1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 689 Conspiracy Theory

Compared with a conflict with the Haihan people, the situation that the East India Company does not want to see is the Spaniards intervening in this matter.Although the Haihan people are acting recklessly, at least there is still the possibility of sitting down and negotiating. Even if both parties know that the purpose of this kind of negotiation is to delay time, at least there is still the possibility of reaching peace.But there is no room for negotiation between the Netherlands and Spain. The Netherlands has only two ways to go. Either succeed in independence or be destroyed by Spain. The nature of the war is much more serious.

In this period, the battlefields of the two countries are almost all over the world, but Spain does not have a clear upper hand in the Far East, and the strength of the two sides is still comparable.However, the appearance of Haihan seems to have broken the delicate balance, allowing the emergence of a third powerful armed force on the seas of the Far East.

After Van Longen urged Su Keyi to translate Yu Xiaobao's statement, he couldn't hold back his emotions: "If you make such a ridiculous decision, then this is not just a conflict with the East India Company, but a conflict with the East India Company. Declare war on our country directly!"

"Is there a difference?" Yu Xiaobao's expression was still very relaxed: "Isn't the interest of the East India Company and the Netherlands not one? Even if the Netherlands declares war on us, the armed ships and personnel that can participate in the war are still from the East India Company?"

Van Longen was at a loss for words for such a reply for a while. The other party knew too much about the details of the East India Company, so that it was difficult for him to use the method of "state declaration of war" to put pressure on the other party.

"This must have been done by the damned Portuguese! These all-pervasive Mediterranean robbers!" Van Longen secretly made his own judgment on the situation in his heart.

To say that the most direct enemy of the East India Company in the East is actually neither the Spaniards whose base is far away on Luzon Island at the other end of the South China Sea, nor the Haihan people who are entrenched in Qiongzhou Island, but the sphere of influence of the East India Company. The Portuguese, who have hardly stopped clashing for more than a decade.The number of armed conflicts between the East India Company and the other two parties was extremely limited, but fighting the Portuguese was an almost monthly routine.

After more than ten years of hard work, the East India Company has gained a clear upper hand in the vast sea area east of the Strait of Malacca and north of the Sunda Strait. The Portuguese only have small-scale colonial areas in the central part of Annan and the coastal areas in the south of Ming Dynasty. That's all.After the civil strife in Annan was quelled and Haihan rose suddenly, anyone with a discerning eye can see that the Portuguese are no longer able to make a big impact in the South China Sea. , they can only rely on the strong of one side, and in the end they chose the only Haihan who has no national background among the strengths of several parties.

Although Haihan people and Ming people are very similar in appearance, and their language and culture are roughly similar, anyone who has been in contact with them knows that this group of people is very different from Ming people, and they are not from the same country at all.The local government of Daming may still regard them as examples of overseas Chinese returning to the central dynasty, but in the eyes of outsiders, what Haihan did on Qiongzhou Island was to temporarily take advantage of Daming’s asylum and take advantage of Daming’s resources, markets and resources. It is a drama where the labor force develops its own power, and eventually the magpie nests and the doves occupy it.

The Haihan people have only settled in Qiongzhou Island for four or five years. Although they have risen extremely fast, their sphere of influence has not even reached Batavia. Therefore, Van Longen believes that it is impossible for them to grasp the international situation on the European continent in such detail. The only ones who can provide the Haihan people with information about the fighting situation and the fighting situation are the hateful Portuguese.

"No, the Portuguese and the Spaniards are also mortal enemies. How could it be possible to sit back and watch the Haihans join forces with the Spaniards! This kid must be threatening me!" Van Longen also reacted quickly, and immediately thought of something deeper.

From a standpoint, the current situation of the Netherlands and Portugal is actually similar, both are trying to get rid of the rule of the Kingdom of Spain.Although Portugal has not yet declared its independence like the Netherlands, Van Longen knows that these Portuguese have never regarded themselves as part of Spain, and their colonies in the Far East are also clearly separated from Spain.For example, in Haojingao, which was rented by the Portuguese from the Guangdong government, there are basically no Spaniards in the local area.

