1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 954 The Messenger
After Hassan came out of Sanchez's office, he couldn't help laughing smugly.The entourage waiting outside asked what happened, and Hassan smiled and showed him the approval document in his hand: "Look, this time we got the permission to buy copper ingots, and we can buy as much as we can fit on the ship." How much! This iron cock, Sanchez, finally got hurt by me this time!"

Hassan is very proud of the results he has achieved by relying on his eloquent tongue, but he also knows that this kind of attempt cannot be successful every time. Sanchez's tricks may not work.As a businessman who travels to and from the major trading ports in the South China Sea all the year round, Hassan has actually deciphered some deeper information from the information he has and the responses of the Spaniards, so he can somewhat understand why Sanchez is so anxious and needs to run away quickly. Trip to Sanya.

What Hassan saw and heard in Java and Borneo in the south is far more detailed than what the Spaniards heard in Manila. Aragones and others can only speculate about the true intentions of the Haihan people, but Hassan However, they know that the Haihan people's invitation to send people from various countries to the meeting is not for any military alliance, but has something to do with the transnational maritime trade in this region.This is because the Haihan Fleet held talks with the local governor Abundo after arriving in Surabaya Port in East Java, and Hassan happened to have a good relationship with one of Abendo's subordinates, and inquired about some inside stories of the talks between the two parties in private.

However, due to the unique cunning of a businessman, Hassan deliberately did not tell Sanchez about this passage after he arrived in Manila, hoping to disrupt the Spaniard's position and seek more benefits for himself.Sure enough, the Spaniard really guessed and frightened himself, giving him a chance to make a small fortune.

But Hassan didn't look down on the Spaniard because of this. He knew that if Sanchez went to Sanya to see the local situation, he might be even more flustered than he is now.Regardless of military strength, Hassan believes that Haihan is far superior to his Spanish predecessors in terms of infrastructure construction and international trade achievements. The row upon row of merchant ships from various countries docking in Victory Port and Sanya Port is the best proof .Many foreign businessmen like Hassan have given up purchasing in Guangzhou, Zhangzhou and even Jiangsu and Zhejiang, and directly chose to go to Sanya - where they can almost purchase all kinds of goods that foreign businessmen can buy in Daming. Because of tariffs, the price in Sanya is even cheaper than the place of origin.

The Spaniards thought that the decline of Manila was due to the gradual monopoly of Daming's maritime trade by Haihan, but Hassan believed that it was entirely because the Spaniards did not understand the relationship between Haihan and Daming.Not to mention anything else, just talking about race, Haihan is easier for Ming people to feel close to than this deep-eyed and high-nosed Westerner. There are no barriers in language and writing. Naturally, Ming businessmen are willing to be with the same people who can afford money and are trustworthy. Haihan people do business.

Although the Haihan people invaded Ming's territory, almost all the Ming officials who managed these places had defected to Haihan, so the conflict that the Spaniards expected would not happen.On the contrary, Hassan knew that there were still many local officials in the southeast of Ming Dynasty who wanted the Haihan people to enclose land and open ports, because the Haihan people are now like the God of Wealth, and wherever they go, they will bring wealth wherever they go, even if it is a barren mountain Yeling, an isolated island in the sea, Haihan people can also turn it into a bustling town and port, so that local officials can earn a lot of stable income.

Of course, not all officials will eat Haihan's sugar-coated shells, but as far as Hassan knows, those so-called "spine" officials, in the end, most of them only get transferred or simply lose their positions. Not many local officials were willing to openly confront Haihan.They just took the money and let it pass with their eyes closed. Anyway, the Haihan people would not do anything to disturb the local area, but they would help maintain local law and order.

The Spaniards' information about the situation under Haihan's rule came almost from the word of mouth of the merchants and sailors, as well as the reports sent back by some of their men lurking in Sanya once a month or so.Although this kind of fragmented information can piece together some facts, it cannot achieve intuitive results. Hassan also believes that the Spaniard's espionage methods are purely tossing - if the report sent back is objective and comprehensive, then the Spaniard It should have been wise to give up fighting against the Hai Han people long ago.

