Chapter 672 Confinement
All the things on the ship were cleared out, and a special person took a pen and paper to count them one by one and make a book. However, these two ships did not carry any contraband, they were basically supplies. The documents and letters previously presented by Fan Longgen and others were also collected and sent to the headquarters for Yan Chujie to review. Of course, even with Yan Chujie’s level, he probably couldn’t understand these foreign language scriptures, so he could only send them back to Fort Victory for translation and interpretation.
After the three of them stayed in this solitary room for more than an hour, they slowly got rid of their nervousness and began to feel hungry and thirsty. At this moment, the small sliding window under the door opened, and a wooden tray was handed in from there. On it were three large bowls filled with food, a pot of water, and three small cups. Although there were no knives and forks, But in addition to chopsticks, it also comes with a spoon, which takes into account the dining habits of the two Dutch people.
"It can't be... poisonous, right?" Van der Wegen looked at the three bowls of food that Su Keyi brought to the table, still a little hesitant.
"If the Haihan people want to kill us, they don't have to use this method." The hungry Su Keyi took one of the bowls without ceremony and started eating.
"What he said makes sense. The Haihan people are not pirates. Their leaders should be a group of very smart people. They should not do anything to us before they understand the purpose of our coming here." Fan Longen also expressed his views on Su Keyi. Agreed. However, he agreed, but he was not in a hurry to eat.
It wasn't until Su Keyi had destroyed most of the bowl of food that there seemed to be nothing strange about it. Van Longen winked at Van der Wegen, and then the two of them each took a bowl and started eating.
Of course, there would be no problem with the food and drinking water. Haihan did not have any intention to persecute them. It was just that his superiors ordered them to be treated coldly, and they could not be harmed physically. There was nothing the person in charge could think of doing. That's how they were locked up and fed only three meals.
However, this condition was obviously not enough. Not long after eating, the three of them felt a little anxious, and there was not even a toilet in this small room. In desperation, Su Keyi had no choice but to knock on the door.
Soon there was a reaction from outside. After the door opened, several soldiers with live ammunition signaled Su Keyi to retreat. Then someone came in with a toilet and took away the tableware they had just used.
Su Keyi took the time to negotiate: "Where are your people in charge? We have important things..."
Before he could finish speaking, a Haihan soldier interrupted him: "Just wait! A doctor will come to check you out later!"
"We are in good health. Let the person in charge come to see us now..." Su Keyi wanted to say a few more words, but the other party no longer wanted to pay attention to him, quickly left the room, and locked the door from the outside.
"These are really an unfriendly group of people!" Although Fan Longgen didn't quite understand the content of Su Keyi's negotiation with the other party, the impatience shown by the Haihan soldiers was directly written on his face. This attitude did not require verbal communication and was completely acceptable. Understood.
Van der Wegen, however, had silently accepted the reality, quietly walked to the corner and opened the toilet seat...
About an hour later, the door opened again. This time, in addition to a doctor carrying a medicine box, the three of them were finally delighted to see a manager who was obviously one level above them. Although this man was young and was not wearing a military uniform, but a strange-style stand-up collared blouse, but looking at the respectful looks of the soldiers behind him, it was obvious that this man was not an ordinary person.
"Let me introduce myself. My name is Yu Xiaobao. I am a clerk in the general office of the Haihan Executive Committee. Please accept the physical examination arranged by us first. We will talk about other things later." The young man introduced himself after entering the room. .
"My lord, the three of you here are the special envoys who came to Sanya to visit Haihan on behalf of the Dutch East India Company. You can take your time with other things. Can you give us a place to live first? This place... is a bit too simple, isn't it? Is this your way of hospitality?" Su Keyi immediately responded.
Yu Xiaobao looked Su Keyi up and down and asked with a smile: "What do you call this gentleman?"
"I am Su Keyi, courtesy name Baishuo. I am a native of Batavia in Nanyang, and my ancestral home is Chaozhou, Fujian." Su Keyi introduced himself with cupped fists.
