Forty-eight years of Qianlong

Chapter 524 The Dutch who were tricked by the British
The iced drink is almost done, and it's time to get down to business.Not long after everyone went back and changed their floral underpants and big vests, two khaki-colored drones rose from the compass deck and flew towards Batavia City at a height of [-] meters above sea level.

The weather inside and outside the port of Bacheng was sunny and sunny. Even though the drone was flying very high, it was backed by a clear sky. It didn't take long to attract the attention of the Dutch defenders on the port and the castle.

Speaking of which, the Dutch and Spaniards are the only ones in Southeast Asia who haven't experienced the North Navy's drones.Like other Europeans in this time and space, it was the first time they discovered that something could fly like a bird in the sky. The Dutch soldiers showed panic, kept crossing their chests, and looked at the church behind them after getting up. , to pray for the protection of Christ.

At this time, the first industrial revolution has begun for nearly 40 years. Steam engines have been popularized in Europe for mining, and hot air balloons have also taken to the sky.In other words, the era of replacing manual work with machinery has begun.

The Dutch East India Company is certainly a bunch of bastards, but the Dutch Leiden University is currently the top college in Europe. It is characterized by adhering to freedom of religious belief and open and inclusive scholarship.Therefore, some Dutch people who are obsessed with machinery in Bacheng did not believe that it was the Chinese who released the devil, but observed it with great interest.

The noise on the top of the castle wall interrupted the emergency meeting that was just about to be held in the conference hall. After hearing the reports from their subordinates, all the members of the "East India Review Council" headed by Governor Altyn came outside the Governor's Mansion and raised their hands together. Shed, looking for two small dots in the sky.

After everyone looked at it for a while, they were both surprised and worried and returned to the house to sit down. Governor Altyn first announced the start of the meeting, and then briefly introduced Beihai Town's past achievements to everyone present, followed by his secretary reading out The letter from the Beihai Navy, which was like a declaration of war, exploded in the meeting room.

A congressman roared: "They said they came here for what happened 50 years ago, but what does that have to do with us?! This is blackmail! We must resolutely fight back!"

Another congressman got up and said: "Everyone! We must not be scared by those little tricks in the sky! There is only one ship no matter how big it is. Our fleet outside the port has twelve ships! Not to mention there are more than a dozen An Ahat boat!"

The fleet mentioned by this population is called "retourschip" in Dutch, also known as the returning ship.Every year in February, more than a dozen returning ships of the Dutch East India Company will gather in Batavia, and after forming a team, they will transport porcelain, tea and other commodity treasures back to Amsterdam, so it is also known as the "East India Treasure". fleet".

The length of the returning large ships is between 45 meters and 60 meters, the width of the ships is 10 meters, and the cargo capacity is more than [-] tons.This kind of boat is a semi-flat boat, which is convenient for navigating shallow waterways.It can be used to transport goods, and sometimes it is also heavily armed to participate in naval battles.

In addition, there are more than a dozen three-masted galleons named "Yacht" parked outside Batavia Harbour.Armed Yahat ships have an additional gun deck, a stronger structure, and cannons on the bow and side of the ship.Because of its good seaworthiness, fast speed and low cost, it has become the main force of the Dutch naval force.

As soon as this person said something, the other members of parliament thought it was true!No matter how powerful the big white ship called "Thor" was, there was only one.Besides, the previous battles were bombardments on land, so it's really hard to say how about naval battles.

It is said that the British East India Company officer corps, which had returned to Madras at this time, passed by Batavia in early February and stayed for a few days, and was warmly received by the Dutch.

Because communications between Europe and East Asia are carried out at a frequency of 2 to 3 years, neither the British East India Company nor the Dutch East India Company knew that the Fourth Anglo-Dutch War had broken out in Europe.

With the piss of the British, now is the era of dominating the sea, and they will certainly not tell the Dutch that the second-class sailing ship they sold to Dai Qing can't beat the Beihai Navy, and they are still under the command of people like themselves.They wish that other countries would not know the embarrassment of Changxing Island, and Macartney would not know that the Thor would go south.

In this way, the Dutch in Batavia were inadvertently cheated by the British.

At this moment, one of the oldest members of the council slowly got up and said: "Everyone, I suggest negotiating with the Seres people first. This matter should be resolved peacefully, and the city of Batavia cannot be destroyed by war!"

Others said: "Mr. Hall, the Chinese are now at the door! Negotiation? Hehe, just like what they did in Nagasaki, do we have to pay 15 taels of gold like the Tokugawa shogunate and bow our heads and admit defeat?"

"no way!"

"that's right!"

Altin got up and said, "Dear Mr. Hall, I completely agree with your suggestion."

