1635 Han style rises again

Chapter 486 Future Nanping Naval Base

On August 1643, 8, Nanping Fort (now Cam Ranh, Vietnam).

Four ships of the North Sea Fleet docked quietly at the Nanping Fort Wharf. Hundreds of Annan people, driven by several Hanzhou soldiers, laboriously unloaded the building materials, hardware tools, agricultural tools, and some ordnance on board. down, and loaded onto a flatbed dolly for the ride to town.

"The Zhancheng people gave us this place as a dowry, and it really gave us a great deal!" Zhang Wenqi accompanied Qi Dajiang to inspect the facilities at the pier, pointing to the location of the seaside port and said: "This place The harbor is nearly [-] kilometers deep inland. It is surrounded by two peninsulas into a gourd shape, forming two bays inside and outside. Especially the inner bay, the exit is only more than one kilometer wide. If forts are built on both sides of the mouth of the inner bay to block the mouth of the bay, any enemy ships They can't break into the port."

"What's even more rare is that, whether it's the inner bay or the outer bay, most of the water is more than ten meters deep and can dock all the warships regulated by our Qi fleet. Even if we have large ships of more than [-] tons in the future , or directly into the inner bay, without any risk of running aground. The sides of Nanping Fort near the land are all high mountains of hundreds of meters. We only need to build a few forts in a few key places, and we can wipe out all the enemies on land. Block it from the outside. I think we can turn this place into a large ship logistics supply center in the future."

"I also think this place is good!" Qi Dajiang nodded and said: "Your Majesty has also studied the map drawn here for a long time, and thinks that this place can be built as the most important naval base of our Great Qi Kingdom in the north. In the future, we will All ships near Daming can use this place as an anchorage. Next year, some shipwrights will be transferred from the Jianye Shipyard to build a ship repair shop, so we don’t have to go to Quanzhou often to build ships in the future. The ship's repairs and maintenance."

"Moreover, we are stationed here, which can prevent Guangnan from continuing to encroach on Champa's territory southward, forcing them to turn their expansion space to the north and west. The west is surrounded by mountains, which may make it difficult for them to cross. Therefore, the best result , It means Beishang and Annan Zheng's fight to the death, and both sides will suffer." Zhang Wenqi said.

"Aren't you worried that Guangnan Kingdom will not attack north, but instead turn around and remove this place first?" Qi Dajiang asked with a smile.

"As long as Guangnan doesn't have a sea force that can rival our navy, it won't dare to attack here easily." Zhang Wenqi said confidently: "Just give me half a year and use the large amount of labor here to build a strong Fortress. If Guangnan Kingdom wants to attack, it must mobilize at least 5000 troops. Do you think its rear will be empty at that time?"

"Haha..." Qi Dajiang laughed.Indeed, if the Guangnan Kingdom dared to assemble a large army to attack Nanping Fort, the Qi State Navy would inevitably bring marines and township soldiers to attack its rear and plunder its coastal towns.It turns out that it is so easy to master the command of the sea in an area, and it is possible to attack any weak coastal area of ​​the enemy country without fear of falling into a war of attrition confronting the enemy head-on.

"However, there are too many Annan people here is a hidden danger. When the immigrant fleet returns to the mainland, we might as well get some of them away. In the future, we Han people will gradually move into this place, completely changing the ethnic composition of the area where Nanping Fort is currently located." Zhang Wenqi Looking at the Annan people on the pier who were struggling to carry the supplies on the ship from a distance, there was a hint of determination on their faces.

"People who are not of our race must have a different heart!" Qi Dajiang said with deep approval: "Besides, this place is so close to Annan, and there are too many people, which is indeed a trouble. Timor Island and Weiyuan Island have been shouting If there is a shortage of people, why not pack them up and send them over to fight and kill the natives on the island, and at the same time expand the territory for me.”
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In the early morning of August 8, four ships of the North Sea Fleet sailed slowly from the Nanpingbao Wharf. After sailing out of the Outer Bay, they sailed straight north along the coastline.The ships were all loaded with rice, the bulk of the local cargo, and their destinations were Hanxing Island (today's Miyako Island in Japan) and Xinghe Island (today's Ishigaki Island in Japan) in Ryukyu, supplementing enough food stocks for the two places.

Two days later, four ships from the North Sea Fleet of the State of Qi encountered two armed merchant ships from the Dutch East India Company in the waters near Fuchun (now Hue, Vietnam), the royal city of Guangnan.