"Mr. Su, let me explain it to you, and you can translate it to your two red-haired companions later." Looking at the two ghosts next to him with their big eyes staring at each other, Yu Xiaobao knew that they were listening. He didn't understand what he was saying, so he chose Su Keyi as the main person to talk to.
Yu Xiaobao continued: "First of all, for security reasons, we have to take a moment to confirm your identity. The official documents and letters you brought have been sent to your superiors for review, and there will be news later. Here We had to let the three of us feel aggrieved here first. After all, we find it difficult to handle your sudden visit.”
"Can't we wait for your identity confirmation in a place with a better environment? It is not a reasonable behavior to lock the envoys of the country in a cell!" Su Keyi continued to try to get better treatment.
Yu Xiaobao shook his head and said: "I'm sorry, given that you have taken extremely unfriendly behavior towards us in Fujian, we believe that we are still in a state of war with you. And we have not yet confirmed your identity and intention of coming. , so this is all we can do for now. I hope you can cooperate a little, which will also help your future treatment.”
"What is he talking about?" Van Longen asked Sukeyi in Dutch. Su Keyi briefly summarized the conversation and told him. Fan Longgen shook his head and said: "Please tell him that the war in Fujian was started by the Haihan people!"
After Yu Xiaobao listened to Su Keyi's report, he waved his hand gently and said: "I'm sorry, the fact I know is that your armed sailing ship formed a coalition with the local pirate gang and attacked Nanri Island where the Ming army was stationed. Launched a military offensive, our Haihan Militia, as the military adviser appointed by the Fujian government, has the obligation and responsibility to make the necessary response to such a provocation. In our opinion, it was the East India Company, and you, who provoked the war. .”
Seeing that Su Keyi still wanted to defend, Yu Xiaobao said again: "If you want to continue arguing with me, that's up to you, but what I must tell you is that if you haven't completed the physical examination on you, make sure there is nothing wrong with you. Weird infectious diseases, then you will never have the chance to see the people you want to see." This warning obviously worked. After the three Dutch envoys whispered to each other for a while, Su Keyi said that he could undergo a physical examination, but he hoped to be able to do so. Get out of this place as soon as possible.
After spending a while to complete the inspection, Yu Xiaobao said: "You three, I can only force you to spend the night here today. You can leave here at the earliest tomorrow."
After Yu Xiaobao finished speaking, soldiers outside brought in three rolls of straw mats and straw pillows and placed them on the ground. This was the bedding the three of them would use for the night. At this time, it is the dog days of summer in Hainan Island. With the temperature of more than 30 degrees, there is no need to cover myself with a quilt.
"There will be a dedicated person in charge of your food and drinking water. Just wait for the news." After Yu Xiaobao completed the process, he left the room, ignoring Su Keyi's yelling.
"These rude guys!" After the door was locked again, Van Longen couldn't help but lose his temper. Due to language reasons, he was unable to communicate directly with the other party and had to go through Su Keyi, the translator. This made him angry but unable to vent it.
However, after shouting a few words, Fan Longgen quickly calmed down and calmed down: "It seems that the Haihan people do regard us as the Shibazhi group. It is no wonder that they are so hostile to us. ”
Van Longen traveled back and forth between Taiyuan Port and Batavia more than once, and he still knew something about Shiba Zhi's actions and reputation. As one of the strongest armed forces at sea in the Far East, Fan Longgen is actually ashamed to be mixed up with pirate armed forces like Shibazhi and to be compared to him in this way by outsiders. However, this is the company's strategy and he cannot be tolerated. Post a question.
"The Haihan people have been in alliance with the Fujian government for a long time, but we really didn't expect that they would dare to take the initiative to attack us." At this time, Van der Wegen recalled the battle in Fujian, and he also realized that he underestimated the enemy at that time. One of the main reasons for the subsequent defeat in the battle. Moreover, at that time, the Dutch fleet indeed launched an attack on the Ming Dynasty Navy first, and then the Haihan fleet joined the battle. If we really want to defend it, the East India Company must be in the wrong. Of course, as the East India Company's military attache stationed in Damuan, he would definitely not admit that the company had made mistakes in its policy of handling relations with Shibazhi, because it was his uncle Hans who decided to send troops. If he also If you think this is not done correctly, you are causing trouble for your family.
