Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 1959 The Worry of the Dutch

208 Dutch concerns

Taiwan Island in late August is the hottest time of the year. The three brothers Han Jin, Han Yin, and Han Qian (Han Kushang bought wild goods in Sakhalin Island, which is the island’s peak trade season of the year) ) sat in front of the warehouse rented by the Bank of Taiwan with a sad face.

This group of goddamn Dutchmen even imposed higher import and export duties on them for unwarranted reasons, which suddenly made the three Han brothers in charge of this matter furious. Do you, Dutchman, have any credibility when doing business?Are you still following the rules?Is this tariff going to go up?

What's even worse is that because the former general manager Shao Shuguang resigned and returned to China, the three brothers of the Han family who lost their backing were not valued by the new official Cai Shengguo Cai, so they were all sent to Zeelandia Port. Responsible for part of the trade with the Dutch in this sweltering and humid place.

Just at the beginning of this month, the Dutch shipped three shipments of rice from Nanyang.The three brothers of the Han family were about to deliver the goods, but they were told that the grain export tariff had been quadrupled to 20%, which immediately angered the people on the east coast.Han Jin immediately ran to the city to protest against Hugo Rolle, the governor appointed by the Dutch East India Company, but was turned away by the governor's sudden illness.In desperation, he went to find some other officials of the East India Company, but there was no result. Even if some second-level agents who were closely related to the East Bank helped to inquire about it, there was still no decent news.

At this point, the matter is actually very clear, that is, the Dutch East India Company no longer cares about the trade relationship between the two sides, and began to fight a trade war willfully, which seriously damaged the interests of the people on the east coast.Although Han Jin didn't understand why the Dutch did this, it didn't stop him from making a report immediately and sending it to the company's headquarters in Dinghai, Ningbo—of course, the Southern Pioneering Team would also copy a copy, so that they could Read about the latest Dutch attitude.

But no matter what, the batch of grain brought by the Dutch still had to be bought and organized to be shipped to Ningbo as soon as possible.The local food is completely self-sufficient, and there is still a great need for cheap and high-quality Nanyang food.Similar to this, there are many commodities including cane sugar, spices and Nanyang specialties. These goods are sold in Ningbo, Denglai and other places, and even have certain markets in Qingguo and Shunguo. They can be resold at a profit. It is rich and must be imported, so even if the export tariff is also doubled, people on the east coast still have to hold their noses to buy it.

And since a lot of money was spent to purchase these goods, even if there was a reason, it was inevitable for the three brothers of the Han family to suffer.Who let this happen to them? They have to bear the blame if they don't want to, so they are very worried now, and they feel that the future life will be difficult.

"Brother, you said that the Dutch red hair suddenly launched an attack this time. Is there any reason why we support the Zheng family in reclaiming wasteland in the northern part of Taiwan Island?" After a long silence, Han Yin, who has lived in Zeelandia Castle for many years, suddenly asked: "Now Zheng The official and private reclamation numbers at home are extremely active, and the population in the northern counties is increasing. To some extent, it poses a greater threat to the notice of the Dutch. I wonder if the Dutch are affected by this aspect. In order to stimulate, so specifically targeting us?"

Speaking of which, it is a commonplace issue for people on the east coast to support the Zheng family's forces in Taiwan Island. People on the east coast often play this card in order to force the Dutch East India Company to accept what some people on the east coast proposed, which they think is a bit excessive. Requirements, and tried and tested.The main reason is that the base of Taiwan Island is very important to the Dutch East India Company. While contributing a lot of profits, it also provides a springboard for the Dutch East India Company to project power into this sea area, which is very useful.

As of this year (1686), the number of Dutch freedmen (including whites, Malays and naturalized Taiwanese aborigines) in many towns in the southern part of Taiwan Island was only a few thousand. In terms of the handwriting of tens of thousands of immigrants, it is indeed not a star.Therefore, they had reason to worry that Zheng Jing would send troops south to snatch half of the island belonging to the Dutch.After all, it's better to grab the familiar land that has been developed quite well than to take huge risks to reclaim wasteland, right?

People on the east coast have always been rather ambiguous on this matter, that is, they recognize the fact that the two sides currently share the island, and believe that both the Zheng family and the Dutch East India Company can claim sovereignty over Taiwan Island, but they have been secretly encouraging it for many years. The Zheng family pioneered Taiwan, thinking of the way out.For this reason, they also provided a lot of support including ships, medicines and other forms. Now, this gust of wind has passed, and they will continue to give the Zheng family all kinds of support.That is to say, even though they have been beating the Dutch with this card for many years, the goal of helping the Zheng Corporation expand on Taiwan Island has never changed. The only difference is the strength of support and the speed of progress.

