The Australian Revolution of 1828

Liu Tai'er, who was brought in, appeared very timid and had lost his previous arrogance.

The moment he entered, he saw Tang Boqian waiting in the study. His legs went weak and he knelt down, begging for mercy, "Boqian, I shouldn't have made an enemy of Lord Wei. Please put in a good word for me."

"As long as Lord Wei lets me go, I will definitely sever ties with the Dutch."

Before Tang Boqian could respond, Chen Qi'en, worried that Wei Guochang might change his mind and continue to support Liu Tai'er as Minister of the General Staff, advised, "Boqian, Liu Tai'er is just a dog kept by the Dutch; we absolutely cannot let him go!"

"Releasing them would be like raising a tiger to cause trouble."

Regarding the selection of the head of Lanfang, Wei Guochang made a promise because Chen Qi'en's efforts were needed beforehand, but he also left room for maneuver, namely, to consult Han Qingyun's opinion.

Now that Liu Tai'er has been captured, the candidate for Chief of Staff Lanfang is a delicious bait that can be used to lure the new Chief of Staff into making some concessions.

Even if Chen Qi'en succeeds, it must still be in the interests of the Xia Kingdom.

However, the military operation to eliminate Liu Tai'er was easily misunderstood by the local leaders in Lanfang, leading to a misunderstanding that resulted in Lanfang joining forces with the Dutch.

What Wei Guochang needed was to isolate the Dutch and cut off their external support, not to unite the two sides. This required skillful political maneuvering to win over the hesitant Lanfang chieftain.

Currently, Chen Qi'en has completely sided with the Xia Kingdom. Even if the remaining Lanfang chieftains do not side with the Xia Kingdom, they cannot force the other side to side with the Netherlands, especially at this crucial moment when the Xia and Netherlands are at war.

Therefore, Chen Qi'en's importance is evident; he serves as the link between the Xia Kingdom and the Lanfang chieftain in resolving their conflicts.

Considering the uncertain situation in Lanfang and the differing attitudes of other local leaders, and also to avoid colluding with the Dutch to cut off supplies, Tang Boqian responded positively, saying, "Uncle Chen, you can rest assured about that."

"Since Liu Tai'er has sided with the Dutch, he should be prepared to die and his clan be exterminated."

"The local leaders are currently observing the situation and are hesitant. We hope that you can step forward and explain our country's attitude. It is absolutely not about annexing Lanfang, but simply about punishing the Dutch lackeys."

With this explanation, Chen Qi'en had a good reason to grant Lanfang autonomy.

Self-sovereignty was the common vision of the Lanfang chieftains, who not only did they not have to pay poll tax to the Dutch, but they also did not have to pay heavy taxes to the Dutch on the raw gold ore they mined.

The benefits gained from this were simply too great.

Chen Qi'en was confident he could persuade them, so he took on this arduous task, saying, "Boqian, this is the right thing to do. I will contact the brothers in various places and explain the purpose of this military operation."

"However, I urge Magistrate Wei to also consult His Majesty of your country as soon as possible to support me in succeeding as Minister. I fear that if the delay is too long, our brothers in various places will be misled by the Dutch and seize the position of Minister."

"By then, I'm afraid I won't be able to control those restless brothers."

Chen Qi'en wasn't stupid either. Fearing things might get complicated if things dragged on, Wei Guochang changed his mind. Taking advantage of the unstable situation in Lanfang and his own important role, he wanted to ascertain Xia Guo's attitude as soon as possible.

The threatening meaning in his words was very clear; any normal person could understand it.

Regarding this issue, Tang Boqian could not remain vague. He ordered Liu Tai'er to be taken away before saying, "Uncle Chen, before sending troops to Dongwanlu last night, Magistrate Wei sent a document to Hanyang."

"If there are no problems in the middle, we should have a result in about 20 days."

Twenty days isn't a long time, and Chen Qi'en could accept it.

