In the second half of the 16th century, in pursuit of the windfall profits of the spice trade, the Dutch reached into the island of Java and began their rule over Indonesia for more than 300 years. Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 infoIt was the Dutch East India Company that imposed colonial rule.

The Dutch East India Company is a commercial company established by the Netherlands in 1602 with state functions, colonial plundering and monopolizing Oriental trade in the East, the original Dutch text is Vereenigde-Oostindische-Compagnie, referred to as VOC, translated into Chinese, the full name is the Dutch United East India Company. It was the world's first multinational corporation, the first company to issue shares, and the world's first mega-corporation to organize its own mercenaries, issue currency, and be granted formal treaties with other nations, as well as the right to colonize and rule the land. The government held a stake in the company, paid 18% of the annual dividend to the government, and had the right to support the war effort, sign treaties with foreign countries, mint currency, establish colonies, etc., and for nearly 200 years, it had an important influence on world trade.

After the fleet entered the waters of Java, Putmans took the initiative to meet William and asked him to enter Batavia as a liaison first and convey Xia Nan's opinion.

William disagreed at first, "Are you sure you didn't take the opportunity to escape back to Batavia?" When am I a fool? ”

"I'm now just a former chief executive who has not been formally dismissed, and I don't even have the value of being a hostage -- if the company council agrees to your request, it's certainly not because of me," said Putmans sincerely. Why not let me go, and maybe I can convince the members of the Council and the Governor himself to avoid wars and conflicts that would not have been necessary? As a member of the company, I don't want the fleet you lead to clash without any certainty. ”

William thought about it, it was true, it was naturally best to let Putmans return to Batavia first, and it would be best to achieve the purpose of this trip with his assistance, even if he was trying to find an excuse to get out, there was nothing to lose to himself, it was nothing more than to play out the Manila drama again-although Batavia's defense was obviously stronger than Manila, but for the Qiongzhou Battalion fleet, it was only a little more difficult.

So Putmans landed in a small boat, revealed his identity, and was well received by the governor.

The ambitious Jean Peterlsson Quinn was the third governor of the Dutch East India Company, and it was he who laid the solid foundations of the Dutch commercial colonial empire in the East. It was under his leadership that the city of Batavia was the headquarters of the Dutch East India Company's empire, which was established after the raid and drive out of Banten's army, and was the political basis for Dutch rule over the colonies of Java and the entire East Indies.

The letter of appointment of the Chief Executive of Putmans was signed by Kun, so he naturally knew this subordinate. In the dimly lit governor's palace, Kun looked at Putmans rather sternly and asked, "The letter from the Dayuan Merchant House says that you were missing in the war with Zheng Yiguan, and others say that you were captured, but a few months later you suddenly appeared in Batavia. What happened to keep the Dayuan Merchant Hall in a blank period of no leadership for a long time? You have to give me an explanation, otherwise it will be difficult for me to explain it to the Council. ”

Putmans replied bitterly: "Mr. Governor, my explanation is no longer important, I am afraid that the closure of the Dayuan Merchant House is imminent, and even if you remove me from my post, there is no need to send the next administrator." ”

Kun frowned: "What's going on?" ”

The purpose of the East India Company's occupation was to serve as a hub for the Ming Dynasty, Japan, Korea, and Southeast Asia, and to monopolize trade between Manila and the Ming Kingdom. The main export trade included sugar, deerskin, venison, antlers, rattan, and rice, and the transshipment trade included metals and medicinal materials from the Netherlands, spices, pepper, amber, linen, cotton, opium, tin, and lead from Batavia, and silk fabrics, pottery, and gold from China. The East India Company had about 35 bases in Asia, and the Japanese base ranked first with a profit of 38.8%, followed by a large company with a profit of 25.6%. After the Japanese shogunate had just issued a lockdown decree, the position of the dai was particularly important, and Kun really did not want to hear any bad news about the dai man.

However, it backfired, and Putmans' next words were far worse than Kun had imagined.

"Mr. Governor, we have lost the war with Zheng Yiguan, and you must already know the result. However, just half a month ago, the invincible Zheng Yiguan was annihilated by another maritime force, and now the de facto ruler of the Far East has changed hands again in a short period of time, presumably the news has not yet had time to reach Batavia......"

"Wait, if I heard me right, you're talking about annihilation?" Quint noted Putmans' wording.

"That's right, not defeat, but complete annihilation. Zheng Yiguan's huge fleet was completely destroyed in one day, and he himself even fled to the acropolis of the local army of the Ming Kingdom, and did not escape the pursuit, thousands of soldiers captured him from the castle and then cut off his head...... "Although Putmans did not personally experience the battle of Zhongzuo, he also knew the details from the mouths of William and Van Bommel, and his description is basically consistent with the facts.

Kun fell silent. The result of such a battle was obviously terrible, you must know that the fleet sent by the East India Company had just lost to Zheng Yiguan three or four months ago, this guy who was born as a pirate leader had a huge fleet of armed merchant ships and arson ships as dense as ants, and he looked invincible, and the company's council was even mentally prepared to give in to this pirate leader, as long as he let go of part of the commercial market of the Ming Kingdom, Batavia was willing to recognize his dominance in the Far East. However, in the past few months, there is another force that has completely wiped Zheng Yiguan from the territory of the Far East?

After a long time, Kun Cai said with difficulty: "So, you have to tell me, who does this force belong to?" Is their attitude towards the company friendly? Why is the Dayuan Merchant House closed? ”

"Like Zheng Yiguan, this person is also a general of the Ming Kingdom, his name is Xia, and what he and Zheng Yiguan have in common is that they are keen on maritime hegemony, rather than honestly staying in their own defense area and relying on the meager military salary allocated by the Ming government." Van Bommel explains, "Personally, I don't think his attitude towards the company is any friendlier than Zheng Yiguan, but it doesn't seem to be much worse. But he made a very unfriendly demand, that the company must close down the Dayuan Merchant House and abandon the city of Geranza, and that all future commercial trade must be carried out in the places he has set and that taxes be paid! ”