1635 Han style rises again

Chapter 636 The Crisis of the East India Company
April 9, Batavia.

When Fred Upton, the senior commercial counselor of the East India Company, rushed to the Governor's Mansion, he found that all the main officials of the East India Company were already seated in the room, but all of them had extremely solemn expressions on their faces.

"Governor, gentlemen, I'm very sorry for my lateness." Upton took off his top hat, and nodded to Governor Delin and several officials who were sitting, "Because we have to deal with some commercial stations in Annan and Myanmar in time. There is a slight delay in the trade affairs."

"It doesn't matter, dear Mr. Upton." Governor Cornelis Van Derlin smiled slightly, but his expression was a little stiff, "This meeting is called very urgently, which may make everyone feel a little sudden. Yes For this, I am very sorry. Because Lieutenant Colonel Tasman has just returned to Batavia from India and reported a shocking news to me. I believe that this news may be a big news for our East India Company. A huge disaster.... Hanzhou warships are haunting the Strait of Malacca, and they are intercepting and capturing our merchant ships passing here!"

"What?" Fred Upton was taken aback, his eyes widened, and he showed an expression of disbelief, "The Han Chinese fleet sailed into the Strait of Malacca? Are they frequently attacking our merchant ships passing here?! "

Several colonial officials sitting there seemed to have learned about this matter, all of them had serious expressions on their faces, and they sat quietly in their seats, silent.

"Then in the past two months, several unscheduled merchant ships must have been hijacked by the Hanzhou people." Fred Upton smiled wryly, "Then, how many warships did the Hanzhou people deploy in the strait? They Is it to cut off our trade links with India and Ceylon?"

"Lieutenant Colonel Tasman, you can briefly describe what your merchant ship encountered in the Strait of Malacca." Governor De Lin turned his head and said to a forty-something naval officer.

"Your Excellency, Honorable Gentlemen!" Lieutenant Colonel Abel Tasman stood up, saluted the high-ranking East India officials, and said, "On August 8, I was ordered to lead two armed merchant ships from Bentley, India. Patan returns to Batavia. Our ships are loaded with Indian cotton, pepper, indigo, wheat, and of course our most urgent need of saltpeter."

"On September 9, our group of two ships sailed into the Strait of Malacca. On September 2, we docked at the wharf of Jishuiwan (now Simawei City, Indonesia) to replenish fresh water and take a rest for a day. On September 9 On May 3th, after leaving Jishui Bay, when I was traveling about eight leagues (approximately equal to 9 nautical miles, 5 kilometers), I was suddenly intercepted by four Hanzhou warships. In order to get rid of the enemy, I ordered the Cod to sail westward. Leave the strait. And I command the Huss to continue eastward along the strait."

"I have to say that the professional warships of the Hanzhou people are far faster than our armed merchant ships. In order to prevent the ships from being captured by the Hanzhou people, I ordered the crew to throw all the cargo on the ship into the sea to reduce the weight of the ship. Oh , thank God, with the efforts of all our personnel, we finally got rid of the pursuit of the Hanzhou people after dark."

"However, on September 9, when we were about to approach the city of Malacca, we encountered two more Hanzhou warships. The other party forced us not to enter the port of Malacca, so we could only continue to sail east of the strait. In the afternoon of the same day, seeing each other Two warships were about to get close to our Huss, and we could even see the smug faces of the Hanzhou people. But thank God again. A sudden storm saved us. While the other party could not continue to approach, plus The wind and rain blocked the sight of each other, and we miraculously escaped the pursuit of the Hanzhou warship."

"Next, we successfully sailed out of the strait and came to Palembang to stop and rest. However, considering that the Hanzhou people are always threatening our merchant ships going to and from the Strait of Malacca, we overcame our inner fear and physical fatigue to finally I returned to Batavia quickly. Yesterday evening, after the ship docked at the pier, I immediately submitted the trip and the logbook to the Navy Command. Your Excellency Governor, dear gentlemen, regarding the attack by the Hanzhou warship in the Strait of Malacca , I have briefly described it. As for the details, you can go to the Navy Command to check the relevant logbook at any time."

After finishing speaking, Lieutenant Colonel Tasman nodded to the officials present, then retreated to a corner, sat on a chair, and waited for others to inquire.

"The entry of the Hanzhou warship into the Strait of Malacca is equivalent to cutting off the most critical link in our internal Asian trade system!" Fred Upton said with a frown: "There is no Indian cotton cloth, indigo, pepper, or wheat. We will not be able to exchange cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon, sandalwood and other spices with the natives of the East Indies. Without enough spices, our fleet returning to Europe will have a lot of empty space."

Although the Dutch East India Company controlled the entire Spice Islands, it did not obtain the spices from the natives for free.In the earliest days, the Dutch East India Company, like other European trading companies, used gold and silver to buy spices.To get the metals, the company had to run a trade surplus with other European countries.In order to avoid only obtaining gold and silver from other European countries, the Dutch East India Company came up with plans to establish a trading system in Asia, and these profits could finance their spice trade.

