Part #8: Enter the Dragon
“When looking at the nations of the Orient, if you trace their histories back, seeking a major catalyst for change, you will likely come to bestow that blame to one group: the bloody Dutch.”
- Sir Patrick Fillmore, Head of Orientology, University of New Rubicon
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“Though many a theoretical historian might disagree, the year of 1687 can be argued to have ultimately been a boon for the Dutch Republic. With the death of William III, though its official head was Statthalter[1] Friedrich of Prussia, control of the nation fell to William’s widow Mary. With a small army of Prussian crushing rebellion, and a general fear amongst even her critic of loss of autonomy to the Holy Roman Empire, her rule was absolute. Even her foreign guard was utterly loyal to her, as she paid them well and carefully found for each of them wives or mistresses or both. And truly, Mary was a fine ruler, with an ultimate goal of the prosperity of the realm.[2]
Thus, the United Netherlands had an intelligent and shrewd ruler while also having the protection of the Empire, being officially controlled by one of its electors. One of the biggest aids to the Republic, however, was Mary’s patronage of the both the East and West India Companies. In particular, with her own grudge against her former homeland of England, she was highly supportive of what is commonly known today as the Dutch Swindle.
This plan began as an attempt to covertly regain control of the Colony of New York by using company funds, disguised as the wealth of private citizens, to help rebuild after the Second Metacom War. While some stretched the concept to one day allow for an official transference of allegiance from England back to the Dutch, most in the company found the illicit control of New York to be sufficient and even more beneficial, as it rendered profits to be made directly from the English government’s funds. Under Mary, not only was the plan furthered, with its mastermind, Van Haarlem, becoming increasingly powerful in the company, but expanded to other English holdings in the New World.
Soon enough, young Dutch nobles who had left their home due to disgrace, or privateers that had suddenly stumbled upon treasure or taken a massive prize, or even bastard children of the wealthiest families in the Netherlands all began to crop up in English colonies. Jamaica, the expanded Leeward Islands,[3] Barbados, even the remote Bermuda all found themselves being invested in by Dutch gold, and Dutch names were increasingly ones of renown and influence, though many took on English names and even worked to have fluent English. That this was not detected by England was due in large part to a lack of communication between it and its colonies as well as, perhaps more importantly, a lack communication between the colonies themselves. That each saw wealthy Dutchmen arrive was, individually, not an entirely odd occurrence, and deemed by most administrators as not worthy of report beyond the smallest sidenote. And with England’s own rebuilding after 1687, most ministers eyes went only to the reported losses and profits of colonial reports.
However, New York remained the principal site of the plot, and this was due in no small part to the Earls of Long Island. The former Lord Shaftesbury, the 1st Earl, was an exile of the Bloody Year for having supported the Duke of Monmouth and leading the March on London, only spared for his stance against violence when hostilities had actually occurred between the Monmouthites and Loyalists. His exile was a fact he was deeply bitter about, worsened by the suspicious death of his son that had seen his daughter-in-law and grandson join him in the Americas. But he adapted to his new home quickly, throwing himself into his work as Royal Governor of New York with passion, likely as a way of moving past his own emotions. Thus it was with little difficulty that he began to become suspicious of Van Haarlem, the man who started the Swindle, and the most powerful man in New York.
Known for his audaciousness, Van Haarlem invited the suspicious Earl for dinner at his estate, with him, and his ‘brothers’ (close personal friends from before the Swindle began). Some claim that the Earl had already deduced what was happening, while others contend that Van Haarlem intentionally dropped hints and clues, but the most common story, and the one that fits well with the man’s personality, is that he bluntly and openly admitted to his scheme before just as bluntly offering the Earl a place in it. The Earls reasons for agreeing are fairly obvious, but his personal diary explains a less vengeance-focused tale, as, while he certainly admitted to anger with the English Crown, he came to the determination that the Dutch investments had seen New York regain a good deal of its lost prosperity, and that ultimately his duty as governor was to ensure the success of the colony, with the increased profits for England meaning it was not a harm to the mother country directly.[4]
With the Earl’s involvement came a new phase for the Swindle in New York. More Dutchmen flowed in, their numbers reported with some distress to the governor, who then swore to tell London, only for him to forget to mention the matter entirely…”
- Low Countries, High Ambitions, by Karl Utrecht
“While the Dutch Swindle has captured the imagination, especially in recent years, but I and others would argue that the actions not of the GWC, but the VOC were more influential in history even prior to the Fourth Anglo-Dutch War. I understand that many would disagree, but it cannot be understated that their actions in the Orient impacted not just the Specerij Archipelago and Subsinia,[5] but was crucial in determining the fates of Jongkuo and Nihyeon.[6]
Beginning with the latter, we can see that the Dutch already had a major influence in Nihyeon via the artificial isle of Deshima.[7] The reigning Tokyukawa clan had control of the entirety of the Dahwah[8] Islands, and had instituted a strict policy of isolation, closing its ports and lands to all foreigners. To all, that is, but the Dutch. The Deshima, and the city of Nagasaki to which was connected, was a place where the VOC could trade and exchange goods. Even this, however, was tightly regulated, and at times trade was nearly nothing. With a new mandate from Mary of Stuart to build the Dutch Republic into an economic siege-ram, this was unacceptable. Though at first it was merely more aggressive trade in the region, over time their ambitions for Nihyeoni trade grew and grew, spurred on by political developments we well know.
