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The wide bay of Batavia is dotted with dozens of merchant ships, large and small, and the lush coconut groves along the shore are gently swaying in the breeze, and the temperature is humid and hot. The city of Batavia, deep in the harbor, is still a low, humble town, and unlike the Oriental colonies that the Portuguese have been operating for hundreds of years, there are not many European-style buildings in Batavia at this time.

It wasn't until 1636, when the new governor of the East India Company, Dumont, took office, that Batavia really began to build its European colony. Until then, Batavia looked more like a military fortress dominated by armed trade.

……

Peterson, the governor of the Dutch East India Company, was anxious now, and the rumors from Malacca that had been back from merchant ships had kept him restless for the past few days.

In just one year, the influence of the Yan family in Southeast Asia has dissipated in an instant, the once pervasive English have been driven to the periphery, the Portuguese have been almost driven to the sea by the Ming Empire, the Spaniards are still cowering in Manila, and now the area from the Philippines to Java is almost the company's backyard.

As for the policy of cracking down on the Portuguese and Yan Siqi in Macau, Peterson believes that it is the best decision he has made since last year. And this policy has so much so much that it has even led Peterson to reconsider his plans to invade Formosa (the island of Taiwan).

But now there is an unbelievable rumor that the United States, which is rampant in the Atlantic Ocean, has sent an expeditionary fleet to the Far East, and it seems that it was aimed at the Dutch cutting off Portuguese shipping.

Peterson knew a little about the Chinese and American ocean migration, and he could not quite understand the fundamental purpose of the country's immigration from the East across tens of thousands of nautical miles, but the rumors that the Dutch colonial intentions in North America had been curbed by the United States for a long time made him feel threatened.

Peterson had served in the Far East for many years, but he was highly politically and militarily sensitive, and was much more attentive to developments in Europe and the Atlantic than the average East India Company executive. Arguably. The decision to cut off the Portuguese, or the United States, to transport Chinese immigrants to the Atlantic was the result of a number of factors, and Peterson's own foresight played a considerable part in it.

The war with the Sultan of Banten was still intermittent, and in his development plan for the Far East, it was a top priority to make Batavia the strongest military fortress for trade, and at the end of last year, he began to forcibly take over the transportation of Chinese refugees throughout the Far East, in order to step up the construction of the military fortress of Batavia.

The fort, which had been battered by the wars between the English and the Sultan of Banten since 1619, is now in the most critical phase of its construction and is designed to be very strong. The stones used in the fortress are all transported from the Coromandel of India, and the fortress cannon is an original imported Huamei heavy cannon produced in North America!

Today, in the port area of Batavia, more than 2,000 laborers and craftsmen from the Ming Empire are busy inside and outside the vast military fortress that integrates colonial living and residential areas, trade areas, and military defense. Most of them are piglets brought in by Zheng Zhilong or Liu Xiang in the past year, and some of them are Chinese immigrants intercepted from Portuguese merchant ships.

Even if these are excellent laborers with a high level of civilization. However, the treatment they enjoyed was basically the same as that of slaves, and the harsh natural environment still led to a staggering death rate among Chinese Americans, and in order to keep the project going, Peterson had to increase his efforts to smuggle piglets from the Ming Empire.

"Your Excellency, bad news!" A subordinate hurried into the governor's office and took off his hat to Peterson, "There is a fleet on the north side of the bay. Unidentified! Mr. Larson's merchant ship has been captured! ”

Englishman? Portuguese? Spaniard? Peterson's quill pen for writing his diary stopped and stared at his men who had come to report the news.

……

Just before dusk, standing on a battery in a harbor, Peterson turned pale. Holding a piece of paper in his hand, his knuckles were almost white.

Beside it was an 18-pounder iron cannon from faraway North America, surrounded by a number of Dutch gunners, and a small mountain of swarthy shells. This gorgeous and high-quality cannon has been loved by European powers in recent years. And the price was only a little more expensive than the iron cannon that was the exclusive operation of England at the time.

"Maybe we should talk to them again?" Looking at the black-and-white fleet that was slowly cruising about 3,000 yards in the distance of the bay, a Dutch mercenary officer spoke cautiously to the Governor of the East India Company in front of him.

