1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 761
If someone else landed on Taiwan Island, it would not make the Dutch feel too flustered.For example, the Spaniards had set up an armed stronghold and built a port terminal in Jilong Port at the northern tip of Taiwan Island a few years ago, but the Dutch knew very well that the Spaniards’ colonial ability was not much stronger than their own, and they had to distance themselves from their Far East headquarters. For such a remote coastal stronghold in Manila to become a real colony, the Spaniards would have to operate there for at least another ten years.

But if the power that landed on Taiwan Island is replaced by Haihan, the nature of the matter is completely different.Haihan people have long been famous for their infrastructure capabilities. Even those who have never set foot in the Haihan-controlled area have mostly heard the descriptions of the local scene by colleagues who have set foot in Sanya Port and Annabuna Port.Needless to say, Sanya is, after all, the home of the Haihan people. Just by virtue of its current title of "the first port in the South China Sea", you can imagine how prosperous it is, but the Annabuna Islands have been occupied by the Haihan people for just over a year. However, the local situation is completely different from that of the Dutch occupation period.

The Haihan people not only rebuilt the wharf and port facilities of Ambuna Port in a short period of time, but also built a large number of plantations on the island. It is said that the area reclaimed is more than ten times that of the Dutch occupation period.Corresponding to this is a steady stream of immigrants who have been transported to the local area, bit by bit cutting off the Dutch's desire to retake the local area.Of course, the Dutch merchants who engaged in the slave trade with Haihan in this process undoubtedly contributed to the acceleration of this process in disguise.But profit is the word, who would not be tempted by the white money?

If the Haihan people are allowed to establish a stronghold on the west coast of Taiwan Island, it is foreseeable that the Haihan colony will quickly fill up the gaps on the island like crazy vines, just like what they did on Hainan Island before. .And the East India Company, which only occupied a small area of ​​Dayuan Port on the island, will definitely be compressed by the other side to make its living space smaller and smaller.Moreover, the landing site chosen by the Haihan people is about [-] miles north of Dayuan Port. This place is opposite to Penghu across the sea. Cut off the route from Dayuan Port to Northeast Asian waters.

The main purpose of the East India Company’s establishment of a stronghold on Taiwan Island is to open up trade and colonial routes from Southeast Asia to Northeast Asia. If Haihan succeeds in colonizing the west coast of Taiwan Island, then the voyage of this route in the Strait will be completely closed in the future. Subject to Haihan, this trend is an unacceptable change for the East India Company.Even if the East India Company's power in Dayuan Port is now unable to expel the Haihan people, but out of consideration of protecting their own interests, they must try their best to prevent the Haihan people from implementing the next plan.

Of course, after losing its advantage in force, there are not many means that the East India Company can take now.With Haihan's previous behavior, obviously he will not take the trick of verbal threats. The only feasible way is for the East India Company to offer some kind of conditions that Haihan is interested in, in exchange for Haihan to establish a colony on Taiwan Island. Convergence on this matter.

Of course, it is not enough to rely on money alone. Now the world knows that Haihan is the most powerful local tyrant in the South China Sea. Even the financial resources of the East India Company may not catch up with Shanghai Han. Haihan's heartfelt price.Maybe Haihan will reverse the price and ask the East India Company to give up Dayuan Port, which would be embarrassing.

Since this path doesn't work, we can only find ways to match what we like.As for the current needs and preferences of Haihan people, it is not difficult to find out, it is nothing more than population.And it happens that the Dutch have some advantages that Haihan does not have in this respect-such as trade relations with Ryukyu, North Korea, Japan and other countries.Although the relationship between Japan and the East India Company is still at a stalemate, there are still some local daimyos who are willing to maintain a private transaction relationship with the Dutch, including the population trade.

However, considering the policy risks, Dayuan Port did not seek peace talks with Haihan under the official banner, but sent a maritime merchant like Philip as a representative to test Haihan's attitude first.

