The Dutch East Indies was the official name for Indonesia in 1932. Compared to the history of the colony of Indonesia established in 1949, the Dutch East Indies had a history spanning several hundred years. The most famous region here was originally the Spice Islands. Since Columbus discovered the New World, the volume of spice trade had multiplied several times over a hundred years, reaching its peak in the 18th century. Excessive trade meant spices were no longer precious items. Meanwhile, new novelties constantly introduced during the Age of Discovery also changed the Western fashion of being solely obsessed with spices. First came tobacco, followed by tea, coffee, cocoa, cane sugar... and the even more stimulating American chili peppers, causing traditional spices to gradually lose their charm. Furthermore, the tastes of the aristocracy or the bourgeoisie incorporated more elements; sweet, spicy, and light flavors all became part of the new fashion. A new fashion evaluation system also emerged; in 17th and 18th century Europe, many new fashion books were published, such as *The Queen's Closet Opened*, *Royal and Bourgeois Cookery*, and *Smells*. By the 19th century, the bourgeoisie ushered in a new century of reshaping world fashion, where everything was torn down and started anew.

Spices and the Spice Islands thus exited the stage of history. Added to the success of China's own spice cultivation, the days for the Dutch East Indies during World War I were quite difficult. It wasn't until oil extraction began in Balikpapan that a sense of prosperity was somewhat restored.

Overseas Chinese in the Dutch East Indies mostly resided in places like Sumatra and Java. In the late stages of WWI, the British first leased land to China to develop the palm oil business. The Netherlands followed suit and signed cooperation agreements; China leased some islands in the Dutch East Indies to open oil palm farms and rubber plantations. Generally speaking, this was standard economic and trade cooperation.

It was public knowledge that the nominal head of the People's Party in the Dutch East Indies was Wang Qinian. Wang Qinian's official title was Chairman of the Dutch East Indies Renxin Medical College. This fellow, who held a graduation certificate from a French medical specialist school, continued in his profession after joining the People's Party. He was not particularly radical or fanatical politically, and his work was very steady. Later, entrusted by the People's Party, he opened branch schools in British Malaya and the Dutch East Indies in his capacity as a school board director of the Sino-British joint venture Shanghai Renxin Medical College.

At the same time, Wang Qinian was also the vice-chairman of the Southeast Asia division of China's famous reproductive health products enterprise, Durex—nicknamed "Teacher Du"—Safety Products. He was also the main agent for many specific medicines in Southeast Asia. The leading figures in Southeast Asia all knew of such a "Red-topped Merchant" (merchant with official rank); especially among Japanese women in Southeast Asia, Wang Qinian was truly known to everyone.

Director Wang Qinian knew his significance was to attract fire, and he was used to it. In 1932, Wang Qinian's main sphere of activity was Jakarta. Given his network of relationships, much of the news he received was related to Japan.

The female business led by the Japanese government once covered the entire Far East and Southeast Asia. The People's Party and the Soviet Union eradicated such businesses in the Far East, so Japan turned to attack the Southeast Asian market. Since its defeat in Korea, Japan had spared no effort in developing the service industry in Southeast Asia. These businesses did not overlap with Wang Qinian's, so there was no commercial competition. What Wang Qinian cared about was Japan's persistent propagation of the "China Threat Theory" in Southeast Asia.

The Kingdom of Siam had moved very close to China in recent years. As a friendly neighbor of China, Siam had always hoped to break free from British control. China naturally was happy to see such a thing; for instance, the construction of the Indochina Railway, which China and Siam had already agreed upon, started despite British opposition.

As China stepped onto the road of rejuvenation, its influence on Southeast Asia naturally grew larger and larger. Japan attempted to use these contradictions to form an anti-China alliance in the Western Pacific region, a model quite similar to the anti-Napoleonic French coalitions in Europe back in the day.

Wang Qinian was a target on the surface; the news he obtained in normal activities was certainly not classified. Even so, he still received intelligence that Japan had launched a new round of anti-China initiatives.

The one who provided this news to Wang Qinian was an official from the Governor-General's Office of the Dutch East Indies. This official was a key target for bribery. At a banquet, sipping rum, he drunkenly spoke of Japan's proposal: "Japan suggests that Britain and the Netherlands join together to form a Joint Maritime Security Mechanism, with the navies of the three countries conducting regular exchange exercises."

"Is that so?" Wang Qinian poured more rum into the official's glass while opening an exquisitely packaged small box containing Soviet Volga caviar. This was a high-end luxury item even in Europe; in the Dutch East Indies, the number of people who could get to taste this delicacy was extremely limited.

The Dutch official's eyes lit up immediately. He picked up a spoon, scooped a spoonful into his mouth, and closed his eyes slightly to enjoy it. Wang Qinian actually didn't like this taste; he just symbolically scooped a few eggs into his mouth.

The Dutch official shook his head and enjoyed it for a good while before happily taking another swig of rum. Heaving a big sigh, he continued, " The Governor-General has already discussed it with the homeland and is preparing to pass this proposal."

"Oh!" A look of surprise appeared on Wang Qinian's face. He frowned and asked, "Could this have an impact on civilian merchant ships?"

