1635 Han style rises again

Chapter 416 Governor Daiman's Account

Batavia, Governor's Palace, 1641 June 9.

Anthony van Daiman, governor of the Dutch East India Company in Batavia, listened to the local representative read out the order of the board of directors with a livid face, then turned to look at Cornelis van der Lin, from the pier to In the city, he was having intimate conversations with himself all the way.No wonder, at that time, when he asked him the purpose of coming to the East Indies, his face would show that unclear expression.

In reading the order, he was dismissed from the position of Governor of Batavia by the local board of directors, returned to Europe in name, and was promoted to senior director of Middelburg (Zeeland Province), one of the six major chambers of commerce in the Netherlands, but his functions are relatively As far as the governor of Batavia decides all the affairs of the entire East Indies with one word, he seems to have a high position but not a lot of power.

The senior directors of Middelburg are not only supervised by the seventeen directors of the headquarters, but also restrained by the local governor of Zeeland Province. They can only mechanically implement various trade orders of the headquarters and accept the control of the local government without independent power.

Last month, Governor Dayman had just reaped a victory. The East India Company organized seven armed merchant ships, carrying three hundred mercenaries and four hundred native servants, and suddenly attacked Palin in the form of large-scale trade. Kingdom of Punjab.Easily defeated the hastily organized Palembang army, and then took advantage of the situation to cover up the killing, killing and wounding more than a thousand prisoners.Afterwards, without taking a break, they dragged the artillery ashore and blasted the wall of Palembang, the royal city of Palembang. Mercenaries and native servants swarmed into the city, and a feast of looting began.

During the raid on the Sultan Kingdom of Palembang, they not only robbed gold, silver, jewelry and jade articles worth more than 50 guilders, but also captured the Sultan King of Palembang and many of his ministers, all of which were brought back to Batavia.In order to obtain more wealth, the Dutch ordered the Sultan of Palembang to send people back to the country, and then raised 20 guilders of gold and silver in exchange for their return.

As for its royal city, Palembang, the Dutch East India Company simply occupied it to replace the original trading station outside the city.The city straddles both sides of the lower reaches of the Musi River, with vertical and horizontal waterways, and is the only place where Java Island goes to the entrance of the Strait of Malacca. It is also very close to Batavia, and its strategic location is extremely important.

The plundering of the Sultan Kingdom of Palembang not only increased a large cash reserve for the East India Company, but also made mercenaries and native servants robbed a lot, which greatly improved morale.

Just when Governor Daiman was full of ambition, ready to take advantage of the relatively high morale of the mercenaries and native servants, and was preparing to launch his long-planned Malacca strategy, the local board of directors actually made a decision to transfer him to the new post. After the arrival of Governor Cornelis van der Lin, he handed over all the affairs in his hands and returned to the Netherlands as soon as possible.

All this undoubtedly made Governor Daiman extremely disappointed and angry.He knew that the decision of the local board of directors must be due to the slowdown in profit growth of the East India Company for two consecutive years, and he was also worried that under his leadership, the company would be involved in more regional disputes, resulting in continuous operating benefits. slide.

Don't these short-sighted old guys know that suppressing the local forces in the Far East and ensuring the hegemony of the Dutch is to maintain the long-term interests of the East India Company?

"Mr. Delin, as a member of the East India Company, I respect and am willing to accept any resolutions and orders made by the local board of directors. In the next few days, I will entrust you with all the affairs in my hands." Governor Daiman took a deep breath after all other relevant personnel had exited the room, and looked at the man who was about to replace him as governor with a complicated expression, "But I want to give you a few suggestions here, a few It is a very sincere suggestion, and I hope you will consider it seriously and treat it with prudence."

"Governor Dayman, I am very happy to hear your suggestions for me." Cornelis van der Lin said with a smile: "The local board of directors will give you the honor and respect for your achievements and achievements in the past five years." I am highly affirmed. I personally admire and admire your excellent management ability and extraordinary management ability during your tenure in the East India Company."

When Governor Dayman heard Cornelis van der Lin mention "excellent management ability and extraordinary management ability", the corners of his eyes twitched a few times. The company's operating performance grew slowly due to its involvement in regional disputes.But seeing the other party's serious face, and his sincere and respectful attitude, which seemed to be a compliment from his heart, my heart calmed down a little.