After finishing speaking, he said to everyone present: "Gentlemen, even if we want to fight the Sires, we must first understand the opponent's armament and strength. Judging from the size of the boat, Colonel Berg estimates that it is at least It can hold [-] soldiers, but we still don’t know the number of artillery pieces. Therefore, I suggest forming a delegation and actively contacting the Sires, preferably on their ships.”

Councilor Hall nodded and said, "I would like to make another suggestion. It is best to choose a few Tang people to accompany you."

"I don't agree!" A congressman got up and said, "What if the Tang people from outside the city colluded with them?"

Hall glanced at the congressman, and said with contempt: "Mr. Pete, you have only been in Batavia for ten years, and I have been here for almost 40 years. I think I know these Tang people better than you. Don't forget, those Serisians are at war with the Qing Empire, and the Tang people in Bacheng are all citizens of the Qing Kingdom. Compared with those rioters who call themselves Serisians, the Tang people respect the orthodox Qing Empire, I dare not have anything to do with them at all. Besides, the Hongxi incident has been going on for nearly 50 years, and the current Tang people in Bacheng all came after 1742."

The old and cunning Congressman Hall guessed right. When the Chinese businessmen living outside the south gate of Bacheng heard about the Thor, almost no one was happy, and they were all worried.They were afraid that Beihai Town would anger the Dutch and make the Dutch angry at themselves.

There is a reason why Western colonists chose Chinese as the main targets of exploitation and utilization.The first is that the religious concept is weak, so there is no need to explain this; the second is that the Chinese are comprador and have a high tolerance for hardship; finally, the Chinese do not think about desperately until the last moment, and they are very easy to clean up.

After the Hongxi incident, the Dutch put on a mask of hypocrisy in order to attract the Chinese.The public slogan is to treat Chinese people well so that Batavia can develop day by day.

When Wang Zhusheng, the "Kapitan" appointed by the Dutch, received the notice sent by the governor of Altyn, he said to a room full of sad-faced Chinese businessmen: "Everyone, Ba Wang has an order, and I will go all out tomorrow to prevent Pakistan The city is devastated."

Since the seventeenth century, Fujian businessmen who came to Southeast Asia have called the governor of Batavia of the Netherlands the "King of Sunda Karaba", or "King Ba" for short.

At this time, an old man in his 60s sighed, got up and bowed his hands to the crowd. Under the surprised eyes of the crowd, he was supported by his family members and left the meeting hall tremblingly.Several businessmen waited for each other's back to disappear before whispering to each other.

"Why did Uncle Zhang leave?"

"You don't know? When the Dutch massacred the city, the Zhang family survived."

"Is there still this?"

"Well, I heard from old man Zhang that when the Dutch massacred the city, more than 100 Chinese escaped."

"Don't talk about state affairs. I'll do business honestly and pay a lot of poll tax, and the Dutch won't make it difficult for me to wait."

"Brother Lin's words are on point. I heard that some people started a rebellion and led the rebels to attack the Dutch castle, which caused people to be offended," the man said, gesturing to kill his head with his hands.

"No wonder, if you don't work hard, you still want to attack the government, take over the mountain and become king, a bunch of unscrupulous people!"

"How many Chinese were there in the city then?"

"I heard from old man Zhang, I'm afraid there must be tens of thousands."

"Hiss~~~" Everyone gasped when they heard this, and then felt absurd and uninhibited.At present, there are more than 6000 Chinese people living in Batavia. If more than 1 people were replaced by [-] pigs, it would take several months to kill them all.Do not make jokes!
"Then why did he stay and not return to Zhangzhou?"

"You're dumbfounded, aren't you? People like us, who haven't returned home for several years, have registered with the government long ago! If Old Uncle Zhang dares to go back, he must be sent to the army."

Just when Altin decided to send an official envoy to communicate with the Thor, the two drones of the North Navy had been flying over Batavia for more than 20 minutes, and turned around and returned. It was displayed in front of Deng Fei and the others.

The whole city is divided into two rectangles from north to south by the Gillion Canal, extending from north to south. Several stone bridges erected on the canal become passages connecting the two cities.The shallow water outside the port is blocked by a row of wooden piles, and only small boats that can enter the port are those that transfer goods.There are many forts on the city walls on the east and west banks, and there are suspension bridges at the entrances and exits on the east, west and south sides.

Compared with other Southeast Asian cities, Bacheng has a complete canal system; in addition to the main canal, there are several small canals leading to the interior and surroundings of the town.This is also the construction model of Dutch cities, connecting the entire city through canals.

