1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 935 The situation is stronger than people

It is no secret that when Haihan people export certain products with relatively high technology content and special application fields, such as weapons and ships, they will only sell foreign trade versions with inferior performance.Even for the shipyard built to help allies like Annan, the warships built according to Haihan's guidance look similar to the original version, but the overall performance is at least [-] to [-] percent worse.

Van Diemen knew very well that even if Haihan would sell a civilian version of the steam engine or a sea-going ship powered by the steam engine in the future, its performance would definitely be significantly different from the version they used for their own use.As for imitating the steam engine of the Haihan people, Fan Dimen thinks that it is very difficult to implement, not to mention its design principles and technical difficulties in processing and manufacturing. It is necessary to deploy various supporting industries and train relevant technical personnel for this purpose It will take several years.Otherwise, the Haihan people built this steam engine when they first arrived in Sanya, and it would take several years to show it.

What the East India Company lacks most now is time. The Haihan people came to the door at this time, obviously not intending to leave them a gap to heal their wounds.Not to mention the steam engine, if they don't agree to their request, the East India Company may not be able to wait until the day when the restoration project of Batavia City is completed, so there is no time to study the secret device of imitating the Haihan people.

"Mr. Governor, I think that although Haihan has the ability to send the fleet to Java, it does not mean that they can capture it." Van der Wegen was not reconciled to being run on by Philip just now, and still insisted that he should resist Haihan: "Their nearest supply point, Ambuna Island, is 600 nautical miles away from Batavia, and the nearest naval base, Cam Ranh Port, is [-] nautical miles away. As long as we can hold on for a month... No, it may only take half a month, They will retreat on their own because they run out of supplies!"

"Mr. Van der Wegen, you still haven't understood the essence of the matter." Van Diemen could not conceal the disappointment on his face. Van der Wegen was a young officer who was very optimistic about the former Governor Cohen, but he repeatedly dealt with the Haihan people After the setback, it seems that the insight into the situation is getting worse.

"Hayhan didn't want to launch a war against us, they just wanted to suppress our activity space as much as possible, and coerced us to cooperate with them... No, it should be said that they coerced us to obey their commands. They didn't want to We are driven out of the Far East, but we need the East India Company to play the role of an obedient errand servant in the Haihan system, just like the Portuguese are doing now.” Van Diemen also gradually cleared away the fog in this discussion. Knowing the truth, I realized the real intention of the Haihan people with their fleet approaching the city this time.

"Although the Haihan Fleet went south this time, although they didn't come here with the purpose of starting a war, they must have been prepared for it, because they had to show force to create enough deterrence against us. Although I I don’t quite understand what’s going on, but at least the Haihan people still need us.” Fan Diemen cleared up his thoughts bit by bit: “They have a strong purpose in doing things, and all the means are to let us join their leadership. trade system, and the purpose of this trade system is to allow Haihan to realize the monopoly of maritime trade in Northeast Asia.”

Van Diemen has basically guessed seven or eight parts of the truth, and the rest is because his vision and knowledge are limited by this era, it is impossible to look at the whole situation from the same height as Hai Han. The reason why Han left the East India Company temporarily was to ensure the stability of the East-West maritime trade channel.But if Yan Chujie heard his analysis, he would probably give him a thumbs up and praise him.

Accept the conditions of the Haihan people, join the trade alliance, and retract the scope of activities to the south of the equator. This will definitely greatly affect the profitability of the East India Company, and future trade with Northeast Asia will be subject to Haihan.But the advantage is that the Haihan people can temporarily calm down, and don't come to Batavia to seek bad luck in a short time.As for how long this renewal period can last, probably only the Haihan people can grasp it, and the decision is not in the hands of the East India Company itself.

"So now we have to make a decision, whether to fight to the death with the Haihan people immediately, or obey their arrangement first, and then find a chance to take revenge on them after two or three years." Fan Dimen's eyes shifted from the faces of all the people present. Sweeping: "Gentlemen, if you decide to choose war, then I will not shrink back, but I hope that when the war starts again, everyone can go to the front line to fight for the East India Company, instead of shrinking in the city or simply Run back home!"

When the Mata blue army attacked Batavia last year, some members of the council first interfered with the military's combat plan, and after Van Diemen took over the command, they all shrank in the fortress in the center of the city. I haven't even been to patrol the defense line.Van Diemen naturally couldn't see this kind of cowardly behavior. If anyone in this meeting wanted to clamor for war, he was going to send him to the front line to fight, so that these politicians who only talked about it would go to the field. Experience the cruelty and horror of war.

Of course, now that everyone is clear about the situation, the choice Haihan gave is nothing more than the difference between letting the East India Company die sooner or later. After their control area in the north stabilizes, they will definitely go south again, seeking to gradually control Nanyang. It will even advance westward through Malacca-after all, the Strait of Malacca is now in the hands of the Portuguese, and they probably will not refuse Haihan's request.

It is a difficult problem for everyone here to live on their last days, or to fight hard.Rejecting Haihan may increase the speed at which you are squeezed out of the Far East market, and obeying Haihan can only watch the other party eat away your territory little by little. No matter which way you choose, it is not good for the East India Company is a good thing.However, as an organization that started with commerce, the East India Company and the group ultimately consider commercial interests rather than face or political factors. Therefore, after two days of discussion, the council made a difficult decision to authorize Fan Dimen and Haihan first signed a memorandum of understanding, striving to win more benefits for the East India Company before signing a formal agreement.

When Fan Dimen saw Yan Chujie again, perhaps because he had already made a decision, he felt much more relaxed than when he met last time.

"The company's council has studied your proposal, and we think there are many points worthy of further discussion, especially in terms of the protection of our company's interests in the coastal areas of northern countries. We need your side to make concessions and clearer commitments "Van Diemen said carefully: "Especially, we will not agree to the cancellation of local commercial organizations."

