1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 660 The Dutch's Response
Hans had previously decided to send troops to assist Shibazhi in attacking Nanri Island. First, for the sake of money, he felt that there was such a windfall in front of him that he would not accept it for nothing, and there was no risk in accepting it. Assisted in defense on the periphery of the Japanese island, and did not participate in the landing operation to seize the island.With the strength of the Dutch armed fleet, it stands to reason that there will be no risk.Secondly, Hans still has a glimmer of hope for the Shibazhi led by Zheng Zhilong to counterattack the mainland, hoping to save Shibazhi's current unfavorable situation through military support, and use Shibazhi to put pressure on the Fujian government of Ming Dynasty.Third, since the Haihan people have already intervened in the war in Fujian, the East India Company can't ignore it completely. It is also one of the reasons for sending troops to let Shibazhi weigh Haihan's weight and observe its fighting methods by the way.

In addition, there is another reason that is not humane, and that is to create an opportunity for his nephew Van der Wegen to make military exploits, so as to pave the way for his future promotion within the East India Company.Of course, this idea obviously didn’t go smoothly enough. Not only did Van der Wegen’s trip fail to achieve decent military exploits, but he lost two-thirds of his manpower and ships. He was lucky to be able to escape back to Dayuan Port alive. .

Uncle Hans knew how much Vanderwegen was worth. If he didn't have any real skills, Hans wouldn't be so confused as to use the company's armed sailboat as a toy for Vanderwegen.In fact, Van der Wegen was definitely regarded as a powerful young talent within the East India Company. Whether it was sailing or commanding operations, he had a certain standard, and what he lacked was a chance to become famous.But after the setback in Fujian this time, Van der Wegen probably won't have the chance to be entrusted with important tasks in the short term, which even annoys Hans more than losing a few sailboats in the battle.

Misfortunes never come singly, bad news came one after another. As soon as the news of Zheng Zhihu's death in Nanri Island arrived, envoys from the Fujian government came to demand compensation.Under such circumstances, Hans would not be in the mood to discuss compensation with the envoy of Ming Dynasty. Naturally, he pushed the matter away first, and then bit back, trying to change from passive to active.

However, this kind of attempt seemed powerless under the premise that our side had just been defeated. The Da Ming envoy didn't even refute, so he got up and left, saying that he would stay in Dayuan Port for three to five days. If Hans changed his mind, Then the two sides will make an appointment to negotiate again.That reassuring expression made Hans's teeth itch -- what qualifications does the envoy of Daming have to put on such a victorious posture in front of him?
Although he was very unwilling, Hans had to seriously consider what would happen if he rejected the envoy's request.Hans ordered someone to call Van der Wegen to discuss the countermeasures with him.

"What do you think about the Fujian government asking us for compensation?" Hans asked straight to the point.

"If what the other party's envoy said is true, then we probably have no other way to retrieve the person who fell into their hands except to pay the ransom." Van der Wegen's expression was also very ugly, after all, he was the captain of the fleet. However, two-thirds of the men failed to follow him back to Dayuan Port, and were chased by the opponents to ask for the ransom of the prisoners of war. This is really a great shame.Nine years ago, that is, two years after Tomorrow Qi, the Dutch fleet blocked the Zhangzhou estuary with seven warships and [-] soldiers, making it impossible for the Fujian Navy to fight.Nine years later, the Dutch fleet was beaten by almost the same opponent in the same sea area. This gap is really unacceptable.

Although it is common practice to redeem prisoners of war with gold, silver, jewelry or other valuables on the European battlefield, it is rare for the Dutch to be so passive in the Far East. Most of the time it is the local natives who are defeated A ransom was then paid to the Dutch to redeem their captives.Even if Tianqi was defeated by the Ming army and retreated from Penghu four years ago, and twelve Dutch soldiers were captured, the East India Company never paid a copper coin ransom to Ming.

