The population of Changshun County is now nearly 8,000, which is also a densely populated place in Brazil. Moreover, this is the number after a major plague had caused a sharp decline in the population. Otherwise, there would be more, which shows the attractiveness of this land to the population.

Although Changshun County belongs to the Beining region, geographical barriers make them generally not go to the Brazilian plateau unless they are necessary unless the government adopts compulsory measures. For example, at the beginning of this year, the State Administration of Development established five settlements in six areas, namely Xiadu (Seidu Town, Pucheng Township, Juma Township, Wusui Township, Wuhui Township, and Wuhui Township), Miyun (Seiyun Town, Tonggu Township, Tianfu Township, Huailai Township), and Yanqing (Seiqing Town, Bancheng Township, Louting Township, and Juyong Township) respectively, when the three counties were the 102nd, 103rd and 104th county-level administrative units in the country, although they were repeatedly mobilized in Changshun County, there were very few people willing to settle in the above three counties, and the only ones were also subject to the relatively abundant land resources and generous settlement conditions in the local area, otherwise no one would be willing to go.

Nowadays, except for new immigrants in the Far East and second-generation citizens in some old areas, there are only non-national labor workers who have become regular. This is no wonder Xu Yu and Liu Houfei, the first and second-in-command of the regional administration, have repeatedly reported and requested that non-national labor workers be transferred to Beining. It is really a serious shortage of labor, and I don’t know how they will solve it.

The dock commercial area where Ximen Xiao is now staying is already considered a relatively prosperous area in Changshun County, second only to the county town. The edge of the dock is surrounded by a row of wooden fences, probably with newly added facilities. Anyway, Ximen Xiao didn’t have these things when he came last time.

Several doors were opened on the tall wooden fence, and there were some patrol officers at the door of each door to maintain order, and to see if there were any foreign sailors planning to mingle into the city. Since the last time the unprecedented plague broke out, the Changshun County Government has forced all foreign ships to trade to be quarantined at the instruction of the Regional Administration. The sailors could only move in and out of other neighboring areas at will, in order to avoid foreign sailors bringing various diseases prevalent in Europe to the east coast.

Of course, this measure cannot be said to be without loopholes, because merchant crew members can enter and exit the neighboring areas at will, such as Ximen Xiao, who often operate overseas. But after all, they are natives, and there must be some benefits, although they must also undergo examinations and inquiries from doctors.

It was almost dinner time. There were many people who sat in the restaurant, and were basically the "Dutch Red Hair" that the East Coast people joked about. They should be sailors on the West Indian company merchant ships temporarily parked in the harbor. These people sat together in groups of three or three, no longer the noisy scene of the past. Most of the sailors from Scotland, Germany or France were always rude, especially when they were drinking some wine, as if they were suppressing something in their hearts, which made Ximen Xiao a little strange.

Therefore, when an Italian waiter brought the beef patties, grilled lamb chops, seafood paella and a bottle of Xiangshan dried red, he took out a dime of silver coins from his pocket and stuffed them into Xiao Er's hand, and then asked him about the situation of these Dutch sailors. The news he received surprised him a little, namely, the "feat" performed by the 6th Army of the East Coast in front of the Gwangenport Prison in The Hague City after about half a year of transmission, it has finally been passed on to the East Coast local area, and immediately many people with keen sense of smell were uneasy. Ximen Xiao was obviously one of them.

Ximen Xiao compared this matter. Perhaps there were foreign teams who killed nearly 100 patriotic people on the east coast, and then escaped without anyone else. Such a thing was obviously unacceptable to the people on the east coast, and they also wanted to take revenge strongly. Putting their hearts in mind, it was clear what the Dutch would think and do.

Ximen Xiao even wondered whether the Dutch would mobilize heavy troops to siege the first mixed battalion of this matter? Speaking of which, he had two friends serving in the battalion, and hoped that they would not be taken away by the Dutch. Once the battalion was besieged by the Dutch, the nature of this matter would be completely different, and it might be so serious that it would affect the relationship between the two countries.

Fortunately, I didn't do Dutch business! Ximen Xiao is quite grateful now. Think about the factories or private workshops that share large orders for Dutch purchases. This may really seriously consider the possibility of business being ruined, because you can't expect the Dutch to continue to give you money after being slapped in the face, unless the goods you sell are all kinds of war materials they urgently need.

As the people on the east coast were worried, the Dutch were naturally confused, especially the representatives and staff of the Dutch West India Company, named Conelis Bicker, whom Simon Xiao had just met on the dock. At this moment, they had already sat in another relatively quiet tavern, slowly tasting Madeira sweet wine imported from Portugal, while lowering their heads and whispering to each other, saying something secret.

"I have basically understood the matter clearly. The East Coast army fought in The Hague and killed more than 70 Hague citizens, including some spies and spies sent by Prince Orange. In addition, they also captured several suspicious elements who were said to be suspected of inciting the public, such as the unlucky Van der Grave, the son of a court president." Conelis Bicker had a large plate of hand grabbing lamb in front of him. While eating, he said to several confidant subordinates who were sitting on the same table as him: "William III of the Orange family was slapped such a loud slap in the face, so naturally he had to react, otherwise it would be unreasonable. Now, I am afraid that because of the government or Prince Orange's attitude, our business with the East Coast people will not be able to continue. This is what I worry most."

