New Shun 1730

Valkenir's decision was very decisive.

The Dutch soldiers who received the order immediately abandoned the cannons, retreated backwards, and joined the infantry.

The hired Bugis cavalry covered the Dutch flank without initiative. If it was an elite cavalry unit of their own people, they should take the initiative to move towards the flank of the "rebels" to threaten. Using the mobility of the cavalry, there is no need to really attack, as long as they are close enough, they can use their subjective initiative to cover.

But obviously, these Bugis cavalry did not want to consume themselves. They knew very well that they were just local mercenaries who were paid to do things. If Dashun gave money, they could also work for Dashun; if the rebels gave money, their pirates might really send the rebels to Borneo. But if the Dutch gave more money, they would of course sell the rebels.

After seizing the Dutch cannons, the Guiyi Army did not continue to pursue, and basically watched the Dutch evacuate.

That night, the Guiyi Army stayed in the castle for one night. The fleet that appeared on the sea during the day triggered a discussion among these soldiers. The soldiers habitually avoided the officers and talked privately about the fleet of the imperial court that appeared during the day.

These Guiyi Army soldiers and unemployed slaves from the former sugar factory had very complicated feelings about the imperial court.

They first came to Batavia and were deceived to be "piglets", not merchants to do business. The Dutch were hateful, and the sugar factory owners were almost the same. But the same, as long as they could live a stable life in their hometown and survive, no one would be willing to leave their hometown, leave their family and parents, and run to Southeast Asia to seek survival.

To some extent, from the perspective of people who were forced to leave their hometown, going to Southeast Asia was similar to the enclosure movement in the West. No one was willing to give up their identity as farmers and go to strange places to survive in strange ways.

Their feelings about the imperial court before could only be said to be nothing.

At the grassroots level, they basically could not feel the existence of the imperial court, and they dealt with landlords, scholars, clan leaders.

They knew that the court was called Dashun, that the emperor's surname was Li, and that they had to pay taxes and perform labor service, but they had no impression of the rest.

When they arrived in Batavia, they were far away in a foreign country, so they should have been able to awaken the concept of "who I am".

But the situation in Batavia was different. 95% of the contractors of the sugar factory were Chinese; the supervisors of the sugarcane plantations were basically Chinese; the people who gave them coins instead of copper coins and silver coins, and warned them that if they dared to make trouble, they would report to Batavia that they did not have residence permits, and that without residence permits they would be arrested by the Dutch and forced to perform labor until death were also Chinese.

In this case, it is nonsense to let them spontaneously awaken their national consciousness. If the contractors of the sugar factory were replaced by Dutch, and the supervisors and bosses who did not pay them were replaced by Dutch, they might awaken.

But there is some black humor. Before and after the Hongxi Massacre, the residence permits were not strictly checked. Every year during the Spring Festival, when the drama of exchanging coins for copper coins to go home and asking for wages began, it was the Dutch who could preside over this justice... Although most of the time they would take money to favor the sugar factory owners, there would occasionally be a few people who uphold the law and justice. In an era when the people assumed that officials were all bastards and the gates of the government offices faced south, if you had no money, you could not enter, making a little bit of normal judgment would also be praised and sung.

It is amazing or not amazing that these slaves had a relatively better relationship with the Javanese who worked with them. On the contrary, the sugar factory contractors and supervisors who had black hair and black eyes like them had a very bad relationship with them.

The reason for their uprising can be explained by a sentence in the history books: [If you die now, you will die. If you make a big plan, you will die. Waiting for death, is it okay for the country to die? ]

Because it was rumored that the Dutch would send people who did not have residence permits and did not pay the head tax to Ceylon. But in fact, when the ship reached the sea, people would be thrown directly into the sea.

It is conceivable how they felt about the court at the beginning of the uprising. A group of people who can say things like "He Li Zicheng can start a rebellion and do great things, from a peasant to an emperor. If he Li Zicheng can do it, why can't we do it?" can imagine their attitude towards the court.

However, this attitude gradually changed with the court's interference in Batavia's immigration policy, the court's guarantee for migration to Ceylon, and the emperor's use of the treasury to pay the head tax for three years.

Their mentality gradually changed to "the emperor and some adults are good people, but some treacherous officials do not do their job properly."

This mentality is very important. This is the basis for them to be able to turn their hearts to the court.

As Niu Er and others purged the high-prestige slaves such as Huang Ban, more and more people were sent by the court. Those with political ideas, even those with immature and naive political ideas such as fleeing to Borneo, were purged, and the remaining people gradually changed from insurgents who gathered in the mountains and volcanoes to the recruited returnees.

Similarly, when they were in the sugar factory, they were exploited by the sugarcane contractors.