"But the conditions they offered. But we must lay down all our arms and accept their incoming investigation! Peterson turned his head with a terrifying expression, "It's an insult that they completely ignore our position here!" The politicians in Amsterdam are either watching the joke or have been kidnapped in general! Don't Mr. Anthony know how important this place is to the East India Company?! ”

"But the time they gave us is before 8 a.m. tomorrow." The mercenary officer cried and could not see a trace of self-confidence, "On the surrounding batteries, we have 12 18-pounder guns, but at this distance, our shells are missing a pair of wings. ”

"No compromise! Forbid them to enter the bay and if they ignore our attitude, fire a warning to them! "Peterson is indeed the most sinister and bloodiest governor of the Dutch East India Company in history, and his vicious expression at this time looks very hideous.

At this time, on the Republic, the flagship of the Huamei Expeditionary Fleet, Sun Yang led a group of diplomats from Europe to dinner in the officer's cafeteria. The Portuguese were as elegant as the East India Company of England, the representative of the English East India Company was expressionless and thoughtful, and the Dutch investigator Anthony had a sad face and was unhappy.

"Ensign, let the kitchen send another batch of fruit smoothies, thank you."

Sun Yang has a very good appetite and has already eaten two fruit smoothies in a row. The ice supplied by the saltpeter refrigerator on board gave the European diplomats on board a comfort unmatched in Europe.

Yan Xianping just smiled, put down his chopsticks and walked out of the officer's cafeteria, and the European diplomats breathed a sigh of relief, because this gorgeous female officer looked like he was going to kill from the moment he appeared in their sight.

"Ladies and gentlemen, in accordance with the orders of General Zhang Chunrui, commander-in-chief of the expeditionary fleet and the joint investigation team, and Vice Minister Yan Xiaosong, I have submitted the documents of the joint investigation team to Governor Peterson in Batavia." Sun Yang picked up his wine glass. Looking at the Europeans in the room with a grin, "If, I mean, tomorrow morning, His Excellency Governor Peterson refuses to allow the Joint Investigation Team to enter the harbor of Batavia, what shall we do?" ”

"They should not refuse this impartial investigation." The Englishman was the first to mutter, smiling at the Portuguese, "We have been as friendly as we can be, in contrast." His Excellency Governor Peterson's words and deeds in the Far East are much more chilling, especially with the brutality of our English merchant house in Makassar a few years ago, which is still alive in London today. ”

"Mr. Lieutenant Colonel, you should add one more: they must end the blockade of the air lines to Timor!" The Portuguese have never forgotten these things.

"Why can't we talk on board?" Anthony, a Dutch government investigator, pushed the plate open with a wry smile. "Perhaps the greatest responsibility for the blockade of immigrants from the East and the conflict over trade in the Far East lies not with the Dutch East India Company."

"Ha, that's probably the funniest joke I've heard in years!" The expression of the representative of the English East India Company was very exaggerated, "If I remember correctly, the English in Batavia should have been there before the arrival of the Dutch." ”

"But according to the agreement between the two countries, Batavia belongs to the Dutch East India Company." Anthony was unhurried-for-tat.

"I still remember the brutal blockade of Malacca by the Dutch East India Company 20 years ago. It was one hell of a memory. The Portuguese began to play the sad card at this point, and almost squeezed out a few tears on the spot, "At least, we handed in a piece of paperwork first." Isn't it? ”

It seems that almost no one, except the Dutch representatives, will object to the measures that the Chinese and American expeditionary fleet will take in response to the unconditional opening of the port of Batavia if the Dutch do not receive their consent tomorrow. This kind of refreshing feeling of falling into a well is deeply immersed in the representatives of England and Portugal.

"Okay. Tomorrow I will try to continue to communicate with them. ”

As Sun Yang spoke, the door opened. Under the leadership of Yan Xianping, several cooks and veterans pushed a cart of fruit smoothies into the restaurant, and everyone immediately burst into laughter.

……

The next day, early in the morning.

The U.S. fleet, which was on standby at the mouth of the bay, formed a battle formation, and a dozen or so naval guns stripped their armor and pointed in unison at several surveyed Dutch batteries on the coast of the bay in the distance. In the distance, the vast fortress of Batavia was still under construction.

"Remember, you have to be ruthless and unreasonable! Be sure to speak in a vicious tone! Be sure to provoke them! ”

On the Blue Whale transport, standing on the side of the ship, Sergeant Major Makarov was still nagging loudly at his subordinates in the steamboat below.

