1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 760 Trading Conditions
Philip's words immediately aroused Li Dou's interest. If it is really possible to specify the target of immigration, even if it is only some rough screening conditions, and it can guarantee the number of about [-] people introduced every month, then even if the business costs some money The price is also worth it.

There are three types of immigrants that Haihan needs most at present. The first category is people with a certain cultural background. There are a large number of vacancies in the increasingly large Haihan official organization system, and being able to read and write is often the basic requirement for these positions. one of the requirements.Most of the scholars in the Ming Dynasty took the imperial examination to become an official as their life direction, and the naturalization of Haihan undoubtedly made them give up this ideal of life, and the psychological barriers were still very large.Although many local scholars in Hainan Island have chosen to work for Haihan, compared with the number of talents needed in the area under Haihan's jurisdiction, the gap is still very large.

Of course, some people also thought about introducing literate Han people from other countries. After all, many countries in East Asia used Chinese characters as their official scripts during this period. However, due to objective reasons such as long distances and low literacy rates, the implementation effect was not ideal. A small number of literati were introduced.In the end, Haihan had to focus on the prisoners assigned to Yazhou by Daming. This group not only had a high literacy rate, but also had lost their personal prospects in Daming, so it was easier to attract them to choose Haihan naturalization.

The second type of immigrants are skilled craftsmen in various industries, and the demand gap in this area is also quite alarming.Only in the most common industries such as plasterers, carpenters, and blacksmiths, Haihan currently has a shortage of more than a thousand people.Although Haihan started to build a vocational training system a few years ago, the scale of its training is far behind the demand for talents brought about by the rapid expansion of Haihan.For example, the Penghu Base, which was established only a few months ago, has a serious shortage of professional craftsmen.

After the capture of Penghu, the total number of craftsmen dispatched from the base camp was less than 20. If Fujian had not sent a large number of civilians to Penghu to assist in the completion of infrastructure projects, the time for the Penghu base to be put into use would have been delayed by at least three months. more than a month.Since the immigrant camps began to accept immigrants from the north, the shortage of professionals has only been slightly alleviated—in the process of registering and identifying immigrants, the local area has quietly intercepted the artisans among the new immigrants.

Although the executive committee is still turning a blind eye to this behavior of the Penghu base, everyone knows that this interception is only a short-term measure and cannot be used for a long time.If the island of Taiwan is to be developed in the future, we still have to find a way to introduce more professional craftsmen.

And the third type of immigrants in short supply are all kinds of professional service personnel, such as maids who serve tea and water.For the time travelers, the most difficult time has basically passed, and providing all the time travelers with the necessary life enjoyment and personal benefits has gradually been put on the agenda. After all, the main purpose of most people participating in time travel is to I want to come to this time and space to be a master and enjoy the glory and wealth.Although it is not yet the time to arrange seats to be appointed as marquises and prime ministers, with Haihan's current economic conditions, it is not a big problem to provide all traversers with basic life service personnel.

If Philip can really provide Haihan with these types of immigrants for a long time, then the executive committee probably won't set up too many obstacles to this kind of transaction. On the contrary, it may allocate special funds for this purpose to promote this kind of transaction. Scale up.However, Philip's identity is undoubtedly a sensitive point worth noting. Although Li Dou was very interested in what he proposed, he did not forget to find out Philip's real purpose because of this.

"The terms of the transaction you want is to exchange these immigrants for the various commodities we produce?" Li Dou had to ask Xi'an to confirm this before he could discuss the follow-up details with Philip.

"That's right, the glass products, porcelain, sucrose, spices, liqueurs you produce... many of them are trade products that I am interested in. If necessary, I can make a detailed list of alternatives. Philip responded excitedly: "I can swear on the reputation of Philip's family that you will never suffer a loss in the transaction."

Of course Li Dou would not casually trust a foreigner whom he met for the first time, and he just laughed off Philip's swearing, and continued to ask: "Are you sure you won't propose any other trading conditions?"

This time Philip did not respond immediately after listening to the translation, but hesitated a little before speaking again: "Since the East India Company set foot in Formosa several years earlier than you, the ownership of the island should belong to the East India." Company, I hope that you will not easily destroy the hard-won peace."

The Formosa that Philip mentioned refers to the island of Taiwan.This name was transliterated from the exclamation form Formosa uttered by the local Portuguese sailors in the early mid-16th century, and then the Spanish and Dutch colonists also used this name.During the rule of the Dutch East India Company in history, Governor Anthony Van Diemen, the one who led the army to defeat the Matalan army in Batavia not long ago, also used the name "Holmore" in his official documents during his tenure. Sand" is called the island of Taiwan.

Hearing this, Li Dou couldn't help but raise the corners of his mouth slightly: "What exactly do you want to say, you might as well say it clearly."

"I heard that you recently sent people into Formosa. We think this is an extremely unfriendly action. I hope that you will stop this reckless behavior as soon as possible. It will not benefit both of us." Philip mustered up the courage to finally reveal his true purpose.

"Mr. Philip, first of all, I must point out that there are many loopholes in your statement that people cannot agree with." Li Dou tapped his fingers on the table, thinking about his own words while speaking: "Both of us Let’s not mention the difference in the name of this island. As far as I know, your current control on the island is only limited to a radius of about [-] miles around Dayuan Harbor. Wouldn't it be too much of a stretch to control the islands that are more than [-] miles away from both ends?"

"No, no, no, we built a new church [-] miles away from Dayuan Port three months ago, because a new immigrant village has appeared there." Philip immediately corrected what Li Dou said. inaccuracies.However, he didn't seem to be aware of his anxious excuse, but instead gave the other party more convincing evidence.

