Chapter 1396: A True Local Tyrant

The year 1670 in the Western calendar was destined to be an extraordinary one. In the Southern Seas, the first republic in Asia made its grand debut amid an atmosphere of helpless resignation — the citizens of Batavia who owned property in the city, the plantation owners outside it, and the planters on the Maluku and Banda Islands were for the most part the first-generation citizens of this republic. They numbered fewer than 1,500, all adult males who paid taxes above a certain amount, half of them Westerners or mixed-blood Westerners, and half of them Chinese.

These fewer than 1,500 citizens of the Batavian Republic, with the assistance of the Great Ming South Continent Governor-General's Office and the Batavia East India Company, held what was very likely the first popular election in Asian history, choosing 15 members of the Republic's Council. Of these, 7 were Chinese members and 8 were Western and mixed-blood Western members.

The Republic's first Consul, however, was not elected by the Council but drawn by lot — Krylov van Goes. This fine tradition of choosing the Consul by drawing lots was thereby established. For many years thereafter, the Consul of the Batavian Republic was always chosen by lot — all 15 councilors drew lots together, and whoever drew the winning lot became Consul.

The Consul served a fixed term, four years per term, and could draw again and serve consecutive terms...

After the first Council of the Batavian Republic was formed, although no lots were drawn, their responsibilities were by no means small! They had to draft the Batavian Republic's Fundamental Law.

As for a "Fundamental Law," sometimes it works, and sometimes it does not work very well. And in the Batavian Republic, the Fundamental Law most certainly did not work very well.

Because this republic was fundamentally nothing more than a "shell" for maintaining East-West trade during wartime — the Dutch East India Company's place of registration was transferred to the Batavian Republic, ostensibly removing it from Dutch jurisdiction, yet the board of directors in Amsterdam could still appoint and dismiss the company's Governor-General, and the company continued to distribute dividends to its shareholders far away in Europe as usual... Moreover, the cooperation between the East India Company and the Dutch India Trading Company would also continue.

Since it had to serve as a bridge between East and West while satisfying both Great Ming and the Netherlands, the Batavian Republic's Fundamental Law had to remain sufficiently flexible — sometimes they even drafted several versions of the Fundamental Law in order to fool both sides.

Nevertheless, the progressive significance of the Batavian Republic is undeniable...

In the East of 1670, the great event that could be mentioned in the same breath as the founding of the Batavian Republic was, of course, the exploration of the Southern Continent.

Because the matter of founding the republic had delayed them for quite some time, the powerful Batavia East India Company did not take first place in the exploration of the Southern Continent — instead, the English East India Company seized the initiative.

At the turn of spring and summer in the Northern Hemisphere in 1670, an exploration fleet of four galleons of 300 to 600 tons departed the island of Temasek, sailed south through the Sunda Strait into the Indian Ocean, and voyaged westward with the aid of the South Equatorial Current. After nearly crossing the entire Indian Ocean, they turned south in the waters near Madagascar, and after sailing south for some distance, found the West Wind Drift, then headed east all the way. After 20 days of eastward sailing, the English fleet encountered a sustained northeast wind.

With the aid of this northeast wind, the four English exploration ships headed toward their destination — the southwestern coast of the Southern Continent.

But for now, they had not yet discovered the legendary rich Southern Continent.

On board the flagship of the exploration fleet, the Oliver Cromwell, the commander of the English Eastern Fleet, Major General Blake, stood on the poop deck, gazing at the magnificent scenery that had long since begun to bore him.

The surrounding seawater was as blue as a glittering blanket; the wind and waves were considerable, and layer upon layer of swells rolled, as if this blue blanket were gently heaving. Sunlight spilled over it, and everywhere the eye could see was shimmering, sparkling light. The air was very humid and somewhat chilly; gazing out in all directions, it seemed as though one's line of sight could reach into infinite distance.

But there was no sign of any land, not even a single small island.

The sailors of the exploration fleet were all experienced veterans, and they were also paid generous wages, with a bonus awaiting them upon completion of the mission. In addition, the food on board was relatively plentiful, and there was a sufficient supply of rum — all of this ensured that during the seemingly endless voyage, the sailors' spirits would not collapse.

Of course, if scurvy broke out on the exploration ships, then all efforts would come to naught... But the English East India Company had made preparations. For this terrible disease was the nightmare of all Western sailors, yet it rarely harmed sailors from China, Japan, Joseon, or Annam.

Therefore, the East India Company assigned a certain number of Japanese and Annamese to Major General Blake's ships... About ten years earlier, sailors with East Asian faces would have been almost impossible to find on English East India Company ships. But now, as more and more East Asians took to the sea, the English East India Company could hire some sailors who "did not fear scurvy."

And these Japanese and Annamese who joined the "Blake Expedition" had one additional task: to land and establish a foothold after the Southern Continent was discovered.

Only by successfully establishing the first foothold would the English East India Company have fulfilled the contract signed with the South Continent Governor-General's Office — according to the contract, they would receive a bonus and the right to establish colonies on the Southern Continent.

Establishing colonies was a high-risk, high-reward business — if the discovered land proved rich enough, and if the developers could transport colonists there at sufficiently low cost, then the colony should quickly turn a profit.

One must not underestimate the question of colonial profit and loss... A colony run at a loss is usually unsustainable!

Especially since the English East India Company was, in essence, a commercial company; their project on the Southern Continent was a commercial adventure.

Besides the sailors from Japan and Annam, there were other East Asian faces aboard the Oliver Cromwell — they were officers and men of the Great Ming Navy, responsible under the contract for supervising the English East India Company's exploration and colonization — whether the coast of the Southern Continent had been discovered and whether a colonial foothold had been established could not be determined by the Company's word alone.

The Ming naval officer leading the team was named Yang Yandi, with the rank of Chiliarch, formerly an old subordinate of Zheng Sen. In the Great Ming Navy he was neither academy-trained nor part of the inner circle. So he could not get ahead in the fleet, and had transferred to the South Continent Governor-General's Office, where he became Deputy Chief of Naval Staff.

He did not speak English, and Blake did not speak Chinese, so the two had little communication. However, the East India Company supercargo Worst, who was aboard, got along quite well with Yang Yandi.

While Blake was viewing the scenery from the poop deck, Worst and Yang Yandi were strolling and chatting on the upper deck, passing the tedious time.

Time slipped by little by little, slowly approaching noon. Just when everyone thought they would again drift aimlessly across the boundless sea until the sun set, someone suddenly shouted in English.

"Black birds! Big black birds!"

Worst hastily looked up and scanned the sky, and soon spotted, in the sky to the east of the fleet, several large black birds flying in a single-file formation from north to south!

Yang Yandi also spotted the birds in the air, and even pulled out a monocular telescope for a closer look.

"Black birds, they look like wild geese..." Yang Yandi muttered. "Looks like we've found the Southern Continent!"

By this time Blake had also seen the several black swans flying through the air. This species of bird migrates rather casually, sometimes circling around the continent.

Blake, who had spent half his life dealing with the sea, certainly realized what these large birds meant!

He raised his telescope and looked toward the eastern horizon, still finding nothing. Just as he was growing somewhat disappointed, the lookout in the crow's nest suddenly shouted: "Land, land... land sighted!"