1635 Han style rises again

Chapter 400 Dutch business thinking ([-])

In the 14th year of Chongzhen (1641), Minister of the Ministry of Rites of the Ming Dynasty, a scholar of the Dongge University, and a military affairs officer, Yang Sichang, heard that Xiangyang fell, King Xiangyang and King Guiyang were executed, and panicked; On the first day of the first month, he committed suicide in Shashi, Jingzhou by taking poison.

In January, the Pak Volcano in Mindanao Island in southern Luzon erupted. By February, the volcanic eruption continued and became more violent. The volcanic ash fell like snow flakes and spread to the entire island of Luzon. The Spaniards in Manila came across the sea to attack Zheng Zhilong's department, as well as those who knew the incident, were terrified when they saw it. They all stopped their troops and stopped fighting, praying to the gods of all parties, so as to calm the power of heaven.

And in this March, Hanzhou experienced a change from great joy to great sorrow.On the night of the marriage of the head of civil affairs in Hanzhou, Cao Xiong, the commander-in-chief, died suddenly. The next day, Qi Tian attacked the commander-in-chief.A few days later, Hu Wenjin and Yu Fukun, who were related to Cao Xiong's death, committed suicide, shaking Hanzhou.

At the same time, six armed merchant ships of the Dutch East India Company wandered outside Jianye Port, once again blocking Hanzhou.

When a [-]-ton Hanzhou transport ship returned to Jianye Port from Xinxiangbao, it ran into the Dutch fleet and was wounded and captured before it could escape. It became the first batch of results captured by the Dutch since the Han-Dutch War.

Encouraged by this, the Dutch blockade fleet even scattered the fleet ships in the sea off Jianye Port, trying to hunt the returning Hanzhou ships one after another.

Limited to only two ordinary merchant ships in Jianye Port, the combat power was weak, and the Hanzhou navy did not dare to go out to sea to fight with them, and was trapped at the dock.

Qi Tian stood in the fort on the hill to the west of Jianye Port, quietly watching the Dutch ships in the distance, without saying a word for a long time.

The accompanying Hanzhou officials and navy officers also stood silently behind him.They can more or less understand Qi Tian's mood at this time. The accidental death of the three main commanders of Hanzhou still caused a certain degree of shock and confusion to the entire Hanzhou ruling system.

Afterwards, Qi Tian saw the poison contained in that exquisite small porcelain jar, and after having someone carefully identify them, he recognized that these tiny dry branches and leaves were a kind of plant from Persia and India called oleander.The whole plant, including its sap, is toxic, and other parts may also have adverse effects.At the same time, the toxicity of oleander still exists after it dries up, and the smoke produced by burning oleander is also highly toxic.

Hu Wenjin instigated Guan Zongxiang to try to mix these dry oleander branches and leaves in the form of tea into Qitian's drinking tea, or set fire to the branches and leaves in his room, killing Qitian with poisonous smoke.But in the end, due to the tight defense around Qi Tian, ​​Guan Zongxiang did not find a chance to attack.

In the end, Cao Xiong accidentally got the dry branches and leaves of this jar of oleander, and died suddenly after eating it by mistake.

Although the soldiers and civilians under Hanzhou's rule have received the real reasons for the death of the three commanders, some people still speculate on the cause and process of this major incident from the perspective of conspiracy theories.For this reason, Qi Tian must have been under tremendous pressure from public opinion.

Now, the Dutch came to add to the chaos. Yesterday, I vaguely heard the sound of rumbling guns from the sea, thinking that a Hanzhou ship returned and encountered the Dutch fleet waiting here.I don't know if the Hanzhou ships can get away with it.They are very worried now that many Hanzhou ships will be hunted and killed one by one by the Dutch blockade fleet at the gate of Hanzhou without knowing it.This is a heavy blow to Hanzhou, which is extremely dependent on sea transportation.

"Build a temporary beacon tower on the mountains along the coast, and arrange personnel to be stationed day and night. To raise smoke during the day and fire at night, to some extent, it can provide a warning to the ships returning to Jianye Port." Qi Tian said: "In addition, let No. [-] The fort, every half an hour, fires at the sea."

"Yes, Commander." Pan Qifeng and Zhang Jiawen promised loudly.

"The Netherlands is too idle. Instead of doing business well, you come here to fight us to the death. What a sick person!" Qi Tian couldn't help but resentfully said in his heart.

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Lieutenant Colonel Carsten Kuritz, the commander of the Dutch attack fleet, was in a very happy mood at this time. After more than two years of war with Hanzhou, the Dutch East Indies finally made gains and captured a Hanzhou merchant ship of about [-] tons. The boat was filled with rice and wood, and after interrogation, it was learned that they were from the new township stronghold on Timor Island.Because the Dutch fleet hadn't arrived in the mainland waters of Hanzhou for a long time, they became a little careless. In addition, it was close to Jianye Port, so the sailors on the ship couldn't help but relax a little.

Originally, the six armed merchant ships led by Lieutenant Colonel Carsten Kuritz were to transport personnel and supplies to a secret base located hundreds of kilometers southwest of Hanzhou Jianye Port.When preparing to return to the Kupang stronghold on Timor Island, the fleet temporarily changed its route, thinking of diverting to Yegang to see if it could gain anything.

But I never thought that after just wandering outside Jianye Port for three days, I caught a Hanzhou merchant ship, which excited many Dutch officers and soldiers.Therefore, Lieutenant Colonel Carsten Kuritz decided to stay here for a longer period of time, maybe the luck of the Dutch returned and they could gain more.

The secret stronghold established by the Dutch in Hanzhou is located in Kitts Harbor in the northern part of Australia. It is less than two days away from Jianye City, the core of Hanzhou control. The most convenient base.The East India Company spent huge manpower and material resources on this, and strived to complete its initial construction before June and July this year.

