Chapter 808: Far East or Middle Earth? Eastern continent or America?

Batavia is particularly hot in September, but the quayside pubs are still packed. The Dutch owner of the tavern learned the trick of cooling by convection from the Seris, and used a donkey to drive a large fan blade, and stayed in the tavern, which was more comfortable than a steamer-like outdoors, and business was naturally extraordinarily prosperous.

"It's horrible! Sooner or later, the Sairi people will become the Mongols of 500 years ago and sweep the whole world! ”

The secretary to the governor of Batavia shouted with a big tongue and a smell of wine in a thick and low British accent.

"It's only been a few years, and the number of Seris in Batavia has skyrocketed to seventy or eighty thousand, and how many people are there in the whole Batavia? Early 100,000! The governor had moved his residence to the small port to the west, and his bedrooms had direct access to the pier, and an alarm bell had been set up beside his bed. Once the bell rings, you can get on board in five minutes. What alarm bells? The Seri are going to turn Batavia into their coconut city. ”

The audience on the opposite side was neatly dressed, and he didn't even loosen his collar, and at first glance he looked like a British, and he said helplessly: "Emperor Cyris has been very restrained with you Dutch, and has not directly crushed Batavia with a large army as he did with Manila, Malacca, and Aceh. My advice to you, the Batavian authorities, is simple: to demarcate the city of Seris near Batavia, as the Portuguese had done in the past, and to let the Seris of Batavia govern themselves. If you Holland still want to maintain a presence in Java, compromise with the Seris, and strive to coexist with the Seris, this is the only hope. ”

With a bang, the secretary's glass slammed on the table, and his anger could no longer be hidden: "Sir Lawrence, this is also the hope of you Britons to take over the Java and Maluku Islands from our Dutch, right?" ”

The King of Britain's envoy, Sir Lawrence, corrected: "It's the Moluga Islands......"

The secretary said anxiously, "It's no different, once we Dutch lose Java and Maluku, your British East India Company will have to face the Seris alone. Our two countries have close common interests in the Far East, and it is my sincere hope that not only me, but also the Governor, will be able to convince His Majesty the King to pay more attention to the situation in the Far East. Curb the expansion of the Seris. ”

He lowered his voice and gritted his teeth, "Sending a detachment of at least ten third-class battleships to the Far East can greatly deter the Seris. They now have only six battleships, and they rule the sea area with dozens of large cruisers with single-deck guns. If our two navies can work closely together. With just a fist, the people of Seris can understand that the sea is ours, not theirs! ”

Lawrence looked at the secretary's face for a long time to confirm that he was serious, and then sighed, "Your Excellency." You just said that the Seris are terrible, but you were just saying that there are too many of them? ”

He shook his head and smiled bitterly: "No, you are wrong. For thousands of years, the Far East was the most densely populated place in the world, and when we were in the dark ages of Europa, Seris already had a population of hundreds of millions. ”

"You don't see anything more terrifying about the Seris, but I have a deep understanding. I have been with the Seris for almost five years, except in Guangdong, where they are most developed. They also stayed in Gangnam, where they were about to revivenation. I have also been to the most inhospitable northwestern wilderness, and even to the capital of the current northern Tatar kingdom in the name of trade. ”

"What I've seen and heard in the past five years. I'd have spent ten years writing about what I saw, and when it comes to horror, our motherland ...... Both Britain and the Netherlands were maritime powers, full of conquest and domination of the seas. But for Seris, the ocean was only a part of their world, but in this part, what I saw, terrible, was no longer enough to sum up what I felt. ”…,

Lawrence's gaze wandered, and his mind went back to the old ways.

