The Han culture is spreading strongly in Southeast Asia

Chapter 419: Sino-French Joint Fleet
Java, Batavia.

Although it is only February in the lunar calendar, the weather is already quite hot.

Under the scorching sun, the whole city looked dead and lifeless.

The Dutch living here have completely lost their former vigor and vitality. Almost every day you can see prominent figures leaving with their families.

Some of them went to the Dutch Indies or Ceylon, and some returned to Europe. Anyway, they had a way to leave and would never stay in Batavia, at least they would not leave their entire family in Batavia.

This was not only because the Chinese became more active in Southeast Asia after King Xingtang of the north was crowned Emperor of Seres Dayu, but also because the Dutch East India Company itself was in trouble.

In 1775, after the death of Petrus, the Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies, after several months of wrangling, the headquarters appointed the -year-old Van Riemsdyk as Governor-General.

This brother was even more greedy than his predecessor, Governor Petrus, because he was very short of money. Rimsdijk was married five times in his life, and each marriage left a lot of trouble that required money to settle.

And this is not the most troublesome thing. The most troublesome thing is that Riemsdijk only worked for less than two years and died of illness.

This time, having learned from their previous lesson, the Dutch quickly appointed Reinier de Klerk as governor.

Rainier was quite upright and even came personally to plead with Mozibu after the war in Borneo, trying to reduce the losses of the Dutch East India Company.

However, God still did not stand on the side of the Dutch. Only four or five months after taking office, Governor Rainier suddenly fell ill, and his condition was quite serious from the beginning.

And this disease is incurable because Governor Rainier is ill because he is too old.

He was born in the 1710th year of the reign of Emperor Kangxi, which was . He was one year older than Emperor Qianlong and was years old this year.

Secretary Holdyk was among the crowd. He took a quick glance and immediately walked out. Outside the Governor's Mansion, he took out a pocket watch with a thin red string on the watch chain and checked the time.

Outside the Governor's Mansion, a vendor selling herbal tea saw this and started hawking his wares along the street from his cart, "Herb tea here! Honeysuckle, astragalus, buffalo horn, everything. Refreshing! Refreshing!"

The copper coin in the hands of Shi Ya, the second-in-command of the Northern Pacification Division of the Jinyiwei, was thrown into an empty earthenware bowl with a clinking sound.

"It's a stroke, but it's not serious. However, the Dutchman probably can't be deployed. Report home immediately. Danger level B3."

While Shi Yaer was speaking, a teenager beside him immediately began to record everything. After he finished, he raised his head and asked:

"Master Qianhu, how do you know that Governor Rainier's condition is not serious?"

Shi Yaer looked at Cai Qian, his fellow villager from Tong'an, Quanzhou. When the Xingtang Army captured Zhangzhou, he personally stabbed the magistrate of Longxi County in Zhangzhou Prefecture to death. He made great contributions and was directly selected by His Majesty to enter the Xiamen Naval Academy in Quanzhou.

This time I came to Batavia for an internship. As a naval officer, I often have to do part-time work such as collecting intelligence.

Therefore, Shi Yaer patiently explained, "Refreshing the mind is only a minor function of herbal tea and wouldn't easily be used as a selling point. Whenever it's mentioned, it always refers to a problem with the brain. And since this herbal tea lacks the main ingredient, pearl powder, it's obviously not a serious problem."

Cai Qian nodded, but he didn't write it down deliberately, because each intelligence station had its own set of jargon, so he would be trained before using it.

What he was most concerned about was whether the Dutch fleet would actually be dispatched. If so, perhaps the officers of this period would also be able to fight.

Shi Yaer shook his head and said, "There's no point in fighting anymore. I've been watching the Dutch Reds decline day by day.

More than a hundred years ago, they could still compete with Koxinga. But forty years ago, they could not even compete with ordinary Chinese in business and could only rely on force.

But now, they have long lost the courage to fight against Dayu.

The Red-haired Devil's army was already timid during their time in Jiaxi Prefecture, and their navy is even less worth mentioning. Your Majesty has pushed both the Bingangzi and the Kechengnan men right up to their heads, and they still don't dare to attack."

Shi Yaer did not tell Cai Qian that the important reason why the Dutch were so honest was that Dayu, with the support of French designers and skilled craftsmen, was sent to North America to support France's Friendship-class three-class sailing battleship.

The second and third three-level sailing battleships of the Qui Nhon Shipyard have also been launched, the guns have been fitted out, and two sea trials have been conducted, basically forming combat effectiveness.

