Fort Geranza, annexed city, Taiwanese Chief Executive Paulus. Trodenius put down the telescope in his hand and held the battlements of the Half Moon Fort of Watergate to his deputy, "Max, the guest invited by Lord Zong has finally arrived, and the situation in Taiwan is even more complicated now. x is the fastest to update"

He was accompanied by Maximilian, a senior merchant of the East India Company who had just been transferred from Dejima of Nagasaki and was in charge of Taiwan's trade affairs. Pull. Meier's expression was a little unpredictable, "Maybe my level is not enough, it is difficult to understand why Van Diemen refused to send reinforcements from Batavia, and instead invited a group of pirates. ”

Trodenius smiled wryly, "Just as Amsterdam and Batavia do not always agree on their positions, Batavia will also differ from our understanding of the problems we face." Many times, the board of directors in Amsterdam does not understand the reality of Batavia, and Batavia does not understand us. ”

"Paulus, remember what Cohen said?" ”

Trodenius paused, "The gentlemen of Amsterdam make the decision they feel is right, and we do our own?" ”

Ramel was speechless, staring into his eyes.

Trodenius shook his head and said, "Max, listen to me, don't think about those things, we're not Cohen, and Batavia isn't Amsterdam half a world away. Fourteen years ago, I was a member of Taiwan's Council, and I have seen too many changes in the Taiwan Strait. How many pirate miracles have risen and fallen in an instant, even if it is Zheng Yiguan, no one can guarantee what will happen to him in a few years. ”

It was only last year that Ramel was promoted to a senior salesman and became the resident officer of the company's office in Japan, which can be regarded as entering the middle and senior management. He and Trodenius, a veteran leader who had served in the East Indies for more than 10 years and had been a senior businessman for almost 10 years, could not compare with the roots.

Ramel was still not reconciled, "Paulus, we have 1,000 soldiers. And according to the latest intelligence, the Spaniards in San Salvador now only have 100 soldiers left, and Batavia only needs to give us 600 reinforcements, no, 300 is enough. We'll be able to take the chicken coop harbor. ”

"It's a pity that Batavia won't send it to us alone."

"Paulus, we'll do it ourselves."

"Max, I tried it last year. Even if you don't consider Nikolai across the strait, there are still 25,000 Chinese in Taiwan, how many of them will come from forces with ulterior motives? And that's just the number that the company has, and I'm not surprised that they actually have 40,000 people. Coupled with the rebellion of the Madou Society in the north and the constantly provocative Potbelly Kingdom, we can only draw 300 men to fight against the Spanish, which is not enough to besiege the fortress. ”

Trodenius turned and walked towards the office. The Office of the Chief Executive of Taiwan is located on the second floor of the annex to Fort Geranza, just below the walls of Fort Annamanton at the main fort of Geranza. The terrain of the main fort of Geranza is relatively high, although the annex city also has two sharp forts and a half-moon fort, and the governor's office is also located on the second floor of the fort, but the second floor of the annexed fort is only as high as the ground of the first floor of the main fort. If you count from the attached fort, the city of Geranza is four stories high. The main fort is majestic and tall, but it actually has a pyramid-like structure. This leads to a comparison of the area of the top floor, which is not conducive to the office. Therefore, since the construction of the annexed city, the governor's office and the church have been moved to the platform of the annexed city. The office on the platform of the main fort building was ceded to the commander of the garrison.

Ramel: "Paulus, send those South Sea pirates away." We can hire someone to take the chicken coop port ourselves. ”

Trodenius: "Learn from the Haman of Ambon? No, Paulus, it's not his time anymore. Last year, Taiwan lost so much money in trade, and we still have military spending there. ”

"We borrow first and then return the loot. As long as we can take the chicken coop fort, nothing else will be a problem. ”

Trodenius's face changed, and his deputy was actually serious.

The history of the East India Company was not without incidents of solo walking, some of whom ended up being promoted and rich, while others spent their days in the dark prisons of Batavia. In Taiwan, there is a ready-made example, when Natz, the third chief executive who succeeded DeWitt, kidnapped an official who was already a senior Chinese official and forced Zheng Zhilong to sign a free trade contract. But the result? Natz was transferred to Batavia and immediately thrown into prison.

Cheng's relationship with the company is by no means limited to Taiwan. Trodenius knew that Spikes, the head of Batavia who had imprisoned Natz, was his interpreter when he was the Japanese garrison. Taiwan is only a second-rate colony on the company's trade map, but he feels powerless in the intricacies of internal relations involved. These things are not something that Lamaier, who has just entered management, can quickly understand.

