Ming East India Company

The rainstorm had stopped for several days, but the sky over Ambon Island remained overcast.

The lilac forest covering the mountain was ravaged by the flood, with withered branches and destroyed flower buds. The once rich and lingering fragrance of the spices is now only the smell of damp, decaying wood after the rain.

William remained as cold and aloof as ever.

He went to the countryside every day to collect taxes, but the account books were cold and the laws were merciless. No matter how many spices the villagers brought out, even if every household had nothing left, they still couldn't pay the VOC tax quota. The flogging was performed every day, and the cries of the villagers were endless. Three households, completely unable to pay their taxes, were dragged by Dutch soldiers to the fortress to serve lifelong hard labor, with no hope of ever returning.

The entire village of Hatala was completely cut off from any hope of survival.

Over the past few months, Chen Shouyi's detailed accounts of his life overseas and the peaceful, low-tax life in Ryukyu have been deeply etched into the hearts of every indigenous person. Before, it was a distant and elusive hope, a dream that offered solace in hardship; now, it is the only chance of survival they can grasp.

Dozens of burly men slipped out of the Dutch checkpoints along the coast and emerged silently from their huts.

The night was deep, dark clouds pressed down on the mountains, and the wind in the forest was chilling.

These indigenous men hurried along the path, knowing that the damned William would regularly return to the port office to rest each month, and tonight only Chen Shouyi remained in the courtyard.

"Knock knock knock." Chen Shouyi, who was in a light sleep, was awakened by the urgent knocking on the door.

He got up sleepily, dressed, and put on his hat.

He picked up his matchlock gun and lit the oil lamp.

In this era where cold weapons were the norm, this amount of equipment was sufficient to defend against enemies.

Hearing light footsteps outside the door, Chen Shouyi pushed the door open and went out.

Dozens of indigenous men stood outside the door, their eyes filled with sorrow and earnestness, staring straight at him.

A man stepped forward and knelt heavily on both knees in the mud.

"Mr. Ashou."

His voice was hoarse and choked with emotion, his eyes filled with a sense of desolation and sorrow.

"This year's rainy season has been too rainy, and all the spice gardens have suffered a complete crop failure. No matter how hard we try to harvest, we can't satisfy the Dutch appetite. Staying here is just waiting for the slaughter to fall."

After he finished speaking, the local tribesmen behind him all knelt down.

"Mr. Ashou, you once told us that there are places like Ryukyu beyond the Spice Islands. We have nowhere to go now, and we beg you to lead us away from this hellish place. We have prepared a canoe, and we can set off immediately if you can point us in the right direction!"

Goodness, these people really don't know anything!

Chen Shouyi was filled with doubt.

The Spice Islands are densely packed with islands, so the local indigenous people have always used canoes for transportation.

It is inexpensive and has a short production cycle.

If goods need to be transported, two canoes are chained together, and a plank is placed in the middle to serve as a temporary cargo hold.

Historically, Austronesian people also used this method to conquer one island after another in the ocean.

But to expect this rudimentary device to float to Ryukyu is incredibly naive of these natives.

Chen Shouyi could only patiently explain:

"Ryukyu is very far from here; you can't possibly drift there like this. Besides, Ryukyu is lacking in spice seeds; how many seeds could you possibly carry on this journey?"

Even after the explanation, the local inhabitants were still unconvinced:

"Isn't there any way to escape?"

"We don't want to die here. Even if it means traveling thousands of miles to feed sharks at sea, it's better than being stranded on a deserted island!"

"Take us away, sir! We're willing to pay any price to escape..."

After repeated communication, Chen Shouyi confirmed that the crowd was willing to leave, and then said to them:

"I can take you away, but it will take time. From now on, go back to your fields and gather spice seeds and seedlings. Then, do your best to deal with the Dutch."

As for whether it will succeed, I will not make any promises.

As soon as Chen Shouyi finished speaking, the local people immediately wilted. Despite their repeated crying and pleading, Chen Shouyi remained ambiguous.

Chen Shouyi knew that not all the people in front of him were determined to escape the Spice Islands, so he decided to give them a break first.

In fact, as early as the beginning of the rainy season this year, Chen Shouyi, sensing that something was wrong, had already begun preparing to smuggle himself out of the country.

Although the Netherlands and Spain were enemies at the time, Dutch merchant ships would still secretly travel to Manila in the Far East to replenish their supplies of fresh water and food.

