Chapter 310 West Borneo
Southeast Asia, Kalimantan.
The terrain of this island is typical of high in the middle and low on all sides. The western part is rich in gold, but the local indigenous civilization is relatively backward, and the main minerals are owned by the Chinese who went to Southeast Asia.
The overseas Chinese's operation of West Borneo began as early as the Hongwu period. As Emperor Yongle sent Zheng He to the Western Seas many times, the Chinese's power in Southeast Asia also continued to increase. However, this momentum was interrupted with the beginning of the maritime ban.
Until the end of the Ming Dynasty, all life was in ruins, China was in ruins, and the people and dignitaries rushed to flee to avoid the disaster of war. The Southeast Asian migration was on the rise again, with approximately 7 million people entering Nanyang to seek a life, a scale far larger than the Irish immigration wave.
However, the overseas Chinese were not very united and were often harassed by the Dutch and Portuguese.
During the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty, Wu Yuansheng, a native of Jiaying, Guangdong, fled to Borneo because he was plotting an uprising against the Qing Dynasty. He founded the influential "Jusheng Company" there and became the leader of the company.
It was precisely because of the existence of Jusheng Company that the status of the Nanyang Chinese was changed. They united the Nanyang Chinese to eliminate gang disputes. Later, in the battle of Dai Yan Kingdom, 56 people captured the Dai Yan Palace, which shocked the entire Kalimantan Island. The indigenous sultans The above table begged the Chinese for protection.
At this time, most of the Chinese in Nanyang were refugees, the remnants of the Ming army who failed to resist the Qing Dynasty, the descendants of the Ming Dynasty survivors who were unwilling to serve the Qing court, and members of the Tiandihui who later failed in the uprising, so their fighting capacity was very strong.
Later, the prestige and strength of his subordinate Luo Fangbo gradually surpassed that of Wu Yuansheng. Luo Fangbo replaced him as the leader and established Lanfang Company. Wu Yuansheng became Luo Fangbo's subordinate.
Later, Lanfang Company became the Lanfang Republic. At its peak, it controlled the entire island of Kalimantan and was even recognized by the British.
I have written down Lanfang’s specific political measures in the author’s words, but in summary they are:
1. Unify currency and market.
2. Reform the military system, develop self-developed weapons, and create a reserve force.
3. Middle school is the body and Western learning is the application.
4. Establish state-owned enterprises and nationalize resources.
Unfortunately, by 1842, only 1% of Lanfang's territory remained at its peak, and West Borneo was split into Sanfa, Lanfang, and Pontianak, which were managed by three companies: Santiaogou, Lanfang, and Dagang respectively. .
The masters of Kalimantan were no longer Chinese, but the Dutch and British, and West Borneo was reduced to a semi-colony, led by Kapitan appointed by the Dutch.
Every year, the Dutch East India Company extracts 15-20 million Dutch guilders in profits from West Borneo, and there are only 150 Dutch soldiers stationed here.
In addition, the indigenous people who once begged the Chinese for protection have turned into the lackeys of the Dutch. Moreover, these natives are more ferocious than the Dutch. They not only want money, but also food and women.
At first, the Chinese could tolerate the appetite of the native Sultan. However, as the Sultan's appetite grew larger and the income from the gold mine became unstable, the Lanfang Company could no longer bear it and rejected King Wanna's request.
Through blackmailing the Chinese over the years, Wanna Tubang is no longer the small tribe that often asks Lanfang to make decisions for them.
King Wannatu directly mobilized 20,000 indigenous troops to engage in a fierce battle with Lanfang Company. Due to the obstruction of the Dutch and British, both sides of the war lacked firearms. The main weapons were still broadswords, spears and bows and arrows.
Among them, Lanfang Company has 500 gun guns. This is where Gu Liubo's courage lies. Each of these gun guns costs 200 taels. These 500 weapons, which have long been eliminated from the European battlefield, have cost Lanfang Company a lot. One hundred thousand taels of snowflake silver.
(Gu Liubo was the general manager of Lanfang Company at that time.)
But what he didn't expect was that King Wanatu's men also had foreign spearmen and even foreign cannons, and they were only more, not less, than him.
On February 12, 1842, the first battle between the two sides ended with the Lanfang Company losing 300 soldiers and a mansion. After that, many Chinese enthusiastically joined Lanfang's army to defend their country, but the situation on the battlefield did not change at all.
