Chapter 1367: Profiteers Have No God in Their Hearts!

"Is the Dutch East India Company really that powerful?" Rear Admiral George Blake was greatly startled. "Did the Battle of Malacca in 1664 truly have no negative impact on the Dutch East India Company's operations? As far as I know, the company's shares listed and traded in Amsterdam and London have fallen quite a bit!"

William Beckett smiled bitterly. "Rear Admiral, the drop in the Dutch East India Company's share price was due to the decline in profits and reduction in dividends after they spun off their Indian Ocean operations. But the company's business in the Pacific region is extremely gratifying — all of it is growing substantially!

In particular, their investment in the Temasek Free City owned by the Son of Heaven has achieved enormous success! Over the past three or four years, the Dutch East India Company has poured hundreds of thousands of pounds into Temasek Island, building the city, the harbor, and the shipyard. They have also opened banks, trading posts, and plantations there. Although these investments have not yet produced profits, with the rapid development of the thirteen vassal states established by the Celestial Empire near the Strait of Malacca and the continuous growth of East-West trade, Temasek Free City is certain to become the central city of the Southern Seas region in the future — it will become as prosperous as Amsterdam and London!"

Is that true? Rear Admiral George Blake thought to himself: If we cannot drive those damned Dutch profiteers out of the Pacific this time, then once I return to London, I must buy more of those cursed Dutch East India Company shares!

Whatever he was thinking in his heart, Rear Admiral Blake's mouth held no kind words. He snorted: "Damned Dutch profiteers — on one hand joining the French in containing the Celestial Empire, and on the other helping the Son of Heaven develop Temasek Island. Do they have any God in their hearts at all?"

William Beckett shook his head. "Rear Admiral, the profiteers of the Dutch East India Company certainly have no God in their hearts! For the sake of money, what is there they would not sell?"

"Then how are we to win the Son of Heaven's support?" George Blake thought for a moment, then asked, "If we were to reveal to the Son of Heaven the collusion between the Dutch and the Shun Empire, is it possible he would stand on our side and suppress the Dutch?"

"Perhaps," William Beckett shrugged. "Rear Admiral, I do not understand the situation in the Ming homeland very well, so I cannot be certain whether the Son of Heaven knows about the Dutch colluding with the Shun Empire."

George Blake said with great certainty: "He definitely cannot know — otherwise how could he tolerate the Dutch earning money from the Ming on one hand while supporting the Ming's enemies on the other?"

William Beckett frowned, made no comment, and instead shifted direction. "Rear Admiral, it is rumored that the Son of Heaven dotes greatly on Aurangzeb's daughter, Princess Nisha. If Princess Nisha could be persuaded to speak for us, perhaps the Dutch East India Company could be made to lose the Son of Heaven's trust."

"Princess Nisha? Would she be willing to speak for us?"

"She should be," William Beckett said. "Because the Dutch and the French are inciting the Shun Empire to invade the Timurid Empire in India!"

George Blake's brows knitted together. "Is the intelligence reliable?"

"It is only a rumor, but the likelihood is high." William Beckett said thoughtfully, "The French envoy Fouquet and the Dutch envoy Bruys van Diemen left Haidu Prefecture two months ago and traveled north to the Shun Empire's capital, Kunming!

Recently the Shun Empire lost a very rich province. It is said that over a million people fled to Yunnan Province, where Kunming is located — without food or clothing, with no way out, they are very likely to take desperate risks and send troops to invade India."

George Blake's brows furrowed deeply, as if somewhat worried.

An invasion of the Timurid Empire in India by the Shun Empire was not necessarily bad news for England — because the English East India Company had good relations with the Timurid Empire and had long been its arms supplier.

If the Timurid Empire and the Shun launched a great war, the English East India Company would certainly reap rich profits. But he also had one concern: if the Shun Empire truly succeeded in conquering India, then the English East India Company's trade privileges in India would likely be utterly lost.

William Beckett looked at the deeply frowning George Blake and probed cautiously: "Rear Admiral, the Shun Empire has no usable navy. If we wanted to stop the invasion, it is not impossible — the only question is whether the Dutch and the French would intervene."

The English East India Company already had a number of armed merchant ships in the Indian Ocean, and George Blake had also brought a fleet with him. Although England's naval power in the Indian Ocean was still weaker than that of the Dutch, it could still pose a deadly threat to the Shun's weak navy.

"No!" George Blake shook his head. "His Highness the Lord Protector believes we should avoid going to war with France and Holland. England should remain neutral in this conflict as much as possible, in order to seek the greatest economic benefit. Perhaps his decision is the correct one."

As the two men were conversing, the office door was suddenly knocked upon, and then a clerk of the trading post was heard loudly reporting: "Mr. Beckett, the Shun Empire's Haidu Prefecture has sent someone over. They request that you go to the Haidu Prefectural Office immediately, saying that Prefect Gao of Haidu has returned and has asked for you by name."

William Beckett and George Blake exchanged a glance and smiled bitterly. "Rear Admiral, it seems the Shun Empire also knows that our naval power can pose a tremendous threat to their invasion operation."

George Blake sighed. "William, I will go with you. We must put the Shun Empire's people at ease. Besides, I have also brought the treaty text for the cession of Fort St. George for the Shun Empire. I believe this treaty should give them a full understanding of England's position!"

The treaty text George Blake had brought was the treaty ceding Fort St. George on the Coromandel Coast, approved by the board of directors of the English East India Company.

Fort St. George had now become Shunfeng Fort — a free city owned by the Shun Empire and jointly administered by the Dutch India Trading Company and the Shun Empire's government.

Losing this fortress appeared on the surface to be disadvantageous to the English East India Company, but at the same time it gave the English, the Ming Empire, and the Timurid Empire a common enemy — and the enemy of an enemy should be a friend, should they not?

The English cession of Fort St. George and the English navy's fleet visiting the East arrived almost back-to-back at Temasek, that bustling free city at the southeastern entrance to the Strait of Malacca.

Just as William Beckett had told George Blake, the city, with the help of the Dutch East India Company, was developing thrivingly. In just three or four short years, it had surpassed Batavia and Malacca to become the largest and most prosperous city around the Strait of Malacca.

This city, like Shanghai, was a blend of Chinese and Western styles. Although much smaller than the latter, it was cleaner and tidier. The roads were straight and broad, with covered sewers dug on both sides and stone-slab-covered drainage channels, as well as similarly enclosed water conduits — for a city situated in a tropical miasmic region, the water supply and sewage treatment facilities were extremely important!

The Governor-General's residence of the Dutch East India Company had now been moved from Batavia to Temasek City, on the most bustling street in the city. Of course, this "Governor-General" was in fact only the company's general manager, not the administrator of the city.

The administrator of Temasek City was called the Prefect, who was nominated by a council of city investors and then appointed by the Son of Heaven. This "free city model" might seem inconceivable in traditional Eastern civilization, but it was indeed the best way to manage a colonial city in a distant place.

Building a city required massive investment, and it also required introducing industry and commerce to provide a lasting source of revenue — so the model of "whoever invests, manages" was the most practical.

And the Dutch East India Company was the largest investor in Temasek City! It held seven seats in the thirty-seven-member council. The company's Governor-General, Maetsuycker, had therefore become the leader of all Westerners settled in Temasek City!

However, this Western leader had recently become preoccupied with worry because of the confrontation between France, Holland, and the Ming Empire.

His company, and his handsomely paid position as Governor-General, might both be about to be lost!

(End of Chapter)