The Netherlands, now called the Netherlands, was still nominally under Spanish rule. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info

In 1568, the 80-year War of the Northern Provinces against Spain broke out, which lasted for 80 years.

In 1579 seven of the northern provinces formed an alliance against Spanish rule. This is considered the beginning of modern Holland.

On July 26, 1581, representatives from the rebellious cities of the Netherlands solemnly announced in The Hague that the Spanish king's right to rule over the Dutch provinces would be abolished, and the Union would officially declare its independence and establish the Dutch Republic (officially the United Republic of the Netherlands).

In 1588, the seven provinces united and proclaimed the United Provinces of the Netherlands. This is a country unprecedented in the history of mankind. Many historians say it was the first country in the world to "give full political rights to the merchant class."

At present, Spain still does not recognize this country, and according to history, it will take decades for Spain to recognize this country.

At this time, the Dutch people in Asia belonged to the United East India Company, to be precise.

The Dutch East India Company was founded in the 17th century during the Age of Discovery, when European countries began to take maritime adventures to explore the geography of the world and develop business opportunities in the open sea.

In the 16th century, Portugal already had colonies and commerce in Southeast Asia, and in the 1560s, a group of Dutch merchants sent Hautman to Portugal to spy on business.

After Hutterman returned to China, the group of merchants set up a company and used this information to expand into the East Indies

Between April 1595 and 1602, 14 Dutch companies were established with a focus on East India trade, and in order to avoid excessive commercial competition, they merged into a single unit, the Dutch East India Company.

The Dutch National Assembly at the time authorized the Dutch East India Company to have a monopoly on trade from the Cape of Good Hope in the east to the Strait of Magellan at the southern tip of South America in the west.

The Dutch East India Company is composed of six offices in Amsterdam, Zeeland City, Middleburg, Enkwason, Delft, Horn and Rotterdam, and its board of directors is composed of more than 70 people, but only 17 people really hold real power, known as the 17-member board of directors, which are 8 in Amsterdam, 4 in Zeeland, and one in each of the other regions.

The Dutch East India Company was the first company to organize its own mercenaries, issue currency, and be the first company limited by shares, and was granted the right to enter into formal treaties with other nations, as well as to colonize and rule the land.

The Dutch East India Company established its headquarters in Batavia, Java, with other bases in the East Indies and the Spice Islands.

By 1669, the Dutch East India Company was the richest private company in the world, with more than 150 merchant ships, 40 warships, 50,000 employees, and an army of 10,000 mercenaries.

The naval conflict between the Xuan Navy and the Dutch has been going on for a long time.

As early as the early days of the establishment of the Xuan Army, after it was decided to use firearms as the main means of warfare, in order to solve the source of the sulfur component in gunpowder and the copper materials needed by the navy, Chen Xin led people to seize Tsushima Island.

At that time, he also went to Nagasaki, where he looted the craftsmen and Dutch merchant houses, and seized dozens of large ships.

However, the concealment that the Xuan army made that time, and the later improvements made to the sea ships, no one could have recognized them as Dutch ships from their appearance.

Later, that is, the year before last, because the Japanese shogunate issued a ban on the export of copper, Chen Xin led the expeditionary force to fight a copper war and seized the Kyushu region of the Japanese country.

Later, in order to weaken the power of the Wa Shogunate and prevent it from coming out to act as a demon when the Xuan Army and the Later Jin were fighting, Chen Xin laid out several blockade lines on the surrounding islands along the coast of the Wa Kingdom, prohibiting any ships from trading with the Wa Kingdom.

Spain and other countries had been slowly squeezed out of the trade market of the Japanese state, which had always been in the hands of both the Ming and the Netherlands, and accounted for about 30 percent of the profits of the Dutch trade.

Chen Xin did this, which naturally angered the Dutch, who had been told by the Xuan army's navy that the Dutch fleet had come once last year.

The other party, at that time, wanted to break in, and in the artillery battle, after forcing back a fast crab that was blocking, they wanted to take advantage of the reinforcement fleet of the Xuan army did not come, pass quickly, and go directly to Edo to trade.

It's a pity that they don't know that the Xuan army is using the Eagle Falcon to transmit information, and the news that a fleet has forcibly broken through the blockade line has been transmitted back to an island base in the rear, and more than a dozen fast crabs have intercepted the fleet in the middle of the road following the Eagle Falcon's reconnaissance.

The tonnage of the fast crab is not large, but this is a general-purpose ship, which can be used as both a cargo ship and a war ship.

And when acting as a battleship, the firepower of 20 10-pound long-barreled heavy guns, plus 1 30-pound short-barreled heavy gun, is far more than these merchant ships that only carry self-defense guns.

Moreover, because the technology used by the Xuan army is relatively advanced, and the quality of raw materials is very good, the propellant packs used in these 10-pound long-barreled heavy guns have reached a terrifying number, and its range and power have almost reached the level of the 18-pound long-barreled heavy guns in the West, which has formed a huge deterrent to the enemy.

Therefore, the Dutch fleet, shocked by the firepower of the 12 fast crabs that arrived quickly, quickly apologized for their actions and expressed their willingness to compensate for the damage.

In the end, he revealed that he hoped to negotiate, hoping that Xuan Jun would be able to buy the goods they had shipped.

However, Xuan Jun was not interested in the other party's proposal that Xuan Jun buy the materials they brought.

The silk, porcelain, tea, and steel brought by the Dutch were not what the Xuan army needed, and the price was so outrageous that they were simply taking advantage of themselves.

Of course, this is just a pretext, the actual reason is that the Xuan army is preparing for war, preparing for the attack of the 120,000 Houjin army, and there is no silver to buy these luxury goods.

The two sides did not negotiate, but they were pointed at by more than a dozen fast crabs and hundreds of artillery, and the Dutch did not dare to turn their faces as if they were treating the natives of Indonesia, so they could only hold back their anger and go back.

Obviously, the other party did not give up.

The captain, as the head of the Kyushu region who trusted Chen's life, knew that things could not be good after the Dutch retreated last year.

However, Chen Xin's side had been holding off with Houjin, and the captain did not dare to disturb him, so just in case, he sent a few fast crabs to the waters near Taiwan occupied by the Dutch and set up an observation post.

This year, during the monsoon season, just as Chen Xin and Houjin were in a decisive battle, the Dutch people came again.

However, this time, the fleet brought by the other party is no longer a simple merchant ship.