New Shun 1730

The Swedish ship may leave soon.

In the Governor's Mansion, Valkner was furious with a Dutch captain.

"Why did you bring the official ship of Dashun to Batavia? Idiot! Don't you know that this official ship will remind the Chinese here that they have a powerful empire of the same ethnic group in the north?"

"What's the point of doing this? Do we dare to seize the official ship of the Shun Empire? Do we dare to plunder their goods?"

"Their official ship fired salutes, but in the eyes of those hateful Chinese, salutes and cannons are both cannons!"

I had just arrived and there were a lot of troubles. Who would have thought that I would encounter such an accident as soon as I arrived.

The captain who intercepted the Swedish merchant fleet felt a little wronged.

"Governor, it is customary to intercept Swedish merchant ships for inspection."

"The organizer of the Swedish East India Company, Colin Campier, worked for the British East India Company and is very familiar with this trade route. We have a treaty with the British, but not with the Swedes. He has a commission from the Swedish royal family, and we cannot sink them."

"However, the order given to us by the company headquarters is to intercept Swedish ships as much as possible. Suspecting that they are pirates, take them to Batavia and delay their return."

"Governor, you should know what these Swedes did in Gothenburg. Those hateful smugglers have seriously damaged 's interests. "

"If we delay here for a month, the company's tea can be sold for more profit."

Valkner said angrily: "The Swedish ships can be intercepted, but why should we intercept the Dashun ships? Knowing that they are official ships, we still let them dock in Batavia?"

"Use your brain and think about what would happen if a Dutch fleet stopped in Manhattan? Or, what would happen if a British fleet arrived at Pløren Island?"

This was a deal that the Dutch East India Company made that was difficult to say whether it was profitable or not. The British exchanged Pløren Island in Southeast Asia for Manhattan, which was then called New Amsterdam. Since then, the Dutch fleet could not dock in New York, and the British fleet could not dock in Pløren Island, in order to prevent local immigrants from rebelling.

The incident in front of him made Valkner very irritated. It was like the British took away Manhattan decades ago and the Dutch fleet arrived in Manhattan again, which would inevitably have a great impact on the Dutch living there.

Valkner felt that there was nothing wrong with the policy of the company headquarters.

However, the behavior of these captains was really stupid and they didn't know how to adapt. Compared with the first batch of captains who came to Southeast Asia and Japan more than a hundred years ago, they were really far behind in their adaptability.

Every time the official ship of Dashun stayed here for one more day, the Chinese here would take a closer look.

The sailors and seamen on that ship were not at all dirty like those on private ships. The shining copper cannons and black bayonets would make the Chinese in Batavia more courageous.

This might threaten his idea of ​​completely solving the problem of Chinese in Batavia. At least before that, the company could be sure that the empire in the north would not be interested in overseas affairs, and they didn't know much about these immigrants scattered overseas, and no one really cared.

If the Shun Empire became interested in these overseas affairs and overseas immigrants because of this accident, it might lead to serious consequences.

After losing his temper, he couldn't deal with the captain, so he just scolded him a few times and let him leave.

But there is finally good news. According to the current intelligence, the French sent a delegation to China this time, and China sent an official ship to Sweden... It is obvious that in the near future, Dashun and Russia will have another war.

As long as the war between Shun and Russia breaks out again, Valkenir feels that what he wants to do in Batavia will not alarm the Shun Empire, nor will it have a drastic impact. Moreover, if Shun and Russia go to war again, they will definitely not have the energy to spend time and energy on the Nanyang issue.

By then, the rice will be cooked, and the storm will soon pass. The Spanish have massacred more than once in Luzon, so what? Isn't it time to continue trading?

Thinking about his plan, he ordered his subordinates: Don't detain these Swedish ships and Dashun merchant ships for too long this time, let them get out immediately, don't intercept them along the way, and let them leave Batavia immediately. When this ship returns from Sweden, all warships must not grab or approach!

The governor has an order, and his subordinates are like sending the plague god, and they quickly send these merchant ships out of the port.

The Swedes who were traveling with them were also surprised. They thought that they would be "checked" in Batavia for at least a month if they were caught by the Dutch. However, they did not expect that the Dutch would change their minds this time. They did not even go on board to check and find faults. They just let them go.

The Swedes were of course very happy. This time they arrived with a favorable wind and arrived a few months earlier than the Dutch cargo ship. They could completely seize the business opportunity and make this year's new tea appear in the European market first.