Based on the reputation of the Haihan people, it is unlikely that they will betray their allies. After realizing this, Van Longen immediately retorted: "If your side really made such an irrational choice, I would like to object to it. Not only us, but also your allies, the Portuguese."

"The red-haired ghost reacted quite quickly..." Yu Xiaobao sighed in his heart, but said calmly: "I think you misunderstood, we don't plan to form an alliance with the Spaniards, It’s just seeking strategic cooperation, just like the relationship we have with Daming and Annan. After all, your company is likely to become our common goal. Both Spaniards and Portuguese can think of it. In the water, this outcome will be good for everyone."

Regarding the possible reaction of the other party, Schneider had already taught Yu Xiaobao how to deal with it, and Fan Longen's performance was also included, so it was not difficult for Xiaobao.

Van Longen really wanted to refute, but suddenly found that Yu Xiaobao's words revealed an extremely frightening fact: Haihan, Daming, Annan, Portuguese, and even Spaniards, so many forces can actually treat the Netherlands in a different way. Find common ground of interest.Moreover, the Spaniards have not had any conflicts with the Haihans so far, so there is indeed the possibility of a cooperative relationship.The two sides don't even need to agree on a joint dispatch of troops. As long as they clarify their attitude towards the Netherlands, it is enough to make the East India Company hard to defend.

At this time, looking at the half-smile expression on Yu Xiaobao's face, Fan Longen couldn't help feeling a chill in his heart—the Haihan people either refused to give up an inch of land to key issues during the negotiation process, or simply avoided it. Without talking about it, but never expressing that they want to end the negotiation, there is no doubt that they are consciously delaying the time.Prior to this, Van Longen believed that the Haihan people might want to take advantage of this period of time to launch an attack on the Natuna Islands in the South China Sea, and the East India Company also needed time to re-prepare the battle plan for retaking the local area, so Van Longen and others also planned to launch an attack on the Natuna Islands in the South China Sea during the negotiation process. Acting together very tacitly to delay time.However, the topic that Yu Xiaobao brought up today made Van Longen think of another terrible situation, that is, the reason why the Haihan people are delaying is that they have already started contacting all parties and are preparing to join forces to deal with the Netherlands?

Once Van Longen started this idea, he couldn't stop.Needless to say, the relationship between Haihan and Daming, after all, they had already proved this point with military operations in Fujian before that.And Annan's regime is completely supported by Haihan. It is said that the top military officials have a close relationship with Haihan, and they are closer than those in Fujian. Presumably, they will not refuse Haihan's request.And the attitudes of Portugal and Spain are very likely to be like what Yu Xiaobao said, even if they can't understand each other, there will never be any big difference in the attitudes of the two sides when dealing with the Netherlands. Coupled with Hai Han's mediation, it is indeed possible to reach an alliance against the Netherlands in the Far East.

Although Van Longen was still very confident in his own strength, he also knew that it was impossible for the strength of the East India Company to deal with so many enemies at the same time.If the Haihan people really did this, the East India Company would be in danger now!

Van Longen yawned and said, "Why don't we stop for a while, how about having a cup of tea and taking a break?"

"Alright." Yu Xiaobao stood up unhurriedly and said, "It seems that the time is almost noon, so let's wait until the afternoon to continue talking."

As soon as Yu Xiaobao left, Fan Longen's face darkened.Before Van der Wegen realized what had happened, he was about to look through the menu and check the items for lunch. Van Longen had already got up and closed the door, saying to the two, "We have to get out of here as soon as possible."

"Why?" Vanderwegen asked in surprise.Just last night, he was discussing with Van Longen whether he would continue spending time with the Haihan people. Anyway, here he eats well, lives well, and has someone to take care of everything. Such a leisurely life is really hard to enjoy.

"The Haihan people dragged us here with bad intentions!" Van Longen immediately told the two of what he had just thought.