At the same time, the Hexian Shipyard also completed the construction of three fifth-level sailing cruisers. Now Dayu is not short of warships at all, but of talents. As long as the talents are in place, another squadron can be pulled out immediately.

However, Cai Qian didn't know that Gui Hanbo, the Deputy Minister of the Navy and the loyal servant of Emperor Mo, Vice Admiral Manuel Bonn, must have understood this.

Suzhou, the palace of the weaving factory.

At this time, Suzhou's famous gardens, the Humble Administrator's Garden and the Lingering Garden, were basically abandoned. Only the West Garden of the Suzhou Weaving Bureau, also known as the Weaving Bureau Palace, which once served as Emperor Qianlong's palace, was still a typical representative of Suzhou gardens.

Manuel Bonn, accompanied by Pierre-André de Suffren de Saint-Tropez, the French Rear Admiral who had secretly arrived in China, and a group of Portuguese socialites who had come from Macau, toured the garden.

"Manuel, this is absolutely beautiful. I think it's even more beautiful than Schloss Schloss. This must be the Emperor's most beautiful palace."

The Palace of the St. Regis is Fontainebleau. Major General Suffren felt a little uneasy. "I heard that in the Chinese Empire of Seris, the emperor's palace is not open to the public."

"Hahaha." Manuel Bonn laughed loudly and said to Major General Suffren very affectionately:
"Andre, this is one of the hundreds of palaces owned by His Majesty the Emperor. It's not the Forbidden City in Yingtian Prefecture. You can enjoy it without worry. His Majesty has given you permission."

Manuel Bonn is very clear about his abilities and role. In the military, when Mo Zibu was just starting out, he was qualified, but now, he is completely inadequate.

Therefore, his main role now is to serve as a pile of valuable horse bones for other French and even European naval talents to see.

Let those who are truly talented see that even he, Manuel Bonn, a retired lieutenant colonel of the French Navy, can become the Deputy Minister of the Navy and be conferred the title of Count in the Chinese Empire. Other talented people, why don’t you hurry up and come here?

The two of them toured for half a day, and Manuel Bonn set up a delicious meal in the palace. The wine used to accompany the meal was the top-quality dark rum shipped from Cuba by the Spanish galleon. There were also dozens of servants serving them, which made Major General Suffren's eyes red with envy.

"Andre, what's wrong? Don't you like these beautiful girls?" Manuel Bonn asked in a low voice.

These Portuguese socialites are very beautiful and can speak fluent Central French. They are specially kept by the emperor to entertain important figures from Europe.

"If you don't like them, His Majesty the Emperor also has twenty beautiful Spanish maids. Although they are a little less beautiful, they are all illegitimate children of minor nobles, and their status is very guaranteed.

If you like oriental beauties, Your Majesty also has some maids from Japan, who were sent to Your Majesty by the Tokugawa Shogun of Japan."

This is a tribute from the Tokugawa Shogun. Tokugawa Ieharu probably still has no idea what happened on the mainland. This is the Fujian descendants of the Ryukyu Islands, the actual controllers of the Ryukyu Islands. The 36 Fujian surnames captured a group of Japanese women from the Shimazu clan of the Satsuma Domain and paid tribute.

The purpose was to bring Dayu into the muddy waters of Ryukyu, and Dayu just happened to have this need, so it hit it off with these descendants of Fujian.

Major General Suffren's eyes suddenly lit up. Manuel Bonn understood the meaning of the music and sent these Portuguese socialites away after they had a good meal and a few drinks.

After a while, music with typical Japanese style sounded, and a dozen tiny Japanese lolis walked in.

When it comes to serving people, the Japanese women who don’t use ash on their faces or paint their teeth black are definitely the most considerate, gentle and beautiful.

Major General Suffren was like a country bumpkin, and a whole new world had opened up to him.

. . . .

A few days later, Mo Zibu summoned Major General Su Fulang to the Yingtianfu Palace.

This man came secretly for the upcoming war against Britain. Major General Suffren came to take up the position of commander of the Sino-French joint fleet.

The reason for such urgency is that France had officially declared war on the Kingdom of England last year, in July 1778.

He also informed China in advance that France would sign an alliance treaty with the Kingdom of Spain at the Royal Palace of Aranjuez in Madrid in April this year, and Spain would also declare war on Britain.

Then, according to the previous Tripartite Anti-British Pact of Chambord and the Treaty of Guangzhou signed between the Duke of La Rochefoucauld and Mozibu in Guangzhou, the delegation of the Seres Chinese Empire would simultaneously declare in Paris that it was in a state of war with the Kingdom of England.

As for North America, Mo Zibu only needs to send out one third-level battleship, and most of the time he will focus on training the team.

