Late Yuan Dynasty: I am the true emperor

Chapter 480 The establishment of Xinjin Mansion

Sulawesi, meaning "place of iron" in the local language, may or may not have iron, but it certainly has minerals. Indonesia produces 40% of the world's nickel, and 80% of that comes from Sulawesi. In other words, this one island accounts for 30% of the world's nickel production, which is astonishing.

Another peculiar feature of this island is its angular shape. Because Sulawesi was formed by the collision of the Asian and Australian tectonic plates, it has a unique topography that is neither long nor round. Some people say it looks like a capital letter K, but from a Chinese perspective, it actually looks more like the Chinese character '斤' (jin). The country of Gowa mentioned by Pan Er is located in the lower left corner of this '斤' character.

The Kingdom of Gowa was a nation formed by local indigenous tribes. Rice cultivation was introduced to the island in the early 14th century, and the increase in food surplus led to the emergence of the rudiments of a nation. Later, with the exchange of maritime trade, various civilizations and technologies were brought to it, and it gradually grew into a nation. It later became a dominant force in Southeast Asia and was the first country in Southeast Asia to set foot in and develop northern Australia.

However, Gova was not so lucky. Around the 16th century, it turned green and became the Sultanate of Gova. In the 17th or 18th century, it was destroyed by Dutch colonists, and Gova never existed again.

However, that was all in the future. In 1353, Gowal could not even be considered a city-state civilization. At best, it was just an indigenous tribe that had only learned to cultivate rice a few decades ago. Even the Majapahit Kingdom, which was closest to it, only knew of the legendary place and had no intention of directly attacking or incorporating it into its rule. This provided Li Bin and his group with an opportunity.

In fact, many islands in Southeast Asia are now unclaimed lands. If Lu Jin were willing to immigrate and cultivate the land himself, he could easily occupy large tracts of territory. However, that would take too long and be too costly. The best way is to find a place with a certain foundation and occupy it directly. Gowa is in a good situation, but this has also brought them annihilation.
After identifying their target, Li Bin and his team didn't delay. They immediately took the Yuanwang ship and Pan Er to Gowa. After seeing the local river mouth, rice paddies, stilt houses, water buffalo, and other features, Pan Er insisted that this was the Wurong Pandang he had mentioned, also known as the Gowa Kingdom.

Chen Youliang, Li Bin, Wang Dayuan, Zhao Yu, Liu Gang, Zhang Chao, and others, under the pretext of selling goods ashore, 'went from street to street' to roughly figure out the size of the villages and towns and the population. There were only a little over a thousand households in total, with at most one or two thousand able-bodied men, and the rest were the elderly, women, and children, with a total population of less than ten thousand. They even drew a rough map of the local villages and towns before making up their minds to return to Semarang to gather people and seize the place as a foothold. So they returned to Semarang and found the Chinese landlord Gao Qiang again.

After hearing their plan, Gao Qiang immediately asked, "What benefit would I get for helping you send men to attack Wu Rong Pan Dang?"

Chen Youliang laughed in anger upon hearing this, "Putting aside the fact that you can get women and land, the biggest benefit is that you can establish a relationship with the new dynasty's court. In the future, merchants will come to Semarang to support your family's business. How could you lack wealth and status?"

Gao Qiang retorted, "War means death. Besides, I already have land and women, and I can do business with merchants. Why should I risk my life for you? This is hardly a benefit."

Just as Chen Youliang was about to explode in anger, Li Bin pulled him back, and then Li Bin spoke.

"First, people will die in war, but it's not necessarily us who will die. We have enough armor to avoid swords, spears, and arrows. You said your father was a soldier in the Celestial Empire, so you should know what I'm talking about. Having armor can reduce casualties."

"Secondly, although you have become a landowner and married a wife in Java, it does not mean that other Han Chinese also have land and women. We are doing you a favor by seeking cooperation with you. Don't take yourself too seriously. We can do the same thing by bypassing you and directly seeking other Han Chinese."