As the Dutch expected, the Haihan people showed great interest in importing population during the negotiations, but when Philip mentioned using this as a quid pro quo, in exchange for the Haihan side’s commitment not to attack Taiwan Island, the negotiations went straight to the sea. At an impasse.

Philip emphasized that the East India Company had sovereignty over the island of Taiwan, but this was only in exchange for Lidou's merciless ridicule.He has long seen through the paper tiger nature of the Dutch who is fierce and internal, and simply does not have enough strength to prevent Haihan from taking military actions against Taiwan Island.In the matter of fighting for the ownership of Taiwan Island, the East India Company can only be on the passive side at present. How much space they will have in Taiwan Island in the future depends largely on the development speed of Haihan.

"Dear sir, in fact, we don't need to negotiate in such a tense way. I suggest that we might as well find an exchange condition that both parties can accept. After all, our goal is to earn more benefits, isn't it? "Philip couldn't resist Li Dou's attack, so he could only quickly change the topic, hoping to calm down the atmosphere of the negotiation.

"You bring us the people, and we give you the goods you want. This kind of transaction is already very fair, and we don't accept adding other conditions..." Li Dou said relentlessly: "...especially about this island The issue of ownership! We will not recognize in any form the claim that the East India Company occupied Taiwan Island, and at the same time reserve the right to move freely on the island and nearby waters!"

"At least Dayuan Port belongs to the control area of ​​our East India Company! You can't ignore the existence of the East India Company!" Even the Ni Bodhisattva was very angry. Philip was robbed by Lidou from the beginning until now, and finally he couldn't hold back. He choked.But when he said that, he immediately regretted it—isn't this another excuse for the other party?

Sure enough, he seized the loophole in Philip Huazhong again without losing the opportunity, and immediately said: "Since only Dayuan Port is the control area of ​​the East India Company, what qualifications do you have to ask us not to set foot on this island? If your side I plan to use force to achieve this goal, please forgive me, we will definitely accompany you to the end!"

The blood that had rushed to the top of Philip's head cooled down in an instant, and he remembered why he came here - how he could keep the victory of Dayuangang for the company when Haihan was about to make a move.If force is to be used, last year's confrontation has proved that the two sides' war strength is higher and lower. It is extremely unwise for the East India Company to take the initiative to provoke a battle. As a maritime merchant, Philip is absolutely unmovable. pot.

"No, no, I came here to avoid unnecessary misunderstandings and conflicts." Philip's attitude quickly made a 180-degree turn: "After all, peace has not come easily, and we don't want to fight with you again. Finding a proper solution is what we want."

"Properly resolve it?" Li Dou looked at Philip with a half-smile, and was quickly calculating the other party's bottom line in the negotiation.

It is obvious that the Dutch side is not willing to completely tear themselves apart for this matter, and even less wants to use force to fight Haihan to determine the outcome. Its main direction of attack should be the exchange of conditions related to interests.As for the bottom line of the negotiation, Li Dou believes that it should continue to maintain the status of Dayuan Port.

Li Dou was about to speak, when he saw the guard at the door gesturing towards him from an angle Philip couldn't notice, he pressed back the words that came to his lips, stood up and said, "Please sit down for a moment, I have some urgent business to do right away deal with."

When Li Dou left the living room, the guard came up and reported in a low voice: "Chief Qian is here."

Now that Qian Tiandun has arrived, Li Dou can no longer make up his own mind.Soon he saw Qian Tiandun who had just arrived from the militia training camp in another office.

"I heard that a Dutchman is here, is he here to negotiate terms with us?" Qian Tiandun asked straight to the point.

"Yes, the East India Company hopes to bring over the Nanyang method. They will provide us with the population we need in exchange for our promise not to attack Taiwan." Li Dou briefly introduced the negotiation situation.

"Exchanging population for land? It's a good idea!" Qian Tiandun also saw through the Dutch's plan at a glance: "It's a bit too good to think, really think we dare not touch Dayuan Port?"

