Chapter 12 Chapter Eight "The Red Creek Tragedy"

Jakarta is one of the ports in the west of Java Island. It was officially established as a city in 1527, called Jakarta (Jayakarta), referred to as Jakarta (Jakarta), which means "triumph". At the end of the 16th century, the Netherlands, backed by its abundant capital and a huge commercial fleet, began to plunder the rich East.The Indonesian archipelago with beautiful mountains and rivers and rich products has become their plundering target. In 1602, the "Dutch East India Company" with the nature of a colonial regime came to Indonesia to carry out large-scale colonial plundering activities.Jakarta was chosen as the beachhead.After fierce competition, it was finally captured in 1619 and renamed Batavia. The "Dutch East India Company" was ambitious and wanted to build Batavia into the largest commercial city in Indonesia as soon as possible as a base for further aggression and expansion.But Batavia, which has been looted by the war, is a dilapidated scene, and the urban area has long been turned into a rubble field.In addition, the city is low-lying, sparsely populated, the land is abandoned, and food cannot be self-sufficient.To change all this and rebuild the city, we must first solve the food problem.To achieve this goal, the shortage of labor force is a very prominent problem.The rulers of the Netherlands put their minds on the overseas Chinese.

Since the 1550s, overseas Chinese have settled in Indonesia.Although there are not many of them, the virtues of industriousness and frugality are highly praised by people.The Dutch understand this too.So, they tried every means to lure Chinese immigrants.In addition to the civilized method of attracting Chinese merchant ships to trade and introducing Chinese immigrants at the same time, the methods adopted are also barbaric.They sent ships to the southeastern coastal areas of China to carry out the so-called "hunting", that is, to abduct and rob Chinese people to Jakarta.They even intercepted Chinese merchant ships at sea and forced them to divert to Jakarta. In 1739, the number of overseas Chinese in Bacheng reached about 15,000.

Overseas Chinese were driven to do the hard labor of transporting earth and rocks to build castles.But later the Dutch gradually discovered that overseas Chinese were better at commerce, agriculture, fishery, tailoring and other industries, so they were specially allowed to transfer to other industries after paying a certain amount of poll tax every month.In this way, overseas Chinese can play their strengths in all walks of life. Overseas Chinese not only reclaimed wasteland and planted, spread the exquisite agronomy brought from the motherland to the fertile soil of foreign lands, planted rice, sugarcane, fruits and vegetables, solved the supply problem of the city, but also developed the agricultural product processing industry, especially the sugar and wine making industries .Sugarcane cultivation has a long history in Java Island, but due to backward production technology, it has been unable to meet the demand for a long time. In 1637, overseas Chinese set up the first sugar factory in Jakarta.Since then, sugar factories have continued to increase, increasing to 130 in 1710, of which 125 were overseas Chinese sugar factories.Sugar became an important export product of the city.Overseas Chinese also actively participated in municipal construction.Jakarta is located where the Cirion River flows out to the sea, and the terrain is low-lying. Only when the river is dredged and ditched for drainage can it be suitable for living.The river flowing between Kajmada Street and Hayanwulu Street in the old city of Jakarta today is the "Mingyan Canal" canal built by overseas Chinese in the mid-17th century.Another major contribution of overseas Chinese to the development of early Jakarta was engaging in business activities.Overseas Chinese peddled their shoulders and retailed in small shops. They bought various scattered agricultural and sideline products and exported them to foreign countries. At the same time, they sold various commodities brought in by Chinese merchant ships and grains sold in other parts of Java to residents, which invigorated social and economic life. .

Overseas Chinese are regarded as "quiet and industrious residents", "very active, industrious, and hardworking".An impartial historian summed up the role of overseas Chinese in the early development of Jakarta in this way: "Bacheng can hardly exist without overseas Chinese." However, history is sometimes turned upside down.These heroes who developed Jakarta suffered a tragic massacre in 1740.