Great time travel

Chapter 13, 27 moments in the four years of Chongzhen ([-])
No.13 moments: the dormant Dutchman

The fourth year of Chongzhen, the winter of 1631 A.D., Dayuangang, Taiwan (the ancient city of Anping in modern Tainan City)

Although it is already winter, in Taiwan, apart from the slight chill in the morning and evening, the weather in the daytime is still quite warm.

Facing the refreshing sea breeze, a middle-aged Dutch man in luxurious clothes sat on the balcony of the Dutch Commercial House in Dayuangang, enjoying a meal consisting of schnitzel, A hearty lunch of grilled fish, vegetable soup, pastries and fruit.

The man looked haughty and ferocious, with piercing eyes, a broad forehead, and two slender mustaches around his mouth, which made his face even thinner.His once-pale skin had long been bronzed after years of basking in the tropical sun.This person is the fifth chief executive of the Dutch East India Company in Formosa: Hans.Putmans.He has all the characteristics of a senior executive of the Dutch East India Company: shrewdness, ruthlessness, scheming and perseverance-only with such qualities can one gain a foothold in a strange and foreign land.

However, the governor of Putmans today is obviously a bit unwell. He just took a few mouthfuls and pushed aside the white porcelain plate with half of the food left. He then took a glass of rum and sipped it. One side overlooks the scenery of Dayuan Harbor outside the balcony: the sparkling sea, the lush virgin forest, the Zeelandia Castle under construction, the always bustling taverns, the drunken sailors and indigenous people on the street ——The Dutch brought a large amount of arrack from Batavia and rum from Hainan Island, which were specially used to exchange fur goods with the natives.Because making the natives addicted to alcohol is a common method used by many trading companies in the Age of Discovery.Aboriginals with a lower level of civilization generally don't need to buy too many odds and ends, and the aborigines should be forced to come to do transactions frequently.The only thing to do is to use your brains on addictive products such as tobacco and alcohol that you can't quit.Once the aborigines become addicted to alcohol, they become poor creatures that the East India Company can exploit at will.From the Americas to Africa to the Spice Islands, this scene is being played out everywhere in the world of the Age of Discovery.

Of course, as a seaport city, the most eye-catching thing here is always the bustling wharf lined with masts—compared with previous years, the number of merchants who came to Dayuan Trading this year has increased several times.Ships of different sizes are moored around the pier. Except for a few Dutch ships, most of them are Chinese ships such as Guangzhou Shipyard and Fuzhou Shipyard.Rows of new warehouses and storage yards have also been built on the docks, and goods waiting to be shipped are piling up.

"... Dayuan Port... is really getting more and more prosperous..."

With some indescribably entangled emotions, Governor Putmans muttered in a low voice, and at the same time cast complicated eyes on a sea ship that was slowly leaving the port—this was a large ship that was equivalent in size to a Spanish galleon , but the shape of the ship is much more slender and beautiful. The chimney between the two masts is constantly emitting black smoke, and at the top of the mast, a Venus flag with a blue background and white stars is flying high...

——This is the source of all the joys and sorrows of Governor Putmans in recent years, and it is also the nightmare and savior of the Dutch colony in Daweigang.

"...But... this Formosa Island no longer belongs to the United Province of the Netherlands..." He sighed helplessly.

Looking back in 1629, when Governor Putmans first came to Dayuan Port to take office, this small colonial stronghold was in an extremely difficult situation: on the one hand, the trade with China was cut short by the pirates fighting along the coast of Fujian. At a standstill, trade with Japan was also interrupted due to diplomatic conflicts (the Dutch wanted to set up customs in Taiwan and tax Japanese businessmen who came to Taiwan for trade, but Japan did not recognize Taiwan as the territory of the Netherlands, and conflicts broke out between the two sides), from Fore The natives and Chinese immigrants in Mosha (we all know this is what the Dutch call Taiwan) also can't squeeze enough oil and water, and the financial situation of the Dutch business house in Dayuangang has been in a state of deficit for years.On the other hand, the Spaniards in the Philippines also set their sights on this island. They not only built castles in Jilong (Keelung) and Danshui in the north, but also dispatched armed fleets from the Philippines to attack Dayuan Port. A miraculous storm blew away the Spanish fleet, and the port of Dayuan, which was extremely weak at that time, was almost doomed to fall.

