1635 Han style rises again

Chapter 301 A Different Kind of Life
Li Dazhu leaned against the wall, quietly observing the movement on the street outside. A group of Dutch mercenaries with muskets scanned the street corner vigilantly. Anyone who had nothing to do with them would be rushed over and knocked down to the ground before being locked in a dungeon.

With the arrival of the army of the Kingdom of Mataland, martial law has been implemented throughout Batavia. Except for the colonial officials and armed soldiers of the East India Company, no one is allowed to go out at will.The Ming people and natives living in the city were also forced to conscript more than 500 people by the Dutch colonial government. After a little arming, they were driven by Dutch mercenaries to the south and east sides of the city to assist in defending the city with many Dutch armed civilians.

After more than half a month of successive resistance, the Dutch finally gave up all their strongholds outside the city and retreated into the city of Batavia.

According to Dutch estimates, this time, the Kingdom of Mataland mobilized [-] soldiers to attack Batavia.Moreover, the opponent had at least [-] muskets and nearly ten cannons. Soldiers were generally equipped with a large number of swords and spears.In field battles, the Dutch were unstoppable by any means.Now, the Dutch will rely on Batavia's tall and thick walls and dense artillery to try to block the attack of the Kingdom of Mataland.

To the Dutch's relief, the Banten Kingdom in the west lost nearly a thousand people after a strong attack by the Dutch, and was unable to fight any more. It stopped [-] kilometers west of Batavia.

Governor of Batavia Anthony Van Daiman has received a report about the Governor of Formosa, and he is extremely angry at the Spaniards' abandonment of the truce treaty and their attempt to attack the cities of Chikan and Zelan.However, suffering from the attack of the Kingdom of Mataland, it is impossible for Batavia to send reinforcements in a short period of time to ease the crisis in Formosa.He can only believe that with more than ten years of operation, the two strongholds in Formosa can withstand the Spanish attack.

Regarding the disastrous defeat of the Annan Ruan family's attack on Hanzhou Xinsheng Island, Governor Daiman was already somewhat indifferent.The Dutch can't gnaw at the castle guarded by Hanzhou, and a small backward country naturally cannot pose a threat to Hanzhou.However, all this is in line with the expectations of the Dutch.Although he did not achieve a heavy blow to Hanzhou, he also found an enemy for Hanzhou.At that time, the Dutch can use the name of jointly dealing with Hanzhou to enter this kingdom with a population of more than one million and earn the greatest benefits.

However, Hanzhou provided a large number of firearms to the Kingdom of Mataland and the Kingdom of Banten, which encouraged the courage of these two kingdoms to fight against the Dutch again.These native kingdoms have tens of thousands of people. Once they have the same weapons as the Dutch, it will be a huge threat, even a disaster, to the Dutch East India Company.

It has to be said that the Hanzhou people seem to have found the weakness of the Dutch, and through these natives, they caused huge troubles for the East India Company.Governor Daiman felt a little regretful in his heart, it seemed that they shouldn't have treated Hanzhou so tyrannically.

Although, the measures against Hanzhou are to eliminate the potential threat of the East India Company in the future.But for a joint-stock company that needs to contribute huge profits, is it necessary to spend a huge price on a war of checks and balances with a local force?
Batavia's financial officer has written down estimates for this year's earnings.The losses of the Dutch were significantly higher than those estimated when the war was launched last year.Six armed merchant ships were lost one after another, Ambon was completely destroyed, the acquisition and trade of cloves has not resumed so far, and a large number of mercenaries and native servants suffered casualties.According to rough statistics, the loss of the East India Company has exceeded 50 dong.And the war with Hanzhou lasted only five months.

If, together with the wars with the Kingdom of Banten and the Kingdom of Mataland, and the pacification of the situation in Ambon, all these losses are counted, perhaps in 1639, the East India Company will burst into a huge hole.

Governor Dayman commissioned the fleet that had just set off to return to Europe to bring back his annual report.He explained in detail the cause and significance of a "local" war with the small power of Hanzhou.He hoped to get the understanding and support of the Board of Trustees of the Amsterdam headquarters, because in the East Indies, there is no better profit than a monopoly market, so to maintain the monopoly position, it is necessary to resolutely curb and combat any potential rise of local power.

Hanzhou, on the other hand, has the potential to threaten the hegemony of the East India Company in the Far East, and has the strength to break the East India's monopoly market position.Therefore, the war with Hanzhou is very necessary.

Li Dazhu jumped off the wall, turned back to a side garden on the west side of Su Mansion (Su Minggang), and then entered a hut.

"He Tou, there are Dutch patrols outside, we have no chance to go out for a while. But you don't want to sleep every day!" Li Dazhu felt a little anxious when he saw He Qing lying on his back on the bed with his eyes closed.

"Then what do you think we should do?" He Qing didn't even open his eyes, and said lazily, "Go out and kill some Dutch people in the middle of the night?"

"We killed the Dutch, they must be vigilant, maybe there will be a city-wide search!" Li Dazhu thought for a while, shaking his head and said.If he was captured by the Dutch in the Su Mansion, dozens of members of the Su family would be implicated.

"Let's rest in peace!" He Qing said softly: "Now is the time when the Dutch are nervous, and we won't have a chance for a while."

