1635 Han style rises again

Chapter 672 "Visitors from all over the world" in India

On April 1652, 1, Guangning Fort (now Cilegon City in the northwest of Java Island, Indonesia).

Shortly after the warship "Yangwu" commanded by Luo Shoushao sailed into the wharf of Guangning Port, it received a military order and was ordered to escort two merchant ships under the Indian trading company with another warship "Yangping". India.

The battleships "Yangwu" and "Yangping" unloaded more than [-] immigrants on their respective ships at Guangning Fort, replenished water and ammunition for a while, and then set sail, escorting the two merchant ships towards the Strait of Malacca.

The reason why the two merchant ships need warship escort is that the goods carried on the ship are all precious commodities, such as exquisite porcelain, beautiful cloisonné, ingenious clocks, silky silk, fresh and pleasant soap, crystal clear glass, and a large number of Valuable South Sea pearls, amber, agate and coral.And the object of their transaction was not the cunning Portuguese, nor the luxurious Indian prince, but Shah Jahan, the fifth emperor of the famous Indian Mughal Empire.

The emperor, who ascended the throne of emperor in 1628, became the most profligate monarch among the Mughal emperors. He not only liked to put on extravagant ostentation inside and outside the palace, he was keen on all kinds of luxury enjoyment, and was also very obsessed with building inlaid jewelry. , semi-precious stone monuments.His favorite queen, Mumtaz Mahal, died after giving birth to their No.14 children.In memory of his wife, the extravagant emperor decided to build a beautiful and huge mausoleum (Taj Mahal) for her.

In addition to collecting a large amount of marble from hundreds of kilometers away, this beautiful mausoleum is also inlaid with thousands of precious and semi-precious stones on the marble surface. The text on the mausoleum is made of black marble.Excellent workmanship is visible from a carved marble railing.When the sun shines on the fence, it casts changing shadows.

The shopkeepers of the trading company in India learned that the emperor of the Mughal Empire needed a huge amount of precious and semi-precious stones to be inlaid on the tomb of his beloved wife. His wife of more than ten years, entrusts him with infinite grief.

In addition, the extravagant emperor will also greatly expand his Agra Palace. Among them, the unique Mirror Palace requires thousands of pieces of glass to be inlaid on the walls and ceiling.

Well, in order to fulfill the emperor who loves and is keen on construction, the shopkeeper of the Indian trading company sent a letter to the mainland a few years ago, hurry up, send all valuable things here, and they can be sold at a high price!

The precious commodities carried by these two merchant ships were raised by Indian trading companies in China and Southeast Asia for more than a year. After the emperor of the Mughal Empire, he believed that he could get at least three to four times more profits, enough to be worth the trade volume of the trading company for three or four years.

There are Malay pirates in the Strait of Malacca from time to time. Relying on the cover of night or many islands, they will quietly approach the single merchant ship, and then jump on board, kill all the crew and passengers, and take away all the ship and cargo.Of course, if they learned that there was an important target, several groups of Malay pirates would gather together temporarily, cooperate to grab one, and then divide the spoils.

When arriving in the waters near India, merchant ships will also run into Arab pirates or Western pirates.Those Arab pirates would often attack the Indian ships going on pilgrimage. As for the occasional merchant ships, they were naturally their targets.

As for the sporadically encountered Western pirates, the situation is a bit complicated. The merchant ships that came to the Indian Ocean from distant Europe may be carrying out extremely dangerous ocean-going trade with the intention of getting rich overnight.But if there is a good opportunity, these armed merchant ships equipped with dozens of cannons don't mind being a pirate.After all, the cost of obtaining huge wealth may only be dozens of projectiles, a few barrels of gunpowder, or a few humble lives.

Among the Western pirates, British pirates are the most rampant. According to unconfirmed rumors, every British armed merchant ship that leaves the port has obtained a privateer license, and can wantonly attack and plunder merchant ships that they consider to be of great value. , and then openly sell the looted goods and ships in London.

For several years, the biggest source of risk for Indian trading companies, apart from shipwrecks caused by sea storms, is the pirate attacks they encountered from the Strait of Malacca to the coast of India.In order to avoid unnecessary losses, the two merchant ships that shipped a large amount of valuable goods this time turned to the military for help, hoping to get a naval fleet to provide warship escort.Otherwise, if you really encountered pirates, would you have to throw all the valuables on board into the sea?Then the Indian trading company will vomit blood at a loss!

On February 2, the fleet arrived at Anhuabao (now Deng La, a small town in the east of Great Nicobar Island) on Daxi Island (now Great Nicobar Island on the west side of the Malacca Strait).