"Compared to seven hundred miles, is there a big difference between twenty miles and thirty miles?" Sure enough, Li Dou immediately caught the loophole in his words and taunted: "Your side just occupied the border of this big island. It’s too greedy for a small harbor to claim sovereignty over the entire island and forbid others to set foot on it, right?”

"This is an internationally accepted practice..."

Philip still tried to argue, but Li Dou didn't intend to let him finish his sentence: "I remember that the Ambuna Islands in the South China Sea were already occupied by the Chinese hundreds of years ago, and the East India Company seized the local islands more than ten years ago. At the time, no one seemed to care about international conventions and the like?"

"The Annbuna Islands are a special case..." Sweat began to drip from Philip's forehead. He never expected that such a young Haihan official would be as difficult to deal with as an old fox. Because of his shortcomings, he was at a loss for words in just a few words.

"The so-called international practice is just a code of conduct prepared for the weak! When did your company establish a colony in the Far East, and when did you ask the original owner's opinion? Aren't they all forcibly seized by muskets and cannons? In the past, you stepped on When you were on someone else's face, you probably never thought that one day you would be stepped on your face by others, right?" Li Dou unceremoniously refuted Philip's "international practice".

Without waiting for Philip to come up with words to refute, Li Dou continued: "Your company has settled in Dayuan Port for seven or eight years, and you haven't even finished building a Zeelandia Fort. What qualifications do you have to claim sovereignty over the entire island? ?”

Li Dou's words undoubtedly hit the East India Company's sore spot. Since the location of Taiwan Island is too far away from the headquarters of the East India Company in Batavia, the number of immigrants resettled by the Dutch is too small, and it is difficult to have enough As a result, Dayuan Port had to rely on the headquarters to provide various materials to maintain the operation of the colony for a long time, and the tight supply of materials made it impossible for the local colonial institutions to attract more foreign population to its jurisdiction settle down.Such a vicious cycle led to the rough completion of the first phase of the project of Zeelandia Fort several years after the establishment of the Dayuan Port Colony, which greatly slowed down the originally planned development process.

According to the relatively normal colonial development speed, even if they can't occupy the entire Hainan Island like the Haihan people in these years, at least the controllable sphere of influence will not be limited to the small area of ​​Dayuan Port.However, the slow infrastructure slowed down the development of the colonies. In the past, this situation did not seem to have brought too many negative effects. After all, the Dutch’s competitors in this area were not strong. Portugal and Spain were both foreign colonists. Or, the influence on the island is far less than that of the Netherlands, and the most powerful Daming has no interest in this island, the only opponent is the natives on the island.

Of course, the level of armed forces possessed by the natives on the island is not enough to compete with the Dutch for territory.As long as the Dutch keep their feet and don't go deep into the mountains to provoke the militant mountain natives, there won't be any major troubles.

Not only that, but the Dutch also recruited the pirates of Shibazhi as their bodyguards, ensuring that no one in this area could challenge the authority of the East India Company—it was not until the appearance of the Haihan people that this situation suddenly changed .

In July last year, the armed fleet sent by the Haihan people to help the Ming army in Fujian defeated the fleet of the East India Company on Nanri Island. The Dutch, who had never paid attention to Haihan, a rising star, finally realized how big their mistakes were. Well, this ethnic group that quietly settled in the territory of the Ming Dynasty did not become a parasite like the Portuguese, and its fighting power made the Dutch almost astonishing.It wasn't until then that they understood why the Portuguese took the initiative to repair relations with Haihan after they suffered a loss in Annan, and why the Fujian government spared no effort to promote cooperation with Haihan, and even wished to enshrine the Haihan people as gods.

Less than a year later, Shibazhi, who had been defeated in a row, finally couldn't stand Haihan's military pressure, and finally chose to abandon his old nest and flee outside Haihan's sphere of influence.The escape of Shibazhi means that the only barrier between Taiwan Island and the mainland has disappeared, which is equivalent to completely exposing Dayuan Port to the muzzle of the Haihan warship.At this time, the Dutch people in Dayuan Port felt the real pressure, and they were always worried that the Haihan people would launch a surprise attack on Dayuan Port.Although the first phase of the Zeelandia Fort project has ended, the Dutch are also very clear that the current Zeelandia Fort can only deal with the backward and primitive natives, and their Western counterparts with few troops, and they want to deal with the level of armed forces of the Haihan Militia The extremely high professional army is not enough with the current Zeelandia Fort.

With the lessons learned from last year's failure, Dayuangang did not dare to send an armed fleet to expel the Haihan people occupying Penghu.The consequence of doing that probably won't be to eliminate the hidden danger of Hai Han, on the contrary, it is very likely to cause the consequences of burning himself.The only hope is that the Haihan people can strictly abide by the armistice agreement signed last year and not take the initiative to meddle in the areas already occupied by the Dutch - of course, it is just a hope, and the Dutch themselves do not really believe that the validity period of this armistice agreement can be maintained for too long long time.

After all, in the process of marching into the Far East, they have signed many armistice agreements with the Portuguese, French, Spaniards, and British. However, small-scale frictions and conflicts still occur every year, and no one will really fight because of this. A paper agreement and let yourself be tied.In the end, what everyone cares about is not what the agreement is, but whether they can defeat their opponents and get enough benefits.

What the Dutch have been worrying about for months finally happened recently.Through certain news channels, the Dutch learned that Haihan had sent a fleet to the central part of Taiwan Island in October, and that a large number of armed men had landed and stayed there for several days.

What these armed men did on the ground, the Dutch have no way of investigating for the time being, but it is obvious that the Haihan people have not turned a blind eye to the land around them. They have not taken any action before, perhaps just because they have not done anything yet. Just prepare accordingly.The landing this time is very likely to indicate that the Haihan people will do something about this land in the future.

(End of this chapter)