1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 642 Alternative Conditions

Zheng Xinzhi pondered for a while, and then changed his statement: "The Haihan people are good at engineering construction. Whenever they go to a place, the first thing they do is to build ports and fortifications. Although the villain has never been to Sanya Shengli Port, it is said that the local The fortifications are all over the harbor, and there is a strong city built by the Haihan people on the shore, which is called Victory Fort. The Haihan people only took about a year to complete such a large project. It was used by the Haihan people to settle outside Qiongzhou Island. There are at least four ports built by them near the mouth of the Pearl River alone. The Haihan people used these ports as a springboard to sell their special products to Daming and other countries, and from Immigrants from outside to fill the vacancies in their labor force.”

Hearing this, Van Longen interrupted again: "It's understandable that the Haihan people enjoyed privileged treatment in Annan. After all, they helped Annan end the civil war between the North and the South. But how could it be possible for Ming Dynasty to allow outsiders like them to open ports on the coast of Guangdong and Guangxi?"

Van Longen did not ask this matter casually. At the beginning, the Dutch occupied Penghu and tried to make the place a transit port for the East India Company to Daming and Northeast Asia. However, the Fujian government did not know why this island group with a small population He was very caring, as if his tail had been stepped on, and organized tens of thousands of soldiers and horses from both land and water armies, and fought against the Netherlands for more than half a year. He did not hesitate to pay several times the price of casualties, and finally drove the Netherlands out. Penghu is the end.

In the consciousness of the Dutch, the Ming Empire should be very sensitive to the issue of territory. Even an overseas enclave like Penghu would not let outsiders take it easily, and the Haihan people should be no exception.Even if the Hai Han people are very close to the Ming people in appearance and claim to be descendants of the Han people, neither the Ming people nor the Dutch people really think that they and the Ming Han people belong to the same country.However, the Haihan people were able to enclose land and build cities and ports on the territory of the Ming Dynasty, and even organized immigrants from the Ming Dynasty to relocate to their own territory. This kind of differential treatment is really incomprehensible to Van Longen.

Zheng Xinzhi replied: "Although the people of Haihan rely on engineering construction as the foundation of development, they use commerce and trade as a means of external expansion. As we all know, most of the products produced in Shengli Port are valuable things, and Haihan makes profits from it every year. It was calculated in millions of taels of silver, and it was definitely not Haihan's family who benefited from it. As far as the villain knows, most of the local officials in the coastal areas of Guangdong and Guangxi have conflicts of interest with Haihan, and many people even directly participated in it. In the business of the Haihan people, a lot of the money coming and going went into their pockets."

Fan Longen suddenly said: "After receiving the money from the Haihan people, these Ming officials naturally turned a blind eye to their actions."

The Dutch have done a lot of similar things. Bribery is always the best stepping stone when dealing with certain eastern countries to establish business relations.However, it is almost impossible for the East India Company to allow outsiders to participate in the company's operations, but to simply give the other party economic benefits. This approach is obviously different from that of Haihan.

After listening to the translation, Zheng Xinzhi nodded and continued, "These Ming officials think they have benefited, but they don't know that they are letting Haihan do whatever they want. Haihan people have gained land and population, and their strength has become stronger and stronger. Last year, Qiongzhou Island There was a banditry in the city, and the Guangdong government was unable to send troops. In the end, they sent the Haihan militia to go out. The banditry was wiped out, but the northern part of Qiongzhou Island was taken over by the Haihan people. Now all the ships going to Qiongzhou have to be in Haihan The Ministry of Shipping must go through the formalities before they can enter the port and dock, otherwise the Haihan people will be stripped of their spies' hats and confiscated together with their people and boats. Although Qiongzhou Island still belongs to Daming in name, it has actually been taken over by the Ming Dynasty. It is controlled by the Haihan people."

Van Longen and Hans couldn't help but exchanged glances when they heard this, and found that the other party was surprised.Although Qiongzhou Island is similar to the Dayuan, it is also a large island hanging overseas, but Dayuan does not have the seat of Ming Dynasty, and the Dutch will take it if they occupy it, and there is no dissatisfaction from Daming for the time being.And Qiongzhou Island is the territory of Ming Dynasty, and there are still more than 20 people on the island, so they are surrounded by Haihan people in such a quiet way, which really makes the Dutch feel a little bit envious.

