128. VOC and other problems
“Denk aleer gij doende zijt en doende denk dan nog". [1]
The Dutch proverb
“Die Majorität der Dummen ist unüberwindbar und für alle Zeiten gesichert. Der Schrecken ihrer Tyrannei ist indessen gemildert durch Mangel an Konsequenz.” [2]
A.Einstein
“Uneducated samurai confused origami with harakiri and died not only quickly, but also beautifully.”
unknown author
“When the enemy rubs his hands with pleasure, it's time for revenge if your hands are free!”
Stanisław Jerzy Lec
1760. So far, the “knowledge base” from the Russian-Japanese contacts boiled down to the following:
- Laxman’s expedition provided an useful groundwork for the future Russian-Japanese contacts but he did not, and by his position could not conduct any serious negotiations: in a society as sensitive to the “proprieties” and protocols as Japanese the successful diplomatic talks required not a ship commander but an owner or administrator of a big territory or some other high-ranking official.
- It became clear that the Japanese are quite sensitive (in a negative way) to the proselytizing issue and specifically to the attempts of spreading Christianity on their territories.
- Japanese attitudes toward the military activities, all the way down to the minor accidents, are much more serious than the western ones and this also applies to the fate of the prisoners. Which means that, unless there is a very serious reason, the direct military confrontation has to be avoided because patching relations after it happens will be very difficult.
- There were certain tricky issues of a ceremonial which have to be thought through in advance so that the Japanese etiquette could be satisfied without a damage to the dignity of the Russian side [3].
- While the Japanese officials engaged in the negotiations with Laxman seemingly developed a favorable attitude toward the Russians, they were quite open regarding the fact that there was a constant flow of a negative information coming from the VOC Dutch residents in Dejima settlement in Nagasaki. Which, among other things, meant that some alternative entry port (or ports) have to be negotiated because Dejima was completely under the Dutch control with the obvious resulting problems fir the Russian settlement and trade there.
Dejima was a small fan-shaped artificial island in the bay of Nagasaki covering an area of 120 m × 75 m (390 ft × 250 ft) or 9,000 m2 (2.2 acres), and is listed in old Western documents Latinised as Deshima, Decima, Decuma, Desjima, Dezima, Disma, or Disima. Dejima was built in 1634 to house Portuguese traders and separate them from Japanese society by digging a canal through a small peninsula. The Dutch (VOC) were moved to Dejima in 1641 and during most of the Edo period the island was the single place of direct trade and exchange between Japan and the outside world. Dejima was abolished after the Treaty of Kanagawa in 1854.
On the administrative level, the island of Dejima was part of the city of Nagasaki. The 25 local Japanese families who owned the land received an annual rent from the Dutch. The island was linked to the mainland by a small bridge, guarded on both sides, and with a gate on the Dutch side. It contained houses for about twenty Dutchmen, warehouses, and accommodation for Japanese officials. The Dutch were watched by several Japanese officials, gatekeepers, night watchmen, and a supervisor (otona 乙名) with about fifty subordinates. Numerous merchants supplied goods and catering, and about 150 interpreters (tsūji 通詞) served. They all had to be paid by the VOC. As the city of Nagasaki, Dejima was under the direct supervision of Edo through a governor. Every ship that arrived in Dejima was inspected. Its sails were held by the Japanese until they released the ship to leave. They confiscated religious books and weapons. The Dutch were not allowed to hold any religious services on the island. Despite the financial burden of maintaining the isolated outpost on Dejima, the trade with Japan was very profitable for the Dutch, initially yielding profits of 50% or more. Trade declined in the 18th century, as only two ships per year were allowed to dock at Dejima. The chief VOC trading post office in Japan was called the Opperhoofd by the Dutch, or Kapitan (from Portuguese capitão) by the Japanese. According to the Sakoku rules of the Tokugawa shogunate, the VOC had to transfer and replace the opperhoofd every year with a new one. And each opperhoofd was expected to travel to Edo to offer tribute to the shogun.
Originally, the Dutch mainly traded in silk, cotton, and materia medica from China and India, but sugar became more important later. Also, deer pelts and shark skin were transported to Japan from Formosa, as well as books, scientific instruments and many other rarities from Europe. In return, the Dutch traders bought Japanese copper, silver, camphor, porcelain, lacquer ware, and rice. From 1671 to 1715, about 5 Dutch ships were allowed to visit Dejima every year. From 1715, only 2 ships were permitted every year.
The foreign merchants were generally not allowed to cross from Dejima to Nagasaki. Japanese civilians were likewise banned from entering Dejima, except interpreters, cooks, carpenters, clerks and 'Women of Pleasure' from the Maruyama teahouses.
