1635 Han style rises again

Chapter 633 The Dilemma of the Indian Trading Company

August 1649, 8, India, Anfeng Fort (now Cochin, southwest India)

Dong Zhankui looked at several armed merchant ships of the East India Company swimming outside the port, and spat a mouthful of thick phlegm down the city.

"Damn it, come ashore if you have the guts, look at grandpa, I'll beat you out of shit again! Bah, a bunch of cowards!"

"Tou Dong, if it weren't for the fact that the Dutch are such cowards, how could we sit safely on the top of the city and bask in the sun?" Wu Shuigen grinned and said, "From my point of view, it's best for them not to go ashore and just keep going like this." If you want to block it, let them block it, and you can’t let us lose a piece of meat. There is the Cochin Kingdom in the interior where you can buy food, and we won’t starve to death!”

"What's the matter, are you still afraid that the Dutch will land and attack the city again?" Dong Zhankui squinted at Wu Shuigen, "They are so cowardly, they can still pose a threat to us!"

"Dong Tou, although the Dutch can't capture our Fort Anfeng, but as long as there is a battle, people will die." Wu Shuigen said disapprovingly: "I still have three children to raise in my family, so I can't die here for nothing." gone."

"Hey!" Dong Zhankui sneered, "Didn't the shopkeeper of the business company say that if you die in battle, your family will give you 200 yuan as a pension. If you add your previous savings, as long as your family's Johor mother-in-law saves some money, you can do whatever you want." Raise your three children. You are so worried!"

"I'm worried that after I die, the mother-in-law will find another stepfather for my three children. If I follow his family's surname again, wouldn't I lose the incense lineage?"

"Haha..." Dong Zhankui couldn't help laughing when he heard the words, he patted Wu Shuigen on the shoulder and said, "I can't see it, Shuigen, you still have such thoughts. If you say rough words, then we all have to live well." , otherwise, my child will really follow the family's surname in the future!"

Since the Qiguo Indian Trading Company took over Cochin from the Portuguese a year ago, it has started to strengthen and rebuild this stronghold. On the basis of the fort built by Portugal, the key parts of the city wall were poured with cement, and other secondary parts were also poured. Apply a thick layer of cement.In order to prevent the enemy's artillery from bombarding the city wall and causing cement fragments to splash and hurt people, a layer of rammed earth was pasted in the outer city, striving to make this Indian trading company's first business stronghold stronger.

In addition to the more than 200 Indian laborers left by the Portuguese in Anfeng Fort, there are also dozens of low-level officials and traders of Portuguese-Indian mixed blood who do not want to leave. The Indian trading company has just settled in and there is a shortage of manpower, so they all take over , so that they still perform their duties.

However, in order to better manage this commercial stronghold, the trading company has sent more than ten management personnel and more than 50 armed guards here one after another.In addition, in August last year, he applied to the immigration department again, and obtained more than 60 immigrants from Annan and Japan, as the basis for his own rule of the land.

In February, the Han-Dutch War broke out. Considering that the Dutch in India and Ceylon are relatively powerful and have absolute sea control areas, the Indian trading company recruited more than 30 retired marines in the country in order to keep this stronghold. Soldiers and civilians, together with a large number of weapons and ammunition purchased, were transported to Fort Anfeng in one go to deal with a possible invasion by the Dutch.

Since the Indian trading company was established in 1643 and entered the Indian market, it seems to have discovered a huge golden mountain. The annual trade volume and profit are increasing at a rate of 50-100%, and the scale of the trading company is also expanding year by year.In the entire Indian market, except for the sluggish demand for cotton cloth, all products produced locally in Hanzhou can be sold in the shortest time.

The proceeds obtained through the sale of commodities are then transferred to buy a large amount of cotton, indigo, pepper, saltpeter, medicinal materials, camphor, rosin, gemstones and other commodities from the Indian market and transported back to the mainland of Hanzhou. The income has made the Indian trading company a lot of money.

At the end of the 13th century, for the first time, the population of India caught up with that of China, which was then weakened by the Mongol invasion.Thereafter, until 1700, India's population was slightly larger than that of China.In the mid-17th century, it is estimated that India's population reached about 1.5 million, and this period coincided with the rising period of the Mughal Empire in India, and its wealth also reached the peak of this dynasty.The magnificent Taj Mahal and the luxurious peacock throne all show the wealth and luxury of India.

Facing this continent where countless gold, silver and precious stones flowed, the Qi State Indian Trading Company devoted all its resources and energy, vowing to make a great performance and build it into the "East India Company" of Qi State.

Therefore, in the face of a possible invasion by the Dutch, the Indian trading company was on the verge of an enemy. In addition to fully mobilizing more than 80 armed guards and hundreds of residents of Fort Anfeng, they also spent a huge sum of money to bribe the East The inland Kingdom of Cochin asked them to send a force of more than 500 people to the affiliated fort outside Anfengbao to assist the armed personnel of the trading company to defend the safety of the place.

