Rise of a Lonely City: From Exiled Prince to Ruler of the Nine Provinces

Inside Fort Zeelandia, the heavy, iron-clad gate slowly opened inward under the glaring midday sun, emitting a teeth-grinding, sigh-like scraping sound.

Sunlight eagerly poured into the dark city gate passageway, illuminating the pale, numb faces behind the gate, faces covered in gunpowder and dust.

Governor Coyett, once a spirited colonizer who aimed to amass endless wealth for the Dutch East India Company in the Far East, now seemed to have aged twenty years overnight.

He removed his tricorn hat and governor's sash, symbols of power, and wore only a stained ordinary officer's uniform. His blond hair was disheveled and stuck to his forehead, his eyes were sunken and unfocused, and his former arrogance and shrewdness had vanished.

He staggered out of the inner city like a walking corpse. Behind him were more than three hundred Dutch soldiers, sailors, and employees who were just as dejected as he was.

They had lost their weapons, and many of them, with blood-soaked bandages wrapped around their bodies, staggered toward the open space outside the city, which had been repeatedly ravaged by artillery fire, supporting each other.

The air was thick with the smells of gunpowder, burnt metal, and blood. Outside the inner city, the dragon banner of the Great Xia Empire fluttered in the morning breeze.

Thousands of Xia soldiers, armed with gleaming swords and spears and new flintlock muskets, stood in neat square formations, silently watching the once arrogant "Red-haired Barbarian" prisoners.

The chilling and imposing aura made many already terrified Dutchmen tremble and almost lose their footing.

Zheng Zhilong did not ride a horse, but wore the imperial-bestowed Qilin robe, with a sword hanging at his waist. Surrounded by a group of generals in full armor, he stood under a newly erected black banner that represented "Marquis of Jinghai, General Zheng, who led the Eastern Expedition to Taiwan".

His expression was calm, but his gaze was sharp as he swept over the group of losers before finally settling on Kui Yi, who was in the lead.

The interpreter stepped forward and loudly announced the surrender terms in Dutch. His voice echoed across the silent battlefield, each word striking the hearts of the Dutch like a hammer blow.

"Frederic Coyett, the Dutch Governor-General of Taiwan, and all his officers and soldiers have voluntarily surrendered unconditionally to Zheng Zhilong, the Marquis of Jinghai and General Who Conquered Taiwan of the Great Xia Empire!"

"Effective immediately, the Dutch East India Company relinquishes all rights, property, fortresses, and land in Taiwan. Fort Zeelandia, Fort Provintia, and all Dutch outposts and facilities on the island of Taiwan are hereby handed over to the Great Xia Army!"

"All Dutch personnel in Taiwan, including the governor, administrative officials, military personnel, employees, missionaries, etc., must assemble at the designated location and surrender all weapons, ammunition, flags, documents, and company property. Personal belongings may be taken out of the country after inspection."

"Lord Zheng, the Marquis of Jinghai of the Great Xia Empire, guarantees, in accordance with the rules of war, that all surrendered Dutch personnel will be treated humanely. All surrendered personnel will be temporarily held in custody until ships are ready, at which point they will be permitted to board designated vessels, carrying their inspected personal belongings, and safely evacuate Taiwan to Batavia or other locations designated by the Dutch. During this period, they must abide by the military law of the Great Xia Empire and refrain from any resistance or sabotage. Any disobedience will be severely punished!"

"This surrender document is in duplicate, signed and sealed by the Dutch Governor-General, Kuyt, and by the Marquis of Jinghai of Great Xia, Zheng, and shall take effect immediately!"

After the terms were read aloud, Kui Yi swayed slightly.

He slowly raised his head and looked at the middle-aged commander who was surrounded by many Eastern generals and exuded an imposing aura.

This is the man who destroyed the Combined Fleet in Liaoluo Bay, and here, with gunpowder and swords, he buried his hard-earned business, along with all his ambition and pride.

He opened his mouth as if to say something, but in the end, all his words turned into a heavy, silent sigh.

With trembling hands, he picked up the quill pen that had signed countless orders and decided the fate of countless "natives" from the tray held by his adjutant beside him, and signed his name—Frederick Coyett—on the surrender document written in Chinese and Dutch.

His handwriting was crooked and lacked its former vigor. Then, he took off the bronze seal that represented the governor's power from his waist, dipped it in ink, and forcefully, yet utterly dejectedly, stamped it next to his name.

The moment the Prime Minister put down his pen and seal, many Dutch people around him closed their eyes, and some even sobbed softly.

Thirty-eight years have passed.

From the first attempt by the Dutch to occupy Penghu in the thirty-second year of the previous dynasty, to their expulsion by the Xia dynasty army in the fourteenth year of Yonghe and subsequent occupation of Taiwan, where they established Fort Zeelandia in Tainan, the Dutch's operations in Taiwan have been intermittent for thirty-eight years.

They built cities, preached, traded, and exploited here, regarding this beautiful island as the "pearl in the crown" of their company in the Far East.

However, all of this came to a humiliating end today, with Kui Yi's stroke of the pen and seal.