"I went to Gangnam three years ago. At that time, Seris had just recovered this homeland, and I did not see many sea ships in the waters south of the Yangtze River, and some were only two or three hundred tons of old hard sailing ships, and the shipyards along the coast could only build fishing boats, and even fewer sailors who could operate soft sails. ”

"I stayed in Gangnam for a year and a half, when I left. The scene on the sea has been turned upside down. Countless tall ships, with soft sails, back and forth in all directions. And those small shipyards along the coast are building large ships of six, seven hundred or even thousands of tons. ”

"When I passed through Fujian and Guangdong, I saw countless shipyards appearing near the sea. In Hong Kong and Whampoa shipyards, their huge dry docks have never been idle, and they have been building at least two or three thousand tons of sea-going ships. ”

Lawrence looked at Mr. Secretary with a hint of pity in his eyes: "Your Excellency, I have also seriously considered your suggestion, and I am also convinced that our two countries will join forces to cast the main naval force in the Far East, and with the current size of the Ceris Navy, they have no chance of winning." But...... What would have happened if the Seris had not given in, but had fought back like lions when they were provoked? ”

He gestured three fingers: "This is the data I have obtained in every possible way, the Seris people in Jiangnan, Fujian and Guangdong, there are more than 3,000 registered shipbuilding companies, and at least 10,000 ships of more than 200 tons are built every year. If the Seris wished, they would be able to arm a hundred Tier 3 battleships within a year. ”

"Despite the inexperience of their officers and sailors, they acquired the shipbuilding skills of the Portuguese and Spaniards, and the artillery technology was stronger than ours in Europe. This means that we will face a new maritime power in the Far East, stronger than Spain and France. Even if the navies of both our countries were all concentrated in the Far East, they would not necessarily be able to defeat it. And when it is armed with a huge navy, God knows how far it will go? By that time, the South Sea, and even the Indian Ocean, will seem too small for it. ”

Lawrence shook his head: "In the Far East, Seris...... It is no longer an existence that can be countered by force, we must face this fact calmly, and rationally admit that the South Seas are the sphere of influence of the Seris, and if we want to survive and profit in the South Seas, we must obey its rules. ”

The term Far East is emerging in Europe, at first it was only a geographical term that included Seris and the countries of Northeast Asia, and over the years it has gradually incorporated the emotions of some far-sighted Europeans, Seris represents elegance and dignity, and the Far East represents the rare unwillingness to face the coveted great wealth, but because of the strange and powerful power is rising, and at the same time because the world has been occupied by Seris and become "broken" dissatisfaction.

The Governor's secretary was stunned for a long time, his mouth still wriggling, repeating the numbers three thousand and ten thousand.

Lawrence said to himself, you Dutch, just squatting in Java to do your own little business, and you don't have a big picture at all. It's just a small sea vessel. What is it about the Seris that is really scary? It is the steam engine that is roaring in Guangdong, Fujian and Jiangnan! These machines, which bring together millions of workers, are producing a steady stream of extremely cheap silk, cotton and linen, and steel.

Why did the Seris build so many ships? One of the key reasons is to sell these things. In Jiangnan, he saw the sails of those sea ships covering the sky and the sun. These industrial goods were being sold to Tatar, Japan and Korea in the north. In Fujian and Guangdong, the sea route served as a city driveway, dumping goods into the Seris colonies in the South Seas, and selling them to the eager Portuguese, Spanish, French, and even British and Dutch. …,

Before Britain banned the import of Seris silk, a horse of Ceris silk was sold for two to three pounds, and Britons sold for only half of their own silk. And now. Seris silk sells for less than a pound in Portugal and is twenty percent cheaper than Britain's own silk! Chancellor of the Exchequer Walpole is under increasing pressure from domestic traders to lift the ban, while tensions between traders and domestic industrialists are intensifying.

Lawrence had been active with the Seris for four or five years, and finally pushed the King and the Parliament to take the Seris seriously, and the Walpole government began to discuss a bill to establish formal diplomatic relations with the Seris. Of course, the choice now is not whether or not to look at Seris as a diplomatic object for the Europa countries. It is about what attitude should be adopted and how to adjust the layout of the Far East in order to ensure one's own interests in the Far East.

