After finishing the iced drinks, it’s time to get down to business. Not long after everyone went back and changed out of their flowery pants and large vests, two khaki drones rose from the compass deck and flew quickly towards Batavia City at a height of a hundred meters above the sea level.
It was sunny and sunny inside and outside the port of Bacheng. Even though the drone was flying very high, it was backed by a clear sky. It didn't take long for it to attract the attention of the Dutch defenders at the port and castle.
Speaking of which, the only people in Southeast Asia who have not experienced the North Korean drones are the Dutch and the Spanish. Like other Europeans in this time and space, it was the first time they discovered something that could soar in the sky like a bird. Each of the Dutch soldiers looked panicked, crossing themselves on their chests, and after standing up, they glanced at the church behind them. , to pray for Christ’s blessing.
At this time, the first industrial revolution had begun nearly forty years ago. Steam engines had been widely used in Europe for mining, and hot-air balloons had also taken to the sky. In other words, the era of replacing manual labor with machinery has begun.
Although the Dutch East India Company is a bunch of bastards, the Dutch Leiden University is currently the top university in Europe. Its characteristic is that it upholds freedom of religious belief and is open and inclusive in scholarship. Therefore, some Dutch people in Bach who were obsessed with machinery did not believe that it was the Chinese releasing devils, but instead observed it with great interest.
The noise on the castle wall interrupted the emergency meeting that was about to be held in the conference hall. After hearing the reports from their subordinates, everyone in the "East India Council" headed by Governor Altyn came to the outside of the Governor's Palace and held hands with each other. shed, looking for two small dots in the sky.
After everyone watched for a while and returned to the room with surprise and worry, Governor Altin first announced the start of the meeting, and then briefly introduced the past achievements of Beihai Town to everyone present, and then his secretary read it out After receiving the letter from the North Navy, which was like a declaration of war, the conference room exploded.
One member of Congress roared: "They said they came here for things that happened fifty years ago, but what does that have to do with us?! This is blackmail! We must fight back resolutely!"
Another congressman stood up and said: "Everyone! We can't be frightened by those little tricks in the sky! No matter how big the ship is, there is only one. Our treasure fleet outside the port has twelve ships! Not to mention ten more A few Yahat boats!”
The "treasure fleet" mentioned by this person is called "retourschip" in Dutch, which is also called the returning ship. Every February, more than a dozen returning ships from the Dutch East India Company gather in Batavia. After forming a team, they transport porcelain, tea and other merchandise and treasures back to Amsterdam, so they are also called the "Treasures of East India". fleet".
The length of the returning ships is between 45 and 60 meters, the width is 10 meters, and the cargo capacity is more than 1,000 tons. This kind of boat is a semi-flat-bottomed boat, which is convenient for navigating shallow waterways. It can be used to transport cargo, and sometimes it can be heavily armed to participate in naval battles.
In addition, there are more than a dozen three-masted galenic sailing ships named "Yacht" parked outside Batavia Port. The armed Yahat ship has an extra gun deck, a stronger structure, and cannons on the bow and sides. Because of its good seaworthiness, fast speed and low cost, it became the main force of the Dutch naval force.
As soon as this person said this, other congressmen thought yes! No matter how powerful the big white ship called "Thor" is, there is only one. Besides, the previous battles were all about land bombardment, so it’s hard to say how naval battles would be.
It is said that the British East India Company officer corps, which had returned to Madras at this time, once passed through Batavia and stayed for a few days, and was warmly received by the Dutch.
Because communications between Europe and East Asia are carried out at a frequency of 2 to 3 years, neither the British East India Company nor the Dutch East India Company knew that the Fourth Anglo-Dutch War had broken out in Europe.
With the British's stubbornness, now is the era of dominating the sea. They will definitely not tell the Dutch that the second-class sailing ship they sold to the Qing Dynasty cannot defeat the Northern Navy, and it is still under the command of people like themselves. They wished that other countries did not know about the embarrassing incident on Changxing Island, and Macartney did not know that the Thor would go south.
In this way, the Dutch in Batavia were unintentionally tricked by the British.
At this time, one of the eldest members stood up slowly and said: "Everyone, I suggest negotiating with the Seris people first. It is best to resolve this matter peacefully, and not let the city of Batavia be destroyed by war!"
Others said: "Mr. Hall, now the Chinese are knocking on the door! Negotiation? Haha, just like what they did in Nagasaki, do we have to pay 150,000 taels of gold and surrender like the Tokugawa Shogunate?"
"no way!"
"that's right!"
Altin stood up and said: "Dear Mr. Hall, I completely agree with your suggestion."