This stronghold was established four years ago (August 1647), but it was not under the control of the Qi government, but was entirely a fixed asset of the Indian Trading Company.Therefore, the construction of this stronghold seems a bit shabby.The walls of the fortress with a radius of less than 8 meters are only built of giant wood and rammed earth. As for the inside of the fortress, except for more than a dozen buildings of the general manager's office and warehouse built of bricks and stones, the rest are simple wooden houses.

The current population of Anhuabao is only over 100 people. Except for a small number of Annans and Japanese, the largest population is the natives of Xuanhua Island (Timor Island) and Java Island.Of the first batch of more than 60 builders back then, there are less than five left now, and Ruan Chun from Annan is one of them.

Although, as the general manager of Anhua Fort, Ruan Chun can make a decision with one word on Daxi Island, and even execute the natives and local aboriginals who refuse to accept the "Wang Hua" at will, but when he meets the shopkeeper of the local trading company, he immediately puts away The usually fierce face turned into a flattering smile.

"Shopkeeper He, are you planning to increase the population of Anhua Fort, or are you just staying here for a while?" Ruan Chun couldn't help being curious when he saw dozens of men with bright faces slumped on the pier. asked.Looking at their appearance, they don't look like the armed guards recruited by the trading company.

"They are all captured from the Eight Banners Han Army captured by Ming Dynasty." He Chunmao glanced at the situation there, and said indifferently: "The superiors are going to send them all to remote areas for hard labor. In order to enrich the population of the Indian stronghold, our trading company will I got some from the immigration department. You will keep fifteen here, so be careful on weekdays, and don’t let them cause trouble.”

"When we arrive at Anhua Fort, how can we let the misfit get into trouble?" Ruan Chun said with a smile: "If he can survive a year, he will be considered lucky."

"Don't be careless." He Chunmao warned: "Which of these people doesn't have five or six lives in their hands. The huge city of Guangzhou, with a population of 10, was slaughtered by these scumbags!"

"Hiss..." Ruan Chun took a deep breath when he heard the words, and his expression suddenly became serious. He thought in his heart, whether to tie these people to a chain in the future, and imprison them in a cement room when they rest at night. They are fed.Wouldn't it be too unfair if these people lost their temper and slaughtered more than a hundred people in the stronghold.

After Li Dingguo led the troops into Guangzhou, he immediately selected Shang Kexi, Geng Jimao and other officers of the Eight Banners Han Army who surrendered, and cut them all. Avenge this blood.And more than a thousand Eight Banners Han Junyun who survived by chance were picked up by the Qi State, and they were going to be transported back one after another, and then all were dispatched to Weiyuan Island (New Guinea Island), Gonggong Island (now New Zealand’s North Island), Jingwei Island (now the South Island of New Zealand), Relay Island (now Niue Island), Kuafu Island (New Caledonia) and other islands with harsh environments were initially developed for the stronghold there and dedicated their sinful the rest of my life.

And considering the gradual rise of Indian trade, it is necessary to increase the development of supply points and Indian strongholds along the way, so the Indian trading company asked for sixty or seventy Eight Banners captives from the immigration department, and planned to send them to Daxi Island and Fort Anfeng (now Cochin City in southwest India), and more than a dozen commercial stations stationed on the east and west coasts of India, to enrich the manpower there.

On March 3, after more than 6 days of sailing, the fleet arrived safely in Anfengbao.However, this is not their end point. They will stop here for five days to rest, and then continue to drive north to Diu, which is controlled by the Portuguese.

"It's been a long way from the mainland, has it ever been smooth?" Jiang Fubao, the general manager of the trading company in India, rushed to the pier in person, and welcomed the ship's shopkeeper and escorting naval officers into the city.

"The journey went smoothly." He Chunmao said with a smile, "We were able to reach India safely thanks to the loyal and brave guards of the navy officers and soldiers along the way. When we passed the Strait of Malacca and the southwestern coast of India, we did encounter several unidentified pirates." forces, but they were all deterred by our powerful force."

"I think Qi State can give serious consideration to the proposal of the Dutch to jointly eradicate Malacca pirates." Jiang Fubao nodded and said, "Those Malay pirates usually hide in the small islands around the strait. , all swarmed in, except for the goods, which destroyed all the ships and people, and never left anyone alive. The methods were extremely cruel. I suspect that the Fortune 2, which disappeared a few months ago, was robbed by those pirates in the Strait of Malacca .”

When He Chunmao heard this, he sighed endlessly.In November last year, the Fuyun 2 returned to the mainland from India. After stopping at Anhuabao for rest, it disappeared without a trace when it sailed to the Strait of Malacca. The life and death of more than 50 sailors on board and more than a dozen shopkeepers of the ship's trading company are also unknown. It's unavoidable that the rabbit died and the fox was sad.

