Reinard Buses worked in customs at the Port of Batavia, with his main task being to provide water diversion services for newly arrived ships and collect ship taxes.

Ships from the Dutch East India Company, Chinese flat-bottomed sailboats or ships from other Western countries must enter a well-defended port, first pass through a waterway maze composed of Belitung Island and the Karimata Islands. Then, anchor and moor it will be located north of Fort Batavia at the mouth of the Gillion Canal or one mile outside the sea of ​​the town.

In fact, his mission is not heavy, and it can even be said to be very easy. In recent years, there are only ten merchant ships coming to Bacheng every year, at least seven or eight; except for the three merchant ships that come from Macau every year, the rest are Tang ships coming from Guangzhou, Xiamen and Ningbo.

It is already late March in the Western calendar, and the season for the Tang ship to travel south has ended, so Mr. Busses did not go out for a ride today, but sat in the customs office to check the cargo list.

The ships from the coast of China to Bacheng all travel south when the northeast monsoon blows in winter and return when the southwest monsoon blows in early summer of the following year. In addition to bulk tea and porcelain, the most important "cargo" on these ships is population.

Throughout the 18th century, the number of people carrying people to Bacheng in Tang ships continued to increase slowly. Even though the Hongxi tragedy was suspended, the momentum continued to continue. During the Fourth British-Dutch War, the demand for manpower soared; when the war ended, the Dutch began to strictly restrict it.

After a busy morning, it was already 20:00 and 12:00. Buses collected the documents and prepared to go home for dinner. However, the noise from the window became louder and louder. It seemed that something had happened on the dock, which attracted many people to watch. He was thinking of going to take a look, but the door of the house was knocked open with a "bang" and one of his subordinates rushed in.

"Mr. Buss! Come out and have a look!"

"What's wrong? Peter. What happened?" Busses slowly locked the filing cabinet and asked without looking back.

"Outside the port, come, a big ship!"

"Haha, it's a good thing to have a boat come, why are you panic?"

The subordinate Peter swallowed and said, "You'd better take a look, that ship, that ship is a bit big."

Haha~~Bousseth thought it was not good to have a big ship, and the customs could make some money again! However, when he and his subordinates came to the dock, they saw the blue and white big ship anchored five nautical miles away without using a telescope. Reinard Busseth immediately petrified the spot.

This is too big!

"Gurl~" Like his subordinates, Buses swallowed his saliva. His first reaction was how should I collect taxes?

The Dutch East India Company has always had a tax system for Tang ships, with large ships ranging from 2,200 to 3,600 silver dollars and small ships ranging from 1,680 to 3,000 silver dollars. In addition, they also have to pay the warehouse rental fee of 10,000 silver dollars in advance. Buses thought that it would be an exaggeration to collect 5,6,700 silver dollars for such a large ship, right?

With such a vicious tariff system as VOC, no wonder it becomes more and more declining. For example, in order to compete with the Dutch, the Kingdom of Johor set up Johor Port as a tax-free free port, and no taxes will be collected in and out of merchant ships. Moreover, Johor Port is in the northwest of Batavia, and Tang ships are more convenient for traveling, so in the past few decades, many Tang ships have switched there to do business.

Reinard Busses said to Peter beside him: "Go and prepare for the water diversion boat, Peter, we have to go and take a look."

At this time, the dock was already crowded with people, with Chinese, Dutch, and Javanese gathering more and more, pointing and talking, and even people were watching with telescopes on the fortress on the east bank of the Gillion River. However, the rapid bells from the fortifications on the opposite bank of the castle and the river indicate that the local garrison had entered a state of alert.

The order to guard the guards was issued by William Arnold Artin, the governor of the Dutch East Indies. It would be fine if the general people in Bacheng did not know the Thor, but Governor Artin knew very well.

Don’t forget that when Zhao Xin and his friends went to Nagasaki for the first time, they fought against the Saga family, forcing Nagasaki to commit suicide, they shocked the people in the Dutch store. Half a year later, when Governor Altin received a report from Nagasaki, they were envious of the Northern Navy's record of extortion from the shogunate to 150,000 taels of gold.

