The writer Johann Newhoff was by no means from a poor background, because he was good at reading, writing and drawing.

And, initially, as a reserve officer, he went to Brazil, a colony of the Dutch West India Company.

But to say how rich his family is is is pure nonsense. This thing has also been a sailor, and it belongs to the hardest, most tiring and dangerous profession, and he won't wash the deck with a little background.

"Sir, Mrs. Witzon, you are invited to the ball to-night." A slave ran to hand over the invitation.

Ball?

The castle was surrounded by a group of people, and there were still people holding balls.

Newkhoff held the invitation in both hands: "Please tell Madame that I will attend on time." ”

Someone else held a ball, and Newkhov certainly scoffed.

But Mrs. Witzon's ball, Newhoff had to attend. Because his benefactor's surname is Witzon, if it weren't for the support of his benefactor, he would probably still be fooling around in the Americas now.

This Mrs. Witzon's husband is none other than Eun Gong's nephew and one of the arrested councillors!

As night fell, many soldiers and civilians were still on duty at night to guard against a sneak attack by the Chinese.

And somewhere in the hall of the castle, more than two hundred candles were lit. Some candles are placed on wall candlesticks, some on large chandeliers, and some on tabletops.

The interior is brightly lit, and food and wine are constantly served.

Mrs. Witzon, who was wearing heavy makeup, was walking around the audience with her wine glass, and soon came to Newhoff: "I'm glad you are here, Mr. Newhoff. ”

"It's an honor to receive Madame's invitation!" Newhoff stooped down and kissed the back of the lady's hand.

Guests arrived one after another, including high-ranking company employees and municipal officials, as well as their wives and daughters (all mistresses, illegitimate daughters) and sons-in-law.

The women at the ball, young and old, were all of mixed race.

Mrs. Wittson was also of mixed race, and her father was a former former governor. Her mother, who was of Japanese (Portuguese-Japanese descent), was captured as a Catholic and sold to the Dutch to Batavia, where she became one of the viceroy's mistresses and maids.

In early Batavia, there was a shortage of women.

The Han Chinese could only marry the Javanese natives, and later there were gradually Han women. As long as it is a Han woman, even if she looks crooked and cracked, she will be robbed by Han men.

How scarce are Han women?

According to the official records of Batavia, Han women often turned against their husbands. Sometimes I get divorced after only a few words, and I don't worry about whether I can remarry after divorce, and the better the family, the more so.

The main reason for the divorce case is that the wife finds out that her husband is raising a concubine, and this kind of extramarital affair is completely unbearable. The second is that the relationship between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law is not harmonious, and the Han girl is angry with her mother-in-law, and she is also clamoring to break up with her husband.

There are even parents of Han girls, because they can't get used to their sons-in-law's nests, so they force their daughters to divorce and remarry.

In order to curb this phenomenon, the Dutch and Han Chinese jointly issued relevant decrees: first, Han people need to pay marriage tax when they get married; Second, marriages need to be reviewed, including widows' remarriages. Third, there must be a marriage license and a divorce license; Fourth, once you marry illegally, you must be deported.

And the Dutch, too, lack women.

Originally, women were shipped from Europe, but there were two problems, one was that the cost of long-distance transportation was too high, and the other was that the prostitutes were basically transported. Many of these European prostitutes had willow disease, and were disliked by the Dutch, who nicknamed them "rotten pears".

Coincidentally, the Japanese shogunate fell out with Portugal and arrested and killed Japanese Catholics.

The Dutch took the opportunity to buy it, and those Japanese-Portuguese women became the most sought-after goods at the top of the company. Ordinary Japanese women are assigned to low- and middle-level company employees.

The illegitimate offspring of the company's top brass, the boy was sent back to the Netherlands to study, and the girl remained in Batavia. These girls will marry new company employees, and the father-in-law will train his son-in-law as a confidant, and cultivate cronies through marriage, which will be intertwined for decades.

The lady in front of her is the best of them.

Her father, the former governor, had returned to China, but her husband was the chairman of the Batavia City Council and a member of the company's East India Council. Moreover, her husband listened to her very much, because her father was in the Netherlands, and she had a business in Batavia, and she earned far more money than her husband.

"Bang!"

The door slammed open.

Governor Rainiers entered with his troops and ordered: "According to the wartime decrees, candles, food, and liquor are ...... It belongs to war materials, and all of them are temporarily confiscated! ”

"Stop!"

Mrs. Wittson also roared, "These are the ones I brought into the castle, and these are my private possessions!" ”

Reiniers looked angry: "Madame Wittson, for the sake of your father's sake, I allowed you to take your slaves to the castle for refuge. Now that the castle is under siege and the soldiers are still defending the city, you are actually holding a ball, what the hell do you want to do? ”

"Release my husband immediately!" Mrs. Wittson said.

