of whoever invests and who manages is the most practical.
The Dutch East India Company is the largest investor in Temasek City! It has 7 seats in the 37-person political council. The company's governor, Matt Solko, thus became the leader of all Westerners who settled in Temasek City!
However, the foreign leader has recently become troubled because of the confrontation between France, the Netherlands and the Ming Empire.
His company, as well as his lucrative governorship, may not be able to keep it!