After that, he said to everyone present: "Gentlemen, even if we want to go to war with the Seris people, we must first understand the opponent's armament and strength. Judging from the size of the ship, Colonel Berg estimates that there will be at least It can carry two thousand soldiers, but we still don’t know the number of artillery pieces. Therefore, I suggest forming a delegation and taking the initiative to contact the Seris people. It is best to go on their ship and have a look."
Councilor Hall nodded and said: "I would like to make another suggestion. It is best to choose a few people from the Tang Dynasty to accompany you."
"I don't agree!" A councilman stood up and said: "What if the Tang people outside the city collude with them?"
Hall glanced at the congressman and said with contempt: "Mr. Pitt, you have only been in Batavia for ten years, and I have been here for almost forty years. I think I know these Tang people better than you." . Don’t forget, those Seris people are at war with the Qing Empire, and the Tang people in Ba City are all subjects of the Qing Dynasty. Compared to the rebels who call themselves Seris people, the Tang people respect the orthodox Qing Empire more , I dare not get involved with them at all. Besides, the Hongxi incident has been nearly fifty years ago, and the Tang people in Bacheng now only came after 1742."
The cunning Congressman Hall guessed right. When the Chinese businessmen living outside the south gate of Bacheng heard about the Thor, almost no one was happy. They were all worried. They were afraid that Beihai Town would anger the Dutch and cause the Dutch to become angry with themselves.
There is a reason why the Western colonists chose the Chinese as their main targets of exploitation and utilization. The first is that religious concepts are weak, and there is no need to explain this; the second is that Chinese people are comprador and have a high tolerance for hardship; finally, the Chinese just don’t think about fighting until the last moment, and it is very easy to deal with it.
After the Hongxi incident, the Dutch put on a mask of hypocrisy in order to attract Chinese people. The public slogan is to treat the Chinese well so that Batavia can develop day by day.
When "Kapitan" Wang Zhusheng and Lei Zhenlan, who were appointed by the Dutch, received a notification from Governor Altin, they said to a room of sad-looking Chinese businessmen: "Everyone, the King of Ba has a destiny, and we will be here tomorrow." We must go all out to avoid the loss of life in Bacheng."
Since the 17th century, Fujian merchants who came to Southeast Asia have called the Dutch Governor of Batavia the "King of Sunda Kalapa", or "King Ba" for short.
At this time, an old man in his sixties sighed, stood up and bowed his hands to everyone. Under the surprised eyes of everyone, he was tremblingly supported by his family and left the meeting hall. Several businessmen waited for each other's backs to disappear, and then they started whispering to each other.
"Why is Uncle Zhang gone?"
"You don't know? When the Dutch massacred the city, he was the only one who survived in the Zhang family."
"Is there still this matter?"
"Well, I heard from Uncle Zhang that when the Dutch massacred the city, more than a hundred Chinese escaped."
"Don't mention state affairs. I will do business honestly and pay the poll tax, and the Dutch will not make it difficult for me."
"Brother Lin is right to the point. I heard that someone started a rebellion and led the mob to attack the Dutch castle, which made them..." As the man spoke, he gestured with his hands to kill. Head gesture.
"No wonder, instead of working hard, you actually want to attack the government and seize the mountain to be the king. They are a bunch of unruly people!"
"How many Chinese were there in the city back then?"
"I heard from Uncle Zhang, I'm afraid it doesn't have to be tens of thousands."
"Hiss~~~" After hearing this, everyone gasped at first, and then felt absurd and unruly. Right now, there are only over 6,000 Chinese in Batavia and they are already fully occupied. If the more than 10,000 people were replaced with 10,000 pigs, they would not be able to kill them all in a few months. Do not make jokes!
"Then why does he stay and not go back to Zhangzhou?"
"You guys are so confused, aren't you. People like us, if we don't return home for several years, we have already registered with the government! If Mr. Zhang dares to go back, he will be sent to the army."
...
Just when Altin decided to send an official envoy to communicate with the Thor, the two drones of the Northern Navy had been flying over Batavia for more than 20 minutes and turned back. The whole picture of Batavia was basically All were displayed in front of Deng Fei and the others.
The entire city is divided into two rectangular blocks from north to south by the Gillian Canal, which extends from north to south. Several stone bridges erected on the canal have become channels connecting the east and west cities. The shallow water outside the port is blocked by a row of wooden piles. The only people who can enter the port are small boats transferring cargo. There are many fortresses on the city walls on the east and west sides, and there are drawbridges at the entrances and exits on the east, west and south sides.
Compared with other Southeast Asian cities, Bacheng has a complete canal system; in addition to the main canal, there are also several small canals leading to the interior and surroundings of the town. This is also the construction model of Dutch cities, connecting the entire city through canals.