Speaking of the Netherlands India Company's overseas trade with the East Coast people has gradually improved its originally riddled financial situation and paid off some debts, which has failed to make the Dutch government's plan to inject the wealthy East India Company's second capital injection to save the stadium. The West India Company is still in the hands of the Zelan people, rather than those Dutch provincial people who are like vampires.

"It's hard to say about such things, it can only be arranged by God's will." A middle-aged man wearing a boat hat and wearing beautiful clothes suddenly said: "The worst case is that William III retaliates, freezes all trade between the two countries, expels ambassadors, cuts off diplomatic relations, and even fights without hesitation. In that way, we really have no business to do, and we can only leave the East Coast, a golden land full of financial opportunities. Even some of the plantations opened by our company in Hue Port will probably be confiscated by the East Coast people, and the loss is a bit huge."

"The good situation is that the two countries will assume that nothing has been born, and then continue to do whatever they should do. Then we can continue to do business here, selling black slaves, ivory, wood, tobacco and other goods to the East Coast people, and then taking away their industrial products and shipping them to other places for sale. This is the best situation." The middle-aged man continued.

"This is almost impossible! Revenge must exist!" Conelis Bicker immediately commented: "I still have some understanding of William III. The people in their family have always been good things to do. This time it is obvious that he wanted to kill the Dewitt brothers, but the intervention of the East Coast people not only failed the plan, but also greatly wiped out his face. Then there will inevitably be a series of retaliation measures later, but we have not received the news yet. As long as we wait patiently, we will definitely receive a report on the severance of trade between the two countries."

Conelis Bickel's words made everyone feel a little silent, and at the same time, they were secretly cursing the Orange faction and the East Coast people who intensified the conflict. The Orange faction was scolded because the people here were basically overseas colonial merchants who were inclined to the Republic, and they were dissatisfied with those people; the East Coast people were scolded because the First Mixed Camp was too decisive to take action, killing them as soon as they said they could not control the matter, so that everyone seemed to be losing money. How could they not be upset?

"Don't think about it all." After a while of silence, Conelis, who was still the highest-ranking, knocked on the table and said with a final say: "Continue to send the Clippers to and from Tobago Island and the East Coast, and strive to find out all the information that can be found as quickly as possible. This is particularly important for our next decision. In addition, haven't some Venetian merchants come to Hue and Changshun recently to try to invest? I remember these people are very interested in the plantations we are already operating stably. At this time, we can talk to them again and try to sell some of the plantations for the Italians to avoid risks. By the way, a debt owed to the East India Company is about to expire, and the principal and interest are still quite large, and it just takes the money to make up for it. Otherwise, according to the agreement, wouldn't it give the Dutch an excuse to force a stake in our company? The West India Company will always belong to the people of Zeland!"

"Yes, we must not let the bastards in the Netherlands take away the company. The last time they invested in capital, they had already taken away a lot of shares. This time, they could not get any more cheaper than they said..." Everyone echoed in a verbal manner.

The group ate and drank in the tavern until after 1:00 p.m. before checking out, people flew out. After cursing the fence that prevented them from going to the city to have fun, the group of Zelan walked straight to the dock, intending to return to their ships. At this time, four 650-ton flute-shaped transport ships suddenly entered the harbor. The cabin was loaded with various cargo and had a deep draft. It seemed that they were trading north, and they didn't know where the destination was.

"In the past two years, many such ships have been built on the East Coast. Well, at least fifteen ships, and they may be still being built. Some of these ships are used to replace old ships that have been retired, while others are newly built for business. The same should be true for these ships." Conelis only looked at the ships that had just been anchored, and someone around him immediately explained.

"Since so many new merchant ships have been built, you can imagine how angry the East Coast people will be once the trade contract is frozen." Conelis Bicker sighed long, and there seemed to be a scene of an angry black dragon roaring violently at the United Provinces. The East Coast people may really seek an explanation regardless of everything, otherwise the United Provinces will be attacked on both sides.

"Have the East Coast people made any military transfers recently?" Conelis asked suddenly again.

"How could we know this?" Several members looked at each other, not knowing how to answer. After all, the military mobilization has always been one of the military secrets. How can these merchants know? Could it be that they specially sent ships to the gate of Zhenhai Port or Hailing Port military bases, so it would be strange if they were not bombarded as scum. As for the mobilization of the 6th Army on the East Coast, there is no way to know. The only thing the Dutch figured out now is that the 6th Army on the East Coast has expanded four more battalions this time, namely the 9th-12th mixed battalion, or they are all full, and at least 1-2 battalions should be dispatched at any time.

"Haha, indeed, I'm not thinking too much." Conelis Bickel shook his head, smiled at himself, and said, "Let's go, get on the boat and rest for one night. We will set off tomorrow to load the goods at the East Coast Port. I will also meet our major event Mr. Van Beverninghe. I think I have the obligation to remind him that once the East Coast Republic has had a dispute with us for various reasons, then we must do a good job in the defense of the South African colonies and not give any enemy an opportunity to take advantage of it."

Of course, Conelis knew in his heart that his words were just saying, and most likely they would not have much effect. After all, if the East Coast people were not moved, they would have been fully prepared and planned to completely turn against the United Provinces! Conelis even speculated that the East Coast people did not need to invest too much military force to ship the newly formed four 6th army mixed battalions to South Africa in a row, and they could almost accept the entire Cape Town colony without bloodshed. No matter how bad they were and had no combat experience, they were also professional soldiers trained hard, and were far from being able to resist the Boer militia in Cape Town.
Chapter completed!