So the VOC, in the early eighteenth century, at the time in the good graces of Shogun Ienobu, appealed to have the Deshima expanded, not for the purposes of increased trade in Nihyeon, but so that they might have a port to use a nexus for their trade with other nations in the Orient. Ienobu was a reformer, and had instituted gold coins to stabilize the economy, as well as creating a more open and just society by eliminating cruel punishments and lifting censorship;[9] the idea of wanting to create a bettered state was used by Dutch ambassadors, who argued that a more centralized trade hub would mean less illicit trade elsewhere in Nihyeon, which would allow for better regulation of that trade and the economy. Though still leery, the Shogun authorized that the Dutch could expand Deshima, albeit with a requirement for a large number of Nihyeoni troops to patrol it.
It should be noted that the Dutch went to the Shogun, not to the actual Emperor of Nihyeon, as despite the current Shogun’s attempts to build relations with the Emperor, the monarch’s power was little.
So, Deshima was expanded, nearly doubling in size, still maintaining a distinctive fan-shape, and the VOC used it to organize trade for the entirety of their Oriental operations beyond Subsinia, though it would not eclipse Batavia for some time. But this expansion meant an increase of trade in Japan, as the Dutch soon became proxies for goods from other Oriental nations. From here would begin a series of events to alter the history of Nihyeon, and with their enterprises elsewhere, that of the Orient as well…”
- Prof. J. Collins, Lecture on European Impacts on the World, Oxford University
“King Sukjong would have been renowned as a clever ruler, who utilized the factional divides of court against itself in order to keep Choshin stable.[10] That would have been the case, were it not for Queen Jang Hui-bin. The former consort had used the disfavor of the Western faction to ride to power. Queen Inhyeon was deposed, and Hui-bin and the Southern faction rode to power.
This total shift in court politics wasn’t the first to occur in Choshin’s history, or even in King Sukjong’s rule; changes in ruling faction were his method of preventing a civil war before it could even begin to brew. Prior to the Busan Exchange, Inhyeon was missed by the king, who regretted putting Jang Hui-bin on the throne. The woman was famously cruel, and more importantly there was the matter of the faction she supported. Although Choshin was officially a vassal of the Qing Dynasty, the Southern faction viewed the Manchu rulers as barbarian usurpers of the previous Ming Dynasty. They wanted to prepare for resistance to the Qing, and in contrast the remnants of the Western faction, who also did not view the Qing positively, instead wanted to build up and improve Choshin…[11]
...On a cold morning in 1691, In Busan, the Dutch fleet entered to the distress of the Choshin inhabitants, and soldiers, ready for battle, stood at the dock. But the first man down the gangplank was not an invader. He was a translator from Nihyeon, and he quickly diffused the situation by stating that the Dutch were a merchant fleet needing to wait in port due to fears of a storm. As a ‘gift’, the Dutch gave to the lords of Busan a bounty of goods, including modern firearms, spices, gold, and fine fabrics. This became known as the Busan Exchange, an event that sparked a craze for Dutch trade in Choshin, just as the Dutch East India Company had intended.