Of course, at that time, Ming Dynasty did not mention the ransom at all. The Fujian government directly escorted the captives Gao Wenlu and others to Beijing to ask for credit. Later, these prisoners of war were beheaded in Beijing to show the public. There was no plan to reconcile with the East India Company from the beginning to the end.For the Ming Empire, face is much more important than a little money.

But the attitude of the Fujian government has changed significantly this time. Not only has the attitude become tougher, but they even sent people to the door to ask for money. Needless to say, the Haihan people must have played a role.The worst thing was that the Haihan people also demanded [-] silver in compensation, which really made Hans feel unacceptable.If it weren't for the fact that there were hundreds of captives in the opponent's hands, Hans really wanted to tear his face apart on the spot.

"But they actually asked us for 10 taels of silver as war compensation. This is absolutely impossible!" Hans said with a gloomy face, "If the gentlemen of Batavia know that I agreed to this condition, Then they will definitely send an executioner to Dayuan Harbor to hang me."

"Besides, we don't have 10 taels of silver to exchange." Van der Wegen added frustratedly.

It is not the trading season now, and Dayuan Port does not have much silver reserves.According to the previous year's arrangement, Batavia will probably arrange a silver ship to send a large amount of silver to Dayuan Port between September and October.In the past, these silver ships had to go to Japan, but in the past two years, due to the Hamada Yahei incident, the open trade between the East India Company and the Japanese shogunate has been interrupted, and only a few smuggling channels are still operating secretly. It was also changed from Hirado, Japan to Ryukyu.But because the Spaniards are more active in the north now, just in case, Hans has ordered that the place of trading with Japanese smuggling merchants this year be changed to Dayuan Port.

Even if Hans intends to reach an agreement with Daming to exchange prisoners of war, Dayuan Port does not have so much silver to mobilize now, at least it will have to wait until two months later.Moreover, the silver transported from Batavia will be used in this year's bulk trade, if it is used for other purposes, then no one can fill this hole.

But if he wants to sit back and watch these hundreds of prisoners of war being captured and punished by Daming, Hans will also have a hard time explaining to Batavia. You must know that this fleet is almost concentrated in the elite of Dayuan Port, and the people participating in the battle are also The few armed sailboats in the best condition in the local area will be gone. Even if they can hide it for a while, they will not be able to hide it for a lifetime. When Batavia is punished, Hans will also be unable to escape responsibility.

"The responsibility for this matter is too great. I have to report to the company headquarters." Hans looked at Van der Wegen and said slowly: "I must send a person back to report the battle to the gentlemen of the board of directors."

Van der Wegen's face turned slightly pale, and he finally understood why Hans called himself here alone to discuss matters. It turned out that he planned to send himself back to Batavia to make a face-to-face report-in view of this fiasco in Fujian, This report is very likely to be blamed, after all, someone must stand up and take responsibility for the defeat.Obviously, Uncle Hans intends to push himself to the front and take on the corresponding responsibilities, and this is definitely not a good job.

"If possible, I would of course prefer to go back to Batavia to report to the board of directors the ins and outs of this battle with Da Ming and Hai Han, but you also know that my duty lies in my responsibility, and there is no way to leave the affairs of the senior staff..." Seeing his nephew's pale face, Hans also felt uncomfortable. He sighed and said, "You have to remember one thing, as long as I don't fall down, you still have a chance to get up. If I fall down , then no one will be able to back you up from now on!"

Van der Wegen didn't know that there is a saying in China called throwing a car to protect the handsome man, but he could also understand the priorities of this uncle asking him to understand this matter.Returning to Batavia to take responsibility for the defeat, although it is very likely that the company will impose certain punishments, but at least he can keep his uncle's status and have a chance to make a comeback in the future.But if Hans loses his position as a senior officer because of this incident, it will be difficult for Van der Wegen not to be implicated by him, and it will be difficult for the uncle and nephew to have a chance to be reused in the Far East in the future.

"Uncle, I understand what you mean." Van der Wegen finally said after a long silence: "I will return to Batavia as soon as possible and report the operation to the board of directors. But regarding our lost sailors and soldiers, what should we do?" Explain to the board?"