Moreover, there were some private goods of Swedish sailors and captains on the free trade ship of Dashun this time, which was a kind of "bribe". Once they arrived safely in Gothenburg, these crew members could get a lot of income.

After receiving some very expensive gifts, the Swedish navigator on the Free Trade happily told the captain and trainee captain, as well as the first mate, navigator and others about the landmarks, islands, ocean currents, wind direction, etc. along the way.

The design of this new ship is very good, and the materials used are quite luxurious. Soon, with the help of the Swedish navigator, the Free Trade became the head ship of the fleet and began to cross the ocean.

After sending off this plague-like ship, the governor of Batavia read the intelligence of Batavia in detail in recent years, and for the first time as the governor, he wrote the first letter of the new governor to the company headquarters.

It has been more than a month since the Swedish ship left, and the Dutch merchant ship has just left. Because of the conflict of interest between Batavia and the company headquarters, the board of directors had to choose a compromise: some cargo ships must stay in Batavia before returning to the Netherlands, and cannot set sail directly from Guangdong. This kind of compromise makes Dutch merchant ships always arrive in Europe one or two months later than Swedish merchant ships.

In the first letter from the Governor to the Seventeen Gentlemen, Valkenir reported that Dashun sent official ships to send Swedish prisoners back to Sweden, and made his own judgment on the purpose of the French delegation to Dashun: Shun and Russia might go to war again, and Sweden might even be involved... At least, Russia and Sweden might go to war, and suggested that the company could stockpile some iron bars and copper.

After reading a lot of reports and materials, Valkenir also reported to the headquarters about the various problems encountered by the Japanese trading house and the trade expansion of Dashun merchants in Japan.

But he attributed all these changes to one problem.

"As for the trade with Japan, as long as Japan's closed-door policy remains, the expansion of Chinese merchants will have no impact on the company."

"As for the Dashun trading company, it is more a victory of the power of Eastern officials than a victory of a certain merchant group. It is just a story of an Eastern nobleman using his power to seek personal gain."

"In fact, the emperor of Dashun can make anyone rich or poor with just one word. And obviously, the count who went to war with the Russians and fought with the Mongols only obtained the monopoly of Japanese trade because of the favor of the Chinese emperor."

"But I have to say that he is still a fool. A truly smart person can choose to let their emperor close the customs and not allow us to trade in Guangdong. Establish a trading house, so that they will have more monopoly profits in Japan, and the company will have to pay more silver coins for the raw silk sold to Japan. "

"Whether it is the emperor of China or the count who established a monopoly on trade with Japan, they do not understand the skills of trade, and they have no mind to use violence to maintain trade - if they do, they only need to close our trading house, which only requires one sentence for the emperor, so you can see their stupidity. "

"The company's interests in Asia will not be affected in any way. "

"But in Batavia, something bad is happening. Sugar trade..."

After writing this letter about the sugar industry and Chinese employees in Sweden, Russia, Japan and Batavia, Valkner began to prepare for his reforms.

For example, first check the number of Chinese who do not pay the head tax, which can increase the income of Batavia by tens of thousands of Dutch guilders per month, and then choose to divide these people, thereby cleaning out a group of people who are meaningless and cannot bring profits to Batavia.

This policy of population cleansing is actually what the Seventeen-member Committee meant, or the choice of the Dutch East India Company after the change of trade thinking.

At the end of the Ming Dynasty and the beginning of the Shun Dynasty, Batavia's trade idea was that Chinese merchants brought tea and silk, and brought back pepper and spices, and Batavia then shipped these Chinese goods to India to make profits, but this was not what the company headquarters was happy to see. The company headquarters did not want to see a Batavia with its own trade circle. This is similar to the contradiction between the local and the central government.

Later, there was the triangular trade between the Netherlands, Batavia, Guangdong and Fujian. Dutch merchant ships transported pepper and spices from Batavia, and raw silk, tea and porcelain from Dashun.

Compared with the previous trade policy, the original Chinese sea merchants were an important link and participant in the old trade route; and under the current trade policy, Chinese sea merchants have become competitors of the East India Company.

Wanting to eliminate the Chinese in Batavia is not just as simple as the sugar trade, but there are deeper reasons, to ensure the East India Company's monopoly on the Fujian, Guangdong and Batavia trade, and to eliminate competitors by violent means.