Word of what had happened spread quickly, and with it the curiosity. Soon enough, a company representative was standing before King Sukjong, making a case for a similar trade agreement as had been made with Japan, incorrectly assuming the political situation would be similar. This foreign presence quickly started to split both the Southern and Western factions. The majority of the Southern faction would feel that the trade was a good idea, and could be used as way to achieve greater independence from the Qing, or even wage war to restore a Han dynasty; the Western faction instead saw it as dangerous, and feared it would only make them a vassal to the company instead, but they were more evenly split, with many instead believing that European trade could be a means to accelerate Choshin’s growth. This divided created opportunity, an opportunity seized by Queen Jang…
...While slow, moderate trade continued with the Dutch, the king and court deliberating over whether to establish Busan as an open port for them to trade in, Queen Jang invited the former Queen Inhyeon for tea. This first meeting was tense, but Jang supposedly showed an earnest desire to mend relations, admitting to desiring to do so as a means of easing political strife. Then they met again the next day, and the day after, growing friendly, if maintaining rivalry. And then, on the tenth day, tragedy struck. An assassin burst in, and threw a poisoned dagger through the curtain the two women sat behind before he was killed by a guard. Trinkets of payment on his person showed he was hired by anti-trade members of the Western faction, and must have gone to kill Jang Hui-bin. But his weapon did not hit the Queen, who had chosen to wear plainer clothes than her guest had. Instead, it struck Inhyeon.[12]
In a show of wrath, King Sukjong had the remainder of the Western faction who did not flee executed for conspiracy to murder the queen and the murder of a consort. And then he instituted a policy of trade with the Dutch that would effectively begin westernizing Choshin. Jang quickly accrued more and more power as those who believed the story of friendship between her and Inhyeon gave her their sympathy, and those that did not gave her their fear. But with her growing strength, many in her own faction saw her as liability and a threat. And with the birth of Prince Yi Dan to Consort Myeong, Jang’s son Yi Yun was no longer the only viable heir to the throne. And so the Southern faction, having grown to control the court in its entirety, soon split between the Nonamin (Old South Faction) and the Sonamin (New South Faction). And unfortunately for King Sukjong, he would not be able to end the conflict between the two before it reached outside the confines of the court…”
- The Choshin Dynasty by Karen Temple
“Dutch, uh, Dutch expansion into Jongkuo didn’t go so smooth, especially when you like at other places. Now, Nihyeon? That was a slow and steady build-up of their own trade island, of better relations with the Shogun, a nice and easy deal to get more power and profit. And Choshin? Took time, but eventually they had them buying products by the bushel. But Jongkuo, or China as it was then commonly called, since History was still being controlled by those unwilling to get off their high f*cking horses, and recently those same types are in charge now, was a whole ‘nother animal. At first, the Dutch just tried to expand their trade in the Chinese markets that were open to foreigners, but there were only few really, about ten of them: Xiangshan, Makao, Fujou, Nantai, Xiamin, Ningpo, Dinghai, Hwating, Chuangchu, and Shanghai![13] Ha! Still know ‘em all. And then….then, even with all these ports seein’ Dutch goods being sent through the haigwan customs houses, then they started going nice and shadow market[14] with things. They had Jongkuans taking their stuff and selling it in the back of their shops, or in the outskirts of the government’s reach, everything nice and untaxed. They had stuff going through that wouldn’t get approved, like drugs and weapons and even started selling junk from Nihyeon as ‘rare relics!’
Now what did this do? I’ll tell you what it did! Flooded the damn place! Too much product, too much! And too much going to the wrong places. Peasant revolt hits, and fails, but when those peasants have Dutch guns? Government got wind of it, and Emperor...what was his name...Kangshu? Kangxi! Emperor Kangxi[15] was not happy about it! Not happy at all. Especially not when Dutch liquor and tobacco was becoming all the rage with the southern nobles too. He even has a couple Dutchmen executed! And then he bans several more products with a penalty of death and bars trade with the Dutch for a couple years, and after that he still has the Dutch have limits on the amount they can sell! That...that is what you call a royal f*ck up!
But they don’t give up, no no! Instead, the Dutch get sneaky. They keep a shadow market, but they keep it small. Cautious. The ‘Careful Trade’, that’s what they called it. They filled their quotas entirely, and then had just enough sell illegally that they made a nice bit of money, but not enough to get the government snooping around, and they made sure they didn’t sell to the wrong people; you had to have someone vouch for you, and the merchants involved were left to hang if anyone messed up and someone got caught sellin’ or owning something they weren’t supposed to. And the Emperor even had new laws where you had to get a guarantor for your ship, to take full responsibility in case any bad products or shifty business happened. But without any tax or inspection on their items, even though not too many people were willing to help them, they made a killing! Like when those damn motherf*ckers took my f*cking bl**dy annuity…”[16]
- Leonard Fitzgerald, Former Head of Orientology, University of New Rubicon, impromptu lecture at the local pub
“...Tempted by greed, Song Jin Yi took the small wealth of the family, and tried to act an illegal merchant. When the Emperor ended most trade with the Dutch, Jin Yi lost all that he had. He and his family lived in shame and poverty afterwards.
