1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 933 Confrontation and Cooperation

Although Van Diemen didn't understand such advanced academic theories as "war is the continuation of politics", he at least knew that the cost of war was astonishing. Coastal fortifications are full of difficulties.The Matalan people did not make a comeback immediately after they withdrew last year, not because they had no soldiers to use, but because they did not have enough military spending to start another war.Who will start the next confrontation between the Dutch East India Company and the Matalan Kingdom will probably depend on whose economy recovers faster and who can raise war funds in the shortest time.Ma Dalan knew this truth, and Fan Dimen also understood it, but Yan Chujie pointed it out at this juncture, and this intention is worth investigating.

As we all know, Haihan is an emerging maritime giant in the Far East in recent years. Whether it is maritime trade or maritime armed forces, its strength is constantly approaching or even surpassing the pioneers. trend.Even if Fan Di refused to admit defeat, he was still very afraid of Haihan's resources and mobilizable financial resources. If Haihan chose Mata Languo as a trading partner in the Nanyang region, then the many resources they have in their hands It will definitely bring a lot of income to Mata Ram, thereby quickly enriching its treasury.

Of course, this is second to none. What Van Diemen is more afraid of is the "military aid" weapon in Haihan's foreign policy.Back then, Haihan used this as an excuse to support Xu Xinsu in FJ against Zheng Zhilong, the spokesperson of the East India Company, and finally drove Shibazhi to extinction step by step, making the local situation of the East India Company very embarrassing.Annan and Champa, which were supported by Haihan in the Indochina Peninsula, also vented their anger with Haihan, prohibiting the East India Company from conducting local trade, and causing the Dutch to lose an important supply point in the northern route.

Annan Champa and Champa are nearly a thousand nautical miles away from Batavia. Although there are some indirect effects, they can still be overcome. However, if Haihan provides military assistance to Matalam, the impact on the East India Company will be very direct. up.The southern part of Sumatra Island and the central and eastern part of Java Island are both the territory of Matalam State, and Batavia is just a small corner sandwiched in between. The sea area, or even launch an offensive against the city of Batavia again, then the Dutch are really weak.The Haihan people don't even need to directly participate in the war, as long as they provide enough weapons and ammunition to the Matalan people, it will be difficult to defend the city of Batavia.

Although the smile on Yan Chujie's face didn't diminish when he said this, Fan Dimen immediately felt the sinister intentions of the Haihan people.It was just to make him agree to the conditions proposed by the Haihan people, but he refused to admit defeat.Even if a war breaks out because of this, the company's board of directors will never agree to give up and settle the past grievances with the Matalan people.

"General Yan, the picture you paint is very attractive, but with all due respect, it is simply not possible. The hatred between us and the Mata Ram state must be settled. They killed thousands of people in the war last year. Dutchman, this is not something that can be settled with money." Van Diemen paused, and emphasized again: "We will do this at any cost!"

"No, no, you have misunderstood our proposal, Mr. Governor." Yan Chujie explained again: "We only propose to maintain peace, but whoever you want to fight with is your freedom. We took the lead in forming a trade Alliances, not military alliances."

"Trade alliance? Military alliance?" Van Diemen chewed carefully on the different meanings of these two terms.

"Yes, to put it simply, the future trade pattern in the Far East region will be dominated by the alliance we organize. People outside this alliance will not be eligible to participate in international trade in the Far East region, at least within the scope of the existing member states. I want to get another chance." Yan Chujie waited for a while, and saw that Fan Dimen's face was still a little confused after listening to the translation, so he continued to explain: "I will use your side as an example, if you don't want to join us trade alliance, you will not be able to trade with members of the alliance in the future."

"But it's not a mandatory rule. How do you ensure that this rule can be effectively implemented?" Fan Dimen asked back after understanding Yan Chujie's meaning.

"Of course it depends on interests! Only when all members are tied to the same interest chain can this alliance operate effectively." Yan Chujie explained: "The largest market and production place in the Far East is Daming, but it is necessary to cooperate with Daming. For transactions, we must obtain our permission to complete the entrepot trade at the ports controlled by Haihan. The same is true for Annan and Champa. For these countries, we are the main trading partners with the largest transaction volume, which will affect the To their treasury income and the stability of the upper class of society. Cooperate with us, everyone can make money, if you want to jump out of this circle and do it yourself, you will find that there is no other possibility except to run into walls everywhere.”

After several years of manipulation, Haihan's layout in the thousands of miles from the East China Sea to the South China Sea has achieved initial results.From the most affluent Jiangsu and Zhejiang regions in the Ming Dynasty to the southernmost tip of the Indochina Peninsula, the most important trading ports are either under the control of Haihan or under the control of its partners. The import and export trade carried out by these countries and regions, among them At least one-third of the huge profits flowed directly into Haihan's pockets, and the speed of making money even far exceeded the gold mining in Taipei.

Only with Haihan's approval can they enter these areas for trade activities. The huge benefits brought by this almost monopoly business model are not only enjoyed by Haihan's family, but also local officials, wealthy businessmen and other upper-class people. Benefits and benefits, so I don't think there is any problem with this operating system.Of course, even if someone realizes that Haihan is gradually monopolizing and manipulating the maritime trade in these regions, they are powerless to change the current situation. After all, Haihan needs money and people, unless he confronts Haihan with the power of the whole country. , otherwise there will be no effect at all.

The Haihan executive committee saw that the early plans had achieved initial results, and then began to launch the second stage, that is, to take the initiative to take the lead in establishing an open trade alliance, and to turn the previous hidden actions into the open and implement them.Compared with the various mature trade organizations of later generations, this kind of trade alliance must appear crude and rough, but it is very practical in the international environment of this era.The long-term benefits of taking the lead in organizing this kind of regional trade alliance are even higher than launching wars to conquer these regions one by one. For foreign western counterparts, with the trade alliance as a means of pressure, it is easier for Haihan to gain the upper hand in the competition.