"Brother Qian, I think we can take advantage of the mentality of the Dutch who are eager to keep Dayuan Port, and let them organize immigration for us." Li Dou suggested: "I feel that the Dutch are willing to do anything for Dayuan Port now. If necessary, we can use the immigrants they brought in to develop the island of Taiwan."

"What immigration conditions did they offer that made you so excited?" Qian Tiandun immediately noticed something unusual. The scale of Haihan's introduction of immigrants from the north of Daming is gradually expanding, and the cost is quite low. With good conditions, Li Dou probably wouldn't be so concerned about other immigration plans.

"The conditions offered by the Dutch are really good..." Li Dou then relayed to Qian Tiandun the immigration policy he had heard from Philip.

Rao Qian Tiandun has always been calm, but after listening to the conditions of the Dutchman, he was a little uncontrollably restless.If the Dutch can fulfill their promise, the new immigrant population Haihan harvested through this channel in a year is enough to build several towns on the west coast of Taiwan Island.However, as the commander-in-chief of the Penghu base, he still maintained the necessary calmness: "The Dutch made such a condition, they can't imagine that this measure is actually digging their own grave, right?"

As a veteran colonialist, of course, the Dutch can easily put themselves in the situation and think that the purpose of Haihan's continuous introduction of immigrants is to expand the scale of colonization in the Far East, which will inevitably compete with the development strategy of the East India Company, and even Dayuan Port is the first place to bear the brunt.But the Dutch actually offered to help Haihan introduce immigrants as an exchange condition, which is indeed a bit unbelievable.

"Even if it's drinking poison to quench thirst, they can only go on like this first!" After Li Dou had direct contact with Philip, his view on this was more intuitive: "The Dutch want to protect the entire island of Taiwan, but it's a pity they don't With such ability. I think their bottom line in negotiations is to keep control of Dayuan Port.”

Qian Tiandun took off his military cap, and slowly stroked his scalp, which was shaved until only hair piles remained, before he spoke for a long time: "If they give up their claim to Taiwan Island, then we can talk to them about this deal. Of course, the premise is that they do what they promised. Without immigration, there is no talk."

"If the ownership of Dayuan Port is used as an exchange condition, will Sanya agree?" Li Dou asked with some uncertainty.At present, Qian Tiandun has the right to make decisions on all matters in Penghu, including Taiwan, but his decision does not mean that the base camp will definitely agree. Involve everyone involved.

"This ownership right must kill the Dutchman in the terms of the transaction." Qian Tiandun did not immediately answer Lidou's question, but continued to explain his intention: "On the premise that the Dutchman can fulfill the transaction conditions, we will admit it." As for the ownership of Dayuan Port, if the conditions cannot be fulfilled, or the transaction is terminated, then the corresponding exchange conditions will be automatically voided.”

"So if they can't provide us with immigrant population, we don't need to recognize their status in Dayuan Port?" Li Dou's eyes lit up, and he immediately understood the trickery hidden in Qian Tiandun's words.

Qian Tiandun nodded and said: "That's the reason. The Dutch just want to delay time to improve their fortifications in Dayuan Port, but how effective is the time gained by this method? The speed at which we build colonies Isn’t it several times faster than them? Even if they can complete the Zeelandia Fort within a year or two, they will still be at an absolute disadvantage in terms of strength. And we spend the same time developing Taiwan Island, you say one or two What will it be like a year from now?"

"Although I can't imagine it now, it should be no problem for our new colony to crush the Dutch's Dayuan Port." Li Dou replied with a knowing smile.

Due to the shortage of their own resources, the Dutch could not make full use of them even if they had channels to introduce immigrants. Therefore, the scale of the colony in Dayuan Port developed extremely slowly, while Haihan had a great advantage in this regard, with good supplies The security system and perfect immigration management system, as well as strong infrastructure and agricultural development capabilities, ensure that immigrants can be quickly converted into productivity after naturalization.The Dutch want to use the method of providing immigration to Haihan in exchange for more development time for their colony, but the long-term consequence of this will only be that the gap in strength between the two sides will continue to widen.

(End of this chapter)