Maiden recalls what he had read.

When the Dutch first arrived in the East Indies, they pursued a policy of uniting their native forces to keep an eye on the Spanish and Portuguese. But as they became more and more involved in the East Indies, they inevitably embarked on the path of imperialism today. The Dutch became a colonial power without competitors. In Europe and parts of Asia, the United East India Company behaved like the large private companies of its time, but in the East Indies it had developed into a peculiar hybrid structure. Part of it was a colony, part of it was a maritime power. A huge rift cannot be avoided between the company's own national obligations and the need for other listed companies to support stock prices and investor confidence with short-term profits. In fact, this contradiction continued throughout the life of the East India Company. For the most part, the East India Company's share price is now four times the price of its new offering, and the company's shares and bonds are the most popular investment targets in the Netherlands, and no shareholder can afford to see the stock price fall sharply.

One of the results of the United East India Company's aggressive expansion in Asia was the formation of a large governing body. The colonial management and management bodies under the Company had to be able to deal with military, political, and diplomatic affairs that were far more complex than trade. The management of the indigenous population under corporate governance, the maintenance of relations with Asian countries, and the organization of defensive and offensive military organizations are all part of the company's employees.

The supreme governing body of the entire Dutch East India Empire was the Council of the East Indies. The general seat is the convener of the committee, but the general general seat does not have absolute power. Although the chairperson is the chair of the committee, he is not allowed to make any important decisions independently and without the control of the committee.

The size of the total power depends on his political resources in Amsterdam, on his personal struggle, and on the course of history. In the 31 years from 1610 to the present, the East India Company has experienced eight positions in Asia. Pete Eitz. Cohen & Anthony. Fan. Diemen is the two most powerful presidents. If you don't count the three governors before Cohen, counting from the founding of Batavia, the East India Company has experienced Cohen, Peter. Morality. Carpentier, Cohen (second inauguration), Jacques. Spikes, Hendrick. Brouwer, Anthony. Fan. Dimen. At this time in history, the East India Company had no mediocre talents, and the rest of the company may not have been as brilliant as Cohen and Van Dimen, but they still contributed above the level of the company's expansion and conquest.

The second person under the head office is the Director-General, who oversees the company's trade in Asia. Both Cohen and Van Dimen served as Director-General before taking up the post of Director-General. A strong Director-General can sometimes compete with the Governor-General.

Theoretically, the functions of the remaining five members are not fixed, and they generally include chief bookkeeper, chairman of the judicial council, commander of the army, management of the merchant fleet, etc. An important job of the President of the Judicial Council was to give marriages to Europeans in the city. However, due to the fact that members often leave their posts or die of illness, there are not many times when they are full.

Before the committee can make any decision, there must be seven official ballot papers, and if there are no seven members in office, voting rights are often transferred to so-called "special" members. If a particularly important issue arises, the head office will sometimes send a ship to the colony in question to collect a vote of their kind. The collaboration and disagreement between these seven members often depends on the families, forces and personal qualities they represent.

The East India Company's business in Asia was divided into three types, one being trade acquired through "self-conquest", such as Batavia, Banda, and Taiwan. the second is based on trade under "exclusive contracts" between the company and local countries, such as the Sultanate of Denadi in the Spice Islands; The third is based on trade under commercial contracts, such as Siam, Japan, India, where the company does not have any special status and cannot enforce any documents and laws.

These three situations are not static, and there are many situations that fall somewhere in between. What is embarrassing is that the company has the lowest profit under the trade it has conquered by itself, like Batavia and Taiwan, which has been in a state of loss for a long time. Military and war have resulted in excessive obligations on companies in these geographies.

Japan and India, where the company has no privileges, provide the company's largest source of profits. There, the Dutch only had to do business with their heads down, and they didn't need to think about wars and other messes.

The same reason also led to the fact that the British East India Company, until the Ambon massacre, had always wanted nothing more than quiet trade and had no idea of going to war with any local nation.

