Zuoyuan, small restaurant on the second floor.
In this small restaurant full of Western style, there were two men and two women, a total of four people sitting at a rectangular dining table, having lunch together.
We ate a course of Western food, paired with fine wine imported from France by Mancini Tea Company.
The two men dining were the Ming Emperor Zhu Cixiang and the Governor-General of the Dutch East India Company Matt Solko, while the two women were Marie Mancini and Princess Nissa.
The four of them had already tasted several carefully prepared French meals, and now they all put down their knives and forks and began to drink and talk.
The issues they discussed were somewhat close to what the "republican" Worster had in mind, but not exactly the same. Closer to home, they are also exploring the possibility of establishing a republic in the east of the world!
Republic!
And it also appears in the east of the world, which is really progress.
However, this republic is not exactly the same as the one imagined by Vorster. It is not the Republic of the Southern Continent, but the Republic of Batavia!
The name of this country is the same as the historical puppet state on Dutch soil created by the First French Republic, but its location is completely different. It is Bata on the island of Java and is governed by the Dutch East India Company. Via City, and above the Maguru and Banda Islands.
"Mr. Governor, is the East India Company a joint-stock company that belongs to the shareholders, or is it a state-owned company that belongs to the Dutch Republic, no, the Kingdom of France? Is the value of its existence to earn profits for the company's shareholders, or to serve? Regarding the ambitions of King Louis? If the East India Company serves shareholders rather than the king, then the most important step it should take now is to establish a completely neutral Batavia Republic. This is not only for the shareholders of the company Very beneficial and also in the interest of the Dutch Republic..."
The person who was talking was Mary Mancini, and the person who was listening to her was Matsolko, the governor of the East India Company.
The elderly Dutchman's face was pale, and his right hand holding the goblet was trembling slightly. He opened his mouth to say something, but in the end nothing came out, and only silence remained.
Because Zhu Cixi had just proposed a plan that shocked Matsolko to the extreme - to establish an independent and neutral republic in Batavia, Magulu Islands and Banda Islands controlled by the East India Company.
At the same time, Zhu Cixi also suggested moving the registered place of the Dutch East India Company from Amsterdam, the Netherlands, to the city of Batavia!
In this way, the Dutch East India Company became the East India Company of Batavia.
Because the Republic of Batavia was an independent and neutral country, the Batavia East India Company could continue to engage in trade and exchanges between the East and the West even if war broke out between the Ming Dynasty and France and the Netherlands.
That's right, Zhu Cixiang was unwilling to interrupt trade and exchanges!
Even if there is a war, he is willing to continue to protect trade and continue to communicate with the West.
Because in the foreseeable future, the war that will occur between the East and the West is not a life-and-death war, but a war aimed at containment and counter-containment.
Moreover, Louis XIV did not have the ability to lead the entire West to war with the Ming Dynasty... France is indeed the leader of the West, but it is by no means the "Father" of Western countries, so France does not have the ability to order all Western countries to interrupt Trade with the Ming Dynasty.
But France can send a fleet to intercept Ming merchant ships in the Atlantic Ocean, and can even do some robbing and breaking diplomatic relations in the Indian Ocean.
In this case, Zhu Cixiang needed an East India Company that could remain neutral.
"Governor-General," Zhu Cixiang said with a smile, "Britain's attitude is very obvious... They want to stay out of the matter! If your East India Company follows the Dutch Republic and adopts wrong policies, then the British East India Company will replace yours." status and become the king of the East-West trade routes!”
Princess Nisha also said sternly: "Governor, the British East India Company has just sent me a personal letter from my father. In the letter, he expressed great indignation against the Dutch India Trading Company's collusion with the Chinese bandits to plunder India. ! He has even considered providing funding and issuing privateering licenses to the Tianfang pirates in the Indian Ocean to attack Dutch merchant ships. I think you should know that in the last war between Britain and Spain, the Spanish privateers dealt a heavy blow to British merchant ships. Where do all the plundering ships come from? Aren’t you worried that the British will retaliate in kind?"
In the last Anglo-Spanish War, the British lost 1,500-2,000 merchant ships due to Spanish privateering!
But with the little naval power of the Kingdom of Spain, is it possible to cause such heavy losses to the British?
Even a fool should have thought that those who kept attacking British merchant ships in the English Channel were actually the Dutch flying the Spanish war flag...
Since the Dutch can fly the Spanish "Red Cross" flag to attack British ships, why can't the British fly the crescent flag of the Tianfang Sect to attack Dutch ships?
Matt Solko is about to have a heart attack!
He seemed to have seen the scene when the Dutch East India Company went bankrupt.
Mary Mancini then persuaded: "Mr. Governor, what are you still hesitating about? Why can't a Batavia Republic be established? The Batavia Republic has actually existed for a long time... The Dutch East India Company What sails over Batavia, the Maguru Islands and the Banda Islands is the power of a nation.”
Matt Solko said with some pain: "Madam, the power of the East India Company comes from the authorization of the United Provinces of the Netherlands!"
Mary Mancini shook her head and said: "The Prince of Orange's United Provincial Republic of the Netherlands no longer exists... The current Netherlands is just a puppet of King Louis. It only serves King Louis. ambition, rather than the interests of the people of the seven provinces. And your East India Company really serves the people of the seven provinces. If your company collapses, the people of the seven provinces will suffer heavy losses. And the Netherlands will never lose its position in international trade.
And... Batavia, the Maguru Islands and the Banda Islands will also be lost! You don’t think that the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty would allow these three territories to fall into the hands of the French, do you? "
Zhu Cixiang looked at the old Dutch man and said with a smile: "Governor, is this decision really that difficult? Do you really think that Speaker De Wit is willing to let the East India Company lose everything? In any case, most of the East India Company The stocks are all in the hands of businessmen in the Netherlands, and those people are all de Wit's supporters! If the East India Company collapses, wouldn't it be de Witt's supporters who would suffer the most?
Governor, if you are willing to stand up and lead the Batavia Republic, I can try to persuade His Majesty Aurangzeb to regard the Batavia Republic as a friend of the Timurid Empire! "
The temptation is a bit too great!
Ever since they were driven out of the territory of the Timurid Empire forty or fifty years ago, the Dutch have always wanted to go back to do business... However, the Timurid Empire has long been pro-British, and their emperors have become more and more popular with each generation. Difficult to speak.
After the Battle of Malacca, the Dutch had no hope for this, otherwise they would not have colluded with Dashun to plunder India.
"Your Majesty," Matsolko asked with a frown, "I want to know, will you regard the weak Republic of Batavia as your vassal state? We Dutch have fought against the Spanish for 80 years in pursuit of freedom. Year......"
Zhu Cixiang laughed: "Governor, you have misunderstood the Ming Dynasty's vassal system. The vassal state is the father and the vassal state is the son. The country of father and son shows the inheritance of culture and blood, not who is the master or the servant. You Dutch people and We, the Chinese, have neither cultural inheritance nor blood inheritance, so how can we become a vassal state of the Ming Dynasty? Think about it again, how many small Tianfang religion countries in the East Indies are willing to surrender to the Ming Dynasty? Do I agree? "
