I

Governor's Palace, Council.

An old man in his fifties was smoking a cigar and speaking:

"Twenty-nine years ago, I was hired to work for the company as a junior businessman for the company."

"Twenty-seven years ago, I served as the chief merchant and Batavia judge, specializing in Chinese cases."

“Twenty-six years ago, I served as president of the Batavia City Senate.”

"Twenty-four years ago, I was transferred to the position of Chief of Taiyuan (Taiwan). It took me three years to turn the Taiyuan Commercial Store from a loss to a profit."

"Twenty years ago, I led a fleet to sweep away pirates and was defeated by Zheng Zhilong in Liaoluo Bay. From that time on, I knew that I must always be cautious when dealing with the Chinese."

"Since eighteen years ago, I personally led the troops and conquered Madou Society, Xingang Society, Xiaolong Society, Damujiang, Xiaoliuqiu... Twenty-eight tribes swore allegiance to the company."

"I personally drew the blueprints of the Castle of Geranje and obtained the funds to build the Castle of Geranje. When the Castle of Geranje was about to be completed, I was suddenly transferred. I left behind a tribe where many tribes surrendered and were raised every year. I was transferred away from the profitable Dajuan colony with a strong fortress at a critical moment! And now, the Dajuan colony I built with my own hands has become the Taiwan of the Chinese!"

The little old man's name was Hans Putmans. He was the executioner who massacred Taiwan's aboriginal people and was also a strongman who single-handedly built the Taiwan colony.

In the Battle of Liaoluo Bay back then, this guy also personally led the fleet.

Anyone older than Putmans will either return home or die. He was banging the table in the Council at the moment. No one dared to say anything, even the Governor remained silent.

Putmans continued: "When I was transferred back to the Netherlands, I was the commander-in-chief of the East India Fleet. It was a false position without any real power, because I resigned when I returned home. I became a victim of the power struggle of some shareholders. The Netherlands was having a very unhappy time. Malacca was lost, and I was hired back by the company. I was sent to Batavia when I was fifty years old. The company asked me to restrain the governor and prevent him from angering the Chinese. But what was the governor doing? He actually went Attack the vassal states of China!"

Rainiers finally spoke: "The attack on Namba was approved by the council vote."

"I voted against it!" Putmans roared. "You guys think I'm old and don't follow my advice on anything! Was it useful for me to stop it? All I could do was vote. Vote no!”

Reniers knew he was in the wrong and changed the subject: "Sir, what we should do now is not to argue in the conference room, but to discuss how to negotiate with the Chinese."

Putmans put out his cigar, pointed at the Governor's nose and said: "When we came to the Far East, we were very careful in everything we did. You young people think that the company has grown so powerful that you even dare to provoke China at will. Seventeen years Some time ago, the company robbed a Chinese merchant ship, and the Chinese businessman wrote to me. What did I do? I immediately compensated for the loss! Because I know that you can massacre the indigenous people at will, but you must respect the Chinese!"

The old guy got angrier as he talked: "Do you know how the company started trading in the Far East? At that time, the Ming Dynasty banned maritime trade, so the company could only continue to bribe officials and obtain one license after another with great difficulty. When we first occupied Dayuan (Taiwan), Chinese merchants did not come to do business at all. We need to kidnap Chinese merchant ships, not snatch their goods, but force them to sell goods! As for you, now the Ming Dynasty has replaced We have entered the country of Datong and opened our ports to do business with the company. You should do better, but the company’s profits are decreasing year by year!”

Putmans's statement is generally true. When he was governing Tainan, Chinese businessmen did not do business due to various reasons.

This guy first prohibited Dutch ships from robbing Chinese ships, and then kidnapped Chinese ships to trade with Taiwan. After going back and forth, the Chinese maritime merchants discovered that their ship had been kidnapped, but there was no loss. They quickly placed their trust in the Dutch in Tainan. In this way, Tainan's trade prospered rapidly, turning losses into profits within three years.

Putmans told a little lie. Seventeen years ago, a Chinese ship was robbed. After he received a letter of complaint from a Chinese businessman, he did not compensate him. Instead, he wrote back in person saying that it was a misunderstanding.

It was indeed a misunderstanding. A Dutch merchant ship robbed a Chinese merchant ship against orders. Putmans severely punished those people and pocketed the stolen goods.

There is no such thing as embezzling dirty goods. Putmans must behave with dignity. He continued to slap the table and said: "Datong China is more powerful than Ming China. You only know that trade is better, but you never face China. The strength is so strong that even after losing Malacca, we still haven't woken up. Now, there are only 800 soldiers left in the castle, and the reinforcements from India have been destroyed. We can't have any more reinforcements. If the castle cannot be defended, we must surrender! The conditions for surrender, Just keep the Chinese fleet away from the port and let our fleet pick us up. The East India Company's Far East headquarters can only be located in India from now on!"