As if the house was leaking and it was raining all night, before Governor Putmans took office, two fujian immigrant leaders Zhang Wei and He Bin in Taiwan set off a tax rebellion, and the Dutch tax collectors who had gone to collect taxes in kind Driven out after being beaten half to death - well, Governor Putmans also admitted in private that the previous governor not only collected poll taxes from these Chinese, but also confiscated all the sugar they had laboriously planted to produce sugar, which was indeed a bit too much up.But if this is not the case, what should Dayuan Port, which has not made a maritime trade for several months, pay the mercenaries?
(To clarify, when Taiwan was undeveloped in the early days, the "bulk" commodities exported were venison and deerskin. It was not until sugarcane was planted on a large scale during the Chongzhen period that sugar could be exported, which was also an important source of income in Zheng Chenggong's era. But sugarcane gardens were not It can be established in one day. Around 1630, there was very little cane sugar that Taiwan could export. Moreover, compared with the lucrative and huge-scale trade with Japan and China, such a pitiful production in Taiwan at that time , for the Dutch merchants who are known as "sea coachmen", there is not even enough teeth. Once the foreign trade is cut off and the Dutch are forced to live by hunting the islanders, the overwhelmed islanders really have to rebelled.)
Therefore, as soon as Governor Putmans took office, he had to do his best to search for troops and launch a counter-insurgency war to punish the Chinese.At first, with his consistent contempt for East Asian aborigines, Putmans thought that with the 25 soldiers cobbled together by Dayuangang, he would soon be able to crush the resistance of these Chinese—the mercenary commander of Dayuangang Guan bragged to the governor that one of his soldiers could knock down [-] Chinese.

But the reality gave him a slap in the face—a famous legendary general of the Ming Empire on the other side of the strait secretly dispatched his direct lineage troops "Fire Battalion", a battle-tested army equipped with flintlock guns and field artillery, The elite troops who can form a large Spanish phalanx to support the rebellion of these Chinese immigrants on Taiwan Island.As a result, in just one battle, Governor Putmans lost half of his army, and he was shot, so he had to flee back to Dayuan Port in desperation, not only failed to restore the rule and oppression of Chinese immigrants , and have to worry about their retaliation by entering Dayuan Port: at that time, the construction of Zeelandia Castle had not yet started, and Dayuan Port had no defense capability at all in the face of modern firearms troops.

In the first half of the seventeenth century, the Dutch East India Company was a super multinational monopoly with more than 2 employees. It had nearly 3 regular mercenaries under its command. If you count those who are slightly armed, they can participate in the war slaves, the total global strength is [-] to [-]—but please note that this is the global total strength of the Dutch East India Company, and naturally must be used on the global battlefield. These precious troops need to be attacked at the same time. A series of opponents all over the world, such as the black uncle in South Africa, the Portuguese colony, the English pirates, and the Nordic fishermen (grabbing the fishery) to protect the company's benefits and the income of the shareholders, so it is impossible to invest so many troops in Taiwan, which is losing money all day long from a remote corner.

Fortunately, the Chinese immigrants in Taiwan do not seem to have the idea of ​​​​attacking Dayuan Port for the time being—whether it is He Bin who is entrenched in Beigang, or Zhang Wei, the more annoying Zhang Wei in the "Beat the Dog" place... The final outcome of this war is A humiliating peace treaty: The Dutch East India Company conceded defeat to He Bin of Beigang and Zhang Wei of "Beat the Dog", and gave up their suzerainty from then on, and could no longer levy any taxes on Chinese immigrants.

(Kaohsiung used to be called "Dagou". It is said that in order to avoid external intrusion and internal strife, the local aborigines planted a large number of thorny bamboos near the village to protect the village, and the local pronunciation of thorny bamboo is "Dagou". As for Kaohsiung The appellation was created by the Japanese during the Japanese occupation period based on the Japanese pronunciation of "Dagou". Both the pronunciation and the meaning of the words are much more elegant, so it became the official name. Just like Keelung replaced the chicken coop.)
Since then, the last stable source of income for the Dutch Commercial House in Dayuangang has been cut off. It can only rely on past savings, or count on the occasional trade with China and the provision of fresh water and supplies for passing ships. A little pitiful service charge...

