Chapter 665 Hostility

After talking to Van der Wegen, the anger in Cohen's heart due to the news of the defeat of the generals gradually calmed down. Judging from the information now learned, this battle was not an armed conflict that broke out accidentally. The opponent actually had a long history.

Premeditated and fully prepared, although Dutch sailing ships have never been afraid of naval battles, the armed fleet sent from Taiyuan Port did suffer a big loss due to lack of preparation during the battle.

It was obvious that their opponents did not intend to kill them all, so they let go of the fleet's flagship, allowing Van der Wegen to have the opportunity to escape from the battlefield. However, their purpose of doing so was not fully understood by Cohen. He only vaguely felt that the opponent's

The purpose is not simple, it is not just to promote force. The terrifying strength displayed by Haihan in the Fujian War once again attracted Cohen's attention to this emerging force. He discovered that in the past few years, the East Indian

The company focused too much energy on maintaining the trading system in Northeast Asia and ignored the quiet rise of potential competitors.

At a hearing the next day, the company's top brass listened to Van der Wegen's account of the Battle of Fujian, which once again aroused heated debate among the directors. Once again, the directors were divided between war and peace.

Each faction held their own opinions and argued fiercely, but the focus of the dispute changed from Natuna Island last time to the distant Ming Dynasty Fujian.

However, this time the voice of the main war faction was obviously much quieter than last time. After all, Fujian is too far away from Batavia. Anyone with a little military knowledge can imagine how amazing the manpower, material and financial resources required for the expedition are, not to mention

The opponent is no longer the weak Fujian Ming Army seven years ago. Not only have they updated their equipment and personnel, but they also have Haihan, a powerful foreign aid that cannot be ignored.

According to the information presented by van der Wegen, the Fujian Ming Army, especially the Navy, has undergone large-scale equipment updates and personnel adjustments in the past three years. A large number of young officers who have received Haihan special training have begun to appear in command positions

Many of them are inextricably related to Xu Xinsu, the current Fujian Army General. To a certain extent, this Ming army, which has been replaced with fresh blood, can even be regarded as Xu Xinsu's private army. The characteristics of these young officers

The common feature, in addition to their personal loyalty to Xu Xinsu, is their admiration for Haihan's military system and equipment.

According to incomplete statistics, in the past three years, Haihan sold more than a thousand rifles to the Fujian Ming Army every year, and the transaction content started last year has been upgraded from the original matchlock gun to a flintlock gun with more advanced performance.

The Fujian Ming Army purchased more than 50 artillery pieces of various calibers every year. Zhongzuosuo City, Shibazhi’s key attack target in the past few years, was almost all equipped with the standard provided by Haihan

Weapons, this also directly led to the fact that Shibazhi has almost never achieved a decent victory in the past three years, and the combat goal of capturing Zhongzuo Suo has never been achieved.

In addition, Haihan has been providing new warships to the Fujian Navy since last year. Although not many have entered service, it is obvious that this momentum will not stop. Xu Xinsu used a large amount of silver in exchange for

With the help of military assistance, the strength of the Fujian Ming Army will increase year by year, and may even further threaten the security of the Dutch colony in Damuan Port and the East India Company's routes in Northeast Asia.

"How can the Fujian government have so much money to equip the army? As far as I know, the Ming Empire's military expenditures all come from their Ministry of War, and this empire has been struggling with enemies in the north in recent years. They have even increased their military expenditures.

The proportion of taxes in the southern region was increased to subsidize military expenditures in the northern battlefield. Under such circumstances, how could the Ministry of War of the Ming Dynasty approve these expenditures of the Fujian government?" The person asking the question obviously had a relatively in-depth understanding of the Ming Dynasty, and this question also

The question is just right.

Van der Wegen explained: "In fact, according to the information we have, only a very small part of these military expenditures were approved by the Ministry of War of the Ming Dynasty, and most of them were privately funded by Xu Xinsu and the Fujian business group led by him. This is also

This is an important reason why he placed a large number of cronies in the army. In addition, we also heard that Haihan’s banking institutions provided them with an unknown amount of loans specifically for them to purchase Haihan’s arms and equipment.”

