Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 2154 Cooperation Outweighs Differences

403 Cooperation outweighs differences

"Ah, I can almost smell the soft part inside the bread when I break off the hard shell." Jan Isaac Reus gobbled down a piece of fragrant toasted bread, and then sighed with satisfaction : "The last time I ate bread was when I stopped in Cape Town. God bless me, I met an old acquaintance there. His uncle, who runs a bakery. To be honest, his life is not bad now. He fought pirates when he was out at sea in his early years. He fell from the rigging and was injured a little. Fortunately, he has a good uncle. —and above all, his uncle had no children—and he was a good cook too, which was enough for him to make a very decent living in Cape Town.”

"From what you've said, I'll visit his bakery in Cape Town on my return trip," said Hugo Rolle, who had just stepped down as Governor of Formosa.He cut the bread with a knife, dipped it in the vegetable soup on the bottom of the plate, and put it into his mouth.

"Seriously, Captain Reus, baked bread is a traditional delicacy engraved in the hearts of our lowlanders. Fortunately, Zeelandia City imports a large amount of wheat from Jiaozhou every year, which guarantees our sufficient supply of bread .Thank God, there are such advantages to trade with people on the east coast, Jiaozhou wheat, Yantai wine, I think this is an important support for me to continue to fight on that hot and humid island." Hugo Rolle continued: "But The wheat and red wine here in Batavia come from Australia. Lonely Mountain Port, have you heard of it?"

"Yes, I've heard of this port. It's not very big, but people are very enthusiastic and export wheat, red wine, and horses to Batavia all year round." Captain Reus swallowed a mouthful of bread and said: "But overall In other words, it was a barren continent, without any value. Now that the ships of the people from the east coast are taking that route less and less, its slow decline seems inevitable. In fact, that continent was originally compared to us. People on the east coast should have discovered it earlier? Hehe, the ignorant and rare indigenous population, the barren soil, the thirsty land, the poisonous insects, snakes and ants all over the place, the unpredictable sea weather, God, please forgive me! If at the beginning It would be a great tragedy if we decided to colonize New Holland instead of the East Indies."

"Hehe, this barren continent would have never been able to develop if it wasn't for the passing of a large number of immigrant fleets from the east coast. Now they are just returning to normal. A world far away from the mainstream civilized world, deviated from the mainstream trade routes, It’s a poor continent without any well-known specialties. But its existence is a good thing for Batavia, at least we have delicious bread and delicious wine to taste, and we usually have horses to travel around, don’t we?” Hugo Luo Er poured himself a glass of Australian wine and said with a smile.

"Yes, let the people on the east coast toss in that desert, and save them more energy to get involved in the East Indies. Their strength in the Indian Ocean is too strong. I am in William II of the Mascarene Islands When I was in Hong Kong, I could always hear people talking about the strength of the East Coast Fleet and their dominant population in the Western Indian Ocean.” Captain Reus finished eating the bread and then dealt with the grilled fish in front of him, but he still didn’t say anything. Forget about the people on the east bank: "They are all greedy guys, and they have a sick pursuit of land. Now I heard that they have taken a fancy to the port of Malacca. Is this true?"

"Damn it, those civil servants in Batavia really should rectify it. Why are all the news spread?" Hugo Roll shrugged and said with dissatisfaction: "Your news is correct, No matter where you heard it from. Over the past few years, people on the east coast have greatly reduced the number of migrant boats on the Australian route. Instead, the number of boats passing through Malacca has increased significantly. I have been by Sir Burt’s side these past few months Work, I can clearly say that people on the east coast are now attaching great importance to this route, and have formally made representations to Lord Burt to increase the number of ships that can call at each year to 25, including all ships except warships .”

In fact, as Hugo Rolle said just now, with the increasing power of the people on the east coast in the Indian Ocean and the rapid improvement of relations with the Netherlands, they have begun to send more and more immigrant ships, merchant ships, and liaison ships away. The Indian Ocean route follows the route of Dinghai - Malacca - Galle Fort - Salalah - Mogadishu - Cotton River Port - Cape Town.After years of unremitting efforts by the people on the east coast, they have basically controlled this safe route with many supply points. Among them, Dinghai, Mianhe and Cape Town are the ports directly managed by themselves. Salalah is currently managed by the Rajputs. Control is also very stable.The Portuguese who control Mogadishu have always been very submissive. They have no reason to turn against the people on the east coast. After all, to resist the attacks of the surrounding green and green princes, they often rely on the people on the east coast to provide ammunition supplies.

