Back to Ming Dynasty with Industrial Revolution System

Chapter 655 Governor of East India (fourth update)
Batavia in the Spice Islands was originally Jakarta, an important port city of the local Banten Kingdom, but the Dutch invaded the Banten Kingdom 40 years ago and renamed Jakarta to Batavia more than ten years ago.This is the base of the Dutch in the Spice Islands, and the East India Company also sent a large number of troops to station here. Even the Governor of the East India Company, Cohen, personally sat in Jakarta to monopolize the trade of cloves and other spices.

The Dutch occupied a large amount of land in the Spice Islands, and they faintly became the largest colonial force to suppress the Francois in Malacca and the Spaniards in Luzon—until the Kyushu Army began to infect the South China Sea.

An armed merchant ship from the Netherlands sailed slowly into the port of Batavia. An officer wearing an East India military uniform and a soft hat with a feather in his bonnet got off the armed merchant ship with a few blond men. disturbed.

"Putmans, why do you have a dark face, did you go to gamble and lose again?" A big man with a big belly on the pier said to the Dutch officer when he saw the Dutch officer get off the boat.

"Cruise, you came from America?" Depressed Putmans asked when he saw the man with a big belly.

"Yeah, I want to take a trip back to the Netherlands this year to make some quick money, otherwise I won't have money to buy wine." When the man with a big belly was speaking, the fat on his belly was slightly Jittering, he asked Putmans again, "Didn't you serve as the governor of Yizhou and then the governor of Annan, why did you go to Batavia?"

When Putmans heard him talking about sad things, his face became even more ugly: "In the past few years, I have been abandoned by the goddess of luck. Yizhou was conquered by the Easterners, and Annan Kingdom was also occupied by the Easterners. I am the governor. , and is now working at the headquarters in Batavia."

"When did the Easterners become so powerful that they seized many of our Dutch territories? I heard that the Easterners set up many new gates a year or two ago and heavily taxed our merchants. Our margins are much thinner than they were a few years ago," Crews said.

"It would be fine if it was just like this, but I worry that the ambitions of the Orientals are more than that." Putmans said.

"What do you mean by that, is something big going to happen in the East?" Cruise asked curiously.

"It's a long story at this time. Let's have a drink together when we have time. I'm going to meet the governor."

Putmans bid farewell to Cruise, and led his men to the Governor's Palace in Batavia.

Inside the Governor's Mansion, Cohen, the governor of the East India Company, was a thin man lying in a hammock, with two indigenous women fanning him beside him, looking very comfortable.

"Governor Cohen. You two stand down." Putmans broke into the governor's mansion and drove away the two indigenous women.

"Putmans, why are you so irritable? It's not like your usual style." Cohen opened his eyes, still dangling in the hammock.

"I just went to Annan for trade, and found that the Kyushu Army's customs in Annan has been established, and many regulations have been added, which are similar to those in Guangzhou." Putmans found a wooden stool.

"As early as last winter when the Kyushu Army occupied Annan, didn't the board of directors of our East India Company have already assessed the impact of the actions of the Kyushu Army on our East India Company? What's more, the customs tax of Guangzhou Prefecture is not as high as that of Ruan The tariffs levied by the Zheng family and the Zheng family are higher.” Cohen disagreed, “Didn’t we go all out to fight the Ming Dynasty to let them open the sea ban? As long as the Orientals open their customs to trade with us, we can benefit from it. And we have the Spice Islands in our hands, which are a steady stream of wealth. You and I are like rich people sitting on a golden mountain, with inexhaustible power and money."

"You have a good idea, but if our most important Spice Islands are lost in our hands, what will the old guys on the board think?!" Putmans said.

"what?!"

When Cohen heard Putmans' words, he immediately stood up from the hammock, showing a pair of sharp eyes.The Spice Islands were taken by him from many local kingdoms with a group of his men back then. If anyone wants to take the Spice Islands, it would be a real offense against him.

"Who wants to take away the Spice Islands, is it the Spaniards, the Francines, or the Kyushu Army?" Cohen asked in a bad tone.

"The Spaniards and Frangji people are declining. How can we have such courage? We are polite to them not to occupy the Strait of Malacca and Luzon Island. This time, it is the Kyushu Army who is coveting our Spice Islands!" Putt Mance said.

"But last time our board of directors judged that the purpose of the Kyushu Army was only to recover lost territories, such as Penghu, Yizhou, and Annan Kingdom, all of which were once the territory of the Ming Dynasty. The Spice Islands have never been the territory of the Orientals. They do not have any The reason to attack us. Moreover, the oriental people have a vast land and abundant resources, and there are countless spices, tea, and porcelain, how could they look at the Spice Islands." Cohen said.

In his impression, the Spice Islands produce the most important spices to them in Europe, so if the Kyushu Army takes a fancy to the Spice Islands, then the purpose is also to compete for spices.And the Celestial Dynasty has never been short of spices.

"Maybe the Kyushu Army is not for the spices, but for other things besides the spices. For example, it may be just for the face of their rulers, and maybe they send a fleet to conquer the Spice Islands. Face is the most important thing for the Orientals. 200 years ago, they had a eunuch named Sanbao who led an extremely large fleet to Nanyang, and made countless kingdoms in Nanyang surrender to Ming Dynasty, just to show off their national prestige. You can't imagine that they would go to Nanyang to please the ruler. What decisions are made," Putmans said.

"You can't make judgments like this, everything needs evidence." Cohen said.

"I went to Annan Kingdom and saw that they were secretly training the fleet, reorganizing the Zheng and Ruan armies, and strengthening their military strength. The independent corps was renamed the Zhengnan Corps. They also built forts in the Priango area to control the entrance of the Lancang River. , All kinds of traces indicate that the Kyushu fleet will definitely go south within a few years. We should take precautions in time to avoid the tragic defeat of Taiwan City and Shenglong City that day." Putmans said.

"How do you think we should respond?" Cohen's expression became serious.

"The Kyushu army has a huge plan. If the Spice Islands are lost, not only our interests will be affected, but the Spaniards and Francjis will not be able to escape. Therefore, I propose to report the news to Malacca, Luzon Island, and Banten, and invite The governors of Spain, France, and Great Britain came to Batavia to discuss the formation of an alliance." Putmans said.

(End of this chapter)