"Borrowing money from the Haihan people to buy their weapons? Didn't the money just go around and go back to their own pockets? These profiteers!" Some people expressed contempt for this behavior at that moment, completely forgetting that Europe at this time

On the battlefield, there were also many Dutch businessmen who did the same thing when they were arms brokers.

Most of Van der Wegen's information came from the spies arranged by Shibazhi earlier in Zhangzhou, Quanzhou and other places. Although the information that could be collected was not complete, it was considered to have a certain effect. Haihan Bank did start in 1629

From the beginning, it has been providing low-interest loans specifically for arms procurement to the Fujian military, or to be precise, Xu Xinsu's private individuals. This is also one of Haihan Ordnance's methods to sell arms to the outside world. The same method is not only used in

Fujian also has similar operations in its arms trade with Annan.

In fact, Xu Xinsu's economic situation is much better than that of the Annan people. After taking charge of the military power of a province, the wealth he can create through the various business channels he controls overtly and covertly is also quite astonishing. It is not easy to describe him as being as rich as the enemy.

That's not true. During the transaction with Haihan, it was more often the case that Xu Xinsu's party was restricted in the quantity and type of arms purchased, rather than the question of whether they could get the money. The Fujian side was willing to use Haihan Bank's low-cost

One of the reasons for the interest-rate loan is that it can use the loan to purchase some arms and equipment that were originally restricted-for example, the Haihan warship that the Fujian Navy has always wanted, so it is necessary to sign a loan agreement first and then sign a purchase contract.

This is not just a matter of people from Haihan Bank and Haihan Ordnance having nothing to do. In fact, in addition to allowing the bank's idle funds to earn a certain amount of interest, this transaction method also has a very important

Its function is to promote the application of banking services in Fujian. After Fujian officials adopted the bank's loan services, Haihan had a better example to use as a propaganda when promoting the bank settlement system to Fujian businessmen.

As for the loan to the Fujian military headed by Xu Xinsu, Haihan Bank did not have to worry about the safe recovery of funds. After all, the cooperation between the two parties was now very in-depth, and the disputes of interest had long been beyond the loan amount, and Xu Xinsu did not care at all.

By paying interest, he increased the price to buy the high-end equipment that Haihan restricted from selling - what he cared more about was whether it could be purchased, rather than the price at which it was purchased.

Of course, such low-interest loan methods are currently only provided to the Fujian government, and Haihan Bank's unique financial settlement method is promoted to the private sector. Similar methods have been operating in Guangdong for a longer time, and the mechanism is

It is also becoming mature and can basically be directly applied to Fujian. Merchants traveling between Fujian, Guangdong and Hainan Island can use Haihan Bank's office system to realize money withdrawals and trade settlements in other places, eliminating the need for them to carry them in the past.

It is inconvenient and dangerous to travel long distances with large amounts of cash. Some merchants with strong capital and good credit can also directly apply for temporary loans from Haihan Bank when their turnover is inconvenient. Of course, the interest on such loans is not like the special loans provided to the government.

Loans are so low.

As for the security of these funds, it has also been gradually improved through continuous operations. After several years of operation, the "Golden Shield Escort" that was born in Guangzhou has now opened branches in all cities in Guangdong.

, and also opened offices in Zhangzhou and Quanzhou, Fujian. The staff has also expanded rapidly from a hundred or so people at the time of establishment to a huge scale of more than a thousand people now. Of course, such a large number of people are no longer just from Lijiazhuang.

It is composed of children, two-thirds of whom are naturalized people, and the operating power of the entire organization is no longer decided by Li Nai alone - of course, he has no control over things like doing business.

He is so thoughtful that even if he knows the movements of the Haihan people, he will still pretend not to see them.