As the chief executive of Dayuan Port, Mr. Putmans, who is quite ambitious, certainly does not want the Dayuan Commercial House to go bankrupt and close down in his own hands.On the one hand, under the financial pressure of heavy debts, he started the construction of Zeelandia Castle and a series of fortifications around the Daguan to improve the defense status of this stronghold.While continuing to work hard to open up direct trade channels with China—all Europeans who have traveled thousands of miles to the East have mostly read Marco Polo’s famous travel notes, and even illiterate country bumpkins have heard of “the East is everywhere.” is gold."

Although the Europeans who have actually reached the East know that this sentence is a bit exaggerated, the richness of the Eastern World is still an eye-opener for Europeans, especially the Ming Empire, which is across the sea from Dayuan Port.The porcelain, silk, and all kinds of exquisite handicrafts flowing out of this land, as well as the tea that is gradually becoming the fashion of the European upper class, are so exciting.If anyone can monopolize the trade with this big eastern country, I believe even God will be jealous of his wealth!
However, unlike Europeans' extreme desire for Eastern goods, the Ming Empire, which was self-sufficient in most of its supplies, had little interest in Western world goods.Although they also opened up a few trade ports, it was more out of peace of mind and not wanting to cause trouble, rather than for profit.Even at these trading ports, the government of the Ming Empire still refused to trade directly with European merchants, and all goods had to be transferred through middlemen.Not to mention the loss of a layer of profit for no reason, the quality of the goods is often affected, and the quantity is often not enough.

What's more terrible for the Dutch is that even the kind of trade with China that changes hands through middlemen, they can't get involved-it is monopolized by the Portuguese in Macau.And the relationship between the Portuguese and the Dutch in the East is really bad: since the rise of the Netherlands, almost all of Portugal's overseas colonies in Asia were robbed. If it weren't for Ming's support, maybe even Macau would have been lost.How can this relationship get better?

Therefore, the Dutch staying in Taiwan could only buy some Chinese specialties intermittently from various pirate groups in Fujian and Guangdong. Obtain a stable and reliable purchase channel.

——The maritime trade between the Netherlands and Ming Dynasty is completely dependent on pirates, and Dayuan Port is a den for selling stolen goods... This is really a sad fact.

The governor of Putmans tried his best to open the situation, but the successive failures were simply desperate: Zheng Zhilong, the most important ally and commercial agent, who had served in the Dutch East India Company for many years, always had an erratic attitude , the governor's request is just prevarication.

The court and officials of the Ming Dynasty are also elusive: they do not respond to any negotiation requests made by the company, and they block the sea from time to time, and use various means to obstruct trade. The Dutch have nothing to do with requests, bribes or threats. usefulness.As for the Chinese merchants at sea, they were either unwilling to enter Dayuan Port for trade and sailed directly to Manila;

(What poor Governor Putmans has never known is that all this is actually caused by his "ally" Zheng Zhilong. While speaking ill of the Dutch to the government, he used force to prohibit Fujian businessmen from trading in Dayuan Port. This is to ensure that you can monopolize the trade channels in Minhai.)
This persisted until 1630, that is, last autumn, the situation in Formosa was completely hopeless—the trade with China could not be opened, and although the trade with Japan had been restored, there was no oil and water in Dayuan Port: Dutch Of course, taxes can be collected from a few Japanese businessmen who came to Taiwan, but Japan can also withdraw the taxes paid in Taiwan from the Dutch businessmen in Nagasaki and Hirado on Kyushu Island.In this way, the Dutch East India Company suffered even more losses. As a result, under the pressure of the company, Dayuangang had no choice but to continue to implement the zero-tariff policy for Japanese merchants.The huge losses year after year have accumulated to an unbearable level for the Batavia headquarters.Governor Putmans insisted on building the Zeelandia Castle with huge expenses, which made the stingy directors of the company almost jump to their feet: They have lost money like this, so why continue to invest money?Shouldn't it be decisive to cut the meat and stop the loss?

——Although the Chinese think that Taiwan’s Dayuangang is a Dutch colony, in the eyes of the Dutch, it is just an armed trading post, which is of the same nature as the concessions in major cities in China during the Republic of China: well-run, profitable If it is rich, it can naturally continue to expand; if the management is not good and it is losing money year after year, then it should be decisively closed down and left - just like the modern conglomerate will close those loss-making overseas branches after their investment fails.

