I

The writer John Newhoff was by no means born in the poor, because he was good at reading, writing and painting.

and, initially as a reserve officer, to Brazil, a colony of the Dutch West India Company.

But to say how wealthy his family is is pure nonsense. This guy has also been a sailor, which is the most difficult, tiring and dangerous profession. He doesn't know how to wash the deck even if he has a little background.

"Sir, Mrs. Witherson, I invite you to the ball tonight." A servant ran over to hand over the invitation.

prom?

The castle was surrounded, and someone actually held a dance.

Neuhof held the invitation in both hands: "Please tell Madam that I will attend on time."

If someone else held a dance, Neuhof would definitely sneer at it.

But Mrs. Witherson's ball, Newhoff must attend. Because his benefactor's surname was Whitson. If it hadn't been for the support of his benefactor, he would probably still be fooling around in America.

Mrs. Whitson's husband is the nephew of her benefactor and one of the arrested congressmen!

Night gradually fell, and many soldiers and civilians were still on duty to guard against Chinese sneak attacks.

But in a certain hall of the castle, more than two hundred candles were lit. Some candles are placed on wall sconces, some candles are placed on large chandeliers, and some candles are placed on tabletops.

The room is brightly lit, and food and wine are constantly being served.

Mrs. Witson, who was wearing heavy makeup, was walking around the audience holding a wine glass, and soon came to Newhoff: "I'm glad you can come, Mr. Newhoff."

"It's an honor to receive Madam's invitation!" Neuhoff bent down and kissed the back of the lady's hand.

Guests arrived one after another, including senior company employees and municipal officials, as well as their wives, daughters (all mistresses and illegitimate daughters) and sons-in-law.

The women at the ball, young and old, were all of mixed race.

Mrs. Whitson was also of mixed race, her father being the former Governor-General. Her mother was from Japan (mixed Portuguese and Japanese). She was arrested as a Catholic and sold to the Dutch and sent to Batavia, where she became the governor's mistress and one of the maids.

In early Batavia, women were in short supply.

Han Chinese could only marry Javanese natives, and later Han women gradually appeared. As long as she is a Han woman, even if she looks crooked and cracked, she will be robbed by Han men.

How scarce are Han women?

According to official records in Batavia, Chinese women often fell out with their husbands. Sometimes they get divorced after just a few quarrels, and they don't worry about whether they can remarry after the divorce. This is especially true for men with better family backgrounds.

The main reason for the divorce case was that the wife discovered that her husband was keeping a concubine. This kind of extramarital affair was completely intolerable. Secondly, the relationship between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law is not harmonious. Han women are angry with their mother-in-law and want to break up with their husbands.

There are even parents of Han girls who, because they couldn't stand their son-in-law being useless, forced their daughters to divorce and remarry.

In order to curb this phenomenon, the Dutch and the Han people jointly issued relevant laws: first, Han people need to pay a marriage tax when they get married; second, marriages need to be reviewed, including the remarriage of widows; third, marriage licenses and divorces are required Permit; fourth, once you get married illegally, you will be deported.

The Dutch are also short of women.

Initially, women were transported from Europe, but there were two problems. One was that the cost of long-distance transportation was too high, and the other was that most of the people transported were prostitutes. Many of these European prostitutes had the disease, and were despised by the Dutch, who even nicknamed the prostitutes "rotten pears".

Coincidentally, the Japanese shogunate had a falling out with Portugal and began to arrest and kill Japanese Catholics.

The Dutch took the opportunity to purchase, and those Japanese-Portuguese mixed-race women became a hot commodity among the company's top executives. Ordinary Japanese women are assigned to middle- and lower-level company employees.

The illegitimate offspring of company executives, the boy was sent back to the Netherlands to study, while the girl stayed in Batavia. These girls would marry new company employees, and their father-in-law would train his son-in-law as a confidant, and cultivate the power of his confidants through marriage. Over the decades, the relationship became entangled.

The Mrs. Whitson in front of me is one of the best.

Although her father, the former governor, had returned to the country, her husband was the chairman of the Batavia Municipal Council and a member of the Company's East India Council. Moreover, her husband listened to her very much, because her father was based in the Netherlands and she herself had a business in Batavia, and she earned far more money than her husband.

"Bang!"

The door was slammed open.

Governor Rainiers led the troops in and ordered: "According to wartime laws, candles, grain, alcohol... are war materials, and they are all temporarily confiscated!"

"stop!"

Mrs. Witherson also yelled: "I brought these into the castle, these are my personal property!"

Rainiers looked angry: "Mrs. Witherson, for your father's sake, I allowed you to take your slaves to the castle to take refuge. Now the castle is besieged, the soldiers are still guarding the city, and you actually held a dance, you What do you want to do?”

"Release my husband immediately!" said Mrs. Whitson.

Rainiers said: "When the war is over, I will release him. However, I will send a ship to take him back to the Netherlands. By then, your relationship as husband and wife will be over. I remind my wife to change her husband as soon as possible."

