On the morning of March 12, the Ming army occupied Surabaya, the last big city on Batavia Island. The last major port in the hands of the Dutch army on Batavia Island was also lost. The remaining more than 3,000 Dutch troops were
They were forced to a small corner of the easternmost part of Batavia Island, a place called the Branbangan Peninsula. The remaining Dutch forces in Borneo and Sulawesi sent some small boats to pick up the governor who had fled here together.
With a small number of senior officers, the remaining more than 3,000 Dutch troops surrendered to the Ming army at noon. At this point, the Ming army took over the entire Batavia Island.
On March 13, the Netherlands asked for peace from the Ming Dynasty.
March 13, 1936 happened to be a Friday, which was the legendary "Black Friday". For the Netherlands, this was truly a Black Friday.
In Xiang Xiaoqiang's view, the current Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands is a stubborn person. During World War II, she would rather have the Netherlands fall and take her family to live in exile in the UK than let the country accept Germany's "
"Protection". Now in the colonial war on the other side of the world, it is not surprising that they have not sued for peace until now. I guess this is because of the pressure from the Prime Minister and the government for many days, and I have to bite the bullet and nod.
Since the Ming Dynasty and the Netherlands no longer have diplomats from each other, and the Dutch ambassador to Nanjing was expelled from the country and is now in Palembang on Pazia Island, the negotiations were arranged in Batavia, led by the Dutch ambassador to the Ming Dynasty.
The ambassador represents the Netherlands, and Xiang Xiaoqiang and his two former diplomat advisors represent the Ming Dynasty. Xiang Xiaoqiang has sent a destroyer to Palembang to pick up the Dutch ambassador. He will arrive in Batavia in the evening and start negotiations tomorrow.
Xiang Xiaoqiang is in a good mood, and Qiu Qiu is in a good mood. The young couple is dancing in the empty and splendid living room of the Governor's Mansion. The record player plays beautiful waltz music, and Qiu Qiu is teaching Xiang Xiaoqiang to dance step by step. This East India place
The stall incident will be over soon, and soon they will continue to Europe for their "honeymoon". Qiu Qiu was happy when he thought about it. After receiving the telegram from the Netherlands asking for peace and starting negotiations the next day, Qiu Qiu was immediately happy.
He rushed to drag Xiang Xiaoqiang to the hall and wanted to teach him how to dance.
Xiang Xiaoqiang felt that after arriving in Germany, he would definitely attend the dance. Anyway, there was nothing to do now. Instead of stepping on the feet of those German ladies and ladies then, it would be better to step on Qiu Qiu's feet more now.
"Left, right, left, right, back... Oops!"
Qiu Qiu couldn't stop giggling on Xiang Xiaoqiang's shoulder, her back was shaking, and her fists lightly hit his back. Xiang Xiaoqiang also smiled, hugged Qiu Qiu, and kissed her neck tenderly.
Qiu Qiu made Qiu Qiu laugh. Xiang Xiaoqiang knew that Qiu Qiu was happy from the bottom of his heart. These days in Batavia were too bloody. First, the natives massacred more than two thousand people, and then there was a war, and then
It was the Hua Tu natives who killed more than 4,000 people... Now all this is finally over, and she will soon be able to go to Europe with her beloved to enjoy civilization, tranquility and happiness.
The two were arguing for a while, with Xiang Xiaoqiang holding her in his arms and looking at the famous paintings on the wall and the cabinets of curiosities displayed. It was said that these were the governor's lifelong collection.
Xiang Xiaoqiang raised his head and looked at the oil paintings on the wall. There were not many classical ones, and there was definitely no masterpiece from the Renaissance. Even if the old boy was the governor of a large colony, he couldn't afford to collect them. Those are all in Europe.
It is hung in major museums, royal palaces, and in the living rooms of the Rothschild and Rockefeller families. Of course, there are also a few of Zhu Yourong's paintings.
Most of the works here are 19th-century Impressionist works, with dazzling light, shadow and color. Xiang Xiaoqiang has read the signatures one by one, and they are mainly from second-rate celebrities. However, there are also first-rate celebrities such as Monet, Cézanne and Renoir.
So a few paintings. Of course, there is also the Picasso that he destroyed.
"Qiu Qiu," Xiang Xiaoqiang whispered into her ear, "How much do you think the artwork in this living room is worth?"
Qiu Qiu looked up and glanced around with an awe-inspiring expression, and shook his head blankly.
Xiang Xiaoqiang squinted his eyes, thinking about these works of art. Although the prices of works of art at this time were far less outrageous than in later generations, the whole thing in the hall together could be called "priceless".
"I don't know how much they're worth," he said, stroking his chin, "but even if the average painting is 100,000 yuan, these twenty-odd oil paintings are worth two to three million. Plus the Chinese porcelain in this cabinet,
No matter what, it must be worth another two to three million. These millions of Mingyang things actually belong to the governor alone. Alas, there is really no honest governor of a colony! Especially the governor of such a large colony.
