Li Siya got off the ship at Ben Port and went to meet Guo Huaiyi.
Although the Bengang area in Tainan is ostensibly the sphere of influence of the Dutch, in fact the Dutch have no actual control here and only have one missionary point. Most of the Fujian immigrants here are Yan Siqi and Zheng Zhilong who arranged the immigrants here. In addition to the Dutch immigrants,
In addition to paying the entrance tax to obtain the armed protection of the Dutch immigrants, they were basically controlled by the village chiefs of large and small Chinese immigrants. And these immigrants all obeyed the orders of Guo Huaiyi, the leader of the Han immigrants in Tainan.
On the surface, Guo Huaiyi is just the village chief of Youchehang Village, a local immigrant village. In fact, it is Zheng Zhilong who arranged for immigration as an agent in Tainan. This is not a secret among Fujian immigrants. Even Dutch immigrants know Guo Huaiyi very well.
A strong influence in China.
Li Siya pretended to be a man, and under the escort sent by Zheng Zhifeng, she came to Luoyou Chexing Village without anyone noticing, where she met Guo Huaiyi in a mansion rich in southern Fujian style. Guo Huaiyi was a
He is middle-aged and looks no different from the local landowners in southern Fujian: dark skin and deep wrinkles. Even though he is a landowner, he still has to work in the fields with his employees. He is also very kind to everyone, Li Siya.
Although it was her first time in Taiwan, she had always been very well informed. She knew that Guo Huai had been ordered to come to Tainan since Yan Siqi's time to preside over the immigration reclamation here. He was a senior member of the group who even Zheng Zhilong respected.
things.
However, Zheng Zhilong does not attach great importance to Taiwan. Since he took control of Anping, he has opened up a trade route directly to Japan. He is not very interested in Taiwan as a transit point for trade. In addition to encouraging immigrants from southern Fujian, he has no idea how to increase actual exchanges with Japan.
Taiwan's control did not take a lot of effort - of course he does not have the energy at the moment.
Due to the lack of support from the mainland, Guo Huaiyi had to rely on himself to organize self-defense. His policy was very simple, surrendering to the Dutch in the general direction, paying income taxes and labor services to the Dutch, and at the same time providing the Dutch with
Various Taiwanese trade goods—Taiwan’s main export product, deer skins—mostly come from the hands of hunters from southern Fujian immigrants or from small traders who ventured to trade with the indigenous people. This made the Dutch regard the southern Fujian immigrants in Tainan as "useful people", and also
They were willing to use force to protect the immigrants from southern Fujian. Successive merchant governors spared no effort to crack down on the indigenous immigrants, largely to ensure the safety of the immigrants from southern Fujian at work.
Of course, Holland's own strength is also very limited, and sometimes he has too much time to take care of himself, so in a small way, he can only encourage villages to form village warriors to defend themselves. The Fujian immigrants who immigrated to Taiwan are basically from the southern Fujian area, which is already a heavily populated area.
Color, and immigrants often migrate in clan units. It is easy to form small group villages with regions and clans as the core. Many local tyrants have formed.
The local tycoon group of immigrants from southern Fujian still controlled Taiwan's grassroots society until the Qing Dynasty regained Taiwan, even more severely than on the mainland. Coupled with the serious malaria problem, foreign officials and government officials often did not adapt to the climate and died of illness before serving their term. Qing Dynasty
The one prefecture and two counties in Taiwan had no control over the grassroots, and even sending government officials to the countryside to work was in danger. Lin Shuangwen, who later started the uprising during the Qianlong period, also had this background.
Guo Huaiyi is the leader of this rich group. Li Siya knows very well that his status in the "big gang" is the same as Zheng Zhilong's. They have great prestige and power, but they do not have absolute orders and prohibitions.
So she decided to speak as little as possible to Guo Huaiyi and only talk about things related to the mission.
She showed Zheng Zhifeng's token, and Guo Huai stared at her for a long time, then invited her to the inner courtyard for tea, and they talked in secret.
Guo Huaiyi already knew the purpose of Li Siya's visit. A few days ago, a messenger brought a letter from Zheng Zhifeng. He had been waiting for her arrival.
What Li Siya was most concerned about was the specific situation of the Australians in Taiwan - Zheng Zhifeng only told her: the Australians brought a large number of immigrants to the Dagou area and built a large number of castles.
"Girl," Guo Huaiyi pondered for a moment, "I'd better take you to the local area and see it with your own eyes. Otherwise, it may be difficult to explain clearly in just a few words."
Li Siya felt that this was all right. Bi Jing had to see it with his own eyes before he could formulate a specific plan. She immediately agreed: "That's fine. Mr. Youlao will send a few capable men to lead the way for me."
"It doesn't bother me, it's convenient." Guo Huaiyi said that the immigrants from southern Fujian here have recently had a lot of contacts with the Australian people who fight dogs. The two sides often have trade exchanges, and some people even just move to live in Dagou. Find a few
It's easy to hire a guide who is reliable and knowledgeable.
