prosperous age

At the Old Port Pier, the south wind was blowing and the pier was crowded with people.

Teams of soldiers lined up at the dock to board the ship, and after a ship was full of soldiers, they would quickly leave the dock, and other ships would come up behind and continue to board people.

The Ming Dynasty’s South China Sea Navy did not have a dedicated marine corps, so naturally there were no troop transport ships.

This shortcoming has been noticed by Yu Dayou, so this time when he returns, he plans to build a batch of special transport ships for the navy that can transport soldiers and vehicles.

If there is a war in the future, we can just dispatch troop ships to transport the Marines to the war zone.

Of course, at that time they were not called the Marine Corps, but the Infantry Battalion. Yu Dayou planned to select elite soldiers from the coastal garrisons to form a special recruiting battalion for combat.

"Zilong, Old Port is now in your hands. Before the imperial court issues an order, do as you wish.

As for those local forces, if they obey, that’s fine, but if they don’t, we will deal with them decisively.”

Yu Dayou glanced at the crowd seeing him off in the distance and whispered to Deng Zilong.

After the navy brigade arrived at the old port, the huge fleet invisibly formed a huge pressure force, which made the local aristocratic families feel fear.

Who would have thought that the Ming Dynasty navy, which had not gone to Southeast Asia for more than a hundred years, could still be so powerful.

With nearly three hundred large and small warships, especially one hundred of them are large Fujian ships, such strength is definitely second to none in Southeast Asia.

Even though the barbarians might be able to gather twenty or thirty armed merchant ships and their combat capability is not bad, their chances of winning against the Ming navy are slim.

It’s not like they haven’t fought before. The Portuguese were defeated twice in their battles with the Ming army.

The Spaniards were smart and did not choose to fight the Ming army. Firstly, they knew the fate of the Portuguese, and secondly, they saw the strength of the Ming army, so naturally they had no intention of fighting.

Otherwise, half of Luzon Island would never be handed over easily.

However, Yu Dayou still obtained some information from the Jinyiwei spies lurking in Jiugang, and learned that the thirteen major families here planned to petition the court to select envoys from Jiugang and hand over the control of the place to them.

Well, Yu Dayou was too lazy to care about them. Anyway, this was a matter for those people in the court to discuss. As long as these local tyrants didn't cause him trouble, it would be fine.

As long as you don't cause trouble, just obey their management.

Now that the army has left, it has taken the Feilong Camp with it to Burma. Only Deng Zilong's ten warships and more than a thousand soldiers are left in Jiugang.

This amount of troops would not be enough to deal with the thirteen families if they joined forces to attack, but it would be no problem if they could defeat them one by one.

That’s why Yu Dayou said this.

After all, the intelligence collected by the Jinyiwei may not be accurate. If there is a family with ulterior motives among them, the consequences will be unpredictable.

Following Yu Dayou's gaze, Deng Zilong glanced at the patriarchs of the thirteen families in the distance and said with a smile: "Don't worry, Marshal. I know. If any of them shows any abnormality, I will arrest them first."

In fact, it was not just Deng Zilong. Many generals in the South China Sea Navy felt that these Han people living in Southeast Asia actually had a very low sense of belonging to the Ming Dynasty.

This idea is especially deep-rooted for families that have been here for generations.

After all, they left their homes and came to Southeast Asia for various reasons, so naturally they had little feelings towards the Ming Dynasty.

Maybe they were happy to see them at first. After all, there were not many people around who looked like them, so they were very enthusiastic at first sight.

But as time went by, some ideas changed.

Especially in Luzon and Old Port, the laws of the Ming Dynasty had to be implemented. They no longer had to discuss and do things by themselves, which made them lose many rights.

“Also, you have to keep an eye on the Kingdom of Aceh in the north.

Although Lord Wei only said that he wanted to restore the Old Port Xuanwei Office, most of the land on the island of Sumatra belonged to the Kingdom of Aceh, and only the south belonged to Old Port.

How can I allow others to sleep peacefully beside my bed? I heard that the Aceh Kingdom has always been eyeing Malacca. If there is a chance, we can take it down together.

If we don’t have enough troops, we can borrow them from Luzon and Sulu.”

When Yu Dayou said this, he naturally didn't know how long this trip to Burma would take. In the future, the connection between the main force of the navy and the court would have to rely on Jiugang as a transit station. The general route would be from Jiugang to Daimao City and then to Fujian by sea.

As for traveling through the South China Sea, the distance is too long and a large ship is needed to carry enough supplies, which is actually not very convenient.

"Don't worry, Marshal. If possible, I will take over the entire Kingdom of Aceh."

Deng Zilong replied with a fist clasped.

It would be best if we could take over Sumatra Island in its entirety.

As the Ming court took back Palembang, the power of the former Bachang Kingdom had completely withdrawn from Sumatra Island and retreated to Java Island. The surrounding situation also became stable due to the intervention of the Ming Dynasty.

