Hu Fakui squinted at the two Dutch people in front of him, he didn't speak Dutch, but it seemed that both guys could speak Chinese fluently, well, Hakka to be exact. Hu Fakui, www.biquge.info the pen "Fun" Pavilion, can also understand Hakka, and there is also a Hakka Luo Fangbo next to him when he speaks, so there are not too many obstacles to communication between the two sides.

"So, you two mean to restore the Dutch East India Company's trading house in Pontianak?" Hu Fakui touched the stubble that appeared on his chin, a little disappointed, because he thought that these red hairs would make some more drastic demands, such as the withdrawal of Pontianak, the renunciation of the tariff rights of West Borneo, and so on.

Hu Fakui couldn't wait for the Dutch to come to the door, and the Borneo garrison, which was adapted from the incense thieves, was still relatively immature, and could not gain much experience in dealing with the natives and Chinese. It's just that Hu Fakui also knew dimly that the VOC (abbreviation of the Dutch East India Company) at this time had gone downhill, and the super colonial company, which was the world's first joint-stock company, with hundreds of merchant warships, tens of thousands of employees and mercenaries, and paid dividends of up to 40 percent every year, would be suspended after 23 years. Now the Dutch also have some strength, but it is difficult to wage even a war against the indigenous countries.

War means the investment of human and financial resources, and it depends on the economic returns after the war, the control of the region, and so on. Historically, the Dutch existed in West Borneo for hundreds of years, until the end of the 19th century, when the Qing Dynasty completely declined, and the strength of the Chinese companies was completely weakened, and West Borneo was completely annexed and became part of their Dutch East Indies colony.

And what kind of existence is the overseas territory of Borneo in the Tang Republic? To put it simply, it is also a colony of a sovereign state. It's just that the Tang people deliberately avoided the name of the colony. There is a state backing here. Unlike the small fights of the Chinese company in West Borneo, it must be supported by the national strategy. There was a well-equipped "regular army", at least in the eyes of the Dutch. It has a scale of more than 1,000 people, has unified uniforms and standard weapons, and has a complete military organizational structure and command system. It's okay for VOC to bully and bully small indigenous countries, but to start a serious war with a country, and now it no longer has the ability to do so.

Based on their own strength, the Dutch's request can be described as humble and humble. I couldn't find the kind of bullying that European powers had, which made Hu Fakui find it very boring. He is a Ming man, and he still has that sense of superiority of the Celestial Empire, and he doesn't think the Western powers are going on. Moreover, after the crossing, the Tang Republic occupied the prophetic and technological advantages, so Hu Fakui was even more afraid of the direction of the king of heaven.

As the Governor of Borneo, Hu Fakui was authorized by the Cabinet, and the Cabinet did not frame a general territory for him, so theoretically he has the right to conquer any piece of land in Borneo now. The Dutch now controlled Machen in South Borneo, and Hu Fakui also had a desire to occupy it, as long as the Dutch fought with him openly. He dared to send troops to occupy Machen, and by the way, he confidently reached out to the country for resources.

"It's cowardly. Boring. Hu Fakui secretly muttered a strange thing that he had learned from modern people.

Subsequently, he said in a very official tone: "Our country respects free trade and friendly exchanges with other countries, strengthens cooperation, and we welcome merchant ships from the seven provinces of the Netherlands to come to Pontianak for legal trade." However, we Chinese like to talk ugly things ahead, and we cannot tolerate any act of committing adultery and committing crimes, nor can we tolerate any attempt to subvert the overseas consular government of our Datang Dynasty or any behavior that is not conducive to the development of our country, society, and the stability of the people. ”

Since becoming the governor, Hu Fakui has not forgotten to enhance his "self-cultivation", and these diplomatic words and official words are all learned from the pamphlets that his clerk brought back from China, and it is difficult for the fellows of the Counsellors' Office of the State Council to write such a booklet for officials who are not very familiar with these business.

Hubbert also felt a pang in his heart, the Tang Republic seemed to attach great importance to West Borneo, and would never allow others to reach out to it. Fortunately, however, the Tang seemed more interested in transporting immigrants from here to the mainland, and the Tang were not prepared to open up trade routes between the Spice Islands, and Dutch merchant ships could still sell their goods to countries such as Batavia or Japan.

West Borneo became a colony of the Tang Republic, so the main thing must be the trade from Pontianak to Los Angeles, this route is too long for the Dutch to participate.

