Nanjing, the imperial city, the naval governor's palace.

After several years in the prospecting team, Abel Tasman from the Dutch East India Company was successfully promoted to the Exploration Institute of the Mining and Metallurgical Department of the Ministry of Industry.

The Ministry of Industry of the Ming Dynasty had four divisions under its jurisdiction: Yingxi, Yuheng, Dushui and Tuntian. Zhao Han changed the Tuntian Division to the Mining and Metallurgical Division, which was not only responsible for exploration and mining of mineral deposits, but also responsible for the smelting of precious minerals such as gold, silver, and copper.

Tasman, who was doing a good job in the Ministry of Works, was suddenly ordered to be transferred to the Navy Governor's Office, which made him a little confused.

With the documents of the Ministry of Officials, he went to the Navy Governor's Mansion to go through the handover procedures, and the officials here did not tell him where to work, but only asked Tasman to wait in an office.

When Tasman walked in, he found that there was actually a person inside, and it was a European. He looked at it and exclaimed, "Mr. Hoffman, why are you here?" ”

Hoffman said helplessly: "Your Excellency, the new governor, said that I had embezzled the company's money, and I also started to investigate the accounts, so I could only flee Batavia with my wife and daughter. ”

"How dare the Governor?" Tasman was even more surprised.

Under normal circumstances, although there is a conflict between the Governor and the Legislature, he will never kill him, let alone investigate the corruption of the other party. After all, who wouldn't be greedy? Once the Governor investigates corruption, he is the enemy of all Legislators.

But the new governor, Van der Lin, was the most assertive governor in Batavia's colonial history against parliamentarians.

Investigating corruption is just a means, but the real goal is to make parliamentarians obedient.

And Hoffman happens to be the chicken who kills the chicken and makes an example of the monkey.

Just as the two were communicating, Gu Jianshan came in, and they immediately stood up to greet them.

"Sit down," Gu Jianshan smiled, "You two will be my staff from now on." Of course, the real position on the surface is the experience and affairs of the Navy Governor's Office. What the hell is this Dutch East India Company? If it is a trading company, how can it have territory and an army? ”

Hoffmann explained: "Your Excellency, the Netherlands is also known as the United Nations of the Seven Provinces of the Netherlands...... Well, that's probably how it translated. Initially, it was ruled by the king of Spain, and the seven northern provinces and some cities in the south formed an alliance to establish an independent state from Spain. ”

"Then who will be the king?" Gu Jianshan asked.

Hoffman said: "There is no king, only parliament. A council of merchants, clergy, and aristocrats discussed and voted on the next policy when it came to national affairs. ”

Gu Jianshan said in disbelief: "This country is not in chaos? ”

"There are certainly contradictions, but not chaos, because parliamentarians have common enemies and interests," Hoffman said. The Dutch East India Company was their greatest common interest, and the interests of many Dutch civilians. Because of the large number of shareholders of the East India Company, even ordinary civilians could buy shares of the company on the exchange. ”

Gu Jianshan asked what the stock and exchange were, and Hoffman answered truthfully, which made Gu Du seem to be listening to the Arabian Nights.

Hoffman continued: "The Dutch East India Company's governing body at the headquarters is a meeting of seventeen members, with seventeen directors meeting together to make decisions. In the East, the affairs were decided by the Governor and the Council. There is one Governor and six Parliamentarians, for a total of seven votes. ”

"The jurisdiction of the East India Company was so great that the seven councillors were often spread over the place, and it was difficult to gather all of them for a meeting. Thus, in the Council of Seven, the Governor, the Registrar of the Commission, the President of the Judicial Council, the Military Officer, and the Shipping Officer, as long as these five did not vote against it, they could pass the resolution even if they were absent. ”

"Naturally, the parliamentarians refused, for the power of the Governor was too great. So parliamentarians sent representatives to Batavia, and I was one of them. This spring, a violent conflict broke out between the Governor and the Councillors, and because I was the most quarrelsome, I was targeted by the Governor. ”

Gu Jianshan asked, "Why did the governor clash with the councilors?" ”

Hoffman elaborated: "The Governor came to Batavia last year and came to an agreement with the council. First subduing the Mata Lan Kingdom, and then targeting the Banten Kingdom, it is inevitable to completely destroy the Banten Kingdom, and at the same time improve diplomacy with other countries. This plan has achieved initial success. When an indigenous uprising broke out in Mataran, the company sent troops to help quell the rebellion, in exchange for the king forming an alliance with the company. ”

"Next, it is a joint army to capture the capital of Banten. King Mataran verbally agreed, but he kept sending troops under the pretext that there was no military spending, and the plan to destroy Banten could only be put on hold for the time being. At this time, the governor had the whimsical idea of starting a war with England and Portugal at the same time. Of course, the parliamentarians were adamantly opposed, so the governor tore his face. ”

Gu Jianshan was puzzled: "It's still understandable to start a war with Portugal, why do you want to go to war with Britain?" ”

Hoffman said, "Please give me a map of the world." ”

Gu Jian Mountain asked people to bring the globe.

