The Governor didn't believe that there could be a ship of this size, made of iron, not to mention that there was a place where so much steel could be made, and more importantly, it was rumored that the ship did not need sails and could sail on its own. In his opinion, if there is such a thing: either it is a miracle of God or, more likely, a trick of the devil.

But he was more interested in the so-called Australian goods - whether they were shipped from "Australia" or made in Lingao?

There is no mention of "Australia" in the library of the Dutch East India Company, and as for "Lingao", they only know that it is a small city of no commercial value, and there are hundreds of such small cities in China. To say that such a small city could suddenly produce so many novelty and high-quality goods, the Governor could not have imagined.?

There are too many mysteries in Lingao's Australians, which is the main reason why he can't wait to spend a lot of money to hire Li Siya to inquire about love protection. The "little shopkeepers" never spend money indiscriminately. Four thousand guilders may be a lot, but it is really nothing to find out the future trend of the maritime situation in Southeast Asia and even the whole of East Asia.

Only with sufficient intelligence can Batavia formulate a suitable policy toward Australia. Will it be a trading partner or will it be a merciless attack to completely destroy this nascent liliang? Or what kind of means will be used to exploit and contain the presence of Australians in the South China Sea?

The Dutch East India Company was the first "real capitalist enterprise" on Shijie, and its capitalism was thorough, ruthless, and built on the most naked commercial monopolies and super-profits. Companies are equally ruthless towards their partners, friends, employees, and enemies. It's a supremacist through and through.

Even for the senior employees of the company, the Dutch East India Company in the East Indies was the most successful in applying the law of the jungle!

To the Governor, the Australians were neither enemies nor friends. What role the Australians will play depends on the Liliang of the Australians and their place in the overall East Asian trading system.

If the Australians were too weak to shake the company's monopoly, they could act as a suitable trading partner, acting as a supplier of goods from the Far East, like the Ming Dynasty: if their liliang was strong and threatened the East India Company's monopoly, containing the Australians would be a priority. Just as they spared no effort to contain and squeeze out the British in the seizure of the Indies, and to fight the Portuguese in Japan; Like suppressing Zheng Zhilong off the coast of China - the East India Company did not like competition.

"You can go down and rest." The Governor took out a check from a drawer, "Go to the treasurer and get the money." You can take a good break for a few days. ”

"Lord Xiexie." Gonzalez bowed, picked up the check, and returned it. The next day, the Governor carefully read the German version of Li Li's answers to the 121 questions. She answered every question raised by the council, and even on those questions to which she answered "I don't know", there was a speculation, a rumor, and her personal assessment of it. The Governor felt that Lysya's appearance was worthy of the reward she was demanding.

First of all, Li Siya clearly answered the question of who Australians are.

Australians are Chinese – this is confirmed by their language, culture and national identity. But while they consider themselves "Chinese," they are very different from the Chinese—with very different cultures, systems, and etiquette.

Li Siya said in the report: The difference between them and the Chinese is no less than the difference between the Europeans and the Chinese, and the difference may even be greater. In addition, there are people of European descent among Australians. There are at least 2-3 people. According to intelligence, this European also enjoys the status of a so-called "patriarch...... The "senators" in Lingao were between 500 and 600 people. Among the patriarchs was a European-style "council" system. There are nine highest-ranking councillors holding full power. Formally, however, all the senators enjoyed the same political powers, forming a body called the "Senate". Theoretically, all major policies should be decided by a majority of the Senate.

Li Siya said in the report: They seem to be practicing a joint-stock cooperative relationship, because the elders will from time to time confide in words such as "shares" and "dividends" in their speeches. From time to time, disputes also arise over the power of the so-called senators.

"Is this the Australian East India Company?" Seeing this, the governor couldn't help but say.

Most of the goods used by Australians for trade were manufactured in Lingao. Li Siya used exaggerated space to elaborate on the strong manufacturing industry owned by Australians in Lingao, in fact, neither Li Huamei nor Lando's report did not describe much about the productivity of Lingao. Li Huamei is generally not allowed to enter the core area of Lingao, and the report that Lando gave her has been specially revised by the Foreign Intelligence Bureau, which does not want outsiders to truly understand Lingao's level of productivity. However, Li Siya was bent on facilitating the Dutch war against Lingao, and exaggerated on the basis of these two reports. Describing Lingao as a place of extreme material abundance also renders the productivity of the Australian people's workshops. Zuihou, she used four full pages to write the extravagant words of the Australian patriarch in Lingao: from facts to rumors. Chief among them are their extravagant toilets and bathrooms.

