Thousands of miles away from Nanjing, Batavia City.

Batavia is also a city steeped in history, and has been a famous port for the export of pepper and spices since ancient times, and the locals call it Sunda Grapa, which means "land of coconut groves", or "the world of coconut groves".

In that year, the Muslim leader led the local natives to defeat the Portuguese fleet that came to colonize it, recovered Sunda Garaba and renamed it Jakarta, which means "City of Victory" and "Fortress of Glory", from which the name of Jakarta later evolved.

However, the Ming people who came from Guangdong and other places are accustomed to calling it "Coconut Jiada" or "Coconut City". Later expatriates in Fujian and other places called it "Bacheng".

By this time, the Dutch had taken the Dutch nickname "Batavia".

The Dutch spent a great deal of money and energy to occupy and administer the city of Ba permanently. In the early days, due to the sparse population of Batavia, the lack of food supplies, and the lack of timber to build ships and houses, the surrounding area was desolate swamps, and the villages were rarely inhabited, and the local natives were unusually primitive and unusable.

During the rainy season, the area is plagued by floods and is often infested with tigers, wild boars, rhinos and other predators, while it is also surrounded by hostility and threats from the surrounding Muslim kingdoms.

The Dutch spent a lot of money and food to bring huge stones from the stone quarries on the Coromandel coast in India, cut teak from Zabala in East Java, collected coral stones from the local area, and recruited a large number of reliable and hard-working craftsmen from the southeast coast of Daming to establish the ruins of Batavia at this time.

Most of the major construction projects in Bacheng, such as the excavation of canals and drainage channels, the construction of houses and harbors, and the construction of city walls and protective fortresses, were mostly contracted by Ming craftsmen. The Chinese workers were proficient in brick-making and brick-laying technology, which made the Dutch very praised, and at the same time full of fear of the Ming Dynasty.

In just over a decade, a Dutch castle, a castle, a town hall, a Christian church, a Latin school and a market district have emerged around Batavia, and a prosperous Dutch castle has sprung up.

However, at this time, with the completion of Batavia and the Dutch gaining a firm foothold here, the attitude of the Dutch towards the Ming Dynasty has changed greatly, from the original attitude of relying on Ming craftsmen and immigrants to the attitude of prevention, resistance, and even trying to suppress and exclude!

The activities of the Chinese people in Southeast Asia can be traced back a long time, and Chinese merchants were always in high status in Southeast Asia long before the Dutch arrived here in Batavia.

According to the "History of the Song Dynasty", "Those who come to China will stay in a hotel and eat a clean diet." "Whoever sees the Tang people in their country is very loving and respectful, and those who are drunk will be helped to go home and sleep, and treat them with courtesy." ”

In Zhenla, "the local people are the most simple, and the Tang people are quite awe-inspiring, calling it Buddha, and bowing to the ground when they see it." ("The Legend of the Wind and Soil of Chenla")

In Siam, "the people of the country are very courteous, and they are twice as good as they are in Siam...... If there is a wife who is with the Chinese, then he will drink and eat and sleep together, and his husband will not be strange, but my wife is beautiful and loved by the Chinese" ("Yingya Shenglan").

Because the Chinese people generally possess a high level of knowledge and skills, they can not only become local officials, but even enjoy some legal immunity. In Chenla, the law stipulates that all local natives who kill Tang people will be executed, and "Tang people who kill Tibetan people to death will also be fined heavily." If there is no gold, sell yourself to redeem yourself. "That is, if the Chinese kill the natives, as long as they spend money, they will be fine."

In Boon Lang and Kalimantan, adultery between a man and a woman is punishable by death, but the Chinese are exempt from fornication with a local woman, but they need to "cut their hair, and treat them as women's wives, and they will not obey them."

But all this changed when the Dutch came to Southeast Asia, and the status of the Chinese began to decline dramatically.

At this time, in the city of Batavia, the colonial chief of the Dutch Far East Company, Van Zerui, summoned all the stewards in the city and began to discuss the next policy towards the Ming Dynasty.

These people were all the Dutch leaders in Batavia at this time, and everyone had full power to decide the future of Batavia, and they did not have to report to the Netherlands for the time being.

"According to the news, the Ming people have reassembled a large number of fleets, and it seems that they are ready to continue fighting with us, what do you suggest?"

Fan Zerui looked at the crowd and asked loudly.

Everyone whispered, such a major matter, everyone did not dare to speak easily, you must know that the Ming is not a native of Batavia, it is a powerful empire, once the Ming Dynasty regards Batavia as the primary enemy, everyone almost unanimously believes that Batavia cannot be defended!

But even so, there are still many people who think that they must fight a few more battles to let Daming know: the Netherlands is invincible, and Batavia is impossible to touch!

These people believe that only by fighting the pain and fear of the Ming Dynasty can the Dutch maritime trade routes in the Far East be permanently maintained and the interests of the Netherlands can be maximized.

