Chapter 2908
"Something big happened!"
A young man held the "Haihan Times" just released today in his hand, rushed into a quiet study room in a panic, and said loudly to the person sitting behind the desk: "Father, look, something big has happened!"
"Why are you panicking? The sky is not falling! I have told you many times that you should be a steady person and don't act like a child when you are startled!" The middle-aged man with gray temples first scolded his son. Then he took the newspaper unhurriedly and looked at the contents.
However, after reading the front-page article in the newspaper, this seemingly calm man's expression was not as relaxed as it was at first. He murmured to himself: "The South China Sea has been peaceful for so many years, and the good days are finally coming to an end. ”
The young man asked: "Father, what should we do?"
The middle-aged man responded: "You go arrange a fast boat back to the south, and wait for me to write a letter and send it back together with this newspaper. In addition, contact Victory Fort immediately and apply for a meeting with Tao Donglai on my behalf."
The young man quickly agreed and quickly went out to do errands.
The middle-aged man took out the letter paper and spread it on the desk. After being silent for a while, he started to write a letter. But what he used was not a common bamboo brush, but a beautiful feather. The front end of the feather is sharpened, and after being dipped in ink, it can be written easily on the paper.
The middle-aged man who wrote the letter with a quill pen was not a Haihan national, but Su Keyi, the Dutch East India Company's minister in Sanya.
The Dutch East India Company was far away in the city of Batavia on Java Island, but a considerable part of its trading activities was carried out in Northeast Asia, with Haihan and Ming Dynasty being its main trading partners. Therefore, compradors of Chinese origin like Su Keyi have a place to play in this.
After the Dutch East India Company formally established diplomatic relations with Haihan, Su Keyi was sent to Haihan as the minister for twenty years. During this period, although the East India Company was also willing to replace him, it never found a candidate with comparable abilities, so Su Keyi's term could only be extended.
Su Keyi would return to Batavia every two years to report on his work, but there were still many inconveniences after a long time, so he later moved his family to Sanya to settle down. The eldest son Su Yongshan, who just brought in the newspaper, came to Sanya when he was six years old and lived here with him.
Perhaps it was because he grew up here that Su Yongshan was very sensitive to various news published in official newspapers, so he was able to immediately notice the unusualness of today's special issue.
Su Keyi has been dealing with Haihan officials for so many years and has a very good understanding of the executive committee's work style. He knew that using newspapers to guide public opinion before a big move was a common method used by the Executive Committee. In the past few years, whenever Haihan initiated a military operation, he would go through this process before taking action to arouse public sentiment and pave the way for the official final decision.
Su Keyi didn't have to think hard to see the intention of the Executive Committee from the lines of this front-page article - Haihan is no longer satisfied with the current scope of control in the South China Sea, and may use military means to occupy the South China Sea. More areas. And this was by no means good news for the Dutch East India Company.
The Dutch East India Company had many armed conflicts with Haihan in the early years. However, after suffering several losses, the Dutch realized that there was no benefit in confronting Haihan, so they swallowed their anger and changed their attitude and began to establish trade relations with Haihan. Later, due to the competition from its Western counterparts and the hostility of neighboring countries, the East India Company really did not have the extra energy to continue to oppose Haihan, so the relationship between the two parties has been relatively stable in the past two decades.
But this does not mean that the two sides are in harmony. In the fields of colonization and trade, the two sides have always had a competitive relationship. With the expansion of Haihan's sphere of influence, almost all the East India Company's trade routes in Northeast Asia were controlled by Haihan. In Southeast Asia, the Haihan garrison on Star Island also frequently entered and exited the waters near Batavia, and had the potential to take the Sunda Strait, which originally belonged to the East India Company's sphere of influence, as its own.
Although Batavia's trade environment has not deteriorated significantly, thanks to Haihan, the East India Company's sphere of influence has indeed been shrinking year by year. As for such a trend, the company's board of directors cannot come up with effective means of resistance. After all, with Spain as a negative example, the board of directors will not naively think that the city of Batavia will be much stronger than the Spanish city of Manila.
Fortunately, Haihan has focused its development in the north in recent years, and the East India Company's colonial industries in Southeast Asia can still operate normally. Su Keyi's work in Sanya is also very easy. He only needs to maintain normal communication with the Haihan Executive Committee, collect various information, and submit reports to Batavia regularly. But as soon as this newspaper comes out today, it may mean that the calm that has lasted for many years in the South China Sea is slowly coming to an end.
Although Su Keyi did not know in which direction Haihan would use troops, Haihan's actions would undoubtedly further reduce the East India Company's living space. Fortunately, this kind of big action that requires building momentum and guiding public opinion in advance usually has a long preparation period and does not start immediately. Su Keyi still has plenty of time to collect information and send a warning to Batavia so that they can prepare for the coming storm in advance.
Su Keyi was only halfway through writing the letter when Su Yongshan came back to resume his duties.
He first went to Sanya Port and ordered a clipper under the office to be ready for departure. Since Su Keyi took office, there have been one or two such fast boats docked at the local port all year round, ready for dispatch by the office in case of emergencies.
Su Yongshan then went to Fort Victory and submitted an application for a meeting. A big shot like Tao Donglai is not someone you can meet just because you want to. Applications for meetings like this usually don't get an immediate response, so he can only come back and wait for news.
After Su Yongshan reported on the execution of his mission, he couldn't help but ask: "Father, if the situation is serious, do we have to return to Batavia first?"
Su Keyi looked up at his son, shook his head slightly and said: "We don't need to go back. If a war really breaks out, nothing will be changed even if we go back. Only by staying here can it be effective."
Su Yongshan said: "Do you also think Batavia is in danger?"
Su Keyi said: "Unless Haihan wants to wipe out the East India Company, attacking Batavia is of little significance. But as far as the current situation is concerned, I don't think Batavia will become Haihan's target. You Look, this special issue is to commemorate Haihan's army's defeat of the Spanish fleet that came to attack the Port of Victory 21 years ago. This shows that the Spaniards are Haihan's most concerned opponents, and if nothing else, they will be the first to be unlucky this time. It’s them!”
(End of chapter)