The news of the presence of Australians in Formosa made the East India Company dignitaries in Batavia nervous, and although the operation of the merchant house was unsatisfactory, and the importance of the trade agreement with the Australians dropped significantly, the position of Formosa as a direct window for trade with China was still significant.

The Australians sent ships to spy on Formosa, which was terrible news for the Dutch. To this end, the councils of De=Carpentil and Batavia sent Magdeburg to Lingao during the typhoon season to find out the news.

Trini understood that they were in such a hurry, and he pondered for a moment and said, "In the past few months, I can feel that they are planning a big operation. But I can't say that such an action is directed against the company. ”

He then talked about the large-scale activities he had witnessed in Lingao: large imports and exports, frequent transfers of personnel, and active shipbuilding operations. He clearly felt that the Australians had entered a state of imminent war.

"All the Australian agencies, factories and ships are running at full speed," Mr Trini said, "especially with the frequent entry and exit of ships in and out of the port. With a constant flow of goods in and out, you know, it's not trade season. ”

"In that case, why do you think that the Australians' preparatory actions are not directed at the company?"

"It's simple. Because they are procuring equipment for use in the cold regions of the north. "Many of the orders they submitted to the company covered supplies that could not be used in Formosa. I think you're well aware of that, too. ”

After his reminder, Van = Drantron remembered that the Australians had recently ordered a lot of woolen and leather, as well as raw wool from bōs and raw Indian cotton. None of these goods can be used in Formosa.

"Secondly, with all due respect: I don't think that with the whole liliang of the company in East Asia, it is not yet necessary for the Australians to prepare for war so extensively. Their opponents are much stronger and much larger than our masters. ”

Van = Drantion nodded: "You have a point. However, in order to reassure the Governor and the councillors, I would love to know exactly where they want to go and where they are going. ”

"I think the target they chose was the Ming Kingdom, that is, the Chinese. They may have gone to Formosa for various motives, such as getting a stopover, which I don't know......"

"Please go on."

"The Ming Kingdom is vast, populous, and possessed incomparably vast wealth, and the Australians have traveled thousands of miles to East Asia, and have such a powerful military liliang, I would be surprised if there were no Ming kingdoms in their conquest and plunder." "What's more, they deliberately chose Lingao. ”

"Well, assuming that the Australians are about to launch an expedition against the Ming Kingdom, what do you think is their chance of victory?"

"There is no doubt that they can easily defeat the squadron ten times their size, but it is obviously difficult to conquer the whole of China, at least not in the short term." "China is so vast that to conquer such a country, the Australians are a little bit smaller," Trini said. ”

"Assumptions, just assumptions. If the company were to go to war with the Australians one day, would it be able to achieve a favorable and peaceful ending? ”

"I'm afraid it's going to be hard, I'm afraid it's going to be difficult. Peace is a certainty, but it may not end favorably. "The military potential of the Australians is staggering. Once it's up and running, I'm afraid there will be no one to match them. ”

"What if their potential has not yet been realized?"

"Is that part of your mission?"

"There are three or four directors and you have to understand that they are the masters, and they are not in Batavia. So they asked for an evaluation...... Is it worth taking the territory of the Australians. ”

Lingao is more lively and prosperous than the barren adults. It has also been fully built, with many military industries and large shipyards, and its comprehensive strength is much stronger than that of Macao by the Portuguese. If it can be captured, it will obviously be an ideal base for trade with China and even East Asia.

The Senate was well aware of the task that Trini had been delegated, but did not mind it.

The Senate, as it was about to carry out Operation Engine, did not want to distract its forces from the surprise attackers, and was keen to show the Dutch that their military might was not something that anyone could challenge.

As a result, Trini was sometimes even invited by the Ministry of Foreign Intelligence to visit army and navy training, and was allowed to draw the army at close range. It's just that Australians have a lot of requirements for painting, such as requiring the head to body ratio of soldiers to be drawn at 1:7, muscles to be drawn in Greek style, and shoulders to be the same as the shape of Germanic people......

However, these were similar to Renaissance scholastic paintings, and Trini was happy to complete them.

