New Shun 1730

"Of course the company believes in your loyalty. And the company is also convinced that your interests are tied to the company."

"The system implemented by the Chinese emperor does not include the tax farming system, and their bureaucrats are also selected by the imperial examination system."

"In any case, once the Chinese occupy Batavia, it will be a loss for you."

"Gentlemen, now please return to the Chinese community and let your messengers inform the Chinese not to leave their houses, so as not to be arrested as spies; all Chinese should not go to the streets until the battle is over."

"Gentlemen, have confidence in the company. The governor has rushed back to Batavia, and the company headquarters will soon send a fleet."

"You should know that Europe is now at war. We Dutch are not fighting alone."

"The English , Scots, Irish, Austrians, Hungarians, Bohemians, Hanoverians, Holy Roman Empire, Russians, they are all on our side. "

"The Russians will attack in the north, the British will send a fleet from Bengkulu, and the Austrians will send their army to fight China. "

"As long as we can hold Batavia, we can win the final victory. You should have monitored the company's fleet in your childhood. I would say that the Dutch fleet is a hundred times larger than the largest fleet you have ever seen!"

"The Netherlands will win. As long as we hold on to Batavia."

It is both threatening and encouraging. Anyway, these people don't know much about the situation in Europe. They list a lot of kingdoms, duchies, and electors like a menu, and they wish they could tear down the Holy Roman countries into Voltaire's nightmare.

It sounds quite bluffing. The Chinese present at least know the name of Britain, after all, Bengkulu is nearby. But they made their living by the sea after all, and they had some basic knowledge. They knew that Europe was far away, and they thought that even if they could get support from Europe, it would take two years.

Looking at the situation, could Batavia hold out for two years?

Everyone had their own thoughts, and they waited anxiously for the Dutch to let them leave.

As soon as they left the Governor's Mansion, these people spontaneously surrounded Lian Fuguang.

Lian Fuguang shook his head and said, "This is not the place to talk, and follow me back to my humble home."

After that, he got on the carriage first. The rest of Lei Zhenlan also got on the carriage. The Chinese community gathered in one place, not far away.

When they arrived at Lian Fuguang's residence and dismissed the servants, these people sighed at the same time.

"It's bitter! It's bitter! The Dutch said that, I'm afraid the court really sent a large army to Southeast Asia. Brother Lian, what should we do?"

"Do you really want to help the Dutch defend the city? I'm afraid I can't defend it. The Dutch said nice things, saying that they can mobilize troops from far away, but even if they can mobilize troops, those allies have also sent troops, and distant water cannot quench near thirst."

Lei Zhenlan Chen Zhongshi was the first to sigh, although the Dutch had just named him and said that he had reported Lian Fuguang's brother to the Governor's Office.

But now, Chen Zhongshi is not afraid, thinking that he and Lian Fuguang are grasshoppers on the same rope. Although I have shit on my body, you, Lian Fuguang, are not clean either. When the Dutch named you for "praise" just now, you, the Kapitan, were the first in Jiazi.

Lian Fuguang glanced at Chen Zhongshi. He also knew that Chen Zhongshi had reported his brother, but it was not convenient to dwell on this matter at this time.

If he didn't handle it well, he would become a rotten fish when the imperial army came, and he might be caught before Chen Zhongshi, so what revenge could he talk about?

"There are no outsiders here, what do you think of this matter?"

Lian Fuguang didn't plan to tell these people about Wang Wu in advance, but wanted to see their attitude first. In the current situation, the Dutch did this, which obviously showed that they were not confident enough. Lian Fuguang felt that as long as these people were afraid that the imperial court would capture Batavia, it would be safe to discuss the secret talks, and no one would report to the Dutch.

There were indeed no outsiders here, they were all big families in Batavia, and they would shock the Chinese community in Southeast Asia if they stomped their feet on weekdays.

But at this time, they all lost their calculations.

"Brother Lian, we'd better ask you for advice. The company obviously can't hold on any longer. Do you think we can defend the city if we mobilize all the Tang people in the city to defend it?"

As soon as Lei Zhenlan finished speaking, Chen Zhongshi scolded, "Stupid. Even if we want to help the company defend the city, the company is still worried that there are spies among the Tang people in the city, so how can they be willing to use us?"

"If the people who came to besiege were Bugis, Javanese, or Mataram people, the company could still use us. But since the imperial army is coming, how can the company trust us Tang people?"

Lian Fuguang nodded and said, "Brother Zhongshi is right. Even if we propose it, the company will not use the Tang people to help defend the city."

"I'm afraid that not only will they not use you, but they will also think that you are a spy of the imperial court, and they want the Tang people to pretend to defend the city and take the opportunity to cause chaos. At that time, they will arrest you first..."

After the two said this, the others immediately understood and thought that it was indeed impossible.

But if the Chinese in the city don't help defend the city, it will be difficult to defend it with the few soldiers in the city, plus the soldiers brought back by the governor.

It would be great if the Dutch trusted the Chinese in the city. There are thousands of them, many of them are good at martial arts, and they all have muskets in their hands.

With the Batavia defense that they think is impregnable, they might be able to defend it.

However...

At this time, someone else said: "If we really can't hold on, most of the Dutch will withdraw. They have ships, but they can't do it on land. Who are the maritime Dutch afraid of?"

"Why don't we just wait for the Governor to come back, tell us about it, load all our belongings on the ship, and go to the Netherlands with him?"

