After Li Chenfang fought from the east road to the city of Batavia, three days later, Qi Zuguang also led the Ming army from the west road to Batavia, and joined Li Chenfang under the city of Batavia. Compared with the Eastern Route Army, the losses of the Western Route Army were much better. Many Taiwanese Gaoshan people in the Ming army were very good at climbing cliffs, and the back of Tarahan Port attacked by the Ming army was a coastal cliff hit by the waves of the Indian Ocean, which was regarded by the Dutch as the natural city wall of Tarahan Port, so they did not take much precautions.

Qi Zuguang launched several feints in front of Tarahan Harbor, attracting the attention of the defenders, so he sent 50 Gaoshan soldiers to climb up the coastal cliff on the back of Tarahan Harbor one night, and these Gaoshan soldiers took advantage of the night to capture the two most important forts northwest of Tarahan Harbor, setting up a miracle for the Ming army to seize the port in the early morning of the next day.

Batavia had always regarded the western side as a safe zone, because the reef outside the port of Tarahan was so difficult to defend that they did not build any forts on this road. After the Ming army captured the port of Talahan, the road to Batavia was much smoother than that of the Western Route Army.

Coupled with the devastating attack of the Western Route Army, the Dutch no longer had the intention of defending the stronghold outside the city, so they withdrew the defenders of the Eastern Route from the city. Therefore, when the Japanese soldiers under Li Chenfang saw the Ming army, which had suffered almost no losses, they couldn't help but be shocked. The Japanese officers led by Maori Katsuya once again estimated the combat effectiveness of the Ming army by a level, which also made the Osaka Second Division, which had just experienced a bloody battle, still dare not be arrogant in front of the Ming army.

After the two armies converged, an army of more than 4,000 people appeared outside the city of Batavia, but this army still maintained the posture of attacking Batavia from the east and west, and there were still no troops stationed in the south.

This is due to the fact that the topography of Batavia is high in the south and low in the north, and the forests and mountains in the south receive more than 300 days of rain a year, bringing 13 rivers running through the city, and the south of the city is also the most swampy area. This kind of terrain naturally could not be besieged by troops, so the ASEAN army could only attack from the east and west sides of the city.

However, at this time, the ASEAN Army led by Li Chenfang also encountered a problem, and the rainy season in Batavia arrived. Although the rainy season has lowered the local temperature, it is also more likely to cause diseases among soldiers sleeping in the wild, and it has greatly affected the firing of firearms by the ASEAN army.

Although it seemed that the attacking army was more disadvantaged, the Dutch in the city had completely lost the courage to fight. The Japanese attack on the eastern route frightened not only the new troops of the Osaka shogunate, but also the Dutch merchants and soldiers in the city.

The staff of the Dutch East India Company were not unexperienced in colonial warfare, nor were they unfamiliar with fierce and savage natives. But the employees of the company were never afraid of such a war, because they knew that victory would be their own, and they had cannons, muskets, and ships, and it was good for the natives to have an iron machete.

But today's war was different, Batavia had been blockaded by the ASEAN fleet, and the Eastern armies on land used the same cannons and muskets. But these Eastern soldiers did not seem to understand at all what a civilized war was, and they did not want to take prisoners when they were at an advantage, and refused to surrender when they were at a disadvantage. Unless the Dutch surrendered before the war began, they had to fight until one side was completely dead, a way of fighting that was completely out of the imagination of the Dutch.

The Dutch Republic is nothing more than a country of millions of people, and if every battle had to be fought to the point of life and death, the Dutch Republic would have ceased to exist a long time ago. Former Governor General Peter. A warlike Dutchman like Kun was, after all, a minority within the Republic. Most people are still ordinary businessmen, and they can not give up when they have the upper hand, but when the enemy is strong, they have to think about the safety of their lives and property.

Even if the enemy troops outside the city were in trouble because of the arrival of the rainy season, but looking at the rubber ponchos worn by the enemy soldiers and the canopies that were driving the natives to cut wood, the Dutch in the city also knew that this was just a small trouble, and it was impossible to make the enemy retreat.

