208 The apprehension of the Dutch

In late August, when the island of Taiwan is the hottest time of the year, the three brothers Han Jin, Han Yin, and Han Qian (Han Ku is still buying mountain and wild goods on Sakhalin, which is the island's peak trade season of the year) sit in front of a warehouse rented by a bank of Taiwan, with sad faces.

This group of Dutchmen actually imposed higher import and export tariffs on them for unwarranted reasons, which suddenly made the three brothers of the Han family in charge of this matter angry, you Dutchman is not trustworthy in business? Still unruly? Is this tariff going up?

What's even more odious is that because of the resignation and return of the former general manager Shao Shuguang, the three brothers of the Han family, who had lost their backers, were not very valued by Cai Shengguo Cai, who was appointed as the new official, so they were sent to the port of Gerancha in one go, and were responsible for part of the trade with the Dutch in this hot and humid miasma.

At the beginning of the month, the Dutch brought three ships of rice from the South Seas. The three brothers of the Han family were preparing to deliver, but they were told that the grain export tariff had quadrupled to 20%, which angered the people on the east coast. Han Kim immediately went to the city to protest against Hugo Rohr, the governor appointed by the Dutch East India Company, but was turned away by His Excellency the Governor's sudden illness. In desperation, he went to some other officials of the East India Company, but to no avail, even with the help of some second-level agents close to the East Coast, there was still no decent news.

At this point, it was actually very clear, that is, the Dutch East India Company no longer cared about the trade relations between the two sides, and began to insist on starting a trade war, which seriously damaged the interests of the people on the east coast. Han Jin didn't know why the Dutch did this, but that didn't stop him from concocting a report and sending it to the company's headquarters in Dinghai, Ningbo—and of course, the Southern Pioneer Team would also send a copy to let them know the latest attitude of the Dutch.

But in any case, the grain brought by the Dutch still had to be bought, and the transportation to Ningbo should be organized as soon as possible. The local food is completely self-sufficient, and there is still a great need for cheap and high-quality Nanyang grain. Similarly, there are many commodities including sugar, spices and Nanyang specialties, which are sold very well in Ningbo, Denglai and other places, and even have a certain market in the Qing and Shun countries, and they are profitable to resell, and they are goods that must be imported, so even if their export tariffs are also doubled, the people on the east coast still have to pinch their noses and buy them.

And since a lot of money has been spent on purchasing these goods, even if there is a reason, it is inevitable that the three brothers of the Han family will eat something. Who let this happen to them, this black pot has to be carried if they don't have to carry it, so they are very worried now, and they feel that the future will not be easy.

"Big brother, you said that the Dutch red hair suddenly became troubled this time, is there any factor for us to support the Zheng family's reclamation in the northern part of Taiwan Island?" After being silent for a long time, Han Yin, who had lived in the castle of Geranza for many years, suddenly asked: "Now the Zheng family's official and private reclamation is abnormally active, and the population of several counties in the north is increasing, which poses a greater threat to the Dutch notification to a certain extent. I wondered, were the Dutch stimulated by this and targeted us in particular? ”

It is also a cliché for the people of the East Coast to support the Zheng family's forces in the reclamation of the island of Taiwan, and the people of the East Coast often play this card to force the Dutch East India Company to accept the demands of some people on the East Coast that they think are excessive, and they have tried and tried repeatedly. The main reason for this is that the base on the island of Taiwan is very important to the Dutch East India Company, and while it contributes a lot of profits, it also provides a springboard for the Dutch East India Company to project forces into this sea area, which is very useful.

As of this year (1686), the number of Dutch freedmen (including whites, Malays, and naturalized Taiwanese aborigines) in many towns and cities in the southern part of Taiwan Island is only a few thousand, which is indeed not a fraction of the handiwork of tens of thousands of immigrants led by the Zheng family in Fujian. Therefore, they had reason to fear that Zheng Jing would send troops south to seize half of the islands belonging to the Dutch. After all, it's better to grab the well-developed land than to take a huge risk to reclaim the wasteland, right?

In fact, the attitude of the people on the east coast has always been rather ambiguous, that is, they have recognized the fait accompli of the current division of the islands between the two sides, and believe that both the Zheng family and the Dutch East India Company can make claims to the island of Taiwan, but for many years they have been secretly encouraging the Zheng family to explore Taiwan, thinking that it is the way back. To this end, they also gave a lot of support including ships, medicines and other forms, the difference is that when the Dutch protested, they tightened it up a little, temporarily suspended or undershipped all kinds of supplies to the Zheng family, and once the Dutch stopped protesting and the wind passed, they would continue to give all kinds of support to the Zheng family. In other words, even though they have been beating the Dutch with this card for many years, the goal of helping the Zheng clan expand on the island of Taiwan has never changed, the difference is only the strength of the support and the slow progress.

