New Shun 1730

On November 20 of this year, hundreds of citizens in Colombo, Ceylon, took to the streets to celebrate Ceylon's Thanksgiving.

A hundred years ago, it was on this day that the Dutch drove the Portuguese away, so all Ceylonese people should be grateful. If you don't participate in such a festival, everyone will be fined 100 silver coins. Even Chinese immigrants who do not believe in Catholicism or other variants of Christianity and are considered a closed ethnic group by the Dutch in Batavia must participate.

The local Sinhalese described this "Thanksgiving" as "disliking ginger is too spicy, so they changed to chili peppers" to illustrate the handover between the Portuguese and the Dutch. If it is changed to a Chinese saying, it is a hanging style.

However, this year's Thanksgiving is a little different. From time to time, bursts of salutes can be heard from the port. Many Chinese flocked to the port to see the Celestial Empire's fleet stop in Colombo.

These Chinese gradually understood the significance of warships.

Just like when the Celestial Empire's warships went to Batavia, the treatment of the Chinese was improved. The rumored immigrants were thrown into the sea halfway, but they were not thrown into the sea, but the mortality rate was still very high.

Those who survived were lucky. The earliest batch of people were about to complete their contract slave labor period and were about to become free farmers.

This was an unimaginable good thing in Batavia.

Many people thought that it was probably the warships of the court that played a role.

For the Chinese immigrants, life in Colombo was much better than in Batavia.

Because those who could afford the head tax did not need to immigrate; those who could not afford the head tax could imagine their life in Batavia.

Good and bad are compared.

Although these three or four years were also very hard, at least there was hope and expectation.

In Batavia, life was almost as hard, but there was no hope or expectation: before the large-scale purging of the sugar industry, the so-called hope and expectation of the sugar factory workers was that when they received their wages during the Spring Festival, the fellow village owners who said the same thing would give them copper coins and silver coins, instead of lead coins issued internally and useless outside the sugar factory; after the large-scale purging of the sugar industry, they either became beggars, or stole, or could only endure jobs that were free of charge but only gave them food, and lived worse than those blacks or Balinese slaves, because slaves were property, and cattle were not beaten to death, but those who dared to run away without residence permits would be reported to the Dutch government and arrested for hard labor.

No one explained to them clearly that the root of all this was the Dutch colonial rule and divide-and-rule policy, as well as the monopoly and extremely low sugar purchase prices.

However, there was no one who could see through this at that time. This requires peeling off the outer skin of the world to see through the essence. If someone could see through it and promote these principles among the slaves, I am afraid that the Li Dynasty of Dashun would have turned to ashes long ago.

So the cruel Dutch, under the threat of Dashun gunboats, turned into people who gave these slaves hope.

From Batavia to Ceylon, as long as they worked hard for Ceylon for three or four years, they were actually contract slaves, and they could be allocated a piece of land.

A piece of land, a piece of land that belongs to you.

Including 36 acres of rice fields and 24 acres of dry land. However, these 24 acres of dry land need to be planted with indigo, coffee, or other crops on the list of land tax compensation.

If the planting amount is not enough, it must be compensated with rice or silver coins, or they will be arrested and imprisoned.

These lands cannot be bought or sold, nor can they be rented, and can only be planted by families.

This seemingly extremely harsh policy is simply an unparalleled benevolent policy in the eyes of these immigrant slaves.

These Fujianese and Cantonese people, let alone 60 acres of land, would not have been able to go to Southeast Asia to work as slaves if they had 10 acres of land at home.

Now the Dutch have promised to give 36 acres of paddy fields and 24 acres of dry land, and only pay 40% of the land rent according to the land. In addition, they have to serve the colonial government for three weeks every year without compensation. If this is not considered "benevolent governance", what is "benevolent governance"?

At that time, the resettled immigrants will be appointed by the Dutch to a Lei Zhenlan, who will be responsible for collecting the in-kind rent of coffee, indigo and other things that should be paid. If it is not enough, Lei Zhenlan will be punished, and Lei Zhenlan also has the power to punish subordinate farmers.