"It shouldn't be." Han Jin has been a senior official of the Bank of Taiwan for many years. When Shao Shuguang was in power, he often even participated in confidential matters, so he knew a lot of inside information.In his view, the Dutch East India Company was not such a politically immature entity. Even if the people on the east coast privately supported the Zheng family’s expansion of the northern part of the island, it would not make them make a fuss about tariffs.The reason why they did this was probably because they were stimulated in other ways, otherwise they would not have been so violent.

"I guess, most of this has something to do with our people making troubles in India. I heard that Diu Island has received a large amount of investment in the past two years, and it has been quite prosperous in construction, and its trade is also increasing. It is getting better and better. In addition, the matter of the East-Portuguese United Fleet has once again attracted the attention of all forces with commercial stations and colonies in India. As a veteran player in the Indian subcontinent, it is naturally impossible for the Dutch to be ignorant. Therefore, they are now in the India should be in a state of annoyance and worry, afraid of being driven out of India by us who are becoming more and more aggressive, and then there will be no business." Han Jin continued: "The business in the Indian market is not smaller than that in mainland China, and the Dutch are also nervous. It makes sense, so I have every reason to suspect that it is because of our strong intervention in Diu Island that caused a series of changes. The Dutch do not dare to attack us in the Diu area for the time being, so they have to make a fuss about the import and export duties of goods gone."

"If that's the case, then there's nothing we can do. The Diu Island side will definitely not compromise, and the Dutch can only blame us. It's a miserable life, and others will be blamed." Han Ku smiled wryly after hearing this. He said: "The Dutch have raised so many tax rates at once, should we support the Portuguese? They still maintain 5-8 ships of different sizes running the India-Timor Island-Macao route, so that They changed their service items and began to help the East Coast import grain and other Nanyang specialties, so it shouldn’t be a big problem, right?”

"This matter needs to be decided by the Dinghai headquarters. Compared with letting the Portuguese replace the role of the Dutch East India Company, I think it is more reliable to find food in nearby North Korea and Japan. Of course, this is only one aspect of food. Others include Whale products, wine, wheat, high-grade furs, soap, silk, tea, porcelain and other commodities can’t find enough buyers. The Dutch are irreplaceable in this regard, but the loss is not small.” Han Jin said: “ So if the Dutch are fighting a trade war with us, it is really a tragic outcome for both sides. I hope everyone can calm down and discuss it before making a decision."

The Bank of Taiwan has developed to this day, and it has become more and more like a trading company, and its financial attributes are getting weaker and weaker.The business personnel of the bank are not even bothered to go out to collect deposits and lend loans. They just passively absorb the deposits of some merchants who often do business with them, and then provide them at low interest rates to foreign trade merchants in Ningbo Prefecture, so that they can get goods and distribute goods. .In essence, it is to serve the trade better, so it is not an exaggeration to say that they are a trading company.

Since it is a trading company, what they are most afraid of is the interruption of commercial transportation lines caused by war, local protection, etc., because this means a huge shrinkage of trade volume and a large loss of profits, which they cannot tolerate.Now that the Dutch have set off the first step in a trade war, maybe the people on the east coast should respond quickly to make the Dutch sober, such as continuing to support Zheng's expansion in Taiwan Island--after deepening the sphere of influence After the failure of Guangdong, Zheng Jing's situation is not very good now, basically it is limited to Fujian Province, so Taiwan Island is now their only feasible expansion direction, and the people on the east coast should make Zheng Jing Take action.

In addition, due to the existence of the Haizhu Island Commercial Station and the Yaniang Shoes Fort, the people on the east coast can also have a great influence on the trade in the Pearl River Estuary, ensuring that the Dutch East India Company cannot get goods.Of course, if they go to other places in Guangdong to get goods, the people on the east coast can't help it. In short, they can get you a little bit, and try to disgust you.

All in all, this time the Dutch East India Company has shown its malice nakedly.This shows that the expansion of the people on the east coast in India has indeed hurt them, making them worry that their interests in India will be affected, and Ceylon and the East Indies are also coveted by outsiders, which is unacceptable to them .But now it is difficult to establish mutual trust between the people on the east coast and the Dutch East India Company. Everyone's so-called guarantees and agreements are not taken too seriously, which is very difficult.

Where the relationship between the two parties will go in the future, whether it will be reconciled or on the verge of breaking up, depends on fate.

(End of this chapter)