"Arrogant and unreasonable, with a vicious tone...... It's not that hard, but why should I send a letter? It's not fair, they're going to kill me! Yu Shan pushed down the steel helmet, muttered, and smashed the fruit in his hand into the seawater.

"Because you're the smartest." Makarov touched his chin and seemed to be thinking about the reason, but the second half of the sentence made Yu Shan almost collapse again, "I've been thinking that if you can provoke your opponent and have the luck to come back with good limbs, it is estimated that you are the only one in the whole army." ”

Yu Shan's steam boat left the Blue Whale transport ship and slowly drove towards the depths of the bay at a speed of 2 knots.

'I hate the Dutchmen and we should attack in a big way.' The bay battery on the horizon grew into a soybean-sized dot in view, and a Swiss Foreign Legion soldier spat and then arrogantly made a defiant gesture at the Dutch battery in the distance with his rifle raised.

"Forget the words of the big monkey, first class! It's more important to learn to save your own life. Yu Shan kicked his subordinates over, and played with the paperwork rolled into a stick in his hand without a good sound, "Next time I will say that I have a stomachache, otherwise I will be played to death by him one day!" ”

"Cannon!"

Suddenly, a Foreign Legion soldier shouted, and a bay battery more than 1,000 yards away was spewing out a puff of white smoke, and a few seconds later, the cannon was belated. Immediately afterward, a solid bullet smashed headlong into the sea dozens of meters away from the steamship with a sharp roar.

"Damn! Didn't the big monkey say that the other party didn't dare to shoot?! Yu Shan's face turned white, everyone put their bodies on the boat, and Yu Shan waved to his subordinates again and again, "Take it, take the lifebuoy!" ”

Before the words fell, a few more cannon shots rang out, and this time more 18-pound solid shells flew over. The accuracy is also much higher than before, and it seems that the iron cannon made in the country is really good.

A column of water thrown by a cannonball closest to the steam boat flooded the steam dinghy, and the people in the steam boat flipped on their backs. The sea water that poured into the ship happened to pour into the power room, and the dinghy lost power in an instant. Several Foreign Legion soldiers, including Yu Shan, collectively jumped into the sea with wooden lifebuoys.

After swimming more than ten meters away, a few shells fell into the air, this time directly hitting the already suspended steam boat. The latest 30-ton steam-powered boat of the Navy was dismantled on the spot.

This was Peterson's attitude, the Chinese American fleet was not allowed to enter the port of Batavia without permission.

"We came with an olive branch for peaceful evidence, but the Dutch chose the sword." This is what Andrew wrote in his memoirs years later.

November 11, 1628, 8:30 a.m. The U.S. Expeditionary Fleet in China retaliated with fire on several Dutch batteries near the port of Batavia.

120-mm high-explosive shells became the protagonist of the shelling, and the explosive power of the new charge directly shredded the not thick fortifications of the battery. More than 30 shells per minute were projected, and all the Dutch batteries along the bay were shrouded in gunfire. The flames were raging, the rubble was flying, and the mushroom cloud rising from the detonated battery gunpowder stockpile looked spectacular.

For his "fellow countrymen", he is very ignorant of current affairs. Anthony was furious, but there was nothing he could do, and the negotiation plan he had thought of was completely useless at this time.

The English and Portuguese, on the other hand, watched in amazement at the splendid artillery fire of the American fleet, and once again expressed great doubts and deceived feelings about the usefulness of the American cannons they had purchased in large quantities.

"Ladies and gentlemen, this does not in any way affect the excellent quality of the Huamei export cannon, didn't you see it just now, under the use of the Dutch. The range and accuracy of the 18-pounder gun were impeccable! Look, a boat as small as that just now can be hit, and a little bit more will be completely perfect! ”

Sun Yang pointed out the army overboard ghost who was being fished back to the ship with great undiscipline, and he felt a deep sense of accomplishment for the provocative behavior he had concocted. But it is still difficult to make a very low-level verbal propaganda for this ** fire export.

……

The artillery battle, which lasted less than half an hour, completely destroyed the batteries set up by the Dutch East India Company around the bay of Batavia. More than 3,000 yards of shelling made the Dutch's return fire purely a show, and the result was that after ten minutes of firefighting, the remaining Dutch gunners gave up the battle and slipped back into the city.

Even. The huge fortress, which was still in the construction stage, was also suspended, and thousands of Chinese laborers and hundreds of local indigenous laborers fled in fear. The Dutch mercenary soldiers who were in charge of overseeing the work also lost their armor and could not do anything.