The only things that are not under their control are probably the Port of Malacca and Galle Fort under the rule of the Dutch East India Company.According to the previous agreement reached between the people on the east coast and the Dutch East India Company, ships on the east coast can call at the above two ports, but there are restrictions on proficiency.Considering the rapid growth of the strength of the East Coasters in the Indian Ocean and the grim situation of the United Provinces in Europe, the East Coasters think they can get a better agreement, such as expanding the number of ships that can dock to more than 25 ships per year , At the same time, free trade can be carried out in the port of Malacca and so on.

Batavia wanted to refuse, but they still had reason and knew that doing so would not be worth the candle.They export sugarcane fields and rice fields in Formosa to Ningbo and Denglai steadily every year, earning a lot of profits. At the same time, they import wheat and even flour, wine, metal tools, weapons and ammunition, high-grade furs, and whales from people on the east coast. Products, silk tea and other commodities are stored in warehouses, and then sold to the East Indies or sold back to the mainland. This part also contributed a lot of profits, even exceeding their trade income from Japan.

No one can easily give up such a huge benefit!

Therefore, it is conceivable and a "sacrifice" that must be made to further liberalize the control of the port of Malacca, a trading hub, and to allow people on the east coast to enjoy special local interests.What's more, the people on the east coast have formed a joint fleet with the Portuguese and the Spaniards to cruise the South China Sea irregularly. Such a powerful maritime dominance cannot be ignored by the Dutch East India Company.As long as they are reluctant to trade with the Far Eastern vassals on the east bank, Japan, the Qing Dynasty, Fujian and other places, they must agree to the demands of the people on the east bank, and there is no other way!

Hugo Rolle was fairly certain that the 17-member committee in Amsterdam would eventually agree to the demands of the East Coasters, not only because of possible pressure from the Van Beuningen government, but also because of practical interests.The Indian Ocean today is different from before!

"The income of civil servants is low, how can they survive without selling some information?" Captain Reus laughed and said, "Actually, I always feel that in the Indian Ocean and the coast of China, our cooperation with people on the east coast is greater than our differences. , isn't it? Lovely silver coins decide everything, we get enough from the East Coasters and they get a huge benefit from us, so why not keep going? Their navy is currently anchored at Vlissingen, Local ports such as Amsterdam, Enkhuizen, and Hollen, their army is fighting in Maastricht, and the domestic political and business circles have a very good impression of them. The members of the 17-member committee are also Amsterdam, Zeeland, Delft, Rotterdam, Hollen, and Enkhuizeng were elected by a total of 77 directors of the business departments. They represent the collective will. It is conceivable that when faced with the threat of the crazy Louis XIV , What decision will Amsterdam make. Mr. Commissioner, please rest assured that our cooperation with the people on the east coast will only strengthen their respective interests, there is no doubt about it.”

"Captain Reus, if I didn't believe that your character is worthy of respect, I would suspect that you are a lobbyist invited by the people from the East Coast. Haha, please don't mind, this is just a joke. I understand, now we are with the East Coast The interests of the coast are getting more and more deeply tied. We have more than a dozen strongholds on the Coromandel Coast and the Malabar Coast of India. The Portuguese, English, and French are all coveted and have been trying to break our dominant position. If and If the people on the east coast cooperate closely, they should be able to stabilize the order here, which is of great benefit to us." Hugo Roll also asked his servant to cut a lamb chop, and said while eating: "Sometimes I They all envy the people on the east coast. Their economic strength is certainly strong, but our United Provinces is not bad, but they have a stable government that can formulate various policies in a period of ten years, 20 years or even longer. This is their A powerful source. Of course, they are in a good location, with a vast land area, and there is sufficient room for expansion around them, which can multiply the population indefinitely. This is an unimaginable beauty for the United Provinces with only 230 million people. So , They have sufficient capital to control various routes and control commercial interests, and no one can compete with them. Fortunately, in the Indian Ocean, we have no direct conflicts with them. On the contrary, there are more opportunities for cooperation. This is the biggest Maybe, if we all sit down and have a good discussion and divide the sphere of influence, we can prevent other people from eating the cake of current interests, can't we?"

"I have always held this view, Mr. Commissioner." Captain Reus wiped his mouth with a towel, and said, "The English are the most worthy of vigilance. Even if they are currently in the North Sea, their navy is fighting side by side with us, and this cannot be changed. .East coast people coveting Malacca port, it's not the end of the world, no big deal. They already control half of Brunei port, that stupid sultan shouldn't live long because he put his hope on us and Portuguese, no There are worse things than this. After the port of Brunei is completely controlled by the people on the east coast, the trade in the port of Malacca will definitely be greatly diverted. Then we may be able to delay all this by introducing businessmen from the east coast. Commissioner Sir, I think you can seriously consider this suggestion. The East Coasters are not our enemies, the English and French are! Well, well, those Moors nearby are also enemies, since when the Red Sea was parted from Moses. But anyway People from the East Coast are not, our commonalities are far greater than our differences."

(End of this chapter)