Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 1790 Taiwan and mediation

The time enters 1679.It is the time when the north wind is howling in the coastal waters of China, and the annual immigration transportation operation has officially kicked off.But the sad news is that the number of people available for immigration this year has dropped to 8000, which will significantly affect the national population data in 1681 calculated by the Ministry of Local Immigration, which shows that the source of immigrants is drying up day by day.

And the number of immigrants has decreased, so naturally some ships have been emptied.At the end of October and the beginning of November, these ships were fully loaded with all kinds of cargo, and went south one after another from the north. Some went to Chongmingsha, a transit point that was dilapidated by the Qing army's attack, some went to Dinghai County, and some went south to Guangzhou. Or Zeelandja.

There were especially many ships going to Zeelandia Port, including a "Star" class light cruiser under the jurisdiction of the Bank of Taiwan, which escorted a total of five large and small ordinary ships, including the company's general manager Shao Shuguang. The armed transport ship "Thousand Islands".

After so many years of development, the strength of the Bank of Taiwan is obvious to all. They can afford all kinds of ships and invest everywhere. However, Shao Shuguang still has a special liking for the "Yacsa" class armed transport ships leased from the navy. The Archipelago has been his ship for many years.He even planned that in a few years, he would discuss with the navy to see if he could buy the ship for his own use.

Of course Shao Shuguang has this strength!He owns 5% of the shares of Bank of Taiwan, a large-scale concern company with a lot of wealth and wealth. His father Shao Shude and brother Shao Yaoguang each hold 5% of the shares. It can be said that their Shao family is the largest shareholder besides the local Ministry of Finance and the Far East San Francisco. The stock group has made huge profits every year, and I don’t know how many people are envious of it.

This time he arrived at Zeelandia Port by boat to mediate on some incidents that happened on Taiwan Island a few days ago.It is said that after several rounds of negotiations between the people on the east coast and the Dutch East India Company, although the current relationship is still repeated, it is much better than before. Most of it has been restored.Therefore, when the Fujian Zheng Group and the Dutch East India Company clashed over the reclamation of Taiwan Island, the people from the East Coast, who had a relatively close relationship with both parties, were naturally invited out to act as mediators between the two parties. people.

The main mediator on the east bank side is Shao Shuguang, general manager of the Bank of Taiwan, and the deputy mediator is Lu Fang from Ningbo. This gentleman is currently serving as the director of the newly established Ningbo Merchants Bureau and is a general under the leadership of Ma Wenqiang, the leader of the pioneering team. As for the original trade The work will be taken over by Hu Chi.

The people on the east coast had notified the Dutch Governor of Formosa, Hugo Rolle, one month in advance, so after this meeting arrived at the port, the Dutch only checked the documents briefly, then respectfully put them down, and sent a group of people Escorted to the commercial station set up by the people on the east bank near the pier.

"A lot of red-haired people have come to the city recently. I've inquired about them. There are about 800 people. More than half of them are mercenaries recruited in the German region. The rest are mostly technicians, managers and sailors. See It seems that they were stimulated by Zheng Jing’s people and planned to strengthen the houses in Zeelandia City. Ah, yes, there are more than [-] Malay soldiers who arrived at the same time. These people are now living outside the city. A piece of wooden houses with a huge 'VOC' sign. I guess, they should come from the East Indies. The Dutch built fortresses on dozens of islands, established colonial rule, and organized some Malays to come to Holmes It shouldn't be a problem for Sa to assist in the battle." Han Yin, who is the contact person of Zeelandiaburg of the Bank of Taiwan, began to report as soon as he received Shao Shuguang and his party.

"No need to guess, those Malays must come from the Maluku Islands, where the Dutch are very powerful, the English, Portuguese and even the Spaniards have been beaten, basically they have covered the sky with one hand. These people are from that island, It's not surprising at all, in fact, it's good that the Dutch didn't transfer black soldiers from other places." Da Ma sat on a long chair with a sword, and Shao Shuguang commented while lighting a cigarette with a match : "It seems that Zheng Jing has put a lot of pressure on the Dutch. There are now more than 1 people in Taipei Prefecture who are reclaiming land, right? Be good, set up Taipei (later Taipei) and Zhuchao (later Hsinchu) all at once. Two counties, the Dutchman can't help but feel the pressure!"