As for farming and reclaiming wasteland, not only is the rate of income slow, but it is also not easy to introduce a large number of refugees from Fujian—at least for "foreigners" like the Dutch. He would soon be overwhelmed by the exorbitant taxes of the Dutch, and tried his best to escape from the rule of the Dutch, either going to Beigang in the north or Kaohsiung in the south.Even most of the Japanese village originally attached to Dayuan Port has been emptied, causing the population of Dayuan Port to experience negative growth for a long time, and the satisfaction of companies and residents continues to decline.

The only news that makes Governor Putmans a little bit happier is that Zhang Wei, the hateful rebel leader in Kaohsiung Port in the south, was surrendered by another powerful armed group—the "Australians" entrenched in Hainan Island and the Pearl River Estuary. Incorporated and left the island.However, the "Australians" who took over Kaohsiung Port were even more powerful, and He Bin from Beigang also joined them, and the company still could not restore its rule over Chinese immigrants on the island.

Moreover, since Dayuan Port was sandwiched between Kaohsiung and Beigang, one south and one north, the Dutch could no longer find room for conquest and development on the island.

In addition, what shocked Governor Putmans was that even the powerful leader Zheng Zhilong, who had many ships under his command, was wiped out by this group of "Australians" in a surprise attack. Since then, the most important source of Chinese goods has been lost.

It can neither conquer the natives on the island nor open the window for trade with China. Under such circumstances, the East India Company has paid huge sums of money year after year to maintain the fortress, officials and army of Dayuan Port. use it?Purely as a relay station for trade with Japan?This is too wasteful!

However, just when Governor Putmans was completely desperate for the future of Dayuan Port, and even began to think about how to close the Dayuan Port Merchant Station as decently as possible, and how to maintain his life after being fired from the company and returning home, An incredible miracle happened.

- The headquarters of the Dutch East India Company in Batavia successfully signed a trade agreement with the Australians.A large number of cheap and high-quality Chinese goods have been obtained from Lingao, Hong Kong and other places under the control of the Australians. Even better, various goods can be used instead of scarce silver to pay for the goods.

Although I don't know how these "Australians" completely opened up the Chinese market and achieved things that the East India Company has not been able to achieve for many years, the silk, tea and porcelain they got are not fake, so Batavia Very pleased with this breakthrough.

And for Governor Putmans, who was struggling in the backwaters of Dayuangang, it was even more joyful:
After the Dutch East India Company in Batavia signed a trade agreement with the "Australian" Senate in Lingao, Hainan Island, Dayuan Port immediately got rid of the half-dead state of the past. It became an important trade port between the two sides.

Previously, Governor Putmans, who had run into obstacles everywhere, had already lost confidence in opening up trade with China: In his opinion, Chinese businessmen are too cunning and have always been treacherous. Difficult to achieve a decent breakthrough.Unfortunately, the situation along the coast of China has been so chaotic in recent years, and the force at the company's disposal in East Asia is too weak.

However, after the Batavia head office signed a trade agreement with the Australians, the situation in Dayuan Port changed almost immediately. Australian ships began to enter Dayuan Port continuously, bringing in countless Dutch people. Chinese goods that were once coveted - silk, tea, porcelain, and a plethora of increasingly popular "Australian goods".Moreover, since the opening of Kaohsiung, the supply cycle of the Australians has continued to shrink-Governor Putmans soon discovered that the Australians had established a huge transit warehouse in Kaohsiung, accumulating a large amount of goods for the Dutch and Japanese for sale.

Compared with Zheng Zhilong and other pirate groups who were the main suppliers of the Dutch Commercial House in Dayuangang, who were always changing from day to day, and who liked to constantly raise conditions, the "contract spirit" of these Australians is obviously very good, and they have always been strict in the performance of contracts. It is exactly.Of course, they have always been so strict and even harsh when asking others to perform their contracts.

Fortunately, this is also the strong point of the Dutch: if they don't even have the basic spirit of contract, how can the Dutch do business all over the world?

As a result, the performance of Governor Putmans quickly flourished, and Batavia's head office praised him a lot.And his personal benefits are also rolling in - this makes Governor Putmans feel a little ashamed, because this is completely taking advantage of the head office, rather than relying on his own efforts.

