Gou was a member of the imperial family in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 1281 The Dutch Revenge
Interrogation revealed that the two warships belonged to the Dutch East India Company, and that they had been eyeing Zhang Jie's armed merchant ships for some time. This was because Zhang Jie had been traveling between the Ming Dynasty and Southeast Asia many times in the past two years, and frequently traded in the Indian Ocean via the Strait of Malacca, which led to this ambush and plunder at sea.

The relationship between the Dutch and the Ming Dynasty has never been good. As early as the Tianqi era, the Dutch fought a battle with the Ming Dynasty in Fujian, but were ultimately defeated by the Ming Dynasty.

After their defeat, the Dutch not only failed to occupy Fujian, but also relinquished the Penghu Islands, which they had already acquired, and returned to Batavia with great resentment. However, the Dutch did not give up. After a few years of relative calm, they became restless again. Taking advantage of the Ming Dynasty's internal and external troubles after the death of the Tianqi Emperor and the ascension of the Chongzhen Emperor, the Dutch in Batavia once again sent a fleet north. This time, they did not attack Fujian, but instead reoccupied the Penghu Islands and then landed on Xiaoliuqiu.

In Xiaoliuqiu, the Dutch began their large-scale "conquest" and colonization, not only oppressing the local people but also forcing them to build castles for them, thus turning the entire Xiaoliuqiu into their colony for complete rule.

As the days passed, with the Dutch suppressing the local population of Xiaoliuqiu with an iron fist and the castle construction reaching a certain scale, they believed they had made the right move. They even dreamed of taking Xiaoliuqiu under their complete control and then finding an opportunity to attack the Ming Dynasty again, thus conquering this vast but declining empire.

But the Dutch never expected that Zhu Shenzhui would suddenly appear out of nowhere. After Zhu Shenzhui seized control of the government through the Jingnan Campaign and then ascended the throne, the Ming Dynasty quickly eliminated internal and external troubles. First, it dealt with the bandits, and then it suppressed the Jurchens in Liaodong. The Ming Dynasty finally stood up from the quagmire and gradually recovered its vitality.

It was only then that Zhu Shenzhui learned of the Dutch presence in Xiaoliuqiu. Initially, he ordered Zheng Zhilong to lead his troops to attack Xiaoliuqiu in order to resolve the issue of the Dutch occupation of Xiaoliuqiu.

Unexpectedly, Zheng Zhilong was two-faced, actually intending to use the Dutch to cultivate a powerful enemy for his own benefit. Zhu Shenzhui could not tolerate this situation. He decided to resolve the Zheng Zhilong issue, then reorganize the Zheng group for the court's use, and then send troops to attack Xiaoliuqiu.

Hong Chengchou, then Governor-General of Fujian and Zhejiang, quickly dealt with Zheng Zhilong at the emperor's behest. With Zheng Zhilong's downfall, the Zheng group was dismantled and reorganized, and a new Nanyang Navy emerged. Subsequently, the Ming Dynasty directly dispatched troops to Xiaoliuqiu, defeating the Dutch who had occupied Xiaoliuqiu for many years with overwhelming military superiority, thus driving them all out.

The defeat in this war was a painful blow to the Dutch, who had invested a great deal of manpower and resources in Xiaoliuqiu and spent nearly a decade painstakingly developing it. But before they could fully control Xiaoliuqiu, and before they even saw any return on their investment, they were utterly defeated by the Ming Dynasty. Their plan to advance north again fell through, and the heavily damaged Dutch, forced by the Ming's military might, had no choice but to surrender and retreat to Batavia once more.

Although the Dutch signed an agreement with the Ming Dynasty after their defeat and relinquished Xiaoliuqiu, acknowledging that the area belonged to the Ming, they remained resentful and bitter. However, being weaker than the Ming, they had no choice but to retreat and patiently wait for an opportunity to march north again in the future.

Thus, the Dutch's outstretched tentacles were severed by the Ming Dynasty. However, the Dutch, who had retreated, were unwilling to accept defeat and always wanted to find something to retaliate against the Ming Dynasty.

In the past two years, the Dutch have been making quite a few small moves in the South China Sea, such as instigating local natives to massacre Han Chinese in Batavia, or impersonating pirates to attack and plunder Ming Dynasty merchant ships traveling in and out of the South China Sea.

Leaving aside the former, as for the latter, due to the Dutch's repeated attacks, many Ming Dynasty merchant ships and their crews fell victim to the Dutch. However, because the Dutch were secretive, each attack was carried out by warships choosing suitable locations for surprise attacks, so ordinary merchant ships were not prepared at all and thus fell into the hands of the Dutch.

The merchant ships that were attacked and looted were all dead; their goods were stolen, and the ships and their crews sank to the bottom of the sea—this was the work of the Dutch. This happened repeatedly, and the Ming Dynasty began to react. The Nanyang Navy increased its patrols in the South China Sea, and most merchants rarely went to sea alone anymore, instead forming fleets to sail together. In some cases, they even paid Nanyang Navy warships for escort, which was a convenient task for the Nanyang Navy. For example, the fleet Zhang Jie encountered was actually an escort fleet, consisting of five Nanyang Navy warships escorting nine merchant ships of varying sizes to the South China Sea. Unexpectedly, they happened to run into Zhang Jie and the Dutch warships engaged in battle.

This time, the Dutch were truly unlucky. Although they had long been eyeing Zhang Jie's armed merchant ship and planned to rob it en route to Malacca, Zhang Jie, a former pirate, was too clever. As soon as he realized something was wrong, he turned tail and fled.