In fact, the current ruling focus of the Fujian Zheng Group is still on the mainland, and they are not very concerned about the reclamation of Taiwan Island.But no matter how concerned, after all, it is too close to the mainland and the transportation is too convenient. Zheng Jing only needs to invest some resources and manpower, and he can start a rather large reclamation activity on the island.For example, in today's so-called Taipei and Zhuchi counties, Zheng Jing sent about 2 people to cultivate them. At present, there are still more than 1 people. They are divided into two counties, with official and private reclamation as the main business model, planting rice and sugarcane , Tobacco and other crops, while cutting down large trees for shipbuilding.

This kind of colonial situation frightened the Dutch, who were thousands of miles away from their homeland, how had they ever seen such a large-scale colonial wave!Stronger than the East India Company, the current number of European employees in the Far East is only about 1000. This is still including sailors, colonial officials, soldiers, technicians and their families, and they are scattered everywhere, such as Fujian It is really hard for the Dutch to imagine Wang Zhengjing's generosity.

Therefore, like the frightened poisonous snake, they raised their heads high and issued a "hiss" warning sound to the intruder who threatened him.However, the Zheng family seemed to be a little deaf to their warnings, and continued to carry out the planned reclamation tasks in an orderly manner, and also sent the prisoners captured in the war with Li Chengdong to the official reclamation ship in Zhuzhu County to continue the great cause of reclamation.

In this way, the Dutch became furious, especially when Cheng began to send people to attack the Taiwanese aborigines who originally paid taxes to the Netherlands, such provocative behavior became even more intolerable.Therefore, in the first half of last year, the Dutch sent a team to Taichung, the later generation, to prevent a Zheng army from plundering the aborigines, because the residents here pay taxes in kind such as buckskins to the Dutch East India Company all the year round. , is one of the company's financial resources, and has to be expressed.

When the Dutch did this, the Zheng family immediately responded. They transferred some troops from the mainland to land on the island, threatening to march southward in a large scale and conquer Fort Zeelandia.At the same time, Zheng Jing also sent many naval ships to operate in the Taiwan Strait. Although their small ships were at a disadvantage against the Dutch's large ships, they were more successful because of their large numbers, which caused a lot of trouble for the Dutch.Especially when the southeast wind blows in summer, the Dutch have to detour to the northeast of the Taiwan Strait for trade (Zheng's boat has a shallow draft, which greatly increases the danger here), which is very uneconomical, and sometimes they may encounter Zheng The few galleons he bought from the east coast caused the tragedy of a merchant ship full of grain sinking into the sea.

After this incident, the Dutch East India Company finally understood how troublesome it is to fight against local snakes.After all, they are businessmen, and profit is the first consideration at all times. The Zheng family has violated their tax base and affected their income, so it is not surprising to react.Now they found that if they continued to fight against the Zheng family, their income might be affected even more, so they wavered, and began to contact the people on the east coast, trying to find a way to mediate.

And it just so happens that the people on the east coast also want to improve their relationship with the Dutch East India Company—didn’t they catch a few Dutch merchant ships outside Xiangshui Port a while ago, which made everyone a little unhappy—and it really made Zheng’s relationship with the Netherlands completely torn apart. It is not in the interests of the people on the east coast to break their faces, so after a meeting to study and discuss, they agreed to the mediation request of the Dutch and entrusted Shao Shuguang, the general manager of the Bank of Taiwan, to take full responsibility for the matter.

After Shao Shuguang arrived at Zeelandia Castle on January 1, because Governor Hugo Rolle took people to the north to check the expansion of the rice fields and sugarcane fields, he waited in the commercial station and checked the accounts by the way. See if there is any problem.When talking about Governor Rolle’s inspection to the north, one cannot fail to mention what the Dutch East India Company is vigorously developing on the island today, that is, they are constantly acquiring new land by conquering and luring the natives, and then planting it with cash crops Or food, by exporting to the east coast and other countries, to obtain huge profits.

In order to ensure that their behavior can continue, the number of Dutch troops stationed on the island has also increased day by day in recent years.Historically, there were 1628 soldiers in 330, 1638 white soldiers in 500 when they attacked the Madou Society, 1658 in 1661, 1300 in 2000, and nearly [-] at the peak, more than half of them were The white soldiers show how much the Dutch attach importance to this island, which provides one-sixth of the company's profits.

