Chapter 525: The Dutch were tricked by the British
After almost drinking the iced drinks, it was time to get down to business. Not long after everyone went back and changed out of their floral pants and large vests, two khaki drones rose from the compass deck and flew a hundred meters above the sea level.
Height, flying quickly towards the city of Batavia.
It was sunny and sunny inside and outside the port of Bacheng. Even though the drone was flying very high, it was backed by a clear sky. It didn't take long for it to attract the attention of the Dutch defenders at the port and castle.
Speaking of which, the only people in Southeast Asia who have not experienced the Northern Navy drones are the Dutch and the Spanish. Like other Europeans in this time and space, it was the first time they discovered something that could soar in the sky like a bird. One by one, the Dutch soldiers
With a panicked look on his face, he kept crossing himself on his chest. After getting up, he glanced at the church behind him to pray for Christ's blessing.
At this time, the first industrial revolution had begun nearly forty years ago. Steam engines had been widely used in mining in Europe, and hot-air balloons had also taken to the sky. In other words, the era of replacing manual labor with machinery had begun.
Although the Dutch East India Company is a bunch of bastards, the Dutch Leiden University is currently the top university in Europe. Its characteristics are freedom of religious belief and openness and tolerance in scholarship. Therefore, some Dutch people in Bach who are obsessed with machinery do not believe that
It was the Chinese who unleashed the devil, but they observed it with great interest.
The noise on the castle wall interrupted the emergency meeting that was about to be held in the conference hall. After hearing the reports from their subordinates, everyone in the "East India Council" headed by Governor Altyn came to the outside of the Governor's Palace and held hands with them.
shed, looking for two small dots in the sky.
After everyone watched for a while and returned to the room with surprise and worry, Governor Altin first announced the start of the meeting, and then briefly introduced the past achievements of Beihai Town to everyone present, and then his secretary read out
After receiving the letter from the North Navy, which was like a declaration of war, the conference room exploded.
One congressman roared: "They said they came here for things that happened fifty years ago, but what does that have to do with us?! This is blackmail! We must fight back resolutely!"
Another congressman stood up and said: "Everyone! We can't be frightened by those little tricks in the sky! No matter how big the ship is, there is only one. Our fleet outside the port has twelve ships! Not to mention more than a dozen more.
A yahat ship!”
The fleet mentioned by this person is called "retourschip" in Dutch, also called a returning ship. Every February, more than a dozen returning ships from the Dutch East India Company gather in Batavia to form
The fleet later transported porcelain, tea and other merchandise and treasures back to Amsterdam, so it was also called the "East India Treasure Fleet".
The length of the returning ships is between 45 meters and 60 meters, the width is 10 meters, and the cargo capacity is more than 1,000 tons. This kind of ship is a semi-flat-bottomed ship, which is easy to navigate in shallow waterways. It can be used to transport cargo,
Sometimes they would also be heavily armed to participate in naval battles.
In addition, there are more than a dozen three-masted galenic sailing ships named "Yacht" parked outside the Batavia Port. The armed Yacht ship has an extra gun deck and a stronger structure, with its bow and
There are artillery guns on the sides of the ship. Because of its good seaworthiness, fast speed and low cost, it has become the main force of the Dutch naval force.
As soon as this person said this, the other congressmen thought, yes! No matter how powerful the big white ship called "Thor" is, there is only one. Besides, the previous battles were all about shelling land, so it's hard to say how a naval battle would be.
.
It is said that the British East India Company officer corps, which had returned to Madras at this time, passed through Batavia in early February and stayed for a few days, and received warm hospitality from the Dutch.
Because communications between Europe and East Asia are carried out at a frequency of 2 to 3 years, neither the British East India Company nor the Dutch East India Company knew that the Fourth Anglo-Dutch War had broken out in Europe.
Given the poor nature of the British, now is the era of domination of the sea. They will definitely not tell the Dutch that the second-class sailing ship they sold to the Qing Dynasty cannot defeat the Northern Navy, and it is still under the command of people like themselves. They are eager to do so.
Other countries didn't know about the embarrassing incident on Changxing Island, and Macartney didn't know that the Thor would go south.
In this way, the Dutch in Batavia were unintentionally tricked by the British.
At this time, one of the oldest members of Congress slowly stood up and said: "Everyone, I suggest negotiating with the Seris people first. It is best to resolve this matter peacefully, and not let the city of Batavia be destroyed by war!"
Others said: "Mr. Hall, now the Chinese are knocking on the door! Negotiation? Haha, just like what they did in Nagasaki, do we have to pay 150,000 taels of gold and bow our heads and admit defeat like the Tokugawa Shogunate?"
"no way!"
"that's right!"
Altin stood up and said: "Dear Mr. Hall, I completely agree with your suggestion."
