Leonard Buses works at the customs office at the Port of Batavia. His main task is to provide pilot services for newly arrived ships and collect ship taxes on his behalf.
Ships from the Dutch East India Company, Chinese dhows or ships from other Western countries have to enter the heavily defended port. They first have to pass through the maze of waterways formed by Belitung Island and the Karimata Islands. Then they have to go to Gili.
Anchor anchored north of Fort Batavia at the mouth of the Ong Canal or one mile offshore from the town.
In fact, his task is not onerous, and can even be said to be very easy. In recent years, the number of merchant ships that come to Bacheng every year is no more than ten, and at least seven or eight. Except for the three merchant ships that come from Macau every year, the others all come from Guangzhou,
Xiamen, Tang Chuan from Ningbo.
It is already late March in the Western calendar, and the southbound season for Tang ships has ended, so Mr. Buses did not go out for a ride today, but sat in the customs office to check the cargo list.
Ships from the coast of China to Bacheng all sail south when the northeast monsoon blows in winter, and return when the southwest monsoon blows in early summer. In addition to large quantities of tea and porcelain, the most important "cargo" on these ships is the population.
Throughout the eighteenth century, the number of people carrying people on Tang ships to Bacheng continued to increase slowly. Even though the voyages were temporarily suspended due to the Hongxi Massacre, the momentum continued. During the Fourth Anglo-Dutch War, the demand for manpower surged.
; When the war ended, the Dutch began to impose strict restrictions again.
After a busy morning, the time has come to 20 minutes to 12 o'clock. Buses gathered the documents and prepared to go home for dinner. However, the noise coming from the window became louder and louder. It seemed that something happened on the dock.
A lot of people came to watch. Just as he was thinking about taking a look, the door of the room was knocked open with a bang, and one of his subordinates rushed in.
"Mr. Busseth! Come out and take a look!"
"What's wrong? Peter, what happened?" Busseth locked the filing cabinet slowly and asked without looking back.
"Outside the port, here comes a big ship!"
"Haha, it's a good thing that the boat is coming. Why are you panicking?"
The subordinate Peter swallowed, and then said: "You'd better take a look at it. That boat, that boat is a bit big."
Haha~~ Busess thought that the big ship was not a good thing, as the customs could make a lot of money! But when he and his subordinates came to the dock, they saw the blue and white ship anchored five nautical miles away without a telescope.
The big ship, Leonard Busceston, was petrified on the spot.
This, this is too big!
"Gulu~" Like his subordinates, Buses also swallowed his saliva. His first reaction was how should I collect taxes?
The Dutch East India Company has always had a tax system for Tang Dynasty ships. The tax for large ships ranges from 2,200 to 3,600 silver dollars, and the fees for small ships range from 1,680 to 3,000 silver dollars. In addition, a warehouse rental fee of 10,000 silver dollars must be paid in advance. Busse thought that such a big ship
For a boat, it’s not too much to charge five, six, seven or eight thousand silver dollars, right?
With a tariff system as vicious as VOC, it’s no wonder that it is getting worse and worse. For example, in order to compete with the Dutch, the Kingdom of Johor established the Port of Johor as a duty-free free port, and no tax was levied on merchant ships entering and exiting. Moreover, the Johor Port is in the northwest of Batavia, and Tang Dynasty ships
It is more convenient to travel, so in the past few decades, many Tang Dynasty ships have moved there to do business.
Leonard Buses said to Peter beside him: "Quickly prepare the pilot boat, Peter, we have to go and take a look."
At this time, the pier was already crowded with people. More and more Chinese, Dutch, and Javanese natives were gathering, pointing and talking. There were even people on the fortress on the east bank of the Ciliwong River observing with telescopes. However, from the castle and the river
The rapid ringing of bells from the fortifications on the other side indicated that the local garrison had entered a state of alert.
The order to put the garrison on alert was issued by the Governor of the Dutch East Indies, William Arnold Alting. If ordinary people in Bacheng did not know about the return of the Thor, Governor Alting knew it very well.
Don’t forget, when Zhao Xin and the others went to Nagasaki for the first time, they fought against the Saga Domain and forced Nagasaki to commit suicide under the Toda clan. At that time, they shocked the people in the Dutch Merchant House. Half a year later, when Altin
After receiving the report from Nagasaki, the governor was envious of the Northern Navy's record of extorting 150,000 taels of gold from the shogunate.