Rainiers asked: "Don't want the Spice Islands? Once the Far East headquarters moves to India, it will be difficult to control the Spice Islands. Lose Batavia, lose the Spice Islands, and I will die miserably after returning home!"

"That's your business!"

Putmans said: "In the past, the main cargo of ships coming to the Far East was Indian cotton. Now that Chinese cotton is cheap, we can only ship opium, otherwise it will be almost an empty ship. The opium market is so big, and other goods are often unsaleable. We The cost continues to increase. Even if we continue to defend Batavia, the profits will become lower and lower. What's more, the Chinese have already invaded Batavia, can the Spice Islands be defended? Vote!"

The vote was 5:2, and the Council decided to surrender.

Director General Jonas is on the same team as Governor Rainiers. Seeing that the situation was out of control, he said to Rainiers: "The vote is invalid. Order the arrest."

The council meeting instantly turned into a banquet. Rainiers opened the door and said to the outside: "Arrest people!"

A group of the governor's cronies rushed into the conference room and took the congressmen away by force.

The Far East headquarters of the Dutch East India Company has long been in decline.

First, the Governor cannot bypass Parliament, but this rule is useless. Especially when the Governor and the Director-General (number two) join forces, they can manipulate the members at will and treat their votes as bullshit.

Secondly, the Far East Council must obey the seventeen-member meeting of the Dutch headquarters. However, the Far Eastern Council often ignored orders from the headquarters and wrote letters back to the Netherlands explaining the reasons. It took two or three years for the letters to go back and forth, and the letters deliberately contained a lot of nonsense. Before the nonsense was finished, the matter was already over.

The governor became angry and arrested the congressmen. This happened in history, but it had to wait until decades later.

At that time, the Chinese in Batavia launched an uprising. The governor convened a council to discuss how to solve the problem. One group believed in using force to suppress the situation, while the other group suggested that appeasement should be the main priority and that the Chinese should be treated kindly.

The parliamentary vote came to nothing, with the Governor and the Director-General insisting on their own opinions.

In anger, the governor ordered the arrest of the director-general, and also all the members. After being imprisoned, he planned to send them back to the Netherlands. At this moment, the situation turned and a new appointment was sent from the Dutch headquarters. The director general was promoted to governor, and the governor was ordered to resign as soon as possible and get out.

"What are you doing? Do you want to rebel against independence?" Putmans grabbed the door frame and roared as he was dragged out.

Rainiers said contemptuously: "What do you civilians know?"

Putmans stopped talking for a moment. As a commoner, he really didn't understand why the aristocratic factions were fighting and even the interests of the company were ignored.

It's still pretty good now, but in a few decades, the factional struggle in the Dutch East India Company will have reached the level of black and white partisanship. Once the governor and the director-general are from the same faction, they will join forces to benefit their own group, and even harm the interests of the entire company.

Rainiers cannot surrender. Once he surrenders, he will be fully responsible, and the faction behind him will also be impeached, and then lose the right to speak for a long time. He must hold on to the castle, even if he dies, he must hold on until the last moment.

The story of rising from a small clerk to a governor has long since ceased to exist. That kind of situation only appeared during the pioneering period.

Today's governor of Batavia is all Dutch nobles, all airborne from the Netherlands. All their actions are based on their own family and faction.

"All soldiers, pay will be doubled, food will be doubled! All employees and civilians must take up arms, even women must fight!" Rainiers is not afraid of death. He must die for the sake of his family, and he will also kill everyone in the castle. Also pulled to death.

The writer Newhoff wrote in his diary: "The governor went crazy and the director general went crazy. They arrested the congressmen and congressman representatives. They joined forces to establish a dictatorship in Batavia. This violated the company's regulations and was absolutely unacceptable. It is allowed. The civil servants were already panicked and they didn’t know what to do. When the governor went to take office, he brought his cronies from the Netherlands, including a small team of soldiers. These lunatics only listened to the governor’s words and wanted to take everyone with them. Go to hell. It seems we should do something. The Chinese are very kind to those who surrender. I was not mistreated when I surrendered in Malacca..."

Dutch soldiers were assigned to defend the four bastions.

Civilian personnel to assist with logistics.

Dutch civilians were assigned to various sections of the castle walls.

The governor also executed a sleeping sentry, which silenced everyone for fear that they would also die inexplicably.

The Dutch worked hard to defend the city, and their defense seemed to be tighter.

But there were many discussions in private. One was that they did not want to die here, and the other was that they were afraid of the governor's dictatorship.

"Do you want to die?" Neuhof approached a clerk.

The clerk shook his head: "Of course not."

Neuhof said: "We are all civilians, and we go to sea to make a living. Now the nobles want to take us to death together, are you willing to resist?"

The clerk asked: "How to resist?"

"Tell me who you trust the most, and that person also has to not want to die," Neuhoff said.