In this time and space in the 17th century, because of the trade with the East Coast and the Qing Dynasty, the importance of the island of Taiwan has increased day by day, and it has already provided more than one-third of the profits of the Dutch East India Company, which is amazing.In order to maintain this profit, the Dutch also continued to deploy personnel and soldiers here, and at the same time built forts, docks, and ship repair yards, and used them as important strongholds. As of 1678, the Dutch East India Company was already in the southern part of Taiwan Island. There are more than 2500 soldiers stationed in the stable control area, of which about 1500 are mercenaries from Germany. This is not counting the sailors of some armed merchant ships and the officers and soldiers sold to the fort. The strength is relatively strong.

The existence of these armies has effectively enhanced the deterrence and control of the Dutch, and also enabled them to master more aborigines, acquire more land, and produce more materials.For example, in 1678, the Dutch forcibly purchased more than 1 tons of grain from the aborigines in the controlled area at a low price, and then exported it to Ningbo and Denglai, making huge profits.People on the east coast once deduced that with the importance and investment intensity of the Dutch East India Company to Taiwan Island, they will probably gradually turn this island into a base for the production of timber, sugar cane, rice and other commodities. main export market.However, if the Dutch want to continue this kind of business in a stable manner, there is no doubt that the first element is the stability of the external environment, so it is normal to find a way to get an understanding with Fujian Zheng.

On January 1679, 1, the governor of the Netherlands, Hugo Rolle, finally returned to Fort Zeelandia, and had a long talk with Shao Shuguang and Lu Fang.During this conversation, Rolle stated that they could recognize the existence of the Zheng Group in Taiwan and no longer seek full rule over the entire Formosa Island and the Pescaldo Islands.

Governor Luo Er's statement immediately put Shao Shuguang and Lu Fang at ease, and felt that the possibility of the success of this mediation operation was greatly increased.After all, the Zheng family probably didn't want to completely tear themselves apart with the Dutch, because it wouldn't do any good. On the contrary, there would be countless troubles, so if everyone sat down to talk and compromise with each other, the matter would not be resolved.

Of course, Governor Roll also implicitly stated in the conversation that the bottom line they can tolerate is to use the watershed in the middle of the island and the Zheng Group as the boundary, and they can give up to the north (there are no resources invested anyway), and the Dutch East India to the south In the jurisdiction of the company, the two parties do not cross the boundary, do not interfere with each other, and live in a friendly relationship.

Shao Shuguang felt that this condition was relatively fair and reasonable. If the Zheng Group didn't even recognize this, it would be a bit too greedy, and the people on the east bank would not support their proposition.What's more, it is not in the interests of the people on the east coast to let the whole island be ruled by any one party. Only by letting the Zheng Group and the Dutch East India Company divide the north and the south can the interests and influence of the people on the east coast be maximized There is no doubt about it—of course, he also believes that Zheng Jing, the new head of the Zheng Group, will not be so unwise that he can't even grasp the proportions, and can occupy half of Taiwan Island as their one It is indeed enough to retreat.

After discussing these matters with the Dutchman, Shao Shuguang did not rush to leave by boat, but stayed on the island for about ten days.During the period, the governor of the Netherlands, Hugo Rolle, also invited him to participate in an important ceremony, that is, the baptism ceremony of the free citizens of Zeelandia.These so-called "Formosa-born Dutch free citizens" are mostly children who have lived in Dutch families for a long time. They have been assimilated when they grow up, and then find an opportunity to hold a collective initiation ceremony. They are Dutch colonists. More trusted confidants.

These free citizens, now there are probably less than a hundred people in Zeelandia City, most of them are young children brought back after conquering the aborigines many years ago (for example, in history, King Dadu who conquered the northern part of Taiwan Island in 1645 brought back 15 Children), there are about 20 people in this batch of teachers, and they will gradually enter the city's management system in the future, starting from low-level civil servants to serve the Dutch colonists.

Shao Shuguang watched the Dutch ceremony with great interest, thinking that the Dutch were indeed flexible enough, and compared with the Spaniards, Portuguese, English and East Coasters, they had the best attitude towards the aborigines up.This is probably related to the large number of immigrants from their country. The concept of ethnicity and race is not unknown to these businessmen, but it is certainly not as strong as people from other countries. This may be one of the reasons why they can achieve such great success in business. Let's go, although I don't know how long their success can last under the oppression of the powerful French kingdom!

(End of this chapter)