Volume of Changning Kingdom: Chapter 49 Rescue or not
"To be honest, although Basten is very dishonest about this, from his point of view, he did nothing wrong. We don't have any covenant with the Huang family, and we can't even be called partners..." Chen Pengyu is
Later, I had no feelings for the Huang family, and I was even less willing to get the exploration team directly involved in such disputes.
From the perspective of interests, the friendship between Van Basten and VOC is obviously more useful than the Huang family. Now it is VOC’s trading station and ships that provide supplies for the Silia exploration team. And there are others that can cooperate in the long term.
s project.
In comparison, the resources the Huang family possesses and the help they can provide to the Senate are actually far inferior to those of voc.
Not only Chen Pengyu and Qin Xike, two later elders, clearly opposed being involved in this matter, but Huang Lu's attitude towards it was also very casual. The only one who firmly advocated supporting the Huang family was Wu Tingwei. Cui Yunhong was somewhat in a dilemma.
Emotionally speaking, he is willing to help, but they are first and foremost an "oil exploration team", not the "Nanyang Governor-General's Office of the Senate". It is out of bounds to rashly get involved in local political affairs.
"Although we regard voc as our number one competitor in Nanyang in the future, we have to say that voc's business network is an important synergy for our current operations in Nanyang." Cui Yunhong considered the words, "No matter from which angle we look at it, we
It is neither right nor appropriate to break up with VOC directly..."
"But they broke up with us first..." Wu Tingwei said anxiously.
"Does the Huang family have anything to do with the Senate?" Chen Pengyu asked dissatisfied, "Does it pay tribute to the Senate or is it an ally of the Senate? It's not even a business partner, right? I heard Brother Cui say that his family's export products
Most of them are also shipped and sold by VOC.”
"Yes, VOC has a formal relationship with the Senate, and the Huang family has no relationship with the Senate." Cui Yunhong said, "No matter what angle you look at it, VOC's actions against the Huang family have nothing to do with us - to be honest:
The Sultan of Ayutthaya is the one who should stand up for them, not us."
"Are we just going to stand by and watch?!"
"I'm afraid that's it." Qin Xike shrugged, "Besides, what are you going to use to fight? Are you going to use these drillers? What will we do if the battle doesn't go well and there are too many casualties?"
"Then we can't just ignore him!" Wu Tingwei almost had a quarrel with Qin Xike.
Cui Yunhong was thinking about countermeasures. Although from all angles, not helping the Huang family was the most reasonable choice. However, he was very unwilling to watch such a mature Chinese community disappear like this. Yes, from
In the long run, the Senate will sooner or later send a large number of immigrants to Nanyang, turning this place into a real "South China Sea". But that is the future. If these mature Chinese communities and groups can be preserved now, it will be beneficial to the future.
Colonial development has great benefits...
But how to resolve the situation in front of us? Obviously, it is not possible to help under the banner of the Senate. This is called openly breaking up with VOC and stirring up trouble.
perhaps……
He shared his thoughts with everyone, especially the significance of preserving the Chinese community in Southeast Asia, and finally added:
"...No matter from which angle you look at it, it is inappropriate for us to come forward directly. But this does not mean that we cannot help them."
Huang Lu understood immediately: "You mean, fighting a proxy war?"
"Yes," Cui Yunhong nodded, "Let's review the process. Although Basten planned all this, it was the 'pirates' who launched the attack, and the excuse for later occupying Shanba Port was that they 'driving out the pirates'. I have no doubt that
, In a few days, the king will issue them a formal document granting them the right to occupy the land."
"Let's be pirates too?!"
"That's not necessary. Let's make sure of one thing first. Has your Majesty confirmed that VOC has the right to occupy Shanba Port? If Basten has not obtained this permission, it is only natural that the Huang family organize themselves to launch a counterattack. Our
You can be considered a member of the Huang family's army."
"I think it's okay!" Wu Tingwei immediately agreed.
"What if the king has confirmed VOC's power?" Huang Lu asked.
"I think not yet," Cui Yunhong said, "because Huang Shibei is still alive."
As long as Huang Shibei is retained, the king still has room for change. There is no doubt that the Huang family's two hundred years of accumulated prestige still exists, and they will not do anything wrong during the period of caution.
However, if the Huang family fails to make a strong response, then Huang Shibei's life will be in danger.
"Why should we interfere with the Dutch's actions? We don't have an army. The Sea Blue has already gone to Batavia to load cargo, and the Wild Wind has to protect the security of the Silia base camp." Chen Pengyu asked doubtfully.
The only weapons they have in hand are a platoon of thirty soldiers and a gunboat. They can only barely protect the base camp. How can they spare their hands to help the Huang family?
