Chapter 932 Solution
How to handle relations with the Dutch has always been a key project in Heihan's foreign policy research. The Dutch were known as sea coachmen in this era. They were the main force in global maritime trade. In the long run, they would definitely be one of Haihan's main competitors. But is it possible to use war to compete with them? Using relatively peaceful methods to slowly weaken the Netherlands' control in the Far East, and whether it is possible to use the Netherlands' global shipping capabilities to benefit Haihan, these are issues that relevant departments have been studying and discussing for several years.
Haihan itself is developing extremely fast, but it has only been in this time and space for a short time. One of the negative effects of its leapfrog expansion is that its maritime transportation capacity has always been very tight. Although Haihan is expanding new shipyards every year, the shipbuilding speed still cannot keep up with the growth in shipping capacity demand. What's more, Haihan has always attached great importance to armaments. At least half of the shipyard's production capacity is occupied by military orders. In many cases, Haihan's official freight needs can only be completed by private carriers like "Zhan Family Shipping". During wartime, a large number of civilian ships were requisitioned to complete transportation tasks.
This long-term shortage of maritime transport capacity is definitely detrimental to the development of Haihan. The leaders of the Haihan Executive Committee are not ambitious enough to quickly open some long-distance routes, and even go to the SD Peninsula to transport war refugees. The tasks of going south are all handed over to outside maritime merchants, while our own cargo ships are concentrated on the routes with the largest cargo volume from Qiongguang, Qiongmin, and HN to Indochina, in order to satisfy the needs of trade first. activity needs. Of course, after Haihan occupied the Zhoushan Islands, the northward route also extended to near the mouth of the Yangtze River, and the shipping capacity became correspondingly tighter.
Under such circumstances, if we rashly attack the Western colonists in the South China Sea, especially the major players like the Netherlands, while Haihan will drive them away, it will also mean that the Maritime Silk Road carrying trade between the East and the West will Hurt a lot. Although there are still secondary players such as Spain, Portugal, Britain and France, the Dutch carry nearly half of the current freight volume in East-West trade. This vacancy will be difficult to be filled by other companies in a short period of time.
In this era, the route from Europe to the Far East required going south from the Strait of Gibraltar, bypassing the African continent, and then crossing the Arabian Sea and the Indian subcontinent. The entire voyage was tens of thousands of miles long, and a round trip took nearly two years. It would take almost a year for the dramatic changes in the situation in the Far East to be fed back to Europe, and then Western countries would make new arrangements accordingly and arrange more sailing ships to go to the Far East. During this period, the trade volume between the East and the West will definitely be greatly affected by the decrease in shipping capacity. Haihan wants to monopolize the re-export trade in Northeast Asia, so naturally he cannot cause such a situation to happen.
It is not difficult to defeat the Netherlands. What is difficult is how to make up for the gap in maritime transport capacity after driving away the Dutch. If they are going to be negatively affected by the chain reaction after playing against the Netherlands, the Haihan Executive Committee will of course have to be cautious about the decision to take action. To properly solve this problem, in addition to strengthening Haihan's own shipbuilding capabilities, we must also make reasonable arrangements for partners and competitors who carry capacity on Western routes. We must seize control of the South China Sea, but we must also find ways to leave some soup for our Western counterparts so that the entire East-West trade system can continue to operate normally.
The Dutch, as a competitor, would definitely not have thought of these thoughts of Heihan. Although global routes have appeared as early as the last century, global thinking will not mature until human society evolves into the industrial age. This In this era, no one will consider the needs of long-term development from such a high perspective. From Van Diemen's point of view, he naturally would not regard Yan Chujie's proposal as a practical solution. He would only subconsciously think that it was Haihan's attempt to completely expel the East India Company from the Far East. means.
In the preparation meeting before going south, the possible reactions of the Dutch had been simulated more than once, and Van Diemen's concerns were not beyond the scope of Heihan's expectations. Yan Chujie could understand where his reaction came from, but this deviation in understanding could not be explained clearly in a few sentences. What's more, Haihan himself did not have much good intentions towards the Dutch. The purpose of all the proposals was The purpose is to force the Dutch's activities and control range back to the south of the equator, and it is best to compress them directly to the line of Java Island.
Yan Chujie decided to follow the predetermined plan and persuade Van Diemen from a different angle: "I understand the concerns of Mr. Governor, but I would like to ask Mr. Governor a question. You have traveled thousands of miles to come to the Far East. Everything you have done here, you want to What is the real purpose to be achieved? ”
Before Van Diemen could think clearly about his answer, Yan Chujie continued: "Please allow me to make a bold guess. The purpose of your coming here is actually for wealth. Oriental porcelain, silk, tea, spices... there are So many good things, as long as they are shipped back to Europe, you will get a lot of gold and silver in return. You colonize the Far East, explore routes, launch wars, and support agents. All these methods and measures are actually to earn more. Fortune. Mr. Governor, am I right?”
Van Diemen could not deny Yan Chujie's statement. There was no way he could say that people from the East India Company traveled thousands of miles to the Far East to bring benefits to the aboriginal people here. internationalist spirit. Yan Chujie is right, everything is for money, to earn more wealth. Aren’t the tens of thousands of East India Company’s subordinates in the Far East all working and fighting for this purpose?