Look at people, I went to Nagasaki and was busy with Dutch merchants for ten years!
After that, Zhao Xin and the others drove the Thor to Tanzai Island. First, they frightened the British, then they fought with the Xiangshan Water Camp, and bombarded the Hengqin Island. They did thirteen things that no one knew about. Not to mention Liu Zheng also
He stayed in the Thirteenth Bank for a year until Zhao Xin caused "disaster" to the Guangzhou officialdom before leaving. Therefore, the Dutch Embassy had already reported all the information it could get to the Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies.
The Thor has been causing trouble along the coast of East Asia for several years. Now all Westerners engaged in East Asian trade know that the group of "Serris" entrenched in North China are not easy to mess with. Even the British East India Company knows that the Dutch
He didn't even run away.
A while ago, the Thor went to Annan to stir up trouble and trouble, and the Tang ships heading south spread the news.
Now that the Thor suddenly appeared outside the Batavia Port, do you think Governor Altin could not be wary?
Leonard Buses sat in a small boat more than 20 meters long, took his subordinate Peter and five Dutch soldiers to wander slowly for an hour, and finally approached the Thor. Looking at the long and tall hull, Busses
Seth thought to himself that this ship could load three ships from Macau in one shipment. Now the customs would make a fortune and he would also have a lot of money.
Leonard Buses's monthly salary is only 120 guilders, but his real annual income is as much as 35,000 guilders. In addition to fraud in the customs, another major source of income is blackmailing Chinese businessmen.
However, the Thor did not lower the gangway and let him board the ship to collect taxes as he had imagined. Instead, a letter was hung from the deck. Another Chinese with a southern Fujian accent leaned forward and said a few words loudly,
That meant that he should hand this letter to the Governor first, and wait until the Governor reads it before saying anything else.
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! The envelope is not very bulging, and it seems to have only two or three pages when pinched. There is a mark that looks like a Chinese character on the seal. Buses ran for nothing.
He was very angry at the "rudeness" of the Thor. However, he thought that the ship might have some big business to discuss with the governor, so he ordered the sailors to turn around and return to the port quickly.
Two hours later, this strange letter was placed in front of Governor Altin. The governor's secretary carefully opened the seal with a paper knife. After opening it, he looked at it for a few times and was stunned.
"What did it say?"
There were only two pages of letter paper. The secretary came back and looked at it for a while, and said awkwardly: "Sir, this, all the words on this are in Chinese. I'm sorry, I can only understand a very small part."
When Altin saw the other party's appearance, he stood up and took the letter from the other party's hand. He found that it was all written in Chinese, but the fonts were very small and the strokes were very thin. It didn't look like a brush commonly used by Chinese people, but more like an ink pen.
.
The official languages of the Dutch East Indies are Dutch, Portuguese, and many people know Malay. Although Chinese account for most of the local population, Chinese has never been the official language. Even those Chinese "Kapitan" in
When meeting with Dutch people, you can only negotiate in Dutch.
"Oh? What are these Seris people doing? Send someone to the Chinese mansion to find a Chinese translator who understands Dutch."
The so-called Chinese Residence is actually the autonomous association of the Chinese in Bacheng, which has a court. The "Kapitan" appointed by the Dutch will cooperate with the Dutch in the management of the Chinese there, and is also responsible for hearing cases and settling disputes.
After the "Hongxi Massacre" fifty-one years ago, tens of thousands of Chinese died in Bacheng, and only 150 people escaped in the end. After that, the Dutch used the appeasement policy hypocritically, and the Tang people began to return to Bacheng, but from then on they could only live in
Outside the south gate, they are no longer allowed to enter the city to live.
The Chinatown outside Bacheng is called "Tangren Jianguang". The word Jianguang comes from the Malay word "Kampong", which means village. The Chinese mansion mentioned by Altin is also located here.
At this time, Kapitan Wang Zhusheng, who was appointed by the Dutch, was leading a few men to conduct fire inspections in Chinatown. Nowadays, more and more Chinese are living outside the south gate of Ba Cheng, and even expanded to the east gate and west gate, as well as the front shops.