Lynn of the Eighth Company also became an important partner of the Dutch.

Through William's connections, Chen Shouyi quickly relayed the information to Lin En in the Eighth Company.

Lynn immediately dispatched a fast ship to patrol and loiter near the Spice Islands, ready to be deployed at any time, awaiting Chen Shouyi's orders.

For the next ten days or so, Chen Shouyi remained completely still in his courtyard.

He accompanied William on his rural trips and kept the accounts as usual, just like before.

After collecting the taxes that day, William called Chen Shouyi to the cellar inside the house.

Most houses in the tropics are simple; the house William and Chen Shouyi lived in was just a wooden frame that barely kept out the rain.

Therefore, in order to keep their conversations secret, they could only hide in the cellar.

William took out a stack of papers, which were filled with the recent complaints from the indigenous people.

Chen Shouyi took it out and looked at it, then chuckled and said:

"I guessed right, there are indeed quite a few spineless people among these natives. Last time I refused their request to escape, and I'm sure many of the weak-willed ones will come and betray me."

"But if we rule out the other way around, after such a long time, no one has come to betray us or abandoned the manor to flee into the jungle. They must be determined to escape to Ryukyu. They are exactly the kind of people we can use."

"Moreover, these informants are extremely shameless; when they inform, they all claim that they hope to be exempted from their taxes through this method."

William wore a meaningful smile.

"People who betray their fellow villagers to save their own lives are everywhere."

Chen Shouyi took out a piece of white paper and began to write down the names on it, more than ten people in total.

"With so many people fleeing, aren't you afraid of being reprimanded by the governor of the Spice Islands?"

William laughed heartily:

"There are plenty of people fleeing the island now, the Dutch governor wouldn't care about such trivial matters. Besides..."

A ruthless glint appeared in William's eyes.

"After you leave, I will report to the Dutch governor that the natives here have rebelled, killed you and fled to the mountains, and request that he send troops to suppress them."

"I will have the company's soldiers completely destroy the entire village. No one will survive, whether they escape into the mountains or stay behind. Then your secret will be gone."

Chen Shouyi remained silent. He knew that this place would become a living hell after he left, but he also knew very well that William's approach was the safest option.

"You've killed everyone in these villages, what will happen to the land tax? Will the governor approve of this?"

William laughed heartily:

"Don't worry about that! I've already inquired at the Governor's Palace these past two days. The Governor is very dissatisfied with this year's tax revenue and plans to kill a group of natives and bring back some people from Java and other places to replace the natives of the Spice Islands."

In the Indonesian islands, where crops ripen nine times in two years, everything is scarce except for people. For the Dutch, who are known for their exploitative practices, once people are gone, they simply replace them with new ones.

Chen Shouyi sighed, then carefully examined the indigenous names on his paper, crossing out a few people who were usually unreliable.

Confirmed again and again.

No problem, these people are the ones who are willing to escape and are hardworking enough to meet the needs of the Ryukyu side.

He and William then walked out of the cellar.

In the evening, he personally went into the village and knocked on doors to call everyone on the list.

Because Chen Shouyi had already built up a strong network of connections among the indigenous people, the villagers trusted him greatly.

Even if he visited late at night, the person whose door he knocked on would not hesitate to come out with him.

Then Chen Shouyi called everyone to an open space near his residence.

Looking at the bewildered crowd before him, Chen Shouyi shouted:

"Listen up, the large ship from Ryukyu has arrived in the open sea to pick you up. If you want to escape to Ryukyu, today is your only chance. After today, I will leave here."

If you want to escape, today is your only chance.

The long wait had driven these natives to despair, but now, upon hearing that they could escape, their eyes lit up.

"Is it true? We can go to Okinawa?"

"Mr. Shou, you won't lie to us this time, will you?"

Will Ryukyu definitely accept us?

"Didn't they say Ryukyu is thousands of miles away? How could a ship arrive so quickly? It should take at least several months! We only proposed escaping a little over ten days ago!"

……

Chen Shouyi stretched out his hands to suppress the people's voices.

"Don't make a fuss, listen carefully. If you want the Ryukyu people to take you in during this escape, you must bring spice seeds and planting techniques with you. Only then will you be able to catch the eye of the Ryukyu King."

"After you return, pack your belongings immediately. Take as much as you can with you as seeds, saplings, and tools related to spices."