The Opperhoofd was treated like the representative of a tributary state, which meant that he had to pay a visit of homage to the shōgun in Edo. The Dutch delegation traveled to Edo yearly. The lengthy travel to the shogunal court broke the boredom of the Dutch stay, but it was a costly affair. Government officials told them in advance and in detail which (expensive) gifts were expected at the court, such as astrolabes, a pair of glasses, telescopes, globes, medical instruments, medical books, or exotic animals and tropical birds. In return, the Dutch delegation received some gifts from the shōgun. On arrival in Edo, the Opperhoofd and his retinue (usually his scribe and the factory physician) had to wait in the Nagasakiya (長崎屋), their mandatory residence, until they were summoned at the court. During the stay they were permitted to visit the city, under escort.
Obviously, VOC did not enjoy a perspective of adding the foreign competitors to this cozy arrangement. Especially taking into an account that after 1730 VOC started getting problems due to the wide variety of factors:
- There was a steady erosion of intra-Asiatic trade because of changes in the Asiatic political and economic environment that the VOC could do little about. These factors gradually squeezed the company out of Persia, Suratte, the Malabar Coast, and Bengal. The company had to confine its operations to the belt it physically controlled, from Ceylon through the Indonesian archipelago. The volume of this intra-Asiatic trade, and its profitability, therefore had to shrink.
- From 1720 on, the market for sugar from Indonesia declined as the competition from cheap sugar from Brazil increased.
- All trade had to go through Batavia, which was causing considerable delays while competitors like the EIC and the Ostend Company shipped directly from China to Europe.
- Salaries were low, and "private-account trading" was officially not allowed. Not surprisingly, it proliferated in the 18th century to the detriment of the company's performance.
- The high mortality and morbidity rates among its employees. This decimated the company's ranks and enervated many of the survivors.
- The dividends distributed by the company had exceeded the surplus it garnered in Europe in every decade from 1690 to 1760 except 1710–1720.
The VOC consisted of six Chambers (Kamers) in port cities:
Amsterdam,
Delft,
Rotterdam,
Enkhuizen,
Middelburg and
Hoorn. Delegates of these chambers convened as the Heeren XVII (the Lords Seventeen). They were selected from the bewindhebber-class of shareholders. The Amsterdam Chamber with its 8 delegates was the most important one. Which was posing a
big problem for everybody because Amsterdam was the main Russian trade partner in the Netherlands and now the Baltic interests of its merchants had been in a potential conflict with the Asian interests of its other, or maybe the same, merchants who bought VOC shares on Amsterdam Stock Exchange.
Taking into an account that the Baltic- and Archangelsk-based trade with the Dutch was in the Russian interests as well, both sides had to tread softly avoiding the obvious but potentially dangerous actions in one place, which could backfire in another.
However, while Russian Empire had a single and effective ruling authority, the United Provinces did not: after the death of Willian IV in 1751 position of Stadtholder was formally held by his son, William V, who was still a child (born in 1748). His regents at that time were:
- Duke Louis Ernest of Brunswick-Lüneburg, from 1759 to 1766. From the death of William V's mother Anne in 1759 to William's majority in 1766, he was William's guardian and led the Netherlands' state affairs in his name. The Duke also was the Dutch field-marshal, an Austrian field-marshal and Protestant Generalfeldzeugmeister of the Holy Roman Empire. As a result of his administrative reforms, there was no efficient administrative device in the Republic, nor an equitable apportioning of offices.
Anyway, Stadtholder had the limited and a real power laid with the States-General in which each province had a vote and which were continually in session (in Binnenhof, Hague) between 1593 and 1792. The main problem for that system is that any specific locality and, especially a major city like Amsterdam, could ignore with impunity the decisions coming from Hague. And, of course, VOC, which was still pretty much state-within-state, could ignore any interference into its internal dealings and ignore the interests which laid outside its colonial empire.
So, as far as the Russian interests had been involved, pressuring the Dutch on the Baltic would not necessarily be an effective tool for influencing VOC behavior. An additional consideration was a current Russian relative naval weakness on the Far East. The last consideration was addressed in following ways:
- An additional squadron of 4 big (52 guns) and 2 smaller (44 guns) frigates had been sent from the Baltic Sea to Nikolaevsk-on-Amur.
- A big wharf had been established in Nikolaevsk-on-Amur: the guns had been shipped by the Amur from the plants in Baikal region, timber was widely available locally and other needed supplies had to be carried from the European Russia or, as in the case of the cables, could be purchased in Manila. The experienced shipbuilders had been sent from the other wharfs (both the big ones in Europe and small ones in Okhotsk and Petropavlovsk) with enough locals, Russians and the “natives” to do the low skilled jobs. Of course, a major naval buildup would take time and even then VOC could do a considerable mischief to the Russian merchant ships traveling from Manila to Europe by the Indian Ocean.