Zheng Zhilong watched as Kui Yi completed the formalities and nodded slightly.

The clerk beside him stepped forward and took back the letter of surrender. Zheng Zhilong took the pen, signed his name on it, and stamped it with the golden seal of the Marquis of Jinghai.

His movements were steady and powerful, a stark contrast to Kui Yi's dejected state.

"Keep the letter of surrender safe and secure, and send it along with the captured Dutch governor's seal and flag to His Majesty by express courier."

Zheng Zhilong handed the surrender document to the clerk, then instructed Yang Geng beside him, "General Yang, you are responsible for taking over the castle, inventorying all the spoils, and making detailed records. All the surrendered barbarians shall be placed under strict guard in the designated camp outside the city, but they shall not be mistreated. If any are wounded or sick, have our army medics treat them as well."

"Your humble servant obeys!"

"Gan Hui".

"Your subordinate is here!"

"You shall dispatch a detachment of the navy to take control of all Dutch ships in the port and inventory their cargo. Also, send a fast ship, carrying my order and the Dutch letter of surrender, to Fort Zeelandia to persuade them to surrender. Tell the garrison commander that Fort Zeelandia has fallen and Coyett has surrendered; order him to open the city gates and surrender immediately to ensure his safety. If he resists stubbornly, the day the city falls, we will all perish!"

"Yes, sir!"

As orders were issued, the massive war machine of the Great Xia Army quickly shifted from combat mode to takeover and inventory mode.

The soldiers marched into the inner city in neat rows and took over key positions.

The Dutch prisoners were then taken to designated areas for centralized custody.

What followed was a dazzling inventory of the spoils. Fort Zeelandia, as the center of Dutch rule in Taiwan, was far wealthier than many of the Bactrian generals had imagined.

Armory: More than 120 intact bronze and iron cast muzzle-loading smoothbore guns of various calibers were captured, including many heavy coastal defense guns of 24 pounds and 32 pounds.

More than 2,000 matchlock and flintlock muskets, along with countless lead bullets and gunpowder, were seized. A large quantity of swords, spears, armor, and other cold weapons were also captured.

The warehouse was overflowing with goods, including mountains of sulfur, deerskin, sugarcane, rice, raw silk, porcelain, and tea. There were also large quantities of silver and gold coins, as well as various rare treasures from Japan and Southeast Asia.

Documents and materials: The Governor-General's archives contain a large number of documents from the Dutch East India Company since it occupied Taiwan, including trade ledgers, contracts with indigenous tribes, maps, nautical charts, hydrological data, and even some confidential documents involving relations with Japan and Spain.

These insights are of immeasurable value for Bactria in understanding the activities of Western colonizers in the Far East.

The castle itself: The sturdy Fort Zeelandia and its complete bastion defense system, forts, docks, warehouses, barracks, churches, hospitals and other facilities fell into the hands of the Great Xia almost intact. With a little repair and renovation, it could become the most fortified military and administrative center of the Great Xia in Taiwan.

As the preliminary lists of seized items were presented, even the well-informed Zheng Zhilong couldn't help but be moved.

These supplies, especially the hundreds of sophisticated cannons and the mountains of sulfur and deer hides, are of immeasurable value and could almost arm another powerful fleet.

More importantly, capturing Fort Zeelandia meant that the Great Xia had firmly controlled the most prosperous and crucial Tainan region on the island of Taiwan—including the fertile Chianan Plain and the important port of Dayuan Bay.

Almost simultaneously with the surrender of Fort Zeelandia, resistance at Fort Provintia also ceased.

Upon learning of the governor's surrender and the fall of Fort Zeelandia, the smaller fort offered almost no resistance, and the commander surrendered.

Chen Peng took control of Provintia without bloodshed.

Thus, the 38-year colonial rule of the Dutch in southern Taiwan came to a complete end.

The golden dragon and sun banner of the Great Xia Empire flew high atop the walls of Fort Zeelandia and Fort Chikan.

The news spread like wildfire.

After initial surprise and uncertainty, the Han Chinese immigrants and Pingpu tribes in the Tainan area saw that the "royal army" was disciplined, did not commit any offenses, and issued a proclamation to exempt the Dutch from exorbitant taxes and appease the people. They welcomed the royal army with food and drink.

Many people who had been oppressed by the Dutch even took the initiative to lead the Da Xia army to take over the scattered strongholds, warehouses and plantations established by the Dutch.

Zheng Zhilong quickly appointed temporary officials to maintain local order, survey the land, register the population, and send people deep into the inland mountains to pacify the local indigenous tribes, demonstrate the power and virtue of the imperial court, and reward them with cloth, salt, iron and other items to stabilize the rear.

Taiwan, this shining pearl in the East China Sea, has seen its most prosperous southern region restored and initially brought under the rule of the Great Xia Empire.

However, Zheng Zhilong's gaze had already turned to the far north.

He knew that in the northern part of Taiwan, there was another group of uninvited guests—the Spanish, who occupied Keelung and Tamsui, like two nails wedged into northern Taiwan.

On the side of the couch, how can you allow others to snore?