The Dutchman Van Gate is actually a real big man, and his ridiculous name, if translated more accurately, would be Anthony. Fan. Dimen. He was born in 1593 in the city of Ullenberg, in the United Republic of the Netherlands. Growing up, he worked as a sailor and a trader, and once owned his own merchant ship. However, in the end, due to bad luck, the business failed, and he had to join the Dutch East India Company to work.

However, he was at ease in the Dutch East India Company and made a lot of big deals. From 1618 onwards, he was sent to the East by the company, based in Batavia, the stronghold of the Dutch East Indies. From captain to commander of the Dutch East India Fleet, he also received the rank of admiral.

By 1636, he had become more prosperous and became the Viceroy of the Dutch East Indies!

Two years after he became governor-general, he provoked a war against the colonial powers of Portugal in the East! In 1641 he occupied the Portuguese colony of Ceylon, in 1644 he occupied the Portuguese colony in Malacca, and forced the Portuguese governor of Goa to sue for peace with the Dutch East India Company.

And while fighting the Portuguese, Anthony . . . Fan. Diemen also went to war with Spain, the sworn enemy of the Dutch, which began in 1568 and ended in 1648, lasting for 80 years, known as the "80 Years' War", which is now the end of the 80 Years' War. The Spanish Empire is in decline, while the Dutch Republic is in full swing! Therefore, the Dutch also won the war with the Spaniards in the Far East, and the stronghold on the island of Taiwan was taken by the Dutch from the Spaniards......

Also, Anthony. Fan. During his reign, Dimmen also opened trade between the Netherlands and two eastern countries, Vietnam and Japan.

However, the adventure of such a successful European colonist in the East also suffered major setbacks.

It's not the 19th century...... Although China, the great empire that ruled the eastern world, had reached the time of internal and external difficulties, it was precisely because of the weakening of the central dynasty that the originally suppressed Chinese maritime (pirate) power has developed greatly. Among them, the most powerful "Eighteen Zhi" went one step further and became the "sea lord" of the Ming Dynasty, and also established a powerful coastal sea army with the big bird ship and the half-central and half-western junk ship as the main force.

And defeated the navy of the Dutch East India Company in the Battle of Liaoluo Bay in 1633!

After this naval battle, the Dutch lost the right to trade along the coast of China, which was tantamount to squeezing the Dutch East India Company out of the huge Chinese market!

Although the Dutch East India Company is doing the country's business, its essence is still a company for the purpose of making money, and losing the Chinese market is equivalent to losing huge profits!

So in Anthony. Fan. After taking over as Governor of the Dutch East Indies, Dimon's top priority was to reopen the door to the Chinese market...... But he could not use his best method, that is, war, to deal with China.

Because he couldn't defeat Zheng Zhilong's huge number of offshore divisions...... Even the mobilization of a large fleet from the Dutch mainland would not be enough to completely destroy Zheng Zhilong's sailors and force the Central Dynasty to submit.

As long as the Central Dynasty did not give in, Zheng Zhilong could quickly rebuild the fleet, and even if he could not defeat the Dutch through the decisive battle of the fleet, he could use pirate tactics to continuously attack the Dutch merchant ships, thereby cutting off the Japanese trade routes of the Dutch East India Company.

The loss of both China and Japan was a disaster for the Dutch East India Company's financial statements – the company's shareholders wanted profits and dividends, not how many Chinese of pirate ships had been sunk by the company's fleet......

Hence Anthony. Fan. During Diemen's tenure of more than a decade, the Dutch East India Company had no choice but to move around the periphery of the Chinese market...... Of course, it is not completely out of necessity, and launching a war of invasion on land may be able to force the central dynasty to submit.

But Anthony. Fan. Dimen only has the available troops at hand, and he only has more than 1,000 army forces in Taiwan, and relying on this person may not even succeed in expelling the Zheng family's thugs on the island of Taiwan!

And more of the Army...... That means more investment and more uncertainty. With the company's financial resources, it is impossible to make such a big gamble - let alone losing, even if it is a protracted war, the company will go out of business!

Right here at Anthony. Fan. It was time for Dimon to completely lose his heart on the Chinese market and start planning a full-scale conquest of Java. His nephew, who is also the company's trade representative in Japan, Bruce Brown. Fan. Dimon suddenly arrives in Batavia and brings shocking news.

His Royal Highness, the Crown Prince and Regent of the Central Dynasty, hoped that the Dutch East India Company could send a high-ranking delegation to visit Nanjing. Because the Central Dynasty is experiencing an unprecedented crisis, the northern territories of the empire are occupied by the Tatars, and His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is seeking help from the Westerners in order to regain the lost territory, especially the help of the powerful United Republic of the Netherlands!

For Anthony. Fan. For Dimen, this is a pie-in-the-sky thing, because arms and mercenaries are the company's business.

Now that the crown prince of China has come to the door, what else is the East India Company polite? Of course, the big knife has been sharpened and sharpened, and it is ready to be slaughtered.

Open trade is no longer a problem - how can you buy and sell arms and provide mercenaries without opening up?

Anthony. Fan. Dimen wanted more! For example, the concessions like Ho O, the free trade monopolized by the East India Company, and of course, the freedom of navigation of East India Company ships along the coast of China and inland waterways......

So Anthony. Fan. Dimon couldn't wait for the plague that had killed him in history to begin to spread in Batavia, so he boarded a Galen ship, pulled a shipload of guns and gunpowder, and headed north, and during the voyage, he and his brother Bruce were impatient to prepare a thick stack of unequal treaties for Zhu Cihong!

Just waiting for the frightened Chinese crown prince of the Northern Tatars to sign and draw the ......

In the autumn of 1645, they finally arrived at the "Shanghai Free City" under construction, and were warmly received by the "mayor" Luo Dagong.

The port and streets of the "Shanghai Free City" under construction, the surprisingly efficient Chinese officials, the affluent city he saw on the way from Shanghai to Nanjing, the well-developed water and land transportation network, the thriving industry and commerce, and the lax armament of the city, all made Anthony . Fan. Dimon saw hope of inducing the crown prince of China to sign a treaty in favor of the Dutch East India Company!

"It's impossible...... Your Excellency the Governor, I can assure you that you will return from China as a hero of the United Provinces. But the crown prince of China will not sign this treaty, it is completely impossible, your request is so absurd, how could he agree to lease Shanghai to the Dutch East India Company? Are you ready to go to war with the Ming Empire? Are you bringing all the land forces of the United Provinces to Taiwan? ”

On the morning of the first day of August in the eighteenth year of Chongzhen of the Ming Dynasty, on the tower of Yifengmen City in Nanjing, a group of Westerners were accompanied by Han Lin, Luo Dagong and Xu Ermo and other Ming officials, waiting to watch the triumphant appearance of the Ming New Army. Among them, there is also John Tang, who is both a Westerner and a Ming official.

John Tong was standing at Anthony at this time. Fan. Dimon was beside him, and he spoke to him in French about the treaty - Anthony. Fan. Di Men had arrived in Nanjing a day earlier, and John Tang, who was the secretary of the Tongwen Pavilion of the Ministry of Rites, was in charge of entertaining Fan. Dimon and his party. And Fan. Dimon took the opportunity to give John Tong a consulting fee, and then handed over the unequal treaty prepared for the realization to John Tong to study.

"Why do you need so many troops?" Fan. Dimon was puzzled.

Tang Ruowang just smiled: "You will know soon...... It didn't take long to find out! ”