Depending on the type of trade, the Dutch East India Company also had a different set of branches. In Batavia, Malacca, Banda, and Taiwan, the Dutch were pure conquerors, which required the establishment of local government-like institutions and the presence of troops in these places.

Around 1640, Ambon, Banda, the Moluccas, the Coromandel Coast, Ceylon and Malacca were the six most important branches of the company, and Batavia had an administrator here. In Bangladesh, Surat and Persia, the company has a trading supervisor. Presence officer or chief officer in Banten, Japan and Timor Island.

The local government also mimics the power structure of Batavia, with the local head running together with a local council. The local chief is the chairman of the committee, and the others include qualified businessmen in charge of trade, military commanders, chief bookkeepers and top officials of the judiciary, whistleblowers or prosecutors. Of course, in practice, things tend to change.

The Dutch East India Company set up a bureaucratic structure in Asia, perhaps small, but very comprehensive and formal, and every day was full of interesting bureaucratic games.

The British are much more flexible in this regard. The British East India Company did not have a complicated bureaucracy in Asia. Salaries are also generally higher for Britons than for Dutch. In addition, the board of directors of the company allows employees to participate in the company's business. The British believe that this is an effective way to motivate employees to work and tie their interests to the company.

The Dutch, on the other hand, have a board of directors that strictly forbids employees from abusing their power for personal gain. This, in turn, has led to the prevalence of corruption and smuggling in Asia. The mountain is so high that it takes eight months for Amsterdam to send people to Batavia, and 18 months when it is unlucky. The Dutch lacked supply points on their way, and they had to make three dangerous voyages along the way. The first section was near the Gulf of Guinea, and they could only travel in a very narrow channel. If they deviate from the course, they will either be swept into the dangerous Gulf of Guinea by ocean currents or washed up on the shores of the Americas. The second section is at the Cape of Good Hope, where merchant ships often crash into the reef of the Cape of Good Hope. The third leg of the voyage along the westerly wind belt around the Cape of Good Hope also often caused death and illness. The third leg of the voyage is now in a better situation with the establishment of the base in Mauritius. The Cape of Good Hope will have to wait, and it will be somewhat better after the establishment of the colony of South Africa. The Gulf of Guinea is still unresolved.

It is not uncommon for a whole shipload to die on the sea route from Amsterdam to Batavia. Arriving in Batavia was only the beginning of a nightmare, and those who had been eliminated would soon after arriving in Asia contracting various tropical diseases and half of them would die. If you are unlucky enough to be sent to the Spice Islands, it will be a dead death.

With no oversight and a high mortality rate, all the owners of the East India Company were gambling with their lives for a chance at success. Every head of trade, every East India commissioner, would have the idea of carrying personal business goods on the company's merchant ships. It is very common to seek personal wealth at the expense of the company's business. "They have uncontrollable ambitions and unstoppable determination to win high-ranking officials for the entire big family."

The Dutch head of trade in Asia often remitted staggering sums of money to the country, and the board of directors of the company could not stand it. As a result, many Dutch people entrusted their money to the British East India Company to bring back to Europe.

The company's supreme authority is the board of directors based in Europe, which is mainly controlled by the Netherlands and Zeeland, but in the complex political landscape of the United Provinces Republic, the company cannot completely ignore the demands of the other provinces. The day-to-day management of the company's European headquarters is handled by a "seventeen-member" board of directors, commonly known as the 17 gentlemen.

The thinking of directors in distant Europe is often very different from the reality faced by Asian management, and the strong heads generally have the same attitude, "The gentlemen of the country make what they think is the best decision at home, and we act according to our own right judgment".

……

Before Maiden's departure, Chen Shouxu reminded him, "We must always remember that Batavia is a military power. But it must not be forgotten that it is a trading company. The United East India Company will always be driven by the essential commandments of the public company. ”

Two canals flow into the sea from under the city of Bataviaburg. The warships and merchant ships of the East India Company docked at the pier along the river, and on the inner side of the river, the Dutch also excavated two inner harbors that could berth more than a dozen warships. The opening of the inner harbor leads to the canal and is in a safe location. Just by looking at it with the naked eye, the entire port is also a huge amount of earthwork.