Fearing that things might change, Hassan immediately took people to the warehouse outside Manila to pick up the goods, and at the same time ordered people to return to the pier to send an order to remove all the ballast on the ship to make room for the shipment of copper ingots.He wasn't worried that he would run into trouble in sales after the shipment. The Haihan people had announced long ago that they would receive as much copper as they had. This trip would definitely make more money than shipping cows and sheepskins.

In the early morning of the next day, Sanchez personally brought a wax-sealed letter to the pier and handed it to Hassan who was about to leave the port: "Don't forget to bring his reply letter to Manila!"

"Okay, when I come back, don't forget to pay me another fifty silver coins for delivery." Hassan took the letter and put it in his arms: "Then goodbye, Mr. Sanchez."

Sanchez snorted, but didn't say any farewell words such as "bon voyage". Obviously, his dissatisfaction with Hassan has accumulated to a certain extent, but it's just temporarily inconvenient to flare up.But he was sure that this was the last time he saw Hassan, because in this secret letter to Hassan, he had ordered the local hidden personnel to try to get rid of Hassan, a hidden danger of instability.

Hassan, an Arab businessman, is not an intelligence officer organized by the Manila authorities, but merely a courier who collects money for his work.However, this messenger knows too many things, and the position he has shown now is obviously not stable enough, which has caused certain risks to the Spanish intelligence system.Sanchez was really not sure when this guy would sell his subordinates for money, and the most thorough solution he could think of was to make Hassan disappear from this world.

Of course, doing so will also expose the local latent personnel in Sanya to the risk of revealing their identities, but Sanchez thinks this is better than letting the Haihan people do the same thing after being betrayed by Hassan. As long as Hassan can be removed cleanly, then the Spanish The local intelligence system can at least maintain normal operation for a period of time to come.As for who will be responsible for the messenger in the future, Sanchez believes that this is not a top priority and can be resolved slowly.You must know that there are tens of thousands of Chinese in Manila, and there are many diehards who have worked for Spain for generations. It should not be particularly difficult to select some people to re-establish intelligence channels.

Hassan’s ship was a sloop he bought from the Spanish in Manila in his early years. Its displacement was only about 20 tons. There were more than [-] sailors on board, most of whom were from his hometown of Persia.However, because of the need to do business with various forces in the Far East, Hassan also successively recruited several Han Chinese and South Asian natives, and even took in two Europeans who could not get along in Manila.This can basically ensure that his caravan will not encounter language or writing barriers when traveling between major trading ports in the Far East.

Generally speaking, Hassan will mainly determine the destination of the next stop based on the season and ocean currents, as well as the various goods that need to be purchased at the current port for this purpose. Originally, he should continue to sail westward to Annan after anchoring in Sanya, but this This time, Sanchez asked him to send the intelligence of the local lurking personnel back to Manila as soon as possible.This meant that Hassan's sailboat had to sail against the ocean current on the return journey, and for this reason, he had to make a large circle in the South China Sea to avoid the westward ocean current, which meant that the voyage would increase by three to four days.But Hassan didn't intend to obey Sanchez's instructions obediently, and he had other plans in his mind for this action.

Hassan was not doing it willingly to deliver information to the Spaniards, mainly to keep his trading qualifications in Manila.Relying on this relationship, he can buy more in-demand goods such as leather and copper ingots.As for the dozens of silver coins he collected from Sanchez, it was just compensation that was better than nothing. Hassan didn't think that the risk he took was worth that much.But with the decline of Manila's trade situation, Hassan felt that it was not meaningful to continue to rely on the Spaniards. Smart people should make plans early, and take decisive measures when it is time to change the family.

