Hans Putmans was born in the military and was very capable. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 He came to the East Indies in 1624 as a low-ranking merchant and was promoted to merchant in 1626, making great contributions during the siege of the local king in Batavia. In less than 5 years, he was admitted to the East India Council.

Roughly by military background, Putmans was determined and resolute and keen on the use of force.

From the very beginning of his tenure, he began to crusade against the small group of Chinese pirates that roamed the area, while at the same time constantly retaliating with force against the hostile natives. At the same time, he asked the Council of the East Indies to send him 1,300 soldiers and the necessary weapons to expel the Spaniards who occupied the northern part of the Great Empire and bring their castles under the jurisdiction of the Company, which had never numbered more than 8,000 troops in the East Indies, which had never numbered more than 8,000 men. Even if Spain could be expelled for a while, ruling on such a large scale would be extremely burdensome for the company.

You must know that so far, the trade of the big man is still in a state of loss. At the beginning of Puttmans's tenure, the company's trading house had not been completed for four months, and the company was almost abandoned, both internally and externally, and finally it was barely supported by the fact that it was a window to trade with China.

As the chief executive, the aspiring Putmans certainly didn't want the Dayuan Merchant House to close its doors in his hands. He has always dreamed of opening up direct trade channels with China. But so far he has not succeeded – Zheng Yiguan's attitude is erratic, and the Ming court and officials are unpredictable: they do not respond to any proposals and requests for negotiation from the company, and they use all means to obstruct trade, whether it is a request, a bribe, or a threat. Chinese businessmen were either reluctant to enter the trade and sail directly to Manila, or they were full of promises to purchase goods but swept away with the company's advance deposit.

Putmans came to the conclusion that in order to trade with the Chinese, it was necessary to use force. Conquer a port along the Chinese coast by force, establish a stronghold, and then force the Chinese government to agree to trade between the two sides by plundering the maritime trade. He had prepared a report on the programme and submitted it to the Council in Batavia for discussion.

"These abominable yellow-skinned monkeys, they only recognize cannons and arquebuses! Only a beating of them will teach them how to get along with people! As he thought this, Putmans looked with disgust at the workers who were expanding the castle of Geranza, most of them local Han Chinese immigrants. Labor scarcity has always been a headache for Taiwan's chief executive. The Dutch brought to the island, even if they included slaves and hired natives of the East Indies, never more than a thousand people, and there was always a constant attrition: some sick, some dead. He had to hire Chinese to do most of the civil engineering and reclamation work, which was quite expensive in terms of manpower, and made the already loss-making financial situation of the senior staff even worse.

But in terms of defense, he didn't dare to be careless at all. The company had hundreds of thousands of guilders in cash and goods in the merchants' houses, and in the event of a mistake, the company would never forgive itself - the directors of the seven provinces and republics showed no mercy to those who hurt their profits - the fate of the predecessor Peter Natz was alive.

Recently, however, things have taken a turn for the better on trade with China, and the rise of Liu Xiang has softened Mr. Zheng's attitude — at least not as blunt as it used to be when it comes to trade cooperation. Last month, Zheng Yiguan's envoy had also brought him a letter to explore the possibility of support from the Dutch.

Putmans got the news that the council had agreed to give Liu Xiang covert support. In addition to allowing Liu Xiang's huge fleet to dock, two old brigs had already been sold to Liu Xiang, and the more pressure Zheng Yiguan came under, the more harmonious his attitude with the Dutch would be. Of course, Putmans thought that if Liu Xiang was too powerful, it would be quite disadvantageous to the generals, and the pirates would always be difficult to control. Not to mention anything else, Liu Xiang is stationed in the main force at the moment, in case he turns his face, it will be a great safety hazard to the city of Gelansha.

You have to direct Liu Xiang's attention to Zheng Yiguan and let them bite it, and the company can mediate and seek benefits from it. Thinking of this, Putmans rang the bell, and a servant walked in.

"Tell my signal corps that I need to meet with Liu Xiang."

An hour later, the servant walked into the room with a lean middle-aged man.

The middle-aged man's eyes flashed, his eyes were mixed with cunning and rebelliousness, and he looked at Putmans with a smile: "Mr. Putmans, if I remember correctly, you took the initiative to see me for the first time after taking office, is there any good news to tell me?" ”

This inconspicuous middle-aged man at first glance is Zheng Zhilong's last and biggest opponent at sea - Liu Xiang. Zheng Zhilong wiped out most of the other brothers in the Eighteen Zhi, and only he survived until now, but as Zheng Zhilong leaned against the big tree of the imperial court and steadily advanced, his life gradually became difficult, and he hit it off with the Dutch, who were eager to open the trade window in the South China Sea, and formed an alliance in a sense.

However, the Dutch did not want to bet all their bets on him, and wavered, and there was always a determination between him and Zheng Zhilong, except for giving away two Western-style gunboats for free, there was no substantial help.

Putmans had a smile on his face: "You are a friend of the East India Company, a trustworthy partner, and we need each other. I got the inside information that the company is very likely to launch a war against the Ming Dynasty through my suggestion, and if this battle is won, it will be of great benefit to you and the company. Before my report is officially adopted by the company, you can make things go much better if you launch a high-profile offensive that is enough to make things easier. ”

Liu Xiang frowned, the so-called eye-catching offensive is nothing more than taking the initiative to attack Zheng Zhilong, this red-haired man wants to let himself act as a pawn, build momentum for a possible war, and consume Zheng Zhilong's vital strength by the way, it is really a good calculation.

"Mr. Putmans, I understand what you mean, we Chinese still need someone to warm up the scene!" It's no problem for me to do this, who called me and Zheng Yiguan mortal enemies. However, since we are now grasshoppers on a rope, are the two gunboats a little less, why don't you give me a few more, and the cannons are also indispensable. Zheng Yiguan wanted a ship and a cannon, and most of the newly cast cannons in Guangdong were given to him. (To be continued.) )