"I don't mean to offend you, but the idea is crazy. Australians have great confidence in their own force, and they show me it very casually, and ask me to keep sending the album back to Batavia. ”

"And what do you think?"

"In my personal observation, the Australian soldiers are actually local aborigines, and the vast majority of them are Chinese. Only a very small number of officers were Australians. When they recruited soldiers from the mainland, they were in very poor physique, not much better than the monkeys of Southeast Asia. But now the speed and accuracy of their muskets are terrifying. I've never seen such a strong professional soldier...... The officers were also very good, led by some Australian professional soldiers who were no less than Gustav's officers, and I have seen them many times, get up before dawn and walk silently from one county to another. ”

"That is, they didn't maneuver on foot because they didn't have boats."

"They just let their army practice quickly climbing over the mountains and then immediately going into battle, and in fact every soldier has to do this kind of exercise."

"The Great Hannibal?

"It's hard for me to say if they're on the level of Hannibal, Your Excellency, but they're clearly superior to most of the armies I've seen."

"As for the ships, they don't have enough yet. There will be many of them later, though. Excellency. Be sure to take this book back with you and tell you in Badawi that the Australians built a sailboat of several hundred tons in 14 weeks. ”

"What?!"

"Their shipyard is very efficient, but I never came close, and from a distance, it seemed like there were many ships being built side by side at the same time, and a second of the same ship was launched after the KO day."

"It's amazing, I think I should check it out with my own eyes."

"Before you go, you'll see the next one in the water"

"Do you think Australians will have any intention of going south?"

"It's a matter of time." Trini smiled, "When you have a great army and a powerful fleet, will you let them go home and farm?" ”

"Your work is really outstanding, and I will guarantee you to the Council of Batavia"

"It's okay, you don't have to. I am an Italian, Italians do not have a homeland, my homeland is the job that my employer gave me"

"What do you think of Lingao?"

"I wish Lingao was in Italy."

"Fortunately, Lingao is not in Italy." Van = Drantion said.

"It doesn't matter where Lingao is." Realizing that Van = Dratron's inquiry had come to an end, Trini stood up, took out a bottle of rum from the wine cabinet, two more bottles of "soda" and two glasses, took some crushed ice from the "fridge", and mixed two rum soda shots in the local fashion.

"Delightful enjoyment." Van = Drantion drank it and appreciated.

"Let our hosts think about their ambitions or goals. Now I have an Australian project to propose to the Council. ”

"Oh? Did the Australians bring it up? ”

"Yes, the Australians provided me with a batch of agricultural books and drawings and asked me to translate them into a picture book." Trini said as he handed him a thick notebook, sat down on the couch, and continued, "The Australians are going to provide us with some seedlings for the company to plant on one of the small islands of the Moluccas, and they will buy the mature crops. ”

"What is it?"

"To me, it looks like a rubber tree."

"Rubber trees?" Although rubber trees and rubber were known in Columbus time, Europeans were still unfamiliar with the plant at this time. Trini also had some knowledge of naturalism to recognize this plant, which is not seen in Europe.

"Yes, a plant ...... of the Americas"

Trini came interested: "They've been to the Americas too? ”

"Quite possibly, otherwise how would they be able to provide seedlings for rubber trees."

"What do they want these rubber trees for? Why not plant on the land they occupy You said, the Australians now actually occupy the entire island. ”

"I think it's because they don't have enough labor. As for the role of the rubber tree, I don't know. Trini knew that the rubber tree secreted a sticky colloid, which the Indians used as a kick for a ball, or to apply it to a cloth to repel water, but once it dried, it hardened and had little practical value.

The Australians asked the company to grow this plant, apparently because they had mastered some kind of jishu that used this colloid, and the Jishu Moluccas, which is hotter and rainier than Lingao, is similar to the climate of the origin of rubber. It's no surprise that Australians think so.

"Also, I don't think the Australians, if they want the company to promote the cultivation of these crops in the Moluccas, will not be interested in the company's property for at least seven years, otherwise their investment will be worthless?"

"Weishenme is ten years?"

"Because it takes at least seven years for rubber to grow to produce the rubber they need."