Daming Yinghua

The Netherlands in this time and space is well-deserved to be given a "hometown of bourgeois civilization".

However, if we turn our eyes from Europe, where capitalism has flourished after breaking ground, to the vast land and seas of Asia and Africa, the hypocrisy and barbarism of the bourgeoisie will be nakedly presented before our eyes.

No matter how decent and elegant this emerging class is in its hometown, it will not continue to conceal its greedy and plundering nature when it comes to overseas colonies, or even just on the frontiers of other countries that have not yet been controlled by them.

At this moment, in the Hokkien cuisine tavern in Bengang, Taiwan, Gullit and Lufen have already begun to discuss the commercial terms of buying and selling "Mingren piggies" with Zheng Haizhu.

"I, Haizhu Zheng, promise to provide Mr. Gullit, a senior advisor to the Dutch East India Company (hereinafter referred to as voc), before the tenth day of March in the Chinese calendar this year: eighty men from the Ming Dynasty aged 25 to [-], The price is five taels of silver per person, or it can be calculated as six silver coins per person in the Spanish "eight real silver coins". Mr. Gullit must send a boat to pick up the goods at Nan'an Bay, Fujian Province in the Ming Dynasty, and Haizhu·Zheng will pick them up with the boat. Penghu Island..."

When Zheng Haizhu read this, Gullit still salivated and said: "Mrs. Zheng, you don't have a boat yet, and the cost is not high. Let's count it as four silver silver coins per person. How about it? Hey, beautiful lady, you have to know, We hired a Chinese chef who lived there for a long time in Batavia, and we only paid two silver reals a month."

Zheng Haizhu didn't make a counter-offer to the Dutchman.

"But Mr. Gullit, the native Chinese in Batavia, why are you willing to be your slave labor? Besides, for our long-term cooperation, I definitely can't just ask bandits to rob civilians for you like you rob black slaves. The partners in Fujian have to pay each man two taels of silver in order to lure them onto the boat and leave their homeland. If I take away the profit for my partners, I actually don’t earn much.”

As Zheng Haizhu said, he looked at Lu Fen with a troubled expression, as if he was begging the officer for mercy.

After meeting Ruffin's indifferent gaze, this Ming Dynasty woman who lacked noble morals in the eyes of the Dutch was a little embarrassed by her miserable failure, and then clumsily showed her helplessness.

Lufen only allowed the two Ming women to rest on the guarded beach after disembarking from the merchant ship. They were not allowed to go near the warship, let alone visit the island.

Zheng Haizhu nodded calmly, and made a request: "Even if everything goes well, it will take three or four days to transport the first batch of piglets. If you take my partner as a hostage, you must let her have a separate and clean tent to live in. Be polite. Treat her."

After all, the Ming Kingdom is different from those weak tribes in Black Africa. The coastal defenses are not in name only, and it is not easy to land with open fire to snatch people.After all, it is most reasonable to use the way of the businesswoman in front of me to use Penghu Island as a transshipment point to transport people to the Batavia Plantation.

Rufen then asked Gullit to call the interpreter on board, read the order written by Zheng Haizhu, and noted the Dutch text on the side, in duplicate, Gullit signed it, and Zheng Haizhu stamped it with his handprint.

……

A few days later in the early morning, Zheng Haizhu and Mabel took a Dutch merchant ship and arrived at Baisha Island in the northeast of Penghu Island.

"Look, finally there are slaves coming to work for us!" Several white men chatted happily.

Ruffin thought it made sense.

Zheng Haizhu didn't say any more, and turned around to comfort Mabel, and then boarded the small sailboat with Gullit.

Gullit translated for Ruffin.

But Lufen stopped Mabel suddenly, and said coldly to Zheng Haizhu: "Your partner, stay here."

He was going to squeeze the nearly [-] Ming country coolies bought by Gullit for a while, and then transport them to Batavia on the Indian Ocean together with the bulk of the goods he had accumulated.

In the following days, Ruffin gave up his plan to go to sea to plunder passing merchant ships and escort the prisoners to Penghu to build a fort.

The Dutch sailors and soldiers gathered around one after another, looking at dozens of men from the Ming Dynasty with ragged clothes and dirty hair, their hands bound by hemp rope, as if they were prey, and they staggered onto the land.

Gullit hurriedly patted his chest and said, "Madam Zheng, please rest assured, we are all gentlemen, not barbarians."

"I really don't dare to go to the Spaniards, they are too fierce. Of course I would prefer to make a deal with a gentleman as you know well. Well, Mr. Gullit, I guarantee that each piglet will weigh no less than ninety pounds, How about converting it into five silver liels per person?"

This number is actually in line with Gullit's psychological price.He knew the physique of an Oriental, and his ninety-pound weight was not light, which meant that his nutrition and health were acceptable, and he could guarantee the strength required by the plantation.

Soon, a small tonnage sailing ship sailed in the direction of the battleship. Five or six sailors were busy on board, and a dozen soldiers in uniform were either guarding the small cannons on the ship, or wandering around the deck with muskets on their shoulders.

The Dutchman looks efficient.

But Zheng Haizhu saw that not far away, towering trees fell every once in a while. The Dutch obviously planned to build fortifications and fortresses in Penghu.

Behind them, the two black soldiers remained silent.

Seeing that Gullit finally accepted the price, Zheng Haizhu pretended to be cautious and said: "By the way, the piglets must be transported in batches, so as not to gather too many and be seen by the Ming army patrolling the sea. You can't use big ships. You are so stupid today." The silk and porcelain ship in Hong Kong is too big. It is safer to use a small sailboat to transport the piglets to Penghu Island, and then change to a larger ship to go to Batavia."

The wait was not too long. Three days later, at dawn, the "Codfish" returned to Baisha Island.

The Xun soldiers from Fujian had only left for a month, and the red-haired cat-eyed outsider had already parked three double-decker warships on Baisha Island, all of which were large ships of six or seven hundred tons.There are small iron cannons that can be dragged on the deck, and there are larger cast iron cannons between the decks on both sides.

Gullit politely invited Zheng Haizhu and Mabel to board the boat called "Codfish".

The Dutch slave trade from Africa was in full swing decades ago.Both Negroes, born in Amsterdam, had heard their fathers speak of distant homes and tragic voyages.

The eyes of the black soldiers fell on Zheng Haizhu who was accompanied by Gullit to disembark.

In contrast to the beggar-like downcast Ming man, the Ming businesswoman with her head held up looked even more radiant.

"Mr. Lufen, God bless, this time it's smoother than when we put piglets on the Japanese before." Zheng Haizhu showed an excited smile on his face.

Gullit also cheerfully added: "Madam Zheng's partner in Nan'an said that it is the season for tea picking and tea making, and the soldiers patrolling the sea are all going to work for the tea garden of the chief's house. Let's rest tonight After that, we can go to the seaside of Nan'an tomorrow to bring in the second batch of piglets."