At this time, the Dutch basically left their wives and daughters alone once they left office and returned to their country. Their wives will become wealthy "widows" and hook up with new employees who are young and have potential. The young new employees are also willing to "marry" the widow, saving twenty years of hard work in an instant.

It is normal for a wealthy mixed-race woman to have several husbands.

The company's top executives are reluctant to miss their old days and are unwilling to return to China after retirement. That situation will have to wait for decades to happen.

Mrs. Witherson turned to look at the guests: "The Governor has gone crazy. He cannot surrender for the sake of his family. But what does this have to do with us? The food in the castle can be eaten for more than a year. Will everyone starve to death together by then? In the past Batavia was also besieged. Whether it was the Banten Army or the Mata Blue Army, they withdrew after a few months of siege. But now it is the Chinese army. The Chinese are surrounding Manila, surrounding Relandia, and surrounding Malacca. When will they withdraw? Passing the army? The Chinese are the richest. They have endless food. As long as they are willing, the Chinese army can besiege the city for ten years..."

"Catch him!"

Rainiers didn't want to hear any more and immediately ordered the soldiers to take action, taking Mrs. Witherson away within minutes.

The next step is to unplug the banquet candles and collect the banquet food and wine. He also gave these wines and food to the soldiers defending the city, which slightly boosted the morale of the army.

Those invited guests remained silent throughout the whole process, for fear that they would also be arrested.

The next day, Rainiers summoned the army to lecture and threatened the soldiers: "Do you know the consequences of surrender? The Dutch soldiers in Geranze were all killed after surrendering. The Chinese like to behead their heads. If we surrender, all our heads will be chopped off." Cut it down!”

This is half true and half false. All the Dutch in the city of Relanja were indeed beheaded. That's because they resisted to the end, causing the Datong Army to besiege the city for more than nine months, wasting too much food and grass, and causing many soldiers to fall ill.

A few of the Dutch soldiers here came from Malacca. They knew that surrendering could save their lives.

"The Chinese army will not kill prisoners. If we keep defending the city and do not surrender, our heads will be chopped off."

"I am from Malacca. I have surrendered before. The Chinese army really doesn't know how to kill people."

"The Governor is so evil, he wants to drag us to death together."

"..."

Rainiers used both kindness and power, thinking that he had control of the army, but he had no idea what the soldiers were talking about privately.

The company's senior and middle-level employees are also quietly communicating.

Especially after Mrs. Whitson was arrested, this series of connections became more frequent. The company is not yours, why should you sacrifice your life? Wouldn't it be better to surrender early?

"Your Honor, all civilians are willing to surrender," Neuhof found Batavia City Judge Siddons. "I have also contacted some soldiers who came from Malacca. They believe that surrendering will save their lives."

Siddance said: "Make an appointment and let's riot together. The governor violated the company's regulations and arrested the council members without authorization. It is reasonable for us to expel the governor. Even if it leads to a meeting of seventeen people, we will not be wronged."

…

Governor's Palace, Office.

Director General Jonas asked: "Do you think the Chinese will withdraw their troops?"

Rainiers said: "We can only give it a try. China sent troops too quickly this time. It is probably the same as the last attack on Malacca. They did not get the Chinese emperor's instructions at all. They don't have much food, and they all rely on local Chinese cultivation. Provided by the owner of the plantation. The rainy season is coming soon. If a hurricane passes through, the harvest of those plantations will fail. Or there may be other disasters next year, which may force the Chinese to withdraw their troops. I will not give up until the last moment."

"Yeah, I won't give up until the last moment." Jonas said with emotion.

Rainiers was able to become the airborne governor, and privately he spent money. He spent money to get the position of governor and quietly made money for several years. All the embezzled money is here, waiting to be taken away with him when he leaves office and returns to the country.

Once you surrender now, there will be nothing left.

Don't talk about the interests of the family, he is more for himself, and he must keep the money he has gained even if he risks his life.

Jonas is even more interesting. His wife and children who stayed in the Netherlands wrote to say that they had bought war bonds. The family's savings were all spent on British bonds, hoping that the British would win the war.

You heard it right, before the war broke out between England and the Netherlands, the Netherlands not only sold warships to Britain, but Britain could also get war loans from the Netherlands. Not to mention these, during the war between the two countries, Britain directly issued war bonds in the Netherlands, and there were many Dutch people who bought British war bonds.

Jonas was stunned when he received a letter from home.

He firmly believes that Britain will lose, and the bonds bought by his wife and children will definitely be in vain!

Therefore, he cannot surrender. He must hold on until China withdraws its troops and then brings the embezzled money back to China. Otherwise, he will not even have the money to return to China for retirement.

"Bang bang bang!"

Sporadic gunshots were heard outside, and soon the gunfire became more intense.

Rainiers stood up in shock: "It was a shooting outside the Governor's Palace, someone rebelled!"