Hoffman pointed to the southeastern part of the Arabian Peninsula, later known as the Sultanate of Oman: "The Arabs here have a long history of seafaring, and they have lived by trading since ancient times. The Portuguese, who controlled the most prosperous port there, for a full hundred and fifty years. The indigenous leaders of the Arab countries were originally scattered and attacked each other, just to grab that little leftovers. ”

"Seventeen years ago, Nasser bin Moussad won the civil war and established the Sultanate of Oman. He turned a long period of internal strife into a collective hatred of the Portuguese. Not only did they fight against Portugal, but they also fought against Persia, capturing most of the Persian castles and Portuguese towns along the coast. ”

Gu Jianshan approvingly: "The civil war is endless, there are strong enemies outside, and he can still unify the country and constantly regain lost territory, which can be regarded as a hero." ”

Hoffman said: "The Portuguese were not reconciled, and pulled in the eastern power of the British, intending to jointly send troops to retake the port. But both countries were weak in the east, so they went to Persia to persuade the Persian king to send troops to Oman together. King Mussad of Oman approached the Dutch East India Company to join the Dutch in their fight against the British, Persian, and Portuguese. ”

"The Governor agreed?" Gu Jianshan asked.

"The Dutch East India Company," said Hoffman, "had always wanted to reach into the Arabian Peninsula, and that was a godsend to the Governor. However, the parliamentarians did not agree, and the collective opinion of the council was not to make any extraneous complications, and to destroy the Banten Kingdom on the island of Java first. ”

Gu Jianshan asked, "Which side do you think can dominate the situation?" ”

"Surely the Governor," said Hoffman, "the Governor, though held back by Parliament, can force decisions if he is determined." If you succeed, you will be rewarded by the headquarters; If you fail, you will be held accountable by headquarters. ”

In another time and space, Van der Lin, the governor of Batavia, did indeed force troops against Persia, and the fiercest conflict between the Dutch governor and the parliament broke out.

In that five-nation war, there were no winners and no losers, the thunder was heavy and the rain was small, and it ended hastily.

Due to the lack of actual benefits, and at the same time consuming a large amount of military spending, Governor Van der Rin was dismissed from his post and returned to the Netherlands to retire.

After learning about the internal situation of the Dutch East India Company and the new world situation, Gu Jianshan asked: "If our country can build ten new ships of thousands of materials, they will all be made of century-old oak, and the hull will also be made of European keel style, equipped with the most powerful artillery. Will it be possible to win against the Dutch fleet? ”

"There is an advantage in strength, but the victory or defeat at sea depends on luck and command," Hoffman did not have any psychological burden as a traitor, and immediately helped to come up with an idea, "If you want to send troops, you don't have to fight Batavia, send a fleet to attack Malacca, and cut off the most convenient passage by sea between the east and the west." At the same time, if the trade between China and the Netherlands is cut off, the East India Company will not be able to hold on for a year at most, and will definitely choose to negotiate peace because of the decline in profits. ”

Gu Jianshan said: "You mean, take Malacca first, and Batavia don't care about it?" ”

"Yes," said Hoffman, nodding his head, "the occupation of Malacca will bring huge benefits, and the merchant ships of Britain and France will pass through here, and the annual port tax will be a lot of money." Dutch merchant ships could only sail from Batavia and bypass Sumatra to India, and the Dutch power would continue to weaken. Don't be afraid to cut off trade with the Dutch, the British, French, Portuguese, and even Arab merchants are waiting for this opportunity. The reduced trade volume with the Netherlands will be eaten by other countries, and the Chinese merchants will not lose much. ”

As a representative of the parliamentarians of the Dutch East India Company, he was very clear about the situation and knew what the Netherlands was most afraid of.

Gu Jianshan asked again: "Is Malacca easy to fight?" ”

Hoffman shook his head: "It's not easy to fight, the castle there is almost impossible to attack head-on." When the Dutch seized Malacca, they not only sent their own troops, but also hired more than 1,000 mercenaries. For most of the siege, due to the lack of adaptation to the water and soil, the illness rate of Nordic mercenaries reached eighty percent. If it weren't for the fact that the Portuguese defenders ran out of food and took the initiative to open the door and surrender, the Dutch would not have been able to occupy Malacca. ”

Gu Jianshan looked carefully at the globe and set his eyes on Vietnam.

If you want to besiege the city for a long time, you have to send a large army with enough food and grass. The longer the supply line at sea, the more likely it is to encounter storms and potentially be robbed by the Dutch fleet.

Then the supply lines had to be shortened, and the southernmost point of Vietnam was an excellent point for troops and grain transshipments.

If you want to beat Malacca, you must first defeat Vietnam!

I heard that Malacca was very hot, so it was better to familiarize the soldiers with the Vietnamese climate first, and then go to Malacca, so as not to get sick like the Dutch soldiers.

Gu Jianshan asked about India again.

"I'm a representative of the Parliament, and the Member of Parliament I represent is based in Port Plicut, India," Hoffman said. It was not the territory of the Mughal Empire, but belonged to a small country called Jinji, which was about two Taiwanese. There are also many princely states in the country, and the princes of the princely states have the right to collect taxes, and only need to pay a fixed amount of taxes to the king, and the rest are basically princely states. ”

"The country of Kinji is Hindu, and the country of Gorkunda in the north is of I. Although the royal families of the two countries are mortal enemies, the common people of the country of Golkunda are mostly Hindu. The two countries are joining forces to resist the Mughal Empire's offensive ......"

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