Wind Rises in North America 1625

Chapter 561 Fear (Part 1)

December 5, 1642, Ambon Island, Amsterdam Castle.

The scorching sun mercilessly baked Ambon Island, and the air was filled with the salty sea breeze and a slightly unsettling smell of rust.

The town square in front of the castle was no longer a place for trade and markets, but had been transformed into a solemn execution ground, surrounded by natives watching the executions.

There was no gallows at the execution site because the Dutch colonial authorities believed that the visual impact of a more gruesome beheading was far more intimidating than the slow suffocation.

More than 130 captured Ambon native rebels were forced to lie on the rough stone ground with their hands tied behind their backs.

They were ragged and scarred, but many of them still had an indomitable flame burning in their eyes, or a kind of almost numb resolve solidified within them.

Behind them stood some native servants with complex expressions, gripping heavy broadswords tightly in their hands.

These executioners were also Ambonese, products of the Dutch colonists' "divide and rule" strategy, yet now they were about to turn their knives on their own compatriots.

Gerard Demer, the Dutch East India Company's governor of Ambon, wore a crisp, dark blue uniform with a pristine white lace collar, creating a stark contrast to the bloody scene in the square.

He stood on a watchtower in the shadow of the castle, surrounded by several colonial officials and senior trading post staff.

He looked relaxed, even slightly satisfied, as he surveyed the execution process in the square, as if watching a captivating drama.

“You can move a little faster! It must be cleaned up before sunset!” Governor Demer instructed the mercenary captain beside him in German with a Friesian accent, his tone as calm as if he were arranging a routine cargo loading and unloading.

After saluting, the captain hurriedly went down to relay the orders.

Immediately, commands, shouts, cries of alarm, and the dull thud of blades slicing into flesh and bone rang out even more frequently.

Each time a blade flashed, it was accompanied by a brief commotion and suppressed whimpers. Blood gushed out, quickly congealing into dark brown patches on the scorching ground, attracting a few bold flies.

"Heh, so this is His Excellency the Governor's 'tough remedy'? I wonder if it will be effective in the future." The trading post manager, Van Herost, took out a white handkerchief and wiped the sweat from his forehead.

“The Governor’s tough measures should be effective!” Cornelius Fesser, the trade counselor of Ambon Island, said with a smile. “Since the riot leader of Torukabesi was completely dealt with last year, coupled with the continuous crackdowns in recent years, the order on the island has improved significantly. At least, the plantation owners no longer complain that their spice harvest has been robbed by ‘unknown bandits’.”

Governor Demer nodded slightly with self-satisfaction, his gaze still fixed on the square.

“Mr. Heroost, you must understand that mercy towards these natives is weakness. They are like vines in the jungle; if you relax your guard even slightly, they will immediately entwine themselves, erode our rule, and shake our foundations.”

"Think of Banda Island. It was through his extraordinary decisiveness that the previous governor, Mr. Cohen, won us absolute control of Cardamom. Sometimes, necessary bloodshed is needed for longer peace and...profits."

When he mentioned the massacre of 13,000 Banda Islanders in 1621, his tone was completely calm, as if he were stating a routine business decision.

“Of course, of course!” Van Heust quickly echoed. “The company’s interests come first. But… but continued suppression also has costs. Should we consider further adjusting the spice purchase price, or strengthening patrols on the surrounding islands to prevent the remaining elements from causing trouble?”

“No!” Governor Demer shook his head and said, “As required by His Excellency the Governor (the current Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies, Anthony van Diemen), we need to purchase at the lowest possible price, and we must strictly control the production of cloves in order to obtain higher profits. Because, in commerce, once certain goods become abundant, their value will naturally decrease.”

"As for the East Indies, especially the armed patrols of this spice archipelago, this should certainly be put on the agenda to ensure our absolute monopoly on all spice trade and to prohibit any 'illegal' intrusion by foreign merchants!"

Another official, the young and ambitious political secretary Anjan van der Sar, chimed in: “Your Excellency, I believe that in addition to asserting our company’s ‘sovereignty’ by force, we also need to strengthen our intelligence network to monitor all local forces.”

"Yes, for example, we should develop more informants in the various indigenous villages and let them monitor each other. Just like we did with the Chinese community in Batavia, we established 'Kapitans' to let them govern themselves and be strictly accountable to us."

Governor Demert finally turned his gaze away from the blood-soaked square and gave the young Van der Sar an approving look.

“Excellent suggestion, Anyang. Divide and conquer is always the golden rule for ruling these islands. We cannot rely solely on castles and cannons; we must also make good use of their internal conflicts.”

He paused, picked up the silver cup handed to him by a servant, took a sip of chilled Dutch gin, and continued, "The order on Ambon Island must be secure. It is the heart of our East India Company's spice empire and cannot be lost. Any potential threat must be nipped in the bud."

Just then, Van Hellust seemed to remember something and lowered his voice, saying, "Speaking of potential threats... Your Excellency, have you been following any news from the north lately? Uh, about the Philippines..."

Governor Demer frowned almost imperceptibly: "The Philippines? Those colonies lost by those Spanish fools?"

“Yes.” Van Heust leaned closer. “A few months ago, news from Ming merchant ships indicated that the situation in the Philippines had completely calmed down. The new Chinese, together with the local Ming people, had driven the Spanish out of Manila.”

"Well, to be precise, the Spanish influence throughout the Philippine archipelago has been completely eradicated and has fallen into the hands of the new Chinese, including in the southernmost island of Mindanao. You know, Mindanao is a springboard to our Spice Islands!"

This news instantly sombered the atmosphere on the lookout tower. The Spanish presence in the Philippines had been a thorn in the side of the Dutch East India Company.

