1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 928 Opening up new markets
For a country, the invasion of capital is far more difficult to resist than strong ships and guns. The latter may arouse the whole people to fight against each other, while the former can induce some people to submit or even cooperate.Haihan's official moves are never just for small profits, and the generous moves are often irresistible. For example, Li Dagui, who entered the port of Surabaya this time to contact the Matalan official, the conditions he gave were enough to make the local officials heartbeat accelerate.

In the next three years, Haihan officials will donate 5 taels of silver to Sishui Port every year in the name of "port construction expenses". Of course, the whereabouts of the money will be allocated by the Sishui Port officials themselves, and Haihan will not interfere where to go.Not only that, if the Sishui Port official requires payment in kind, then Haihan can also supply the goods at cost price according to the type of goods requested by the other party. It is possible to resell Haihan goods in short supply to obtain more profits, and it is possible to directly double the profits if the operation is good.

As for the possible risks of this move... Are you kidding me, the people of Haihan have already delivered the silver to the door, so are they going to let the duck fly away?Matalam officials could not refuse such a condition at all, so they agreed to find a place nearby to meet with Haihan officials of the United Fleet to discuss the specific operation method.

On October [-], the two sides met on a secluded coast of Madura Island opposite Surabaya.According to the usual practice, Haihan still dispatched manpower in advance and set up a huge tent on the coast as a temporary meeting place.This time, Haihan used ten large tents with an area of ​​two to three hundred square meters to connect together, and built a giant tent nearly half the size of a football field to isolate the continuous rain this season.This necessary ostentation can not only demonstrate Haihan's financial and material resources, but also demonstrate Haihan's ability in engineering construction.

Attending the meeting on behalf of Matalam State was Apondo, the official in charge of Surabaya Port. This fifty-year-old consul has been in power locally for ten years. Before that, he also knew some news about Haihan. , but this is the first time to deal with Haihan people face to face.

What gave Abondo his first impression was not the huge canvas tent on the coast, but the two majestic-class warships docked about one nautical mile away from the coastline.This is the largest sailboat that Apondo has ever seen in his life. If measured only from the size of the hull, Apondo can intuitively judge that Haihan's shipbuilding technology seems to be superior to those of Western ghosts.With such a powerful navy, it's no wonder that the Dutch were defeated by them.

Abondo was very impressed with the Dutch fleet, because during the Battle of Batavia in July and August last year, the Dutch fleet took advantage of the opportunity of Matalam to attack a series of ports such as Surabaya. .At that time, the port of Surabaya was suddenly invaded by the Dutch fleet almost unprepared, and even a decent resistance was not organized. The burned ships and goods in the port caused great losses to the local area. Abondo himself Afterwards, he was also reprimanded by the ruler Lang Sang.

Although it was not his fault that Surabaya Port was attacked, there was no other way. The ruler needed a scapegoat to stand up at this time.The reward for Abondo after taking the blame is to get another extended term.Being in charge of a trading port like Surabaya is definitely a lucrative job, and the arrangement of Lang Sang is worthy of Apondu's scapegoat.

The bottom line of the Dutch fleet was one of the main reasons for the failure of the Matalam army in the Battle of Batavia last year. This is well known in the official circles of the Matalam country. It has ordered the whole country to build six to eight shipyards, striving to build a powerful navy within three to five years, and then revenge against the Dutch.Therefore, when Apondo saw the true face of Haihan's fleet, he couldn't help but take a few extra glances.

However, Apondo's attention returned to the venue arranged by Haihan after he landed. The huge tent and the straight Haihan soldiers holding muskets all brought him a lot of visual impact. The strict military appearance was something he had never seen in his own army.In fact, among the tens of thousands of troops that Matalam attacked Batavia last year, a considerable proportion of the soldiers were farmers and soldiers temporarily recruited from the local area. He didn't even have a military uniform, and was sent to the battlefield topless.

