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 shouted 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 slowly and read 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.

It’s over!”

The young man asked: "Father, what should we do?"

The middle-aged man responded: "Go and arrange a fast boat back to the south. 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 long time, he started to write a letter. But what he used was not the common bamboo brush, but a beautiful feather. The front end of the feather was sharpened and dipped in ink.

You can now write 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 is far away in Batavia, Java, but a considerable part of its trading activities are carried out in Northeast Asia. Haihan and Ming Dynasty are its main trading partners. Therefore, compradors like Su Keyi, who are of Chinese origin,

This is where it comes in handy.

After the Dutch East India Company formally established diplomatic relations with Haihan, Su Keyi was sent to Haihan as minister, which lasted for twenty years. During this period, although the East India Company also had the intention of replacing him,

However, no candidate with comparable abilities has been found, so Su Keyi's term can only be extended again and again.

Su Keyi would return to Batavia every two years to report on his work, but it still caused 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 here when he was six years old.

Sanya, and then live here with him.

Perhaps it is because he grew up here that Su Yongshan is 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 is very familiar with the working style of the Executive Committee. He knows that this method of guiding public opinion through newspaper reports before big operations is a common method used by the Executive Committee in the past.

Over the 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 of the East India Company's trade routes in Northeast Asia were controlled by Haihan. In Southeast Asia, Haihan

region, 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 was originally within the East India Company's sphere of influence, as its own.

Although the trade environment in Batavia has not deteriorated significantly, thanks to Haihan, the East India Company's sphere of influence has indeed been shrinking year by year. And for this trend, the company's board of directors has no effective means of resistance.

After all, with Spain as a negative example, the board of directors would not be so naive as to think that the city of Batavia would 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, as long as he maintains normal communication with the Haihan Executive Committee

, just collect all kinds of 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 doesn't know exactly in which direction Haihan will use troops, Haihan's actions will undoubtedly further compress the East India Company's living space. Fortunately, such large-scale actions that need to build momentum and guide public opinion in advance usually have a relatively long preparation period.

, will not start taking action immediately. Su Keyi still has sufficient time to collect information and send a warning to Batavia so that the other side can prepare in advance for the coming storm.

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 fast ship under the office to be ready for departure. Since Su Keyi took office, one or two such fast ships have been berthed at the local port all year round, waiting for the office's dispatch at any time.

Be prepared for emergencies.

Su Yongshan then went to Fort Victory and submitted an application for a meeting. Meeting a big shot like Tao Donglai was not something you could just expect. Applications for meetings like this would generally not receive an immediate response, so he could only come back and wait for the 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 raised his head and looked 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 the Haihan army's victory over the Spanish fleet that came to attack in Port Victory 21 years ago. This shows that the Spaniards are Haihan's most concerned opponents. If nothing else, the first unlucky one this time

It’s them!”
Chapter completed!