1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 305

Regarding the Western forces appearing in South Vietnam, the Executive Committee has already set the tone for the response—the Indochina Peninsula region, especially the east coast where the Crossing Group intends to establish a stronghold, cannot allow other large-scale Western forces to exist.The southern part of Vietnam is the only way for the crossing group to lead to the Strait of Malacca in the future. Controlling this area will basically control nearly half of the waterway from the sea to Northeast Asia by Western forces. development has great strategic significance.

At the beginning of the year, the Executive Committee decided to send troops to Annan to provide military assistance to the Zheng regime. One of the important reasons was to learn that the South Vietnam Nguyen family was supported by Western forces.If there were no such incidents, the Executive Committee would probably sit back and watch the North and South Vietnam fight slowly and leisurely, but since Western forces have begun to intervene in this regional wrestling, the Executive Committee will naturally not stand idly by, and the way to deal with it is better than hiding behind the scenes. His opponents were more aggressive, and they just rolled up their sleeves and went to the battlefield.

The decision of the executive committee was more or less like being pushed away. The training time of the North Vietnamese army was too short, and its combat effectiveness was doubtful, and the defeat of the North Vietnamese army on the battlefield did not leave much time for the executive committee to respond.If the Executive Committee had not chosen to send troops and allowed the situation to develop, the North Vietnamese regime would have been in jeopardy. This was an unacceptable situation for the Traveling Group. After all, the Traveling Group had invested a lot of materials and manpower in North Vietnam in the early stage. The fall of the government means that these jobs are very likely to become useless.

At that time, the executive committee's decision to participate in the war was not only a military risk, but also a political crisis.Compared with the Western forces that have been tossing at sea for hundreds of years and occupying a large number of colonies around the world, the current crossing group is still relatively lacking in sea power. If there is a choice, the Executive Committee does not want to choose Enemy against Western powers.If there is a fight, the Chinese-style sailboats under the Crossing Group, mainly Fuchuan and Guangzhou, will not be able to pull out to fight against the Western Galen armed merchant ships.

Although the expeditionary force failed to intercept and kill the foreign military advisers in the South Vietnamese battalion on the front line of the Hengshan River struggle, based on the various information obtained afterwards, it can be inferred that the forces behind the South Vietnamese regime were most likely the Portuguese.These Portuguese, who were afraid of chaos in the world, caused a lot of trouble after they entered Asia, and they had a very high enthusiasm for the arms trade. They even did such dirty things as selling the artillery from the sunken British ship to Ming Dynasty. It is hard to speculate on them. What would be the reaction to the failure in South Vietnam.

After research, the Executive Committee believes that the possibility of the Portuguese directly turning against the Transit Group is extremely low, because their closest stronghold to Victory Harbor is Macau, and Macau under the co-rule of Ming Dynasty is not strong enough to attack Victory Harbor It is even more unrealistic to transfer troops and ships from Manga, which is thousands of miles away. In this era, the materials required for large-scale cross-sea operations cannot be supported by a small colony.With a scale of thousands of people like the Crossing Group organization, the cross-sea operations that are only a hundred nautical miles away from the base camp have already been launched, and it took nearly a month to prepare for the trip. If the Portuguese are really ready to attack Victory Port, it will take at least half a year. The preparation period of time, and the Executive Committee believes that this period of time is enough for Victory Port to train a group of navies with basic combat capabilities.

Compared with the attack on Victory Port, the Executive Committee was more worried that the route from Victory Port to Guangzhou was used by the Portuguese as a place of revenge.At present, this route is still the most important material input channel for the Transit Group, and there are as many as [-] seagoing ships going to Shengli Port from the coast of the Pearl River every month.Although this number is still extremely shabby in the eyes of future generations, considering that Victory Port has been opened for less than a year, it is not easy to attract so many businessmen from mainland China.And this waterway is also regarded by the Executive Committee as one of the lifelines of the Transit Group. For this reason, the Military and Police Department has already planned to set up a sea base at the mouth of the Pearl River to ensure the safety and smoothness of this waterway.

However, Macau, which is located on the west bank of the Pearl River Estuary, is a threshold that cannot be bypassed. If the Portuguese want to make trouble in the Pearl River Estuary, the Crossing Group has no good way to deal with it.Even though the shipyard had already launched several warships, the military and police department did not dare to casually send these ships to fight in sea areas thousands of miles away without supply points.In short, if it is a land battle or an amphibious battle, the crossing group is actually not too afraid of the Portuguese, but if the battle takes place at sea, the Portuguese's advantage in navigation will be more obvious.

Of course, the outbreak of war is actually just a relatively extreme situation. Although the Portuguese business in South Vietnam was hit, it did not cause very direct losses to them.If the outbreak of the war is driven by interests, then there are not enough interests to push the Portuguese to launch a war with unknown prospects.

