Gou was a member of the imperial family in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 1290 Self-Defense
The Dutch East India Company was the world's first joint-stock company. Founded in 1602, it was listed on the Amsterdam Stock Exchange in the Netherlands with the approval of the Dutch Parliament and has been in operation for over fifty years.

The company was originally established to address the severe competition caused by the proliferation of large and small companies in the Netherlands during the Age of Exploration, coupled with the immense risks of long-distance trade, frequent shipwrecks, and the high cost of spices. A lawyer named John proposed consolidating these companies into a single large corporation with a shareholding structure to solve these problems, while also enabling the company to better compete with countries like Britain, Spain, and Portugal, thereby monopolizing trade in the Far East.

According to his proposed plan, once the company was established, the internal competition among Dutch companies would be alleviated, allowing for the integration of all resources to operate in the Far East and bringing enormous benefits to the country. The Dutch Parliament subsequently voted to approve the plan, and with the support of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, the Dutch East India Company was born. In the following half-century, the company indeed achieved John's vision, becoming the most profitable company in the world, bar none.

In terms of the equity structure of the Dutch East India Company, its equity was very complex. It included not only the many companies that joined the company as shareholders, but also the equity investment of local Dutch provinces and cities, i.e., the government. Amsterdam, as the company's place of registration, and the stock market that emerged after the establishment of the East India Company, made Amsterdam's equity structure exceed that of many original shareholders. In addition, there were shares held by the Dutch royal family and some nobles. Furthermore, with the continuous trading of the East India Company's shares over the past fifty years, the equity structure has long since changed from its original form.

The Dutch East India Company's headquarters in Amsterdam is far away in Europe, but its headquarters in the Far East is Batavia. Currently, in addition to the governor (CEO) appointed by the company, there are several shareholders stationed in Batavia. These shareholders, besides serving as directors, also hold important positions within the company, in other words, to supervise Governor Reinius's work in the Far East.

When Reinice led Colonel Cohen into the conference room, the three directors who had been waiting in the room for a while, as well as General Capelen, all turned their gazes toward them, their expressions filled with dissatisfaction and questioning.

"Your Excellency, you seem to be in quite a mood. How can you remain calm under these circumstances?" Before Reinice could speak, Director Jacob couldn't help but mock him. As a director, although his position within the company was not as high as the governor's, he still had the power to supervise the governor and vote to remove him at the board meeting. Moreover, everyone knew why they had come. They had originally thought they would see the governor immediately, but they hadn't expected to wait quite a while before Reinice finally arrived.

“Our Governor is a man of great generalship. How could such a small matter make him flustered? Mr. Jacob, perhaps our Governor has already thought of a solution.” Another director, James, said with a sarcastic smile, his eyes sharp as an eagle, scanning Reines, who was seated in the main seat.

"Gentlemen, the situation is urgent. Let's calm down and listen to the Governor's explanation first," said the last director, Otto, who seemed easy to talk to, but his so-called advice was still directed at Reinice.

General Capelen, a soldier, remained silent, merely nodding slightly to Reinice, as if nothing had changed.

The moment they met, the conference room was filled with a tense atmosphere. Although Reinice had anticipated this situation, his face was still very grim.

He did not immediately answer the questions, but first sat down in the main seat, then his gaze swept over everyone, and then he said: "I am very sorry, gentlemen, but I have just received news from Manila that the Ming Empire is already assembling its army and preparing to march south. In other words, the footsteps of war have begun, and Batavia will soon be facing war!"

"What? The Ming Dynasty has already sent troops?" As soon as Reinice finished speaking, the three directors exclaimed in unison, and even General Capelen's expression changed.

“Yes!” Reinice sighed and gestured to Colonel Cohen, who was standing to the side. Colonel Cohen handed the paper in his hand to the nearest director, James. James took it and quickly looked at it closely. The other two also leaned over. After reading what was written on the paper, their faces first turned white, and then quickly turned bright red.

"Reinius! You bastard!" Director Jacob slammed his fist on the table, pointing his finger at Governor Reinius's nose as he roared, "The company appointed you as governor to change the company's situation in the Far East and recover the losses from losing Xiaoliuqiu. But what have you done? Not only have you failed to turn the tide, but you've also done this behind the board's back, and now you've dragged the entire company into this quagmire! You are responsible for this! You will bear full responsibility for the impending consequences!"