After that, he said to everyone present: "Gentlemen, even if we want to go to war with the Seris people, we must first understand the opponent's armament and strength. Judging from the size of the ship, Colonel Berg estimates that there will be at least
It can carry two thousand soldiers, but we still don’t know the number of artillery pieces. Therefore, I suggest forming a delegation and taking the initiative to contact the Seris people. It is best to go on their ship and have a look."
Councilor Hall nodded and said: "I would like to make another suggestion. It is best to choose a few people from the Tang Dynasty to accompany you."
"I don't agree!" A councilman stood up and said, "What if the Tang people outside the city collude with them?"
Hall glanced at the congressman and said with contempt: "Mr. Pitt, you have only been in Batavia for ten years, and I have been here for almost forty years. I think I know these Tang people better than you."
.Don’t forget, those Seris people are at war with the Qing Empire, and the Tang people in Ba City are all subjects of the Qing Dynasty. Compared to the rebels who call themselves Seris people, the Tang people respect the orthodox Qing Empire more
, I don’t dare to have anything to do with them. Besides, the Hongxi incident has been nearly fifty years ago, and the Tang people in Bacheng now only came after 1742.”
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! The cunning Congressman Hall guessed it right. When the Chinese businessmen living outside the south gate of Bacheng heard about the Thor, almost no one was happy. All of them were
They were worried. They were afraid that Beihai Town would anger the Dutch and themselves.
There are reasons why the Western colonists chose the Chinese as their main targets for exploitation and utilization. First, it is because of their weak religious concepts, which needs no explanation; secondly, the Chinese are comprador-minded and highly tolerant of hardship; and finally, the Chinese just don’t show up at the last moment.
I don’t think about working hard and it’s very easy to clean up.
After the Red Creek Incident, the Dutch put on a mask of hypocrisy in order to attract Chinese people. The public slogan was to treat the Chinese well so that Batavia can develop day by day.
When Wang Zhusheng, the "Kapitan" appointed by the Dutch, received a notification from Governor Altin, he said to a room of sad-looking Chinese businessmen: "Everyone, King Ba has a destiny. I must go all out tomorrow to avoid Ba."
The city is in ruins."
Since the 17th century, Fujian merchants who came to Southeast Asia have called the Dutch Governor of Batavia the "King of Sunda Kalapa", or "King Ba" for short.
At this time, an old man in his sixties sighed, stood up and bowed his hands to everyone. Under everyone's surprised eyes, he was tremblingly supported by his family and left the meeting hall. Several businessmen waited for each other's back to disappear.
, and then they started whispering to each other.
"Why is Uncle Zhang gone?"
"You don't know? When the Dutch massacred the city, he was the only one of the Zhang family who survived."
"Is there anything else?"
"Well, I heard Uncle Zhang say that when the Dutch massacred the city, more than a hundred Chinese escaped."
"Don't mention the national affairs. I will do business honestly and pay the head tax, and the Dutch will not make it difficult for me."
"Brother Lin is right to the point. I heard that someone started a rebellion and led the mob to attack the Dutch castle, which provoked them..." As the man spoke, he gestured with his hands to kill.
Head gesture.
"No wonder, instead of working hard, you actually want to attack the government and dominate the mountain as king. They are a bunch of unruly people!"
"How many Chinese were there in the city back then?"
"I heard from Uncle Zhang, I'm afraid it doesn't have to be tens of thousands."
"Hiss~~~" After hearing this, everyone gasped at first, and then felt absurd and unruly. At present, there are only more than 6,000 Chinese in Batavia and they already live in full houses. More than 10,000 people are replaced by 10,000 pigs.
, I won’t be able to kill them all in a few months. Don’t be kidding me!
"Then why does he stay and not go back to Zhangzhou?"
"You guys are so confused, aren't you? People like us, if we don't return home for several years, we have already registered with the government! If Mr. Zhang dares to go back, he will be sent to the army and sent to the army."
...
Just when Altin decided to send an official envoy to communicate with the Thor, the two drones of the Northern Navy had been flying over Batavia for more than 20 minutes and turned around to return. The whole picture of Batavia was basically
All were displayed in front of Deng Fei and the others.
The entire city is divided into two rectangular blocks from north to south by the Gillian Canal, which extends from north to south. Several stone bridges erected on the canal have become channels connecting the east and west cities. The shallow water area outside the port is blocked by a row of wooden piles.
, only small boats transporting goods can enter the port. There are many fortresses on the city walls on the east and west sides, and there are drawbridges at the entrances and exits on the east, west and south sides.
Compared with other Southeast Asian cities, Bacheng has a complete canal system; in addition to the main canal, there are also several small canals leading to the interior and surroundings of the town. This is also the construction model of Dutch cities, connecting the entire city through canals.