The official was very satisfied with Wang Qinian's astuteness. He smiled and replied, "So we suggest that Chinese trading merchant ships had best fly the Dutch flag and register with a Dutch shipping company."

If they flew the Dutch flag and registered with a Dutch shipping company, they would have to pay a large fee to the Netherlands. China was building ships like crazy domestically precisely to expand trade in Southeast Asia. The increasingly large scale of the Chinese fleet had indeed enlivened trade in the Western Pacific, and it had also become a big piece of fat meat in the eyes of Britain and the Netherlands. Doing nothing and yet making a big profit was always the nature of colonialists. Wang Qinian was inclined to believe that this "Joint Maritime Security Mechanism" proposed by Japan was likely real.

After eating and drinking for a while longer, Wang Qinian gave this official some gifts and then sent a car to take him away.

Whether this official betrayed the news to China out of a greedy nature or was simply the person responsible for leaking word privately didn't matter. Relations between nations were naked interest relations. The stronger China's industrial strength, the greater the pressure surrounding countries felt; this was the essence of the world. The Anglo-Japanese Alliance had not been dissolved to this day, and Britain and the Netherlands showed signs of moving closer to Japan because they all had to face China's expanding naval power. Maintaining Japan's fleet was a strategic deterrent against China.

Was this just deterrence, or was the Netherlands using the power of Britain and Japan to blackmail China, or was it a prelude to these three countries preparing to go a step further? Wang Qinian entrusted the People's Party intelligence agency to continue investigating in the Dutch East Indies, while he himself headed to Singapore. Nominally it was to inspect school work, but in reality, it was to visit the British Governor of Singapore.

Tropical diseases were very common in Southeast Asia. The ability of Renxin Medical College to establish schools in Southeast Asia was largely because there was indeed a need for a large number of professional doctors here. Neither Britain nor the Netherlands had decent medical schools, nor were there many high-level doctors willing to leave Europe to practice medicine in Southeast Asia.

After Wang Qinian arrived in Singapore, he soon attended a banquet hosted by the Singapore Governor. During the banquet, an official under this Governor revealed almost the same news to Wang Qinian and suggested that Chinese merchant ships fly the British flag and register with British freight companies.

It looked like this was really coordinated! Wang Qinian confirmed the accuracy of the news; at least the blackmail was actually happening. With the expansion of China's economic frontier, foreign countries were trying every means to make a buck off China. On land, no country dared to invade China, so they tried every means at sea where they held the advantage.

Just as Wang Qinian thought, the officials of the Governor's mansion were all mouthpieces; their purpose was to tell China to hurry up and obediently hand over the benefits. A meeting much more sinister than what was told to Wang Qinian was currently being held in Jakarta.

The colonial governors of both Britain and the Netherlands had sent negotiation envoys to discuss the issue of Chinese banks in Southeast Asia.

The Dutch side's attitude was very radical. "We want to close China's banks in the Netherlands' [territories]. In the future, trade between China and the Netherlands must be conducted through Dutch banks."

The British side appeared much more composed; after all, British banks were the leaders of the banking industry in Southeast Asia. If Dutch banks monopolized banking services between the Netherlands and China, the British wouldn't get any benefits. "I think it is better to temporarily restrict Chinese banking services in certain areas, such as private deposits."

"Does your side have any good methods?" the Dutch representative asked.

"Demand that Chinese banks hand over information under the requirement of tax audits," the British representative replied.

The Dutch representative couldn't help but nod repeatedly, while the British representative continued in that unfathomable tone characteristic of British bureaucrats, "I think our two sides can conduct a joint tax audit to investigate tax evasion activities in other countries. Of course, before this, we still need to establish new tax standards."

Some things didn't need to be said explicitly; for example, the targets of the British and Dutch investigation would definitely be Overseas Chinese merchants, and some overseas enterprises of the People's Party would definitely be involved as well. But the goal was the same: to kill off China's banking industry in Southeast Asia, or at least control the business of China's banking industry in the hands of Britain and the Netherlands.

Regarding such actions, the colonialists of the two places didn't feel there was anything inappropriate at all. They had crossed the oceans, traveling thousands of miles from Europe to this ghostly place in Southeast Asia, killing and burning for hundreds of years—wasn't the purpose to be able to tyrannize the locality?

The Dutch representative then asked, "Regarding the matter of Japan wanting to invest in Southeast Asia, what view does your Governor have?"

"Tax investigations are also responsible for some commercial disputes, right? If Japan wants to purchase, I think there is no reason to refuse Japan," the British representative replied calmly.

In 1932, the Dutch representative hadn't seen Japanese anime from the end of the 20th century. If he had, he would definitely have laughed sinisterly and said, "You are bad enough."

As long as it was operated cleverly, a false impression could be created to the outside world: the Japanese had their eyes on Chinese farms in the Netherlands' [territories] and Malaysia, and then thought of ways to seize Chinese farms. And the British and Dutch officials were merely "deceived" by the Japanese. This kind of operation was the easiest thing in the world; it only required a little time and means.

The Dutch representative had already decided to set aside some land near Chinese farms for Japan to "open farms." As for what would happen next, the Dutch representative believed Japan wouldn't fail to understand what to do.