In short, less than half a year after the signing of the agreement, Dayuan Port has become a "pearl" on the Dutch East India Company's performance table from a bankrupt trading base that was almost abandoned!In particular, these "Australians" were not so obsessed with silver as the Chinese merchants in Fujian and Canton, but had an excellent appetite for all kinds of goods that the company could provide-from metal to wood, from dyestuff to leather, and slaves, Linen... buys almost everything.This greatly eased the "silver shortage" situation in the Dutch East India Company's trade with China.

Then, the huge profits that have been rolling in for more than a year not only turned the financial situation of Dayuan Port into a profit for the first time, the staff and mercenaries all made up the arrears of wages, but also allowed the Governor to have enough funds, To continue the construction of Zeelandia Castle, which had already been forced to stop.

However, there are also some disadvantages caused by this-on the basis of the bilateral trade agreement of Batavia's head office, Governor Putmans had to sign a supplementary agreement with the Australians who took over Taiwan, acknowledging that Taiwan is the land of the Australians, and then Australia designated Dayuan Port and a part of the surrounding land as the Dutch Concession. The lease period is 25 years, and the rent is a symbolic Dutch guilder. After the expiration, the lease can be renegotiated.In addition, the Dutch can travel freely outside the concession, but they are not allowed to engage in activities other than trade outside the concession, such as taxing the aborigines or forming alliances.

Since then, the influence of the Dutch East India Company in Taiwan has been suppressed in a small area near Dayuan Port-although limited to meager manpower and material resources, they only occupied such a small area on the island before, but they did not It does not prevent Governor Putmans from putting the entire island on the map with the Dutch Prince of Orange flag.But now, he can only sit back and watch the Australian army and immigrants pour into Taiwan like a tide, and build Kaohsiung City in Dagou at an alarming speed. At the same time, he quickly swept away the surrounding headhunters and cultivated rice fields , vegetable plots and sugar cane fields...

Long before the Australians landed, that guy named Zhang Wei had wiped out the natives of the Tagalyan Society closest to Kaohsiung.In the autumn of this year, along with an unprecedented bloody sweep, the Australians destroyed the Madou Society that had once defeated the Dutch. His wife and children also heroically chose collective suicide...but in the face of the powerful strength of the "Australians", their resistance was like praying mantises standing in front of the wheels, and they were doomed to be crushed from the very beginning.

With the destruction of the Madou Society, all the indigenous tribes in southern Taiwan fell to their knees in horror at the feet of the Australians.Including the natives of the Xingang Society who had been attached to the Dutch for a long time, they changed their owners without hesitation, and went to Kaohsiung to kowtow and pay tribute, which made Governor Putmans very uncomfortable.But no matter what, the natives who used to be a great threat to Dayuan Port, who often "produce grass" and "headhunt" outside the city, have been basically defeated and tamed by the Australians, and the land route from Dayuan to Kaohsiung has also changed. To be safe, the Australians even started to build a road between the two places.

At the same time, another stronger Australian army, under the cover of artillery fire from naval warships, launched an attack on San Salvador, a Spanish colonial stronghold in the chicken cage area in northern Taiwan.Sadly, the resistance of the Spaniards in the city was not even as strong as the indigenous warriors of the Madou Club. It is said that the offensive and defensive battle lasted less than 48 hours, and more than 100 Spanish mercenaries who could not stand the shelling volunteered to sacrifice their lives. City of San Salvador.Next, the city of Santo Domingo in Tamsui even took the initiative to send envoys to negotiate the terms of surrender—they only had [-] extremely pitiful people in total, and they were also infected with the plague. Can't live.

In this series of war storms full of blood and fire, the Dutch in Dayuangang were able to enjoy the tranquility of watching the fire from the other side - under the guarantee of the peace treaty, the Australians have always behaved towards the Dutch in Dayuangang. There is no malice, and it can be called good intentions:

Dutch people can not only go to Kaohsiung to buy all kinds of fresh food at any time to enrich their monotonous table, but also buy cigarettes, alcohol and salt soda and other novel drinks as a pastime.If you are willing to pay a big price, you can even buy ice cubes to cool off the heat!I really don't know how the Australians made it!So much so that the Batavia side believed that there was no need to send any supplies to the senior officials, because "everything can be bought" in Kaohsiung except gunpowder and guns.In this way, the shipping space can be freed up, and more trade goods can be transported for trading.