In the East, this long-planned plan to attack and plunder the British Indian colony naturally required the Chinese Empire to mobilize most of its forces.

"Your Majesty, the British Indian Colonial Army, led by the Governor of Chennai, John Whitehill, captured Local Government last December.

When the foreign ministers came from India, they were besieging Manet. If nothing unexpected happened, the French army in India would be unable to resist and they would retreat to the territory of the Mysore Kingdom for temporary refuge.

Therefore, on behalf of the French government and His Majesty King XVI, I hereby request His Majesty the Emperor to send troops to attack British India in accordance with the Treaty of Chambord and the Treaty of Canton.

Mo Zibu nodded, "This is the responsibility of the Chinese Empire as an ally of the Kingdom of France, and it is also a manifestation of the brotherhood between me and King Louis.

Therefore, before the general arrived in Yingtian Prefecture, I had already ordered the organization of an army of 15,000 people, as well as two third-level battleships, four fourth-level battleships, seven fifth-level cruisers and seventeen armed merchant ships with 16 to 32 guns.

However, there is still a shortage of naval officers and sailors, so we will have to wait a while longer."

What Mo Zibu said was the truth, but there was a way to solve it. Major General Sufran already knew the solution because he had already agreed on it when he was fooling around with Manuel Bonn a few days ago.

"If Your Majesty grants me full authority, I am willing to lead the fleet and, with the cooperation of Your Majesty's brave army, first eliminate the Dutch in Batavia and then use Dutch naval officers and sailors to strengthen the fleet of the Chinese Empire."

Historically, during the American War of Independence, Britain and France also fought a naval battle in India, and the French commander was none other than Rear Admiral Suffren.

However, France equipped him with a fleet of seven warships at that time. Although the main force was only a fourth-level sailing ship, at least there was one.

At this time and space, the French government, whose finances were already very tight, only sent a naval officer corps of 70 people headed by Major General Suffren, and the warships only had two escorting level 5 cruisers. It was really stingy.

I'm here just to get something for free.

But Mo Zibu didn't care. It was just warships and money, which he had plenty of. What he lacked were officers and sailors. At the same time, he could take this opportunity to truly train his navy.

Of course, Mo Zibu didn't know that he had found a treasure.

Because in history, Major General Suffren fought extremely well in the naval battle in India. He was one of the very few French naval commanders who, with the disadvantaged French fleet, severely damaged the warships of the superior British fleet.

Historically, after Napoleon destroyed the French fleet at Villeneuve, he lamented that if Suffren were still alive, he would definitely be able to defeat Nelson.

Although it may be an exaggeration, Major General Suffren was indeed the most powerful general in the French Navy at the end of the 18th century.

"Andre, in fact, I not only hope that you can serve as the commander of the Sino-French joint fleet, but I also hope that after the war goals are achieved, you can serve in the navy of the Chinese Empire.

Lieutenant General Fragossels is old and he really wants to return to Paris to retire.

If you agree, I will purchase his estate in Lower Burma and grant it to you. Of course, I will personally explain the situation to Louis in France."

Fragosse, the old fox, had made enough money and had been absent-minded in the past year, so Mo Zibu simply followed his wishes and sent him away.

Therefore, before Chen Tianbao, Mo Guanfu, Cai Qian and others grew up, Mo Zibu really needed a high-level fleet commander.

"Thank you for your Majesty's appreciation. I, Su Fulan, am happy to accept your appointment." Major General Su Fulan was of course willing.

That's 5,000 acres of cultivated land, an estate for 80 serfs, and 15,000 taels of silver a year, about 4,550 pounds, or 100,000 livres a year. Only a fool would be unhappy about it.

After dealing with Major General Su Fran, Mo Zibu just returned to the harem when Queen Zheng Shishi came over crying. Wenma, who had filed a complaint, had already found Zheng Shishi.

What else could Mo Zibu do? He could only comfort the queen, feeling a little nervous.

Because his military strength was very tight now, the 12th Army of the Beijing Camp was only half built, and the Huguang Campaign was about to start, so he really couldn't spare many mobile troops.

As a result, when Mo Zibu was still thinking about how to make arrangements, a joint secret report from Pegu Hou Suji and Andai Governor Huang Zhen was also sent to Yingtian Prefecture.

There was no other way. Mo Zibu thought for a while and decided to postpone the Huguang Campaign. He needed to rush to Guangzhou to convene the Republican Congress.

Since it is unrealistic to transfer troops from the north, we should mobilize vassals and volunteers from Guangdong, Fujian and the four provinces of Southeast Asia.

(End of this chapter)