In the volcanic area, they were surrounded by the Dutch and the exiled local indigenous small feudal nobles.

The change of the enemy also prompted them to gradually find a community that could protect themselves. Although the entity of this community was far away on the other side of the sea, they at least no longer disliked it.

Under this changed mentality, the court fleet that appeared on the sea during the day, although they did not know that they were actually registered in the Privy Council of the court, still cheered for the appearance of the court fleet.

As the night progressed, bonfires were lit around Cirebon Castle. The rebel soldiers sat around the fire, discussing the past of the day and the future of tomorrow.

"The imperial court has sent troops. This time, the Dutch are finished. I heard from the leaders that this time the imperial court sent many warships. Moreover, it was led by the man who led the troops to fight against Rakshasa and attack the Western Region, forcing the Dutch not to kill people. Where are the soldiers?”

The talking soldier is sitting by the campfire and holding a clamp in his hand.

The blazing flames burned the small crucible above, and the lead blocks put in gradually melted into lead water.

While talking, he skillfully poured the lead water in the crucible into the clamp, and the solidified lead bullet turned into the shape of the clamp.

He banged it hard on the ground, and the round lead bullets fell out. After cooling, the partners next to him polished some of the unevenness on it and put it into a heavy bag of lead bullets.

The corporal commander looked back at the officers' camp in the distance, took out his tobacco bag, pressed a ball of tobacco, took two puffs, handed it to his companion next to him, and spat towards the fire.

"If the imperial court really comes, they might want to recruit us. We are soldiers, and we eat food as soldiers. It is only natural that we eat food from the court. We are not eating food from red-haired ghosts. I don't think there is much difference."

"It's impossible for the court to take back the land we divided. But if the court wants to take back the land we divided, it's hard to say."

The soldier who continued to collect lead bullets laughed and said: "Impossible. Didn't it mean that the emperor paid the head tax to those people and immigrated them to Ceylon out of fear that the Dutch would kill them?"

Speaking of this, the corps commander scolded: "Sailianmu, if the imperial court hadn't provided this money, we would have brought down the entire Java. Otherwise, tens of thousands of brothers who had no food to eat would come to us, let alone the well." Li Wen, even Bacheng, can’t be defeated?”

"I think the imperial court is not very smart. If you want to do it, why should you give the red-haired ghost money?"

"But speaking of it, we are not afraid. It depends on what our leaders think. If the court treats them well, it would be fine. But it's not like you haven't heard of Water Margin. It's hard to have a good ending in the court."

These soldiers all nodded, thinking that this was indeed the case. They serve as soldiers and eat food. If the imperial court can recruit them, it seems to have little impact on them. As long as the court pays the salary, there is no psychological pressure when working. At least it wasn't the red-haired ghosts fighting them.

They don’t understand politics, but at least they have heard the story of Water Margin. I thought that the difference between myself might not be big, but what did the leaders think?

Many soldiers have settled here. Although those who come here to do business and have money usually have a family in China and find a local woman here, and most of the time they look down on local women. But the status of these soldiers is far different. When they were slave laborers, the only chance they had to meet women was to visit brothels.

After the uprising, most of these soldiers married local women. Compared with the past, where there were no descendants to offer a bowl of rice after death, marrying a local woman can be considered a good life.

The rebel army did not have much military pay, because even if they had money, they had nowhere to buy anything. The army implements a rationing system, so you can eat enough. The local climate is quite good, and the rice yield is not low. However, life in the army was tight, and he could drink occasionally, and tobacco leaves were grown locally, but other things were far behind.

They have a set of military uniforms, which are made of woolen goods brought by the British. But most of the time, they wear exotic local fabrics, woven from palm leaves.

Although you can spend money to buy things from the British, your priority must be to ensure that arms and the rebel army can train regularly. The rest of the daily necessities are definitely far behind.

Fortunately, there is no shortage of salt or food in the local area. Compared with the life in the sugar factory, it is still better after all.

Good and bad are contrasted.

These people think life is good now. At least, they had their own land, and the leaders promised that when they reached old age, they could retire from the army and the land they were allocated would be their own.

Thinking of this, the soldier with the lead bullet looked at the starry sky and suddenly sighed.

"I don't know if my mother is still alive. If she is alive, and the court promises not to move our land, I will consider taking my mother over. We will be here from now on. It's good here, at least I'm hungry If you are really starving, you can still chew banana leaves, so at least you won’t die of hunger.”

"It would be best if the imperial court still used us as soldiers. If we were paid, we would live a pretty good life. We can get two taels of silver a month, and we can buy things after taking Batavia. This year I can also wear cotton clothes for my family and have a good meal during the New Year.”

"If this is really the case, then what else is there to consider?"