"Then when will there be a chance?" Li Dazhu asked.

"When the natives start attacking the city, there may be a slight chance."

"Oh..." Li Dazhu nodded upon hearing this.

"He Tou, do you think that original Dutch official would cheat us?" After a while, Li Dazhu asked suddenly: "He wouldn't just help us destroy it so sincerely just because he took money from Hanzhou. Their most important shipyard."

He Qing opened his eyes, looked at Li Dazhu, then sighed, and said softly: "Suddenly falling from a height, it is inevitable that there will be some resentment. And..., and he wants to let all the Dutch know that Badawi It's going to get worse without him!"

"He wants... to take revenge on his own people? Just because he was dismissed by their governor!?" Li Dazhu was a little surprised and puzzled.

"Yeah, he's going to prove that everything about that governor is wrong. This guy wants us to destroy the whole of Batavia!"

"There are many smart people in the city."

"So, we can only listen to half of his suggestion." He Qing smiled and said, "We only need to destroy the Dutch shipyard."

Colonel Aryan Van Dijk, the former commander of the Batavia Fleet, was quite cooperative when he saw the two Hanzhou black guards. He knew almost everything about the Dutch people asked by He Qing, and gave all the details. Answers, without hiding any questions.

In the end, Colonel Aryan Van Dijk even gave the two Hanzhou black guards some ideas to destroy Batavia.One of the proposals was the craziest, provoking the native servants in the city to riot and welcome the soldiers of the Kingdom of Mataland into the city.In this way, the entire Batavia will inevitably be massacred and destroyed by the natives, and the construction of the East India Company for more than ten years will be destroyed. This will also affect thousands of Ming people in Daming City, as well as several of them The safety of a black guard.

"Dazhu, do you think there is anyone in Hanzhou like this high-ranking Dutch official?" He Qing asked with a smile.

"Ah?" Li Dazhu was a little frightened when he heard He Qing ask such a bold question.He looked at He Qing in a daze, "Our Hanzhou should...not have it."

If the chiefs of Hanzhou do things that harm the interests of Hanzhou, then what's the point of these black-clothed guards working so hard outside?

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"You dare to fight so hard, why?" Hu Wenjin pulled the long knife back from the shoulder of an Ottoman soldier, then picked up a rag from the ground and threw it to him, letting him bandage the wound himself.

"It's all for you, my master." The dead man whose arm was still bleeding did not bandage the wound, but bowed and replied.

"Are you willing to die for me?" Hu Wenjin raised his long knife and pointed at the other Ottoman soldiers.

"For you, my master, we are willing to die." The other dead soldiers bowed respectfully and replied.

"Haha..." Hu Wenjin couldn't stop laughing. Sure enough, these aliens who had been brainwashed by the True God Sect were indeed very obedient and easy to use.Just now, when he was bored, he began to test whether these so-called dead soldiers were loyal to him.

He drew out his long knife and beheaded one of them, but the other didn't dodge at all, bowed his head and let him slash.At the last moment, Hu Wenjin turned sharply and slashed obliquely at the shoulder of the dead man.

"Go down." Hu Wenjin waved his hand and said.

This is a compound built on a hillside outside the city. Below the hillside is the huge reservoir in Jianye City.The high courtyard walls are perfectly integrated with the surrounding mountains, adhering to the consistent architectural style of Hanzhou, exquisite and practical as well as fortress defense.

On this hillside, a total of five courtyards with the same style were built, mainly for the three commanders of Hanzhou and the two commanders to live outside the city for leisure and relaxation.

But currently only Hu Wen has moved in, and the others are either busy with military and government affairs, and they and their family members live in Jianye City for a long time.

After Hu Wenjin returned to Jianye City from Batavia, he suddenly found that he had no suitable position in the military and civilian affairs due to his long-term engagement in trade and material procurement.He was unwilling to submit to Qi Dajiang and lead the Marine Corps, so he simply didn't receive any errands, and only hung out with a few women at home.

In order to take care of his emotions, Cao Xiong specially arranged for Hanzhou to notify him of all military and civil affairs, big and small, and let him be in charge of printing Hanzhou coins.But the gold mine in Heishan City was depressed and boring. After explaining the affairs and the officials and craftsmen he belonged to, he turned around and returned to Jianye City, and moved to a residence in the middle of the mountain outside the city.

In recent days, hearing that Cao Xiong's wife was pregnant again, Hu Wenjin inevitably had other thoughts.If the commander of Hanzhou gave birth to a boy, it seems that the future ownership of power will inevitably change.For the sake of my children, do I need to work hard?

Hu Wenjin sent several cooks and servants from Batavia to Cao Xiong's residence, saying that he wanted to take good care of the daily life of the wife of the commander.This made Cao Xiong's wife, Gan Chunliu, feel good about her.

Regarding this, Cao Xiong was noncommittal.At the age of forty or so, if there is a male, it is naturally the best, and it can also be used as a successor to the Cao family.He didn't care about Hu Wenjin's extravagant life either.They are all old brothers who have suffered for half their lives, and it is reasonable to enjoy one or two.

"I, Lao Hu, should enjoy this kind of rich life for the rest of my life." Hu Wenjin murmured as he lay in the arms of a Persian female slave.

(End of this chapter)