"In the past two years, the East India Company has made many arrangements in order to seize control of the Strait of Malacca, and it is now showing a good situation." Governor Daiman said seriously: "The Portuguese in Malacca are now in the most difficult situation. When they were weak, and they could not get effective support in India, Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), and Hokkien (now Macau). Our East India Company must prepare to attack the city of Malacca in the shortest possible time and completely expel the Portuguese out of the entire East Indies to control and monopolize the spice trade and transport routes here."

"Governor Daiman, you have done a very good job of continuing to suppress and even expel the Portuguese to ensure our Dutch East India Company's monopoly profits in the spice trade. After I take office, I will continue to implement your strategy plan, Complete the task of occupying and controlling the channel of the Strait of Malacca." Cornelis van der Lin said seriously.

Governor Daiman nodded lightly, very satisfied with Cornelis van der Lin's recognition and support, and then continued with a solemn expression: "Ming Dynasty official Nicholas, oh, his Han name is Zheng Zhilong, Regarding this person, we had better not have a dispute with him in the waters of the Ming Dynasty. Because behind him there is a huge Ming Dynasty, no matter in terms of financial resources or manpower, our East India Company cannot compare with it. Yes Yes, although many of his ships are mainly small and medium-sized, unable to compete with our armed merchant ships at sea, but he has endless manpower in the Ming country, and he also controls many excellent ports in the Ming country."

"We can defeat Nicholas many times, but we can't destroy him or suppress him. He has an absolute local advantage in the waters of the Ming Dynasty, even in Annan, Japan, and North Korea. Fighting with him, for our East India Company The loss outweighs the gain. Oh, yes, they recently captured Manila from the Spanish, and there is a high probability that they will eventually occupy the entire Philippines. We must maintain due vigilance and attention to this. However, Nicholas Countless civilian riots are taking place in the Ming country where the official is located, and the northeast of their country is also being attacked by barbarians, and it seems that they have lost many battles."

"We, the East India Company, must keep the necessary attention on the situation in the Ming Dynasty. Maybe this huge country will encounter a huge civil strife. I think that at that time, the official Nicholas may not be able to get the support of the Ming Dynasty. Perhaps, we will usher in the best time to weaken him, or even attack him."

"Oh, yes. I have heard a little about the wealth and power of the Ming Dynasty in Europe." Cornelis van der Lin said: "That Nicholas is an official backed by a big country, our East India Company It is indeed impossible to completely defeat him, but it will cause us unnecessary losses and a reduction in commercial interests. Governor Daiman, your focus and focus are very correct. In a large and wealthy country, only civil strife has occurred. We outsiders Only then will there be a chance to get involved in this country."

"Finally, what I want to say is a very important threat to our East India Company——Hanzhou." It is still at war with us. The power of this place has risen very rapidly. In just over five years, a self-sufficient and powerful force has been established on the southern mainland of Java Island where our East India Company is located. local power."

Governor Daiman paused for a moment, and seeing that Cornelis van der Lin was listening seriously, he continued: "The reason why the Hanzhou local forces are more threatening to us is mainly because of the Hanzhou they occupy. Except for some ignorant short black natives, there is no civilization at all, and there are no resources to be used effectively. If they want to develop, they can only use Hanzhou as a base and expand to our East Indies to obtain the spices and cloth they need , timber, population, and all other means of production and living.”

"What is particularly vigilant is that Hanzhou can currently build large ships independently, and they have even built several professional warships, which poses a direct threat to the existing maritime hegemony of our Dutch East India Company. Their current population has grown to 5 Many, and they are still immigrating from the Ming Dynasty, and their influence has also expanded from the northern end of the Hanzhou continent to the eastern part of Hanzhou and a large island in the northeast. We have reason to believe that as long as they have enough strength, they will definitely They will compete with us for the resources of the East Indies and even expand their power."

"Therefore, our East India Company must carry out long-term suppression and attacks on this local power in Hanzhou to slow down its development speed and expansion capabilities. This is extremely necessary for us to maintain the maritime monopoly power in the entire Far East."

"Governor Daiman, besides using force to suppress this local power in Hanzhou, don't we in the East India Company have a better way to limit and restrain it?"

Cornelis van der Linn couldn't help but think of the idea of ​​using economic means to control a country (power) mentioned by the chairman of the board of directors Genrich Haider and him before the arrival, and he was quite convinced.Force is not what the Dutch are good at, so using commercial means to control the economy of major European countries, and then influence the political direction of the opponent, and become a boost to the expansion of Dutch power, this is an effective means that the East India Company should imitate and borrow.

(End of this chapter)