She believed that the abundant booty was enough to stir up the great greed of the Dutch. This led to the Dutch attacking the Australians. Of course, the Dutch are no match for the Australians. It would be of great benefit to her that the two sides would fight and consume each other.

Sure enough, this large section of ornate text made the governor's eyes sparkle. The ring-wearing fingers also curled up and tapped on the armrest. But it didn't take long for the governor to calm down: he was, after all, a sane Dutchman. You won't be easily impressed by pompous Latin rhetoric. In his opinion, this is the same as when the Spaniards came to the Americas, preaching that gold and silver were everywhere: there was authenticity, but it was difficult to obtain gold and silver.

Of course, the Australians in Lingao are very wealthy, but their ability to occupy a city under the rule of the Ming Dynasty, which has a very rigid attitude towards the outside world, shows that the strength of the Australians is not trivial. In those years, the East India Company launched several expeditions to China, but they did not get the desired results.

Regarding the strength of the Australians, it is said in the report that in addition to the Australian patriarchs, the local Chinese who were recruited by the Australians in Guangdong and the indigenous people who depended on them in Lingao. The total number is not clear. It is estimated to be between fifty thousand and one hundred thousand. These men served as slaves, soldiers, serfs and artisans for Australians.

The exact number of Australians having troops is unknown; But there were at least three or four companies of well-trained infantry, all but a few officers, all of whom were indigenous Chinese, and the infantry was trained and well-equipped in European style, and was lighter in firearms than those used by European armies, and was so powerful that they outperformed all light firearms in Europe. Li Siya deliberately described the Mini rifle and the Derringer pistol. The Australians also have artillery, which is also excellent. But there are very few of them. Li Siya gave a detailed description of the coastal torch in Bopu, and also drew the specific location, terrain and artillery firing range of the coastal fort. This surprised the Governor: Li Siya is indeed an extraordinary woman! I paid more and more attention to her.

On the maritime liliang side, which the governor was most concerned about, they had about a hundred ships, all of which were "junk ships" collected locally in Guangdong, and except for a few ships, the tonnage was not large. They also own several European-style ships. In addition, there are iron clippers brought from Australia.

Li Siya set up an ambush here, she knew very well from Li Huamei and Lando about the power of the "Iron Clipper" possessed by the Australians, but she was not at a loss in the description - not to mention how powerful it was. She didn't want the Dutch to have the impression that the Australians were very powerful at sea—once the Dutch were afraid of the high sea, Liliang would not easily launch a military attack on the Australians.

It took the Governor a morning to read the report. Through this report, he gained a good understanding of Australians. Clearly, the Australians are a strong shili, but they don't yet have access to long-haul maritime trade routes. This is a great opportunity for the company. It seems necessary to open a trade route between Dayuan and Lingao as soon as possible.

He opened the map on the table, carefully examined the height of the ringing that had just been marked a short time ago, and measured it with a ruler. He found that Lingao's location was not remote on the Southeast Asian trade route, and it should be a good trading port.

de Carpentier was thinking. There was a knock on the door outside.

"Come in!" He looked up, and in came his squire.

"What's the matter?"

"The representative of Liu Laoxiang from Guangdong came. Did you see him? ”

"Of course." de Carpentier nodded, "Please let him in." ”

Liu Xiang and the Dutch had a certain amount of cooperation - of course, this cooperation was caused by Liu Xiang's strength, Liu Xiang's gang suddenly rose from the apocalypse year on the coast of Guangdong, and soon controlled the sea areas near the mouth of the Fenjiang River, and was once known as the overlord of the Guangdong ocean.

In the expansion to the Fujian Ocean, he and Zheng Zhilong gradually clashed, and the Dutch also needed a Shili that could contain Zheng Yiguan, who was growing and growing, and the two sides hit it off.