It has been nearly three years since Hassan went to the Sanya area to carry out trade. Every time he went there, he would feel that Haihan's strength was getting stronger. There is an increasingly prosperous market, the local people who wholeheartedly support Haihan, and the various strategies Haihan has adopted for its external expansion.The longer he watched, the more he understood that Haihan's trend of becoming stronger was unstoppable, and Spain's deliberate means would ultimately be useless in the face of Haihan's development trend. If the relationship between the two parties deteriorated further in the future, Spain would send The people lurking in Sanya are not only not famous, but may intensify the conflict between the two sides.And as a messenger who has delivered information to the Spaniards for a long time, he probably cannot escape the fate of being listed as an arrest target by Haihan.

Hassan didn't want to be regarded as an enemy and opponent by the Haihan people, and he didn't want to be a fugitive wanted by Haihan for a reward.He is well aware of how terrifying the arrest orders of the Haihan people are. There are a large number of bounty hunters in the South China Sea, who specialize in arresting Haihan's most wanted criminals. It will neither die from serious injuries nor be able to continue to escape.After this kind of prisoner is brought back to Haihan, because he has lost the ability to work, he will not be sent to a hard labor camp. Generally, after a trial, he will be chained in a crowded place such as the port and Victory Square. Warn the public.Hassan would rather be beheaded than be chained outside like a dog for people to watch.

To completely clean himself up, Hassan has only one feasible way, and that is to surrender to the Haihan people and tell the whole story of the Spaniards by the way, so that Haihan can arrest the Spanish spies to prove his innocence.If you can get the understanding of the Haihan people, then you can continue to rely on the trading system established by the Haihan people to make money in the future, which is much better than being a thankless messenger who has to bear huge risks.

After this trip, Hassan doesn't plan to go to Manila anymore. He plans to go north with Haihan's fleet to see the legendary Shuangyu Port.It is said that that place and the surrounding areas have been occupied by Haihan, and it is estimated that a trading port similar to Sanya will rise there in a few years.Hassan planned to try his luck. Taking advantage of the fact that the local area is not well developed and there are still relatively few foreign merchants, he decided to take a seat first.

The straight-line voyage from Manila to Sanya was seven to eight hundred nautical miles, and Hassan's sailboat traveled for about a week before finally arriving safely off the coast of Qiongzhou Island.After bypassing the Luhuitou Peninsula from the south, Hassan, who was standing at the bow, could already see the exit of Sanya Port.The place is as busy as ever. Under the command of the guide boat, merchant ships, fishing boats and cargo ships are constantly shuttling through the waters of the strait at the exit of Sanya Port.

"Sail down and slow down!" It was not the first time Hassan came here, and he knew the rules well, so he immediately ordered to start slowing down.

Soon a small guiding ship approached and asked the people on board about the origin.After the two sides finished the simple question and answer, Hassan's boat followed the other party's arrangement and entered the port.

Haihan's waterway is the same as that on land, and it drives on the right side. In this way, ships entering the port can just see the Sanya Port Fort on the coast.The construction of this fort was started almost at the same time as Sanya Port, but after it was completed, it was not put into real use like the port. So far, no daring armed force has dared to attack Sanya Port and make this fort open.

Without a telescope on the deck, you can clearly see the black hole of the gun on the turret. At this distance, there is no way to avoid the fire of the turret.What it would be like to be hit by a 24-pounder or even a larger 48-pounder coastal defense gun, Hassan didn't know and never wanted to know.According to the rumors he heard, even if Haihan's own fleet passes here to confront the forts on the shore, they can't take advantage of the slightest advantage. Those who doubt this can try it for themselves and experience being taught by the coastal defense artillery. taste.

Hassan's sailboat sailed slowly across the strait and entered the inland port of Sanya. In fact, there was no need for a guide boat to lead the way, and he knew where to stop.The special wharf designated for Persian merchants in the port area is located on the bank of the Linchun River, and the level of wharf construction is much better than the crooked project in the Manila port.

(End of this chapter)