Lawrence was sad. Seriously, this result is not his fault, and the signing of a direct trade agreement with Portugal at the beginning of the year is the key reason why Britain has to face up to reality. If it had been ten years ago, such an agreement would have only led to the isolation of Portugal by the Europa countries, and at the same time the Great Powers would have done everything possible to obstruct and disrupt the shipping routes. And the reality of Seris's rule in the South Seas is deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, the image of the elegant and mysterious power of the East has been widely accepted by Europe through Portugal, and the commercial goods are even more popular in Europa, Spain and France have to pinch their noses to accept the new changes in the global maritime trade pattern. Relying only on Britain and the Netherlands, it is no longer able to turn the tables.

Lawrence's mission at Seris had come to an end, after his companion Charfi had been expelled for spying on the Syris's technology on steam engines and artillery, and another companion, Colonel Morton, had joined the East India Company a few months earlier. Compared to Lawrence, Colonel Morton was more radical, predicting that Seris would be Britain's number one enemy in the world. The purpose of going to the East India Company was to curb the competition of the Syris Western Company against India.

Lawrence was different from Colonel Morton in that he felt that Colonel Morton only saw the competitive side, not the cooperative side. Despite their differences, the strategy for the Dutch to remain at the forefront was unanimous. To compete, the Dutch are shields and buffers, to cooperate, and the Dutch are the pedals and bridges, so Lawrence persuaded the Governor in public and the secretary of the Governor in private, hoping that the Batavian authorities would use more flexible means to get along with the Serisians, avoid the intensification of conflicts, and provide a pretext for Seris to expel the Dutch from the South Seas.

With such intentions, the Dutch in Nanyang themselves knew that because of the tremendous pressure of facing Seris, and at the same time the uncertain future, the Batavian authorities, from the governor to the ordinary Dutch soldiers, were full of fear in their hearts, plus irrepressible anxiety, and the psychology of this governor's secretary was a common portrayal of all the Dutch in Nanyang.

Both of them spoke in the rare local Britannica, and the drinker at the next table laughed when they heard the words, and glanced at them with obvious disdain, and talked in Spanish. Lawrence vaguely heard words like "self-defeating" and "dying and struggling", and immediately became vigilant. The Portuguese were almost allies of Seris, and the Spaniards were very close to Seris, and even joined forces with British traders to engage in the smuggling trade, dumping Seris goods into Britain, and the British domestic industrialists, parliament and government hated the Spaniards to the core.

It was originally a feud, but now it has added a new grudge, and Lawrence does not dare to speak, for fear of causing trouble in this place.

Following the governor's secretary to have his own thoughts, he raised a glass to dispel his sorrows, and the dock outside suddenly became noisy, and someone rushed into the tavern and said: "It's Seris's cruiser entering the port to replenish, and I heard that it is still General Lu's ship." ”…,

The tavern was considered a high-class clubhouse in the docklands, and its customers were mostly merchants, captains and officials of Europa countries. Hearing the news, they all raised their glasses and said, "For General Lu, cheers!" ”

General Lu?

The Governor's secretary was puzzled, but Lawrence remembered. The current commander of the South Ocean Fleet, Vice Admiral Seris Lu Hanshan.

"General Lu is also a famous navigator, he should have just completed his voyage around Nanzhou......"

"It was also he who led the fleet to Europa and established diplomatic relations with us in Portugal, and it is said that when he left, the prime minister's daughter and niece cried in public on the docks."

"I remember, isn't the Syris set spread by General Lu and them in Europa?"

The drinkers were talking. And when some Spaniards said that "General Lu has also been to Dongzhou, and discussed trade issues with our Spanish vice-king, the galleon trade can be preserved, and we can still use this trade route to do our own business, and General Lu also has a credit", the secretary of the governor, who has been buried in Batavia and almost has autism because of his fear of the Seris, is very puzzled.

"Where is Nanzhou? Where is Dongzhou? ”