Look at him, I went to Nagasaki and was busy with the Dutch shopping malls for ten years!

Afterwards, Zhao Xin and his friends drove the Thunder God to Tanzi Island. They first scared the British and then had a fight with Xiangshan Shui Camp, bombarding Dahengqin Island, making everyone know about the Thirteen Lines. Not to mention that Liu Zheng stayed in Thirteen Lines for a year, and it was not until Zhao Xin "harm" the Guangzhou officialdom. So the Dutch Pavilion had long reported all the information that could be found to the Dutch East India Governor.

Thor has been chaotic for several years on the coast of East Asia. Now all Westerners engaged in East Asia trade know that the group of "Cyris" entrenched in Northern China is not easy to mess with. Even the British East India Company knows that the Dutch have not run away.

A while ago, the Thunder God ran to Annan to stir up the wind and rain, and the Tang ships heading south all spread the news.

Now Thor suddenly appears outside the port of Batavia. You said, how can Governor Altin not be alert?

Reinard Buses was sitting in a small boat that was more than 20 meters long, and he swayed slowly for an hour with his subordinate Peter and five Dutch soldiers, and finally approached the Thor. Looking at the long and tall hull, Buses thought that this boat could take up three ships from Macau in one cargo. Now that the customs can make a fortune, he can also get a lot of oil and water.

Reinard Busses' monthly salary is only 120 guilds, but his real annual income is as high as 35,000 guilds. In addition to pursuing fraud in customs, another major source of income is blackmailing Chinese businessmen.

However, the Thor did not put down the gangway as he imagined and asked him to get on the ship to collect taxes, but instead hung a letter from the deck. Another Chinese man with a Minnan accent leaned over and said a few words loudly, which meant that he would hand the letter to the Governor first, and wait until the Governor read it before he would talk about it.

This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content behind! The envelope is not very bulging, and it seems that there are only two or three pages of paper when pinched. The sealed lacquer is covered with a mark like Chinese characters. Busses ran for nothing and was very angry at the "rude" of Thor. However, he thought that the other party might have something big to talk to the governor, so he ordered the sailor to turn around and quickly return to the port.

Two hours later, this strange letter was placed in front of Governor Altin. The Governor's secretary carefully opened the seal with a paper cutter, opened it and looked at it for a few moments, and was stunned.

"What did it say above?"

The letter paper was only two pages in total. The secretary came and went back and forth for a while and said in embarrassment: "Your Excellency, this is all in Chinese. I'm sorry, I can only understand a small part of it."

When Artin saw the other person's appearance, he stood up and took the letter from the other person's hand and found that the words were written in Chinese, but the font was very small and the gestures were very thin. It was not like using a brush commonly used by Chinese people, but like an ink pen.

The official language of the Dutch East India is Dutch, Portuguese, and many people understand Malay. Although Chinese accounts for most of the local population, Chinese is never an official term. Even when Chinese "Karbitan" meets the Dutch, they can only negotiate in Dutch.

"Oh? What are these Cialis people doing? Send someone to the Chinese mansion to find a Chinese translator who understands Dutch."

The so-called Chinese mansion is actually the autonomous association of Chinese in Bacheng, with a courtroom. The "Karbidan" appointed by the Dutch will cooperate with the Dutch in managing Chinese, and is also responsible for reviewing cases and handling disputes.

After the "Hongxi Massacre" fifty years ago, tens of thousands of Chinese in Bacheng died, and only 150 people escaped. Later, the Dutch used the policy of comforting, and the Tang people returned to Bacheng, but from then on they could only live outside the south gate and were never allowed to enter the city again.

The Chinatown outside Bacheng is called "Tangren Jianguang". The word "Jianguang" comes from the Malay word "Kampong", which means rural areas. The Chinese mansion mentioned by Artin is also located here.