After hearing this, Su Keyi couldn't help but change his face and said: "The Haihan people are so insidious!"

"Maybe there is a Portuguese and Spanish envoy living in a certain house here." Van Longen looked out through the glass window and said faintly: "The two high-ranking Haihan officials who negotiated with us at the beginning Where? They never explained. I suspect they may have several negotiations going on at the same time, and this one with us is the easiest one to deal with without their senior diplomats in person.”

"So they locked us in this place, and then sent a young boy to perfuse us for so many days!" After hearing this, Van der Wegen also felt that Van Longen's inference was very likely. Since they lived in the guest house, Haihan people They were imprisoned, and they were not allowed to leave the courtyard of this small building.And all that can be seen here is Victory Harbor in the distance. As for the courtyard next to it, there are dense bushes and a white wooden fence that is one person tall. It is not clear who lives there.If the Hai Han did this to keep them from meeting certain special people who lived nearby, then van Longen's reasoning made perfect sense.

"Although we may not be able to confirm this speculation for the time being, we must send this information back to Batavia as soon as possible so that the company can prepare for it earlier." Van Longen raised his hand and made a cross on his chest: "If this If the forces of several parties really join hands, then we can only pray to God to bless us!"

"If we suddenly request to terminate the negotiation and leave, it should arouse the suspicion of the Haihan people, right? This may prompt them to act earlier." Van der Wegen said with hesitation: "That would not be able to serve as a warning."

"There are only three of us, should we still leave in batches?" Van Longen shook his head and said, "If we leave in batches, only one can leave. There must be one person between you and me, and Su Keyi must also stay, otherwise Negotiations cannot continue."

"Only one person left... It's hard to find an excuse!" Van der Wegen frowned, "Fake illness?"

"It's not very feasible to pretend to be sick. Don't forget the medical skills of the Haihan people." Su Keyi immediately reminded.

The reputation of Haihan people's excellent medical skills was spread to Batavia through the word of mouth of Chinese immigrants and sea merchants in the past two years. The most famous cases are two Chinese doctors who once worked under Dr. Haihan. After immigrating to Batavia, he treated Governor Korn, who was almost terminally ill.Cohen is still in charge of the daily affairs of the East India Company. It can be said that at least more than half of the credit belongs to the medical skills of the two Chinese doctors, but they said that the medical skills of the Haihan people are far superior to theirs, even if they save people by cutting open their stomachs. Such surgical operations are as easy as searching for something. There are countless patients in the refugee camp who were rescued by Dr. Haihan and saved their lives.

This seems incredible to the Dutch who still use bloodletting as the main method of treatment. Many people think that this should also be a type of the legendary Haihan witchcraft, rather than an orthodox medical technique-just kidding, how can you do it without bloodletting? cured disease?

Although most of Haihan's clinical medical skills are based on the Western medicine of later generations as the main means of diagnosis and treatment, the Western medical skills of this era are still in a rather ignorant period, and will continue for more than a century after that. In 1799, the day before the death of George Washington, the first president of the United States, several doctors teamed up to drain nearly 2500 milliliters of blood from him, which accounted for almost half of his body's blood volume, which directly led to his death from blood loss Sexual shock, in future generations this is definitely a murder case.It was not until the 19s, after long-term clinical observations by doctors, that bloodletting therapy was actually harmful to the patient's body, and this unscientific "medical technique" was gradually abandoned.

But when Governor Cohen began to recover at a speed visible to the naked eye, all doubts about Haihan's medical skills disappeared.Some people in Batavia even offered extremely high salaries to invite doctors who had been trained by Haihan in Daming to immigrate.Sanya is the hometown of the Haihan people. There is no need to guess how many doctors are proficient in medical skills here. If you pretend to be sick, you may be directly spotted by the Haihan people. On the contrary, it is easy to cause trouble.

As soon as Su Keyi reminded them, the two of them naturally remembered it, and shook their heads at the same time to veto the plan.

(End of this chapter)