I, the Ming Dynasty, can still save me

Chapter 518 Malacca and the Dutch

"I went south from Manila and sailed on the sea for more than half a month before arriving at Managaha, the end of the South China Sea. This place was originally a vassal state of the Ming Dynasty, but it was destroyed by Portugal during the Zhengde period. It has been a Portuguese territory since then, and it has been more than 100 years.

The location of this place is excellent, reaching the West Ocean, Tianzhu, Tianfang and other places in the west, Taungoo, Siam, Daming and other places in the north, and Java and other places in the east.Therefore, the goods are dense and there are many merchants. Merchants from Tianzhu, Tianfang, Xiyang, Japan and Ming Dynasty gather here to trade with each other, making it very prosperous and lively.

Moreover, I have traveled in Manchijia, met merchants of the Ming Dynasty many times, communicated with them, and found that there are no less than a thousand Ming people here. They are either engaged in trade or craftsmanship. It can be said that they all do their best and make a living. "

Listening to Zhang Chang's reading, Zhu Youxiao knew that Mancajia was Malacca.

According to his understanding, Malacca sent envoys to the court during the reign of Emperor Zhu Di.The Ming Dynasty also officially canonized its leader as the King of Malacca, and Malacca officially became a tributary state of the Ming Dynasty.

It's a pity that the Ming Dynasty finally implemented a maritime ban and became less and less concerned about these countries.After Portugal occupied Malacca, the Ming Dynasty was unable to do anything about it.

Especially when the envoy from Malacca, which was occupied by the Portuguese, came to Beijing with a letter of distress from the Sultan of his country, accusing the Portuguese of being bandits who occupied Malacca.When he requested the Ming court, as the suzerain state, to send troops to Malacca to expel the Portuguese and help the Malacca Sultan restore his country.

Naturally, the Ming Dynasty could not respond to the request from the Malacca envoy to send troops, and at most it arrested the Portuguese in Guangzhou.He was also asked to write a letter to the Portuguese governor who occupied Malacca, conveying the Ming Dynasty's position and asking the Portuguese to evacuate Malacca immediately, otherwise the Portuguese arrested in Guangzhou City would not be released.

It's just that how can Portugal spit out the meat it eats?In the end, the matter was dropped. The Malacca Kingdom had long been destroyed, and the remaining forces retreated to Peninsular Malaysia to re-establish the country.

Although it still exists, it no longer respects the Ming Dynasty.

Although Malacca was colonized by Portugal, Zhu Youxiao paid great attention to this place.

Although Malacca was a vassal state of the Ming Dynasty, it was mainly due to its very important location, which could be said to guard the chokepoint between the South China Sea and the Indian Ocean.All ships that want to go to the South China Sea must pass through the Strait of Malacca.

As long as the Ming Dynasty controlled this place, not only could it make profits by relying on this important road, but it could also enter the Indian Ocean and retreat to the South China Sea to control the entire Southeast Asia.

Zhu Youxiao is salivating over this place and wants to take it down, but now he is not strong enough, so he can only hold on to this idea for the time being.

But just because you don’t do it now doesn’t mean you can’t prepare.You know, it is not only the Ming Dynasty that is interested in this place, but also other forces.

Zhu Youxiao waved his hand, and Zhang Chang immediately took the question book and started reading.

"After I arrived in Malacca, I took a temporary rest for ten days. So, in accordance with your Majesty's instructions, I sent people to inquire about the news about the red-haired barbarians. At present, I have some clues. It is said that the red-haired barbarians were originally a vassal state of Folangji, but they were not convinced by the Buddha. It was under the jurisdiction of Langji and finally established itself as a country. However, although it was called a country, its state system was very different from that of the West and the Ming Dynasty. Although there was a king, it was actually ruled by merchants and nobles.

The country is very profitable and has many merchant ships.During the Wanli period, he also followed the example of Folangji and the Spanish and sent merchants across the ocean to Malacca. However, he was expelled because of his bad relations with Folangji and Portugal.But he persevered, and immediately took a boat to the country of Java, southwest of Malacca, where he cooperated with the local natives to establish a city named Batavia at the westernmost tip of Java Island.

Using this place as a base, they dispatched soldiers and horses, formed a fleet, monopolized the local spices, grain and other trade, and competed with the Francois. As far as I know.There are nearly a thousand red-haired barbarian troops and dozens of ships here. They can be said to be the overlord of Java. "

The Red Barbarians are the Dutch. Historically, they were originally a vassal state of Spain. However, they became independent in 1581 and established the Republic of the Netherlands.

According to Zhu Youxiao's textbooks in his previous life, this was the first bourgeois republic in history, much earlier than Britain.

And as Sun Yuanhua heard, the Dutch were very profit-oriented and had followed the Spanish to Asia long ago.But its identity is not the country of the Netherlands, but a company, the famous Dutch East India Company.

Its current colony of Batavia in Java is a colony of the Dutch East India Company.

When Zhu Youxiao thought of this, he slowly stood up and walked to the "Kun Yu Ten Thousand Kingdoms Map" to look at the map of Southeast Asia in detail.

According to Sun Yuanhua's statement, it seems that the Dutch have established a foothold in Batavia.Now it is estimated that they are competing with the Spanish and Portuguese for bilateral trade.

Thinking of this, he couldn't help but ponder. The Dutch are known as "Sea Coachmen". This title is not for nothing, as their trade covers all parts of the world.There were also conflicts with Spain and the Portuguese.