At this time, King Zhusheng, appointed by the Dutch, was taking several subordinates to conduct fire prevention inspections on Chinatown. At present, more and more Chinese people live outside the south gate of the city, even expanding to the east gate and the west gate, with shops on the front.

"Boss Qian, the rainy season is coming soon, and the time for dry things is coming. You have piled up so many debris outside the door. It will be more than your family's business to catch fire. By the way, the shop at the betel nut club is also yours? The tax this year has not been paid yet."

"I know, Qian will ask his friend to free up the place in two days. Thank you Mr. Lu, come in and have a drink of tea."

Lu Wen, who was in his thirties, waved his hand and said, "No, thank you Boss Qian. I have to follow Mr. Wang to the iron street. That shop..."

Boss Qian was already busy coming over at this time, and looked into Lu Wen's cuff, and said with a smile: "Tsk tsk, Mr. Lu's ability is really admirable. Not only is he good at writing the article, but he is also proficient in Dutch. In the future, I have to ask Mr. for more information about this official matter."

Lu Wen remained silent. He had already realized that the other party had handed over a pack of ten double-column silver coins. Everyone knew it. He immediately bowed to Boss Qian, said goodbye with a smile, and walked a few steps behind Wang Zhusheng.

Before the group could reach the iron street, someone shouted behind him: "Kapitan Wong! Kapitan Rei!"

Dutch spoken on Chinatown in Bacheng, either red-haired or Malay. Wang Zhusheng and others looked back and recognized the person as an officer from the Governor's Office. Two Kabidans hurriedly stepped forward and bowed and said, "It turns out to be Second Lieutenant Huigens, I don't know why I call us and the other two?"

The visitor ran all the way from the Chinese Mansion, sweating profusely and said with dissatisfaction: "Your Excellency the Governor has an order to find a Tangren translator who is proficient in Dutch."

Hi, that's all. Wang Zhusheng turned to Lu Wen after hearing this, and said, "Yu Zhi, you are the best Dutch language and are from Tongsheng. You can go with Lieutenant Huigens."

"yes."

More than half an hour later, Lu Wen, who was sweating profusely, followed Huigens to the Governor General's Mansion and met Governor Altin. He respectfully took the letter from the Thor from the other party, opened it and looked at it twice. Sweat was blowing from the back of his neck, and his hands holding the letter couldn't help but tremble.

"Damn it, what did it say?" Artin became more and more anxious when he saw him like this.

"This, this, I beg the Governor to forgive the common people for being rude." Lu Wen wiped the sweat from his forehead and explained: "This, this is a letter of war."

"What?!" Artin jumped up from the chair with a "rubbing" and said sternly: "I order you to translate it word by word immediately, and you can't miss a word!"

"Yes." Lu Wen then got up, compared with the Chinese in the letter, and began to translate, while Altin's secretary began to record at his desk.

"The Northern Navy led His Excellency William Arnold Artin, Governor of the Dutch East Indies, for the 1740 Batavia tragedy, hereby declared:

Alas, the Netherlands, a small Nordic country, is a dealer in the foreign countries, and is a European vendor!

Since Bacheng started for more than a hundred years, if there were no Chinese who taught you farming and art and governed your city, how could all industries flourish, commerce and trade prosper, and come to a conference? You and others were not grateful and took action to oppress, and they had heavy taxes, extortion, and even killed money, killing people, and plundered their wealth to make up for the deficit of the East India Company.

In the journey of the great way, the world is the public, the summer represents the eternal eternal, the world is always the same, the country has the supreme supreme, and the life is the body. Why do we bear the burden of our Chinese people? What kind of hatred will kill ten thousand people?! If there is any hatred, why should we kill them? All the descendants of Zhangzhou and Quanzhou can be returned. The merchant transactions are still the same. The bandits have no actions, and they are so righteous. How can they be punished by heaven!