Van Diemen was trying to make up some clichés to get over this issue and leave no excuse for Yan Chujie, but Yan Chujie did not wait for his response, but continued: "It doesn't matter whether Mr. Governor admits it or not, because this is the fact. . All the adventurers who came to the Far East, whether they were Spanish, Portuguese, British, French, or you Dutch, actually came here for the wealth. But there is no order in this area. Whoever has a bigger fist can grab more territory and resources. This disordered situation actually slows down everyone's ability to make money. Mr. Governor, please imagine if all parties competing in the Far East could put aside their prejudices. Stop the war, sign a peace treaty, and then work together to carve up this huge market. Will the East India Company's profit-making speed be doubled as a result? ”
Van Diemen's answer this time was very firm: "This is impossible, General Yan. With all due respect, you probably don't understand the relationship between Western countries. You want all the families who come to the Far East to be honest." It is impossible to do business without a truce. This is not just a matter of money, but also involves more complex issues of relations between countries. "
"Actually, it's not as mysterious as you said. Although Europa is very far away from the Far East, we still know something about the situation in your countries." Yan Chujie responded with a smile: "Europe is currently divided into two camps fighting against each other. , on one side are Denmark, Sweden, France, the Netherlands, Britain, Russia, and the German Protestant princes, and on the other side are the Holy Roman Empire, the German Catholic princes, Poland, and Spain."
"The French want to dominate Europe and divide Germany; Denmark and Sweden want to carve up the German territories and seaports in the North Sea and the Baltic Sea; and the British and you, the Netherlands, want to curb the expansion of the Spanish Empire in Northern Europe. Although this war started because It was caused by religion, but at this stage, religious belief is just an excuse for the participating countries. As for now, if I remember correctly, it is the Swedes who are leading the battlefield, right? He died on the battlefield last year, so the Swedes must not have many good days left." After Yan Chujie finished speaking this time, Van Diemen could no longer hide the surprised expression on his face. He really didn't expect that the Haihan people had such a detailed understanding of the international situation in Europe, and even knew the current situation of the European war. Even though the Portuguese gave them relevant intelligence information, the level of care was so amazing. After all, the Far East is too far away from Europe, and what happens in Europe has no direct impact on Haihan. However, the Haihan people's understanding of Europe far exceeds the Europeans' understanding of the international situation in the Far East.
Counting from the Bohemian uprising against the Holy Roman Empire in 1618, the European War has been fought for fifteen years. The wars of the past few years did not go well for the Netherlands. The anti-Habsburg alliance formed with Britain, France and Denmark was defeated by the mercenaries of the Bohemian noble Wallenstein. Denmark was defeated in May 1629. In March, he was forced to sign the "Peace of Lübeck" and promised not to interfere in German affairs, thereby declaring the temporary defeat of the anti-Habsburg alliance.
However, in 1630, the French funded Sweden, and King Gustav II of Sweden led a personal expedition, landing in Pomerania and starting a war against the Holy Roman Empire. After a year-long war, the Swedes occupied Pomerania and defeated their opponents at the Leh River the following year. Even the commander of the imperial army, Count Tilly, was killed on the battlefield. As a result, the Imperial Army suffered defeat after defeat, losing important towns such as Mainz, Augsburg and Munich one after another.
However, at this time, the Holy Roman Emperor once again appointed Wallenstein as commander-in-chief, and defeated the Swedes in the Battle of Lützen in November 1632. Gustavus II was killed in this battle, which also made The Swedish army never recovered.
Van Diemen only recently received the news that the King of Sweden was killed in the European War, and he was sure that his source of information must be faster than the Portuguese, because the owner of the ship who brought the news was after the Battle of Lützen. They set off from Europe immediately the next day. At that time, the news of the death of the Swedish king had not spread. It would be at least a month or two before the Portuguese got the news, so Van Diemen was surprised that the Haihan people had mastered it. Such "timely" information.
Of course, Van Diemen did not know that the historical process of Europe was not a secret to Haihan. If necessary, Yan Chujie could even tell that the troops Wallenstein used in the Battle of Lützen included Germans, Austrians, and Czechs. , Italians, Hungarians, Poles and Croats, and the arms of this unit are divided into cuirassiers, musketeers, dragoons and Croatian light cavalry. Even the entire battle process of this battle, Yan Chujie could retell it to him in detail - after all, this battle is one of the classic battles studied in Haihan Military Academy. Yan Chujie has guided the students' sand table deductions more than once, and he has already learned about the battle process. Very familiar.
Yan Chujie looked at the surprised expression on Van Diemen's face and knew that his words had already had an effect, so he continued: "We are very aware of the grievances between you and other countries in Europe. The conflicts of interest between countries cannot be reconciled by businessmen. Yes, the measures you take and the attitude you show in the Far East also represent your country to a certain extent. But Mr. Governor, what I want to say is that this is not Europe. There will be exclusive rules of the game in the Far East, and those who abide by the rules. Only players can stay here, and those who want to be naughty here will be punished accordingly.”
Van Diemen had recovered from the shock and responded coldly: "General Yan, do you want to say that you Haihan are the makers and executors of the rules of this game?"
"We are the leader in initiating the formulation of the rules of this game, and the executor will be every player who participates and is willing to abide by these rules." Yan Chujie showed a hand and began to pull down his fingers one by one and said: "Currently In addition to us Haihan, those who are willing to join include Ming Dynasty, Annan, Champa, Portugal, and possibly Ryukyu and Matalan, as well as more and more other countries coming to Batavia. , I just want you to have the opportunity to choose between war and peace. Of course you have the freedom to choose to keep your usual practices, but you can also choose to join in and earn countless wealth while enjoying peace. "
"This is impossible, the Matalan people will not live in peace with us! We will not give up revenge on the Matalan people!" Van Diemen shook his head repeatedly, refusing to accept this statement. It has only been a year since the war between the two sides, and both sides suffered heavy losses in this war. How could it be possible that Haihan came out to say hello and immediately resolved this hatred.
"In the face of tangible benefits, is there any hatred that cannot be resolved?" Yan Chujie smiled and shook his head: "The Malan people need money to build a powerful fleet, and you need money to rebuild Batavia. Isn’t this reason enough for you to put down the war and focus on making money?”
(End of chapter)