"What is the attitude of the Netherlands towards Australia?" Li Siya is most concerned about this matter.
"The Governor is very worried about Australia's immigration," Guo Huaiyi said, "It can even be said that he has trouble sleeping and eating."
Hans Putmans is very worried about Australia's immigration operations in Dagou. The first is Australia's terrible delivery capacity. In less than half a year, Australia has transported 40,000 immigrants to Dagou.
We must know that the immigration activities from southern Fujian that began in the Yan Siqi era and lasted for more than ten years did not bring so many immigrants. Moreover, along with the immigrants came a steady stream of building materials and a large amount of supplies.
The Dutch had their fifth governor in Taiwan and had just built a decent castle. The Australians, on the other hand, had built a fortress larger than the city of Jelandia since the beginning of their landing, and it had already been built in less than half a year.
80% of the work was completed. At the same time, they also built docks, dredged ports, and reclaimed a large amount of wasteland.
With a neighbor with such terrifying efficiency and maritime capabilities less than a few dozen leagues away, it's no wonder that Hans Putmans had trouble sleeping and eating.
"...More than ten years ago, the Governor invited us to a business meeting and asked us to be more careful about Australians entering the country." Guo Huaiyi said with a smile.
"Oh? What did he say?"
"It's nothing more than telling us to be more careful and not to have more contact with the Australians." Guo Huaiyi said, "The Dutch are afraid that the Australians will pull me over. This way I won't be able to give them a living and buy deer skins."
, and there is no head tax paid.”
"Do Australians have such thoughts?"
Guo Huai shook his head: "No. They have never been sent to recruit. They seem to be completely uninterested in us." He said with interest, "On the contrary, we have many people here who are attracted there to do business and work.
There were all of them, and Deqian Jian ran over directly."
“So it’s completely open to come to Australia to hunt dogs?”
"That's right, anyone who wants to can work and do business with them, even if they want to settle down." Guo Huaiyi said, "It's free to come and go as you like. I heard that there are also Japanese immigrants there.
He ran away a lot."
"Why are you going to Japan?" Li Siya was a little surprised.
"Because Hans Putmans does not allow the Japanese to pray according to their Jesuit etiquette, but to pray according to their Dutch 'true Christian' etiquette, the Japanese have always had objections. Now Australia has
There were Jesuit missionaries there, and there was a small church. Many people came over there."
"There is such a thing!" Li Siya became more and more aware of the concerns of the Dutch immigrants. The Japanese immigrants were very important to the Dutch immigrants of the officials. Although they did not play an important role in the economy like the immigrants from southern Fujian, they were
The Netherlands were an important source of sailors and soldiers.
Now the hands of the Australians have reached here - these Australians are really good at poaching corners!
Li Siya increasingly had the urge to meet Australia again.
She was very satisfied with what she learned: the majority of Dutch immigrants were full of worries and fears about Australia. Moreover, she knew that since the East India Company opened commercial offices in Hong Kong and Hainan Island, a large number of Chinese goods were re-exported from Guangdong.
, which dealt a heavy blow to the trade of senior officials.
When the East India Company set up a commercial office in Taiwan, it faced unpredictable partners, endured all kinds of inconveniences and suffered constant losses, and it was precisely because of its role as a procurement window for trade with China that the company needed to attract Chinese businessmen here.
Come in to sell various goods that are urgently needed by the company.
Now, Hong Kong and Sanya can meet most of the company's needs - if it weren't for the fact that Da Yuan had certain advantages in absorbing Fujian's export porcelain and indigo nearby, and also served as a trade base for Japan, otherwise it would have been of little value.
Now. You can imagine how Taiwan’s governor feels now as his importance continues to decline.
In both public and private matters, Hans Putmans had no good feelings towards the Australian people and was easily provoked by them.
As for the Australians, Li Siya believes that since they are also a rising maritime hegemon, they will not have friendly feelings towards the Dutch. In the final analysis, their current trade cooperation is one of mutual benefit, and there is no such thing as mutual benefit.
Any element of mutual trust.
Perhaps within both sides, there was an attempt to open fire on the other side, inflicting heavy damage or even destroying the opponent. Li Siya had served the East India Company and had spied on the intelligence of the Australians, so she knew very well what the Dutch were thinking.
"Have there been any important company items in Taiyuan Port recently?"
"I don't know, I don't often go to Da Yuan." Guo Huaiyi said, "If you are willing, I will arrange to go in tomorrow to inquire about it."
"Okay. Also, if possible, I would like to go and see it in person first."
Guo Huai looked her over and said, "With all due respect: Miss Li is a bit too eye-catching..."
In a place like Taiwan, it is not uncommon for ordinary women to show up in public - especially women from southern Fujian who are often an important labor force. The problem is that Li Siya is of mixed Chinese and Portuguese descent, her appearance is different from ordinary women, and she looks like a woman from a wealthy family.
Li Siya smiled and said: "It doesn't matter, I'll just put on makeup. I'll make sure you don't show your face."