Now there is the Beihai, and I will fight the sky. We should visit Bahe, the north and the ice sea, the south and the south, and the east to the ocean and the west to Central Asia. The sun shines and the moon is approaching, and then it will be the first day. For example, the West Mountain in Annan, attacks our China, kills the Chinese people, pretends to be a vassal minister, and privately forms pirates, and offends our coast. The Beihai drives troops thousands of miles away, and sends out edicts to officials and soldiers, Yizong cuts out the land, and adds troops to destroy them.

The Chinese empire is the spirit of the universe, and the Northern Navy advocates righteousness in heaven, defeats the people, and avenges revenge. There are millions of soldiers and thousands of warships, avenges for more than 10,000 living beings, and regrets that the gods above and below were humiliated.

He sent him a letter to him, and he made all the news."

This letter was written by Jiang Fan. Although it was difficult to read, it was full of momentum. Deng Fei, Wang Yuanfang and Hong Tao were not suitable for revisions. Hong Tao tried to write several drafts in vernacular, but in the end it was not as good as this one, so he had to give up.

However, it was precisely because of this that Lu Wen, a native of Zhangzhou who was born in Tong, was sweating and frightened. After he finally translated the words in the letter into Dutch, Governor Alting's face turned green.

His first reaction was that he shouted that something was wrong, and the Chinese were going to settle the accounts!

"Call all members of the Council to the Governor's Office for a meeting! Immediately notify all the forts to enter wartime alert! Order Colonel Berg to immediately summon troops, mobilize the city, open the armory, and recruit Malays to join the war!"

After the secretary finished writing on the letter paper, Governor Altin immediately signed his name. Then he saw Lu Wen with an awkward face and roared: "Go out! There is nothing you have to do here!"

Unexpectedly, Lu Wen was about to leave, and Altin immediately woke up. He shouted to Lieutenant Huigens outside the door: "Give me this guy a look, and I can't let him tell the Chinese the news in the letter!"

Lu Wen suddenly panicked and bowed quickly and said, "Governor, this is not a villain's business!"

However, Artin had no intention of paying attention to him at all, and waved his hand impatiently, and the strong guard took Lu Wen, who was like a thin chicken. After only Governor Altin was left in the room, he sat back on the chair weakly, and his temples on both sides jumped wildly.

Does this matter have anything to do with me? What happened fifty years ago has something to do with me!

Artin only joined the East India Company in 1750. When he arrived in Batavia, the former governor, Adrian Valgenil, who was responsible for this matter, had been dead for several years. Now the grass on his grave probably grew into towering trees.

But Artin also knew that as the governor of the Dutch East India, this matter was inseparable from him. In fact, the East India Company's crime of killing Chinese in Java was not only Hongxi, and Valgenir confessed after being imprisoned that in June 1741, the East India Pinyin Yuan also passed a resolution to "masslaughter the Chinese in Java in full swing."

So in early 1742, a tragedy similar to that of Hongxi was staged in Sanbaolong, Central Java, and then the Dutch continued to massacre in Surabay and other places in East Java.

In history, the crimes committed by the Dutch in Java, except for the Hongxi Massacre, have not been reported to the country. They are only word-of-mouthed by a small number of Chinese people, and even the Chinese in Batavia are not aware of them.

The problem is that Artin knows it! The records in the East India Company’s archives are clearly recorded and clearly!

This is a bad thing, and it is too late to ask for reinforcements. Altin suddenly thought that he could go to Prince of Wales to find the British East India Company. Perhaps because everyone is God's people, he would take action to help his brothers. Even if the British do not participate in the war, it would be good to be able to mediate.

Thinking of this, he quickly took the letter paper, and after he had prepared it, he began to write a letter of sincere help.

At this time, Hong Tao, who was wearing sunscreen oil on the deck of Thor, was wearing sunglasses, and sat lazily on the beach chair. He sucked two bites of juice with ice. After feeling satisfied, he said to Deng Fei, who was also handsome beside him: "Old Deng, what do you think the Dutch are doing now?"

"Hehe, I guess I was frightened by Jiang Ziping's letter. Now the whole city should be mobilizing and preparing for the war, and at the same time I have to guard against the Chinese."
Chapter completed!