"Of course you can cause trouble, but that will make you an enemy of the new dynasty. Decades ago, your father followed the Heavenly Dynasty's tens of thousands of troops to conquer Java. We can also bring tens of thousands of troops to conquer you. By then, it will be too late for you to regret it."

"Third, you say you can still do business? Believe me, I can make sure you can't do any business at all in the future!"

"Fourth, what General Chen said earlier is very true. Being able to establish a relationship with the new dynasty's court is the greatest benefit to you. If you cooperate well and accomplish this, when I report to the court, His Highness might be pleased and even reward you with an official position."

Gao Qiang's face flushed red and then turned pale as he was threatened by this carrot and stick approach. His mind was in turmoil. At this moment, Li Bin got up and walked behind him, patted him on the shoulder and said.

“Think about it carefully. You are of Han Chinese descent from the Celestial Empire. In Java, you can only be a landlord or a wealthy merchant at best. But if you succeed in this, you can become an official in the Celestial Empire. Your son might even be able to return to the Celestial Empire to study, become an official, and be recognized as a member of the ancestral clan. Which do you think you should choose?”

The previous words might have been threats and attempts to win Gao Qiang over, but the last phrase, "recognizing one's ancestors," completely broke down his defenses.
He was a mixed-race child born from a Han Chinese and a Javanese native, which is to put it bluntly, he was a bastard. His father was a pure Han Chinese. Gao Qiang grew up listening to his father talk about the Celestial Empire and the barbarians. His self-identity was of course that of a Han Chinese from the Celestial Empire. After all, no one wants to be a barbarian, but the blood in his body did not allow him to refute it.

That's why he went to great lengths to marry a Han woman who had been sold to Southeast Asia. Even though she was just a slave sold to Southeast Asia by Semu people, in his eyes she was a noble Han Chinese from the Celestial Empire, and he hoped that his son would have more Han Chinese blood.

Therefore, compared to the aforementioned benefits, his greatest wish was naturally to gain recognition of his identity in the Celestial Empire, that is, to be recognized as a member of the imperial family. If he could receive a personal reward from the emperor of the Celestial Empire, that would be the highest honor for him, not to mention the possibility of his son returning to China to study or even becoming an official in the Celestial Empire, things that he considered unattainable.

After much deliberation, Gao Qiang made his decision: "I can help you with this, but I have one condition."

"You said."

"After this is done, you must take me to China. I want to personally pay my respects to His Highness the King of Chu. My father always tells me that one day I must go back to pay homage to my ancestors, so I want to go back."

"Moreover, you keep talking about the new dynasty, but that's just your side of the story. How can I know if what you're saying is true or false if I can't see it with my own eyes?"

"Okay." Li Bin agreed without hesitation.

Seeing that he agreed so readily, Gao Qiang didn't seem to be lying, so he asked again, "Then when are we going to attack Wurong Pandang?"

"The sooner the better. The Yuanwang needs to return to China as soon as possible. We don't have time to stay in Southeast Asia. Go and contact people as soon as possible."

"no problem."

Having dealt with Gao Qiang, the local strongman in Java, things became much easier. He immediately began contacting the local Chinese in Java, from local Chinese landlords and merchants to Chinese craftsmen and dockworkers. He even recruited many Mongolian slaves and Han Chinese slaves who had been sold to Java.

When asked what it was all about, Gao Qiang only said it was a good thing, a big deal that would allow everyone to share land and women. When asked if he was going to start a rebellion in Java, Gao Qiang said no. So some people thought he was going to become a pirate and rob merchant ships. Some bachelors, laborers, and slaves, who had no ties, gritted their teeth and followed him.

There were also some local Chinese small vendors and craftsmen who were unwilling to get involved with Gao Qiang, partly because they were afraid of getting into trouble and partly because they were afraid of delaying their business. Gao Qiang would directly threaten these people, saying that if he didn't help them this time, they shouldn't ask him for help if they got into trouble in Java in the future.