The canal is not only an important transportation artery, but also part of the fortification of Batavia City and Batavia.

Early in the morning, Maiden crossed the Jakarta River in a small boat and arrived at the foot of Bataviaburg.

It is a fortress that glows white from a distance.

Except for the forts at the four corners, the Batavia Fort is basically square. The strongest military fort in the East Indies is made entirely of the finest ashlar. There was no solid rock in the vicinity of Batavia, and the stone needed for the construction of the castle was brought in by sea. There are many islands near the passage from Batavia to Banten, which produce this rock, which is whiter than limestone. The entire Batavia Fort, from the foundations below sea level to the top of the fort, is made of this rock.

The castle has two gates, one facing the sea, often referred to as the Water Gate; One gate faces the city inland, often referred to as the city gate. The Water Gate is an inner harbor parallel to the coastline for the company's merchant ships to berth and unload. The supplies needed for the castle were brought into the city through this gate.

Maiden took a deep breath and walked through the gates into Fort Batavia. In the center of the castle is the residence of the Governor, opposite which are the residences of two members of the East India Council. Next to the Doge's Palace is a striking Protestant church.

There were many people in a hurry in the castle. Well-dressed, elderly merchants, young assistant salesmen, gunsmiths, locksmiths, carpenters, etc., from the armory, shuttled back and forth through the castle. Soldiers stood guard near the castle gates and on the bastions. Maiden arrived at the head seat of Anthony. Fan. Dimon was not in the residence.

As the son of a Silesian count, Maiden's origins ensured that he was not embarrassed by the headquarters of the East India Company, which had a large number of employees in Germany.

The staff of the Governor's Palace invited Maiden to the castle walls, and when he walked to the side of the water gate, Maiden's face became very solemn.

A parade is taking place at sea.

The Dutchman graciously handed over a telescope, as if he was afraid that Maiden would not be able to see clearly.

A total of 14 large and medium-sized warships were arranged in two rows at anchorage.

The Dutchman explained to Maiden, "On board the longboat is His Excellency the Captain, who is preparing with the Fleet Commander and several other gentlemen of the Commission to board the Fleet's flagship, Prince William. ”

Maiden looked through the telescope and saw Anthony . Fan. Dimon was passing through two rows of ships, and as he passed each ship, the officers and men of the battleship cheered him three times. Van Dimen also stood at the bow of the longboat, waving to his soldiers.

At the end of the center of the column, there was a large single battleship. There are four gun doors on the lower stern of the ship, and the gun doors are carved with intricate reliefs. The East India Company's tricolor fluttered on the flagpole at the stern of the ship, which was supposed to be their flagship, the Prince William.

As soon as the main seat boarded the battleship, the Dutch flag was raised on the mainmast. The former fleet commander fired a 21-gun salute at the main seat, after which the Changliu flag on the battleship was lowered. An admiral descended the ramp of the battleship and boarded another longboat. Then, the battleship raised the Changliu flag again and fired a 17-gun salute.

The flagship, the Prince William, was a large 50-gun battleship, differing from the battleships he had seen in Europe only without a bow tower. However, Maiden also noticed that the waterline of the battleship was exposed to the sea. Judging by his many years of experience at sea, this battleship may not have been filled with all the gun emplacements. But even so, this battleship, which is comparable to a gunboat on the battle line, is invincible on the surface of Asia.

"Mr. Maiden, you are in luck. In Batavia, you can only see this kind of large parade once a year, which is the most spectacular sight in Batavia every year. The Dutchman's tone was proud.

Maiden just smiled, and the Dutch hillbilly in front of him thought he was a leopard. Even from the layman's point of view, the Dutch fleet was indeed formidable and had no rival in Asia, but he could feel that the fleet was not outnumbered when the fleet cheered at the Chieftain.

"Please wait, Your Excellency will return to the castle after the parade, and he will meet him at the official residence."

"Thank you."