Chen Qi'en's attitude softened noticeably, and Tang Boqian seized the opportunity to further his offer, saying, "If you're still not at ease, I'll recommend to Magistrate Wei that we jointly defend against Dong Wanlu."

"Once His Majesty's order is delivered to Lanfang, I will withdraw from the Chief Minister's Office and you will take over, officially succeeding as Chief Minister of Lanfang."

Dongwanlu is the capital of Lanfang and holds significant political importance. It is currently controlled by Tang Boqian, not Chen Qi'en, to prevent Lanfang from spiraling out of control.

As long as Dongwanlu remains in the hands of the trading post, whoever succeeds as the head of Lanfang will be subject to the control of the Xia Kingdom, unless the head of Lanfang is capable of establishing a separate capital.

In fact, judging from Lanfang's final fate, she didn't have that ability.

Lanfang suffered years of exploitation by the Dutch, growing weaker year by year until it completely lost the ability to resist. The Dutch, on the other hand, continued to drain Lanfang's resources, growing stronger year by year until they finally destroyed Lanfang.

One gradually weakens while the other gradually strengthens; this is a result of one growing stronger while the other weakens.

Although Tang Boqian has not yet seen this outcome, it does not prevent Xia Guo from using some means to control the capital and the Lanfang Chief.

Chen Qi'en was still quite willing to accept this offer and had no objection to joint defense. His only objection was to control of the Chief's Office, saying, "Boqian, the city can be jointly defended, but it's better if I control the Chief's Office."

"These are the residences of past chiefs-in-chief, controlled by your country, which could easily lead to misunderstandings among our brothers in other places."

However, Tang Boqian did not accept this reason and was unwilling to relinquish the Chief's Mansion. He retorted with reason and evidence, "Uncle Chen, if you were to control the Chief's Mansion, wouldn't that give the local chiefs a handle to use against you?"

"They are questioning our intentions, believing that you are using the trading post's troops to commit treason, rather than punishing the Dutch lackeys."

If the purpose is not just, it is easy to provoke resistance from opposing forces and cause chaos in Lanfang. Tang Boqian needs to maintain stability in Lanfang, so he must use the pretext of punishing the Dutch lackeys.

One is just, the other is unjust, just like purging the court of corrupt officials.

As a Chinese person, Chen Qi'en quickly understood the crux of the matter and agreed with the statement, saying, "Boqian is right; it was my oversight."

Having obtained what he wanted, Chen Qi'en returned to carry out his duties, sending documents to various parts of Lanfang and inviting local leaders to Dongwanlu for discussions.

The local leaders in Lanfang each controlled one or more gold mines, and most of the gold produced was plundered by the Dutch, with only a small portion remaining for themselves.

It would be unrealistic to say that these Lanfang chieftains didn't hate the Dutch. However, with Liu Tai'er captured, the situation in Lanfang changed drastically in an instant, and these people dared not make any rash moves.

There was no clear judgment on whether Xia would defeat the Netherlands or the Netherlands would defeat Xia, and there was a moment of hesitation.

Clearly, Chen Qi'en's invitation letter received no response; the leaders from all sides either claimed to be too busy or too ill to travel.

After forwarding the replies to Tang Boqian one by one, Chen Qi'en said, "Boqian, it seems that the brothers in various places have developed disloyal intentions. Should we make an example of them?"

Making an example of someone to warn others requires careful consideration of the situation.

Although the Xia Kingdom controlled Dongwanlu, it ultimately failed to penetrate into all aspects of the country, and its influence remained very limited. These chieftains, however, possessed both mines and manpower; if pushed too far, they would be like ticking time bombs, potentially impacting the conflict between the Xia and He kingdoms.

Tang Boqian didn't seem to mind, steadfastly supporting Chen Qi'en's belief, and said, "No need for now. These people are all observing. As long as they don't cause trouble during the war, it'll be fine!"

"We'll get feedback once we've dealt with the Dutch in Lanfang!"