With things having come to this point, how could those small merchants and craftsmen afford to offend this wealthy landowner? In just three days, over a thousand Chinese and people of Chinese descent had gathered in Gaojiazhuang, Semarang, along with a dozen or so Mongolians. Li Bin funded the purchases, and Gao Qiang hosted several days of continuous feasts in Gaojiazhuang. Anyone willing to come could enjoy food and drink. Seeing this spectacle, some knew it must be a dangerous business and pressed Gao Qiang for details. They wondered if he could possibly recoup his investment by spending so much money on food before even starting any work.
Only then did Gao Qiang tell everyone that someone else had paid for the dinner and that he was not the one who had asked them for help. He then introduced Li Bin to everyone, and Li Bin explained the current situation in China and his own purpose. Only then did everyone realize what was going on.

Upon hearing that the rebel army was close to defeating the Yuan Dynasty, several Han Chinese who had been sold to Southeast Asia excitedly inquired about the matter.

"Master Li, my family is from Ji'an, Jiangxi. We owed the government a huge debt, which is why we were sold to Southeast Asia. Has my hometown been conquered by the King of Chu?"

Li Bin immediately replied, "We have conquered it. It happened this September. His Highness the King of Chu dispatched a million troops in three routes to sweep across the land. The area north of Ganzhou in Jiangxi, the northern part of Huguang, Nanyang and Jingxiang in the Central Plains, and Qilu and Shandong in the east have all been incorporated into our territory."

"His Highness also ordered the abolition of usury and the punishment of those Semu merchants and Tartar bandits. All the debts your families owed in the past have been wiped out by His Highness. Those who are willing to serve His Highness in the army will be given land and fields. The taxes are not as high as those collected by the Tartars. The people of China are living much better than before."

Upon hearing this, the man burst into tears, sobbing uncontrollably until he could barely breathe. After a long while, he finally managed to sob, "That's wonderful, wonderful! What a pity! If His Highness Prince Chu had raised his army two years earlier, I wouldn't have been sold to Java. I would definitely have served His Highness then and killed those damned Semu people and Tartars!"

Seeing this, the others felt the same way and asked one after another, "Master Li, my family is from Huai'an Road. Has Huai'an Road been captured yet?"

"My family lives on Henanfu Road. Has Luoyang been captured?"

The crowd chattered excitedly, and Li Bin answered them one by one, calming them down. It is said that when war rages for three months, a letter from home is worth a thousand pieces of gold. These Chinese who have been stranded in Southeast Asia have not heard news from their hometown for a long time. Now, when Li Bin mentions familiar place names, they feel a great sense of warmth and familiarity.

After crying, some people pressed on, "Mr. Li, after we've done this for you, can you take us home?"

This was a bit of a problem. Li Bin hadn't come to take them back; he was here on orders to expand their territory in Southeast Asia. But in order not to dampen their spirits, he reassured them, "There will be opportunities. You can go back and visit whenever you want in the future."

No one quite understood the deeper meaning of his words; they simply assumed that they could go back whenever they had the chance, and that put their minds at ease.

Three days later, the ships that Gao Qiang had sent to Surabaya and Kelabad (Jakarta) to recruit people returned, bringing with them more than 800 people, as well as two sailboats belonging to Javanese Chinese merchants. Together with the Chinese from Semarang, the total number was more than 2,100, which was about right.

So Li Bin and his men immediately set off, with the Yuanwang leading the way, along with two previously captured ships and two ships found by Gao Qiang, forming a fleet of five ships. They boarded the ships with more than two thousand people and headed towards Sulawesi Island.

They found an uninhabited deserted island halfway through their journey and stopped there for a day. Everyone went ashore for some simple training, which wasn't really training; they were simply given weapons and armor and then formally organized into groups to avoid chaos in battle.

There happened to be 300 trained gunners and dozens of sailors on the Yuanwang. Liu Gang temporarily reorganized them according to the military system of the Shengwu Army. Each squad had to have two gunners as squad leader and deputy squad leader. First, the framework of junior officers was established. Each squad had to ensure that there was someone who could understand what the officers were saying, so as to ensure that there were no obstacles in communication within the squad.