In the Governor's Mansion, Peterson received a desperate message that Batavia was now like a stripped girl, waiting for others to be happy, and if he continued to resist, it would only make these American rapists from the sea more excited.

After a difficult decision, Peterson finally calmed down, showed his old political mind, and decisively chose to surrender, now placing all his hopes on the Dutch government representatives who had arrived with the Chinese and American expeditionary fleets. In any case, the Dutch government could not offend the East India Company, which had a huge political and economic power in the country.

At noon, the mercenaries of the Dutch East India Company in Batavia lowered their flags, and the negotiators sent by Governor Peterson boarded the Republic, the flagship of the Chinese American expeditionary fleet, on small boats.

Acting as Governor Peterson's negotiator was an old man of Chinese descent named Su Minggang. After learning the name of the negotiator, the Chinese crossing officers were quite surprised.

Su Minggang is probably one of the most famous Chinese merchants in the history of Java, and has been a pivotal figure in Batavia's commercial and trading circles before and after the Dutch rule of Batavia. In order to take advantage of Chinese merchants and immigrants, Peterson and other Dutch East India Company governors appointed Su Minggang as "Kapitan" as early as 10 years ago, a transliterated name that has always been a title for Chinese chiefs in the Dutch. Soon, Su Minggang took over the interests of all the middlemen of Chinese trade, and also took the lead in handling the internal affairs of the Chinese on behalf of the Dutch.

Governor Peterson was a cunning man, and he almost instantly judged the root cause of the expeditionary fleet sent by China and the United States. Governor Peterson, who had long pursued a policy of "using China to contain China" in Batavia, continued to use this tactic on the American expeditionary fleet in China this time, and as for how effective it was. He couldn't guarantee it.

The negotiations were very simple, Sun Yang directly took out the diplomatic letter that Yan Xiaosong gave him, clarified the position of the Sino-American expeditionary fleet and the joint investigation team, and expressed unacceptability for the Dutch East India Company's blatant robbery of the migration transport entrusted to the Portuguese, the mutilation of Chinese merchants, and the flagrant destruction of "freedom of navigation in Southeast Asia".

In fact, the reason is really bad, but the representatives of the English East India Company and the Portuguese who accompanied them swore that they had "put up with you for a long time", and these acts were undoubtedly the greatest evil of the Dutch East India Company.

Looking at the majestic and mighty fleet, Su Minggang, who had been away from Daming for a long time, was stunned, he couldn't imagine that such a domineering country could appear among the descendants of the Chinese, and he could come to Southeast Asia from thousands of miles away to give the Chinese businessmen and Chinese people a head.

As for how the Dutch treated Chinese merchants and Chinese laborers in Batavia. Su Minggang actually knew it, but he was in a position that was detached from ordinary Chinese businessmen and Chinese immigrants, and Su Minggang's interests in Batavia were inextricably linked to the Dutch colonial authorities. It is foreseeable that if more than ten years later, a Chinese leader like Su Minggang will be. I won't think of myself as a citizen of the Ming Dynasty anymore.

For example, the gorgeous ** officials in front of him, in Su Minggang's opinion, are actually a group of Chinese who have the same idea as himself, but mix better in the distant Taixi.

The negotiations went very smoothly, and Sun Yang, who admired Su Minggang, gladly accepted the plea of the local Chinese businessmen on the premise of not occupying Batavia City. The fleet entered the harbor and landed to investigate.

In the evening of the same day, three companies of Chinese and American Army infantry, with the help of the fleet behind them, sailed into the port of Batavia, and directly took control of the huge military fortress, together with a number of East India Company officials, Dutch immigrants, and a large number of Chinese laborers living in the fort.

The testimonies of Roland, a Dutch free businessman who had been arrested earlier, and Larson, a commercial officer of the East India Company, were basically the same. A large number of transaction documents were also found from the Batavian Governor's Palace, and all the "evidence" showed that a group of Daming pirate groups headed by Zheng Zhilong had been engaged in the smuggling and trafficking of Ming refugees for a long time, and even "co-opted" some of Yan Siqi's subordinates and some scum of the Macao Council, and finally "planted" Yan Siqi. The evidence is "conclusive". Yan Siqi, the deputy general of the Ming Dynasty, is innocent!

