Since its founding in 1602, the Dutch East India Company has spanned more than 40 years. In the intervening 40 years, the company has grown from a small scale of six ships to a huge business with more than 20 ships a year between the mainland and Batavia, and today it has 56 large ships (1641 figures) and an even larger number of Chinese junks in Asia, which is not comparable to 40 years ago.

The company's territory has also expanded many times in the past 40 years, from Batavia to Banda, from Ceylon to the Malabar Coast, from Bago to Formosa (Taiwan), from Bandar Abbas to Muha, from Turare to Cape Town, with dozens of trading posts on three continents, nearly 10,000 employees (including more than 3,000 sailors) and deep connections in various countries or regions.

It can be said that after these decades of development, the Dutch East India Company has gradually stepped back on the right track and has shaken off the financial nightmare that lingered in the first two decades of its existence. In those days, the Dutch were engaged in business, attacking Portuguese strongholds and ships in the Far East, and building trading posts and garrisoning soldiers on the spice-producing islands. The amount of money spent each year was astronomical, so much so that the dividends promised to shareholders for the first 10 years were never fulfilled, and even if they were often paid in small amounts of cash, the rest was paid off with spices shipped back from Asia.

For this reason, the merchants everywhere were quite dissatisfied, especially the shareholders of the trade ministries of Zeeland, Delft, Rotterdam, etc., who believed that the merchants of the Amsterdam trade department, who had the actual right to run the company, embezzled the huge profits that should have been cashed to everyone. However, the powerful Amsterdam businessmen eventually put down this suspicion and obtained financial assistance from the Dutch government. Then it issued huge corporate bonds for many years. Invest in the East India Company's strategic presence in the Far East.

From 1623 onwards, the British East India Company dominated most of the spice trade. The good times of the Dutch East India Company have finally arrived. Their profits were rising, and they began to pay generous dividends to their shareholders every year, and in such a situation, the accusations against the East India Company that had been overwhelming disappeared overnight.

Batavia, the center of Dutch rule in the East Indies, like the East India Company, had a vigorous and upward spirit. It was built in 1619 by the Director-General of the Indies Council, Jean Murphy. Pete Eitz. The port that Kuhn had seized from the natives was now more prosperous under the construction of the Dutch, and the number of permanent Europeans and their families exceeded 5,000, or 10,000 if you count the Eurasian and Indian mixtures and their descendants. Batavia is also the largest port in the East Indies. Nearby Entlas is also home to Asia's largest shipyard, with as many as 20 ships returning to Europe between December and February each year, making it the largest port under Dutch control.

However, in this seemingly good situation, it is not without hidden worries. The East India Company is now facing a threat from the Kingdom of Mataran on the island of Java; At the same time, relations between the newly occupied city of Malacca and the local Sultan of Johor began to be somewhat unpleasant; Even Trincomalee and Galle Fort, on the island of Ceylon, had to form a cruiser fleet to ensure the company's absolute control over the seas; Not to mention the Portuguese and Spaniards, who had been at war with the East India Company.

In order to cope with these threats, the East India Company had to increase the number of employees in Asia, especially sailors and military employees, and all of this cost money!

Anthony. Fan. Dimmen sat at his desk with some concern, the company's financial situation had only improved for a few years, and the shareholders of the previous commercial departments such as Zeeland, Delft, and Rotterdam had just stopped for a long time because they had received large dividends, and if the business profits that should have been paid out were withheld again due to the deteriorating security situation. It is conceivable, then, that these people will once again question his actions as a viceroy in the East India Pavilion in Amsterdam.

They are completely unaware of the benefits of settling these indigenous forces once and for all, and they are not at all concerned about the importance of controlling the Strait of Malacca and Ceylon. They only care about their own interests. Thinking of this, Fan. Dimon smiled self-deprecatingly, they are not politicians, they are businessmen, outright mercenary businessmen! What's wrong with businessmen who only care about commercial interests? They don't care about national interests, strategic layout, etc., they only care about when to give them dividends!