The Dutch did not lose anything at all, and the Borneo overseas territory had customs, but Hubbert checked the list of tariff rates and found that the Tang people were a bit too sincere compared to the Europeans, and this tariff was not unacceptable.

Of course, the emergence of a unified and powerful regime in West Borneo also has a good side, the Tang people will inevitably sort out the messy gold mines, and the internal friction among the Chinese will be gone, so there will be an increase in local gold production. Moreover, according to Bagman's observations, the Tang people were preparing to build many tropical plantations in West Borneo, mainly to grow spices and other cash crops, and the local production would also increase, which may also be a good thing for Dutch merchants.

"I'm afraid that if the East India Company is asked to do these things, it will not be able to do it. The Tang was a colonial country founded by the Chinese, which was relatively easy for the Chinese to identify with, easier to organize Chinese immigrants to work, and they had strict state organs, while the East India Company, although it had its own political attributes, could not really operate like a country. Hubbert was comforting himself when he thought so.

Immediately afterwards, Hubbert proposed to Hu Fakui: "We hope that the rights and interests of the Dutch in West Borneo will be protected, and for example, the Dutch should be punished by the Dutch side for breaking the law......

Hu Fakui didn't wait for him to finish before he interrupted him: "Don't dream, what is this thing you asked for?" ”

He cast his gaze on the clerk beside him, and the clerk whispered, "Consular jurisdiction." ”

"Oh, yes, consular jurisdiction, don't say that you Dutch and our Datang have no diplomatic relations, and I allow you to use the Dutch Merchant Pavilion, which is not a diplomatic embassy at all, it is Borneo, the legal territory of our Datang, even if he is a mouse, he must abide by the laws of our Datang. If you still want to fight for any privileges for you Dutch, then I have nothing more to say, you leave from here, and the Borneo Overseas Consulate will not accept any of you into the country. Hu Fakui's tone was particularly tough.

Hubbert broke out in a cold sweat and hurriedly defended: "Don't dare, we Dutch businessmen do business in Pontianak, and we will definitely abide by the laws of the Tang Dynasty." ”

Hu Fakui was also satisfied when he saw that he was shocked, and he said: "Merchants who come to Borneo to trade need to bring a valid identity document provided by their country, that is, a passport, and if they don't have something similar. After the review, our customs will provide a visa, which is not necessarily, maybe three months, maybe several years, with which you can enter and leave the country. Well, not only Borneo, but also other territories and mainland territories of Datang can also enter with a valid visa. ”

Harbert frowned, wondering why it was so troublesome. However, he soon understood the advanced and beneficial system of this system, any foreigner must have a valid passport and visa in his own country, then their identity is traceable, which is naturally very beneficial to national security, and will directly restrict the actions of such roles as spies in the other country.

Most countries did not establish a similar passport and visa system before World War I, so the Tang Dynasty's requirement for visas to enter the country can be regarded as the only one in this time and space.

The Dutch, having received their visas at the Doge's Palace, finally returned to their merchant house. The merchant house had been established earlier, but it was occupied by the army a few months ago during the Pontianak War. Of course, the things that had some value in it must have been robbed by the pirate-born soldiers, and Harbert didn't dare to ask Hu Fakui for it, so he could only consider himself unlucky.

When I came to the merchant hall and simply arranged it, I could also be regarded as a resident. Bagman said to Hubbard: "Sir, due to the establishment of the new regime, there is nothing to buy in the Pontianak market, and the Chinese companies that used to trade with us are gone, and now the Tang people are busy taking away a large number of Chinese, so they have no intention of producing, and eighty percent of the gold we purchased from the Tang people has been looted by the Tang people, and the rest of the spices and other things may have been taken away." ”

Hubbert could only sigh, this situation could not be considered an accident. Although West Borneo is larger than the Netherlands, it has limited development and does not produce many goods. According to historical sources, more than 300 kilograms of gold are exported from West Borneo each year, worth 50,000 or 60,000 pounds. When the Tang people arrived here, they would have covered all the gold production in one pot, so the Dutch naturally had nothing to offer.

The Dutch are good at business, but in fact they are good at speculation, and the achievements of the Netherlands in industry are not large, and because the Netherlands is small and lacks resources, but they have a seafaring tradition, so it is more suitable to engage in transshipment trade. This time, the Dutch also brought some things that West Borneo might normally want, such as grain, textiles, metal products, etc., but the grain and textiles were indeed purchased by overseas governments, and they were still used by the Dutch who had never received flowers, but the other party was not interested in metal products.

"Business is getting harder and harder." (To be continued.) )