Yan Chujie thought to himself that since you specifically pointed out this problem, it means that other conditions are fine.The Dutchman is quite knowledgeable and interesting. Originally, he wondered if the other party rejected Haihan's proposal, whether it would be necessary to pull out the fleet to conduct a land attack in Batavia Harbor, but now it seems that it saves After this trouble, the other party obviously does not intend to resort to forceful confrontation, but wants to gain more benefits for itself through negotiation.

As for which parts of the whole plan can be compromised and which parts must be insisted on, Yan Chujie still has a good idea. The request like canceling the commercial organization is originally a means of asking prices. The meaning is to act together.

"This issue is not impossible to discuss, but the personnel stationed locally must be reviewed by our side, and the number must be controlled within the limit specified by our side." Yan Chujie saw Fan Dimen's face was ugly, so he just turned a blind eye and said: "Do this It is also for the safety of your company's employees and your country's citizens, as there are too many people, we will not be able to protect them."

Fan Dimen said in his heart that you are obviously worried about our arrangement of colonization in the local area, and you still give such a high-sounding reason.

Haihan is very clear about the development methods of Western colonial countries in the Far East. The establishment of colonies in various places is the main means of expansion in the way of leapfrog development, and this trick has been learned by Haihan. The blue is better than the blue. In the six to seven years after the crossing, Haihan developed the colonial area far faster than his western counterparts.Of course, after Haihan himself mastered this expansion method, he naturally had to guard against competitors using this method to mess with him.

So around the establishment of the East India Company's storehouses, the two sides had another debate.Van Diemen hoped to set up a trading post or office in every port under the control of Haihan, but Yan Chujie would not accept his condition, and only agreed to be in Da Nang, Sanya, Hong Kong, Penghu, Zhoushan and Ambuna Island These six places set up offices of the East India Company.For the office set up by the Dutch, the Ministry of Security will inevitably need to arrange a large number of people to monitor it. Yan Chujie doesn't want to be complained by He Xi and Hao Wanqing that he can't do things after he goes back.

Details such as this were bitten by Fan Diemen, and by the second day, Yan Chujie had already started to have a headache, regretting that he hadn't brought Schneider up this trip.Although he is very good at talking, he is not very professional after all. It is very difficult to argue with the Dutch about these management details. If Schneider is present, he should be able to deal with these troubles caused by Van Diemen more easily. .

However, Yan Chujie did not let the United Fleet idle. Taking advantage of the time of negotiations, he asked Roger to bring half of the warships, together with the ships of Champa and Annan, to go west along the coastline of Java Island. Sailing, in the name of sea training, went to the Sunda Strait to explore the route.

The Sunda Strait is located between Java Island and Sumatra Island. The strait is about [-] nautical miles long, and the narrowest point is only more than [-] nautical miles. This narrow waterway connects the Java Sea and the Indian Ocean. The Cape of Good Hope is an important part of the route to Europe.Like the Strait of Malacca in the north, it is a strategic key zone guarding the sea routes between the East and the West.

When Zheng He sailed to the Western Ocean more than 200 years ago, he also led a fleet through this strait to the Indian Ocean.However, after the Dutch came to the Far East, they controlled the strait, making it the exclusive passage for Dutch ships to the Eastern Spice Islands.Of course, this situation has changed after the Netherlands lost to Mata Ram last year.Although it is only half a day's voyage from Batavia Port to the Sunda Strait, the East India Company has not dared to send ships to the local patrol easily, and can only deploy most of the armed sailboats near Batavia Port. On the one hand, it is to prevent strong enemies from attacking from the sea, and on the other hand, it is also worried that the weak patrol boats will be besieged by Mata blue sailboats in the strait.Although the Dutch sailing ship was armed to a certain extent, it would be in trouble if it was blocked in the strait by the Matalan men.

On the deck of the fleet flagship "Wei Signal", Zhang Yun is pointing to the islands on the distant sea to impart relevant geographical knowledge to the two: "The Sunda Strait belongs to the active crustal movement area, and the volcanic activity is very frequent. You see that A cone-shaped mountain range is the landform formed after volcanic eruptions. These volcanic eruptions can cause strong earthquakes and tsunamis that can spread thousands of miles away."

Although Zhang Yun is a biologist, geography is a part of natural science, and he has also dabbled in it. In fact, it is the first time for him to observe this volcanic terrain at close range with his own eyes, and his excitement cannot be concealed in his tone.However, he knows that the volcanoes here are currently in a safe period. According to historical records, the large-scale eruption of the volcano in the Sunda Strait occurred at the end of the 19th century. The altitude of 3500 kilometers made it float around the world for a long time, and the sound of volcanic explosions could be heard as far as 1000 kilometers away, and the strong air flow even destroyed part of the forest in the Malay Peninsula more than 30 kilometers away.The volcanic eruption triggered a strong earthquake and tsunami, and huge waves with a height of more than [-] meters hit the coast near the strait, destroying countless towns and villages, and killing tens of thousands of people.

When the two brothers Zhang Zhi and Zhang Dong heard the ecstasy, they were all surprised from ear to ear.The loudest explosion sound in their cognition is nothing more than artillery bombardment or mining blasting, and they never thought of the situation described by the teacher.With the insights stored in their minds, it is already difficult to imagine the actual scene of the volcanic eruption.

"The land across the strait is Sumatra, which is the sixth largest island in the world with an area of ​​47 square kilometers, which is equivalent to the size of more than a dozen Hainan islands." Zhang Yun looked at the looming outline of the land in the distance and said: "Look See if there is a chance to go to Sumatra Island this time, I really want to see what a real Sumatran tiger looks like."

(End of this chapter)