The writer John Newhoff was by no means born in the poor, because he was good at reading, writing and painting.
And, initially as a reserve officer, he went to Brazil, a colony of the Dutch West India Company.
But to say how wealthy his family is is sheer nonsense. This guy also worked as a sailor, which is the most difficult, tiring and dangerous profession. He doesn't know how to wash the deck even if he has a little background.
"Sir, Mrs. Witherson, I invite you to the ball tonight." A servant ran over to hand over the invitation.
prom?
The castle was surrounded by people, and someone actually held a dance.
Neuhof held the invitation in both hands: "Please tell Madam that I will attend on time."
If someone else held a dance, Neuhoff would definitely sneer at it.
But Newhoff had to attend Mrs. Witherson's ball. Because his benefactor's surname was Witherson. If it hadn't been for the support of his benefactor, he would probably still be fooling around in America.
Mrs. Whitson's husband is the nephew of her benefactor and one of the arrested congressmen!
Night gradually fell, and many soldiers and civilians were still on duty to guard against Chinese sneak attacks.
But in a certain hall of the castle, more than two hundred candles were lit. Some candles were placed on wall candlesticks, some candles were placed on large chandeliers, and some candles were placed on the table.
The lights are brightly lit indoors, and food and wine are constantly being served.
Mrs. Witson, who was wearing heavy makeup, was walking around the audience holding a wine glass, and soon came to Newhoff: "I'm glad you can come, Mr. Newhoff."
"It's an honor to receive your lady's invitation!" Neuhoff bent down and kissed the back of the lady's hand.
Guests arrived one after another, including senior company employees and municipal officials, as well as their wives, daughters (all mistresses, illegitimate daughters) and sons-in-law.
The women at the ball, young and old, were all of mixed race.
Mrs. Whitson is also of mixed race. Her father is the former governor of Qianqianqianqian. Her mother is from Japan (mixed Portuguese and Japanese). She was arrested as a Catholic and sold to the Dutch and sent to Batavia.
One of the Governor's mistresses and maids.
In early Batavia, women were in short supply.
Han people could only marry Javanese natives, and then gradually Han women began to appear. As long as they were Han women, even if they were crooked and crooked, they would be robbed by Han men.
How scarce are Han women?
According to official records in Batavia, Chinese women often fell out with their husbands. Sometimes they would get divorced after just a few quarrels, without worrying about whether they could remarry after the divorce. This was especially true for Chinese women with better family backgrounds.
The main reason for the divorce case is that the wife discovered that her husband had a concubine, and this kind of extramarital affair is completely intolerable. The second reason is that the relationship between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law is not harmonious. Han women are angry with their mother-in-law and want to break up with their husbands.
There are even parents of Han girls who, because they couldn't stand their son-in-law being useless, forced their daughters to divorce and remarry.
In order to curb this phenomenon, the Dutch and the Han people jointly issued relevant laws: first, Han people need to pay a marriage tax when they get married; second, marriages need to be reviewed, including if widows remarry; third, a marriage license and divorce are required
Permit; fourth, once you get married illegally, you will be deported.
The Dutch are also short of women.
Initially, women were shipped here from Europe, but there were two problems. One was that the cost of long-distance transportation was too high, and the other was that most of the women brought there were prostitutes. Many of these European prostitutes had schizophrenia, and were disliked by the Dutch.
The prostitutes were nicknamed "rotten pears".
It happened that the Japanese shogunate had a falling out with Portugal and wanted to arrest and kill Japanese Catholics.
The Dutch took the opportunity to purchase, and those Japanese-Portuguese mixed-race women became a hot commodity among the company's top executives. Ordinary Japanese women were assigned to middle- and lower-level company employees.
The illegitimate offspring of company executives, the boys are sent back to the Netherlands to study, and the girls stay in Batavia. These girls will marry new company employees. The father-in-law will cultivate his son-in-law as a confidant, and cultivate the power of his confidants through marriage. For decades,
It's quite confusing when you get down.
The Mrs. Whitson in front of me is one of the best.
Although her father, the former governor, has returned to the country, her husband is the chairman of the Batavia Municipal Council and a member of the Company's East India Council. Moreover, her husband listens to her very much, because her father is based in the Netherlands, and she herself has a family in Batavia.
She earns far more money from her business than her husband.
"Bang!"
The door was slammed open.
Governor Rainiers led the troops in and ordered: "According to the wartime decree, candles, grain, alcohol... are war materials, and they are all temporarily confiscated!"
"stop!"
Mrs. Witherson also yelled: "I brought these into the castle, these are my personal property!"
Rainiers looked angry: "Mrs. Witherson, for your father's sake, I allowed you to take your slaves to the castle to take refuge. Now the castle is besieged, the soldiers are still guarding the city, and you actually held a dance, you
What do you want to do?"
"Release my husband immediately!" said Mrs. Whitson.
Reniers said: "When the war is over, I will release him. However, I will send a ship to take him back to the Netherlands. By then, your relationship as husband and wife will be over. I remind my wife to change her husband as soon as possible."