"Then listen to my command, load them onto the canoe, and head straight out to sea. The waiting boat is in the open sea. It will be using a lantern as a signal tonight. It will only be for one night, and it will not come again tomorrow."

"Also, don't tell anyone."

Chen Shouyi took out two pieces of paper, on which was the statement of complaint that William had provided to him:

"This is a secret letter betraying you by your own people. There is no one in the village you can trust except you."

A gasp rippled through the crowd.

"Alright, stop lamenting. Hurry up and pack your things, take your families, and let's set sail!"

After saying that, the crowd scattered and ran into the village.

Chen Shouyi also left the house where he and William lived and ran to the seaside overnight, pulling out the dugout canoe that he had hidden there.

It has to be said that this canoe is really useful on the small islands in the Pacific Ocean. One person can drag it into the water, and one person can make it. It is lightweight and quick.

After paddling the canoe for a while, we saw faint lights in the distance.

This was a plan that Chen Shouyi had determined in advance. Based on his understanding of the Dutch, even if someone in the village informed on them, the Dutch would have no chance of mobilizing and sending ships to intercept them in one night.

Moreover, although the Dutch regularly patrolled with their fleets to combat smuggling, they typically did not travel at night. Therefore, even if the escorting vessels sailed openly on the sea with their lights on, nothing would happen.

Chen Shouyi slowly paddled his famous dugout canoe closer to the lights, and as the lights drew nearer, the massive shape of the large Fujian boat gradually came into view.

This is a special Fujian-style ship that Shirano meticulously commissioned for this operation. It has a low hull and is equipped with several winches.

As soon as the canoe approached, the crew on the boat immediately handed down the rope and hoisted the canoe up.

Before setting off, Chen Shouyi had made sure to leave rope holes in his canoe.

After the canoe was loaded onto the boat, the crew immediately unloaded all the cargo from it, then pierced through the canoe and threw it into the sea.

After that, several more indigenous dugout canoes arrived. Their canoes did not have rope holes, so they had to manually hoist the goods up using a winch and then let the canoes drift away with the current.

This was also part of Chen Shouyi's prior plan: not a single dugout canoe could be left behind, thus completely cutting off the indigenous people's escape route.

By the time dawn broke, all the Spice Islands natives on the list had boarded the ship.

Chen Shouyi took stock of the personnel and goods; the ship's hold was filled with everything from spice seeds to tools.

He glanced back at Ambon Island in the distance one last time, then turned to the captain of the waiting vessel and spoke:

"Set off."

The large ship then hoisted its sails and sped off towards Manila.

Behind him, William's army arrived three days later and immediately began a scorched-earth massacre of the villages. In less than half a month, William had wiped out all the villagers who had not escaped, along with the natives hiding in the jungle.

After sailing for several days, the large ship luckily evaded the Dutch fleet that was inspecting nearby and arrived in Manila.

Here, Lynn, who was in charge of the rendezvous, dispersed Chen Shouyi and the others into Chinese residential areas to avoid being seen.

He then immediately contacted Sanchez, Bai Ye's ally in Manila.

By this time, Sanchez had already made a fortune from his dealings with Shirane over the years, so he naturally granted Shirane's every request.

Under Sanchez's arrangement, Chen Shouyi led the indigenous refugees to successfully board a Spanish sailing ship. Escorted by the Spanish and Ryukyu navies, they took advantage of the northeast monsoon winds and sailed all the way to Dongfan (Eastern Tibet).

Bai Kecheng from Dongfan Island quickly settled the refugees who had endured a long and arduous journey.

These refugees were settled on the Hengchun Peninsula in southern Dongfan.

This place is isolated at the southernmost part of the East Coast, with no cold or frost all year round. The sea breeze is mild and gentle, and the sunshine is long and the rain and fog are abundant. It is the only pure tropical area in Taiwan.

The low hills and gentle slopes along the coast are layered and free from waterlogging. The loose, well-aerated soil, derived from volcanic soil, has a slightly acidic taste, which is perfect for the rooting habits of cloves. The lush forests and tall trees in the mountains provide shade, protecting the delicate nutmeg seedlings from the scorching sun.

Historically, spices were introduced to the East from here, and now Shirayuki is following suit.

Soon the first clove seed was planted in the fields of the Hengchun Peninsula, and the Ryukyu Kingdom's spice plantations began to take root and sprout.