Traveling through the late Ming Dynasty to promote Chinese civilization

Chapter 322: Far Distance and Close Attack

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Putmans shrugged: "There's no need to be mysterious when talking to smart people. As long as the company has a stable supply of goods, I think we can cooperate to some extent. After all, Spain is our common enemy."

"A common enemy?" Liu Ye was a little confused. "There is indeed a theoretical conflict between me and Spain, but you are just competitors. Besides, each of us has our own colonies, so we should keep to ourselves, right?"

Putmans explained to him: "Our country's full name is the United Republic of the Seven Provinces of the Netherlands. We were ruled by Spain in the last century. The union was established in 1581, and we declared independence and abolished the Spanish king's rule over the Dutch provinces. Although we became a de facto country, the Spanish king did not recognize us. Our war with Spain was not limited to the Far East; we were also at war in Europe. Legally speaking, we are not yet a real country."

Liu Ye then realized that the Dutch were still arguing about separating from Spain at this time, and were not theoretically independent. No wonder the two sides were so at odds.

At this point, a new idea popped into his head.

"Cooperation with you is not out of the question. I have a proposal: you send troops to drive out the Spanish in Keelung and Danshui—I can provide naval support if necessary—destroy these two strongholds, and then hand over Fort Zeelandia. In return, I can consider giving you 50,000 lire as a service fee. In addition, you can freely enter and exit the port of Bofu to conduct trade, while I will refuse the Spanish entry into any Ming port for private trade. What do you think?"

Liu Ye's idea was simple: For the Qiongzhou troops to land in Taiwan and fight, aside from the issue of attrition, acclimatization problems would be a minor hurdle. Hainan has a long summer and no winter, with consistently high temperatures and a dry climate, while Taipei, where Keelung is located, has a subtropical monsoon climate—hot and humid. Army soldiers accustomed to tropical climates would certainly suffer non-combat casualties. It would be better to exploit the conflict between the Dutch and Spanish, letting them fight amongst themselves, achieving the goal of expelling the Spanish while sparing the army the hardship of a long march—a win-win situation. Regarding trade rights, since the Spanish were being unreasonable and demanding exorbitant prices, they could be completely excluded from the game, giving the Dutch the illusion of a "monopoly on trade." As for labor costs, if 50,000 rials could hire Dutch soldiers to fight, plus the acquisition of a well-equipped castle like Zeelandia, it was a profitable deal no matter how you looked at it—how much time and money would it take to build a castle of that scale? Consider it compensation for the Dutch's forced relocation.

Putmans thought it over carefully and decided it wasn't unacceptable. He replied, "Expelling the Spanish is fine, and free trade is acceptable—although it's not a monopoly on trade, excluding Spain would eliminate one of our biggest competitors. However, 50,000 rials is too little; at least 100,000 rials!"

The two began to haggle. Liu Ye held up a "six" with his hand: "At most 60,000 rials, no more than that."

"Nine thousand lier! That way I can report back to the council."

"Eighty thousand liers, take it or leave it. If you keep nagging, I won't give you a single lier."

"make a deal!"

This price satisfied both sides. For Putmans, 80,000 lire was a drop in the ocean compared to the cost of building Zeelandia, but it was better than nothing. If the Qiongzhou camp were to launch a full-scale attack, they wouldn't get a single lire. Most importantly, it secured a stable supply of goods and eliminated Spain, their biggest competitor. For Liu Ye, this money allowed him to take Zeelandia without bloodshed and incidentally hire the Dutch to fight the Spanish—it was incredibly worthwhile.

With the deal finalized, both sides were in good spirits. Liu Ye took the initiative to extend an invitation: "Business is done, how about we have a couple of drinks tonight and try some of our Eastern baijiu? I guarantee it's no worse than brandy."

Putmans chuckled, “It would be a pleasure to have dinner with you. But what about that guest from Manila?”

Liu Ye understood and waved his hand, saying, "These Spaniards don't know their place. Qiongzhou doesn't welcome guests like this. Just get rid of them."

"Hehehe..." They both laughed.

Poor Isabella hadn't even figured out what was going on when she was told the negotiations had broken down and she was ordered to leave Lingao and return to Manila by tomorrow at the latest. Liu Ye's strategy of building alliances and attacking nearby factions in Southeast Asia was thus born.

Qiongzhou Camp's plan to dominate the East Asian seas is proceeding at full speed.

After accepting Liu Ye's terms, the East India Company dispatched soldiers from Zeelandia, who, under the cover of naval bombardment from Qiongzhou, easily destroyed the two Spanish strongholds of Keelung and Tamsui north of Taiwan. As agreed, they then withdrew the military personnel and trading post administrators from Zeelandia and sent them back to Batavia. Dutch merchants and civilians who remained in the city and refused to evacuate were allowed to stay; aside from the change in administration, their lives remained essentially unchanged.

After the purge of the Da Yuan (a powerful local official), Zheng Zhifeng, who had recruited enough people in Fujian, officially took up his post as the tax supervisor of Qiongzhou Camp in Fort Zeelandia. He began to build his team, assign tasks, and prepare for the upcoming tax collection work. Because Da Yuan was not yet formally under the jurisdiction of the Ming government, its name was inconsistent. The Ming government called it Dongfan (Eastern Barbarians), while the common people called it Da Yuan, Taiwowan, or Taiyuan. The Dutch called it Da Yuan, the Portuguese called it Formosa, and the Japanese called it Takayama-koku (High Mountain Country). Therefore, Liu Ye (the author of the novel) restored Da Yuan to its later name—Taiwan (Taiwan). He also changed the awkward name Zeelandia back to Tainan for easier reference by the Chinese people. The official name of the tax agency located in the former Fort Zeelandia was Qiongzhou Camp Tainan Tax Office, named after the Ming Dynasty's paper customs. Because taxes were not collected in paper money, it was not called a paper customs office, and this also avoided provoking the court, since only the court could set up paper customs offices.

In Qiongzhou, the local customs office was naturally the Bofu Customs, and Zhang Mingli was chosen as its tax supervisor. The Qiongzhou camp's influence in Guangdong was already very solid; the sales of goods like cotton cloth could be handled smoothly by ordinary shopkeepers, without the need for a separate person in charge. Moreover, with the opening of trade routes to Japan and the establishment of the two major customs offices, the Qiongzhou camp's main source of income changed. The revenue from Hangzhou Wanhualou, as well as the sales of cotton cloth and liquor, became negligible in total revenue. Therefore, Zhang Mingli was transferred to a more important position.

A number of Wuxiang-class patrol ships were dispatched to the coastal areas of Fujian and the Jiangnan estuary to announce the new rules to all maritime merchants: regardless of whether the fleet was selling goods to Southeast Asia or Japan, it was required to pay taxes at either Tainan or Bofu port. Only with a written receipt after paying the taxes could the ships sail safely. Otherwise, any ship or cargo found to be evading taxes would be seized and confiscated.