"
Qiu Qiu's eyes widened as he looked at the paintings and pots filling the hall. He never expected they could be worth so much.
Xiang Xiaoqiang snapped his fingers and smiled slightly:
"Take them all."
"Gah?!"
Qiu Qiu looked at him in surprise. After a while, he asked:
"Where to take...take it?"
"Nonsense, there are so many good things, of course we should take them back to the country. Are we still leaving them here for them?"
"Xiao...Xiaoqiang," Qiu Qiu obviously felt that this was wrong. It was so inconsistent with the moral concepts she had received since she was a child. "Although these things are valuable, they are not ours!"
Xiang Xiaoqiang said with a smile: "It wasn't originally, but it is now."
"cockroach!"
Xiang Xiaoqiang smiled and said:
"Let me tell you, Qiu Qiu, in today's world, many things are not yours. If you fight and win, they are yours. Sumatra's oil and rubber rights are not ours yet.
.Before the war, the Netherlands refused to give it life or death. Now that we have captured Batavia Island, we will not get it with just one opening of negotiations tomorrow. Now the Netherlands is concerned about whether we can return Batavia Island, not Pazzi.
That little bit of oil and rubber on Asia Island.”
Seeing that Qiu Qiu still had an uneasy conscience, he enlightened her from a moral perspective:
"You think about it, the Dutch authorities have allowed the natives to massacre Chinese many times in history, and sometimes they even carried out the killings themselves. Starting from the 'Hongxi Massacre' two hundred years ago, how many Chinese have died unjustly and tragically in the past two hundred years? Now we have taught them a lesson.
What's wrong with a meal and letting it bleed? We have been very kind by not accepting the entire East Indies. Let's not talk about the distance, let's talk about this governor. When you look at the treasures in the living room, worth millions, he should be
How much is the governor's salary? Can he afford it as a civil servant? Isn't it just about amassing money and exploiting the people under his rule? Speaking of the people under his rule, how much money do the natives have? It's not mainly about exploiting the Chinese!...Hmph, I dare you
It is said that every time the Chinese are robbed, the wallets of these governors will be bulging. Every painting and every piece of porcelain here embodies the blood and tears of the Chinese in East India! ...Qiu Qiu, you said we should move them away
, or stay here?”
"Should move!"
Qiu Qiu nodded vigorously and said decisively.
Then, she hesitated again:
"Xiaoqiang, in this case, shouldn't we sell them and compensate the Chinese here? It doesn't seem appropriate to just move back to China!"
Xiang Xiaoqiang was really impressed by this kind little girl. He smiled and said:
"To compensate the Chinese, the Netherlands will naturally bleed. This time it will not be finished until the Netherlands is squeezed dry. If it does not bleed, we will not return Batavia Island to it. Let's see how much blood it is willing to shed to redeem Batavia Island.
Come on. Qiu Qiu, let’s move these good things back to the country and dedicate them all to His Majesty. Your Majesty likes these works of art very much. Huo Huo, and she must be embarrassed to keep them to herself, and maybe she will give some back to us. Qiu Qiu, what do you think?
Ah, even a small portion of these things can buy you so many beautiful clothes and jewelry."
Qiu Qiu's face turned red, biting her lips, and hummed:
"Well, what you said makes sense...then let's do this."
…
Xiang Xiaoqiang gave an order, and the entire Batavia Island occupation force was in action all afternoon. They packed every treasure that could be found on Batavia Island into boxes and loaded it into trucks before the negotiations.
The People's Guard monitored, escorted, and sent them to several ports for shipment.
There are three main types of most valuable treasures: porcelain, bronze, and jade from China; oil paintings, bronze sculptures, gold and silver crafts from Europe, and cultural relics left by the original Kingdom of Wanden. These things are mainly stored in three places: Governor
It would be unrealistic to rob someone's house, the Grand Mosque, or the home of a local wealthy businessman. Besides, most of the local wealthy businessmen are Chinese. But the treasures stored in the other two places would definitely be removed without ceremony.
When the occupying forces moved the treasures out of several large mosques, the Afghans protested almost with tears and blood, but it was of no use. Outside the mosques, many Muslim natives were excited and stepped forward to stop them, trying to snatch away the treasures of their ancestors.
But without exception, they were beaten and arrested by the police.
At night, all the artworks and treasures were loaded onto three small cargo ships, which sailed out from Batavia, Semarang, and Surabaya respectively. They gathered in the waters north of Batavia, were then escorted by two destroyers, and sailed north to Daming.
.
"Sir," Song Ruhai asked worriedly, "if the Dutch ambassador asks about these treasures, how will we answer?"
"Simple," Xiang Xiaoqiang shrugged and said with a smile, "During the war, we were robbed by insurgent soldiers and mobs. What can I do?"
Although this afternoon's nearly Ming Dynasty robbery was seen by everyone, it still had to be said. In history, Western powers have done this kind of thing again and again around the world. What happened to the Ming Dynasty?