In mid-June, the Dutch East India Company indeed sent six armed merchant ships to break into Anfeng Port and bombard the wharf.An armed merchant ship under the banner of a trading company staying in the port resisted for more than ten minutes, and soon everyone abandoned the ship and went ashore, fled into Anfeng City, and let the other party capture the merchant ship.

In the next two days, under the cover of artillery, the Dutch organized more than 600 mercenaries and more than [-] native servants to land and began to prepare to attack Fort Anfeng.

However, what is surprising is that the Dutch siege operations are undoubtedly clumsy and incompetent compared to the sea fighting they are best at.They attacked Anfeng Fort several times, and after being bombarded by artillery from the top of the city, they soon died down and retreated to the starting point in embarrassment, leaving corpses all over the place.

The landing force of more than 800 people stayed in the city for nearly a month. They didn't even touch the walls of Anfeng Fort. They were attacking the subsidiary fortress stationed by the local soldiers of the Kingdom of Cochin. Under the circumstances, the Dutch also seemed a little powerless.

However, it has always been the tradition of the Dutch to overcome difficulties.Back then, when the Dutch West India Company attacked Fort St. George, where the Portuguese were stationed on the Gold Coast of Guinea, Africa, they besieged it for several years and lost four times in a row.You know, the last time, the Dutch used a real large force, including 15 armed merchant ships, 1200 soldiers and 300 African indigenous fighters.And their opponents were just more than 60 Portuguese soldiers.In the end, the Dutch still failed, losing more than 500 people, and fled back to sea in embarrassment.

In 1622, the Dutch East India Company used 13 armed merchant ships and more than 1300 soldiers to launch an attack on Macau, where only a hundred Portuguese soldiers were stationed. The Portuguese, who were abundant in Germany, only killed 8 people in battle.You must know that in Macau at that time, because of the opposition of Ming officials, there was no city wall or perfect fort at all.So it can be seen how scumbag the Dutch's land warfare is!

The siege of Anfengbao lasted less than a month, and the Dutch had to withdraw their troops after losing more than 300 people.But they still send armed merchant ships out of Anfengbao Harbor from time to time, declaring their force.But in the eyes of the staff of the trading company in the city, it seems a bit strong on the outside but capable on the inside.

Although the Dutch invasion was repelled, good business cannot be done. All the goods accumulated in Fort Anfeng have been sold out, and the seven or eight huge warehouses are also full of various Indian local goods, but Under the current situation, it is impossible to arrange for ships to enter and leave the port. What a loss!

Jiang Fubao, who was appointed as the general manager of India, glanced at the armed guards at the top of the city who were wantonly making fun of the Dutch outside Hong Kong, but his heart was extremely irritated.These guards and most of the employees of the trading company received salaries and bonuses, and as a senior manager of the trading company, he participated in the annual dividends.Once this war starts, the business of the Indian trading company will stop. If the business stops, naturally there will be no money to be made, so there will be no hope for dividends.
If this battle is fought until the end of the year, or for a few years, wouldn't it be that the entire trading company will lose their underwear!I heard that at the beginning of the year, in order to cope with the coming difficult days, the head of the trading company applied to the Ministry of Households and the Ministry of Industry and Commerce of the State of Qi to issue additional shares in the middle school and planned to raise another 100 million Hanzhou silver dollars.

Originally, this application was rejected by the household department.Just kidding, 100 million Hanzhou silver dollars, how much money does it have to absorb from the country, our population in Qi is only about 30, co-author, your colonial company will take more than three yuan from every citizen in the country , Then how will the Ministry of Households collect taxes and commercial taxes from the country, and how to boost domestic consumption.

But after this application was learned by the king, he rejected the veto application of the Ministry of Household Affairs, but asked the Indian business company to divide the 100 million raised funds into two parts: share issuance and bond issuance, and open the purchase authority to all people in the country.Although I don't know the purpose of the king's arrangement, as long as the funds can be raised, the big shopkeepers of the Indian trading company will fully comply with it.

Because of the impact of the war, the purchase of shares and bonds of Indian trading companies encountered unprecedented cold reception.Except for several big treasurers of the company and some local veterans who bought shares and bonds, ordinary people have no willingness to buy them at all.A trading company sells you a voucher or an IOU to "cheat" the money that has been accumulated so easily. This makes the people of Qi who have just immigrated to Hanzhou mainland and have not lived for many years dare to pay for it.

Although the royal family represented by the king bought [-] shares and bonds respectively, many wealthy businessmen and factory owners with small fortunes still have doubts about this.Because this so-called Indian trading company turned out to be a limited liability trading company, once it collapsed or went bankrupt, it could only make debt compensation with the amount of property marked by them.No matter how it sounds, it is a bit unreliable.

"If the business company can't raise enough funds to maintain it in the end, can our business in the Indian market continue?" Jiang Fubao sighed again, "This battle should not be fought!"

(End of this chapter)