Fan. Dimon touched his forehead and looked at a report in his hand over and over again. This is his subordinate Martin. Gerlitz Song. Captain Fries has just written a report to him that Captain Fries had sent him to search for the legendary Treasure Island off the coast of Japan, and that he had returned to Batavia from Japan the other day.

In his letter, Fries reported to him that he had sailed along the coast of Japan with the galleon "Castelliku" in July all the way to the vicinity of the island of Hokkaido, and had not found the so-called Treasure Island, but that he believed that he had discovered two promontory promontions of the Asian continent and the American continent. He named the cape that stretched out from the island of Hokkaido as the Land of the Capitol (actually the island of Zeto), and the cape that extended from the American continent as the Land of the Company (actually Tokfu Island), and the strait between the two capes was naturally named the Frith Strait.

The first half of the van. Governor Dimon didn't see much interest, it was just an "ordinary" geographical discovery, and he was more concerned with the second half of Captain Fries's narrative. In his letter, Captain Fries said that in late July and early August he had spotted a strange ship in the waters off Capitol Land. The ship looked very large, with a large, flattened chimney in the amidships, smoke still billowing from the chimney, and most importantly, a red-bottomed goshawk flag flying from the ship's top mast.

This is the ship of the people of the East Coast! Fan. When Governor Dimen saw this, this was the first thought that popped into his mind. He was not an unheard of man who knew nothing about the New World, and in fact he had always been attentive to gathering information that might threaten the countries or powers of the Dutch East India Company. And the East Coast Republic of China, a country that is in tattal confrontation with the East India Company in the Cape Town area, naturally took a lot of effort to understand.

It's a pity that everything about this comet-like rising country is too mysterious, and there are only a few words that can't stand up to careful scrutiny, and a lot of information even contradicts itself. Governor Dimen was at a loss. All he knew was that the country had many coveted techniques in Europe, and that the Dutch, Spanish, French, and Portuguese had sent spies to try to steal all the information they could steal, and in fact they were not without gains.

The Dutch East India Company was just as interested in the East Coasters, but the country's navy and army were also very strong, and their geographical location was very important, so the members of the East India Company were only interested. For every person of normal thinking understood that it was better not to be in hostile relations with the East Coasters if nothing was going on, especially for the Dutch East India Company, which positioned itself as a businessman.

But now there's a question, Captain Fries said that he saw the Eastshorers in the Capitol Lands, and this fact is probably not wrong, so what are the Eastshorers doing there? How did they get there? Thinking of this, Fan. Dimon was suddenly a little wary. Maybe they crossed the coast of China through the Strait of Malacca at some moment that we were not noticing? The Governor thinks this is the most likely, but it is not impossible to do so, for example, they are taking the southern route, and this route is also the one that is Van . Governor Dimen is currently actively exploring.

Back in August last year, he ordered Appel. The Tasman explores the southern continent. Tasman sailed south along what would become the west coast of Australia, then sailed east along the south coast, eventually discovering Tasmania (he named the island Van Diemen's Land), New Zealand's South Island, Tonga, Fiji and other places, before returning to Batavia in June this year.

Although I don't know how big the continent is in the south of the road, what is the direction of the coastline, and how the oceans are connected, Fan. Governor Dimon had reason to believe that perhaps the people of the East Coast really knew where the southern route of the Lung Road was leading. Perhaps they bypassed the continent from the south and headed north into the waters of northeastern Japan? So what is the purpose of their running there? Captain Fries reported that the East Coast was fishing, so maybe they had a stronghold or port on land somewhere nearby?

In this way, the problem is serious. The Governor's eyes were fixed on the report, but his mind was racing to think: Could it be that they were going to make a deal with the Japanese? Did they want to squeeze out the East India Company and dominate Japanese trade? Or did they follow the path of the Chinese, so that they could import large quantities of silk, porcelain, tea and other valuables back to Europe to sell? Or did they have the East India Company's intentions on the island of Formosa and incite the local natives to revolt and drive out the East India Company?

The more he thought about it, the more he felt that something was wrong, and although most of the people on the east coast had indeed sneaked across the Straits of Malacca, his instincts kept reminding him that maybe things weren't that simple.

Maybe I should strengthen my garrison and fleet in Formosa? He asked himself softly. (To be continued......)