There are roads nearly ten meters wide on both sides of the Gilliwong River. The Dutch also dug several small canals leading to the surrounding areas and the interior of the town according to natural conditions, eventually forming a complex canal system.Along the canal, there are rows of one- to two-story brick houses, and the road between each row is separated by three rows of trees. Those wealthy Dutch immigrants live here.Among these stone buildings, what impressed Deng Fei the most was a two-story domed building with European characteristics.

Hong Tao looked at the beautiful townhouses in the picture, and said, "Townhouse, it's not bad! Hurry up and tell Mr. Zhao that we're also building a community on the Jinlan Peninsula."

Deng Fei and Wang Yuanfang didn't talk to him while he was talking nonsense. They were more concerned about the defense system that the Dutch had deployed inside and outside the city.

Compared with those that Hong Tao paid attention to, Batavia is a militarized city. The war between the Dutch East India Company and the kingdoms of Banten and Mataram continued intermittently until the late seventeenth century. To prevent these kingdoms from being harassed, the entire A large number of walls were built around the city of Ba.Whether it is the castle on the east bank or the city wall, it is equipped with a large number of artillery.

The four-pointed star-shaped castle was built on a well-defended seaside, protected by multiple walls, and inside were the local institutions of the East India Company.Such as the governor's residence, churches, workshops, warehouses, guards, armories, prisons, the meeting hall of the East India Parliament and some mansions, etc.On the west bank of the mouth of the Gillion Canal, where the port is located, there is also a fortification that echoes the fortress on the opposite bank.If the North Navy wants to enter the castle directly, the mouth of the canal is the only way.

In addition, at a position two miles away from the port, more than a dozen three-masted sailing ships of the Dutch East India Company have opened their gun doors, closely watching every move of the Thor.In addition, seven or eight large sailing ships are unloading the previously loaded cargo outside the port and hoisting artillery.

Thereafter until the next morning, the Thor basically did nothing except to fire a shot to warn the Dutch sailboat not to come within a mile of her.But what the Dutch noticed was that the "strange birds" that flew out of the Thor basically had to go back every 30 minutes, and then flew out two more, and so on, until it was dark, and they would still faintly hear it. A hum passed overhead.

At 1791:3 am on March 7, 9, the second day after the Northern Navy arrived in Bacheng, a small Yahat ship with a white flag on its mast sailed from the port of Bacheng, and slowly approached the city an hour later. on the port side of the Thor.

On the deck at the bow, a Dutchman with a high nose bridge and blue eyes held a document tied with a blue ribbon in his hand and said loudly: "I am Gerald Hearst Jacob, a subject of East India His Excellency Altyn, the governor of the company, and the Court of Appeals entrusted us to come and negotiate with your person in charge!"

Jacob first yelled in Dutch, and after finding no response on the Thor, he yelled again in Portuguese and French.Just when he was very disappointed and was about to change a few Chinese to shout out, an oriental face appeared from the side of the ship and said in fluent French: "How many of you are here?"

"Eight, I request a boarding interview." Jacob was overjoyed, he didn't expect the other party to be proficient in French.

At this time, several guys wearing melon skin hats and long robes and mandarin jackets bowed their hands together and said in unison: "I am entrusted by the elders of the Tang people in Bacheng, please meet the adults of Beihai Town!"

At this time, someone on the deck said in Cantonese: "Let the ship move away! We are going to put up the ladder."

Half an hour later, four Dutchmen and four Chinese from Batavia boarded the Thor out of curiosity and nervousness, but before they could see the facilities on the deck and the ship covered with camouflage nets, The two cannons were hastily brought into the conference room on the poop by several soldiers of the Northern Navy.

At this time, Deng Fei, Jiang Fan, and Lin Daosheng were already waiting in the conference room. After a short exchange of greetings, that Jacob conveyed the protest of the Court of Appeals and Governor Altyn, opened the document, and read it out in French. .

To put it simply, the Dutch mean that we are wronged, and what happened 50 years ago has nothing to do with us now.What's more, the governor who issued the massacre order had already been sentenced to death by the 17-member board of directors, and we also apologized to the Qing Dynasty government, and Emperor Qianlong kindly expressed that he would not pursue it.In view of this, there is no reason for Beihai Town to say that it wants to seek justice for the Chinese. It is regarded as blackmail, and the East India Company will never accept blackmail.

Unexpectedly, Deng Fei was furious after hearing it. After he took the statement from the Dutchman, he crumpled it into a ball without even reading it.If he hadn't received a long telegram from Zhao Xin last night and read it twice, he might really believe the Dutch lie.

Shit apologies!The Dutch were eager to conceal the truth of the incident, for fear that the Manchu and Qing would cut off trade in Guangzhou, so how could they apologize? !Furthermore, the governor who was sentenced to death did not execute it that year, and dragged it until the other party died in prison, what a lie!
(End of this chapter)