"There are people in Haihan today who are rich and occupy the overseas enclave of Qiongzhou Island. They also have the ability to manufacture their own weapons and train the army. It may be very difficult for Ming Dynasty to restrain and suppress them." Zheng Xinzhi He said very sincerely: "If you can't suppress their momentum of entering Fujian, after a year or two, the coast of Fujian will also be controlled by them. At that time, let alone trade with Ming, even if you want to keep the relationship with Ryukyu, The commercial rights of Japan and other places will probably also be under pressure from Haihan."

"In the end, the topic came back to the helpers..." Van Longen had heard Hans talk about the purpose of the Haihan envoy's visit before, so he was not very surprised when Zheng Xinzhi brought up the topic.

With Shibazhi's strength, it is still a bit difficult to confront the Fujian Ming army head-on. If you add a stronger Haihan who has been sitting behind the scenes without making a move, then Shibazhi will indeed be difficult to carry.If help cannot be found as soon as possible to change the current unfavorable situation, it seems that it will not be too long before Shibazhi loses the base of Penghu or even completely destroys it.

Hans asked Van Longen calmly, "Mr. Van Longen, what do you think?"

"Haihan is indeed an object worthy of our vigilance, but in our current situation, it is not suitable for war with Haihan." Van Longen's view is still relatively objective: "Our first task is to improve Dayuan Port and Zeelandia. The construction of the city, rather than to crusade against a force that is not easy to mess with. Besides, with our armed strength in Dayuan Island, we may not be able to defeat the Haihan people."

Hans nodded in agreement: "You basically agree with me. Haihan is certainly a threat, but we really don't have the ability to eliminate this threat now. So even though he has visited me several times, I still don't agree. his request."

After losing Penghu and moving to Dayuan Port, the East India Company moderately strengthened the deployment of its armed forces. Now Dayuan Port can arm about 1500 troops. In addition, some local indigenous tribes that have surrendered can organize 700 people. The size of the Confederate Army.These forces may be enough for self-protection. After all, less than a thousand troops resisted the offensive of the Ten Thousand Ming Army in Penghu for more than half a year. It is said that the Haihan militia, which has never been defeated since becoming an army, did not dare to guarantee that they could defeat their opponents.Moreover, Haihan and the Fujian government have obviously reached some kind of alliance. No matter which of these two forces offends, the consequence may be that they will face their joint attack.The board of directors of the East India Company would definitely not want any major disturbances to occur in Dayuan Port, which is [-] nautical miles away from Batavia, because such a long distance, even if the company wanted to rescue, it would be powerless.

The translator got Hans' instruction, but Zheng Xinzhi was not informed of the content of this conversation.Zheng Xinzhi looked at the two men anxiously, hoping to see some signs of good news from their expressions.

However, the reply that Hans gave him through translation still disappointed him: "Although I am very worried about Mr. Zheng Zhilong's current situation, the East India Company will not directly intervene in the conflict between Shibazhi and the Ming government. Go. Unfortunately, I can't agree to your request."

Zheng Xinzhi knew that if he didn't seize the opportunity to say a few more words, Hans would probably order to see off the guests again, so he hurriedly said: "Master Hans, please listen to me, if you are willing to help my lord Recapture Nanri Island, there will be a reward in the future!"

"Oh? Do you have any conditions to repay us?" Hans asked back.In the previous negotiations, all Zheng Xinzhi could offer was to increase the fare and pay more, but the decision on this kind of thing was not only based on economic considerations, Hans was more concerned about political factors , and there is no way to give Zheng Xinzhi a detailed explanation of the reasons for this.

"Eighteen Zhi is willing to send troops to help you get rid of the Flang robots entrenched in the northern part of Dayuan Island!" Zheng Xinzhi felt the other party's tone loosen, and quickly threw out the favorable conditions he had prepared: "After taking the local , my lord is willing to rule with your side and share the results of the battle!"