After all, it is the suzerain state in the traditional sense. No matter whether the kings of these kingdoms recognize it or not, they dare not oppose the decision of the Ming Dynasty.

The Ming troops assembled at the dock had already boarded the ship, which had already delayed them for half a day.

After the preparations were completed, Yu Dayou also boarded his own ship. With the farewell of Deng Zilong and others, the navy fleet left the old port and headed northwest.

The Ming army's actions this time were not kept secret, so after knowing that the Ming army's navy was going to cross the Strait of Malacca to enter the Western Ocean, the local thirteen family heads also found Deng Zilong and wanted to send merchant ships to follow the army and sell goods along the way.

That place is already the Portuguese sphere of influence, and even they usually do not send merchant ships into that sea area.

There is only one word difference between merchants and pirates, but what is the difference actually?

The goods were not transported to Malacca for trade, but were sold directly to Western countries, where the risks along the way were unpredictable.

In fact, Chinese merchants in Jiugang had already operated this route a long time ago, and they just wanted to transport goods to the Islamic countries in the Middle East for sale. However, there were too few ships that could return safely, and now they have almost given up the idea of ​​going west to do business.

However, when they learned that the Ming navy's voyage to the west was not a long voyage like two hundred years ago, but was aimed at conquering Burma, the family heads gave up.

Although the Malay Peninsula and the South Seas are close, due to maritime trade, the connection between them is still very close.

Souyi, the various forces in Southeast Asia are actually well aware of Myanmar’s rise in recent years and its expansion in the Malay Peninsula.

If the Ming Dynasty takes action against Myanmar, all parties will be happy to see it happen.

Regardless of whether Myanmar has any intentions towards Southeast Asia, such an aggressive king is definitely not what its neighbors want to see.

After the navy left, Deng Zilong immediately ordered people to divide the old port wharf into two, and half of the berths closer to the military camp were designated as military camps, which would then only be open to the Ming navy ships.

The other half was used by merchant ships that came to the Old Port to trade. At the same time, in accordance with the rules of Yuegang, a temporary currency customs was established and taxes were levied on incoming and outgoing goods.

At this time, due to the reconstruction of the Jiugang Xuanwei Office, the top leaders of the Ming court also started a struggle over the taxation of Jiugang.

Although Wei Guangde mentioned at the beginning that the income from Dongfan, Luzon, or Jiugang would be used to support the Nanyang Navy.

However, after the tax reform, Yuegang has demonstrated its strong ability to attract money, and naturally it is valued more by the inner court and the Ministry of Revenue.

Although the location of Jiugang was not as good as Yuegang in the eyes of the bigwigs in the court, after all, it was far away from the mainland of the Ming Dynasty and had limited cargo, but it was located at the key passage to and from the West. In fact, the court had intended to let Jiugang replace Malacca and seize the position of a transit station for selling goods to the West from the Portuguese.

With the development of Ming Dynasty's maritime trade over the years, the high-ranking officials in the capital have more or less realized the importance of maritime trade, which makes so much money.

Most of the goods exported by the Ming Dynasty were shipped to Malacca, and then purchased by foreign merchants there and sold to Western countries.

But it is precisely by relying on this kind of resale trade that Malacca City makes a lot of money, which naturally makes people jealous.

At first, it was just the Ming Dynasty's maritime merchants who were envious of this easy way to make money. Over time, the news naturally spread to the capital and reached the ears of high-ranking officials in the court.

The old port, which is very close to Malacca City, naturally has such potential.

Before, Jiugang was considered a forbidden place by the civil service group. After all, under their influence, the Ming Dynasty’s former overseas territories were inexplicably gone.

The imperial court neither issued an edict to abolish the Jiugang Xuanwei Office nor paid any attention to the place for a hundred years, as if it had been forgotten. It has to be said that this was a stain on the officials of the Ming Dynasty.

What's more, the Old Port had been occupied by surrounding vassal states as early as the reign of Emperor Yingzong, so they had even less reason to bring it up again.

Even if the responsibility does not lie with them, it is still very embarrassing.

Now the South China Sea Navy has sent back news that it has restored the Jiugang Xuanwei Office and informed the surrounding areas that the Ming Dynasty has regained this forgotten territory, so naturally the officials have become active.

"Lord Wei, you are not unaware of the situation at the imperial court. In order to support the development of the South China Sea Navy over the years, the southeastern coastal provinces have mobilized large sums of money to support it.

Nearly half of this silver and money should have been delivered to my Ministry of Revenue.

Now that the navy is successful, it is natural to gradually reduce the investment in the navy. The court needs money everywhere."

Minister of Revenue Wang Guoguang and Wei Guangde sat facing each other and talked about the financial difficulties of the court.

I came to the cabinet this time for two reasons. First, the court's financial support to the South China Sea Navy will definitely be reduced in the future.