Ramel was his own man, and looking at the young and vigorous senior businessman, Trodenius decided to teach him again. "Max, Van Diemen will never allow us to go it alone, don't speculate on what Lord Chanza thinks. The United East India Company was strong, but Asia was so big that our forces were scattered. Why did the company grow so quickly under Mr. Van Dimen's leadership? It's because he's good at using every resource at his disposal. The things that need to be considered in a war are not only the number of soldiers, but also money, ammunition, and even soldiers' clothes and shoes, and the canvas and cable planks of the battleship. These are all resources, and now, the head office does not want to invest these resources in Taiwan. ”

Ramel was a little unconvinced, "Van Dimen still has the title of liar on his back, why should we be afraid of him." Paulus, if you think about it, the honor of conquering a Spanish fortress is not so much. Master Putmans is your brother-in-law, and he now serves on the board of directors in Amsterdam. "Putmans is the most successful Taiwanese chief executive, and his contribution to the company in Taiwan is what Van Diemen is to Batavia. Even the defeat at the Battle of Liuluo Bay was not well hidden, and with his outstanding contribution to Taiwan, Putmans returned to the board of directors in Amsterdam after a brief overtime at the East India Committee.

The Dutch East India Company was a very orthodox bureaucracy, and it was very close to relationships and roots. In fact, it is not like the company's human resources in Europe are advertised everywhere, and in Asia it is possible to get ahead on the basis of skills alone. The reality is that there are many examples of junior businessmen in their 60s and captains in their 80s. There are no people who counterattack, and Fan Dimen is, but that is really rare.

Trodenius wants to slap the table," said Mr. Lamail. I remind you that my application to the East India Council to transfer you from the post of director of the Japanese Merchant House is to let you put in order Taiwan's trade, not to make you think about war. Besides, political resources aren't your kind of use. Between us and Van Dimen, Amsterdam will only support him. ”

Trodenius looked so angry that Ramel didn't dare to speak. Ramel was originally the director of a trade hall in Hirado, Japan, which was one of the most comfortable positions in the company.

Japan has a good climate and high latitude, so there are no annoying tropical diseases. Japan has money, Japan has a lot of women, and Japan has too much extra money to make money. As a result, Ramel only enjoyed it for a few months, and was sent to this hellish place in Taiwan by a letter of order from Batavia. When he first arrived, Trodenius persuaded Ramel that he did not have the political resources of Spikes, and that he could go directly from the head of the Japanese Merchant House to the East India Council, and then to the head of the East India Council. Now the times are different, in recent years, the company has fought more and more wars, the scale of the war has become larger and larger, the company has become no longer like a company, only in places like Taiwan to accumulate enough military, political and diplomatic experience, the road in the future will be wider.

Seeing that Ramel was almost beaten, Trodenius asked about trade, "The general seat is very dissatisfied with Taiwan's trade situation last year. You just arrived, and I didn't rush you before. Now that we're halfway through the year, is there anything you can do to quickly increase your trade? ”

Business is Ramiel's forte, "Sir, there are too many trade problems in Taiwan. The most immediate problem we face is the excessive military spending, and even without taking into account last year's attack on the chicken coop, we have 5 forts to maintain on a daily basis. I really don't know if the engineer who built the annex city in the first place also poured seawater into his brain. The annex made a limited contribution to the defense of Geranza, but because of its low terrain, it was often washed by the sea, and the corners of the wall had to be constantly maintained. Fort Sicaotai on Omi Island on the northern line and Fori Hingen Fort on Calleco Island were washed away by wind and waves and also needed major repairs. ”

Trodenius also felt that the design of the forts was problematic, but this was mainly due to his predecessor, Fan. Generation. Built by Bolger. Wherever you are, infrastructure is one of the best ways to make money. The construction cost of the project is 457,000 guilders. Although he was only second-in-command, he and Bolger were brothers-in-law, and they were both brothers-in-law of Putmans, and Trodenius also had a lot of profit from it.

The fortune is made, and Bodale is dead, and someone has to carry the pot. He also had to come up with the funds for repairing the fortress. Sicaotai Fort controlled the Luermen Channel, Fori Hingenburg controlled the port of Kaleco Island, and the Madou Society on the side of the port often attacked Chinese sugar farmers, and it was impossible for the Geranza side to ignore it, and the poll tax paid by the Chinese has become one of Taiwan's main incomes, and it is still the most stable income. He had to maintain a certain garrison to protect the unarmed Chinese.

Trodenius frowned, "Max, these expenses are indispensable, throttling is impossible, you still have to think about how to open source." ”

Ramel pulled out the notebook he had with him, "Paulus." There are two main ways to open source, one is to continue to increase the production of Taiwan Island. A few years ago, we harvested too many deerskins. In order to prevent the aborigines from killing all the deer, the current hunting ban will be maintained. At least this year, we still can't count on deerskins. ”

Deerskin was once Taiwan's flagship export, and the demand for deerskin in Japan is hungry, and the price of deerskin in Japan is three times that of Taiwan's purchase.

