Part 263: The Zheng Brothers
“But the Dutch might not like them coming to Taiwan,” Lin Yishao said.
“Hmm.” Zheng Zhilong did not reply. Lin Yishao’s point was valid. No matter what status the Australians held in the eyes of the Dutch, they would absolutely not allow others to sleep soundly next to their bed in Taiwan. The Dutch, bound by treaty, might not turn on them immediately.
“Needless to say, the Dutch will surely try to use us as a knife to kill someone else again,” Lin Yishao added.
The Zheng family had not yet been tainted by the bureaucratic airs of officialdom. The situation where subordinates were too afraid to say a word did not exist here. Lin Yishao naturally expressed his own opinion. But such an attitude would be considered great disrespect in the government.
Zheng Zhilong did not respond to his words. “You’ve worked hard this time. Go and collect fifty taels of silver and rest well for a few days!”
After Lin Yishao left, Zheng Zhilong pondered for a long time in his private study. The Australians landing in Taiwan was a clear sign that they intended to get a foothold in the Fujian waters. This could not be taken lightly.
He called out in Portuguese, and the black servant appeared at the door again.
“Please invite the Second, Third, and Fourth Masters.”
The so-called Second, Third, and Fourth Masters were his three younger brothers, and also the key figures of the Zheng family: Zheng Zhihu, Zheng Zhifeng (Zheng Hongkui), and Zheng Zhibao.
The Zheng family had several brothers, including cousins, but these three were Zheng Zhilong’s confidants and held pivotal positions in the family.
The meeting of the four Zheng brothers did not last long. It was clear that taking immediate military action against the Australians was not an option—it would only push the Australians and Liu Xiang into an alliance.
“We should not make another enemy at this time,” Zheng Zhilong said. The past year, 1630, had been a turning point for the entire Zheng clan. In 1629, Li Kuiqi had even once captured Zhongzuosuo, causing him to lose face. He had to offer very high terms to request the support of the Dutch, and only then, in February of last year, the third year of the Chongzhen era, did he completely defeat Li Kuiqi and then Zhong Bin. Now, his only remaining enemy was Liu Laoxiang.
He had a strong dislike for the Dutch—not only because they were manipulative and played a balancing act in the Taiwan Strait, but also because when he was fighting Li Kuiqi and Zhong Bin, the Dutch had bet on both sides, playing all angles. What he resented most was that the Dutch governor in Taiwan, Pieter Nuyts, had once tricked him onto a ship under the pretext of negotiations, kidnapped him, extorted several hundred taels of gold, and forced him to sign a trade agreement before releasing him. Not to mention the “glorious past” of the Dutch, who, despite their previous cooperation with him, had joined forces with the government in an attempt to eliminate him.
“I heard Liu Xiang fought a battle with the Kun thieves before, so there’s some bad blood between them. But that doesn’t mean they won’t join forces. We also allied with Li Kuiqi and Liu Laoxiang before,” Zheng Zhihu expressed his opinion. “I think with them in Taiwan, Liu Laoxiang and the Dutch won’t be able to sit still either.”
“The Dutch should be the most restless,” Zheng Zhifeng said. “Just you watch, it won’t be long before the Dutch come to us with benefits, trying to incite us to fight the Australians.”
Zheng Zhibao stroked his beard. “We won’t be their hired thugs. Let the Dutch do it themselves.”
“I think we need to provoke the Dutch into a position where they have no choice but to act,” Zheng Zhifeng said.
“Haha, that’s right.” The three brothers laughed together, while their eldest brother, Zheng Zhilong, only smiled faintly. Not showing one’s emotions was the key to being a leader and an official, even in front of one’s own family.
“The Dutch are even shrewder merchants than we are,” Zheng Zhilong said. “To make them act, we need to give them some material.”
“What brilliant plan do you have, elder brother?”
“I don’t have a brilliant plan, but I have an idea,” Zheng Zhilong said. “Let’s not be in a hurry. Tell Guo Huaiyi to keep a close watch on the Kun thieves, see what they are doing and what they want to do, and then we’ll decide. Anyway, there are plenty of people who are more anxious than we are…”
Zheng Zhilong had suffered at the hands of the Dutch before, so he was extremely wary of them. The sudden appearance of the Australians was a greater threat to the Dutch, and he could very well use the Australians to check the Dutch.
“Zhibao, go to Kinmen Island tomorrow and see that man, Trodenius,” Zheng Zhilong said. “Probe the Dutch’s attitude. He is in frequent contact with Tayouan and should have a lot of information. See what they think of the Australians.”