More than 20 years ago, when the company had just established itself in the East Indies, it regarded the Spanish Philippines as a huge threat to its monopoly on East Asian trade. It frequently sent armed fleets to attack merchant ships and coastal outposts outside Manila Bay, attempting to cut off the large junks that connected American silver with Chinese goods.

But the Spanish fortress in Manila was quite fortified, and several probing attacks—Demer knew that the company had been planning a real military conquest—failed to succeed, ultimately resulting in a stalemate.

The Dutch controlled the spices of Southeast Asia, while the Spanish held onto their Philippine and trans-Pacific trade.

But now, things seem to have changed somewhat.

“The incompetence of the Spanish is beyond imagination!” Governor Demer said sarcastically, but a hint of worry flashed in his eyes. “I remember when the Spanish built that Pilat Fort (now Zamboanga) at the southern tip of Mindanao, Your Excellency was quite nervous for a while, fearing that they would use it as a base to harass our spice shipping route to the south.”

"Unexpectedly, in just a few years, the situation in the Philippines underwent a fundamental change. The new Chinese replaced the foolish and incompetent Spanish and became a powerful 'potential competitor' to our East India Company."

“Exactly!” Van Herust nodded. “Although the Spanish later became somewhat powerless and did not truly pose a substantial threat by moving south, it was still a hidden danger. Now, the hidden danger has been eliminated, but in its place is a ‘new Chinese’ that we know nothing about.”

Anjan van der Sar interjected, “I once sorted out some scattered information in Batavia. These ‘new Chinese’ are said to have originated from the Ming Dynasty hundreds of years ago, and fled thousands of miles to the west coast of America to escape the war.”

"They share the same language and culture as the Ming Dynasty and possess a considerable number of ships. Every year, they conduct large-scale immigration from the Ming Dynasty, Korea, and Japan. After they replaced the Spanish, the port of Manila—oh, by the way, they now call this Spanish-established colonial outpost Xinhua—is now crowded with Ming Dynasty merchant ships from Guangdong, Fujian, and even Jiangsu and Zhejiang, and the level of trade activity far exceeds that during the Spanish rule."

“This is definitely not good news for us!” Governor Demer’s face darkened. “These new Chinese have not only been competing with us for business in Annam, Quang Nam, Cambodia, and Siam in recent years, but have also gradually penetrated other commodity sectors, starting with large-scale rice trade.”

"Now that they have taken over the Philippines, it's like driving a strong wedge between East Asia and the East Indies. Their natural affinity with Ming Dynasty merchants is something we can never achieve."

He put down his wine glass and gazed into the distance, as if he wanted to cross the Banda Sea and see Luzon Island to the north.

“Our purpose in controlling Formosa (Taiwan) is to dominate trade with China and bind Ming Dynasty silk and porcelain with our spices. Now, Luzon, occupied by the new Chinese, is likely to become a new and more powerful trade hub, directly diverting Ming Dynasty merchant ships that might have originally gone to Batavia or Formosa.”

Upon hearing this, Van Hellust's face showed a worried expression: "What's more troublesome is that these new Chinese are not as isolated as the Spanish. Spanish reinforcements need to cross the entire Pacific Ocean and most of the Americas. But the new Chinese have a stable base in northern Japan, where they can obtain necessary military assistance at any time."

"Furthermore, I heard from those Ming Dynasty merchants that there are now more than 50,000 new Chinese immigrants in the Philippine Islands. This means they can easily form an army of several thousand men."

"Moreover, what is even more surprising is the astonishing number of ships that arrive at the coast of the Ming Dynasty every year. Although most of them are immigrant ships with little armament, this scale itself means that they have a strong naval mobilization capability."

As soon as he finished speaking, a moment of silence fell over the observation tower.

The execution in the square was nearing its end, and the native servants were washing away the bloodstains with water, but the sweet, pungent smell of blood in the air seemed even stronger.

In the distance, in the azure harbor, several armed merchant ships of the East India Company were moored, their flags fluttering in the tropical breeze, representing the company's military power and wealth.

But at this moment, these high-ranking officials seemed to feel an inexplicable pressure coming from the north.

“We must reassess this new neighbor.” Governor Demer finally broke the silence, his voice regaining its calm and decisiveness. “We must send an urgent report to His Excellency the Governor of Batavia and the local board of directors, outlining the long-term threat that the change of control of Luzon may pose to the company’s monopoly strategy.”

He took a deep breath, the afternoon heat carrying the smell of blood filling his lungs: "Yes, I feel a sense of unease about those new Chinese. They may become the greatest threat to our East India Company at some point in the future."

“They are even more dangerous than the Spanish. We must plan ahead and find ways to suppress and limit them.”

“But, Your Excellency…” Van Herust asked hesitantly, “our main focus is currently on consolidating the East Indies and planning further actions against Portuguese Ceylon and Portuguese India. If we were simultaneously confronting a new, unclear power, would that…”

“Therefore, the strategy against the new Chinese will be ‘long-term.’ For now, we will not resort to force.” Governor Demer interrupted him, his eyes sharp. “We may not have to go to war immediately, but we must be prepared and develop a long-term plan.”

"Our East India Company's prosperity is built on a monopoly on trade with the East. Any sign of challenging our interests must be taken seriously. Just as we deal with these rebels today, we must not be lenient with potential threats."

The execution was completely over, and the square was roughly cleaned, leaving only large patches of wet, dark stains.

The indigenous people had long been dispersed, and only the colonists' soldiers patrolled the area.

Governor Gerald Demer took one last look at the land that had just been soaked in blood, then turned and walked down from the terrace.

For some reason, a strange thought suddenly popped into his mind: the East India Company's "golden age" in the East might face unprecedented challenges and uncertainties at some point in the future.

All of this likely stems from the new Chinese immigrants who have taken up residence in the Philippines.
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(End of this chapter)