After seeing the head of Haihan and being introduced by an interpreter, Abendo knew that not only the high-level figures of Haihan were in this joint fleet, but also senior officials from Annan and Champa were also sent to join it. Haihan's charisma is a little higher.The country of Mataram also has many vassal states, such as Sukardana on Borneo, which is one of them. When there is a military operation, the country of Matalam will also issue an edict ordering these vassal states to send troops together. Abundo used to I also heard that Annan and Zhancheng have a deep relationship with Haihan. It seems that there is probably a little bit of a leading brother and a follower between these two countries and Haihan.

During the meeting, Yan Chujie made several requests to Abundo. One is to open the door to Haihan’s trade, allow Haihan’s products to enter Surabaya Port for trading, and allow Haihan officials to set up commercial warehouses and offices in Surabaya. Of course, if Matalan State-owned Sufficient nautical capability can also go to the port under the control of Haihan for trade; the second is to send people to join the joint fleet to assist the fleet to visit other ports in Matalam; the third is to establish a formal relationship between the two parties and set up an official communication channel.

As for the first two requirements put forward by Yan Chujie, Abendo has no objection. It is a good thing that Haihan products enter Matalam. This kind of move can promote the prosperity of the market. Gotta understand.But when the two sides want to formally establish diplomatic relations, Abondo does not have enough authority to make a decision. He can only say that he will play a play after he returns, and the decision will be made by King Langsang.

It was the first time for the two parties to deal with each other, and they didn't know each other deeply, so we could only talk about this for the time being.Yan Chujie made a gesture, and someone delivered several boxes of gifts.These are all made-to-order products specially used for gift giving, and they are all styles that are not seen in the market at all. After seeing it, Apendu also likes it very much, and thinks that the sincerity of the Haihan people is not bad.

After staying in Madura Island for two days, the combined fleet set off to continue westward.Before leaving, Yan Chujie sent a team to settle in Surabaya Port. They will be responsible for building a local trading post to make preparations for future trade with Matalam.And Apondo also sent several men to board the Haihan warship as promised, and they carried documents signed by Apondo so that the fleet could obtain supplies at other ports in Mataram.

Sailing about 180 nautical miles westward from the Surabaya Strait, we arrived at Semarang, another important port on Java Island.According to legend, this place was named after Zheng He, the eunuch of the Three Treasures, who landed here when he went to Nanyang.Wang Jinghong, Zheng He's deputy envoy at the time, led a group of men to stay here to cultivate, so many scenic spots related to Zheng He were preserved in this place.For example, Sanbaodong, Sanbaojing, Sanbaogong Temple and so on.Even the time when Zheng He landed here on the [-]th day of the sixth lunar month has become a traditional festival celebrated by the whole city.

However, the port conditions in Semarang are not as good as those in Surabaya, and there is no harbor terrain suitable for building wharves. It is just because there have been Han Chinese living here since the 15th century, and their culture is similar to that of Ming Dynasty. A stop on the southbound trade.

After Apondo's subordinates contacted the local government in Semarang, the United Fleet sent a supply ship into the port to purchase, and found a native Han guide here to assist in the purchase of various supplies.Yan Chujie pretended to be a businessman and brought a team of guards ashore to visit the traces left by the eunuch Sanbao himself.

Because of finding a local guide, Yan Chujie arrived at Sanbao Cave in Lion Head Mountain smoothly.The cave is only one meter square, and you need to bow your head to get in. However, after entering, there is a space of nearly [-] square meters inside. It is said that the local deputy envoy Wang Jinghong recuperated in this cave.There is also a statue of Zheng He enshrined on the stone wall in the cave, and there is a couplet engraved with the couplet "Designed to the Linhai Kingdom of the Dynasty, leaving behind the stone cave to protect the world".