There are roads nearly ten meters wide on both sides of the Gilion River. The Dutch also dug a number of small canals leading to surrounding areas and towns based on natural conditions, ultimately forming a complex canal system. Along the canals are located successively
There are rows of one- to two-story brick houses, and the roads between each row are separated by three rows of trees. The wealthy Dutch immigrants live here. Among these stone buildings, the one that impressed Dengfei and others the most was
A two-story large dome building with European characteristics.
Hong Tao looked at the exquisite-looking townhouses in the picture and said, "Townhouse, it's not bad! I'll tell Mr. Zhao tomorrow that we will also build a community on the Camlan Peninsula..."
He was talking nonsense, and neither Deng Fei nor Wang Yuanfang spoke to him. They were more concerned about the defense system deployed by the Dutch inside and outside the city.
Compared with those that Hong Tao paid attention to, Batavia was an even more militarized city. The Dutch East India Company fought intermittent wars with the kingdoms of Banten and Matalan until the late seventeenth century. In order to prevent the harassment of these kingdoms, the entire city
A large number of walls were built around the city of Ba. Both the castle on the east coast and the city walls were equipped with a large number of artillery.
The four-pointed star-shaped castle was built on a heavily fortified seaside and was protected by multiple walls. Inside are various local institutions of the East India Company. Such as the governor's residence, churches, workshops, warehouses, guards, armories, prisons, East India Company
The conference hall of the Parliament and some mansions, etc. On the west bank of the mouth of the Gillian Canal, where the port is, there is also a fortification, echoing the fortress on the opposite bank. If the Northern Navy wants to enter the castle directly, the mouth of the canal is the only way
.
In addition, two miles away from the port, a dozen three-masted sailing ships of the Dutch East India Company opened their gun doors and watched closely the Thor's every move. There were also seven or eight large sailing ships at the port.
Unload the previously loaded cargo and hoist the artillery.
From then on until the next morning, the Thor basically did nothing except firing a gun to warn the Dutch sailing ships not to come within a mile of itself. However, what the Dutch noticed was that the "Thor" flying out of the Thor
"Strange Birds" basically have to go back every 30 minutes, and then two more fly out. This cycle continues until it gets dark, and you can still hear a faint buzzing overhead.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! At 9 a.m. on March 7, 1791, the day after the Northern Navy arrived in Ba, a small Yahat ship with a white flag on its mast left Ba.
The ship sailed away from the city port, and an hour later slowly moved to the port side of the Thor.
On the deck of the bow, a Dutchman with a high nose and blue eyes held up a document with a blue ribbon in his hand and said loudly: "I am Gerald Hester Jacobs, educated by the East Indies.
His Excellency, Governor Altin of the company and the Council of Ministers have entrusted us to come and negotiate with your person in charge!”
Jacob first shouted in Dutch, and after finding no response from the Thor, he immediately shouted again in Portuguese and French. Just when he was feeling disappointed and was about to ask a few Chinese to shout, an Eastern
A human face appeared from the side of the ship and said in fluent French: "How many of you are here?"
"Eight, I request to board the ship for an interview." Jacob was overjoyed. He did not expect that the other party actually spoke French.
At this time, several guys wearing melon skin hats and long robes and mandarin jackets saluted with their hands raised, and said in unison: "We are entrusted by the elders of the Tang Dynasty in Bacheng, and we sincerely request to meet all the gentlemen of Beihai Town!"
At this time, I heard someone on the deck speaking in Cantonese: "Move the ship back! We are going to put down the ladder."
Half an hour later, four Dutchmen and four Chinese from Batavia boarded the Thor out of curiosity and nervousness. However, before they could see clearly the facilities on the deck and the camouflage nets covering the The two cannons were hurriedly brought into the conference room on the poop by a few soldiers from the Northern Navy.
At this time, Deng Fei, Jiang Fan, and Lin Daosheng were already waiting in the conference room. After a brief exchange of greetings, Jacob conveyed the protest of the Council of Review and Governor Altin, opened the document, and read it out in French. .
To put it simply, what the Dutch mean is that we are aggrieved, and what happened fifty years ago has nothing to do with us now. What’s more, the governor who issued the massacre order had already been sentenced to death by the seventeen-member board of directors, and we also asked the leaders The Qing government apologized, and Emperor Qianlong kindly said that he would not pursue the case. In view of this, your Beihai Town's statement that it wants to seek justice for the Chinese is completely groundless and regarded as blackmail, and the East India Company will never accept blackmail.
Unexpectedly, Deng Fei became furious after hearing this. He took the Dutchman's statement and crumpled it into a ball in his hand without even looking at it. If it hadn't been for the letter he received from Zhao Xin last night. After reading the long telegram twice, he might really believe the Dutch lies.
What a bullshit apology! The Dutch were eager to conceal the truth of the incident for fear that the Manchus would cut off Guangzhou trade, so how could they apologize?! Moreover, the governor who was sentenced to death did not execute the execution until he died in prison. What a liar!