He had no control over the Ministry of Works providing money for the navy to build ships, but he did not plan to give the Ministry of Revenue's share of the money in the future. Instead, he wanted the southeastern provinces to transport the money back to the capital.

As for the local portion, that is the business of the navy and the local authorities, and the Ministry of Revenue has no intention of interfering.

Wei Guangde sat quietly, waiting for Wang Guoguang's next words.

It's not like he had no idea about it. The Ministry of Revenue's idea of ​​seizing the silver was naturally the result of the Ministry of Revenue summoning officials of the fifth rank and above to discuss the matter.

Although Wei Guangde did not work in the Ministry of Revenue, he did win over a few people when he was in the Ministry of Personnel. Over the years, they have squeezed into the power circle of the Ministry of Revenue.

The Ministry of Revenue had a discussion about Dongfan Island, Luzon and Jiugang, and concluded that Dongfan Island was a bottomless pit, and it was unknown how much silver would have to be invested before there would be any results.

They could accept the idea that the navy became interested in the area because of the shortage of wood for shipbuilding.

In fact, the current actual situation of Dongfan Island has been widely circulated in the capital. It is not an independent kingdom, without a king or a court, but some territories have been divided among tribes of different sizes.

Therefore, the Ming Dynasty's annexation of Dongfan Island caused almost no discussion in the court.

However, it is still a little early to set up a county and a government. Once a government is set up, the livelihood of the local people must be considered. Even if taxes may be increased a little, they will not be enough to cover the investment of the court.

Under such circumstances, the Ministry of Revenue was naturally unwilling to intervene, and the Ministry of Personnel had a similar attitude. Using the reason of educating the people, they were unwilling to set up prefectures and counties to dispatch officials, and instead passed the buck to the Ministry of Rites.

However, the Ministry of Rites refused to recommend an instructor to go there on the grounds that there was no official position in the Ministry of Personnel.

In fact, both the Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of Personnel knew very well that no one would be willing to go to that place.

Therefore, almost no one objects to placing Dongfan Island under the direct management of the South China Sea Navy.

Throwing away the mess is the way to be an official.

At this time, Dongfan Island was indeed a mess for the navy.

No matter how much people in later generations value land, this was the end of the 16th century, and such land was everywhere and was really not attractive.

If it weren't for the special geographical location of Dongfan Island, Wei Guangde would not have bothered to manage that place if it were several hundred nautical miles away from Fujian.

The Ministry of Revenue's analysis of Luzon was that there was little chance that the city of Daimao would replace the city of Manila.

The route operated by Spanish merchants in the East Asian waters was from Manila City to Yuegang and then to Japan, so even if the Ming Dynasty transported goods to Daimao City for trading, it might not be able to attract the Spaniards.

Other people's ships can make profits from operating the route from Yuegang to Wakoku, which is enough to offset the increased costs.

Unless Yuegang is abolished, the goods from Yuegang will be shipped directly to Daimao City, and the Spaniards can only buy Ming Dynasty goods there.

However, Yuegang has now become the "Emperor's Southern Warehouse", and it is almost impossible to abolish Yuegang's status as a trading port.

Not only will the inner court oppose it, the cabinet will also not support it.

The advantages of玳瑁城 or Luzon are more reflected in the military rather than in commerce.

Just as Wei Guangde said in the cabinet after the news was reported back to the capital, the Spaniards were in Manila and the Portuguese occupied Malacca. The Ming Dynasty now had troops stationed in Daimao City and Jiugang, so it could monitor the movements of the foreigners in the two places nearby.

The Ming court can now distinguish these two countries clearly, knowing that the barbarians they used to call "barbarians" are actually the two most powerful countries in the West.

Even the reasons why they came to the Ming Dynasty from the east and the west were no longer a secret among the high-ranking officials in the court.

Dividing the world, what a joke.

Although the Ming Dynasty had no plans for external expansion, it would definitely not be bullied, so it naturally became wary.

The South China Sea navy must be maintained and close surveillance is imperative.

In short, they cannot be allowed to continue expanding within the vassal states of the Ming Dynasty and seize the territories of the vassal states of the Ming Dynasty.

As for the territories that the vassal states thought they had, forget it. The Ming Dynasty does not have enough financial resources to support outward expansion for the time being.

There are many internal problems, so there is no ability to expand the territory.

Neither Dongfan nor Luzon is suitable, so the location advantage of Jiugang comes into play.

After all, the merchants who came to the Ming Dynasty included not only foreigners, but also Arab merchants.

The Ming Dynasty's goods are distributed in the old port, which can attract them to come.

At that time, even if the Portuguese merchants were unwilling, they would have to choose to do business in the Old Port.

Sure enough, Wang Guoguang’s next words were that the Ministry of Revenue wanted to set up a currency customs in Jiugang to collect taxes on incoming and outgoing goods.

Wei Guangde knew it was difficult to stop it, so he could only fight for better treatment in the distribution of taxes and silver. (End of this chapter)