Bringing the Railway to Daming

Upon hearing Zhu Xiong Ying's question, Liu Kuan replied, "Lanfang Kingdom was originally a 'country' established by overseas Chinese in Borneo, Southeast Asia, at the end of the Qing Dynasty. As for what's special about Lanfang Kingdom, Your Majesty will know after watching the video."

Did Chinese people establish a nation in Borneo during the late Qing Dynasty?

Those unfamiliar with the history of the late Qing Dynasty were unmoved by these words. However, those who had heard Liu Kuan recount much of the history of the late Qing Dynasty, such as Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Xiong Ying, couldn't help but show surprise.

As far as they knew, Western powers were already besieging the Qing Dynasty at its doorstep in the late Qing period, so how could Chinese people still establish a nation in Southeast Asia?
While the others were still wondering, Liu Kuan had already touched the screen to play the video.

The video begins with a scene of an ocean under a gloomy sky, with people rowing small boats, and a man's narration can be heard at the same time.

"There is a group of people who are thousands of kilometers away from their homeland. Under the attack of the Dutch colonists, they fought alone in a small corner of the country for decades."

"But they have been almost forgotten by our history. Even after searching through all the materials, we can only find a few words of record."

"To help everyone better understand this period of history, I consulted a lot of materials, which resulted in this video..."

The video creator's tone was quite somber, much like the gloomy sky at the beginning of the video, giving a feeling of melancholy and depression.

The scene then shifts to a series of foreign language books and documents. No one could understand them, but fortunately, the uploader was providing explanations.

"In November 1884, a Javanese newspaper published a news item: a Dutch official in East Vanuatu (now Pontianak, Indonesia) had been murdered by Chinese. The news shocked the Dutch authorities and the press."

"Because in October, this official had just taken up his post in Dongwanlu with the military police, saying that the people there were very honest and that the Chinese did not offer any resistance. But just a few days later, this official died at the hands of the local Chinese."

"The enraged Dutch authorities dispatched troops, bringing blood and fire, and this expedition was not their first military action against the local Chinese. The rivalry between China and the Netherlands has actually been going on for a century on this island!"

After telling a "news" story, the video went dark and then turned to talk about things from more than two hundred years ago.

A nautical chart appeared in the video, showing several small boats representing a fleet sailing from Western Europe, through southern Africa and the Indian Ocean, to the South Pacific.

"In 1602, the Dutch East India Company was established, and they aspired to reap the world's resources through navigation and colonization, just like the Spanish and Portuguese."

"Two years later, the Dutch discovered a large amount of diamonds in Borneo. They tried to establish a colony there, but encountered fierce resistance from the local residents."

"But the Dutch did not give up. Sixty years later, they came back and went to great lengths to force the local sultan to sign a 'commercial treaty.' They thought they could make a fortune comfortably from then on, but in the following hundred years, they lost everything."

"It's not that the Netherlands, the 'maritime coachman,' lacks business acumen, but rather that the local market has already been taken over by the Chinese."

“As early as a thousand years ago, China and Borneo had trade relations. During the Ming and Qing dynasties, although the imperial court implemented a maritime ban, a large number of coastal people still went to Southeast Asia.”

"They brought advanced construction, mining, and planting techniques, and papayas, citrus fruits, pomelos, lychees, and other fruits also followed in the footsteps of the Chinese..."

The video, which lasts a few minutes, recounts the Dutch colonization of Southeast Asia, especially the colonization of Borneo, and the development of the Chinese in Southeast Asia over thousands of years, thus providing the historical background for subsequent events.

This was the first time that Lao Zhu, Zhu Xiong Ying, and others had learned about this history, so they listened very attentively.

Soon, the video got to the main topic.

"It turns out that while the Dutch were waging a trade war with Chinese people in other places, large gold mines were discovered in West Borneo. Because of the unparalleled quality and reputation of the Chinese, the local sultan warmly welcomed them to mine. They leased the gold mines to the Chinese and collected rent every year."

"As more and more people started mining, the local Chinese community urgently needed a new system to organize and manage them, and the 'company' system came into being!"

“The ‘company’ here is not a commercial company in the Western sense, but an economic organization with a simple democratic spirit.”