Before the outbreak of this battle in Annan, the Traveling Group had actually intended to contact the Portuguese in Macau, and planned to purchase some items that could not be purchased in Ming Dynasty through them—for example, canvas from the Indian Peninsula.

Cotton planting appeared in the Indus Valley Civilization in BC, and the sea-island cotton that was introduced to the Guangdong and Guangxi regions via Southeast Asia came from India. The cotton textile industry has always been one of the important specialties of the Indian Peninsula.In order to be able to monopolize the maritime spice trade route from India to Europe, the Portuguese da Gama chose Goa as his foothold in 1498 and began to establish a colony there. In 1510, the Portuguese fleet commander Albuquerque led the army and sailors to defeat the local Punjab king, occupied the city of Goa, and declared the sovereignty of Goa, including it among the many overseas colonies under the name of Portugal.

When other western powers came to India in the 16th century, most of the Portuguese territories were divided between Britain and the Netherlands. Goa soon became the most important overseas territory of Portugal, and even had an armed conflict with India over sovereignty issues until In the 20s, after the "April 70 Revolution", Portugal recognized India's sovereignty over Goa.

As an important stronghold of the Portuguese in Asia, almost all the canvas needed by the Portuguese fleet comes from Goa, and the executive committee has not been particularly satisfied with the canvas fabrics produced by Ming Dynasty, and still hopes to buy some from Western counterparts. Tougher fabric.However, after Annan's incident, the executive committee suspended the work of contacting the Portuguese.It was unexpected that the Portuguese in Macau could sort out the clues so quickly after learning the news of Annan's war, and took the initiative to come to the door for negotiation.

However, Enrique didn't show any obvious attitude inside and outside the words. Tao Donglai couldn't figure out whether he was here to ask the teacher to inquire about the crime, or whether he had other plans, so he could only vaguely say: "The matter about Annan In the war, we did not intend to participate in the conflict between the North and the South. We just took revenge for the merchant ships that were looted by the South Vietnamese navy. Of course, given that we have always maintained relatively close business contacts with the North Vietnamese regime, in this civil war we did We chose to support the North Vietnamese Trinh, but we do not want the North and the South to use force to resolve political differences."

Although Enrique is mostly a "China hand", he can listen and speak Chinese, but Tao Donglai's diplomatic rhetoric still makes him a little confused.He obviously joined the war, and he said he was not fighting for North Vietnam, and he obviously chose to support one side, so why did he say he was against force?
Tao Donglai went on to say: "If our information is correct, the person who supported the Ruan family in South Vietnam and provided them with weapons and military training should be your country?"

Enrique did not deny Tao Donglai's speculation, but readily admitted: "Our merchants have a lot of business in the southern Hoi An Port. If Ruan's defeat in this civil war, it means that our merchants There will be huge losses as a result.”

"So you want to persuade us to leave Annan and not to intervene in Annan's civil war?" Tao Donglai saw that the other party had made his position clear, so he stopped hiding it and asked directly the purpose of the other party's visit.

"Although I did have such an intention when I came, but now it seems that I don't think I have enough confidence to convince you." Enrique said: "Before I came to Guangzhou, I had heard a lot about the sea. Regarding the matter of the Han Dynasty, after coming to Guangzhou, I was also surprised by some of your actions. In my opinion, although you have the same appearance as people in Ming Dynasty, your style of doing things is quite different. Save face is more like what we Westerners do, everything is based on actual interests."

"No, no, no, our approach is different." Tao Donglai immediately shook his head and denied Enrique's point of view: "As you said, we do have similarities in the pursuit of interests, but our starting point is completely different. Different. You just do everything possible to exploit everyone, even your own people, to satisfy your own selfish desires. Our purpose is to make more people earn money, live a better life, and accept Anyone who is willing to join our camp, whether it is Daming or Annan, can become our partner. In your eyes, they are just piles of gold and silver waiting for you to move back home."

"According to Mr. Tao, we can also become trading partners?" Enrique asked sarcastically.He has seen a lot of people who talk big, but he has never seen such a serious nonsense guy like Tao Donglai.Make money with everyone?How could anyone believe this kind of cowhide that was blown out casually.

"Of course." Tao Donglai's answer froze the expression on Enrique's face for a moment: "Mr. Enrique, we Haihan people are also businessmen. When it comes to business, the conflicts we had in Annan are not It means that we cannot cooperate in other aspects. I have a point of view, I wonder if you can agree with it."

Enrique withdrew his mind, nodded and said, "Mr. Tao, please tell me."

"Annan's civil war will ultimately have to be resolved by the Annan people themselves. Neither we nor you can send a large number of troops to directly influence Annan's war. When we were in Annan, we may not have met each other, but In places other than Annan, why can't we become partners in trade? We Haihan people don't have trouble with money, and I don't know if businessmen in your country find it too troublesome to make money?" After Tao Dong said this, he said Watching Enrique silently, waiting for his answer.

