1635 Han style rises again

On January 1667, 10, Jianye.

"The Hanzhou people seem to be mobilizing troops and supplies. I don't know who their target is this time?" Andris Norpert, the chief commercial representative of the Dutch East India Company in Jianye, lowered the curtains of the carriage and shook his head.

"I have been in Hanzhou for more than three years, and almost every year I can see them sending out troops, either to the surrounding kingdoms, or to the distant Egypt and India, to show off their military might." Federal Republic of Provinces Vincent Jansen, the ambassador to Qi, said with a wry smile: "This is a warlike country and nation. What is even more worrying is that in the entire Far East, their strength far exceeds that of all surrounding countries. Their The maritime strength must have already surpassed your East India Company. To be honest, I am really worried that at some point in the future, Hanzhou will completely drive your East India Company out of this rich sea area, and then dominate the entire East Indies."

"Mr. Ambassador, we in the East India Company have discussed and evaluated this possible outcome intensely, and agreed that the situation you mentioned will definitely happen at some point in the future." Andris Nor Porter smiled and said: "The Hanzhou people not only have strong territorial ambitions for the entire East Indies, but they are also full of strong interests in the Malay Peninsula, Indochina Peninsula, India, Persia, Arabia, and Africa. .Even, we believe that in the future, with the increasing strength of the Hanzhou people, they will eventually control the entire Indian Ocean.”

"Faced with this situation, the East India Company, as a commercial joint-stock company, cannot compete with this country. Whether it is the will of many shareholders or the strength we possess, we will eventually be unable to compete with it. , so as to continue to control the East Indies. The results of our two wars with Hanzhou have fully proved this conclusion. Therefore, our East India Company will follow the development trend of this general trend and gradually transfer the special rights of the East Indies Benefit."

"In spite of this, our East India Company is still full of expectations for future business prospects. Mr. Ambassador, you may not know that at present, Hanzhou is already one of the most important trading partners of our East India Company, and the trade volume between our two parties has reached 900 million Dutch guilders, and by next year, there is a high probability that it will exceed 1000 million Dutch guilders. All of this depends on our East India Company's huge commercial network channels and strong maritime transportation forces."

"I believe that even though the Hanzhou people have captured the entire East Indies, they still need our East India Company, our strong distribution network, and the need for us to build a commercial channel for Hanzhou to Europe. In addition, in the whole of Europe region, only our United Provinces regard them as a civilized and modern country, and it is also the first European country to establish formal diplomatic relations with it. I believe that with our friendly economic cooperation foundation and political mutual trust foundation, in the future Ten years from now, our close relationship with Han Chau will continue."

"So, under the background that sooner or later all the strongholds in the East Indies will be discarded, you will carry out plundering development in this area, and even do not carry out some decent construction on many colonial points. This is because you are worried that it will be cheap in the future Hanzhou people?" Vincent Jansen couldn't help shaking his head and said: "To be honest, any gentleman with a conscience would I can't stand it anymore. Compared to the Hanzhou people, your East India Company is acting like a bunch of greedy robbers."

"No, Mr. Ambassador, the Hanzhou people are actually the same people as our East India Company." Andris Nopert said: "They are also mercilessly abusing and killing the aborigines here. Do you know, On the Timor Island they occupied, oh yes, they now call it Xuanhua Island. On this island, 30 years ago, the aborigines estimated that there were at least 5 to [-] people. But now? The island is almost They are all Hanzhou people, but there are very few aborigines. The question is, where have all those people gone?"

"Poor aborigines." Vincent Jansen said sympathetic words, but the expression on his face showed indifference, "If the Hanzhou people annex the entire East Indies in the future, then they will completely control the Far East trade routes, and monopolize the trade in the East. In time, Hanzhou will grow into a huge empire like the Ottomans and Safavids."

"Yes, according to the current development momentum of the Hanzhou people, they will inevitably become a huge empire."

"It's a pity that Hanzhou is too far away from Europe to provide more help to our federal republic." Vincent Jansen said with some regret: "Although they have given you East India Company a lot in Africa and India. Great convenience, to attack and weaken the British colonial power, but it did not play a key role in the war between us in Europe and the British. I heard that their navy is quite powerful, and their combat effectiveness is not good. weak."