In addition to the rent, the Dutch will also come to purchase coffee, etc., and they are not allowed to sell it to others privately. The price is set by the Dutch.

The first batch of Chinese slaves who immigrated here that year only had one year left before this "benevolent governance" was fulfilled.

Although less than five out of ten people survived these years, those who survived until now were full of hope, counting the stars and looking forward to the day coming soon.

Their gratitude to the Dashun court was almost the same as that to the Dutch - if the Dutch's promise was really fulfilled.

Because there was a very clear rumor among these immigrants, with a clear vein.

It was said that the Dutch were originally prepared to kill all the unemployed Chinese who could not pay the head tax. But the court sent the general who recovered the Western Regions and conquered Japan in the past to Batavia with warships, warning the Dutch: These are all children of the Celestial Empire. If you dare to kill them, Batavia must be wiped out.

The Dutch in Japan were still trembling, and they were going to pay homage to the Japanese general. The general of the court beat the Japanese to tears, and the Dutch were so scared that they had to choose to immigrate to Ceylon.

This story has a nose and an eye. Even the emperor was angry after hearing this in the Forbidden Palace. Just in time for dinner, he heard that the Dutch wanted to massacre the Chinese. He was so angry that he smashed a bowl made of precious stones and chopsticks made of gold on the jade. On the table, it was broken to pieces.

Immediately, Liu Yu, the general who had just defeated Japan, was sent as marshal to Batavia with 100,000 heavenly troops. This scared the Dutch envoys and quickly changed their policy...

This story has been circulating since the ship carrying people to Ceylon, and it has become a fact in the past few years.

Most Dutch people also know this story. The question is, with so many immigrants, how can they possibly find out who spread it?

This story is quite credible, because when I was in Batavia, there was another story that was circulated before: going to Ceylon, and throwing it into the sea to feed the fish halfway.

With the previous story as a basis, this story is particularly believable.

In addition to this story, the imperial court also sent an observer here. If there were any problems, the observer would also meet with the Dutch. Sometimes, these observatories, who are tanned and speak with a Gyeonggi or Weihai accent, will go to the fields to talk to these immigrants and ask them about their hardships.

Of course, these observations did not lead to a high consciousness, but because they knew that being here was almost like serving a sentence. You can do whatever you have to do, there are regulations, how many times a year you have to visit the immigration center, etc.

If you can't finish it, you'll have to squat here for the rest of your life. If you do well, you may be promoted when you return. As for cheating, don't even think about it. Before going to Europa, Marquis Jing clearly told them that someone was hiding among the immigrants and watching them.

Squatting here and completing missions in Japan, North Korea, and Ryukyu in the future are completely different concepts. Not to mention the climate there, just talking about spending money to solve the problem of desire, at least if you are stationed in Japan or North Korea, you can still see it, but here it is all dark, which is really unbearable.

Besides, there are no opportunities to make a fortune here. This is Dutch territory, and the only extra money you can get is to accept bribes from the Dutch. But firstly, if you are accused in the future, you will have no future in your life; secondly, the Dutch are famous for being stingy, and it is unrealistic to expect them to pay bribes.

In addition to the "good and upright officials" that were rare to see in their hometowns before these slave workers went to Southeast Asia, another good impression these immigrants had on the imperial court was that the imperial court sent people to station here, bought cattle and horses from India, and smelted smelters from Liaodong. The ironworks brought the ironware and rented it to everyone, and then paid it back slowly in the future.

This is truly benevolent government.

Nowadays, the benevolent government of the imperial court has been felt.

It will take at least another year for the Dutch's "benevolent governance" to be realized.

As for now, we are still in the process of running towards hope, and we still have to work for the Dutch for free.

The only difference between them and those Tamil slaves is that they do not have the VOC mark branded on them with a branding iron.