"Probably not." Han Kim has been a senior official at the Bank of Taiwan for many years, and when Shao Shuguang was in power, he even often participated in confidential information, so he knows a lot about it. In his view, the Dutch East India Company was not such a politically immature entity, and even if the East Coasters privately supported the Zheng family in expanding the northern part of the island, it would not make them fuss about tariffs. The reason why they did this was probably because they were stimulated in other ways, otherwise they would not have been so intense.

"I suspect that most of this has something to do with our people doing trouble in India. I have heard that the island of Diu has received a great deal of investment in the past two years, and is now quite prosperous, and trade is getting better and better. In addition, the matter of the combined fleet of East Portugal has once again attracted the attention of all the powers that have trading posts and colonies in India, and the Dutch, as the veteran players of the Indian subcontinent, naturally cannot be ignorant, so they should now be in a state of annoyance and worry in India, afraid that we will be driven out of India by our increasingly aggressive approach, and then there will be no business to do. Han Kim continued: "Business in the Indian market is no smaller than in Chinese mainland, and the Dutch are justifiably nervous, so I have every reason to suspect that our strong intervention in Diu has caused a series of changes." The Dutch did not dare to attack us in the Diu area for the time being, so they had to make a fuss about the import and export duties of goods. ”

"If that's the case, there's no way around it. The Diu side will definitely not compromise, and the Dutch can only be angry with us. After hearing this, Han Ku said with a wry smile: "The Dutch have raised so many tax rates at once, should we support the Portuguese?" They still maintain 5-8 ships of various sizes running the India-Timor Island-Macao route, so it shouldn't be a big problem for them to change their service items and start helping the East Coast import grain and other South Sea specialties? ”

"This matter needs to be decided by the Dinghai headquarters. Rather than having the Portuguese take the place of the Dutch East India Company, I think it would be more reliable to look for food in nearby Korea and Japan. Of course, this is only one aspect of the grain, and other goods, including whale products, wine, wheat, high-quality furs, soap, silk, tea, porcelain, etc., cannot find enough buyers, and the Dutch cannot replace them, but the losses are not small. Han Jin said: "So if the Dutch fight a trade war with us, it will really be a lose-lose tragic ending, I hope everyone can calm down and negotiate before making a decision." ”

Today, the Bank of Taiwan has become more and more like a trading enterprise, and its financial attributes are becoming weaker and weaker. The bank's business personnel did not even bother to go out to solicit deposits and loans, they just passively absorbed the deposits of some businessmen who often had business dealings, and then provided them to the foreign trade merchants in Ningbo Prefecture at low interest rates, so that they could easily take and distribute goods. In essence, it is to serve trade better, so it is not an exaggeration to say that they are a trading company.

And since it is a trading enterprise, it is natural that they are most afraid of the interruption of commercial transportation lines due to war, local protection, etc., because it means a great contraction of trade volume and a large loss of profits, which they cannot tolerate. Now that the Dutch have taken the first step in the trade war, then maybe the people on the east coast should also quickly make some responses to make the Dutch sober up, such as continuing to support Zheng's expansion on the island of Taiwan - after the failure to penetrate the sphere of influence into Guangdong, Zheng Jing's pattern is not very good now, and it is basically limited to Fujian Province, so Taiwan island is now their only feasible expansion direction, and a pinch from the people on the east coast should make Zheng take action.

In addition, due to the existence of the Haizhu Island Trading Station and the Yaniang Shoe Fort, the people on the east coast could also have a great influence on the trade in the Pearl River Estuary, ensuring that the Dutch East India Company could not get the goods. Of course, if they go to other places in Guangdong to get the goods, the East Coast people can't do anything, in short, they can get you a little bit, and try to disgust you.

All in all, this time the Dutch East India Company was a blatant display of malice. This shows that the expansion of the East Coasters in India has indeed stinged them, causing them to fear that their interests in India will be affected, and that Ceylon and the East Indies are also coveted by outsiders, which is unacceptable to them. However, it is very difficult to establish mutual trust between the people of the East Coast and the Dutch East India Company, and everyone's so-called guarantees, agreements, etc., will not be taken too seriously, which is very difficult.

Where the relationship between the two sides will go in the future, whether it will be reconciled or on the verge of rupture will depend on creation.