Wherever King Wanatu's troops passed, they would not leave a house, a grain of food, or a living person behind.
It seems that the natives are about to rush into Dongwanlu to steal money, food, and women.
At this time, it seemed that there was only one way to go in Gu Liubo's eyes, and that was to ask the Dutch to mediate.
In fact, the Dutch have been prepared for a long time. After all, those natives do not know how to operate gold mines, but they cannot let the Chinese become too powerful. Captain Arjan Penh, who was stationed in West Borneo, had already mobilized fifty soldiers under his command, ready to "mediate" at any time.
However, he suddenly felt that his vision went dark. A huge super battleship sailed into the port, and then one large battleship after another was moored in the port.
The leader is the newly built "Venecia" in Austria. It is a super first-class battleship with 120 guns and a full displacement of 4,700 tons. It still uses sail-steam hybrid power.
The other four are 3,400-ton first-class battleships made in Egypt and modified by Austria, but they are too terrifying compared with the less than 600-ton frigates that the locals deal with all year round.
After that, rows and rows of well-equipped soldiers walked out. The laborers and merchants at the port were stunned. A few dozen Dutch soldiers were usually scary enough. This time, thousands of white troops came, and they were really at a loss. .
Captain Arjan Penge took one look and ran away in fright. The Dutch soldiers behind also fled in panic.
150 Dutch soldiers hid in the fortress and shivered, and even forgot to ask for help from the headquarters on Java Island.
Of course, even if they ask for help from Java Island, no one will come to rescue them. Let alone the Dutch East India Company, even if all the Dutch warships are gathered together, they cannot defeat Franz's fleet.
If the Chenla Church's spy information is correct, then there should still be enough time.
"What to do with those ants?" Friedrich asked. He felt that it would be a loss to come all the way without a fight.
"You mean those Dutch? As long as they don't take the initiative to provoke, there is no need for us to go to war with them. After all, we are only here to save people, not to fight."
Franz shook his head and said, he didn't want to make the matter too big.
"It's easier for them." Friedrich smiled.
Just as the people on the dock were looking at each other, a few guys who usually didn't like to talk suddenly straightened their backs and walked towards the white troops.
In the surprised eyes of the merchants and workers, they took the white troops on board the ship and headed straight to Dongwanlu.
A large number of Western-style troops suddenly appeared on the Dongwanlu battlefield, which made both sides of the battlefield confused, not knowing whether they were enemies or friends.
In fact, the Austrian soldiers were also confused, but they didn't care because they had absolute confidence in their weapons and commander.
"Franz, who are you going to help? The ones in the city or the ones in the forest? Otherwise, you can clean up everything in one go, so as not to end up like when you were in Togo."
Friedrich looked indifferent.
"As I said, we are here to save people, of course to help the weak." Franz felt a little speechless about his uncle. He seemed to be too proud. Due to the crushing brought about by technology and weapons, he I feel like victory is not worth mentioning.
"It's barbecue time then."
Friedrich snapped his fingers, and rows of rocket launchers were set up.
The political system is divided into 5 parts: justice, military, finance, economy, and education.
In terms of armaments: Ordnance factories are opened and weapons are cast. Except for a small number of standing troops stationed in strategic military locations, there are no troops stationed elsewhere. In normal times, everyone keeps their own business and selects young people of appropriate age to practice shooting. If something happens, these young people will be recruited to form an army (similar to today's reserve force).
In terms of finance: set up tax inspectors to implement tax collection to replenish the national treasury; collect goods taxes from merchants, and based on the principle of generating income through exports. For example, those who open gold mines have to pay "foot imitation gold", those who farm have to pay "crow's rice cigarette household money", and those who do business also have to pay taxes. and issued its own national currency.
Economic aspect: Actively expand the market; minerals are formed into companies by the state (now known as state-owned enterprises) and implemented unified management.
In terms of education: run Chinese schools and hire Confucian scholars to teach, focusing on traditional Chinese culture.
Judicial aspect: Based on the Tiandihui program (Lanfang Company annexed the Tiandihui after an arduous military struggle with the Tiandihui, so the relatively systematic and complete program of the Tiandihui was also absorbed by Lanfang), and then revised to the popularized Yi Acting regulations. In addition to organizing the defense against foreign enemies and collecting taxes, the other main job of officials was to "solve cases." Serious crimes required beheading in public, fights required caning (whipping), and quarrels required large red silk candles to apologize.