His daughter Song Lang Hua was beautiful and virtuous although she was young, and Jin Yi had her wed to Wu Li Wei, a cruel boy from a rich family. Wu Li Wei felt no respect for the world or anyone, and demanded that all be as he wanted. Song Lang Hua served her husband faithfully even when his wishes were unfair or petty…
...One day, as Wu Li Wei plowed his field, his ox refused to move. The ox was old and tired. Wu Li Wei beat the old ox to death, and the meat was sold to buy a new one from a farmer in another village. But the farmer had found Wu Li Wei to be repugnant, and gave to him a stubborn and pregnant ox, but did not tell Wu Li Wei. After a few days, the pregnancy was visible, but Wu Li Wei did not care, so long as the ox did as he commanded. But in the field that day, the ox refused to move, and Wu Li Wei began to beat it. But the ox kicked him, and Wu Li Wei was killed, and Song Lang Hua was made a widow…
...Song Lang Hua began to learn of the Way from these widows, and they in turn learned to better follow it, for Song Lang Hua’s virtue quickly made her a venerable practitioner. She began to unlearn her preconceptions, but she was not a master of the Way, for as she was taught, none can truly master it, nor can any truly follow it or teach it. As the widows told her, the Way can only be introduced into a person’s life, and then there is only the choice to follow…
...The Wu family again berated Song Lang Hua for being without use, despite that they themselves relied on her daily, and that it was she that cooked their food, bathed their children, washed and mended their clothes, and even occasionally plowed their field. When a man came seeking to buy servants for the royal palace, the Wu family offered Song Lang Hua, and extolled to him her virtue. Skeptical, the man agreed to stay with the Wu family for one night and one day to observe Song Lang Hua, and gave the family until sunset to prepare for him. The Wu family went home and gave Song Lang Hua money to purchase clothing for herself and food for their guest, and then sent her to the market.
That night, the Wu family brought the man to their home, and when he arrived he looked upon Song Lang Hua, and she was wearing a simple, plain dress she had made for herself. He asked her why she was not wearing a lavish dress, and she said to him that to spend on lavish dresses was not the Way, and that she had more than enough fabric to make herself an adequate dress. He asked her then if she believed that adequacy was good enough for a servant of the royal palace. She said to him that adequacy was for herself, and to others she gives all that she can, for not to do so was not the Way. Surprised but pleased, the man sat down to eat, and saw that a delicious meal had been prepared.
After the meal, he said to Song Lang Hua that he had followed the Wu family and had seen the money she had been given. But the food she had purchased was not expensive enough to have used up all the money, and so the man asked what had happened to it. Song Lang Hua told him that she had purchased more food than what she had cooked, but she had given some to starving children she came across, and then, when she returned home, she placed the rest of the money back into her father-in-law’s purse. The man then asked her why she gave away the food when the meal was supposed to impress him, and Song Lang Hua told him that turn away from those in need was not the Way. He then asked her that if she was so frugal why did she not keep the money, and she told him that to keep money that she did not need, and that did not belong to her, was not the Way. The man asked her then what was the Way. And she told him then that the Way that can be known was not the Way, that the Way can only be followed, not defined…
...The man payed the Wu family handsomely for Song Lang Hua, but he did not do so only because he wished to make her as servant, but also because he believed that such a virtuous woman did not belong with such cruel and lazy people. And he took her north to the capital, and she was made a servant of the imperial family…
...As Song Lang Hua meditated, for such an excellent servant was she that the Empress-consort granted her time to do so, Prince Yinreng came through the brush as he ran and hid from his pursuers, and his ankle was broken. Begging Song Lang Hua not to reveal him, she agreed to do so only if he told her why he was being chased. Agreeing, Prince Yinreng confessed to seducing an ambassador’s wife and the Prince broke his ankle jumping from a window to escape. Song Lang Hua did not pass judgement upon him, and did not reveal him when his pursuers came close. But when they had left, she asked him then, why he seduced the woman, and he told her that it gave him pleasure. And so she asked him if that momentary pleasure was worth the pain of his ankle, which would last for weeks, or the fear of being caught, or even the stripping of his titles. But Prince Yinreng laughed and told her that no servant girl could understand and left.