The combs are more numerous than the scales.
"Boss Qian, now that the rainy season is coming to an end and the dry season is coming, you have piled up so many debris outside the door. The fire will not only be your family's problem. By the way, the store in Betel Club will also be in trouble.
Is it yours? This year’s taxes haven’t been paid yet.”
"I know, I know, Qian will ask the guys to clear this place in two days. Thank you for your hard work, Mr. Lu, please come in and have some tea."
Lu Wen, who was in his thirties, waved his hand and said: "No, thank you very much, Boss Qian. I will follow Mr. Wang to the Iron Street. That shop..."
Boss Qian hurriedly came over at this time, poked his hand into Lu Wen's sleeves, and said with a smile: "Tsk tsk, Mr. Lu's ability is really admirable. Not only is he good at writing articles, but he is also proficient in Dutch. He used to
I have to ask more about this official matter, sir."
Lu Wen remained calm. He already felt that what the other party handed over was a pack of ten double-column silver coins. Everyone knew it, so he immediately handed over to Boss Qian, said goodbye with a smile, and walked a few steps quickly to follow Wang Zhusheng.
Before the group reached Blacksmith Street, they heard someone behind them shouting: "Kapitan Wong! Kapitan Rei!"
Dutch was spoken in Bacheng's Chinatown, and they were either red-haired or Malay. Wang Zhusheng and others looked back and recognized the man as an officer from the Government House. Two Kapitans hurriedly came forward and bowed and said: "
It turns out to be Second Lieutenant Huygens, why are you calling us two?”
The visitor ran all the way from the Chinese Residence. He was already sweating profusely and said with a dissatisfied look on his face: "His Excellency the Governor has ordered us to find a Tang translator who is proficient in Dutch."
Hey, that's it. After hearing this, Wang Zhusheng turned around and said to Lu Wen: "Yuzhi, you are the best in Dutch and you are a child, so you should go with Second Lieutenant Huygens."
"yes."
More than half an hour later, when Lu Wen, who was sweating profusely, followed Huygens to meet with Governor Alting, he then took the letter from the Thor and opened it. Okay! Lu Wen was sweating on the back of his neck.
I was sweating so much that I almost turned into a "waterfall of sweat". Even the hand holding the letter started to tremble.
"Damn it, what did it say?" Altin was already a little impatient after waiting for a long time.
"This, this, I beg you, the Governor, to forgive me for being rude." Lu Wen's legs went weak, and he knelt on the floor, kowtowing and said: "This, this is clearly a letter of war."
"What?!" Altin jumped up from his chair and said sternly: "I order you to translate it for me immediately, word for word, without missing a word!"
"Yes." Lu Wen then stood up, compared the Chinese in the letter, and began to translate, while Altin's secretary began to take notes at his desk.
"Northern Navy to His Excellency William Arnold Alting, Governor of the Dutch East Indies, regarding the Batavia Massacre of 1740, hereby declares:
The Netherlands, a small country in Northern Europe, is a trader in Europe.
It has been more than a hundred years since the founding of Bacheng. If there were no Chinese who taught you farming and managed the city, how could all industries prosper, trade prosper, and the conference be held? You do not want to be grateful, and you carry out oppressive actions. Taxes and taxes are increasing day by day.
Serious, extortion, and even murder for the sake of wealth, killing people and plundering the entire city to make up for the East India Company's losses.
On the journey of the great road, the world is public, the Xia watch is eternal, the rituals and music are prestige, and the world is the same. The state is supreme, happy to return to heaven, and take life as the body. Why have we, the people of China, failed you? What deep hatred has led to the death of thousands of people?
Man?! If there is any hatred, why should there be a vendetta? You can return all the descendants of the Zhangquan survivors, and the business and shipping transactions will continue as before. Bandits have no crime, and such injustice will be punished by Heaven!
Now there is the Beihai, and the Tianzang is allowed to be viewed. The eight mountains should be viewed, ranging from the ice sea in the north to Er and so on in the south. It reaches the ocean in the east and Central Asia in the west. When the sun shines and the moon comes, it becomes Zhengshuo. For example, if Annan Xishan invades China, it will be good at it.