There is a well outside the cave, which is said to be dug by Zheng He for his subordinates to drink, and is regarded as holy water by the local Han people.In front of the cave, there is also Sanbaogong Temple, the middle hall is dedicated to the statue of Zheng He, the left hall is dedicated to a large iron anchor, which is said to be a relic of Zheng He's fleet, and the right hall is the deputy envoy Wang Jinghong and his wife who stayed here for the rest of their lives. Entourage's burial.Yan Chujie saw that there was a special person to take care of it, and the incense was good. Although he didn't believe in gods and Buddhas, he went to the temple to pay homage.Of course, he did not forget to take pictures of the situation here with his camera. When he returns to Sanya in the future, he will have to show off to his colleagues.Before leaving, he also donated a hundred taels of silver to the temple in his own name, which can be considered as a kindness for the descendants of the Han people.

However, apart from the relics left by Zheng He, Semarang is nothing special. There are no special products in the area, and the population is only [-] to [-]. There is not even a decent city. It is just a scattered port town.After Yan Chujie wandered around the local area for a day, he also lost interest in staying any longer.

The combined fleet continued west along the coastline and arrived in Cirebon after a day's sailing.This is a port smaller than Semarang, but because of its geographical location right in the middle of Batavia and Semarang, some Han sea merchants going south will also choose this port as a midway supply port, and sell some porcelain by the way. Commodities such as tea.The fleet spent only one night here, and set sail the next day.

Starting from Cirebon and sailing westward for more than 100 nautical miles, you will reach Batavia, the headquarters of the Dutch East India Company in the Far East.This is also the most unknown stop of the United Fleet's South China Sea cruise.Although this place was almost destroyed by the war a year ago, Haihan still did not dare to take it lightly. After all, the Dutch armed fleet did not suffer too much loss in that battle. Moment acts as an important force to change the direction of the battle.Although the Haihan Fleet is not afraid of the opponent, Yan Chujie does not want to have an armed conflict with the Dutch at this time. After all, the mission of this trip is to find the next foothold for Haihan, not to fight the Dutch to the death.

On the contrary, Zheng Zuo and Fan Ji, spectators who joined the fleet as military observers, were a little bit afraid that the world would not be chaotic. They knew that Haihan had defeated the Dutch on the island of Annabuna, and they also knew that Haihan and the Netherlands had always It's not quite right, but I wish I could see this pair of enemies fighting each other at sea.As for the risks that may arise because of this, the military observers are not too worried. Although the Dutch armed fleet is powerful, it is already a thing of the past. Compared with Haihan's fleet armed to the teeth, the Dutch ships The team does not have any advantages.

On November [-], the Combined Fleet arrived at a position about [-] nautical miles off the coast of Batavia Harbor.The sudden appearance of this huge fleet quickly caused panic. The first to discover the combined fleet were fishing boats operating in the nearby waters. When these unknown fishermen saw the combined fleet, they turned their bows in a hurry before they even had time to identify each other. Flee back to the harbor.The horrific sight of Matalam's army pressing down on the border last year still lingers in the fishermen's minds. Seeing an unidentified fleet appearing in the nearby waters, the first reaction is that there is an enemy attack.

The original governor of Batavia City, Cohen, had passed away last summer, and the Matalan people seized the time when the Dutch East India Company was handing over power to launch the war.However, Van Diemen, the successor chosen by Cohen before his death, resisted the attack of the Matalan army with outstanding performance, and successfully counterattacked at the last moment, driving out the Matalan people who had almost occupied Batavia. this area.Both sides were severely injured in this war. Mataram lost tens of thousands of troops, while the East India Company had to face a city of Batavia that was almost in ruins after the war. .

Although a whole year has passed, the restoration and restoration of Batavia City and the port are still in progress.The damage caused by this war to Batavia is extremely far-reaching, and it will be difficult to recover within three to five years.Under such a predicament, Van Diemen, who took over the power of the East India Company, has to face a lot of pressure this year. The Haihan people took advantage of the situation and entered.In addition, a large amount of funds must be raised to complete the reconstruction of Batavia City.

(End of this chapter)