Northwest coast of Java Island, Batavia, headquarters of the Dutch East India Company.

The conference room at the headquarters was packed with a room full of people, all of whom were high-ranking officials of the Batavia headquarters, and there were more than thirty people at a time, including a few who had disappeared in Donghu in China, including Lodwijk, John Niehoff, Vermeer, Berkelszon, and Van Dreyen.

The meeting was presided over by Governor Peter Ersson, who wore a black shirt and a bowler hat on the round table on his right hand, and now he watched with dissatisfaction the chattering room, which was very noisy because of the miasma.

Petersson was the third governor of Batavia, and it was under his leadership that the headquarters of the Dutch East India Company was established after he attacked and drove out the Turkish army on the island of Java, and was the basis for Dutch rule in the colonies of Java and the entire East Indies.

Since they encountered the rise of China, there have been a series of bad luck, first losing trade with Taiwan, then withdrawing from the Hirado branch in the island nation, and then losing trade with Siam and Burma, and the entire southeastern peninsula has been ceded to China.

The Dutch and the Chinese navy fought several battles, each time in defeat, and their territory in Asia became smaller and smaller, and now the East India Company's fleet could no longer sail into the Strait of Malacca.

In order to consolidate their position as maritime supremacy, they decided to enter into trade negotiations with China to regain the lost Asian trade through negotiations.

Unwilling to accept his defeat in Asia, Peterlsson convened this meeting to regain the position of the East India Company in Asia.

"Silence! Quiet! Petersson slammed his fist against the conference table, "Listen to me, I'll say a few words." ”

When the room finally fell silent, Petersson raised one of his palms and said, "Listen to me, our East India Company cannot go on like this, and we must take back our rights to operate in Asia." ”

A voice below said, "Excuse me, Governor, what should we do to get it, and you want us to say to the Chinese, 'All right, give us a piece of meat!'" Do you think the Chinese will give it to us? ”

Petersson squinted at the guy who had interrupted him, who sat second to last to his right, and he recognized the guy as Steve. Although he was unhappy in his heart, he didn't blame Steve, he cleared his throat and said, "Colleagues, please don't disturb me while I'm talking, Steve, your question just now is very good, I'll explain it to you later." ”

He raised his voice, "At present, the difficulty we are facing at present is that Huaxia has terminated its business activities with us, what should we do?" We cannot sit idly by. According to my analysis, it is still possible for Huaxia to trade with us, as long as we show enough sincerity. ”

"Reason ——?" The one named Steve shouted.

"The reason is simple." Instead of looking at Steve, Petersson glanced at the person on his left, "Although we have fought many battles with the Huaxia Navy, the Emperor of Huaxia still shows friendship to us, and we have signed an armistice agreement after negotiation, which is a good start, and we still hope to get back our share of trade in Asia." ”

At this time, Lodwijk, who was sitting on his left, stood up to help him: "Yes, Governor Peterson is right, he sent us to Huaxia, and we were warmly received by Huaxia in Huaxia, and they were friendly to us. ”

"They're friendly to us?" Steve stood up and said, "They have maximum control over our merchant ships, which is also called friendly?" Don't you see how they are friendly with the British? They signed an agreement with each other on trade exchanges, and I heard that Huaxia had also sold a steam-engine battleship to the British. ”

Vermeer also stood up: "We saw with our own eyes that this battleship did not fall into the hands of the British, this battleship had an accident as soon as it went to sea, and now it is gone. ”

Steve asked, "How did you see it with your own eyes?" ”

John Niehoff proved: "Is it also false that in the docks of Huaxia there are proclamations of search for battleships? ”

Steve said: "Whether their battleship is missing or not has nothing to do with us, let's not take the topic away." ”

Lodwijk retorted, "It's not that we said it, you brought it up yourself." ”

Governor Peterson also stood up and said, "Silence! Quiet! Don't argue. We are still discussing the question of how to establish trade relations with China. ”

A person at the meeting said: "The key is still the word 'interests', if we want to continue to do business with the Chinese, we must give some benefits to others." ”

Steve said: "Isn't it enough to warn all of you here that they are clearly stuck, not only have they cut off our spice trade, but they have also strictly controlled the sale of rice to us, and now we have to rely on our own food for food?" ”

"What do you say we do?" Lodwijk asked.

Steve said: "We have nothing to talk about with the Chinese, please Mr. Governor write a report to the board of directors, report to them the real situation here, and let the king send my powerful navy over to fight a decisive battle with the Chinese nation." ”

Peterson said: "Peace talks with China are exactly what the board of directors intended, and we signed the Peace of Westminster with Great Britain last year, ending a three-year naval war. At present, it is impossible for the Netherlands to engage in another large-scale naval battle in the near future, so the board of directors will certainly not agree to your request, and the king will not agree to it. ”

Just as these people were arguing fiercely, someone ran in and reported that the warships from Huaxia had called.

When such news was received at the venue, the scene suddenly became a pot of porridge.

Peter Ersson struck the conference table again and said, "Silence! Quiet!. Then he asked the messenger, "Do you see clearly?" Is it really the navy of China? ”

The visitor replied affirmatively: "I can see clearly, it is a battleship with black smoke." ”

As soon as they heard that it was a battleship emitting black smoke, the scene was chaotic again, and these people had all learned the power of the battleships of the Huaxia Kingdom.

Peterlsson had to bang on the conference table again and say, "Silence! Quiet! Now the meeting will be dismissed immediately, everyone hurry back and prepare, if it is really a Chinese attack, we will fight to the end in Batavia! ”

Before he could say something more, more than half of the people in the meeting had already left, and when he saw that Steve was still there, he ordered him: "Steve, lead your fleet and attack immediately!" ”