Forty-eight years of Qianlong

Chapter 700 He Xiwen's Excuse
Since Ding Guofeng went to Paza Yalai, the shipping route from Bacheng to local governance via Malacca has also become busy.

First, the Jinglei made two trips to and from the local government and Bacheng, bringing with it a large amount of food, medicine, cloth, weapons and ammunition, and even a large amount of copper Dutch guilders and silver horse swords.More than half of the supplies were used to support the Mysore army.

The problem is that although Jinglei has a large carrying capacity, its biggest weakness is fuel supply, so it can't run a few times.Although Beihai Town has built dock refueling points in Ganling'ao and Bacheng, they can't support such a giant as Jinglei at all.

At present, Zhang Bo has sent 200 people to the oil-producing area in the south of Sumatra Island to do preliminary site selection, and a large number of people will have to wait until the beginning of spring to go south.Due to the location deep in the tropical rain forest and the inconvenient transportation, coupled with the problems of accommodation, medical security, safety and many other aspects, it is estimated that it will not be put into operation until the middle of 1794.

In order to solve the problem of tight maritime transport capacity, the Bacheng Military Control Committee offered a lot of rent, and leased more than 50 large and medium-sized ships in Hoi An, Sanfa, Pontianak, and Malacca, ranging from [-] shi to [-] shi. Both.After these merchant ships arrive at Bacheng Port, the Military Control Commission will first sign an agreement with the owner or the bow of the ship and pay half of the rent.When all the ships are full of cargo, they will be escorted by Zheng Wenxian's fleet, cross the Strait of Malacca, and go to local governance.

That is to say, from this moment on, more and more Chinese businessmen extended their tentacles out of the Strait of Malacca, and at the same time expanded their sea trade routes to the Indian Ocean and beyond.

Compared with Ding Guofeng's step-by-step and cautious actions in India, He Xiwen's actions in Borneo were much smoother and more unscrupulous.

On November 11, three battalions of servants with a total of about 2 people set off from Bacheng by boat and arrived at Xinbutou, Nanbawa and Sanfa respectively.The local sultan was very worried when he learned that hundreds of Beihai soldiers had entered his territory, and hurriedly sent his men to inquire.

However, people from both Lanfang Company and Dagang Company told the Sudanese officials that they can rest assured that these people are all here to help the Chinese apply for ID cards.Afterwards, those officials were led to the place where the identity cards were issued, no doubt about it.

After receiving the report from their subordinates, the sultans let go of their guard. After all, their cooperation with the Chinese is not a day or two.But what they don't know is that Lanfang Company and Dagang Company have completely surrendered to Beihai Town.

Borneo's northern coast has been synonymous with pirates, slave owners and headhunters since the 17th century because of its proximity to the busy South China Sea route.There are many rivers and wetlands here, forming many estuaries and deltas, and there are many passages leading to the sea, which are very suitable for the pirate fleet to hide and retreat. For more than 100 years, the Iban people drove Prahu to sail on the sea, just like the Arabs rode steeds on the desert and roamed on the beach.

Dear warriors, let's all copy the guys out, headhunters to grab things!
Thousands of Iban people held their spears and bows and howled like orangutans in the rainforest, excited about the upcoming headhunting feast.

In addition, Chief Betty's dark tattoos all over his body also show his "great military exploits".To put it simply, at the coming-of-age ceremony, the Iban people first tattoo their shoulders; after they successfully participate in the first headhunting, they will tattoo the back of their hands until they are completely black; after that, every time they hunt one, they will tattoo a finger black again.

In order not to arouse the suspicion of the pirates, the North Navy sailors and soldiers of the Marine Battalion on the deck all wore blonde wigs and dressed up as Dutch, and there were also several Chinese translators who could understand Malay.The names of the two ships have not been changed. One is called "Lady Agatha", which was launched six years ago with a displacement of 900 tons; the other is called "Sanshan", which was launched 40 years ago with a displacement of 850 tons.

The Dutch were driven away by the Northern Navy, and the British merchants were afraid to come. As a result, there were a lot fewer merchant ships going to Bandar Seri Begawan via Sarawak recently, which made Betty very upset.If you can't grab money or cut off your head, this kind of life is really boring.So when he learned that two small cargo ships from the Dutch were coming, he was immediately excited.

Most of the adult males were beaten to death. Seeing that the situation was over, Betty had to kneel down and surrender with her women and children, and became a prisoner.When the Marine Battalion searched later, they were shocked to find that the beams on the second floor of the longhouse were covered with dry heads of various sizes, which disgusted them.In order to completely clear this pirate lair, they burned all forty longhouses during their retreat, and the fire burned for a day and a night before it was extinguished.

As soon as the pirates came out, the soldiers of the Marine Battalion took their weapons and hid behind the sandbag walls inside the sides of the ship.A few sailors dressed as Dutch panicked, waving their hands and shouting, running around on the deck.

"what is this?"

