The Han culture is spreading strongly in Southeast Asia

Chapter 308 Batavia Loan
Dragon boat racing during the Dragon Boat Festival is not only a folk sport, but also a concentrated embodiment of the folk martial spirit.

At this time, whichever surname or village wins the dragon boat race means that their collective strength in the local area must be the strongest.

These dragon boat racers can control the not-so-obedient dragon boats by working together in unison according to the drumbeats. If they are transferred to the navy, they can at least join the battle immediately as fast crab boat sailors.

Therefore, the dragon boat race on the fifth day of the fifth month in Mozibu's reign was extremely grand. Representatives from all army regiments, two naval squadrons, the three guards of Hue, the eleven guards of An Dai, vassal states of Songcheng, Jeddah and other places, and Chinese from all prefectures all sent representatives to participate.

In addition to them, Taksin also sent his nephew Taksin Congli to lead thirteen Siamese dragon boat teams north to Hoi An to participate in the event.

For a time, the Thu Bon River in Hoi An was filled with thunderous cheers, with dozens of dragon boats competing in the competition. This was considered the largest Dragon Boat Festival celebration in Southeast Asia in recent years.

However, after Mo Zibu presided over the ceremony to commemorate Qu Yuan, he let his second brother Mo Zitang sit in his seat wearing a green robe.

Mo Zibu himself came to a very hidden garden in the palace.

When Shi Yaer and the others saw Mo Zibu coming in, they bowed to the ground with the others behind them.

Mo Zibu quickly pulled them up and looked at Shi Yaer and asked, "I heard that Brother Shi is a survivor of the Hongxi Massacre. Is this true?"

Shi Yaer nodded and said, "Your Majesty, I am not only a survivor of the Hongxi Massacre, but my father, Shi Gongban Rang, was also the leader of the Chinese army outside the city at that time."

Shi Yaer pointed to the two people behind him and said, "These two are the grandsons of Lian Gong Fuguang, the leader of the Chinese in Batavia at that time."

Mo Zibu was in a heavy mood. After arranging a few people to sit down, he began to make tea for them personally. The maids also brought up tea and snacks one after another.

This Shi Yaer was the most important informant who was safely in Batavia. He was responsible for many important intelligence and internal information, and even the final step in instigating the rebellion of Major Marco and the clerk of the Dutch East India Company, also known as the second secretary, Holdyk.

"Brother Shi, you won't blame me, right? The Dutch committed such a serious crime against my compatriots, and yet I bribed them and even collaborated with them."

Mo Zibu was not lying. Deep down, he really wanted to lead his troops to capture Batavia.

But the cost is too high, and success is uncertain, so the only option is a salami-slicing offensive strategy.

A gradual erosion strategy like salami slicing will inevitably require some favorable measures to stabilize the situation from time to time.

Mozibu would get most of the Dutch East India Company's property, but there were definitely quite a few Dutch people who benefited from it.

When Shi Yaer heard what Mo Zibu said, he stood up and bowed again, "I am willing to serve the king. First, my father and grandfather taught me by example, and second, I admire the king's heart that he truly treats the Chinese in Southeast Asia as his own compatriots.

Although I want revenge, I won't be so arrogant as to kill all the Dutch. Many of them came to Batavia after the Red Creek Massacre and were not the culprits.

Then, Shi Yaer took out a booklet and said, "I know this is inappropriate and may seem like revenge, but we have a deep-seated feud and must avenge it. This booklet lists all the descendants of the Dutch who participated in the Batavia Massacre.

Your Majesty, please trust me. There will only be omissions, and no innocent person will be implicated."

Mo Zibu took the booklet and handed it to Zheng Jinshui. "Keep it safe. When our Tang army can land on Java and take control of Batavia, search for those listed on the list and execute them all, regardless of gender!"

After saying this, Mo Zibu looked at Shi Yaer again and said, "I guarantee that if anyone on this list, or anyone from their family, is still in Batavia, they will definitely not be able to escape the swords of the Xing Tang Army."

After listening to this, Shi Yaer led a few people to bow again. Mo Zibu comforted them with kind words, and then the conversation got to the point.

"The Governor-General who controls Batavia at this time is named Petrus Albertus van der Pala.

He came from a colonial family and was a very insidious, brutal and powerful man who knew how to use power and money.

Over the years, he has used various unscrupulous means to continuously increase the annual profits of VOC Company, even resorting to falsifying financial reports, and successfully led VOC Company out of the trough after driving out the Chinese.

He also used a large amount of money to bribe the seventeen directors of the East India Company far away in the Netherlands, so that the VOC company would hand over all its authority in the East to Petrus.