They killed the Chinese people, pretended to be vassals, secretly formed pirates, and invaded our coast. They drove troops thousands of miles across the North Sea, sent messages to the officials, and invaded the land of Yi Zong. They added troops to destroy them.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! The powerful spirit of China is rushing into the universe, and the Northern Navy advocates justice, punishes crimes and insults the people, and avenges shame. Millions of soldiers and thousands of battleships avenge the unjust killing of more than ten thousand lives.
The hatred is the regret of being humiliated by the gods above and below.
Pass it on by way of a message, and the messengers will know and hear about it."
This letter was written by Jiang Fan. Although the writing looked laborious, it was full of momentum. With the little ink Deng Fei, Wang Yuanfang and Hong Tao had, they were not qualified to edit it. Hong Tao tried to write several drafts in vernacular.
, in the end it was not as good as this one, so I had to give up.
But it was precisely because of this that Lu Wen, a native of Zhangzhou who was born as a child, was sweating profusely and frightened. When he finally translated the text in the letter into Dutch, Governor Altin's face turned green.
.
His first reaction was to shout something bad, the Chinese are coming to settle the accounts!
"Call all council members to the Governor's Mansion for a meeting! Immediately notify all forts to enter wartime alert! Order Colonel Berg to immediately summon troops, mobilize the city, open the armory, and recruit Malays to join the war!"
After the secretary finished writing on the letter paper, Governor Altin immediately signed his name. Then he saw the embarrassed Lu Wen, his face darkened and he roared: "Get out! You have nothing to do here!"
Unexpectedly, just as Lu Wen was about to leave, Altin immediately came to his senses. He shouted to Second Lieutenant Huygens outside the door: "Show this guy to me. Don't let him tell the Chinese people the news in the letter!"
When Lu Wen heard this, he panicked, knelt on the ground and said, "Mr. Governor, spare your life, this is none of the villain's business!"
However, Altin had no intention of paying attention to him. He waved his hand impatiently and asked people to take Lu Wen down for custody. When Governor Altin was the only one left in the room, he slumped back on the chair weakly, with his arms on both sides.
His temples were beating wildly.
Does this matter have anything to do with me? What happened fifty years ago has something to do with me!
It is said that Altin only joined the East India Company in 1750. By the time he arrived in Batavia, the former governor who was responsible for this job, Adrian Vargennier, had been dead for several years, and now there is grass on his grave.
They have probably grown into towering trees.
But Artin also knew that as the governor of the Dutch East Indies, he was inseparable from this matter. In fact, the East India Company's crime of killing Chinese in Java was not limited to Hongxi. After Valgennier was imprisoned, he confessed that in
In June 1741, the East India Council also passed a resolution "to carry out a comprehensive massacre of the Chinese throughout Java."
So in early 1742, a tragedy comparable to that of Red Creek was staged again in Sampolong, Central Java; after that, the Dutch continued the massacre in Surabaya and other places in East Java.
Historically, the crimes committed by the Dutch in Java, with the exception of the Red Creek Massacre, have not been reported back to China at all. Because they are only passed down by word of mouth among a small number of Chinese, even the Chinese in Batavia today do not know about it.
The problem is that Altin knew it! The records in the East India Company’s files are clear and crystal clear!
This is a bad thing, and it’s too late to call for reinforcements. Altin suddenly thought that he could go to Prince of Wales Island to find the British East India Company. Perhaps for the sake of everyone being God’s people, he could help his brother out.
.Even if the British will not participate in the war, it would be good to mediate.
Thinking of this, he quickly took the letter paper, thought about it for a while, and began to write a sincere letter asking for help.
At this time, on the deck of the Thor, Hong Tao, who was smeared with sunscreen and wearing sunglasses, lazily sat on a beach chair and took two sips of juice with ice cubes. After feeling satisfied, he did the same to those around him.
Deng Fei said: "Old Deng, what do you think the Dutch are doing now?"
"Hey, I guess I was frightened by Jiang Ziping's letter. Now the whole city should be mobilized to prepare for war, and at the same time, we have to guard against the Chinese."
Before Deng Fei finished speaking, he saw a figure in front of him. Wang Yuanfang, who was soaked in sweat, grabbed the cup with his hands, took a sip of the juice and said, "It's better to mobilize. We've got everyone together so we can serve!"