I'm sure of the prosperous age of Kangxi and Qianlong!

Chapter 339 The outrageous Dutchman
"Dutch?"

Zhu Yijiong looked at the memorial submitted through the Ningbo prefect.

Basically, it is said that a group of envoys claiming to be the Dutch Governor of Batavia requested to go to Nanjing to meet with the Ming Emperor.

To be more precise, the Dutch should be called Dutch at this time.

It’s just that the first people to come into contact with China were the Dutch (provincial) people among the Dutch.

Just as Rome was called Da Qin, it was also because the Roman province of Da Qin (transliteration) was the first place that the Han Dynasty came into contact with.

As a "Sea Coachman" in the history books, he was even the world overlord in the last century.

The entire seventeenth century was also called the "Century of the Dutch" by later generations.

However, since the defeat of three consecutive Anglo-Dutch naval battles decades ago, coupled with the end of the War for the Spanish Throne.

The strength of the Dutch has shrunk significantly and will continue to decline for the next 80 years.

Until it was destroyed by France, the Republic of Batavia was established after internal reorganization.

And, what to say?

It’s hard to say what’s true about the Netherlands since its independence.

When the Anglo-Dutch naval war failed, it was all due to the Netherlands, a country composed of countless businessmen, and a series of cunning operations by the coalition government.

To tell a joke, the Netherlands is a republic, but it has a king.

They were all at war with the British because of their maritime trade hegemony. The Dutch officials and government were actually continuing to lend money to the British, and even sold large quantities of warships to the British as loans.

The reason turned out to be that they were afraid that the British would lose the battle and not be able to repay the loan.

Then the British relied on borrowing money from the Dutch to borrow warships, successfully defeated the Dutch navy, and also seized the Dutch colony of New Amsterdam (New York) in America.

Zhu Yijiong thought for a moment and called the secretary: "Bring those Dutch people over to see me immediately!"

Not long after, several Dutch people were brought to Zhu Yijiong by the secretary, followed by an interpreter from Honglu Temple.

My first impression when I saw these Dutch people was that they were indeed red-haired ghosts.

Although in appearance, Zhu Yijiong did not feel any difference from those Portuguese people in Macau.

Historically, the common name of the Dutch in China was Hongyi, or red-haired ghost.

This is how the red (barbarian) cannon got its name.

As for the so-called Francois, that is the collective name for the Spanish and Portuguese.

When the leading Dutchman saw Zhu Yijiong, who was wearing a dragon robe, he quickly knelt down and knelt down: "Dutch envoy Irse, pay homage to His Majesty the Ming Emperor of China!"

Zhu Yijiong asked: "I heard that you went all the way to Ningbo to ask to see me. Why?"

Ilse said: "Your Majesty, the great Emperor of China, our Governor-General heard that you defeated the barbaric Qing people and rebuilt the Ming Dynasty in China. So he sent us specially to bring gifts to congratulate His Majesty the Emperor of China and request to join forces with the Emperor of China. Soldiers, jointly drive out the evil and barbaric Spaniards who occupy Luzon Island. At that time, His Majesty the Emperor of China will occupy the northern part of Luzon Island, while the Netherlands will obtain the southern part of Luzon Island."

Zhu Yijiong couldn't help but smile when he heard this: "Your governor is quite straightforward."

Not directly!

Since the end of the War of the Spanish Throne ten years ago, the Dutch national finances have become quite embarrassed.

Although the Netherlands has been strong for decades, its weaknesses are also obvious.

Its population is too small, and its main government is composed entirely of businessmen.

To put it bluntly, this is a powerful maritime "state" created by a group of businessmen.

After losing the battle against the British, the East India Company was now eager to seize colonies to ease its finances.

Especially the Luzon Island Colony. As long as it captures Luzon, it can control the spice trade routes in the Philippines.Moreover, if the navy does not fight wars or seize colonies from other countries, in the eyes of these profit-seeking businessmen, it is simply losing money.

Yes, it's all like this, and the Dutch are still thinking about going to war and plundering colonies.

From the independence of the Dutch to their destruction by the French 80 years later, the Netherlands was almost constantly engaged in foreign wars and lending money to other European countries.

Even later historians are puzzled by the thinking of the Dutch from the [-]th to [-]th centuries. Since they want to lend money to other European countries, they must maintain a mutually peaceful and friendly diplomatic environment.