There was no need for further training. Just follow the direction the officers fire and fire wherever they want. You only need to remember your squad leader and deputy squad leader. Then Li Bin showed them the artillery and grenades to let them know that these were their own weapons, so that they wouldn't scare their own people when the fighting started.

After receiving their armor and weapons, and seeing that they also had powerful firearms, the men's morale soared. They felt confident that the battle was in their grasp, and then they boarded the ship again and marched toward the Kingdom of Gowa.

Two days later, the fleet arrived. Sulawesi Island is located near the equator, and the rainy season lasts from October to February or March of the following year. However, the rainy season does not mean that the rain lasts for a particularly long time. The basic pattern is that there is rain every one or two days, and each time it rains for a maximum of one or two hours before stopping.

The temperature doesn't change much throughout the year, remaining between 20℃ and 35℃. It gets a little cooler when it rains, but the humidity is quite high, making it feel like a sauna every day.

It was the rainy season, and to avoid the grenades failing to ignite, they anchored off the coast of Gova and waited until the rain stopped before setting sail and landing in Gova.

The group sailed directly into the inland river and arrived in the middle of the town of Gowa. The local Gowa people thought they were here to do business again. But then, several planks extended from the boat to the shore, and in the next moment, more than two thousand armored men surged out and attacked the unarmed Gowa people. The local natives were caught off guard and shouted for reinforcements.

However, it was completely useless. This Gowa Kingdom was not even a city-state, but just an indigenous tribe with a total population of less than 10,000. If you only count the able-bodied men, there were less than 2,000. It was even smaller than Li Bin and his group. They had no weapons or armor. They were willing to fight but had no defense. It would be a miracle if the Gowa people could stop them.

Liu Gang led his Javanese Chinese soldiers, killing anyone they saw, including men. They also captured any women who tried to run away and held them captive. The village by the sea was filled with cries and shouts of killing.

However, their tribal chief was quite responsible. Upon seeing that the tribe had been attacked by pirates, he immediately gathered his people, armed them, and went to the riverbank to fight. As a result, just as the two hundred or so people had run to within three hundred meters of the riverbank, the Yuanwang ship, which was stationed in the middle of the river, opened fire.

Boom boom boom boom——

Six exploding grenades struck the enemy ranks, causing a secondary explosion. Shrapnel flew through the smoke and hit the Gowa people, who were not wearing armor or even clothes. Dozens were killed or wounded on the spot. The others were also greatly frightened. Some turned and ran away, while others knelt down and kowtowed to the ship, thinking that the ship was some kind of god.

This was a one-sided massacre. The battle in the main village ended in less than an hour. Chen Youliang also led more than 20 archers and more than 200 Javanese Chinese to the outskirts of the village to strike down any escapees.

Chen Youliang and his men had a premeditated plan and tactics, and even sent men in advance to surround and attack these natives who had only learned to farm for a few decades. It was really too much of a bullying. No wonder those Europeans could travel thousands of miles and colonize so much land with only a few dozen or a hundred men.
The battle ended quickly. Apart from the more than 300 men who surrendered voluntarily, all the other men of the Gowa Kingdom were killed. Then they searched the houses one by one and dragged out the old people and children. These people were not killed, but Gao Qiang suggested that they be sold to other islands as slaves, such as to Java as tenant farmers. He knew many landlords and should be able to get a good price.

Li Bin thought there was no problem, so he put him in charge of the matter. The money from selling people could be used to purchase living supplies, farm tools, cloth, and young livestock, which would be transported back to Gowa to be raised by themselves and then distributed to everyone as spoils of war.
A few days later, after allocating farmland, houses, and women to everyone, Li Bin said to Wang Dayuan and Chen Youliang, "My lords, I will stay here for now. Sulawesi Island resembles the Chinese character '斤' (jin), and this place is located in the southwest of the island. Why don't we call this place Xinjinfu from now on? Don't forget to report this to His Highness when you return."

Chen Youliang and Wang Dayuan also cupped their hands in greeting to him, saying, "We will definitely report the truth. Station Chief Li, please take care!"

(End of this chapter)