New Shun 1730

"I am actually afraid of him. He is indeed a poisonous snake."

Thinking of the comments about the poverty relief system of "Wu Zhimi" a few days ago, Valknier was a little panicked. This kind of people's eyes seem to be focused on things under the skin, and they are indeed likely to take the opportunity to cause some trouble.

Moreover, in the previous talks, the other party also bluntly expressed his prejudice against the Netherlands. If he goes to Amsterdam to make trouble, there are very good conditions.

Some of the enlightenment factions in the Netherlands, whether they are killed, arrested, or exiled, there are always ways to deal with them.

But Liu Yu is the imperial envoy of Dashun and the emperor's special envoy. If he speaks in Amsterdam, it is impossible to send troops to arrest him directly, right?

He can't be blocked either. Besides, Europe is in the midst of China fever at this time. If the imperial envoy of the "Utopia" comes to speak, there must be a crowd of people. At that time, a few words will burst out, and it will be lively.

Moreover, it is not the first or second time that the board of directors has found someone to take the blame.

The "excess" Chinese in Batavia before were essentially the result of the board's decision-making errors, which led to the overexpansion of the sugar industry, resulting in the sugar factory crisis and a large number of "excess" people.

But no one on the board was responsible, and the previous governor was arrested to take the blame, on the grounds that he privately sold residence permits and privately accepted money to allow Chinese to land.

This is no longer the East India Company that was brave and pioneering, but has become a huge old thing that has been corrupted, deceiving and shirking responsibilities, internal intrigue, and seven provinces tripping each other around 17 board members.

Phillips's concerns made Valknier feel very reasonable.

"But I just said that I support the Kange trade. Can you write that from the perspective of interests, I support the Kange trade; but from the perspective of sovereignty, I oppose the Kange trade?"

"Do you want interests or sovereignty and dignity, let the board of directors choose?"

Phillips felt that this method seemed to be a compromise, but in fact it was putting the board of directors on the fire.

"Mr. Governor, do you think the board will choose sovereignty dignity? Or interests?"

Valknir remained silent. This was a question that did not need an answer.

If he said that, wouldn't it be the same as criticizing the board members for not respecting sovereignty dignity?

Even if the letter was not made public, the letter itself would make the board feel sick.

"Mr. Governor, if we remind the board that Liu Yu might use this possible conspiracy method, then the board is likely to directly reject the Kanhe trade. At the same time, the board will inevitably reject the requirements of equal diplomacy and tariff agreements. Then, it will inevitably lead to Dashun's economic sanctions against us, and even expel the staff of the merchant house. Right?"

This is also inevitable. The board of directors cannot agree to the requirements of equal diplomacy and tariff agreements. That would cut off the company's roots.

"So, Mr. Governor, if our speculation about Liu Yu's actions has affected trade with China, will the board of directors think afterwards that Liu Yu might not do that? What if the trade agreement is just the second choice? What if the trade agreement is also Liu Yu's sincere request, not a cover-up trick?"

"So, are our predictions and warnings a credit? Or should we be responsible for the fact that Dashun expelled our trading house and caused the company's trade with China to plummet?"

"When the shareholders find that the dividends have dropped sharply, the profits from trade with China have dropped, and the stock price has dropped, someone must be held responsible."

"When the time comes, we who have proposed that Liu Yu might cheat will be held responsible."

Valkniel pondered for a while, and nodded his heavy head vigorously.

Yes, if Liu Yu cheated, they would take the blame, and use the two people's heads to calm the anger of the patriotic people of the Netherlands.

If they told the board of directors in advance, they would still take the blame, and use the two people's heads to calm the anger of the East India Company's shareholders.

Phillips used a metaphor.

"Mr. Governor, a doctor saw a seemingly healthy person and said that he was sick and had to have his arm removed, otherwise he would die. But the patient was very healthy at this time, without any pain or symptoms."

"The patient was scared, so he had his arm removed, and he didn't die. So, for the rest of his life, would he be grateful to the doctor? Or would he hate the doctor for cutting off his arm?"

This metaphor is about human nature. Obviously, after the patient felt the inconvenience of having one arm in the long years of having one arm, he would definitely blame the doctor who asked him to cut off his arm.

This statement, which made human nature look very sinister, made Valknier determined.

"You mean, we know that Liu Yu might cheat, but we can't tell the board of directors about it."

"We know that the board of directors will choose the Kanhe trade, but we must clearly oppose the Kanhe trade."

Phillips nodded solemnly.

"Yes. This is the only way we can get out of this unscathed."

"If Liu Yu really cheated, then we would clearly oppose the trade. Once the letter was exposed, we would be heroes of the motherland and patriots who maintained the dignity of sovereignty. Due to the public's emotions, the board of directors would not only not punish us, but might let us continue to hold our positions, thus giving the public an explanation."

"If Liu Yu did not cheat, accepted the trade, and did not expose the tribute as the emperor's new clothes that humiliated sovereignty, we would at most be distrusted by the board of directors and transferred back to some idle positions."

Idle positions don't sound good.

But Phillips' tone gradually became heavy.

"Mr. Governor, in fact, I don't want to stay in Batavia."