The governor of Batavia, Anthony van Daiman, has given up his plan to win and subdue Hanzhou in a short time.For this kind of local forces rooted in the local area, it is necessary to continue to suppress and blockade them, slowly weaken their strength, and then wait for some kind of internal change in them, or to reveal some kind of flaw, so that the Dutch East India Company can take the opportunity to attack. crush the opponent.

After decades of colonial experience, the Dutch East India Company knows how to weaken and attack local local forces.As long as it continues to exert pressure, block its foreign trade channels, and gradually dry up the other party's financial resources, there will inevitably be some internal changes or internal conflicts. At that time, it will be the best opportunity for the Dutch East India Company.

This is true of the former Banten Kingdom, Mataran Kingdom, Jambi Kingdom, Aceh Kingdom, and other power states in the East Indies. Various problems occurred within them, allowing the East India Company to find opportunities , either seized their port stronghold, or monopolized their foreign trade market, and became an economic colony of the Dutch.Hanzhou will naturally follow in their footsteps.Governor Daiman has full confidence in this. As long as the East India Company is willing to pay some price and give him a little more time, Hanzhou will be disintegrated and conquered sooner or later.

However, the local board of directors of the Netherlands, far away in Europe, is concerned about the war between the Batavian authorities and Hanzhou, and it has been going on for two years.At present, there is still no sign of the end, which makes some directors can't help reporting a skeptical and scrutinizing attitude.They were obviously not as patient as Governor Dayman, and even a little bored.

You know, the East India Company is currently the world's first multinational company and the first company to issue shares. It may also be the world's first super-large company.The entire East India Company is composed of six offices located in Amsterdam, Middelburg, Enkewassen, Deft, Horn, and Rotterdam in Zeeland Province, and its board of directors also has more than 70 people. , but there are only 17 people who really hold real power, known as the 17-member board of directors, including eight in Amsterdam, four in Zeeland, and one in each of the other regions.

By 1640, the Dutch East India Company was already the richest private company in the world, with dividends of up to 40% on its stocks, and about 20% of dividends to the federal government of the republic every year.In the Republic's war against the Shenluo Alliance and the Spanish invasion war, a large amount of war funds were provided, and even a considerable number of armed merchant ships accompanied the Dutch Navy to attack the Spanish sea power in the North Sea.

Since the year before last, the Batavian colonial authorities have spent a huge amount of materials and manpower in response to the war in Hanzhou. The capture of Ambon caused the clove trade of the Dutch East India Company to stagnate for seven or eight months.In addition, coupled with the disputes with the native states on Java Island, Zheng Zhilong of the Ming Dynasty, Portugal, and the Spaniards, the Batavian authorities were somewhat exhausted.And all of this is reflected in the annual report of the European headquarters of the East India Company, which is a very ugly set of property data.

The East India Company’s dividend ratio in the two years of 1639-1640 shrank sharply, and the dividends given to the government fell below 10% for the first time, and the dividends of many other shareholders also shrank sharply to varying degrees.The dividend of East India Company stocks was also reduced to a record 8%, which caused an uproar among Dutch and foreign investors.

You must know that the stock subscription of the Dutch East India Company has always been the most sought after investment target in Europe. In 1635, the Dutch East India Company released 150 million Dutch guilders for subscription (10 guilders at the time were approximately equal to 1 pound), and At that time, the annual salary of a teacher in the Netherlands was about 180 guilders, and Amsterdam alone subscribed for half of the shares.All the shares were sold out in less than five days.Everyone who bought the shares of the East India Company, just relying on the annual dividends, is a lot of income.

However, just because the Batavian authorities insisted on waging war with Hanzhou and other local forces, the profit growth of the East India Company slowed down or even decreased. This is undoubtedly a blow to the confidence of the majority of investors.

Facing the turbulent public opinion and questioning from numerous investors, the 17-member board of directors had different reactions to the situation in the Far East after discussion.Some support Governor Dayman's policy, and believe that the company should not give up suppressing potential local forces for the sake of temporary profits, because the other party will sooner or later threaten the interests of the East India Company as it continues to develop.Now the East India Company can rely on its strong sea power in the Far East to limit and compress the rise of the opponent's power. If it is left alone, it will be a long-term threat to the company.

But another group of people thinks otherwise. What is the East India Company? It is first and foremost a company, and it is a joint-stock company. It needs to make money continuously, return dividends to shareholders, and attract investors to invest in the company.You are now fighting and killing in the Far East, and deeply intervening in the conquest of local forces will consume countless company resources and sacrifice countless commercial interests.Once your company no longer makes money, the stock has no dividends, and the high dividends disappear, then this company will be abandoned by the majority of investors.At that time, without the continuous investment of funds, can you continue to expand in the Far East?

"So, Senator Ludwild, how do you think our East India Company should deal with the disputes between the East India Company and local forces, or wars." In a room on the third floor in Amsterdam, East India Company Chairman Genley Heidel sat on a large soft leather chair, looking at the members of the parliament in front of him, "You have also served the East India Company in the Far East, can you give me a more objective suggestion."

Connett Ludwig nodded and said with a smile: "Chairman Haider, I am very happy to provide you with an opinion suitable for reference. But let me declare first that this suggestion is only for reference."

Genrich Haider laughed. Once some people become politicians, their words become more tactful, "Mr. Ludwild, please speak freely. Our board of directors is very willing to accept suggestions from people from all walks of life. We hope that through your broad Knowledge can provide us with a very complete solution and a suggestion for our reference. Because, our East India Company has indeed encountered a trouble at present. Although it is only a small trouble, there is no guarantee that this trivial trouble will It caused us great distress."

(End of this chapter)