Others believe that the Ming is too big and too powerful, even if the Netherlands is also strong, but the mainland is too far away to support Batavia in time, and it is really unrealistic to want to start a war with the entire Ming Dynasty just by relying on Batavia.

These people believe that if the Ming Dynasty is serious, it will be possible to build several huge fleets in a short period of time, and even the Ming Dynasty may mobilize a large number of soldiers and horses across the sea to directly attack Batavia City!

At present, the Dutch troops in Batavia City are not very sufficient, and they are simply unable to resist the attack of the Ming Dynasty's huge forces.

The two sides insisted on their own opinions and did not give in to each other, and quarreled in the main official hall for a whole day, but still did not reach an agreement.

Fan Zerui was also very helpless when he saw this.

Originally, Fan Zerui was inclined to continue fighting, and he had already fought with Daming Shui Shi a few times, and he didn't take any advantage at all, and he couldn't swallow this breath in his heart.

But those who oppose continuing to fight, the reason is also very sufficient, in the words of the Ming Dynasty: that is, to fight a corner of the enemy, the chance of victory is very small, and the hope of victory must be pinned on the basis that the Ming Dynasty did not go all out, this is gambling.

Fan Zerui asked himself if he was not a complete gambler, so he naturally would not want to pin the future of Batavia on this, which is why he was so entangled.

The next day, Van Zerui convened the crowd again to discuss.

"Since we have already paid the price in the previous battles, we must recover the losses from the Akito, otherwise the dignity of the Netherlands will be damaged! You will definitely not tolerate the yellow-skinned monkey being so rampant! ”

"That's right! Fight until Akito realizes the seriousness of the situation and is willing to give up the trade routes to Korea and Japan, and compensate us for all our losses! ”

These people were all full of enthusiasm, and they were eager to send a fleet to attack immediately, but the enthusiasm of these people could not make Fan Zerui finally make up his mind.

"The Ming people are not Luzon natives, the Ming people also have fleets, artillery, and endless troops, the land of the Ming Dynasty is close to Batavia, and if it continues to fight, the situation will get out of control!"

"That's it! We are at war with the Ming to protect the trade routes, and if we let the Ming go all out and mobilize heavy troops and a huge fleet to attack Batavia, it will be more than worth the loss! ”

The opinions of these people also made Fan Zerui even more hesitant, and he was also worried that Da Ming would be angered by this, and sent troops south to directly attack Batavia.

At this time, everyone began to quarrel again, as yesterday, and the two sides refused to give in to each other.

Seeing this, Fan Zerui was also worried, and his heart was irritable.

At this moment, an attendant hurriedly ran in and handed over a piece of news from the Daming coast.

This move immediately quieted everyone, and they all looked at Fan Zerui in unison.

Fan Zerui looked at it, and his face became very ugly.

"I just got the news from the Jiangnan of the Ming Kingdom, the Emperor of the Ming Kingdom has requisitioned a huge fleet to join the fleet on Dongping Island in Shandong! At the same time, Shandong has also begun to frequently mobilize troops and horses! ”

Van Zerei's voice was filled with chagrin and remorse, as well as some fear.

When the rest of the people heard that the Ming Kingdom had mobilized a large army, they unanimously agreed that it must be an expedition to Batavia!

In this way, everyone's opinions are instantly unified.

Now that the Ming Dynasty has put on a posture and is ready to continue fighting, the Batavian Tatar Dutch can only respond to the battle and continue to fight this big war related to the future and fate of Batavia until they win! At the very least, we must defeat Akito's attack in this round first, and then we can think about anything else.

Seeing that everyone's opinions were unprecedentedly unified, Fan Zerui was also a little relieved, after all, now the internal unity has been achieved.

Then the crowd began to discuss how to meet the battle.

Under the auspices of Fan Zerui, everyone soon reached a consensus, that is, they must not sit back and wait for the Ming people to come to the door, after all, although the city of Batavia at this time is strong, but the city is too small, at best it is just a large castle, without any strategic depth to speak of.

Once the army of the Akito comes to the door, it means that the countdown to the fall of Batavia has begun!

Therefore, everyone thought that the Dutch fleet should attack north again, and beat the Ming fleet in the sea far from Batavia, so as to defuse the Ming attack on the vast sea.

Van Zerey then ordered a state of emergency in Batavia, and all the Dutch entered the city to defend it.

At the same time, Van Zerui ordered all the ships to be concentrated and prepared for the attack in a few days, and began to recruit soldiers, fortify the city and harbor, and push all the artillery onto the batteries and walls, and prepare to establish a defensive line.

In short, under the command of Van Zery, the Dutch in Batavia had already begun to prepare for war, and even mobilized the local natives, and once the fleet was defeated, a battle to defend Batavia!