Therefore, Petrus was the most powerful governor-general in history, and all important positions in Batavia were basically monopolized by his relatives and friends.

"In other words," Mo Zibu asked thoughtfully, "this Petrus is not just the governor of the Dutch East India Company like the previous governors. He is a real governor."

"That's right!" Shi Yaer nodded. "Besides the fact that Petrus needs to spend a large sum of money every year to bribe the company's directors to consolidate his position, he can even be considered the King of Batavia."

"He looks very powerful!" Mo Zibu smiled sinisterly, "But his shortcomings are even more obvious.

To ensure the stability of my position, I have only one choice: money. I need to get more money and go to Europe. As long as I get his money, I won't be afraid that Petrus will not surrender. "

“That’s right, the king has now caught Petrus’s weakness, and he frantically sent people to Hoi An to request an audience with you, which is proof of that.

VOC cannot afford to lose West Borneo, or more precisely, the spices of West Borneo.”

Mo Zibu laughed heartily. This was the situation he wanted to see. Only by grasping the sore spots of the Dutch East India Company and Governor Petrus could he lead them step by step by the nose and make them submit.

"Has Secretary Holdyk found out how much cash and gunpowder the Dutch East India Company has in Batavia?" Mo Zibu asked. He had to find out the wealth of the fat sheep before he could make corresponding demands.

"The funds used by the Dutch East India Company in Batavia for circulation were approximately three million Dutch guilders.

The total amount of gunpowder was 450,000 kilograms, but the clerk doubted the authenticity of this number.

Because corruption is rampant in Batavia, the gunpowder storage records often show reports of waterlogging and deterioration, but there should still be at least 300,000 kilograms."

that's enough!
. . . .

When Counselor Rainier walked into the small palace, he knew he didn't have much room for bargaining.

Because the current situation is indeed very dangerous. Hundreds of Dutch soldiers have been detained for more than four months, and their families have been crying outside the Governor's Palace every day, which has attracted attention from all parties.

If it is delayed any further, the news will reach Europe, and then the army will be defeated, the spice producing areas will be seized, and everything will be lost.

That would be a nightmare for everyone. The VOC company might even go bankrupt, and the best outcome for these colonial officials would be to go to Suriname to feed crocodiles.

"Your Majesty, I am deeply sorry for what happened in West Borneo. This was all due to a misunderstanding caused by miscommunication. I assure you that this will never happen again."

Counselor Rainier was very smart. He did not mention the fact that he had come twice and that Mo Zibu had not summoned him for five months. Instead, as soon as we met, he kept praising me, King Mo.

"Therefore, I implore you to release the company officers and soldiers who are still imprisoned in the Pontianak dungeon. You can put forward any conditions you want."

Mo Zibu was very gentle. He stepped down from the throne, looked at Counselor Rainier and said, "From the beginning, I showed your company enough goodwill and repeatedly stated that I had no intention of disrupting the spice trade route, but you just didn't believe me.

I see this war as no misunderstanding; it's just you Dutch people trying to test my strength." Counselor Rainier was speechless, for that was indeed the case, but he quickly seized on Mo Zibu's "handle."

"Your Majesty, since you have no intention of disrupting the spice trade, that means we can still purchase spices from West Borneo as usual, and you won't organize merchant ships to sell spices to the West, right?"

Mo Zibu nodded directly. "I don't have the time or energy to open up trade routes because the costs would be incredibly high and it doesn't conform to our traditional Chinese business practices. You can rest assured that I won't be selling spices directly to Europe."

"But the French, who have formed an alliance with you, have the ability and motivation to disrupt the spice trade," Counselor Rainier said quickly.

Mo Zibu looked at him strangely, "Mr. Counselor, you don't think I can make a promise on behalf of the French, do you?

Whether the French will participate in the spice trade depends on their willingness, and even more so on the negotiations between the Federal Republic government and the Kingdom of France."

At this point, it was obvious that Counselor Rainier also knew how empty Mo Zibu's promise not to disrupt the spice trade was.

However, the only good news is that French merchant ships are not active in the East and cannot be compared with the United Provinces.

Therefore, even if the French start to threaten the VOC company now, it will take at least three years.

So now, the best thing to do is to stabilize the supply of spices from the East and prevent the spices from West Borneo from being sold to other buyers by King Xing Tang.

Because the shipping capacity of French merchant ships in the East is indeed limited, but if all the merchant ships in the East, including those from Britain, Portugal, Denmark, Italy and even the Ottoman Empire, participate, the shipping capacity will still be terrifying, which will definitely break the balance and cause the price of spices in Europe to plummet.