At this time, the Dutch, once they leave office and return to their country, basically leave their wives and children alone. Their wives will become wealthy "widows" and hook up with young and potential new employees. And the young new employees are also willing to "
Marry a widow and you will save twenty years of struggle in an instant.
It is normal for a wealthy mixed-race woman to have several husbands.
The company's top executives are reluctant to miss their old days and are unwilling to return to China after retirement. That situation will have to wait for decades to happen.
Mrs. Witherson turned to look at the guests: "The Governor has gone crazy. He cannot surrender for the sake of his family. But what does this have to do with us? The food in the castle can last for more than a year. Will everyone starve to death together by then? In the past
Batavia was also besieged. Whether it was the Banten Army or the Mata Blue Army, they withdrew after a few months of siege. But now it is the Chinese army. The Chinese are surrounding Manila, surrounding Relandia, and surrounding Malacca. When will they withdraw?
Passing the army? The Chinese are the richest. They have endless food. As long as they are willing, the Chinese army can besiege the city for ten years..."
"Catch him!"
Rainiers didn't want to hear any more and immediately ordered the soldiers to take action, taking Mrs. Witherson away within minutes.
Next, they unplugged the banquet candles and confiscated the banquet food and wine. They also rewarded these food and wine to the soldiers guarding the city, which slightly boosted the morale of the army.
Those invited guests remained silent throughout the process, for fear that they would also be arrested.
The next day, Rainiers summoned the army to lecture and threatened the soldiers: "Do you know the consequences of surrender? The Dutch soldiers in Geranze were all killed after surrendering. The Chinese like to behead their heads. If we surrender, all our heads will be chopped off."
Cut it down!"
This is half true and half false. All the Dutchmen in the city of Relandia were indeed beheaded. That was because they resisted to the end, which led to the Datong Army besieging the city for more than nine months, wasting too much food and grass, and causing many soldiers to fall ill.
A few of the Dutch soldiers here came from Malacca, and they knew that they could save their lives by surrendering.
"The Chinese army will not kill prisoners. If we keep defending the city and do not surrender, our heads will be chopped off."
"I am from Malacca. I have surrendered before. The Chinese army really doesn't know how to kill people."
"The Governor is so evil, he wants to drag us to death together."
"..."
Rainiers used both kindness and power, thinking that he had control of the army, but he had no idea what the soldiers were talking about privately.
The company's senior management and middle-level employees are also quietly communicating with each other.
Especially after Mrs. Witherson was arrested, this kind of series of connections became more frequent. The company does not belong to you, so why should you sacrifice your life? Wouldn't it be better to surrender early?
"Your Honor, all civilians are willing to surrender," Neuhof said to Batavia City Judge Siddons. "I have also contacted some soldiers who came from Malacca. They believe that surrendering will save their lives."
Siddance said: "We made an appointment and we rioted together. The governor violated the company's regulations and arrested the council members without authorization. It is reasonable for us to expel the governor. Even if it leads to a meeting of seventeen people, we will not be wronged."
…
Governor's Palace, Office.
Director General Jonas asked: "Do you think the Chinese will withdraw their troops?"
Rainiers said: "We can only give it a try. China sent troops too quickly this time. It is probably the same as the last attack on Malacca. They did not get the Chinese emperor's instructions at all. They don't have much food, and they all rely on local Chinese cultivation.
Provided by the owner of the plantation. The rainy season is coming soon. If a hurricane passes through, the harvest of those plantations will fail. Or there may be other disasters next year, which may force the Chinese to withdraw their troops. I will not give up until the last moment."
"Yeah, I won't give up until the last moment." Jonas said with emotion.
Rainiers was able to become the parachute governor, and he secretly paid for it. He spent money to get the governor's position, and quietly made money for several years. All the embezzled money is here, waiting to be taken away with him when he leaves office and returns to the country.
Once you surrender now, there will be nothing left.
Don't talk about it for the benefit of the family, he is more for himself, even if he risks his life, he must keep the money he has gained.
Jonas is even more interesting. His wife and children who stayed in the Netherlands wrote to say that they had bought war bonds. All their family savings were spent on British bonds, hoping that the British would win the war.
You heard it right. Before the war broke out between England and the Netherlands, the Netherlands not only sold warships to Britain, but Britain could also get war loans from the Netherlands. Not to mention all of this, during the war between the two countries, Britain directly issued war bonds in the Netherlands to buy British warships.
There are many Dutch people who bond.
Jonas was stunned when he received a letter from home.
He firmly believed that Britain would be defeated and the bonds bought by his wife and children would be in vain!
Therefore, he cannot surrender. He must hold on until China withdraws its troops and then bring the embezzled money back to China. Otherwise, he will not even have the money to return to China for retirement.
"Bang bang bang!"
Sporadic gunshots were heard outside, and soon the gunfire became more intensive.
Rainiers stood up in shock: "It was shooting outside the Governor's Mansion, someone rebelled!"