- Consistently good relations with Britain (in exchange for some niceties) allowing to use ports in the British colonies along the route.
- If needed, Swedish and Danish trade companies could provide an extra support at least in Canton.
Anyway, to send a message, a major search for a contraband had been conducted on the foreign ships at St-Petersburg harbor. While (surprise, surprise) nothing was found on the British ships (good boys, but don’t forget to thank the port authorities for a timely warning), the Dutch merchants were not that lucky and had to pay a considerable fine with the illegal merchandise being confiscated (nothing personal but the law is a law). Not too big an event to stir an international scandal or to spoil the relations, just a friendly warning. 😉
Meanwhile, not to waste time, candidacy of the Russian ambassador to Japan had been decided upon and he was sent by the Siberian Tract to Nikolaevsk [4]. Even faster courier had been sent ahead with an order to the Governor-General of Dzungaria to provide a couple Oirat officers (preferably of the aristocratic descent) for the Ambassador’s retinue.
The Ambassador himself, Yevfimiy Vasilyevich Putyatin
, was a descendent of the old Russian noble family, Adjutant-General in the entourage of the Emperor and a Vice-Admiral [5]. Besides the naval service, he already successfully conducted the diplomatic missions in the Ottoman Empire and Persia.
In accordance with the earlier agreement, a single ship, frigate “Pallada” had been chosen to bring the embassy to Nagasaki. The ship arrived there in June of 1762 and it took couple weeks before the Japanese officials accepted the formal letter from the Russian Minister of the Foreign Affairs after which Putyatin was informed that it will take few months to get a response.
Not to waste time, Putyatin sailed to Manila and arrived there in the late June.
On 24 September 1762, a British fleet of eight
ships of the line, three
frigates, and four store ships with a force of 6,839 regulars, sailors and
marines, sailed into
Manila Bay from Madras. The expedition, led by
William Draper and
Samuel Cornish, captured Manila, "the greatest Spanish fortress in the western Pacific". Their task was simplified by the fact that, due to the death of a former governor, Archbishop of Manila
Manuel Rojo del Río y Vieyra was acting as temporary Lieutenant Governor and, not being a professional military, committed a number of mistakes trying to defend the city. On 6 October 1762 the British forces broke into the city and “the soldiers turned to pillage” in which the Spanish soldiers and the civilian denizens of Manila also gladly participated for the next 30-40 hours.
Of course, “Pallada” was not harmed and the British commanders had a presence of mind to put the post at the Russian Consulate. From that point things started getting really interesting. Obviously, the looters had been looking for the rich victims with the merchants being the obvious targets. Few of those, mostly Chinese, found a refuge in the Russian consulate and among them was a rich and influential
Japanese merchant Takadaya Kahe from Hokkaido who traveled to Nagasaki on his ship “Kanze Maru”. [6]
His ship being looted and burned, Takadaya gladly accepted an offer to travel to Nagasaki on “Pallada”…
__________
[1] “Think before you are doing something and keep thinking while you are doing”
[2] “Most of the stupidity is insurmountable and guaranteed at all times. The horror of her tyranny, however, is mitigated by the lack of consistency.”
[3] This was the usual problem with the Russian, and European in general, diplomats sent to the Asian courts. The culture-related requirements had to be somehow reconciled with a dignity of a monarch whom ambassador was representing and, unless the specific Asian ruler was already beaten into a submissive position, a compromise could be tricky, especially when the tangible results had been expected.
[4] Unlike the usual travel, not to mention one of a trade caravan, a courier travel by the “tract” (a reasonably well maintained road with the post stations at the regular intervals) could be quite fast: on every post station the fresh horses and, if needed, food and rest had been provided for such a VIP.
[5] While not being a governor of anything, his rank was considered high enough to satisfy the Japanese demands regarding a suitable ambassador’s status.
Of course, the OTL mission and resulting treaty happened almost century later so no European portrait, the uniform would be too anachronistic. Provided Japanese portrait looked vague enough. 😉
[6] This, of course, is a complete BS because he was involved in Golovin Incident, which happened many decades later, and his main operations were between the Kuril Islands and Hakodate (on Hokkaido). But his influence proved to be quite useful during Golovin Incident so why not IITL? Especially, taking into an account that the annual turnover of his trading house was commensurate with the budget of the whole of Japan.
en.wikipedia.org