Under this operating mechanism, interests tightly bind all parties together. Whoever wants to leave this system will have trouble with himself. In most cases, there is no need to resort to military means. Huge interests will drive all parties to Fang consciously maintains the operation of this mechanism.

Of course, if there are external forces trying to change this status quo by force, then the military alliance headed by Haihan will come in handy.For example, Shibazhi, who tried to monopolize the FJ sea trade by himself, became the common enemy of Haihan and the FJ military. Even if it took several years, he must be eliminated quickly.

Now the boundary drawn by Haihan for the East India Company is to force it to make a choice, either join the trade alliance or become an opponent.And if the East India Company is excluded, the consequences may be more serious than the outbreak of armed conflict, because most of the income in the Far East comes from the area currently controlled by Haihan. Once Haihan starts trade barriers, the East India Company You can say goodbye to this part of the income, and you won't even have a chance to fight.

As the current governor of the East India Company, Van Diemen certainly has the foresight. Yan Chujie has already made it very clear that if he rejects the other party's proposal now, it will be tantamount to putting the East India Company in this trading system. outside.And the consequences that will be brought about by this, he can more or less predict.

As a Dutchman with a backbone, Van Diemen certainly wanted to reject the other party's unreasonable demands, but he was also the actual leader of the East India Company, not only responsible to the local council and tens of thousands of subordinates, but also had to Account to the board of directors in the Netherlands.If he made a rash decision that affected the operation of the East India Company and even the future of life and death, then his status as governor may not be enough to settle accounts later, and he must be cautious.

Van Diemen took the initiative to suspend the meeting for two days, so that he could inform the company's meeting of the meeting and listen to the opinions of the heads of various departments and shareholder representatives.Yan Chujie also knew that the Dutch probably would not make a decision rashly, so he did not object to this proposal.So after the two parties agreed on the time for the next meeting, they boarded the ship and left.

The United Fleet is currently stationed in an archipelago about [-] nautical miles northwest of Batavia Port. The fly in the ointment is that there are no products on the island here, so the United Fleet has to use up the food stored on the ship, and at the same time, it has to start from Batavia Port. Purchase supplies to replenish.

After Yan Chujie returned, Zheng Zuo and Fan Ji also expressed concern about the progress of the negotiations.Regarding the establishment of a trade alliance, Haihan had notified Annan and Champa before this, and the two did not express any objection to this. After all, their respective largest trading partners were Haihan, and they both had Haihan has a military alliance, so there is no reason to oppose the establishment of such a trade organization that can bring huge benefits to itself.

As for how many members this trade organization can eventually absorb, it depends on Haihan's specific operations. The more members, the greater the trade volume it will bring, so the two countries are also eager to join the organization. The more countries the better, the better. Even if it is a country like the Netherlands that has a grudge against Haihan, as long as Haihan himself doesn't mind, they don't think there is anything wrong with it.

"The Dutch agreed to go back and think about it. I think they are already moved. It's just that the conditions we proposed are too harsh. It may be difficult to accept them for a while." Yan Chujie introduced to the few people who were unable to attend the meeting: "Their activity space Compressing to the south of Annabuna Island means that they have to give up the strongholds of Taiwan and Japan. If I were in the position of the Dutch, I probably would not be willing to accept such an exchange. Even if Van Diemen has this idea , and may not be able to persuade the council to accept it."

"General Yan, I think you might as well be more optimistic." Zheng Zuo gently shook the goblet in his hand. This posture was also learned from the reception held by the Haihan people: "The Dutch are a group of businessmen, not real The fighters they occupy in the South China Sea are not the territory of the Netherlands, so if they lose it, they will lose it. The Ambuna Island has been snatched by you Haihan for two years. Is there any overreaction from them? As long as they can still do business, I think the Dutch don't care so much about whether the control area is bigger or smaller. The point is, you can't let their Western counterparts enjoy better treatment. It is said in "The Analects of Confucius", don't worry about the few but the uneven, if They will be more receptive to your proposal when they see that other people are being treated the same way.”

"The little prince knows a lot!" Yan Chujie couldn't help but praise.

The problem Zheng Zuo pointed out was indeed one of the key points in this transaction. Before Haihan appeared, the competitors of the Dutch in the Far East were all Western countries, with almost the same strength, and the competition was lively.But after Haihan was born, he beat Portugal first, then robbed the Netherlands, and finally did not let Spain go. As long as there is a territorial conflict with Haihan, none of the western countries will have good fruit to eat.Although the Dutchman knew that he couldn't beat Haihan, at least he could see that his family was not the only one being beaten and angry, and he wouldn't lose his mental balance.

At this time, their rivals, the Portuguese, had already joined Haihan's camp and became part of the trade alliance. If the Dutch refused to join, the gap in trade volume with Portugal would be widened. would be one of their most unacceptable consequences.It's just that Yan Chujie didn't think of this in time during the negotiation, otherwise he could give Fan Dimen a good blow.However, the shrewdness of the Dutch is not bad. Although Yan Chujie did not take the initiative to mention this matter, someone in the East India Company Council has already thought of it.

"If we reject the Haihan people's proposal, the Portuguese will probably wake up laughing from their dreams?" Van Longen was the first to stand up and point out this "conspiracy": "This must be a trick conceived by the Portuguese. The Haihan people took the lead in forming such a bullshit alliance, so that they can logically exclude us from the Far East trade market! These lazy southern European parasites, they will only follow the Haihan people to pick and choose! We should send a A fleet, sweep the Portuguese stronghold in GD, and completely remove them from Haihan's side!"

(End of this chapter)