Enrique did sense something from Tao Donglai's words. First, the Haihan people did not seem to intend to confront their own side on the Annan battlefield; second, the Haihan people had plans to conduct trade activities with their own side.Compared with the deaths and injuries of those South Asian monkeys on the distant Annan battlefield, the topic of how to make money is obviously more attractive.

Enrique asked cautiously: "I wonder if Mr. Tao has any suggestions on trade?"

Tao Donglai smiled and said, "Regarding trade, I think we will have a lot of common topics to talk about."

The materials purchased by the Portuguese in Daming are mainly silk, ceramics, sugar, etc. Although these materials have not yet been produced on the territory of the Crossing Group, Tao Donglai is very confident that the trading place of these products Gradually transfer to Victory Port.

Although the Portuguese established settlements in Macau, the local area is under the mutual rule of both parties, and the Ming Dynasty still has a government office. Therefore, most of the time, the Portuguese can only buy through formal channels if they want to buy goods from the Ming Dynasty. Daming, but this kind of transaction will undoubtedly be regarded as an export trade by the Shibo Department and taxed, which in disguise will lead to an increase in the cost of goods.And Shengli Port, which has been using "duty-free port" as its biggest selling point since its opening, can just avoid this link.

If the trading place between the Portuguese and the Ming merchants is changed to Victory Port instead of Guangzhou, then both parties to the transaction can save a lot of tax.In contrast, the transportation cost of the five or six-day voyage from Guangzhou to Shengli Port is a small amount.On the contrary, the Portuguese businessmen coming from the direction of Malacca can save a large distance of the voyage because of this, and they no longer have to take all kinds of unknown risks at sea from Hoi An, South Vietnam, directly to Guangzhou, Ming Dynasty.

The commodities that the Portuguese purchase the most are already in the list of development projects of "Joan Lianfa". It is estimated that the most effective sucrose will be harvested in the second half of the year, and the slow-acting items such as silk fabrics. The Executive Committee also optimistically estimates that it will not exceed five years.When Hainan Island begins to produce these products locally, the Portuguese may no longer have much interest in Guangzhou.

Of course, it will take a lot of work to convince the Portuguese to accept such an arrangement. After all, from a certain point of view, the two sides are still in a subtle hostile state, and it will not be possible to quickly switch roles from the opponent mode. to things.For example, those Portuguese who have invested a lot of resources in South Vietnam may not agree to reconcile with Haihan.Moreover, this Enrique is only a special envoy sent by the Portuguese, and I am afraid that he does not have the power to participate in decision-making. It depends on the arrangement of God.

In the afternoon of the same day, Schneider, who temporarily ended the "Joan Lianfa" symposium, also joined the offensive against Enrique.The appearance of Schneider has greatly relieved Tao Donglai's pressure. At least he can communicate with Enrique more directly in his mature Portuguese, avoiding various misunderstandings caused by improper expression and understanding in Chinese.

Enrique was also obviously surprised that the business executive of the Haihan people was actually a person with a tall nose and deep eyes who could speak Portuguese, which also made him feel a little close. After all, in the far east, he can meet people who speak the same language. It is an extremely rare thing.

As a bystander, Li Nai once again watched Haihan's executive committee members at a close distance.Although Schneider couldn't understand half of Schneider's speech mixed with foreign language, it didn't prevent him from noticing that Enrique's expression gradually became relaxed from the initial wariness.If it wasn't for the introduction by Li Nai himself, he would even wonder if these three guys had known each other somewhere before.

In the afternoon, Enrique left the Guangzhou Office as quietly as when he came. He will rush to Macau overnight to report the results of the meeting to the local chamber of commerce. The information obtained from the Guangzhou Office this time is too much. Great, the time on the road should allow him to digest it well.

On the same day, the preparatory symposium for "Qiong Lianfa" finally came to an end. A total of thirteen shareholders, including Haihan, initialed the preparatory agreement for "Qiong Lianfa" in the Guangdong Office.What happened on this day was recorded in the history textbooks of later generations as "a meeting with commemorative value in Haihan's business history", "creating a brand new business model", etc. All shareholders are also evaluated as "the wise men among the merchants of Ming Dynasty" and "the pioneers of the business revolution".After the Guangzhou Office became a historical and cultural memorial hall, there was even a room marked as "the signing site of the first preparatory meeting of Qiongzhou United Development Company". The participants at that time would never have imagined that they were here purely for money. The meeting held will become the object of commemoration for later generations.

Of course, the actual situation is not as grand as recorded in the historical materials. In fact, in the last two days of the meeting, most of the time was spent in disputes and even abuse by shareholders.After confirming the profit-making prospects of "Qiong Lianfa", shareholders began to verbally compete for the unsold equity, and Schneider had to stop the meeting several times to persuade.Rich and willful people are very difficult to control in any era, and what is more troublesome is the gathering of a large number of rich and willful people.

(End of this chapter)