When Valkner decided to investigate the Chinese head tax, he also began to disintegrate and divide the layout.

While checking the Chinese head tax, he asked the board of directors to ensure the interests of the company employees in Batavia. Since the smuggling and carrying of private goods by employees could not be prohibited, smuggling would be made legal. The company sent ships directly to Fujian to purchase the private goods of Batavia employees. These private goods were originally traded privately between Dashun merchants and company employees.

Once this policy is implemented, illegal smuggling and private interests will be legalized, allowing the company to cut some meat that it could not get in exchange for the breakdown of the cooperative relationship between Dutch employees and Chinese merchants, thereby ensuring that when he implements the policy of eliminating Chinese, Batavia employees support him, rather than oppose because of personal smuggling and private interests.

Now, he is waiting for the company's board of directors to agree to his proposal to "legalize private goods." After completing this step, there is only one step left to raise the butcher knife against the "inferior population that cannot bring profits" in his eyes.

…………

Soon after the Free Trade left Batavia, Lian Huaiguan, along with seven or eight of his brothers, found a captain who wanted to return to Dashun.

Dragons have their own ways, and rats have their own ways. Lian Huaiguan had never thought of returning to Dashun before, but now that he wanted to return to Dashun, he could easily find a ship that went directly to Songjiang through his interpersonal relationships.

The cargo ship was loaded with Javanese lac, a kind of gum that can be used for both medicinal and dyeing purposes, giving silk a bright red color.

The captain of the cargo ship had a special supply channel and a special shipping channel, which was how he maintained his profits.

The captain was quite polite to Lian Huaiguan, because he was introduced by an acquaintance. Even if they were not familiar with each other before, he had to give face to the acquaintance who introduced him.

Lian Huaiguan was also quite talkative. After a few words, the captain said something depressing.

"After leaving Batavia, my ship must first go to Banga to load some tin blocks. Business is not good. The Dutch control lac very strictly, and I can't get too much. If I only load this little lac, I won't make much money."

"I can make more money if I load tin blocks. If I go back before the Qingming Festival, I can make more money."

"This business is getting harder and harder to do."

When it comes to tin blocks and Qingming Festival, Lian Huaiguan also understands what these tin blocks are used for. The tinfoil from Jiangsu and Zhejiang is also burned in Batavia. The ones from Ningbo, Hangzhou, and Suzhou are all top-quality. It is also a silk producing area, and lac and tin blocks can be directly shipped there for sale.

Before Qingming Festival, you can sell it at a good price, whether it is lac for dyeing silk or tin blocks.

It is said that ducks know first when the river water warms in spring. In recent years, the changes in the trade policy of the Dutch East India Company have been most deeply felt by these sea merchants. Business is indeed difficult.

The East India Company monopolized the trade between Batavia and Fujian and Guangdong. Even a small amount of money is still meat. In the past, the Dutch East India Company might not have looked down on this little bit of money, but now that it is increasingly difficult to operate, this little bit of money has also been targeted.

Lac, hematite, spices, tin blocks, etc. are now basically monopolized by the Dutch. It is not based on capital, whoever has the ability can come, but on force, which is unsolvable for the sea merchants of Dashun who fight each other.

If Chinese sea merchants want to buy, they have to pay a high price, while the East India Company can directly ship to Fujian and Guangdong to make a profit, or sell at a lower price relative to Chinese sea merchants.

In just a few years, several ship owners who used to run to Batavia and could continue to do business without transporting tea could not stand it and had to find another way to make a living.

They are all seafarers, and they only respect Mazu and Xu Zhenjun. They are not afraid of anyone else. It's not that no one wants to be a pirate - monopoly trade rather than free trade will inevitably give rise to pirates, but... now is not like the early years. Now they can't beat the Dutch. After several battles, they can only watch helplessly as the Dutch basically monopolized the trade from Batavia to Fujian and Guangdong in a few years.

Dashun didn't care. The customs was open, but there was no countermeasure. The officials were extremely slow to react. The local Jiedushi was more concerned about less trouble, and they might not understand the trade very well.

Now, except for those who still have connections, the rest can only make a little hard money by trafficking in people, or simply don't come to Batavia.

Even Huaiguan couldn't empathize with the depression of simple maritime trade; but he also felt the difficulty of doing business due to the change in the Dutch policy.

He had some casinos and wine shops in Batavia. In the past few years, there were fewer Chinese merchant ships in Batavia, and his business was also affected.