The investigation also found that the Dutch were in collusion with local pirates. and supporting the Japanese, and there were a lot of unsightly small actions against the trade of various countries in the Far East, and many of the incidents judged to be pirate robbery were behind the instructions and sale of stolen goods by the Dutch East India Company, and even directly involved.

The most direct evidence is that the batch of gorgeous goods sent to Macao by Portuguese merchant ships in 1628 appeared in the warehouse of the Governor's Palace in Batavia, and even the Chinese Simplified Chinese label on the box has not been torn off, and the gorgeous goods in that batch naturally fell into the pocket of the Dutch East India Company.

In fact...... Even if these investigations are not carried out, the magnates of the whole of Europe are very aware of what the "common norms" on the sea in this era are, and these people in China and the United States are making superficial fuss.

None of the Dutch in Batavia could stop these verbal investigations, after all, there was a Chinese-American fleet moored in the harbor capable of destroying the entire city of Batavia.

The arrival of the Chinese-American fleet set off a wave among the Chinese in Batavia, and no matter what the reason was for coming to Batavia, when they heard that this "Chinese-American" Chinese army was coming to give themselves a head, a group of Chinese laborers or Chinese businessmen poured into the port.

Or crying, or consoling, or just pricking up your ears to inquire about valuable news.

The Chinese Kapitan Su Minggang was highly entertained by Sun Yang, commander of the expeditionary fleet, at which Sun Yang warmly invited Chinese merchants from Batavia to visit the island of Natuna, which had been renamed "Pearl Island".

Zhang Chunrui, who received the report from Sun Yang Radio, also quickly understood the significance of the Southeast Asian pattern that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs attaches great importance to. Even if Yan Xiaosong, the current executor of the Oriental Agency Plan, is not at the scene, Zhang Chunrui has no right to give any instructions without authorization, but it is obvious that there are only advantages and no disadvantages in finding such a weighty Chinese businessman in Batavia.

The future development of Pearl Island is inseparable from the support of these Nanyang Chinese businessmen, so under the instruction of Zhang Chunrui, Sun Yang showed as much kindness as possible to Su Minggang. But it is not known whether Su Minggang eats alone or mobilizes local Chinese to participate like Li Guozhu.

In Batavia, I have also seen the legendary gorgeous seafood, and it has always been a monopoly of the Dutch and Portuguese before, Sun Yang's suggestive temptation suddenly made Su Minggang squint, pinched his beard and just nodded slowly.

The meaning of the Huamei people could not be more obvious, and famous Chinese businessmen like Su Minggang in Batavia could also share a small cake of future Southeast Asian trade as long as they wished, and Chinese businessmen did not have to look at the faces of Europeans completely as before.

……

In view of the egregious act of "Governor Peterson openly ordered the shelling of the US Navy fleet in China and wounded many Chinese and American soldiers," Sun Yang formally submitted an extradition request to the Dutch side.

Anthony, the representative of the Dutch government, objected on the spot, citing the memorandum signed privately between the two sides in the Azores, saying that these were all within the scope of the Dutch government's handling.

The U.S. military could only show respect for the diplomatic letter signed between the two countries and "step back," but Governor Peterson had to be listed as persona non grata in the Far East and had to be repatriated to Europe with a more "cooperative" governor. Anthony saw that there was a step down, and quickly agreed to the follow-up treatment.

Under the terms of the provisional agreement, the U.S. Expeditionary Fleet would respect the interests of the Dutch government in the Far East, but the Batavian side would have to end the enslavement of Chinese laborers in the city and the maritime violence against Chinese merchants.

A series of stolen money and goods related to human trafficking and looting of Portuguese merchant ships transporting Chinese goods were confiscated and non-refundable by the Chinese American expeditionary fleet. As a result of the temporary handling of the "Batavia shelling incident", the Dutch East India Company paid 300,000 guilders. The funny thing is that Batavia at this time couldn't take out so much cash for a while, of which 100,000 guilders were directly offset with a large number of cloves and nutmeg, and then the Blue Whale transport ship was full of rich spices.

Finally, Lieutenant Commander Sun Yang, commander of the Chinese-American Expeditionary Fleet, who was authorized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, announced that the Chinese-American Navy would immediately withdraw from the port of Batavia, and invited representatives of the member countries of the Joint Investigation Group and the Dutch East India Company to convene an "Oriental Conference" in Malacca sometime next year to restore "proper order" in the Far East.

(To be continued)