Whether the Ming Dynasty wanted to expand trade or fight against the Spanish, it was necessary to deal with the Dutch.

But he also vaguely remembered that in history, the Dutch sent ships northward this year, hoping to do business with the Ming Dynasty in Macau, but they were driven away by the Portuguese.Finally, he reported to the Ming Dynasty officials that he wanted to do business with Ming Dynasty, but he was not allowed.So he occupied Penghu, and Ming Dynasty did not tolerate them.The navy was immediately dispatched to destroy them, and the Dutch returned defeated.

Finally, taking advantage of the Ming Dynasty's lack of attention to Taiwan, they began to establish a stronghold in Taiwan and colonized it for 40 years. They used it as a stronghold to do business with the Ming Dynasty and Japan. In the end, they were driven away by Zheng Chenggong.If we calculate the time, the Dutch ship will probably reach Daming soon.

But now the Ming Dynasty is different from the past. It has abolished the maritime ban and opened up maritime trade.As long as the Dutch can do business according to the rules of the Ming Dynasty, then we can try to deal with the Dutch to see if we can do business together.

Zhu Youxiao couldn't help but make up his mind when he thought of this. After all, Ming Dynasty had too few trade partners with the West.At present, we can only do business with the Portuguese and Spanish. Letting the Dutch come in will allow them to compete.

Even if we really want to conquer Southeast Asia in the future, we can join forces with the Dutch.After all, the Dutch and the Spaniards have a blood feud, and it has reached the point where it's either you die or I live after they meet.

"Zhang Chang, I will sort out all Sun Yuanhua's news about Hongmao Yi later, pass it to the cabinet for them to see, and tell Liu Aiqing and others that if there is any news about Hongmao coming to our Ming Dynasty for trade in the future, please report it to me as soon as possible. explain."

"The slaves obey the orders!"

Zhang Chang immediately accepted the order after hearing this.After making up his mind, Zhu Youxiao nodded again and asked Zhang Chang to read the rest of Sun Yuanhua's text.

Later, Sun Yuanhua introduced some of the situations around Malacca that he had inquired about.

For example, there is Java and another large island south of Malacca.There are many volcanoes on these two islands, so the soil is very fertile and agriculture is developed. Coupled with the rain and heat at the same time, they can have three crops a year.

Especially on the island of Java, although there are Dutch people on this island.But most of Java is ruled by a country called Matalan.He also said that the king of this country is very wise, the country is powerful, and he has many soldiers and horses.

And because Java is thousands of miles of fertile wilderness, the country of Mataram has abundant food and spices at low prices and has been exported to surrounding countries. Many merchants who come to Malacca are doing this business.

However, since the Dutch were also in Java, the Matalan Kingdom and the Dutch were not in harmony and often had conflicts.

South of Malacca are the two islands of Sumatra and Java.These two islands have many volcanoes, so the soil is mostly volcanic ash.Therefore, the soil is very fertile, and the climate is good, so the grain yield is extremely high. Zhu Youxiao naturally knows this.

However, Zhu Youxiao had never heard of the country Sun Yuanhua mentioned, Ma Dalan, but he believed that Sun Yuanhua was not lying to him, and he could send people to deal with it in the future.Whether you are doing business or trying to contain the Dutch in the future, it is a good choice.

In addition to Java and other countries, Sun Yuanhua also detailed the Indo-China Peninsula north of Java Island and south of the Ming Dynasty.

There is also a large country called Toungoo, which is located to the south of the Chief Secretary of Yunnan. It was founded during the Zhengde period, but there were constant disputes with Siam to the east. Finally, Toungoo conquered Siam, and its territory extended to Vietnam in the east, Ming Dynasty in the north, and India in the west. It can be said to be a temporary overlord.

In addition, he also discovered that in addition to merchants from the Netherlands, Spain, and Portugal, there were other Westerners in Malacca.For example, he met a ship that said it came from the Western Kingdom of England and came here specifically to do business with Ming Dynasty, and chatted with him for a long time.

But because Sun Yuanhua had to rush to set off by boat, they finally parted ways.Later, Sun Yuanhua said that he would set off on January [-], first to Tianzhu and Tianfang (Arabia), and finally reach the Western Ocean after more than half a year of sailing.

For this reason, he specifically apologized in the title book, saying that there were many Ming merchants in Malacca, so it was very easy to send the title book and letters.But if you leave Malacca, you can only rely on the Spanish and Portuguese to deliver the letter, so the speed of the letter will be much slower. I would like to ask Zhu Youxiao to forgive me.

At this point, Zhang Chang secretly breathed a long sigh of relief, then closed Sun Yuanhua's question book and said slowly:

"Your Majesty, Master Sun has finished his lecture."

Zhu Youxiao also nodded slowly. After listening to the content of the question book, he also lamented the difficulty of Sun Yuanhua.

"Now order someone to copy the contents of the question book and give it to Xu Guangqi, so that he can also see how his students are doing now."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Chang immediately bowed and said yes, and then he did not dare to neglect, and immediately went out to do things.

Zhu Youxiao did not leave when he saw this. Instead, he was still staring at the "Kun Yu Ten Thousand Kingdoms Map".

If the previous plans for Southeast Asia were just castles in the air, now with Sun Yuanhua's on-the-spot investigation, many of his ideas can be put into practice.

(End of this chapter)