The winter of 1635 was one of the worst winters the Dutch in Batavia had ever faced since they arrived in Asia. Although there are no four seasons in Batavia, the senior staff of the Dutch East India Company in the city feel the slightest chill during this theoretical winter.

Many people do not understand how the relationship between the Netherlands and China, which originally seemed to be relatively harmonious, could turn into a war against each other. Although William Kick, the representative in Beijing who returned to Batavia, claimed that this was a premeditated conflict provoked by several ASEAN members against Batavia.

However, those with a little wisdom can see that China and the company are the first and second forces within ASEAN, and without China's prominence, other ASEAN members will not pose any threat to Batavia at all. And if the Netherlands and China maintain friendly relations, no one dares to jump out and challenge Batavia's interests in Asia.

After the Dutch East India Company conquered the Javanese city in 1619, the Dutch colonists began to transform the coastal town in the urban pattern of their homeland, digging canals, building castles and harbors, and turning Batavia into a new town with geometric symmetry.

But the emergence of this new city is inseparable from the hard-working Chinese immigrants. After all, when the Dutch conquered this small port city of Java, there was only an inaccessible swamp nearby, and the * kingdom on the island of Java did not want the Dutch to settle here, so naturally they would not let their people help the Dutch build the city.

It was thanks to the more than 800 Chinese recruited by the first governor from all over the world, and by virtue of their special status among the local natives, they were able to go deep into Java to cut wood, collect coral stones, and fire bricks, which provided enough building materials for the early construction of Batavia.

The superb craftsmanship of the Chinese also enabled the canal excavation and urban construction work in Batavia to be completed beyond the expectations of the Dutch, and it can be said that without the Chinese, there would be no Batavia today.

When Batavia was still called Jayakata, the city was divided into two halves by the Gillian River, which runs through the center of the city, west of the river for the indigenous people, and east for the Chinese and foreigners. When the Dutch occupied the area, the indigenous settlements were flattened and the Dutch engineer Simon Steven replanned the city.

He designed the new city to be square, the Gillian River was trimmed into a channel that could accommodate direct boat traffic, and several small canals were designed on both sides of the Gillian River to facilitate the transportation of goods by boats. There are 9-meter walking trails on both sides of the canal in the city, which is a typical Dutch canal city. It is also called the ideal city by Simon Steven.

The Chinese were relocated to the west of the canal, while the Dutch occupied the settlements built by the Chinese and built the Batavia Castle on the east bank of the mouth of the Gilion River. By 1635, the rudiments of the ideal city had emerged, and most of the credit was given to the Chinese. Even now, these Chinese are still trying to transform the swamps outside the city, trying to turn the marshes outside the city into farmland and orchards.

Today, Batavia's urban population is just over 10,000, with more than half of them Europeans and almost a quarter of them Chinese. But the contribution and importance of the Chinese to the city surpassed that of the Europeans in the city. When the homeland of these Chinese launched a war against Batavia, how could the Dutch in Batavia not feel anxious.

Anthony van Diemen, the governor of Batavia, who had just taken office, found himself in two extremely troublesome troubles after receiving the information brought back by William Kirk and Putmans.

The first trouble is that the staff of the company in Batavia are not all in favor of his tough stance on China, most of them still want to maintain the status quo, although the company cannot monopolize the trade routes of Chinese goods exported to Europe, but with the company's strong shipping capacity and Amsterdam's position as the commercial center of Europe, the company still occupies a certain advantage over the Sino-European trade and shipping of other countries.

Therefore, after hearing that the Sado Island incident triggered China's hostility against Batavia, many people are still clamoring that Van Delijn, who caused the Sado Island incident, should be handed over to China for disposal in order to restore friendly relations between the two sides. The sound died down with the news of the attack on the fleet brought back by Putmans and the attack on the city of Geranza.

But Anthony Van Diemen knew that this did not mean that the employees of the company had already sided with him, but that everyone had done a good job, and if the incident was not handled properly and the company's interests were damaged, then he would have to be held responsible for the incident. Although in this situation, he temporarily gained full authority to deal with the incident, but he also drove himself to a dead end.

Before the envoy sent by the company's headquarters to Batavia arrives at Batavia, he must resolve the issue of the conflict with China. Otherwise, with his knowledge of the company's top management, the scapegoat thrown by the company will no longer be Mr. Van Drijen, but will be used to calm the anger of the Chinese. Anthony Van Diemen was naturally unwilling to face the tragic end of being a prisoner overnight after working hard for most of his life.