That is, exchange various spice products with Indian cotton cloth, pepper, indigo, wheat and the natives of the Spice Islands.Transshipment of porcelain, cotton cloth, and silk from Daming to Japan, in exchange for a large amount of precious metals such as gold, silver, and copper, and then using these precious metals to buy goods from Daming again, and trafficking them to Annam, Siam, Burma, and India, not only reduced their own The outflow of gold and silver also indirectly expanded the East India Company's trade channels and product categories, obtaining a large amount of trade profits.

Today, Hanzhou sent a large number of warships into the Strait of Malacca, cutting off their trade routes to India and Ceylon in one fell swoop, causing the East India Company's intra-Asian trade circle to rupture.

Of course, the East India Company could also rely on strong force to forcibly collect various spice products from the natives of the Spice Islands and do a wave of costless transactions.

In the past, although the Dutch were oppressing the natives, at least they exchanged some daily necessities for them to ensure their basic survival.If it was changed to a direct and explicit grab, it might immediately arouse the resistance of all the natives.Just ask, how could the Dutch have the energy to quell the native riots on many islands one by one.

Don't forget that the Han Chinese still occupy several Dutch strongholds in the Spice Islands.If they heard that the local natives had launched a riot against the Dutch, they would definitely participate in it and take advantage of the situation to disintegrate the dominance of the East India Company.

"We need to assemble the fleet and drive the Han Chinese out of the Straits of Malacca." Batavia Mayor Sylvie Highmore said in a deep voice: "Otherwise, Batavia's status as the trading center of the entire East Indies will be destroyed. inevitably weakened."

"Yes, the Hanzhou warships appeared in the Strait of Malacca, which is a very deadly threat to us." High Representative for External Affairs Ivel Jimenez said: "If it is, the Palembang, Jambi, and Asian cities along the coast of Malacca Several Sudanese kingdoms such as Qi and Deli found that our East India Company could not control the strait. Will they take advantage of the situation and invite Hanzhou people to settle in a certain place in the strait? If this happens, it will directly cut off our access to the strait. Trade routes for India and Ceylon.”

"However, what I am most worried about is whether the Hanzhou will cut off our return route to Europe in the Strait of Malacca." Fred Upton said: "According to the description of Lieutenant Colonel Tasman just now, the Hanzhou people are at least in the Strait Seven or eight warships were deployed to block the two ends of the strait respectively. Then, the merchant ships of our East India Company passing through here are bound to be attacked by them. If, when the winter warm current comes, they will gather more warships to So, wouldn't it be easy to intercept our fleet that is about to return to Europe!"

"Mr. Upton, your worry is exactly what I am worried about." Governor Delin said solemnly: "The Hanzhou people have two powerful battleships, and there are more than ten ships with strong combat effectiveness. If we add dozens of armed merchant ships to our professional warships, then our merchant ships full of cargo that are about to return to Europe will most likely be intercepted by them, captured by them, or sunk by them."

"Unless we gather another huge fleet to compete with the Han people for control of the Strait of Malacca and drive them out of the area completely. However, this may greatly affect our trade activities this year, and the loss is too great. There are a lot of economic benefits. I have to say that this time the Hanzhou people strangled our necks, which made us feel...very painful."

When Fred Upton heard this, he suddenly showed a wry smile.Since the war broke out in February, the East India Company's trade volume has shown a straight-line decline. It is only a rough estimate that the total trade volume within Asia will definitely be reduced by more than half on the basis of more than 860 million dong last year.Because of the direct trade volume with Hanzhou, there are 180 million to 200 million dong.And Annan, Cambodia, Champa and other areas are also the sphere of influence of the Hanzhou people, and trade will definitely be seriously hindered.

In addition, Timor Island, Sulawesi Island, and the Spice Islands were also attacked by the Hanzhou Fleet. Commercial channels were destroyed and trade was cut off.Now that the Strait of Malacca is threatened, the trade of India, Ceylon, Sumatra and other places is bound to be seriously affected.If, including the merchant ships sunk and captured by the Hanzhou people before, then the East India Company's losses this year may far exceed that of the war ten years ago.

The most deadly thing is that if the Hanzhou people are determined to intercept the East India Company's fleet returning to Europe in the Strait of Malacca, then this move will cause a huge blow to the company. The company's annual operating profit is likely to be gone. You may even face serious losses.No wonder Governor Durling is worried about this.

"Your Excellency, I propose to stop the war immediately and conduct peace talks with Hanzhou." Fred Upton looked at Governor Durling and said solemnly.

When Governor Delin heard this, the corners of his eyes couldn't help but twitched a few times, and he remained silent for a while, thinking that he was struggling fiercely in his heart.

"Mr. Jimenez, would you like to go to Jianye City in person on behalf of the East India Company?" Finally, Governor Delin said slowly.

(End of this chapter)