"Although Hanzhou is too far away from Europe, some of the commodities they produced and provided to us were of great help to the war between our inter-provincial republic and Britain." Andris Nopert said: "That kind of Canned food that can be stored for a long time without spoiling, powerful naval guns, and a large amount of sucrose, coffee that can refresh the mind, these are our necessary war supplies. Oh, yes, and the steel bars they produce , has become the most important ballast for our returning ships. In addition, the tea, porcelain, pearls, tortoiseshell, cloisonné, clocks, furs and other commodities they provide have enabled our East India Company to obtain extremely high returns in Europe. All of these, This enabled our East India Company to provide a lot of money and material support for this war."

"Well, your East India Company has provided the most critical financial support to our federal republic. For this, both the consul and the provincial councilors have expressed great respect for this." Vincent Jansen He nodded and said: "But last August, Vlieland Island was raided by the British fleet (known as the "Holmes Campfire", about 150 Dutch merchant ships were set on fire by the British, and the losses were extremely heavy. ), suffered heavy losses, and it can even be said that this loss exceeded the sum of the losses caused to us by the British fleet during the entire war. For this reason, we urgently need foreign financial assistance to expand the scale of the war and give Britain a heavy burden hit."

"As far as I know, Hanzhou people have no shortage of gold and silver." Andris Nopert immediately understood what the ambassador to Hanzhou meant, "On this continent, they discovered several gold and silver mines , can fully provide the funds we need. But the question is whether they are willing to lend us their gold and silver reserves."

The Second Anglo-Dutch War has lasted for two years. Although after the Battle of St. James's Day (August 1666-8, 4), there was no large-scale naval battle between Britain and the Netherlands, but the war was It didn't stop there.The continuous large-scale naval battles have left both countries with a financial deficit and their vitality has been severely damaged.

When a rare fire came to London on September 1666, 9, it burned continuously for 10 days and 4 nights, destroying two-thirds of the city of London, and the economic loss exceeded 4 to 800 million pounds (the economic loss has exceeded two cost of the first war with the Netherlands), Britain was unable to fight again.

Since January this year, the United Kingdom has been trying to keep in touch with the Netherlands, hoping to conduct peace negotiations.However, the desire for peace talks in the Netherlands is not as strong as that of the United Kingdom. Instead, it is brooding over the attack on Vlieland Island, and the country is full of strong revenge.

For this reason, in addition to raising war funds in Europe, the Netherlands also set its sights on the distant Hanzhou continent, hoping to borrow some funds from this country, so as to facilitate the Netherlands to continue to launch an unprecedented naval battle against the United Kingdom (the second The Anglo-Dutch War actually ended in July this year).
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Qi Dajiang looked at Qi Dahai lying on the bed with a withered face and sunken eye sockets, as if he had aged a lot all of a sudden, he couldn't help but sighed slightly.

"Second brother, don't do that." Qi Dahai tried his best and smiled miserably, "I'm 64 years old this year, even if I die now, I'm already the longest-lived compared to the generations of my family's ancestors."

"Brother..." Qi Dajiang had a sore nose, "Brother, our good life has just begun, don't be so despondent. Xiao Wu's luck is bad, and he was plotted by the natives. The king will definitely send an army to land Dongzhou, bloodbath the two islands and avenge him."

"...Second brother, I just want to see the king, and advise him not to abolish the public for personal reasons, to raise troops rashly for the sake of Xiaowu, to act hastily on major military and national affairs, so as to miss the great cause of the development of our Qi country." Flushed, he said excitedly: "Qi has been developing for 30 years, and it's hard to get the good situation it is today. Don't waste people and money because of a bad boy in my family, and take revenge for him!"

"Brother, the king has his own sense of propriety in doing things. He has always acted according to his plans and will not act hastily." Qi Dajiang said: "Dongzhou has superior natural conditions and abundant products. Moreover, after 20 years of operation by Handong Trading Company, there has been a certain The development foundation. This place is a key node to control the South Pacific region, and even a logistics base for the future strategy of the Americas. Its strategic position is extremely important. The cabinet and our military department intend to incorporate it into the direct management system. Under such circumstances, It is necessary to send troops to land on the island and clean up the local aborigines."