"This is a military camp." Su Keyi suddenly said something irrelevant.
Seeing the two people looking at him in confusion, Su Keyi quickly explained: "Listen to the sounds outside..."
The two stood up, walked to the wall where the small window was, and began to listen to the noise outside. Sure enough, they heard neat and loud slogans and rhythmic footsteps coming clearly from outside.
The officers and soldiers of the militia have excellent conduct
I am not afraid of strong enemies but I am responsible
The horn blows the iron-blooded glory
Win the decisive battle for Haihan
……
Su Keyi translated what he heard to the two Dutch people one by one, and the three of them leaned against the wall and listened for half an hour. In the end, it was Van der Wegen who was the first to express his opinion: "This is a large military camp. Judging from the slogans they shouted, each group should be between forty and sixty people, and at the same time, the There are at least five groups of people doing this kind of marching training, which means that there are about three hundred people doing this kind of training. If you take into account the proportion of personnel in this unit who are on combat readiness and resting, I think the size of the troops stationed here is at least a thousand. People around.”
Although Van der Wegen's inference is not entirely accurate, it still has some basis. The Luhuitou Peninsula, an army training base, currently maintains a garrison size of more than 1,000 people all year round. However, this is not all of the garrison in Sanya. In addition to the naval base at Victory Port, the Sanya Port Area, Victory Fort and Tiandu There are also well-established army troops stationed in the industrial zones, with a total strength of around 1,500 troops. Although such a force cannot be said to be powerful, considering that Haihan's current control area is getting wider and wider, the number of troops stationed in Sanya is already relatively concentrated. In places such as Danzhou and Qiongzhou Fucheng in the north, the number of troops garrisoned is far less than that of the base camp.
Of course, given Sanya's geographical location, it is difficult for any strong enemy to launch a direct attack here from the outside world. Waterborne armed forces coming from the mainland must first pass through the blockade of the Qiongzhou Strait, and the nearest enemy in the South China Sea is located in Bada. The Dutch in Via obviously do not have such a surprise attack capability. As for the Annan Kingdom in the west, more than 80% of its coastal defense force is in the hands of the Haihan people, so there is no need to worry. The current number of garrison troops is basically sufficient to maintain daily defense.
"The Haihan people imprisoned us in the military camp, which shows that they at least did not treat us as ordinary prisoners." Van Longen could only find some such reasons to appease the emotions of the unlucky trio.
"But we can't expect to escape from here on our own." Su Keyi immediately poured cold water on him: "The security in the military camp is much tighter than that of the prison."
Of course, Su Keyi was just joking. They came with a heavy responsibility, and even if they could escape, they couldn't just escape. If they could not meet with Haihan's senior management, they would not be able to make a presentation to the company's board of directors back in Batavia.
"That young man just now, is he from Haihan or Ming?" Fan Longgen asked Su Keyi curiously.
"I think he is a Ming person... No, to be precise, he is a group that the Haihan people call 'naturalized people'. They were Ming people in the past, but now they belong to the Haihan people without Haihan blood." Su Keyi explained: " The Haihan people used the form of naturalization to change their belongings to those Ming people who were included in their ruled areas. Only those people who chose to naturalize as Haihan could enjoy various preferential treatment conditions of Haihan, such as working in Sanya. , settle down, enlist in the army, etc. ”
"You know a lot!" Fan Longgen also looked at Su Keyi with admiration. When he set out, he thought that Su Keyi was only able to get Cohen to push him to the top because he was in the family's favor. However, as his understanding deepened, he discovered that this Chinese man did have a lot of things in his mind. At least his understanding of Haihan and his calm behavior here showed some of his abilities.
"My daily business is to deal with those Ming Dynasty maritime merchants from Sanya, so I know the situation of Haihan relatively well." Su Keyi responded humbly.
(End of chapter)