I, the Ming Dynasty, can still save me

Chapter 519 The Dutch Going North
Just when Zhu Youxiao was still thinking.

Three hundred nautical miles south of Macau, thirteen warships flying the red, white and blue flags were slowly heading north.

It was already mid-March, and the South China Sea was in the exchange period between the northeast monsoon and the southwest monsoon. The increase in the southwest monsoon allowed the sails of merchant ships to sail with the wind.

In the largest warship in the fleet, a white man with red hair and blue eyes was looking northward with a telescope.

“How far is it from Macau?”

"According to the calculation on the sea chart, there are still about three hundred nautical miles left, and it only takes five days to arrive."

After hearing the reply from the first mate next to him, the white man took out his pocket watch, looked at the time, and then said slowly:
"It is now March [-]th. According to the time, we will arrive around the [-]th. After waiting for Macau, do not negotiate with the Portuguese. We must attack Macau directly before they have time to react. We must take the Portuguese crown in the Ming Dynasty Take this pearl."

The first mate beside him nodded when he heard this, and then looked around at the other twelve warships surrounding him, feeling a little more confident in his heart.

"Captain Dulac, in order to open up trade with the Ming Dynasty and Japan this time, our East India Company deployed [-] warships and [-] soldiers. With such a powerful fighting force, the Portuguese cannot stop it. .”

The captain named Du Lac thought the same way.

Trade with the Ming Dynasty has always been monopolized by the Portuguese and Spanish, who made huge profits from it every year, making the Dutch East India Company salivate.

It's just that the Dutch East India Company was very weak in the past, and the Spanish Empire was powerful. At first, they were only envious.

They could only secretly accumulate strength, colonize Batavia and hire locals to grow spices; while secretly sending ships to the Ming Dynasty to see if they could secretly trade.It's just that the Portuguese were very vigilant about this matter and wouldn't let them get close to the Ming Dynasty at all, which they couldn't bear.

So the Dutch East India Company kept looking for opportunities to take revenge.

And now the opportunity finally came, as a rebellion broke out within the Holy Roman Empire in Europe.Spain (Portugal at the time had already merged with Spain) chose to side with the Holy Roman Empire. Now the internal fighting in Europe is intensifying, affecting more and more countries.

This left Spain with no time to care about the East, and also allowed the Dutch East India Company to find an opportunity to take advantage of it.

When Cohen, the newest governor of Batavia of the Dutch East India Company, took office, he immediately sensed an opportunity and immediately began to gather warships and troops to prepare for the northward journey.The purpose was to capture Macau and gain a monopoly on trade with the Ming Dynasty.

Now that Macau is not far away from them, the opportunity to challenge Spain's eastern trade monopoly is right in front of them. As a fleet commander, Dulac is also secretly excited.

However, although the first mate beside him was also very excited, he was also a little worried.

This worry has been around for a long time, ever since he set sail on board the ship in Batavia, and it continues to bother him as he gets closer and closer to Macau.He really couldn't bear it when he thought of this, so he said:

"Captain, before we came here, we heard that China has opened its sea ban and allowed European countries to trade with Ming Dynasty. If we attack Macau and make the Ming government unhappy, what will we do?" Dulac heard this. , glanced at the first mate beside him indifferently, and the dissatisfaction flashed in his eyes.

"Mr. Lawrence, you are thinking too much. We are attacking Macau, and we are fighting the Portuguese. It has nothing to do with the Ming Dynasty's court. After we occupy Macau, we can just send an envoy to explain the situation to the Ming Dynasty."

"If we don't inform the Ming Dynasty in advance, what will happen if the Ming Dynasty government is dissatisfied with us and does not allow us to trade after Macau is taken."

When Dulac heard what Lawrence said, his dissatisfaction was palpable.

He thought that if this Lawrence's uncle had a high position and was one of the seventeenth board of directors of the East India Company, he would never let this Lawrence board the ship.Not only did he disobey orders, he also dared to question his own decision and that of the East India Company.

Thinking of this, he glanced at Lawrence impatiently, then looked north and said slowly:

"Mate Lawrence, look around you. We have thirteen warships, thirteen hundred soldiers, and two warships are still on the way. This is much more than Pizarro's people. He But my idol, I have heard about his feats in the Americas since I was a child. If the Ming Dynasty does not respect us this time, then I also want to learn from Pizarro and let the Ming Dynasty repeat the mistakes of the Inca Empire."

Listening to Dulac's words, Lawrence was filled with disgust, feeling that Dulac was really arrogant.

Pizarro only led 180 people to America to conquer the Inca Empire. At that time, everyone thought this was crazy.

But he used a trick to negotiate with the emperor of the Inca Empire. Unexpectedly, when the Inca emperor arrived, he was greeted by house arrest.Finally, Pizarro used his emperor as a threat to force the Inca Empire to hand over three rooms of gold and silver.But after this condition was met, Pizarro broke his promise, killed the emperor, and captured the capital of the Inca Empire.

This feat has been talked about in Europe.But Lawrence was wondering in his heart, was Dulac a fool? Did he really not know how powerful the Ming Dynasty was?I don’t really think that more than 1000 people can conquer the Ming Dynasty.

Before he came, in order to learn about the Ming Dynasty, he had talked with the Ming Dynasty merchants in Batavia.

From their mouths, they learned about the situation of the Ming Dynasty. Its land was vast, there were many cities, hundreds of thousands of soldiers, and firearms were one of its standard equipment. Although the emperor was young, he was also very enlightened.As soon as he came up, he ordered the abolition of the maritime ban and allowed Ming merchants to conduct maritime trade.

Therefore, he believed that if he had a good talk with the Ming emperor, he would definitely allow the Dutch East India Company to trade with the Ming Dynasty.

Really a madman, Lawrence was frightened when he thought of this, thinking that this had better be Dulac's joke.

After Dulac finished speaking, he ignored Lawrence and immediately went into the captain's cabin to rest, leaving Lawrence alone and uncertain, not knowing what he was thinking.
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The Dutch's actions were secretive. The Portuguese in Macau did not know about it, and the Ming court and even Zhu Youxiao did not know about it.

But this is good, at least the people in Macau can enjoy a moment of peace before the Dutch attack.

In Saarhu City, Liaodong, thousands of miles north of the Dutch fleet, everyone was uneasy because of the arrival of the [-]th.

(End of this chapter)