"Within the company, mining work was the responsibility of all members. The extracted gold dust was buried underground and only distributed at the end of the year. Pig farming, vegetable growing, tool making, and other tasks were also done by everyone together, making it a self-sufficient economic unit." "By 1760, there were more than 18 Chinese companies in West Borneo. At the beginning of their establishment, these companies had a small scope of operation and few people, making it difficult for them to defend themselves."

"But the scale of mining continued to expand, so the company developed from individual leasing to joint mining. As a result, the company organized Chinese people to carry out mining work more actively and advocated the principle of goodwill and unity with the locals."

"Within the company, we strictly adhere to rules and regulations, and any violation of discipline will be severely punished."

"In 1776, under the leadership of Dagang Company, 14 companies in Luyi area jointly established Heshun Company, also known as Heshun General Hall Company."

"At the same time, a Hakka man from Jiaying embarked on a voyage to Southeast Asia. He was a failed scholar named Luo Fangbo..."

The video then goes on to recount in more detail the events of the past century, from Luo Fangbo's establishment of the "Lanfang Company" in 1776, his subsequent maneuvering and the establishment of the "Lanfang Republic" with Dongwanlu as its capital the following year, to the complete annihilation of the remaining forces of the Lanfang Republic by the Dutch colonists in 1888.

The entire video is nearly twenty minutes long.

Even after the broadcast, many people were still outraged and even felt regretful, even though they knew that this happened in the late Qing Dynasty in the original history.

Lan Yu was the first to speak out, "Those traitors who were bribed by the Dutch one after another are too despicable. If it weren't for them, how could Lanfang have been destroyed by the Dutch?"

Mu Ying also nodded and said, "Traitors who betray their friends for personal gain and betray their clan are indeed despicable."

Zhu Yuanzhang shook his head and said, "I think that although traitors are certainly despicable, the root cause is that from Luo Fangbo, who founded Lanfang Kingdom, to the subsequent leaders, none of them were shrewd or capable enough."

"You could even say that Lanfang Kingdom, at its core, is a group that can be easily divided up by others based on their own interests. What do you think, Xiong Ying?"

Zhu Xiong Ying thought for a moment and said, "Lanfang Kingdom was jointly established by many companies that mined gold in West Borneo. The reason these companies appeared was because Chinese people wanted to mine gold and make money there."

"So even though Lanfang Company later became Lanfang Kingdom, it was still similar to a large trading company with the fundamental purpose of making money."

"In addition, Luo Fangbo was a newcomer who brought the almost empty Lanfang Company to take over the Heshun General Hall Company. His foundation was very weak and he did not directly control the military force."

"Several subsequent leaders of Lanfang were also elected by the people, or only controlled a small part of Lanfang's armed forces, or did not control any armed forces at all."

"As a result, it is difficult to strictly control the troops, and with the Dutch offering them great rewards, it is no wonder that traitors frequently appear."

After hearing Zhu Xiong Ying's words, many people nodded in agreement, agreeing that it was indeed true.

Li Wenzhong remarked with emotion, "No matter what, the Lanfang Kingdom suffered repeated blows from the Dutch, yet people repeatedly stood up to lead the local Chinese in resisting Dutch oppression and rule. In particular, the remaining forces of Lanfang later fought to the death rather than surrender, which is truly admirable and regrettable."

After speaking, Li Wenzhong subconsciously looked at Zhu Yuanzhang, only to find that Zhu Yuanzhang was in a daze.

This reminded Zhu Yuanzhang of the events when he was conquering the country.

When he was conquering the world, he naturally encountered setbacks, and some of his subordinates were tempted by the enemy to betray him. Among them, the one he regretted the most was his nephew Zhu Wenzheng. In fact, back then, Zhu Wenzheng only corresponded with Zhang Shicheng, considering betrayal, but did not actually carry it out.

When he learned of this, he was both shocked and furious, and he keenly realized that if the matter was not dealt with seriously, the team would become increasingly difficult to manage.

Therefore, even though Zhu Wen was his own nephew and had made great contributions in defending Hongdu, he still decisively stripped him of his military power and placed him under house arrest.

He just didn't expect that Zhu Wenzheng would die of depression not long after... (End of this chapter)