But there were less than 1,000 Dutch soldiers left in the city, although there were still 549 volunteers, more than twice as many as the soldiers outside the city. Not to mention, there are nearly 4,000 Chinese residents in the city, and God knows what they will do if the enemy forces outside the city start to attack the city.

Therefore, when Li Chenfang again sent an ultimatum demanding that the Dutch go out of the city and surrender, the parliamentarians and military officers of Batavia finally could not resist asking Governor Anthony van Diemen to carefully consider the conditions of the Chinese.

Although Anthony van Diemen had moved his lodgings to the castle at the mouth of the river, the soldiers in the castle looked at him with no respect, which made his back chill from time to time, and he did not feel a sense of security at all.

William, who also felt that his future was bleak. Kick also quietly ran to persuade him, hoping that Anthony van Diemen would accept the final peace proposal handed by the Chinese.

Anthony Van Diemen, whose eyes were bloodshot, held his head in his office and said in frustration: "What's the difference between surrendering now and waiting for them to storm the castle?" The company's interests will suffer greatly anyway, will my fate be worse? I might as well keep my reputation and fight until the last moment, at least I can die with dignity. ”

William. Naturally, Kick did not want Anthony van Diemen to choose this path that would end for everyone, so he hastened to persuade him: "Of course it is different, Your Excellency the Governor. If we negotiate with the Chinese now, at least we can keep Batavia, so that at least the company can still have a foothold in Southeast Asia.

But if we continue to persevere, I am afraid that even the city of Batavia will be lost. Wouldn't the Governor-General's Governor-General want to see the company's decades of development in Southeast Asia ruined, and even if we die here, the directors of the company will not attack our family back home? ”

Anthony van Diemen was silent for a long time before he said: "They are now only one step away from victory, will they really agree to keep Batavia to the company?" ”

Seeing that the governor's mind was shaken, William. immediately nodded and said, "Even if they are only one step away from victory, they will have to pay a lot of price if they want to capture Batavia in the rainy season."

Besides, what the ASEAN countries want is nothing more than the interests of the Spice Islands and Sado Island, and Batavia does not have much interest for them, so it is impossible to risk a full-scale war with the company to fight us to the end.

Even if the company loses Batavia, in the Atlantic and Indian Oceans, we still have a strong power to cut off trade routes between China and Europe, and I believe the Chinese should have some scruples. ”

Anthony van Diemen is still thinking about William. When Kirk analyzed, the other party said to him again: "Your Excellency the Governor, now surrender to the Chinese, you can also use the council to share the responsibility for surrender."

Once the war starts again, those councillors may unite with the city's army to hold you hostage and surrender to the ASEAN on your behalf, and you will be a complete scapegoat for the defeat of this war.

We should take advantage of the opportunity of this negotiation to achieve a good outcome as much as possible. Then exchange Lord Putmans back, and your responsibilities will be reduced as much as possible..."

Anthony van Diemen quickly understood Willem. Kicker's hint was clearly that he was going to use the opportunity of the negotiations to drag the council members into the water, and then the coalition members would shift the blame for the defeat onto Putmans. He only looked down and thought for a moment, and knew that this was the only way for him to survive now. Although this plan is shameless, Anthony Van Diemen is willing to end his life here.

He finally nodded and said, "I will have a good talk with the members of the council, you call Su Minggang to go out quietly from the west gate, and talk to the Chinese about the framework first." As long as the Chinese are willing to let us keep the city of Batavia, and the commercial trade activities between the company and China are not affected, then we are willing to go out of the city and surrender. Otherwise, I'd rather die here..."

In July of the ninth year of Chongzhen, the tomb of Emperor Xizong was finally completed. In September, Chongzhen brought the vassal kings and relatives of the clan in Beijing and the old ministers of the Xizong Emperor period to Deling to pay respects.