But her questions festered in his mind, and on the next day the Prince went to see Song Lang Hua in the brush…
...The Prince’s devotion to the Way grew first from his desire of Song Lang Hua, and he admitted his shame to her, and asked her if one could follow the Way for the wrong reasons. And she said to the Prince that it mattered not why one began to follow the Way, as once followed, understanding of its virtue always followed. And she asked him if he would turn away from the Way if she died or if she traveled far away. And the Prince sat in silence, and meditated, before telling her that he would not, that he followed the Way for himself. He said that the Way had brought him peace, harmony, and happiness, whereas a life of excess, ambition, and greed had only brought him the misery that came to allow who attempted to command and defy nature. But he then asked how the Way could be followed by an Emperor, for his father had grown so proud of him as to have his appointment as Crown Prince be made eternally binding.
Song Lang Hua told him that a ruler is to be as a shadow amongst his people, to be unseen, but ever present, for a ruler that tries to control his people will only see more rebellion; enforce honesty and there will only be more deception; enforce peace and there will only be more conflict; enforce religion and there will only be more heresy; enforce prosperity and there will only be more poverty. A kingdom, she said, can ultimately govern itself if it is in balance. And Prince Yinreng then asked her how a kingdom is kept in balance, and she replied that keeping the balance is the one true duty of a ruler. She told him that a great ruler is he who keeps peace with his neighbors but ensures his people are safe, is he who prevents men from enforcing their desires on others but does not do so himself, is he who can defeat enemies but shows only restraint of force, and is he who encourages virtue but does not condemn those who falter. And then, just as she had in the many days before, she raised her hand for silence and reminded the Prince that to study the Way is good but to speak of it endlessly is to fail to understand it. And as in the past days he nodded, and joined her for meditation before he returned to his studies…
...And so began his reign as the Tiandao Emperor. And though he married a nobleman’s daughter and made her the Empress, he had with her no sons and only two daughters. But by Song Lang Hua, whom he made Imperial Noble Consort, he had two sons and four daughters. The twin boys were named Qianzhen and Qianli…”
- The Blooming Path, one of the Seven Great Novels of Jongkuo[17]
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[1] A number of authors ITTL prefer to use the German translation when referring to the Prussian-controlled Netherlands
[2] Or a mentally unstable manic fixation on making ‘her husband’s legacy’
[3] In TTL and in OTL the Leeward Islands were a large collection of Caribbean territories
[4] While not stated, the real effect of his decision is on the character of his grandson, whom he is of course raising as a successor…
[5] TTL terms for Malaysia and Indochina, the first term coming from the Dutch word for ‘spice’ and the second term referring to the region being beneath China
[6] China and Japan, respectively, from Zhongguo and Nihon
[7] Or Dejima, as we know of it in OTL, though in TTL it will continue to exist into the modern day.
[8] This refers to the entire Japanese archipelago as we know it in OTL, the term coming from the Chinese Da Wa, an archaic name for Japan
[9] This is all from OTL.
[10] Which he was known for in OTL. Also, Choshin comes from the Chinese Cháoxiǎn, their term for the Joseon Dynasty of OTL.
[11] This is all OTL
[12] If the author’s language didn’t make it apparent, most historians and most of Korea at the time view the validity of this story with suspicion, especially the damning evidence on the assassin’s person. In OTL Hui-bin was executed for using black magic rituals and possibly poisoning Inhyeon when Inhyeon was put back on the throne, and the damning evidence against her was being seen rejoicing at the woman’s death.
[13] Most of these are an amalgamation of various OTL spellings of these places, but are indeed the correct TTL romanization
[14] Shadow market is the popular TTL term for a black market
[15] It’s not just the alcohol; the historians of OTL rather incorrectly refer to the Emperors of China by their era name following after the title of Emperor.
[16] Annuity would be TTL speak for a pension
[17] This tale is essentially a long dramaticized epic written many years after the fact about a lowborn woman whose family lost everything when they got caught working with the Dutch shadow market; they marry off their beautiful daughter young to a cruel man who ends up dying quickly, and she, a widow living with a family who loathes her, begins to practice Daoism, a religion that was indeed popular amongst widows, especially in the far south, where it originated. She then is sold to be a servant and ends up a maiden for the Empress-consort, and she then meets Prince Yinreng, who in OTL was eventually stripped of his status as Crown Prince for being lecherous, lustful, cruel, and overly-ambitious. In TTL, he meets her, falls for her, and ends up an adherent to Daoism while he’s a young man (barely an adult), and so never becomes as bad as he was in OTL. The story of course romanticizes both of their virtue, but in TTL he is indeed a diligent Daoist (if not openly), and so is never stripped of his title, and becomes known as the Tiandao (Heavenly Path) Emperor. More on the impacts of this, and of the story of his twin sons whenever we get back to the Orient.