"We have done a lot for the company, and we are all familiar with the governor. We get a lot of filial gifts during holidays, and we all speak Dutch. In the Netherlands, as long as you have money, won't you be just as happy?"

Someone sighed and said: "You are really stupid! We are here because there are thousands of Tang people who need us to make Kapitan."

"If we really go to the Netherlands, wouldn't you and I be just useless big fat sheep? There is no need for you and me to serve as Kapitan and Lei Zhenlan to govern the Tang people; we also have countless gold and silver in our hands. This is not the way to go. Deliver it from the tiger’s mouth?”

The man who proposed to run away to the Netherlands together retorted: "Is it possible that if we stay, we will not be able to eat people? What will the court do to us? Isn't it a dead end? Is it possible that the Dutch cannibalize people, but the people in the court will not eat people?" "

"After going to the Netherlands, at least there is still a way to survive."

When it comes to the imperial court, these people are a little scared.

They had a vague impression of what the imperial court was like. They treated rich households like them, and even if there were no charges, they would think of crimes, donations, etc., to extract money. What's more, they have already committed crimes that cannot be erased.

At this time, no one lamented that they knew better than they did today. After all, no one thought at the time that the imperial court could go to Nanyang.

The biggest difference between the imperial court and the Dutch is that the imperial court is a Chinese court.

The court did not need to look for Kapitan and Lei Zhenlan from the local Chinese in Batavia. Not to mention that it is unlikely that the imperial court will continue to use the tax farming system, as long as it governs the people, when has the imperial court ever lacked officials?

At that time, for the sake of stability, the imperial court might treat some local indigenous nobles and chiefs better and stabilize their status in order to rule.

But these Kapitan and Lei Zhenlan are really of no use to the court. Not even as good as the Javanese native Lei Zhenlan who they looked down upon before.

There are so many scholars in Dashun who want to be officials but there are no official vacancies. It is estimated that the queue can stretch from Batavia across the ocean to Guangzhou.

If they could really defend it, they would certainly be willing to fully assist the Dutch in defending the city.

But what the Dutch said before, in the ears of these old foxes, it was clear that the company could no longer handle it and was in danger, so they even resorted to means such as submitting certificates of recognition.

At this time, I don't know who remembered it and suddenly said: "Brother Lian, aren't you friends with those people? Why don't you let your brother come forward and wait for a way out for me? That is to donate part of the family property in the future, as long as you don't Just take care of our sins.”

When he reminded him like this, the people around him reacted as if they were like straw floating in front of the eyes of a drowning person.

"Yes, that's right. Don't you have great ambitions and have connections with the heroes in Juyishan Mountain?"

"Now that they have captured Cirebon, the imperial court has also sent troops. How can there be such a coincidence in the world? I think they must have contact with the imperial court."

"Brother, at this time, everyone is just a grasshopper on a rope, so please don't ignore us."

While everyone was talking, Chen Zhongshi, who was beside him, knelt down and said to Lian Fuguang: "Brother Lian, I was the one who was fooled by eating lard that day. I am willing to give half of my family property to your brother as an apology. Please don’t forget the faults of villains.”

Lian Fuguang glanced at Chen Zhongshi, and then looked at the expectant eyes of the people next to him. It was obvious that what the Dutch had just said had backfired. These people all felt that the Dutch were about to be ruined, and they no longer had any confidence in the Netherlands.

Seeing that the time was ripe, Lian Fuguang went over to help Chen Zhongshi up and said, "There are no outsiders here, so I'll tell you the truth. If you don't dig into the details of many things before, you'll just laugh it off; if you really want to dig into it, that's Qianjunzhong. We are all grasshoppers on the same rope now."

"Even if my brother really makes friends with those people, how can he lead him to the big tree of the imperial court?"

"The current plan is actually only one way."

Everyone's eyes lit up, and Lian Fuguang whispered: "Destroy the corpse! Destroy the traces!"

"Destroy the corpse and eliminate all traces?" After everyone was stunned, Lian Fuguang nodded solemnly and repeated: "Yes, destroy the corpse and eliminate all traces!"

"Many of the company's documents are kept in the Governor's Palace. Including the taxes we collected for them, the loyalty we expressed, and our property registration! Looking at this situation, the Dutch are like a mud Buddha crossing the river and cannot protect themselves."

"If the imperial court really comes, if we take a closer look at the things we have done to the Dutch, we will be sentenced to at least three thousand miles of exile, right? If the master who presides over Nanyang wants to spend some money again, why don't we take action on you and me? Scratch the poor guy’s money?”

"But they are all scraping money, so there are different opinions."

"If we invade the Governor's Palace and burn the company's documents, will you and I still be guilty?"

"If you and I are guilty, and the master who presides over Nanyang arrests us and devours our family property, that is called 'eliminating the traitors and collecting the unfaithful children'. It is just and logical. You and I can't even let go."

"And if you and I are not guilty, but have made meritorious deeds, we are in Cao's camp and our hearts are with Han. When the time comes, we will each give some of our family wealth to the governor of Batavia in the imperial court in the name of helping the army. "

"Make two accounts, one public account to support the army; one private account to send to the governor of Batavia in the court. The public account is small and the private account is large. We can pool hundreds of thousands of taels. It concerns the lives of hundreds of people. If it is less than hundreds of thousands of taels, it is really not worth it."

"Although we are all bleeding, this is completely different. What do you think?"