Captain Rosie Durham, the captain of the "Helder", was a little nervous. The Hanzhou Fleet encountered by their two armed merchant ships, two of which were obviously dedicated to the warships, had fierce firepower, fast speed, and absolute combat effectiveness. It is more than a chip higher than armed merchant ships.Moreover, the opponent still has two armed merchant ships on the side.If the Hanzhou Fleet had evil intentions, they really wouldn't be sure of escaping the opponent's pursuit.

The two Dutch armed merchant ships quickly turned several miles to the southeast, trying to keep a safe escape distance from the Hanzhou fleet, and at the same time kept calling the officers and sailors on board to be ready for battle at any time.

Fortunately, the Hanzhou Fleet heading towards each other was more restrained, and did not make any active attack. It sailed towards the northeast at full speed with its sails wide open. The red golden dragon flag hanging on the stern of the ship showed its ferocious dragon head with the strong wind. .

"The Hanzhou people have really worked hard to immigrate!" Lieutenant Heiner Adler, the first mate of the Helder, watched the Hanzhou ship gradually go away, and whistled, feeling relieved.

"That's right, even their professional warships have all arrived in Chinese waters, just to attract more immigrants back to Hanzhou." Another officer said, "I bet there shouldn't be a combat-capable warship in Hanzhou itself." Warships. You said, if our East India Company took advantage of the time when all the Hanzhou ships left the mainland and went to the Ming Dynasty to immigrate, we would assemble a fleet and suddenly invade their old lair. Haha..., give them a pot, Then we can occupy all the wealth of the Hanzhou people! Maybe we can destroy the Hanzhou Kingdom in one fell swoop."

"Don't dream." Another officer said mockingly: "It is said that most of the coastal strongholds in Hanzhou are built like tortoise shells, and their citizens have undergone a long period of military training, and they can be organized at any time. There were tens of thousands of militiamen to respond to the invasion. How many men do you think we would lose if we attacked?"

"It's a pity!" The Dutch officer who suggested a sneak attack on the mainland of Hanzhou shook his head and said, "I heard that the Hanzhou people discovered a gold mine in their eastern region two years ago. That's why they are so rich that they can do so regardless of the cost. A large number of immigrants were transported back from the Ming Dynasty. Moreover, they purchased almost all the materials on the market in the Batavia market. Didn’t you find it? In recent years, the prices of various commodities in the Batavia market have been relatively high. It was much higher than it was a year ago. If this continues, the company’s salary will not be enough to support me in the Far East!”

As soon as this remark was made, several officers and sailors nearby on the deck nodded in approval.In the past two years, a large amount of gold and silver coins have poured into Batavia, some of which were minted by the East India Company itself, but more of them were minted by Hanzhou.Moreover, compared with the currency minted by the East India Company, the currency of Hanzhou far exceeds all local currencies in terms of workmanship and silver (gold) content.

Therefore, the silver and gold coins of Hanzhou are extremely popular in the market.In accordance with the economic law that bad money drives out good money, the East India Company’s locally minted currency and a large amount of gold and silver currency brought by European countries were sold out. Merchants and local people took in and stored the Hanzhou minted currency.

In this regard, the Hanzhou Big Bank, which is a currency casting unit, is happy to see its success.As Qi Tian said, if the entire Nanyang region adopts the currency minted by Hanzhou, then the money and interest they receive every year will be a very considerable figure.

"I heard that Hanzhou is recruiting a large number of sailors and officers, and the salaries are very generous." A sailor glanced at Captain Rossi Durham at the bow, and quietly said to a second lieutenant officer: " Captain Hank, is that so?"

"Why, Ruben, do you want Hanzhou to serve you?" The second lieutenant officer named Hank asked, "You have to know that Hanzhou people don't believe in God."

"So what if you don't believe in God?" Ruben said disapprovingly, "As long as they can provide me with enough gold coins, that's enough!"

"Those Annan people will also pay more gold and silver, why don't you serve them?"

"Come on!" Ruben shook his head and said, "The Annan regime in the north originally said they wanted to buy two armed merchant ships that we decommissioned. In the end, they sent them all the ships, but they changed their minds and changed their minds, and only wanted one. It's up to them This ship still wants to fight against the Hanzhou people? I don't want to lose my life in the hands of the Annan people!"