"...That's very good." Qi Dahai nodded, "I'm afraid that the king will act rashly for the sake of Xiaowu's death and hinder our brother's affection, which will damage the national strength and delay the development."

"Your Majesty has instructed the Army to fully organize the [-]th Mixed Battalion stationed in Linzi Mansion and transport it to the Dongzhou area. With the cooperation of the local guards, we will clear up and conquer the local aborigines. This small-scale war should not It will deplete the national power, and it will not delay the development of our Qi country." Qi Dajiang comforted.

"Then I can rest assured." Qi Dahai gently leaned against the head of the bed, and said with a wry smile: "I'm old now, and I'm not in good health, so I can't help the king with things. Perhaps, it won't be long, I am going to see our dead parents. However, I think this life is worth it, and there is nothing to regret. I only hope that our country of Qi will become stronger and stronger in the future, and our descendants of the Qi family can Prominent and wealthy for hundreds of years."

"Under the king's rule, our country of Qi will definitely become stronger and stronger, and our descendants of the Qi family will also prosper." Qi Dajiang said with a choked voice: "Brother, take good care of your health. In the future, there will be more Good days are waiting for us to enjoy."
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"The Dutch only borrowed 200 million guilders?" Qi Tian was taken aback after hearing Huang Zijia's report, and then couldn't help laughing bitterly, "I don't know if it's the Dutch who despise us for Qi's poverty, or are they worried about us? I don’t want to lend them a loan. They only offered to borrow 200 million Dutch guilders, equivalent to more than 50 Hanzhou silver dollars (1 Hanzhou silver dollar = 3.6 Dutch guilders), which is probably enough for their navy to fight a few medium-scale naval battles with the British .”

"Your Majesty would like to lend to them?"

"Why don't you borrow?" Qi Tian said, "They have the East India Company as a guarantee, so they are naturally not afraid of their refusal, and the interest they give is as high as [-]%, which is a good quality loan customer. In addition, the development potential of the UK It is much higher than the Netherlands, and it is one of the powerful competitors in Europe and even the world's ocean powers. If we don't use the Netherlands to weaken it at this time, when will we wait?"

Qi Tian has always been deeply jealous of Britain.This country, which established a global empire on which the sun never sets in later generations, overthrew the Netherlands, the maritime hegemony of this period, through several wars, and then relied on its superior geographical location as an island country to act as a European offshore balancer and actively Expand overseas colonial power and eventually dominate the world.

Now, while the Netherlands still has strength, it is natural to give it strong support and take the opportunity to severely consume the strength of the United Kingdom to slow down its rise.

The Hanzhou Bank stored a large amount of gold and silver, and there was no problem in providing funds to the Netherlands for loans, and it was guaranteed by the wealthy Dutch East India Company, so there was no fear that the loan would not be recovered.

However, it is a little pity that Qi is too far away from Europe to sell all kinds of supplies and take the opportunity to make some war money.

"Your Majesty, I would like to visit the Brunei Sultan Kingdom in person." After talking about the Dutch loan, Huang Zijia said softly.

Hearing this, Qi Tian looked at Huang Zijia with a complicated expression, and after a while, he sighed, "Are you still brooding over what happened 30 years ago?"

"Your Majesty, I am a native of Qi." Huang Zijia said solemnly, "Besides, I should clearly distinguish between military affairs and personal grievances."

"So..." Qi Tian pondered for a moment, then patted Huang Zijia on the shoulder, and said warmly: "Then you should go to the Sultanate of Brunei yourself, and go to Nanjing by the way, and Sun Kewang will discuss the future with us Let’s have a good talk about the relationship. By the way, if there are still close relatives in Brunei, you might as well bring them to Qi to settle down.”

"No more." Huang Zijia smiled miserably, "My mother and younger brother were killed by my half-brother, the former Sultan of Brunei."