Because the Tamils ​​did not have a fleet of their own. Dashun, on the other hand, has a fleet that can sail far away.

As for the rest, it's pretty much the same. Like those Tamil slaves, they worked in rice fields, built canals, built water storage tanks, reclaimed land, and built forts. They ate jackfruit, sometimes some rice, or fish.

It is said that the Dutch lost the war in India and their relations with Britain and France were not good. Tamil slaves were not very lucky to go here. Moreover, the work efficiency of these Chinese indentured slaves is indeed higher than that of the Tamils. At least in matters such as reclaiming wasteland, building canals, and building dams, these Chinese are still more talented than the Tamils ​​and are relatively more obedient.

After all, Batavia was built by the Chinese. To this day, the descendants of the first Kapitan Suming Kong still have a plaque with the title "Founding Father" hanging on their house.

But since the crowd can spread the story that the Dutch were preparing for massacre, there is naturally a story as to why they did not use a branding iron to brand VOC on their bodies.

This is called "The Holy Emperor threw down the jade bowl in anger, and the Eagle Sabo made a covenant with him in three chapters."

First, they must not be killed, second, they must not be enslaved, and third, they must not be forced to convert.

Today, the imperial fleet has arrived in Colombo again. It is said that the fleet is larger and more numerous than the previous one. These Chinese in Ceylon vaguely feel that the Dutch's promise of "benevolent government" will be fulfilled under the imperial warships. More likely to be fulfilled.

More and more Chinese immigrants gathered at the dock. Looking at the several giant ships in the distance, they all knew that these giant ships were only here for a short stay and would leave soon.

These people didn't have much money, so some of them held jackfruits that were pulpy and cheap here, or coconuts they picked, and gathered around to give them to officers in blue navy uniforms who were supplying supplies at the beach.

When several huge jackfruits and green coconuts were placed in front of Yonazi Ming, as the second fleet commander and the chief general who captured Ceylon, he smiled and distributed these coconuts and jackfruits to the captain's indoor meeting. Captains of each ship.

"People's hearts and minds."

He broke open a coconut, took two sips of the green coconut juice, and said two very simple but very heavy words.

Then he sipped the coconut juice and said following the first two words: "It's so sweet."

The French East India Company has purchased enough supplies in Pondicherry, and the soldiers on board will stay there for a month to repair and repair before attacking Ceylon. There was nothing that could be done about it. Dashun had no stronghold in Nanyang and could only go to French India for repairs.

Liu Yu set the time for him. The earliest was the twenty-third day of the winter lunar month, which was the small year, and the latest could not be past the third day of the first lunar month. During this period, take action when the opportunity arises.

That is mid-February 1745 in the Western calendar.

Because, on December 15, the merchant fleet of the Sino-Swiss Joint Trading Company, headed by the Free Trade and the Gothenburg, will leave Songjiang. If all goes well, we will have passed India by mid-February.

After the Dutch got the news of the war, they sold out all their goods. When they sail back from Sweden next year, the armistice agreement must have been signed to avoid being hijacked by the Dutch. A shipment of goods is worth several million taels of silver.

The envoys sent by Dashun to negotiate in Europe will also go with the merchant fleet. As for the outcome of the battle, it has not been fought yet, but it has been decided, from Ambon to Ceylon and several strongholds in India.

They wanted to take Dashun's victory in Nanyang with them to participate in the armistice negotiations for the War of Austrian Succession. One of the secret agreements agreed between Liu Yu and Louis XV was that the Netherlands must abandon the "Anglo-Dutch Mutual Defense Alliance Treaty".

The treaty Dashun wants to reach with the Netherlands is VOC reorganization.

The Swedish East India Company had no connection with India and Mauritius, so it was better to be called the Chinese Goods Company, so Dashun could use a trade embargo to force Sweden to reorganize its shares.

The Dutch East India Company had closer relations with Southeast Asia. The amount of trade with China was not enough to require such a large trade embargo, so it could only conquer Nanyang.