But what the Dutch did was to borrow money everywhere while constantly sending out their navy to rob the merchant ships and colonies of those countries and start wars.

The British were disgusted by the Dutch's cunning tactics, so they implemented countermeasures, and then the Dutch declared war.

Until the end of the War of the Spanish Throne a few years ago, the Netherlands had always been lending money everywhere, while making enemies all over the world and going to crazy wars with those lending countries.

The naval battle with the British even directly drove the Dutch West India Company into virtual bankruptcy.

Of course, this alone can only mean that it is bellicose.

But the most outrageous thing is that after the War of the Spanish Throne ended, the ruling officials (businessmen) in the Netherlands actually publicly refused to provide any more funds to the Navy.

A maritime country that relies on its navy to maintain world hegemony actually stopped investing in its navy. Instead of ending its military expansion, it directly cut off food and salary.

It's almost suffocating to do so.

Since the end of the War of the Spanish Throne, the Dutch Navy has been saddled with a foreign debt of 1000 million guilders.Without financial expenditure, it will naturally be difficult to maintain.

As a result, the Dutch navy was disbanded on a large scale. It only had some strength in the Far East, and it was all supported by the East India Company.

If the British had not defeated the Dutch, they would have gone to war with the French.

Without a fierce pursuit of the Netherlands, I am afraid that the Netherlands would have died a long time ago.

Zhu Yijiong asked: "How many troops and warships do the Spaniards on Luzon Island have?"

Ilse quickly replied: "Those barbaric Spaniards are not strong in Luzon. The regular army will never exceed two thousand, and the number of musketeers is at most 1000. As for the indigenous people, they can be ignored, even if large-scale battles are included. Including the ships, the number of warships will not exceed twenty. As long as His Majesty the Emperor of China can send troops, it will be easy to capture Luzon."

After all, he was also a time traveler, so he had naturally taken a fancy to Luzon, a good place. However, he was not familiar with the situation at that time and was busy dealing with the Manchus, so he had no time to go on an expedition to Lu Mo.

The mineral reserves of the Philippine Islands ranked fifth in the world in later generations, among which gold ranked third, copper ore ranked fourth, nickel ore fifth, and chromite ore ranked sixth. Until later generations, there are still many mineral deposits that have not been exploited.

Most of these mineral deposits are in Luzon and Mindanao. In particular, the gold mines in Mindanao account for [-]% of the total mineral reserves, and the copper mines also account for [-]%.

It can be said that the entire Philippine Islands, including Luzon, is a huge treasure to be developed.

Even if it weren’t for Luzon’s strategic position, there would still be route trade.Just these minerals are enough for Daming to capture.

And there is no need to worry about being unknown. Those Spains have been destroyed since the Ming Dynasty. They have carried out at least three massacres in Luzon, and the number of Han corpses slaughtered is countless.

Zeng Guoxing heard about the massacre in Luzon and prepared to send troops to fight the Spaniards.But before the troops could be sent out, Mr. Guo Xing died of illness first.

Zhu Yijiong did not make any decision on the spur of the moment, but asked: "What about the Netherlands? How many troops is your governor willing to send?"

Irsay said: "Your Excellency the Governor is willing to send two hundred elite troops, one hundred of which are elite musketeers, and ten battleships."

Zhu Yijiong's face darkened instantly, but he still did not get angry immediately. He only said: "Well... this matter needs to be discussed in the long run. I will go back and tell our governor that we can send troops, but the Dutch must show their sincerity. Also, since Your governor has given you gifts, so I will give you some gifts in return."

Ilse didn't get the result he wanted, and wanted to say something more, but in the end he bowed respectfully: "Thank you so much, His Majesty the Great Ming Emperor of China! Ilse will definitely bring your words to the Governor."

The Governor of Batavia, whom he had never met before, only wanted to send two hundred troops, so he was really not a free hand.

As the "sea coachmen" of the Dutch, the most impressive record of these guys is that they only dispatched a few dozen people with two or three boats.He dared to enter a country's inland river and ordered the king to surrender and become a colony.

As a result, the king was angered and sent troops to block the river. Those Dutch warships and dozens of Dutch soldiers were given away for free on the spot.

It's just so outrageous.

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(End of this chapter)