There are quite a few of them. There are more than 800 workers in Silia, including "explorers" and "construction workers" from Hainan, "handymen" recruited locally, and "handy workers" like Lin Laowu.
captive".
Of course, you can't count on handymen and prisoners. The naturalized migrant workers are disciplined, but there are only about less than 500 of them. They have not undergone strict military training, and they do not have enough weapons.
"We still don't know how many enemies there are in Shanba Port. However, judging from what the Huang family said and our personal experience, the enemies are well-trained and well-equipped. With our strength, counterattack is basically just delivering food...
Cui Yunhong said, "And none of us have military command experience..."
Wu Tingwei said: "I think Huang Shidong is the person in charge of military affairs in the Huang family. It shouldn't be a problem to command a few hundred people. The key is that there are too few people. I wonder how many pirates there are?"
"I think you might as well agree to help us," Cui Yunhong thought carefully, "Isn't it a proxy war? Okay, we'll give you money, food, guns, and we'll support some technical arms as appropriate - artillery and so on."
"But what about the people? If we don't arm the miners, there are only more than a hundred of them." Wu Tingwei said hurriedly.
"The miners can't give it to them, but the local handymen can." Cui Yunhong knew that once the naturalized people participated in the war, there would inevitably be a large number of casualties, and it would be difficult to explain. And based on his psychology, he was not willing to be trained.
There were a large number of casualties among naturalized citizens with work experience.
"The key reason why they have no one now is that they don't have money. If you have money here, there will be people who will work for you. Recruiting thousands of people will not be a problem." Cui Yunhong said, "The Huang family went everywhere to find allies to support, but after the old nest was taken away
There is no benefit in exchange, it’s all about drawing cakes – how can others contribute?”
"They don't have any other properties outside Shanba?" Huang Lu didn't believe it. "There should be manors, deposits and the like in other places."
"Maybe, but not too much. They are a group mainly based on agriculture, and their income from trade is only a small part. And their own expenses are not too small." Cui Yunhong said something and thought of: "We can get a loan!"
"Loan?!" Several people's eyes suddenly widened. How did the Huang family's "revival plan" involve "loan"?
"Don't be surprised. Borrowing money for war has been commonplace since ancient times. In order to overthrow the Manchu Qing Dynasty and raise military expenses for the uprising, Mr. Zhongshan issued bonds in the United States and Southeast Asia. What the Huang family lacks most now is actually money. Let's provide them with loans.
…”
"Boss! Where's the money?" Huang Lu couldn't help but remind Cui Yunhong, who was getting excited.
Most of the money allocated by the Nanyang Company to the exploration team was used to purchase materials and pay bills for wages of handymen and supplies. Even if there was any surplus, it was far from enough to support a war. Moreover, it could not be reimbursed.
"Money is a problem, it's a problem." After thinking for a moment, Cui Yunhong suddenly remembered something and asked Huang Lu, "Before we came to Silia, you spent more than a month in Mala and Dacheng, and met a lot of local people. I
I remember you once said that there are several Indian lenders who are very rich..."
"Are you talking about Indian money dealers?" Huang Lu understood what he meant immediately, "These Asans are shady. The annual interest rate for borrowing money is almost 100 to 150%..."
"It's not us borrowing it, it's the Huang family borrowing it. Why are you worried about the interest?"
"Boss, you don't need to go through our hands to borrow money. They have been here for hundreds of years, and they are very familiar with the business network here. I think they have thought of this before."
"If they borrow, let alone 150% or 1000%, Asan wouldn't dare to lend them - if you were a bank, would you dare to issue mortgages to people who have lost their houses?" Cui Yunhong said confidently, "We can definitely borrow it.
"As he said this, he looked at the elders and asked, "What do you think?"
"If it is indirect intervention, I have no objection." Chen Pengyu said.
Qin Xike also nodded: "The loan must be signed and pledged by the Huang family!"
"Of course. We are only acting as a guarantor. We also need to sign a related agreement with the Huang family to ensure the safety of the loan guarantee."
Of course, this is just Cui Yunhong's words. If the counterattack really fails, even if the Huang family's aunt and nephew are sold and still cannot repay such a large loan, the Senate will definitely be in trouble. Needless to say, the elders of the exploration team will also suffer.
However, neither Cui Yunhong nor other veterans thought it would fail.
"Now that we are preparing for a loan, we still need to discuss with Huang Shidong and others about how much money they need. How much to borrow, how much interest, and how long the loan period will be. After all, it is they who will repay the loan in the end. We cannot overestimate their economic strength - after the pirates
After such a looting, not much of the treasures accumulated by the Huang family will be left," Wu Tingwei said.
"According to the Huang family's aunt and nephew, the pirates who attacked Mara numbered at least six to seven hundred people..." Huang Lu said.