Although the original construction of Deling because of the shortage of the national treasury, had to be built in installments, but with the internal affairs of the government after the sufficient, Chongzhen increased the allocation for Deling, and even revised the construction drawings of Deling several times, which made Deling finally completed when the construction was completed, a total of more than 480 yuan was spent, nearly double the budget.

The cost of Deling is so high, it is indeed extravagant in Chongzhen's eyes, but he also used the construction investment of Deling to firmly suppress the dissatisfaction of those clans, so that the clans everywhere could not hit his reputation with the crime of weak family affection, and also made the imperial sister-in-law Zhang always stand on his side.

For Empress Zhang of Yi'an, the reputation of Emperor Xizong is now equated with hers. Although when Chongzhen ascended the throne, she wanted to overturn the case for the Donglin Party because she was angry with Wei Zhongxian and others, but under the persuasion of Chongzhen and Zhou Hou, she finally slowly dispelled her idea.

After a few years, Zhang finally came to his senses. Overturning the case for the Donglin Party is actually slapping Emperor Xizong's face, and those who persuaded her to overturn the case actually didn't think about her. Once Emperor Xizong's reputation for using eunuchs to suppress righteous gentlemen spread, the people naturally regarded him as a faint monarch, which was never a good thing for her, the former queen.

And the brother's bones are not cold, Chongzhen is going to overturn the case for the Donglin Party, which not only shows that Emperor Xizong does not know anyone, but also indirectly shows Chongzhen's indifferent personality. The Donglin Party members, who were personally proved by Chongzhen to be upright men and gentlemen, also occupied the moral high ground, and could manipulate public opinion to criticize the actions of the emperor and the court at any time, thereby affecting the people's perception of the imperial court's policies.

That is, the young Chongzhen had a firm idea, and in order to protect his brother's reputation, he never agreed to overturn the case for the Donglin Party, but only pardoned those Donglin Party members who were questioned for their crimes. This also made the Donglin Party people never able to turn over, and were finally divided and disintegrated by the emperor, which can be regarded as quelling the party struggle during the Apocalypse.

Even if some Donglin Party members and their disciples were dissatisfied, they could not criticize Chongzhen's behavior. Because Chongzhen's practice is exactly what Confucianism admires, it is also very consistent with the words loyalty and filial piety. The self-proclaimed upright gentleman of the Donglin Party naturally couldn't ask Chongzhen to violate the ethics and morals respected by Confucianism, so he could only swallow this breath silently.

Zhang, who came to his senses, was very grateful to Chongzhen, and felt that the heir chosen by her husband was indeed not wrong. Zhang didn't want to interfere in state affairs, she felt that Chongzhen had done well enough. But thinking of something is not only a state affair, but also a family affair, so I have to take this opportunity to persuade Chongzhen.

When the emperor accompanied her into the hall to worship, Zhang couldn't help but say to Chongzhen: "Your Majesty, the concubine has a sentence that I don't know whether to say or not. ”

Although Zhang is not a few years older than Chongzhen, Chongzhen has always been very respectful to her, so he replied without squinting: "It doesn't hurt if sister-in-law has anything to say, just listen to it." ”

Zhang glanced at him, and said seriously: "Your Majesty now has three princes, shouldn't these vassal kings also be sent back to their fiefdoms?" The prince of Fu Wang is now too good in the clan, and living in the capital for a long time is probably not a blessing for the country. ”

Zhu Youzhen subconsciously stopped, daring to ask the imperial sister-in-law something, but he endured it. He quickly returned to normalcy and continued his journey, and the large group behind him did not notice the emperor's movement.

After walking a few steps, Zhu Youzhen replied in a relaxed tone: "I have written down my sister-in-law's words." ”

After hearing this, Zhang stopped making a sound, slightly behind Chongzhen's shoulder, and silently followed Chongzhen towards the Xiangdian. When she watched Chongzhen perform three bows and nine bows to Emperor Xizong's god card amid the singing of the sacrificial officials, she couldn't help but feel very sad in her heart. She knew that Emperor Xizong's traces in the world would slowly pass away like her face, and then Da Ming would only remember the future of the young emperor in front of her.