"When the war is over, I'll release him," Rainiers said. However, I will send a boat to take him back to the Netherlands, and your relationship will be over by that time. I remind Madame to change her husband as soon as possible. ”

At this time, the Dutch, once they left office and returned to China, basically left their wives and daughters behind. Their wives will become rich "widows" and hook up with young and promising new employees. And the young new staff are also willing to "marry" the widow, and they can save 20 years of struggle in an instant.

It's normal for a wealthy mixed-race woman to have several husbands.

The company's top management is reluctant to return to China after retirement, and that situation will have to wait for another few decades.

Mrs. Wittson turned to look at the guests: "The Governor has gone mad, he cannot surrender for the sake of the family. But what does this have to do with us? The food in the castle can be eaten for more than a year, and when the time comes, will everyone starve to death together? In the past, Batavia was also besieged, whether it was the Banten army or the Mataran army, and they withdrew their troops after a few months of siege. But now the Chinese army, the Chinese surrounded Manila, Geranza, and Malacca, when did they withdraw their troops? Chinese are the richest, they have endless food, and if they want, the Chinese army can besiege the city for ten years......"

"Grab it!"

Rainiers did not want to hear any more, and immediately ordered the soldiers to act, and in a matter of minutes they would take Mrs. Wittson away.

Next, the banquet candles were pulled out and the food and drinks were confiscated. He also gave these drinks and food to the soldiers defending the city, which boosted the morale of the army a little.

The invited guests were silent the whole time, for fear that they would also be arrested.

The next day, Rainiers summoned the army to lecture and threaten the soldiers: "Do you know what will happen if you surrender? The Dutch soldiers in Geranza were all killed after surrendering. The Chinese love to cut off their heads, and if we surrender, all our heads will be cut off! ”

This is a half-truth, and the Dutch in the city of Geranza were indeed all beheaded. That's because they stubbornly resisted to the end, causing the Datong army to besiege the city for more than nine months, wasting too much food and grass, and many soldiers were sick.

And the Dutch soldiers here, a few of them came from Malacca, and they knew that surrender would save their lives.

"The Chinese army will not kill prisoners, and if we keep defending the city and not surrendering, we will be beheaded."

"I'm from Malacca, I've surrendered before, and the Chinese army really won't kill anyone."

"The Governor is so bad, he wants to drag us to death with him."

“……”

Rainiers was enceiving, believing that he was in control of the army, but he had no idea what the soldiers were talking about in private.

The company's high-level and middle-level employees are also quietly connected.

Especially after Mrs. Whitson's arrest, such tandems became more frequent. The company is not its own, why should it sacrifice its life? Isn't it good to surrender early?

"Your Excellency, the civilian staff are willing to surrender," Newhoff said to Batavian Judge Siddens, "and I have also contacted some soldiers, all from Malacca, who believe that they will survive by surrendering. ”

Siddens said, "Make an appointment, and we'll riot together." The Governor had violated the company's rules by arresting the councillors without authorization, and it was only reasonable for us to expel the Governor, even if it caused a meeting of seventeen. ”

……

Doge's Palace, Office.

Director General Jonas asked: "Do you think the Chinese will withdraw their troops?" ”

"You can only try," Reiniers said. China's dispatch of troops this time was too fast, and it is estimated that it was the same as the last attack on Malacca, and it was not authorized by the Chinese emperor at all. They should not have much food and rely on local Chinese plantation owners to provide it. The rainy season is just around the corner, and if a hurricane passes through, those plantations will fail. Or if there are other disasters next year, they can force the Chinese to withdraw their troops, and I will not give up until the last moment. ”

"Yes, until the last moment, I can't give up." Jonas sighed.

Reiniers was able to be an airborne governor, and privately it cost money. He threw money to get the position of governor, and quietly fished for several years, and all the stolen money from embezzlement was here, and he was only to take it away when he returned home from office.

Once surrendered now, there will be nothing left.

Don't talk anything about it for the sake of the family's interests, he is more for himself, even if he fights for his life, he has to keep the greedy silver.

Jonas is even more interesting, his wife and children who stayed in the Netherlands wrote a letter saying that he had bought war bonds. The family's savings were all used to buy British bonds, hoping that the British would win the war.

You heard it right, before the outbreak of the Anglo-Dutch war, the Netherlands not only sold warships to Britain, but the British were also able to get war loans from the Netherlands. Not to mention all this, during the war between the two countries, Britain directly issued war bonds in the Netherlands, and there were not a few Dutch people who bought British war bonds.

When Jonas received the letter from home, he was stunned.

He firmly believes that Britain will lose, and the bonds bought by his wife and children will definitely be lost!

Therefore, he cannot surrender, he must hold out until China withdraws his troops, and then bring the embezzled silver back to China, otherwise he will not even have the money to return to China for retirement.

"Bang bang bang!"

Sporadic gunfire was heard outside, and soon the gunfire became more and more intense.

Rainiers stood up in shock: "It's the Governor's Mansion who is shooting, someone has defected!" ”

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