There are roads nearly ten meters wide on both sides of the Gilion River. The Dutch also dug a number of small canals to surrounding areas and the interior of the town based on natural conditions, ultimately forming a complex canal system. Rows of one- to two-story brick houses are located along the canal. The roads between each row are separated by three rows of trees. The wealthy Dutch immigrants live here. Among these stone buildings, the one that impressed Deng Fei and others the most was a two-story large dome building with European characteristics.
Hong Tao looked at the exquisite-looking townhouses in the picture and said, "Townhouse, it's not bad! I'll tell Mr. Zhao tomorrow that we will also build a community on the Camlan Peninsula..."
He was talking nonsense, and neither Deng Fei nor Wang Yuanfang spoke to him. They were more concerned about the defense system deployed by the Dutch inside and outside the city.
Compared with those that Hong Tao paid attention to, Batavia was an even more militarized city. The Dutch East India Company fought intermittent wars with the kingdoms of Banten and Matalan until the late seventeenth century. In order to prevent the harassment of these kingdoms, the entire city A large number of walls were built around the city of Ba. Both the castles and city walls on the east coast are equipped with a large number of artillery.
The four-pointed star-shaped castle was built on a heavily fortified seaside and protected by multiple walls. Inside were various local institutions of the East India Company. Such as the governor's residence, churches, workshops, warehouses, guards, armories, prisons, the chamber of the East India Parliament and some mansions, etc. On the west bank of the mouth of the Gillian Canal, where the port is located, there is also a fortification that echoes the fortress on the opposite bank. If the Northern Navy wanted to enter the castle directly, the mouth of the canal was the only way.
In addition, two miles away from the port, a dozen three-masted sailing ships of the Dutch East India Company opened their gun doors and watched closely the Thor's every move. There are also seven or eight large sailing ships unloading previously loaded cargo and hoisting artillery outside the port.
From then until the next morning, the Thor basically did nothing except firing a gun to warn the Dutch sailing ships not to come within a mile of itself. However, what the Dutch noticed was that the "strange birds" flying out from the Thor basically had to go back every 30 minutes, and then two more flew out. This cycle continued until dark, and they could still be heard faintly. A buzzing sound passed overhead.
At 9 a.m. on March 7, 1791, the day after the Northern Navy arrived in Bacheng, a small Yahat ship with a white flag on its mast sailed away from the port of Bacheng and slowly approached the port an hour later. to the port side of the Thor.
On the deck of the bow, a Dutchman with a high nose and blue eyes held up a document with a blue ribbon in his hand and said loudly: "I am Gerald Hester Jacobs, inspired by the East Indies. His Excellency, Governor Altin of the company and the Council of Ministers have entrusted us to come and negotiate with your person in charge!”
Jacob first shouted in Dutch, and after finding no response from the Thor, he immediately shouted again in Portuguese and French. Just when he was feeling disappointed and was about to ask a few Chinese people to shout, an Oriental face appeared from the side of the ship and said in fluent French: "How many of you are here?"
"Eight, I request to board the ship for an interview." Jacob was overjoyed. He did not expect that the other party actually knew French.
At this time, several guys wearing melon skin hats and long robes and mandarin jackets saluted with their hands raised, and said in unison: "We are entrusted by the elders of the Tang Dynasty in Bacheng, and we sincerely request to meet all the gentlemen of Beihai Town!"
At this time, I heard someone on the deck speaking in Cantonese: "Move the ship away! We are going to put down the ladder."
Half an hour later, four Dutchmen and four Chinese from Batavia boarded the Thor out of curiosity and nervousness. However, before they could see clearly the facilities on the deck and the camouflage nets covering the The two cannons were hurriedly brought into the conference room on the poop by a few soldiers from the Northern Navy.
At this time, Deng Fei, Jiang Fan, and Lin Daosheng were already waiting in the conference room. After a brief exchange of greetings, Jacob conveyed the protest of the Council of Review and Governor Altin, opened the document, and read it out in French. .
To put it simply, what the Dutch mean is that we are aggrieved, and what happened fifty years ago has nothing to do with us now. What's more, the governor who issued the massacre order had already been sentenced to death by the seventeen-member board of directors. We also apologized to the Qing government, and Emperor Qianlong kindly stated that he would not be held accountable. In view of this, your Beihai town's claim to seek justice for the Chinese is completely groundless and regarded as blackmail, and the East India Company will never accept blackmail.
Unexpectedly, Deng Fei became furious after hearing this. He took the Dutchman's statement and crumpled it into a ball in his hand without even looking at it. If he hadn't received a long telegram from Zhao Xin last night and read it twice, he might have believed the Dutch lies.
Bullshit apology! The Dutch were eager to conceal the truth of the incident for fear that the Manchus would cut off Guangzhou's trade. How could they apologize? ! Furthermore, the governor who was sentenced to death did not carry out the execution until he died in prison. What a liar!
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