Luo Shoushao, the commander of the escort squadron, has heard a little about the joint East India Company mentioned by several shopkeepers to wipe out the Malacca pirates.Moreover, within the navy, there is another faint rumor that the king intends to unite the East India Company and the Portuguese to eliminate the influence of the British in India, so as to achieve the goal of sharing the Indian market among the three.

It stands to reason that the United Kingdom does not seem to have had any direct conflicts with Qi, and there is no conflict of interest. It should not be so targeted at this Western country.Based on the wishes of the navy, they wanted to reduce and limit the power of the Dutch, lest the other party continue to pose a threat to Qi.In less than ten years, the two sides had fought two wars, and since the distribution of power was so close to the mainland of Hanzhou, they must regard each other as the biggest enemy and keep an eye on them at all times.

According to the strategic principle of long distance and close attack, Qi should first deal with the Dutch who are close at hand, rather than the British who have a very weak presence in the Nanyang region.

However, since the end of the Second Sino-Dutch War two years ago, the King of Qi has instructed the relevant departments of industry and commerce, immigration, transportation, agriculture, and even the military to comprehensively strengthen ties with the East India Company, as if to establish a global relationship with the Dutch. All-round strategic partnership.

Regarding this move, many people in the country carefully questioned the king, but the king dismissed it with one sentence, "The Netherlands is a small country in the European continent, but the surrounding area is surrounded by strong neighbors. The basic entity will die sooner or later. If so, how can you threaten me in Hanzhou?"

In view of the accuracy and forward-lookingness of all the strategic judgments made by Your Majesty over the past ten years, the government and military have faithfully implemented His Majesty's instructions and arrangements even though they still have many doubts in their hearts.

In addition to safely escorting the two merchant ships to Mumbai, the escort fleet also had another task, which was to perform combat cruises on the east and west coasts of India, draw detailed charts, and collect information on coastal geography, hydrology, ports, etc. Aspects of intelligence information to prepare for the entry of the Navy's Indian Squadron in the future.

At present, in the vast Indian subcontinent, although Portugal has been challenged by the Netherlands and England, with their first-mover advantage and century-old business experience, the Portuguese are still able to maintain their weak control on the east and west coasts of India. .

From the end of the 15th century, the Portuguese established a number of settlements and business houses in Bassen, Diu, Daman, Salset Island, Joel, Mumbai, San Thom, Chittagong and Hooghly.

So much so that throughout the 16th century, the Portuguese almost controlled the Indian Ocean.They practiced pirate trade, robbed merchant ships of other countries, ravaged various islands, and plundered goods exported to Europe.They burned villages, destroyed Hindu temples, used force to force local residents to convert to Christianity, etc., massacred and mutilated local Indians frantically.

The Dutch followed in the footsteps of the Portuguese, but they first chose the East Indies, frantically competing for the origin of the spice trade, and then began to monopolize the entire Eastern spice trade.Later, when the Dutch found it inconvenient to buy pepper and spices with cash, they noticed that cotton goods from Gujarat and the Coromandel coast had a good market in the East Indies.They decided to wrest this trade from Arab and Indian merchants, and exchange imported cotton for pepper and spices.

Thus commercial interests attracted the Dutch to India.In India, they set up business offices in Gujarat, the Coromandel Coast, Bengal, Bihar, and Orissa, deep into the hinterland of the lower Ganges valley.

At Surat the Dutch were supplied with large quantities of indigo manufactured in Central India and in the Jumuna valley.They exported raw silk, textiles, saltpeter, and rice from Bengal, Bihar, Gujarat, and the Coromandel coast, and gradually formed the Asian trade circle they planned and designed.Subsequently, the Dutch prepared to continue to copy their monopoly methods in the East Indies, and began to squeeze and eliminate the power of the Portuguese.

The British royal family and big businessmen have long watched the overseas expansion of Portugal and Spain with envy and envy; They are determined to compete directly in the East with organized force.

In 1612, the British East India Company sailed to India for the tenth time. In the end, they defeated the Portuguese in the sea near Surat with two powerful warships, and thus obtained the permission of Jahangir, the emperor of the Mughal Empire. In 1613, a shop was established in Surat.During this period, the East India Company mainly used gold and silver to purchase Indian spices, cotton cloth, saltpeter, indigo and other commodities through Indian merchants and usurers, and shipped them to the European market, where they were sold at high prices to obtain huge profits.

However, as the latest "player" to come to India, the Qiguo Indian Trading Company has the fastest development momentum.In less than eight years, not only have more than a dozen commercial stations been established on the east and west coasts, but also a permanent stronghold has been obtained from the Portuguese. Coupled with geographical advantages, it has become the most challenging for the above-mentioned three-party colonial forces. opponent.

Today, the people of Qi actually transported two ships of precious luxury goods to trade with the great Mughal emperor.This undoubtedly aroused the envy of many people.

Although India is very large, it cannot accommodate more outsiders.

(End of this chapter)