Because Betty's ship was a little behind, he was lucky to escape the bullet.However, he soon noticed that several guys standing up on the "Dutch Merchant Ship" were all carrying a thick wooden club with forearms facing the sea; what surprised him was that the head of the "wooden club" was Like a spindle.

The largest number of people here is the family of Pontianak Sultan Al Qadri. This 62-year-old Sudan has a group of wives and concubines with more than 60 children.The speed at which a villain can be made, even if Kangxi is alive, he would be ashamed of himself.

Betty was taken aback for a while, but he still decided to give it a go.In the past six months, the amount of tribute paid to Sarawak Rajah has been low, and the other party has already expressed dissatisfaction.Based on his knowledge of the Dutchman's weapons, if the opponent fights for at most one round, his subordinates can charge up to the deck and kill him.However, when bullets spewed out towards the Iban pirates like a shower, Betty realized that she had made a big mistake.

Oulang Kaya Beti, this person is a great chief in the Iban tribe, in command of forty long houses.Yes, the strength of a Dayak chief depends on how many longhouses he manages; the short ones are tens of meters long, and the long ones are more than 100 meters long.Basically a longhouse lived in a large family.Betty is in charge of forty families, which is considered a big force among the Iban pirates, so there are forty Prahu clippers under him.

"Prahu" is a 27-meter-long single-masted two-legged sailing boat, divided into upper and lower floors, driven by 60-80 oars, and can carry 80-100 people.In the prow was mounted a great musket or cannon; and in the side of each ship twenty or thirty muskets.

This trick they used frequently in the past.This area of ​​Sarawak is rich in bird’s nest, pepper, and Eucommia gum, and Dayak women can choose a man at will before marriage, and there is no moral constraint, but after marriage, it will not work.

Stop talking, hurry back to your old den.

They don't mess with large fleets and usually make a living looting and destroying small merchant ships.Generally, it is to lure the target into the reef area or shallow water area, and when the ship is stranded on the rocks, it will swarm up.The so-called ants kill elephants more, and the juice of the poisonous arrow wood is applied to the weapons of the Iban people. As long as they are scratched and see blood, they can finish playing in minutes, and there is no antidote.

"Oops! Fooled!"

But what Betty didn't know was that this matter was not over yet!At dawn the next day, a dozen assault boats carrying soldiers from the Marine Battalion came straight to Betty's lair under the guidance of the accompanying Dayaks.

The Beihai Navy treated the Chinese laborers very well. They never underpaid, and they did not allow the big brother of the Dagang Company to pluck their feathers. In addition to paying the bills in cash every week, they also took care of three meals a day, distributed clothes and shoes, so they came to work People flock to it.

Speaking of which, this is the sin of the Netherlands. Because of VOC's mercantilism and trade monopoly policies, they do their best to prevent any form of hostile ships from conducting sea trade in Southeast Asia, so they are not reconciled to the Iban and Malays who are only fishermen. It can only obtain greater economic benefits through piracy.

He Xiwen heard from Luo Fangbai that both the Dutch and the British suffered big losses at the hands of the Iban pirates earlier.

In order to lure the snake out of the hole, He Xiwen sent two flute sailboats seized from the Dutch and refitted into the northern waters of Sarawak.This is a small cargo ship specially used for fast transportation, with an average length of just over 24 meters. VOC was once manufactured in large quantities for transoceanic transportation.Because the boat has fewer people and more cargo, it can only carry 12 to 15 6-pound cannons at most, which is an easy target for pirates.

The panicked captives and their families were brought to the square in front of the palace, and then the officers of the servant army took the order issued by Zhao Xin in advance, announcing that their thrones were permanently deposed, and the local affairs were taken over by Beihai Town.At 7 o'clock in the morning, the prisoners were escorted onto the ship one after another, and they left as soon as they were full, and were sent to the North Navy's base in Ganling'ao.

Beti, who was standing at the bow of the boat, knew that the target had fallen into a trap, so he raised his knife and waved a signal. Including his own boat, forty Prahus came out from two river mouths, the distance between the two sides was only more than 500 meters , which can be pasted in a blink of an eye.

The walls of the village surrounded by thick logs and stones could not stop the North Navy's attack. After several explosions, the huge wooden door crashed to the ground, and the end of the Iban pirates came.

However, what surprised him was that the two "Dutch ships" had nothing but people, weapons and ammunition, and two companies of North Marine Battalion soldiers were waiting for his arrival.

Before Betty could think about it, a puff of white smoke mixed with flames shot out suddenly from the tail of the "wooden stick" on the opponent's shoulder, and accompanied by a roar like thunder, the spindle-like thing also turned into a bright red Light and shadow roared towards the boats behind him.Immediately afterwards, there was a huge explosion on the sea, and the two Prahu were blown to pieces immediately.

In fact, Ganling'ao is not their final destination. According to the plan drawn up by Zhao Xin and He Xiwen, all members of the royal family and clergy will eventually be sent to Southern Kyushu to be supervised by the Sendai Domain.Based on the relationship between Date Village and Beihai Town, one can imagine the tragic fate of these people in the future.

