1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 3147
Due to time constraints, in the itinerary of the Executive Committee going north this time, there was no plan to visit the two sides of the Fujian Strait.It just followed the previous practice and notified the Fujian side in advance by telegram of the approximate time when the executive committee fleet passed the strait.

Otherwise, the sudden appearance of such a large fleet in Fujian waters, many of which are naval warships, may cause local misunderstanding and panic.

Despite this, the Fujian government that got the news still sent an armed fleet to wait near Chaozhou in accordance with the usual practice, so as to perform escort missions during the transit of the Executive Committee fleet.

Not only that, Xu Yuzhuo, the governor in charge of Fujian, also put down his government affairs, temporarily returned to his old job, and personally went to sea to serve as the commander of this escort fleet.

Fujian and Taiwan, which face each other across the sea, can be regarded as two relatively special areas in the Haihan ruled area.They are located between the two large regions and the East China Sea region, but they are not under the jurisdiction of these two regions and exist independently in terms of administrative division.

After Xu Xinsu passed away, Xu Yuzhuo took over the Fujian region as the successor approved by the Executive Committee, and the Executive Committee also kept its promise to Xu Xinsu, and did not immediately merge Fujian into the Liangguang District or the Donghai District. may have retained its original independence.

However, the executive committee will not allow the Xu family to be the local emperor in Fujian. Taiwan across the strait is one of the means used to restrain Fujian, ensuring that at least half of the waterways in the strait are under the control of Haihan.

Once there is any change in Fujian, the Taiwan fleet can blockade all important ports in Fujian in the shortest possible time, control the channel of the strait, and cut off Fujian's most important source of income.

Of course, so far, the loyalty attitude shown by the Xu family and Xu Yuzhuo has satisfied the executive committee, and they have never violated the government orders from Sanya.

After the fleet led by Xu Yuzhuo met the fleet of the Executive Committee in the waters of Chaozhou, the first thing he did was to send a signal to indicate his intention, and then he took a small boat to the boat where the members of the Executive Committee were, and said hello to the superiors in person. .

Although Xu Yuzhuo's move slightly delayed the fleet's itinerary, it was an extremely wise move.This is to show my respectful attitude, and to gain a chance to meet the superior; secondly, it is to reassure the executive committee that the purpose of leading the fleet is only to escort, and there is absolutely no malice.

Then the Fujian Fleet served as the pilot, leading the huge fleet to continue northward.

When the fleet sailed into the waters between Zhangzhou and Penghu, the escort fleet from Taiwan also joined in.

On the Dutch sailboat, Su Keyi asked his son Su Yongshan with great interest: "Yongshan, do you see the difference between the Fujian Fleet and the Taiwan Fleet?"

Su Yongshan's observation ability is not bad, and he immediately replied: "Father, the dispatch scale of the Fujian fleet is obviously much larger, and the number of warships is almost double that of the Taiwan fleet."

Su Keyi asked, "What else?"

Su Yongshan said: "There is also the warship of the Taiwan fleet, which is bigger and has more muzzles that can be seen on the side. I dare to guess that its combat power should be higher than that of the Fujian warship."

Su Keyi nodded slightly and said: "Although you don't understand military affairs, you still understand the key points."

Su Yongshan asked back: "The two fleets face each other across the sea, they should be at the same level, why is there such a difference?"

Su Keyi patiently explained the reason to him: "The Fujian Fleet was originally the property of the Fujian Navy of the Ming Dynasty, mainly consisting of the Fuchuan and Guangzhou Ships of the Ming Dynasty, plus the small warships purchased by Xu Xinsu from Haihan in the early years. .Although the ship is a little old, the Fujian Fleet has hardly participated in wars in recent years. Without demand, there is naturally no motivation to spend money on renewal."

"As for the Taiwan Fleet, its existence has the intention of clamping down on the coast of Fujian and monitoring the Xu family's movements. Of course, the configuration of warships should be better. The executive committee... can't be completely at ease with the old ministers of the Ming Dynasty after all!"

Su Yongshan reminded: "Father, I think Haihan's arrangement is not all for monitoring Fujian. It is said that the Taiwanese fleet is stationed in Penghu and Kaohsiung ports, which happens to sandwich our Dayuan port in the middle. Not very friendly intentions."

Su Keyi coughed twice and said, "Haihan has long acknowledged that Dayuan Port is under the full control of the East India Company. Besides, Dayuan Port is now only a commercial port, and there is no possibility of armed conflict with Haihan."

Having said that, Su Keyi knew in his heart that what Su Yongshan said actually existed.

When Spain and the Netherlands divided up the island of Taiwan, one occupied Taipei and the other occupied Tainan.However, Spain was unlucky and became Haihan's first choice of attack target, so Haihan moved in, Taipei changed hands, and Spain's maritime trade routes in Northeast Asia were interrupted.

However, the Dutch East India Company saw that the situation was not good at the time, adjusted its strategy in time, and sought peace talks with Haihan, and finally managed to keep the colony of Dayuan Port.

Of course, although the place was saved, it was not without cost.The territory of the Netherlands in Dayuan Port was limited, and the size of the garrison was also limited. It was not allowed to build any coastal fortifications in the port, and all the forts and forts that had been built were also demolished.

This means that Dayuan Port can only maintain the status of an undefended trading port, and only retain the armed personnel needed to maintain local law and order. The external security and defense issues are handed over to Haihan's garrison in Taiwan.

Such a situation is of course not a result that the Dutch would like to accept. This is tantamount to ending the development prospects of the Netherlands in Taiwan, and as long as Haihan needs it, he can cut off the Dutch trade route to Northeast Asia at any time, just like he did with the Spaniards. .

But people had to bow their heads under the eaves. The Dutch East India Company knew that it was not as powerful as Haihan, and trying to resist would only ask for trouble, so it had no choice but to accept such an arrangement.

Although the relationship with Haihan is pretty good now, the East India Company knows very well that Dayuan Port is a scar that records humiliation.Normally, no one would take the initiative to touch this scar, but at this time Su Yongshan, who is not familiar with the past, suddenly mentioned it, and Su Keyi was caught off guard, so he could only hurriedly pass the topic with a few perfunctory sentences.

But no matter what, Haihan's military strength is obvious. The size of the two armed fleets that serve as escort missions in the Fujian Strait alone is enough to make the Su family's father and son envious.

Su Keyi even thought that the current state of Dayuan Port is not necessarily a bad thing. At least the old rivals such as Portugal and Spain would not dare to come here to make trouble, and the East India Company does not need to build fortifications and station heavy troops here. It also saved a lot of money.

Thinking of this, Su Keyi immediately felt a lot better, and a smile appeared on his face again.

(End of this chapter)