Zhang Jie's decisive action saved him, and his armed merchant ship was far superior to ordinary Ming Dynasty merchant ships. It was not only larger and had a greater carrying capacity, but it was also faster. In addition, it was equipped with cannons and other firearms. If it were an ordinary Ming Dynasty merchant ship, it would not have been able to outrun the Dutch warships at all. Even if it had escaped in advance, it would not have been long before the Dutch caught up with it, and it would have ended up with the same fate as other Ming Dynasty merchant ships.

You get what you pay for. It was fortunate that Zhang Jie spent a fortune buying the ship from the Portuguese; otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to wait for the Ming warships to rescue him. The Dutch probably didn't expect this outcome either. The bandits who had been robbing him were actually surrounded. In their panic, only one of their two warships managed to escape, while the other, seeing that all was lost, could only raise a white flag and surrender, thus falling into the hands of the Ming Dynasty's Nanyang Navy.

A month after the naval encounter, the report reached the capital. Zhu Shenzhui slammed his fist on the table after reading the report, furious but also secretly pleased that it was a godsend. The Dutch's actions had given the Ming Dynasty a perfect reason to wage war. Wasn't he just worrying about how to bestow fiefdoms upon the princes? If they could drive the Dutch out of the South China Sea and capture Batavia, wouldn't the territory currently occupied by the Dutch be the best place for external expansion?

Compared to the New World, the South China Sea is closer to the Ming Dynasty. Moreover, if the Ming Dynasty's South China Sea Navy could defeat the Dutch, it could basically control the entire South China Sea and bring this region under the Ming Dynasty's sphere of influence.

Since the Ming Dynasty began to contract its foreign policy, the Ming Dynasty's Pacification Commission system in the Southeast Asia region has become a mere formality. It should be noted that the entire Southeast Asia region was previously under the Ming Dynasty's control. However, with the entry of Europeans into the Far East, Portugal, Spain, and the Netherlands successively established colonies in various places, thus breaking the previous situation and causing the Ming Dynasty's influence to gradually weaken.

If the Ming Dynasty were still the same as before, it wouldn't be so bad, since it was plagued by internal and external troubles and simply couldn't attend to external matters. But now, the Ming Dynasty's national strength is rising rapidly, and its power is incomparable to what it used to be. Moreover, Zhu Shenzhui's previous granting of fiefdoms to the New World had already ignited the Ming Dynasty's ambition for outward expansion. The New World, especially the Southeast Asia, is even more important; how could it possibly be left unattended?
However, Zhu Shenzhui still had reservations about resolving the Southeast Asian issue by force. Even though the Ming Dynasty's national strength had gradually recovered, he was not entirely confident in taking action against Southeast Asia.

Firstly, the Ming Dynasty's navy was relatively new, and both the Southern and Northern Fleets, as well as its ocean-going fleet, were fundamentally derived from the Zheng family's initial group. Although the Zheng family was powerful and possessed a considerable number of warships, their actual combat effectiveness and scale were still lacking.

In recent years, the Ming Dynasty's navy has developed rapidly, with new warships constantly being launched to replace and strengthen its three fleets. Moreover, the Ming Dynasty has acquired better warship construction technology from Europe, and by combining it with its original shipbuilding technology, it has built new ships that are comparable to European warships.

However, it is not so easy for a navy to truly take shape. Zhu Shenzhui was well aware of the current situation of the Ming Dynasty's three navies. Although new ships were constantly being added and old ships were being replaced, to be honest, it was still a long way from achieving the goal that Zhu Shenzhui wanted.

As the saying goes, it takes ten years to build an army and a hundred years to build a navy. The investment and time required for the navy are much greater than that for the army. In addition, neither navigation nor combat at sea can be done by ordinary people. It requires professional sailors, commanders, gunners and other technical personnel. It is impossible to form a strong combat force in a short period of time, even with the foundation of the Zheng Group's personnel.

Given the current military strength of the European countries in the Far East, the Ming Dynasty's navy could easily defeat a single nation, but it would likely be overwhelmed if the opposing forces united. Despite their current internecine conflicts, these European nations also share common interests. Add to that other political factors, and if the Ming Dynasty were to directly provoke a war in the South China Sea, who can guarantee that these countries wouldn't worry about the Ming's true intentions and potentially form an alliance?
Without overwhelming and absolute advantage, Zhu Shenzhui would not easily take this step, so he has been waiting for an opportunity, waiting for the right opportunity.

Now the opportunity has finally arrived. With the Dutch failing to raid Ming merchant ships and being captured by the Nanyang Navy, the Ming Dynasty has every legitimate reason to wage war against the Dutch in the South China Sea. This reason is impeccable and diplomatically sound.

Moreover, there are three main European powers in the Far East: Portugal, the Netherlands, and Spain.

Although Portugal arrived earliest, it is currently the weakest. This is because Portugal was previously annexed by Spain, which interrupted the Portuguese royal rule and affected its national strength.

Portugal lost many important colonies during this period, including the vital sea route of Malacca.

With the loss of Malacca, Portugal's influence in Southeast Asia diminished significantly. Had it not retained its privileges in Macau, Portugal would have almost completely lost its trading rights in the Far East. However, after the establishment of formal diplomatic relations between the Ming Dynasty and Portugal in recent years, trade gradually recovered with the Ming's assistance. Not only did Macau become increasingly prosperous, but Portugal also established a chamber of commerce in newly opened treaty ports in the Ming Dynasty to facilitate direct trade and obtain greater profits.

Furthermore, in southern Myanmar, the Ming Dynasty and Portugal are now cooperating closely, each occupying a region to jointly suppress Myanmar. These circumstances indicate a very close relationship between Portugal and the Ming Dynasty, with both sides cooperating in many areas, resulting in a win-win situation.

(End of this chapter)