1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 3793

December 1659, Strait of Hormuz, Persian Gulf.

Although winter has arrived, there is no sign of cold in the Persian Gulf region where the temperature is around 20 degrees Celsius all year round. This also creates good navigation conditions for ports along the Persian Gulf coast, which will not be frozen for months in winter like high-latitude areas.

But even when weather conditions are favorable, not all ports can maintain smooth operations.

For example, on Hormuz Island, located in the north of the Strait, everything is normal, but the scale of trade has declined sharply for several consecutive months. The trade volume in November was less than half of the same period last year.

Most of the merchant ships that have docked at the island's ports recently are from Portugal itself, while the Arab merchant ships that usually come from nearby areas have disappeared as if they had collectively discussed it.

Of course, Arab merchants would not disappear from the Persian Gulf for no reason. The only reason they did not come to Hormuz Island was that a substitute emerged that could bring them more profits.

Rui knew very well that most Arabs were profit-oriented and opportunistic. When these people needed goods from Portugal, they would all welcome them with a smile, but once they found other powerful suppliers, they would change their faces faster than turning the pages of a book.

Rui certainly knew where the Arab merchants and merchant ships had gone. After all, the port of Fubo in the south was only more than 200 miles away from Hormuz Island, and he had been trying to monitor local movements.

Moreover, among the Arab merchants who went to Fubo Port, there were actually many spies who were collecting information for Portugal, and Rui also learned about the current situation of Fubo Port.

Since Hai Han assisted Xihu in holding the founding ceremony at Fubo Port, the local trade volume has been growing rapidly in the past few months. Especially after Xihu annexed several small tribes in the surrounding area, it suddenly went from being a mediocre country to being the object of flattery for many forces.

Of course, many people's attempt to curry favor with Xihu is fake, and their real intention is to use Xihu as a ladder to establish a relationship with Hai Han.

Compared with Hormuz Island, the high-end goods that Hai Han brought from the East not only had more varieties, but also had more competitive prices. However, the supply of these high-end goods was currently limited, and only by establishing good relations with them could one have the opportunity to import goods from Fubo Port.

Although the Hai Han people did not openly engage in exclusive trade agreements, some Arab merchants voluntarily did so in order to gain Hai Han's favor. They took the initiative to use Fubo Port as the only channel for trade with East Asia and quietly abandoned Hormuz Island, their old customer.

Of course, Rui did not sit idly by and watch the situation continue to deteriorate. He had already sent someone with his own handwritten letter to Fubo Port. However, the people he wanted to contact were not the Hai Han people or the Xihu people, but the Arabs who went there to engage in trade activities.

He promised to reduce transaction fees at Hormuz Port, lower wholesale prices for goods from Europe, and even provide credit and installment payment services to reputable merchants. Perhaps these measures will help win back the hearts of the people and make those Arab merchants change their minds and return to Hormuz Island.

Today is the day the messenger returns. Rui sincerely hopes there will be good news, but at the same time he is also worried that his actions are not attractive enough to achieve the desired effect.

After waiting from dawn to sunset, the messenger finally returned from Fubo Port. However, the news he brought back made Rui feel disappointed.

His envoys contacted more than a dozen Arab merchants, but the answers they received were all similar - Hormuz Island could not currently provide the goods and prices they needed, so Hormuz Island would no longer be their preferred trading place for the time being.

Rui said angrily: "Didn't you tell them that only from us can they buy goods from Europe?" The messenger timidly replied: "I said that, but..."

"But what!" Rui asked angrily before he could finish.

The envoy stammered, “But the Arabs said that European goods are not essential and can basically be replaced by cheap and good quality Hai Han goods. However, the goods provided by Fubo Port cannot be replaced here…”

The more Lu Yi listened, the angrier he became. He interrupted the messenger again and said, "What irreplaceable things do they have? Isn't it just silk, tea and porcelain?"

The messenger added tremblingly: "...and...weapons and equipment!"

Rui's eyes were stern. "Hai Han people have started to openly sell weapons and equipment in Fubo Port?"

The envoy replied, "They have built a weapons and equipment exhibition hall at the port, which is used to display various types of equipment produced by Hai Han. Many people are interested in it, but Hai Han has set a threshold for purchasing weapons and equipment. Not everyone is eligible to purchase them."

Rui snorted and said, "Purchasing threshold? It's just a trick to hoard goods... What conditions did they set as the threshold?"

The envoy replied, “The conditions are very simple. We will accept Hai Han as our suzerain state.”

Rui said in disbelief: "That's it? Doesn't that mean there is no threshold?"

The messenger explained: "Sir, verbal promises alone are not enough. We must hold a public ceremony like Xihu did to announce it to the world."

Rui was silent now. Doing so would undoubtedly be equivalent to cutting ties with the former sovereign country, and the consequences would be serious.

The suzerain states that these small and medium-sized forces in the Persian Gulf used to depend on were mainly the Ottoman Empire and the Persian Empire. The very few remaining tribes chose the stronger and larger tribes nearby. For example, the Suhar tribe, which has been annexed by the Shihu, was once dependent on the nearby Yariba tribe.

It is not surprising that these small and medium-sized forces would seek new masters, but whether the new suzerain state can provide them with the necessary protection, or even retaliate against the original suzerain state, is worth discussing.

If this method of poaching was simple and easy, then Portugal should have already recruited a lot of followers after so many years of presence on Hormuz Island. But the reality is that there are only a few tribes that are dependent on Portugal now, and providing asylum is easier said than done, let alone directly helping the Xihu to establish a nation like Hai Han did.

Portugal knew that its strength was limited and that it could not control the entire Persian Gulf. It also did not want to offend the two regional powers, Persia and the Ottoman Empire, so it had been relatively restrained in this regard and had not taken any radical actions.

Other countries can still turn a deaf ear to Hai Han's attempt to win over Xihu, and there is no need to cause unnecessary conflicts over a small Xihu. However, the so-called procurement threshold set by Hai Han is undoubtedly a blatant challenge to the dignity of the Persian Gulf powers.