The Dutch sailors and soldiers in Dayuan Port also often go to Kaohsiung’s business district for recreation and entertainment recently. Compared with the simple market in Dayuan Port, Kaohsiung’s business district undoubtedly has more choices.If they get sick, they can still receive treatment from Chinese doctors in Kaohsiung. Compared with those stinky German doctors who only know about masturbation and bloodletting, Chinese doctors' medicine and acupuncture are always slightly more effective.

The rum, salt soda and kvass produced by the Australians are the favorites of the Dutch and sailors from other European countries.

As time went on, the hundreds of Dutch people in Dayuan Port became more and more dependent on the supplies of those Australians in Kaohsiung City. trousers, rattan sandals made in Hainan Island, and a rattan summer helmet—these are more suitable for the Formosa climate than the original cumbersome and stuffy European clothes of the Dutch.

Later, even the ship repair work was outsourced by the lazy Dutch to the ship repair yard in Kaohsiung - there are large dry docks and heavy cranes, which are much more complete than the facilities at Dayuan Port, repair and maintenance A few Dutch round boats are not a problem at all.

——The rare peace, prosperous trade, ample financial income, rich leisure life...everything seems so beautiful.

However, as a shrewd and capable businessman and calm and cunning adventurer, Hans.Governor Putmans was not confused by the good situation of the "Australian-Dutch Concord" - no matter from which point of view, the Australians, the new neighbor, are not "peace-loving". Their massacre of the aborigines on the island, As well as the expedition to the Spanish stronghold in the north, it fully shows that they will never show mercy once they need to do something, and their methods can even be called cruel.The peaceful and friendly atmosphere between Australians and Dayuan Port today is nothing more than that they still need to conduct trade cooperation with the East India Company.If one day this kind of trade is no longer important to them, they will definitely come to attack the big officials, and then occupy the entire Formosa Island.

However, even after seeing through this point, Governor Putmans still couldn't come up with effective countermeasures.

How can we ensure the continued existence of the Dutch East India Company's influence in Formosa?Obviously, it is useless to rely on force to resist. No matter how strong the Dutch built the fort, due to the disparity in the strength of the two sides, once a war broke out between the company and the Australians, Governor Putmans did not think that Dayuan Hong Kong The battlefield performance of this defensive force is much better than the Spaniards in fresh water and chicken coops.

Although Zeelandia Castle is still under construction—after all, the company has already invested a lot of money in the castle, it is impossible to give up halfway, and it is always a lucrative job to preside over the construction project, but Your Excellency the Governor is very interested in strengthening the defense of Dayuan Port. He is no longer interested in the matter of power, and basically does what the company tells him to do.Once, after drinking a few extra glasses of rum from Australian traffickers, he even turned on Heinrich, the garrison commander of the general.Captain Weidenfeller shouted: "...Do you really think that Dayuan Harbor is still in the company's hands, relying on your four hundred black lazy men with matchlock guns and German scum? No, we can still Staying here is purely because of the company's agreement and the kindness of the Australians!"

Since military means are useless, it seems that we should follow the example of the Portuguese in Macau and rely on "soft power" such as bribery, flattery, and missionary work to win a stable right of abode.But the problem is that the Australians around him are not the easily fooled Ming Empire. The way these guys think seems to be as shrewd and ruthless as the board of directors of the Dutch East India Company that Governor Putmans serves.Once the time comes for a serious conflict of interests, Governor Putmans believes that no matter what kind of past friendships, it is impossible to prevent Australians from turning against themselves.

Since Governor Putmans can't think of a solution to the problem once and for all no matter how much he thinks about it, and judging from various signs, the current good situation of "Australia-Dutch Concord" seems to last for a long time , Therefore, he simply stopped thinking about these things in the distant future, but decided to make a lot of money during his tenure, and then leave this mess to the next governor to have a headache!

Therefore, in order to make a huge profit so that he can live comfortably for the rest of his life, in addition to using his power to participate in trade with China, Governor Putmans also made a very extraordinary deal with the ruler of Japan this summer. Big business, but the problem is that this business may be smooth sailing, or it may lose everything, and it may even seriously violate the interests of Australians, causing a devastating disaster to Dayuangang... The result is a huge spiritual The pressure made the poor governor suspicious and worried all day long, and he was even on the verge of a nervous breakdown.