Hans' expression was a bit contemptuous, but his mind was already active.These pirates of the Ming Dynasty can't even tell the difference between Portugal and Spain, and they are collectively referred to as the Frangji people according to the customary habit. They don't know that although these two countries have now merged into one country, their actions in the Far East are still the same. Expand around their respective camps.It was the Spaniards who came north from Luzon Island to occupy the chicken coop and Danshui ports in the northern part of Taiwan Island. These guys were like a poisonous snake, biting seven inches on the Northeast Asia route of the East India Company. Invisibly, it added a lot of danger to Dutch merchant ships going north to Ryukyu, North Korea, Japan and other places.

In the five years since the arrival of the Spaniards, the Netherlands has lost a total of more than fifteen merchant ships in the waters north of Taiwan Island. Some of them disappeared for unknown reasons, and some were sunk or captured in sea conflicts with the Spaniards. ——Of course, from the standpoint of the Netherlands, all the reasons for the missing ships are blamed on the hateful Spaniards.

Of course, the Spaniards also had a very good reason for doing this, because since the Dutch settled in Taiwan, they have tried every means to block the maritime merchants from Daming to Manila, and let these merchants either sell the goods directly to them or transport them by themselves. Go to Batavia on Java Island to cut off the trade between Spain, Daming and Northeast Asian countries by means of this method.For this reason, the East India Company dispatched armed fleets more than once to intercept and kill Spanish merchant ships in the South China Sea and the Taiwan Strait, and there were also many Spanish galleons planted in the hands of the Dutch.

It was precisely in order to ensure smooth access to the homes of the countries in Northeast Asia that the Spaniards spent their money to build two port strongholds in the northern part of Taiwan Island, forming a confrontation with the Dutch in a north-to-south situation.

After Hans took office, of course, he also regarded the Spaniards at the northern end of the island as his primary enemy. After all, no one could tolerate sand in his eyes, and no one was willing to tolerate the opponent setting up a stronghold so close to him, but Hans organized The several offensives against the Spaniards were not smooth, and it could even be said that there were minor setbacks. In the situation where the prospect of the war was unclear, Batavia could not provide more support to Hans.Under such circumstances, Hans could only temporarily acquiesce in the existence of the other party, silently waiting for the next opportunity.

Shibazhi has always adopted a relatively neutral attitude, maintaining trade relations with both sides, neither helping each other, and no one will be offended. Zheng Xinzhi's statement can be said to be unprecedented.Although Shibazhi's combat power is only at the level of bandits and pirates in Hans' opinion, its military strength and sea transport capacity cannot be ignored.Although it has been defeated in Fujian for several years, the number of Shibazhi's armed personnel can still be maintained at more than [-] people, which is more than five times that of the local Dutch armed forces.If this strong support can be obtained, the possibility of the Dutch side winning the battle will indeed be greatly increased.

However, Hans was not dazzled by the news, and remained calm and cautious, because he knew very well that Shibazhi and the pirates had no morals at all, and they usually kept a certain relationship with the Spaniards in the north. There may be another envoy going to the north and offering the same conditions to the Spaniards.If the Spaniards are willing to help them take back Nanri Island, it is hard to guarantee that these guys will betray their morals because of this.

"As far as I know, the relationship between you and those guys from the north seems to be very good?" Hans asked tentatively, "Can you really tear yourself apart and start a fight with them?"

"Maybe not in the past. After all, we have been business partners with Frangji for several years. But now, in order to protect ourselves, we can only do what we can." Zheng Xinzhi looked calm, showing no betrayal Awareness: "Those who can help us are our partners."

"So you have already tried to get military aid from them?" Hans asked with a half-smile, "You came to the south to find us after you failed there?"

"That's not the case. My lord has identified your side from the very beginning. As for the Frangji people, they should go back to Luzon Island to rule the local natives." Zheng Xinzhi replied with an unchanged expression.

Seeing that he was so calm and composed, Hans couldn't tell whether he was acting or telling the truth for a while.

"There is no evidence for what you say. Do you have any evidence such as Mr. Zheng Zhilong's personal letter?" Fan Longen next to him proposed a solution in a timely manner.

(End of this chapter)