At 11 o'clock in the morning on November 7, the servants from the three places acted in unison, charged into the Sultan's palace with live ammunition, disarmed the guards, and arrested all members of the royal family, clergy and government officials.All those who tried to resist were killed on the spot without any explanation.

There is an old Malay proverb that says that the first prahu is built to catch fish and the second is built to rob the first.

When he came to Singkawang, more than 2000 servants from Bacheng also arrived one after another.According to the plan, the Northern Navy will build a large military depot here as a bridgehead for attacking the Sarawak region.This is the site of the Dagang Company, and they also provided the [-] acres of land and thousands of Chinese laborers for the construction of the military depot.

The rapid demise of the three sultanates caused an uproar among the local Dayak ethnic group.However, the main residents of the coastal areas of West Borneo are Chinese or the second generation of Chinese blood, and Luo Fangbai and the others have been fighting in the name of the Sultan of Pontianak for these years, and their prestige has long been established; especially It was Jiang Wu, and the Dayaks were all scared of him.Besides, the people in Lanheying don't eat dry food. Although there are a lot less crocodiles in Kajiang now, it's still easy to let people who have opinions go missing.
After tidying up the three Sudanese regimes in the west, He Xiwen boarded the "Nanhua No. [-]" and headed for Xinbutou. He stayed for a few days and held a meeting with Luo Fangbai and others before continuing north. With Luo Fangbai's capable men Jiang Wu and Wu Bailan and Ying Zhuangyong.

As soon as the marine battalion opened fire, the Iban pirates who rushed to the front suffered heavy casualties.Those guys who gathered on the roof of the upper deck and were about to jump into gangs all fell into a pool of blood, and the dark red blood fell down the cracks of the ship planks into the lower cabin, causing the sailors who were rowing to scream loudly.

He Xiwen's next goal is to clean up the Ibandayak pirates entrenched along the coast of Sarawak, and set up forts and supply points in Kuching and other coastal areas.His purpose of fighting pirates is not all for the safety of the coast, but to use it as an excuse to crusade against the Brunei Sultanate; in fact, it was the nobles of the Brunei Sultanate who provided shelter for these pirates, and the Iban pirates have been rampant to this day .

Betty, who was stunned, became furious at once, and he immediately issued an order to retreat.However, at this time, the sea surface seemed to be boiling, with gunshots, explosions, and screams mixed together, and the thick smoke caused by the explosion also disturbed people's sight.

Above the entire hull, there is a shed made of bamboo sheets, with a layer of cushions on it.This is to protect the ammunition and supplies below from the rain, and at the same time, it can also be used as a fighting platform during boarding battles, and can be quickly climbed from the deck for gang battles.

Even if the crew did not resist, the fate would not be much better. In addition to burning the ship, the Iban people also have a tradition of headhunting. The crew who survived by luck will be sold as slaves, regardless of white or yellow race. Never let go.

More than an hour later, the two "Dutch boats" were lured into a shallow water area by a few Iban people in small boats under the guise of doing business and looking for women, and then they hit the bottom and ran aground.If you want to get out, you have to wait until the sea tide rises at night.

After more than an hour, Beti, who had fled back to the inland river, counted the number of men under him, and cried immediately.There were still more than a dozen boats, but there were only more than 400 people alive, and many of them were shot and injured.He really couldn't understand why the "Dutchmen" on these two boats were so powerful, they were obviously not like this before!

Brooke, the Englishman of later generations, famously said that only Dayaks can deal with Dayaks.Therefore, it took only half a day for the North Navy to find Betty's lair along the winding river. After some reconnaissance by drones, it immediately launched an attack.

Several Chinese translators and Dayaks recruited from Singkawang were going to be scared to death by the large group of pirates. They thought they would die here if they failed today.But what happened next is something they will never forget.They finally understood why the Dutch couldn't beat the North Navy.

When forty pirate ships formed a circle and entered a distance of 50 meters from the two ships, the Iban pirates suddenly heard a sharp and piercing whistle from the two ships, and then saw densely packed muzzles coming from the two ships. Popped over the side of the ship.

After interrogation, Betty quickly admitted that he had a cooperative relationship with Sarawak Raja appointed by the Sultan of Brunei. The other party not only helped him sell stolen goods, but also provided weapons.

Done!This is what He Xiwen was waiting for.In fact, it doesn't matter whether you can catch Betty or not, the key is that there are pirates and prisoners.

After receiving the telegram from the front, he immediately ordered the 20 servants in Singkawang to board the ship and set off.He himself boarded the "Nanhua No. [-]" as the flagship, led more than [-] refitted merchant ships captured from the Dutch, and ran aggressively to the capital of the kingdom in the Bandar Seri Begawan to ask for punishment.

　Fluyt means "flute" in Dutch, so it is also called flute boat.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)