In addition to the armed escort of valuables such as gold, silver and jewelry between various places, the "Golden Shield Escort" also has another important function as the armed security personnel of Haihan Bank. This protection not only refers to protecting the people and money in the bank

, and at the same time have to undertake tasks under special circumstances - such as the need to use force to recover some troublesome accounts. And local officials, because of their Haihan background, often turn a blind eye to their actions. With such a

Thanks to the easy-to-use power hitter, Haihan Bank has avoided a lot of troubles when promoting its business in local areas.

Of course, in addition to this, this organization also has a relatively secretive mission, which is to be added to the militia army as an established force under the unified command of the military during wartime. A considerable number of soldiers who retired from the Haihan Militia have entered this organization

Work, after all, the pay here is much higher than going home to farm or work in a factory. It can be considered a good way out for veterans. This organization usually implements military management, and the personnel of each team are

The leaders are almost all veterans with military experience in the militia. During the war, they can complete the role change in a very short time and turn this civilian armed force into a part of the regular army. Although it cannot be used on the frontal battlefield, it is used to maintain

It is certainly sufficient to maintain local order, manage logistics, and serve as temporary police.

The penetration effect of this financial system combined with commercial activities in Fujian cannot be reflected by the intelligence collected by Shibazhi's spies. The merchants of the East India Company did not understand the relationship between Haihan and the Fujian government.

This trading method is largely due to the historical enmity between the Netherlands and the Ming Dynasty. As a result, the East India Company can only rely on small-scale smuggling transactions to maintain trade with the Ming Dynasty. If they have the opportunity, they can visit Zhangzhou City in person.

, take a look at the local large-scale Haihan dedicated wharf, browse the rows of Haihan products in Zhangzhou city, and listen to what the locals think of Haihan’s various penetration methods. They may realize that Haihan people use such complex methods to

To engage in trade, what you are doing is not just the extra interest income.

"Gentlemen, please be quiet and listen to what I have to say." Cohen reached out and tapped the table twice. The directors who were still arguing immediately fell silent. The power he has accumulated as the governor for many years has not been affected by his decline in physical condition.

And how much is reduced.

Cohen was very satisfied with the effect. After everyone calmed down, he continued: "Gentlemen, we must first correct a misunderstanding. The current Fujian army is not the same army we fought seven years ago. Replacement

It's not just their commanders, but also their weapons and fighting methods, and this is a situation we have never encountered in the Far East before. I had a careful conversation with Mr. van der Wegen yesterday about the Haihan people's naval warfare methods and

The experience deserves our vigilance. They are indeed a rising star, but they are not newbies! They are not only good at making weapons and warships, but they are also very good at fighting... Judging from what is known so far, whether

Whether at sea or on land, their armies have a very high combat level. In the battle to defeat Mr. Van der Wegen, the Ming navy obviously obeyed the command of the Haihan people and acted as a decoy throughout the battle.

, the role of cannon fodder and handymen, this shows that the Fujian Ming Army highly respected the strength of the Haihan Militia and was willing to appear as an auxiliary army on the battlefield belonging to the Ming Dynasty. Gentlemen, this is a very scary thing!"

All participants have quieted down and listened quietly to Cohen's analysis. Whether it is military or political fields, Cohen's knowledge and depth of thought are undoubtedly much higher than those present, and his opinions almost represent

The will of the East India Company and his views on this matter will also directly affect the company's attitude on how to deal with the situation in Fujian.

Cohen stopped and coughed a few times, and then continued: "Gentlemen, given the attitude of the Ming Dynasty, Annan and the Portuguese towards Haihan, I think this will be a strong opponent that the East India Company will face since it enters the Far East.

Here I must first admit that I made a mistake in my decision-making. We all know that when they first arrived on Qiongzhou Island a few years ago, there were only a few hundred people. If we heard about the emergence of this force as soon as possible, we would have sent an armed fleet to Qiongzhou Island to deal with it.

If they are eliminated, then they will not be able to threaten our colonies a few years later. And the current Haihan is no longer a weakling that can be dealt with by simply sending a fleet. And what we must pay attention to is that they have already

Showed obvious hostility towards us!"
Chapter completed!