"His Excellency Jacob is right, Governor, you bear full responsibility!" Director Otto's tone was icy, his initial composure long gone, his gaze towards Reinice filled with barely concealed anger: "As the company's appointed governor, is this how you repay the company's trust? Furthermore, please explain why you secretly impersonated pirates to rob and kill Ming Dynasty merchant ships without the board's knowledge, thus causing such enormous trouble for the company?"

"This is trouble? No! This is war! War!" Director James stood up, waving his hands in the air. "My God! This is war! Do you know what this means? Your actions have dragged the entire company into the vortex of war, all because of you! Your Excellency the Governor! You have not only betrayed the company's trust in you, but also the trust of the board of directors! You have brought disaster to the entire company! Gentlemen, I suggest that we immediately exercise our rights as directors to convene an extraordinary board meeting, immediately dismiss Governor Reinice from his post, and send envoys to the Ming Dynasty to prevent the war from taking place..."

“I agree!” “I agree too! As a board member, I believe that Reinice is no longer fit to serve as governor and must be removed from office immediately.”

Director James's words immediately drew the unanimous agreement of the other two directors. In their view, Governor Reince was the root of all evil; his actions rendered him unfit for the post. He must be removed from office and held fully accountable according to the company's bylaws. Furthermore, preventing the outbreak of war was of paramount importance. An envoy should be sent to the Ming Dynasty immediately to explain the true situation. Even handing over this scoundrel Reince to the Ming Dynasty if necessary would at least salvage the current dire situation.

Seeing the three directors clamoring to remove him from office, Reinice felt bitter. Although he had expected it, he still felt very uncomfortable when this scene actually came.

"Gentlemen, before you remove me from office on behalf of the Board of Directors, may I say a few words?" Governor Reinice asked calmly.

"What? You still want to deny it? Do you intend to deny what you did? Don't dream! We already have enough evidence to prove the truth!" Director James retorted coldly.

“No, no, no!” Reinice shook his head and said, “As governor, I never deny what I have done. I did do some things, including authorizing Colonel Cohen to use the company’s warships to attack Ming merchant ships under the guise of pirates, and I gained a lot of profits from it. These are facts, and it was this action that led to this crisis.”

"Then what else do you plan to say?"

"Don't be impatient, gentlemen. According to the company's bylaws, even if I am dismissed, I, as the incumbent governor, have the right to defend myself."

“You…” Director James laughed angrily. This was no ordinary business mistake; it was a criminal act that directly led to such serious consequences. And Reines still intended to defend himself at this point? Wasn’t that a joke? Just as he was about to retort, Director Otto stopped him, gave Reines a deep look, and said, “Fine, you do have the right to defend yourself before the board makes a decision. So please let our esteemed Governor defend himself and let everyone hear how you intend to exonerate yourself.”

Reinius nodded slightly and said in a calm voice, "I will not make any defense against the accusations against me, because they are all true, and I am doing this for the sake of the company's performance. Since the loss of Xiaoliuqiu, the company's forces have withdrawn from the north to Batavia, and the company has lost the possibility of continuing to advance northward, which I think everyone knows."

The crowd remained silent, looking at Reinice with complicated expressions, intending to hear what he would say next.

Reinius continued, “In recent years, the rapid development of the Ming Empire has been evident. Moreover, after the war in Xiaoliuqiu, the company’s business in the Far East has reached a bottleneck. In addition, the diplomacy between the Ming Dynasty and European countries, as well as the opening of trading ports, have all affected the company’s performance in the Far East. If this situation cannot be broken and the Ming Dynasty’s overseas expansion cannot be curbed, the future importance of the East India Company will be replaced, which is a result that no one wants to see…”

“Your Excellency, there is no need for you to explain these things. After all, things that haven’t actually happened can’t be used as a reason for your defense.” Before Reines could finish speaking, Director James interrupted him without any politeness and stated coldly.

His stance won the approval of the other two directors. The current focus is on holding Reinice accountable, not on hearing his vision and analysis for the company's future; these are two completely different things.

“Alright, since you don’t want to hear about this, I’ll address some other issues.” Reinice gave a wry smile and sighed, “You just decided to dismiss me from my post as governor and are preparing to send someone to the Ming Dynasty to make contact? Then I’d like to ask you all, do you really think that doing this will stop the Ming Empire from waging war? Or that sending an envoy to the Ming Dynasty at my personal cost will make His Majesty the Emperor retract his decision and prevent the outbreak of war? If that’s the case, then I must tell you, you are sorely mistaken! It’s completely impossible!”

(End of this chapter)