"Then I made a mistake." Counselor Rainier quickly admitted his mistake and said:

"Then, Your Majesty, let us now discuss the five-year exclusive supply contract for West Borneo spices and the personal freedom of the 431 company explorers detained in Pontianak."

"What kind of conditions can your company offer?" Mo Zibu asked.

"The price of spices will be increased by 10%. Each detained soldier will be charged 100 guilders, officers 500 guilders, and Colonel Adrian 2,000 guilders."

Counselor Rainier gave a quote. At that time, the value of a VOC silver coin of one Dutch guilder was approximately equivalent to about 0.4-0.45 taels of silver, depending on the fineness and year of manufacture.

If we take 0.4, it would be equivalent to taels for the soldiers, taels for the officers, and taels for Colonel Adrian. In total, Mo Zibu could receive about taels of compensation.

This price is actually not low, because you can't expect the Dutch to pay a large compensation, because that will still lead to the bankruptcy of the VOC company, and Governor Petrus will definitely not agree.

"I don't want a single Dutch guilder in ransom." Mo Zibu said in a low voice, and Counselor Rainier felt his heart skip a beat.

"But I want to get a loan from the VOC. The annual interest rate is over 18 percent, and I can pay six months' interest in advance on the day I get the loan."

Counselor Rainier swallowed his saliva. The 18% rate of return was exactly the average dividend the company had distributed to shareholders in recent years.

"How much does His Majesty the King want to borrow?" The counselor was quite frightened because he knew that the amount was definitely not small.

"Two million Dutch guilders!" Mo Zibu held up two fingers and shook them gently. "It's a five-year term, and the principal and interest will be repaid together when the term matures."

"It's too much, too much. The company's 17-member board of directors will definitely not approve it."

Two million Dutch guilders is equivalent to eight hundred thousand taels. Not everyone can come up with such a large sum of money or dare to lend it out.

“I can add several more debtors for you, including the King of Siam, the King of Cambodia, and the Marquis and Earl of Lower Burma.

These are all monarchs and nobles from the East. Their collective loan of two million Dutch guilders isn't a lot, is it? I know your company has actually been engaged in lending."

"But the company can't come up with so much money for borrowing at once." Counselor Rainier still shook his head and refused.

"I know you can afford it, and I don't need all of it in cash." Mo Zibu said very firmly, while you were still whispering temptation.

"Gunpowder, guns, cannons—I'm willing to accept them all."

"Your Majesty, are you truly so confident that you can take over VOC in five years? I advise you not to make such a big bet."

Rainier knew what Mo Zibu was planning. Borrowing such a large sum of money and agreeing to repay the principal and interest together at maturity clearly showed that he had no intention of paying it back.

Without creditors, there will naturally be no debts.

"Since Mr. Counselor thinks I can't afford it, then lend it to me. If I can't take over VOC by then, you guys can make a fortune."

Mo Zibu looked down at Counselor Rainier and suddenly laughed.

"Mr. Counselor, you overestimate my ambition. Even if a behemoth like the Dutch East India Company is going to fall, it will take a long time. It will definitely not fail within five years.

So, I don’t want to default on the loan, but I am about to attack Beihe and unify the country of Annan.

Now, I need a lot of silver to pay the mercenaries from France, and I also need the arms you have stored in Batavia, that's all."

Mo Zibu's acting skills have reached perfection. Counselor Rainier observed him for a long time and only saw the word "sincerity" and nothing else.

Intuitively, he knew that this cunning Eastern king was going to shirk his responsibility.

But reality told him that VOC would not go bankrupt within five years. Even if it did, the organization that took over the company's property would have the right to recover the debt.

So it seems that this money can indeed be borrowed and it will bring huge returns to the company.

"Your Majesty, I need to return to Batavia to persuade the Governor-General and the members of the East Indies Parliament." Counselor Rainier's attitude had actually softened.

"Then as soon as possible. I can wait, but I'm afraid the officers and soldiers of the Surabaya Regiment in Pontianak Prison can't."

Mo Zibu continued to put pressure on him. He knew what Counselor Rainier was planning, but the counselor had no idea how big a financial gap Louis XVI, the future founding father of the United States, would have.

The operation of selling heads to aid the United States will make the French eager to cooperate with Mozibu, and the VOC company will definitely not last as long as in history.

As for the loan existing forever, haha, Mo Zibu has already found all the victims of the Hongxi Massacre. When the time comes, he will demand war reparations from the bankrupt VOC company in their name.

Not to mention the two million Dutch guilders, I, King Mo, want the entire Java Island.

(End of this chapter)