Trodenius was a senior merchant from Tayouan. Hans Putmans had stationed him in Zhangzhou Bay to be responsible for liaison with Zheng Zhilong and other Chinese merchants entering and leaving Anping.
“I’ll go find him tomorrow, elder brother.”
Hans Putmans gazed out of the window of the trading post at the ships anchored in the harbor. A few junks had just returned from Zhangzhou Bay, carrying not only various trade goods but also tens of thousands of red bricks, many stones, and timber.
The large quantity of building materials was for the expansion of Fort Zeelandia and a series of fortifications around Tayouan. Although the trade in Tayouan was in a serious deficit when Putmans took office, he still spent money on building fortifications—this was not without reason.
When Hans Putmans took office in 1629, Tayouan was in an unprecedented crisis. On the one hand, the trade was not profitable. The trade with Japan had been interrupted by the Hamada Yahei incident, which was mishandled by his predecessor, Nuyts. The trade with China was also not going well. The Dutch could neither open the door to direct trade with China nor were they free from the struggles of the various sea lords along the coast, which had brought trade to a near standstill. On the other hand, the Spanish were making moves. Not only had they built forts in Keelung and Tamsui, but they had also once dispatched a fleet from the Philippines in an attempt to expel the Dutch in one fell swoop. If not for a storm that scattered the fleet, the fall of the defenseless Tayouan would have been inevitable.
Finally, there was the harassment from the local natives. The relationship between the Dutch and several indigenous communities around Tayouan was tense. The Dutch and the Chinese who served them were constantly attacked by the Mattau and Bakloan communities, both in meaningless headhunting raids and out of conflicts of interest. His predecessor, Nuyts, had made a great “contribution” to exacerbating the relationship with the local natives. The Dutch safe zone was limited to an area of less than a few miles around Tayouan. Just eight days before Putmans took office, more than fifty Dutch soldiers were ambushed by the local Mattau community while on a mission to suppress Chinese pirates, and the entire force was annihilated.
Similar, but less deadly, incidents were common in the area. In particular, the natives were equally hostile to the Dutch and the Chinese immigrants. Chinese hunting and land reclamation were often attacked by the local natives.
Suppressing pirates, crushing the natives, and finding ways to expand trade—these were the three major challenges facing the fifth Governor of the Dutch United East India Company in Formosa.
Hans Putmans was a military man by background and very capable. He came to the East Indies in 1624 as a junior merchant, was promoted to merchant in 1626, and distinguished himself during the siege of Batavia by the local king. In less than five years, he had earned a seat on the Council of the Indies.
Perhaps due to his military background, Hans Putmans was a firm and decisive man who was fond of using force. As soon as he took office, he began to suppress the small groups of Chinese pirates operating in the area and launched continuous military retaliations against the hostile local natives. At the same time, he requested the Council of the Indies to send him 1,300 soldiers and the necessary weapons to expel the Spanish occupying northern Formosa and bring their forts under the company’s jurisdiction—a request that was naturally rejected. The company’s army in the East Indies had never exceeded 8,000 men. Even if they could expel the Spanish for a time, ruling such a large area would be a huge burden on the company. So far, the trade in Tayouan was still in a deficit. At the beginning of Putmans’ tenure, the trading post in Tayouan had once gone four months without a single maritime trade deal. Beset by internal and external troubles, the company had almost abandoned the place. It was only because they valued it as a trade window to China that they managed to hold on.
Since the company signed a trade agreement with the Australians, the status of Tayouan had declined sharply. Hans Putmans learned from his correspondence that the company was obtaining a large amount of Chinese goods from Lingao and Hong Kong, which were under Australian control, and, very rarely, was able to pay for them with goods instead of silver.
Putmans was well aware that if Lingao and Hong Kong were not so far south and unable to serve the trade with Japan, and if the company were not wary of Zheng Zhilong, they would likely abandon Tayouan.
As the governor of Tayouan, the ambitious Putmans certainly did not want the trading post to close down on his watch. He had always dreamed of opening a direct trade channel with China, but so far, he had not succeeded. Zheng Zhilong’s attitude was unpredictable, and the Ming court and its officials were difficult to fathom. They did not respond to any of the company’s proposals or negotiation requests and obstructed trade by various means. Neither requests, bribes, nor threats yielded any results. Chinese merchants were either unwilling to trade in Tayouan and sailed directly to Manila, or they would agree to purchase goods on behalf of the company but then abscond with the advance payment.
Hans Putmans had come to a conclusion: to trade with the Chinese, one must use force. Conquer a port on the coast of China by force, establish a base, and then force the Chinese government to agree to trade by constantly raiding their maritime commerce. He had already written a report on this plan and submitted it to the Council in Batavia for discussion.