Trodenius felt that he was too unlucky. From October last year to the present, Taiwan's trade has continued to lose money, losing the war with the Spaniards, and even deerskin cannot be sold. Since Putmans became Taiwan's chief executive, there has been no loss in many years. By now, the trade deficit has reached 62,000 guilders, which caused him to be reprimanded by Van Dimen.

"Then only sugarcane remains, and our sugar output last year was 150,000 catties. Some time ago, I did a survey on sugarcane cultivation in Taiwan, and our sugar output will soon reach 300,000 catties, and it has the potential of 1.5 million catties. It is not difficult to achieve this, as long as more Chinese are recruited and cultivated cattle are imported from China. ”

Trodenius said with a headache, "Yes, ploughing oxen." The company only has 1,300 head of cattle in Taiwan, which is really not enough. Do you remember sending some more boats to Penghu this year to transport cattle. "The ship's capacity is precious, and it's certainly not cost-effective to transport cattle, but there's no way to do it for sugar.

"Okay. In addition to sugar cane, Paulus, we now have a problem, a big problem. ”

Trodenius: "You. ”

Ramel: "Zheng Zhilong completely ignored the agreement with us, and he continued to increase the number of merchant ships sent to Nagasaki. According to the figures I received during my tenure in Japan, the amount of raw silk that Zheng Zhilong shipped to Nagasaki last year was 130,000 catties, and although it was different from ours, his trade volume also decreased compared to the previous year, but this was the first time that they surpassed us in the Japanese raw silk trade. For other textiles, he is already 7 times as old as ours. ”

"Damn pirate officers, damn Japanese generals, damn Chinese rogues, and damned Tatars! God will punish them. ”

China's intensifying civil and foreign wars have caused trade to shrink sharply compared to before, and the decline of raw silk is staggering. Cotton cloth is even more exaggerated, shrinking from 600,000 catties the year before to more than 20,000 last year. The cake is getting more and more, and the competition between the people who share the cake is sure to become more intense. Trodenius deliberately sent warships to intercept Zheng Zhilong's trading fleet, but was warned by the Japanese general, forbidding the Dutch to attack all Chinese ships that came to Japan to trade. Japan thought very carefully, in order to prevent the Dutch from disobeying, they would put the Dutch trade behind the Chinese, detain the Dutch armed merchant ships, and wait for Zheng Zhilong's ship to go away before letting the Dutch out of port.

Japan was the East India Company and did not dare to offend the country at all, and Trodenius did not want to provoke a second Hamada Yabei incident.

The two leaders were discussing the next work, and the chief orderlies came in and reported, "Two chiefs, the guests have landed. ”

"Invite them in."

Trodenius squinted his eyes and said, "Max, I treated you on the first day you were transferred. I'm going to leave Taiwan, and you'll be here to take over later. Since Van Diemen has found us a new friend, we can't change that fact. Maybe we can turn this into a benefit. ”

"Paulus, what do you mean?"

"Do you remember what I did to you, Song Ke, De Wet, and Zheng Yiguan?"

"They supported Zheng Yiguan to fight against Li Xinsu, August. Yiguan and Li Kuiqi? I don't think they're doing anything wrong. Although Zheng Zhilong later disagreed with us, it should also be noted that after he became an agent of China, our trade developed rapidly. ”

"Yours right. In the face of different situations, we can also adopt different ideas. Zheng Zhilong is more useful to us than Li Xinsu, so we replaced Li Xinsu with Zheng Zhilong. Now that Zheng Zhilong's direct competition with the company is getting stronger and stronger, then the Taiwan Strait may need a fresh blood. ”

Ramair sat up straight, "Support the people of Jincheng against Zheng Zhilong?" ”

"Max, as the chief executive of Taiwan, we are facing probably the most complex situation in the company. China and Japan are big and powerful countries, not the East Indies. Don't jump to conclusions about everything, mine is just a possibility, and we have to contact them before deciding how to do it. ”

"Well, Paulus, you're the chief, you decide."

Trodenius shook his head, "Max, you have to continue to study more politically. Now, you go and greet our guests first. ”

Note 1: For Taiwan's trade deficit, see Anthony. Van Diemen's Report on East India Affairs, 12 December 1642, op. cit.;

Note 2: For Taiwan's sugar production, see "A Study of the Far East Trade of the Dutch East India Company in the 17th Century", quoted from Yang Yanjie's "History of Taiwan in the Dutch Occupation Era";

Note 3: The trade volume of raw silk and textiles is the same as above;

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