But if he wanted to force China to make concessions by force, he faced a second problem, and that was the Chinese residents of Batavia. Once Batavia declared war on China, he could not guarantee that the Chinese would remain as obedient to Dutch rule as they had before. In order to ensure the safety of Batavia, the expulsion of these Chinese will directly lead to the paralysis of the entire Batavian city, after all, these Chinese are the backbone of Batavia's urban construction and economic development.

So on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month in 1636, the day of the so-called Lantern Festival in China, Anthony Van Diemen entertained the Chinese Kapitan Su Minggang in his villa, hoping that the Chinese leader of Batavia would appease the Chinese residents in the city and not flee Batavia because of the war that broke out between the company and China.

The reason why Anthony Van Diemen has such high hopes for this Chinese Kapitan is also because Su Minggang is not only the only Chinese member of the Batavian City Appraisal Council, but also a close friend of his benefactor, Governor Kun. Therefore, Van Diemen believes that Su Minggang, who has received so much preferential treatment from the company, will inevitably stand on the side of the company.

Van Diemen's guess was correct, and after a thorough conversation between him and Su Minggang, the Chinese Kapitan held an internal meeting of the Chinese community after his return, so that the Chinese residents who had heard the rumors of war slowly quieted down and resumed their old work.

This made Van Diemen very happy, but he did not let his guard down on the Chinese and indigenous people in the city. He quickly enacted several laws: it was strictly forbidden for Chinese and natives who had not been granted a permit by the Dutch to enter the Dutch settlements; The daily consumption of the Dutch was transported into the residential area of the Dutch by a few specially designated Chinese merchants; Chinese and natives were not allowed to approach the city walls, etc.

However, what Van Diemen did not know was that overseas Chinese leaders like Su Minggang had in fact already been registered by the Ming Social Investigation Department, and they were contacted and ordered to join the Social Investigation Department as a peripheral member. For example, Su Minggang's youngest son has been taken back to China to receive education arranged by the Social Investigation Department.

Before receiving instructions from China, it was Su Minggang's greatest responsibility to cooperate with the Dutch to protect the expatriate, so although he was preoccupied, he still cooperated with Van Diemen to pacify the Chinese in the city.

As for Van Diemen, after pacifying the Chinese in the city, he finally decided to solve the most troublesome problem at hand. On the 27th of the first lunar month, Van Diemen convened a meeting of the company's senior staff in the conference room of Batavia Castle to discuss how to strike back against China.

After thinking about it for dozens of days, Van Diemen finally made up his mind to return war for war, and he said categorically to his colleagues in the company: "The Bible says: an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, a hand for a hand, and a foot for a foot." Since the Chinese have waged war against the company, we must also return the war.

… Supplication and tears cannot win the mercy of an arbitrary monarchy, as the republic has proven long ago in Europe. In my opinion, China is nothing more than the Spanish Empire of the East, a country that has been in Asia for thousands of years, and whose monarchs see the company no different from Japan, Korea, Siam, and other Asian countries.

If we don't say no to this emperor now. It will not be long before the Emperor will send his officials to Batavia, to the Spice Islands, to levy taxes on us, and to make us bow down to his officials, which is what the Company and the gentlemen are willing to endure..."

Although Van Diemen's speech at this meeting boosted some morale, some people still asked him without hesitation: "Your Excellency, we have no intention of opposing your proposal to wage war against China, but you should at least tell us how far this war should be fought, how long it should be fought, and how do you intend to end it?" After all, the company sent us here in pursuit of wealth, not to start a war to defend the republic in Asia..."

The senior officer's statement was supported by many people, and in the midst of this questioning, Van Diemen was calmly silent, glanced at the company colleagues in the conference room, and after they unconsciously put away their voices, he replied confidently: "The purpose of this war is to protect all the rights and interests of the company before the war." I don't think any of you, gentlemen, will disagree with that, right? ”

Van Diemen's rhetorical question suddenly made everyone stop, even if some people think that as long as peace is restored and some interests are not a problem, they will not openly say it on this occasion and relieve Van Diemen.

After watching the crowd fall silent, Van Diemen continued: "If you want to make a huge empire like China regress, you must first make it feel pain. So we will not be at war with them where they forethought of it, as Chinese envisaged.

We will land on the most fertile southeast coast of China, the ports of Guangzhou, Xiamen, Fuzhou, Zhoushan, Ningbo, Shanghai, etc., and if these places are attacked, at least half of China's overseas trade will be destroyed. I believe that, under the protest of the people of southeastern China, the Emperor of China will be the first to propose peace to Batavia..."