"The competitive pressure of trade with China is increasing day by day. The British are slandering us from behind and the Swedes are cooperating in transporting goods. The China Trade Commission will be responsible for the sharp decline in trade with China within a few years. I can foresee that the trade volume with China will drop sharply in the next few years."

"After dealing with the "extra" Chinese population, Mr. Governor will face the Chinese uprising army in the south of the city. They have the support of Britain behind them, the combat power that can ambush our entire company at one time, and extremely professional mercenaries, whose combat power is not weaker than the Ottoman mercenaries who besieged the old port that year, and even better than him. We are stronger..."

Looking up and looking through the window toward the dock, Phillips sighed: "Plus Liu Yu's cruise in Southeast Asia with warships will lead to a series of chain reactions. "

"When I was in the capital of Dashun, I heard him say this: things are universally connected. "

"Once the encirclement and suppression of the Chinese uprising army is unsuccessful, along with the Dashun Navy's cruise, the chieftains and sultans in Mataram, Aceh, Sulawesi and other places will immediately change their attitude towards us. "

"Governor, perhaps this is a great opportunity, it's time to let these messes go to others. "

Things are universally connected. Valknier had never heard this before, and today was the first time he heard Phillips' retelling.

Thinking back to how his ambitions when he came here were worn away by reality, Dashun woke up, Persian civil strife, Sino-Japanese War, Caribbean sugar harvest... and so on, it was indeed so.

From the heart of a rampant crab to the heart of a timid turtle now, Phillips' words made him feel the same.

Yes, the days of the China Trade Committee must be getting harder and harder.

The same is true for the Governor of Batavia.

When he came to be the Governor, the board did not tell him that Dashun had fanatical patriots, nor did they tell him that Dashun had battleships.

Before coming, he thought it was simple, either kill them all or throw them to Ceylon as debt slaves.

But now, killing a few Chinese still depends on Dashun's face, and he is tied up, and no matter how big his ambition is, it will be flattened.

What's more, Britain has begun to get involved in Southeast Asia, and the situation here will only become more complicated.

With the completion of Ceylon immigration, he has accomplished his mission, and he has successfully completed the tasks assigned to him by the board.

If the Chinese uprising army in Bandung is really backed by the British, it will not be a matter of a day or a night to wipe it out. In the Sulabadi uprising, the remnants of the uprising fought guerrilla warfare in the mountains and persisted for 20 to 30 years. The combat effectiveness of the core forces of these Chinese uprisings is not weaker than those native soldiers taken away by Sulabadi.

As Phillips said, their fighting power is even better than that of the Turkish mercenaries who besieged the Xuanwei Office of the Old Port. The Turks are not the sick man of West Asia now. They have just fought one against two. The Green Rome fought the Holy Roman Empire and the Third Rome, and beat up the Holy Roman Empire and broke the alliance and withdrew from the war early.

But now he has no time to suppress the uprising, because these Chinese who are about to be relocated to Ceylon are a pile of dry firewood.

If they suppress it now, this pile of dry firewood may catch fire.

As for the variable of Liu Yu's arrival, is Liu Yu here to help him put out the fire? Or is it a bucket of oil ready to pour on the fire? It's hard to say.

So the Dutch army in Java can only defend in various port cities first, and cannot gather for battle.

After all this pile of "dry firewood" is thrown into Ceylon, the Chinese uprising army in Bandung will be like a fish without water and a fire without firewood, and it will be possible to extinguish it.

However, the core forces of the rebels were very combat-capable and had the support of Britain behind them. If they missed the best opportunity to encircle and suppress them at the beginning, it was unknown whether they could be completely eliminated in the future.

If they leave now, they will retire after achieving success.

The Chinese uprising was just a slight flaw in the great achievement:

Governor Valkner used admirable ruling methods and Phillips, the head of trade with China, used admirable diplomatic methods to perfectly solve the "surplus" population in Batavia without affecting trade with China, laying a solid foundation for Batavia's industrial transformation. Although some rioters among the Chinese conspired to overthrow the regime in Batavia, these people did not spread like wildfire under the ruling skills of the governor and the mediation of the head of trade with China, causing more Chinese to participate in the riot.

But if they leave after a few years, once the encirclement and suppression fails, the previous merits will be worthless, and the final words will be different:

The short-sighted Governor Valknir gave the rebels a long rest time, and did not do his best to suppress them at the first time, which laid the hidden danger for the chaos in the Burangan area in the future. As a result, the interests of all shareholders were seriously damaged, and it was even necessary to investigate whether the governor accepted bribes from Chinese rebels during his tenure, thus missing the best time to suppress them. The rebels were difficult to suppress, which led to the surrounding Mataram Sultanate seeing the weakness of Batavia's rule and having the idea of ​​resisting the company's protection...

Completely different.

For a long time, Valknir seemed to have made up his mind, and looked at Phillips who was waiting for him to express his opinion.

Slowly, borrowing Octavian's last words, he expressed his attitude.

"Did I play my role appropriately? If so, please applaud when I step down."

Then, he laughed at himself.

"When I step off the stage now, there will be applause. I played my role appropriately. But in the future, it may be a rotten egg thrown on the stage."

"It's better to go back. Go back to the Netherlands and become a rich man."