"According to what I told the Daming envoy, this is a deliberate attack by Haihan against us! Our fleet was attacked without any precautions. Haihan's behavior is to launch a unilateral war. The board of directors understands that this kind of behavior must be retaliated against!" Hans immediately taught him the opportunity face-to-face.

"But in this way we will completely lose the captured people!" Van der Wegen was a little worried about this: "The Haihan people proposed such a harsh exchange condition. If we refuse it outright, then they probably will not release the prisoners of war in good faith."

"You're still too young!" Hans shook his head and said, "Do you think the conditions proposed by the other party are really feasible? Compensation of 10 taels of silver, and you have to promise to Daming not to take any hostile actions in the future. You didn’t come to negotiate with us with sincerity, you just wanted to embarrass us and make us lose face!”

"But what good does it do them? Just to show off the pride of the winner in front of us?" Van der Wegen asked puzzled: "I heard before that Haihan people are very pragmatic and won't waste time doing something Unrealistic things, if they do this, will they have other plans?"

"Maybe, but I can't think of what their purpose would be now." Speaking of this matter, Hans's expression was also a little confused: "If the Haihan people just want to fight us, then there is no need to raise anything at all. The prisoners of war exchanged conditions, and everyone decided to win or lose on the battlefield. But they sent people to negotiate peace, and the conditions proposed are completely impossible to be realized. I really don’t understand what their intentions are.”

At this time, a guard came in and reported, "Mr. Van Longen, please see me."

"Ask him to come in." Hans didn't particularly shy away from Van Longen's arrival.The news of the Dutch fleet's defeat in this expedition had already spread throughout Dayuan Port when Van der Wegen fled back. This is not a secret that needs to be kept.Moreover, Van Longen had been in Batavia for a long time and had a relatively close relationship with the company's senior personnel. Hans originally planned to ask for his opinion.

"Mr. Hans, I'm here to bid farewell to you today, thank you for your care and convenience during this time!" Van Longen exchanged a few words of greeting after entering the room, and then brought the topic to the topic.

"When are you leaving?" Hans asked with concern.

"Probably tomorrow morning, the goods and supplies that should be loaded have already been loaded on board. The next time we come to Dayuan Port, we may have to wait for a long time." Van Longen also appeared to be in a low mood. This trip departed from Batavia. When he was back, he was strong and strong, with unparalleled momentum, but when he went back, he was alone and panicked.

"If possible, I hope you can allow Van der Wegen to join your fleet. He needs to rush back to Batavia as soon as possible to report what happened here to the company's board of directors." Hans immediately made a request.

When Van der Wegen fled back to Dayuan Port, there were only two scarred sailboats left, which were no longer suitable for ocean voyages, and Hans did not intend to allocate one or two of the limited number of sailboats in Dayuan Port to him. Use, after all, the local sea defense also has to retain a certain amount of power.It happened that Van Longen was going back to Batavia with his merchant ship, so Hans took the opportunity to give Van der Wegen to him.

"It's a great honor." Van Longen nodded his welcome to Van der Wegen very friendly.As a captain who experienced a big defeat not long ago, he understood Van der Wegen's mood at this time. The taste of failure is indeed hard to bear.

"If possible, I hope you can speak well for Van der Wegen in Batavia. After all, the main responsibility for the defeat in this war does not rest on him. It is really shameless for the Ming and Haihan people. He has tried his best to fight. " Hans continued to say to Van Longen: "At the same time, I also hope that the board of directors can send a more powerful armed force to Dayuan Port to retaliate against the Fujian government. These Orientals who don't know what to do must learn a lesson!"

"Mr. Hans, I think you probably forgot one thing." Van Longen shook his head and said: "The gentlemen of Batavia are probably worrying about another thing now. Even if they want to send troops, they must first Solve another problem. Don't forget, the Natuna Islands only gave us a big fall in the last month!"

(End of this chapter)