"I have to say, Ruben, you are very smart." Second Lieutenant Hanke said with a smile: "However, you still have more than two years of contract with the company, and I'm afraid you have to continue to serve the company. Gold coins, you need to stay longer."

At the request of Annan Zheng, the Dutch East India Company sold two of its decommissioned armed merchant ships to them. The transaction price had already been agreed upon, and the transaction was completed only by sailing the ship into Zheng's naval camp. .

However, the cunning business representative of the East India Company said that the transaction price agreed by the two parties was only the price of the ship itself, and that the artillery, projectiles, gunpowder and other weapons and equipment on the ship required an additional payment.

Annan Zheng was suddenly swayed by the Dutch, and he was very dissatisfied.However, considering that the power of Western gunboats is indeed much stronger than that of our own small boats, when facing Ruan Ni in the south and the sea power of Hanzhou in the future, our navy will not be beaten like a duck by the opponent. The need for a number of Western gunboats escort.

However, the Zheng family had just gone through the northern expedition to the Mo family and the southern attack on Guangnan. They fought several battles and spent a lot of money. They finally collected some gold and silver from the local area and planned to buy two Western gunboats and a large number of firearms.Unexpectedly, the Dutch red-haired fan actually claimed that the purchase price of the ship only included the ship itself, and if the artillery on the ship was needed, additional money would be required.Otherwise, the cannons on the ship will be dismantled before being delivered to Zheng's navy.

My sister, buying a Western gunboat means that the guns on the boat are sharp and can compete for supremacy at sea.If you Dutch red-haired fans only gave me two unarmed Western ships of the Zheng Navy, would they still be called gunboats?
However, the officials of the Ministry of War that Zheng contacted the matter carefully studied the contract documents for the purchase of gunboats between the two parties, and were shocked to find that on the purchase documents, it really only stated that the Dutch Hongmao Fan delivered the purchased ships, but the relevant ancillary equipment on the ships was not included. into it.

The problem is that the Annan people think that the auxiliary equipment is the auxiliary equipment on the ship, such as spare sails, cables, anchors, wooden barrels, boats, etc. They take it for granted that the equipped artillery should be part of the gunboat!

Under entanglement, in order to continue to obtain firearms from the Dutch Hongmao Fan, the Annan Zheng family held their noses and bought their gunboats and "attached" artillery.However, the number changed from the original two to one.At the same time, it also spent a lot of money to hire more than a dozen naval officers and sailors from the Dutch East India Company to help Zheng's navy be familiar with and master the use of Western gunboats.

Compared with the Hanzhou people, Annan Zheng believes that the threat of the Dutch Hongmao Fan is much smaller.

Out of fear and vigilance against the Ming Dynasty in the north, the Zheng family also maintained sufficient vigilance against Hanzhou, which is also under the Han regime.What's more, those Hanzhou people first occupied a small island near Cambodia, and then took a peninsula near the great river delta (Mekong River).It is said that they also married the Champas and obtained a coastal territory near Ruan Nian in the south.

In addition, they kept bringing immigrants back from Daming in the north. In the future, they might start to encroach on Annan's land and become their enemy.

In fact, the Annan Zheng family regretted their marriage to the Hanzhou people. It was really not the decision made by the head of the Zheng family——Zheng Bing.Emperor Li Zhenzong of the Later Li Dynasty, who was only promoted to the throne this year, was firmly opposed to marrying the princess to Qi.Because in his eyes, our Da Li Dynasty is a big country comparable to the Ming Dynasty in the north, how can we easily marry a princess and the king of a "small country with few people", and this Qi country is also a large number of exiles from the Ming Dynasty to the remote continent in the south A country composed of pirates and refugees has never been canonized or recognized by Ming Dynasty.

In this regard, Zheng Bing was also helpless, and out of respect for the new emperor, he acquiesced in Li Zhenzong's decision to regret the marriage.I thought that the Hanzhou people would become angry and send gunboats to harass the northern coastal towns, and they have ordered the coastal areas to be on full alert.But who knows, the other party doesn't seem to care about it.They did not send envoys to reprimand them for their inconsistency, nor did they take fleets to raid coastal towns.

Their huge fleet left Xinsheng Island and Lin'an Fort one by one, or headed for Daming, or Ryukyu, directly ignoring Annan Zheng's unreasonable repentance of marriage.

Don't they have more important things to do?

(End of this chapter)