——Since the "Long March War" in the seventh year of the Apocalypse, in 1627 AD, the seemingly huge shogunate army was first smashed in front of the modernized bastion of the Maori family in Changzhou, and then was crossed by Huangshi After the modern Changzhou new army trained by the former masters defeated many with less, the Tokugawa shogunate who ruled Japan was greatly shocked and stimulated, realizing that their military power was so backward.

Therefore, after negotiating peace with the Changzhou Domain and barely stabilizing the domestic situation, the Tokugawa shogunate began to take strengthening its military strength and establishing a new army as a top priority—as a military regime, the Tokugawa shogunate ruled Japan. The biggest bargaining chip is the military power of absolute superiority.If the army of the Tokugawa family can no longer suppress the daimyos of the feudal vassals, a wave of downfall will soon rise throughout Japan!

After all, it was only twenty years since the collapse of the Toyotomi family at this time, and the rule of the Tokugawa family was far from being rock-solid.

As a result, an unprecedentedly large arms order and military instructor recruitment plan fell on the heads of Dutch businessmen in Hirado Port and Nagasaki Port-although Japanese craftsmen have been able to produce many weapons since the end of the Warring States Period. Good matchlock guns (called "iron guns" by the Japanese) are not much worse than the muskets in the hands of the Dutch today, but the ability to forge artillery is so poor that even the Koreans are inferior, so they have to rely on outsourcing.However, the Dutch businessmen in Japan did not have so many artillery on hand, let alone military instructors with sufficient experience in land warfare, so they asked for help from the rear.

Then, Governor Putmans, who got the news from the Japan-Holland Commercial House, immediately smelled the windfall profit-it happened that he had a large number of high-quality artillery that was originally planned to be used to arm the Zeelandia Castle. Ten veterans who have fought in the war should also be able to make up.Anyway, there are Australians now suppressing the aborigines on the island and sweeping up the nearby waters. The security situation around Dayuan Port is unprecedentedly good, and it doesn't matter even if some armed forces are taken away.If the Australian army is going to fight...then what's the use of keeping these artillery and soldiers?

Therefore, he sent a merchant ship with more than 50 artillery and supporting equipment to Japan to sell to the shogunate, and by the way, Heinrich, the commander of the garrison.Captain Weidenfeller and more than [-] German mercenaries were sent there... The results of the final feedback were quite good. The Tokugawa shogunate readily bought all the artillery and paid for the purchase with high-purity gold. This batch of gold has been transported to Dayuan Port in full.Captain Weidenfeller and others who took the initiative to apply for jobs also received employment contracts and generous rewards from General Tokugawa, and everyone was happy.

But the problem is that even Governor Putmans, who is not very well-informed, vaguely knows that the Australians on Hainan Island are in the same group as General Huangshi from Fujian. The clan is an ally, and the Tokugawa shogunate is the traditional enemy of the Changzhou clan... Although the war between the Tokugawa shogunate and the Changzhou clan has been over for a long time, the Australians joined forces with the Changzhou clan to attack another Japanese kingdom this year. The powerful prince Satsuma expelled the power of Satsuma from Ryukyu Island, which shows that the relationship between Australians and Changzhou Fan is very close.

In this case, after the news leaks out, how will the Australians view the Dutch arms sale?

Therefore, after the joy of making huge profits, Governor Putmans began to become worried, lest one day an Australian envoy would come to Dayuan Port to inquire about crimes, and even issue threats of war... Although such things have never happened It happened, but he still couldn't bear the huge mental pressure on his back. He couldn't eat and sleep all day long, and his body lost weight. I don't know how long it will take to adjust his mentality.

In fact, Governor Putmans can put this batch of gold in his pocket with peace of mind, and he doesn't have to worry about any follow-up troubles at all-because the batch of Dutch artillery he sold to the Tokugawa shogunate has not had time to deal with it at all. Any threats posed by the "Australians" and their allies in the Changzhou Domain have already turned into scrap metal, and more than half of the military instructors he sent to Japan will soon be reduced to shredded meat and blood. Coke!
——December of the fourth year of Chongzhen, another sudden catastrophe hit the Tokugawa shogunate, which had been in bad luck recently...