Wen came to a small country with hundreds of thousands of people.
When the Ming army came in person, they immediately greeted him respectfully.
The delegation stayed for most of the day and just replenished some fruits and drinks.
The harshness of Borneo is beyond imagination.
There are towering trees everywhere, and insects and snakes are everywhere. If you are not careful, you will get infected. It is even hot and humid in Luzon.
However, I am a little more concerned about the Huang family.
Although this group of people stayed in Wenlai, they were equivalent to local princes. They wore improved Han robes and spoke a convoluted language: a combination of Fujian dialect and local dialect.
However, a rough calculation shows that the Wenlai Han people have their own system. Their language, writing, clothing, customs, and surnames are almost the same as those of the Ming Dynasty.
The total number of them is about 50,000 to 60,000, and they all obey Huang's leadership and regard him as the general soldier.
At the same time, people from the sea who came south over the years also settled here, causing its population to continue to grow. The number of thousands increased by nearly ten times.
There was a calculation in his mind, and Dong Ren knew that this was not his decision, so he wrote a letter and took it away with him when the escorting navy ship returned.
When we arrived near the Strait of Malacca, we encountered a large number of Dutch merchant ships with intensive traffic.
At this time, the Dutch East India Company was still a private company and mainly controlled Java, the East Indies, and the Spice Islands.
The Kingdom of Johor and the Kingdom of Aceh were established respectively on the Malay Peninsula and Sumatra in the Strait of Malacca.
In Borneo, it only established commercial points in the south and did not develop colonies.
This is not because the Dutch are soft-hearted, but because the island of Java is too big, with fertile land and supports millions of people, the Dutch East India Company is really stretched.
Several sultanates still exist on the island.
It was not until the 19th century that both sides of the Malacca Strait were colonized by the British.
After all, the number of people in the Netherlands was too small. Although the sea coachmen were majestic, their national strength could not support them. At this time, the Dutch East India Company was almost at its peak.
"Are you going to Batavia on Java?"
In the cabin, Minister Dong Ren, Counselor Fan Zheng, and Military Attaché Han Mi were sitting around, discussing where to go.
There is no doubt that the Dutch East India Company at this time had great strength, with more than 150 merchant ships, 40 warships, and tens of thousands of troops.
It has strongholds and trading stations stretching from Japan in the east to Siam, Bangladesh, India, Persia, the Cape of Good Hope and the eastern coast of Africa in the west.
Even Portugal, the pioneer of Asian trade, was expelled and suffered greatly.
This has spread through the mouths of the ambassadors in Beijing and is already common knowledge.
Even the Dutch ambassador to the capital was appointed by the Dutch East India Company.
To Akito, this is simply sensational, but it has to be true.
Therefore, the Ming Dynasty and the Netherlands quickly reconciled, and they had no grudges about Taiwan.
As long as you can make money and do business, what does a little land mean?
"Go!" Fan Zheng said solemnly: "As far as I know, we have traveled tens of thousands of miles to Europe. Although we have found the captain, we have to rely on the Dutch for supplies along the way."
"It is also necessary to make arrangements in advance."
Han Mi nodded, feeling that it made sense.
Dong Ren also nodded slightly: "The Dutch have known our whereabouts for a long time. It is impossible to conceal it. We can only make good friends."
In fact, the emperor told him that he had to go to Batavia.
Soon, three ships arrived in Batavia.
Batavia was the center of this route opened by the Dutch, and spices, pepper, amber, linen, cotton, tin, lead, Chinese silk fabrics, pottery, and porcelain from the East were collected here in large quantities.
Then transported to Europe.
To put it simply, the Dutch East India Company was actually equivalent to a second-rate dealer, importing far more than exporting.
Its customers are naturally Spain and Portugal, which mine gold and silver from the New World, and France, which is the dominant country in Europe.
The Dutch started their business by standing on the shoulders of the Spaniards.
At the same time, the Spanish had too much gold and silver, and their demand was strong, which gave birth to the textile and handicraft industries in France and Britain, promoted the development of British capital, and indirectly led to the British Revolution.
Once you get to Batavia, its prosperity is dizzying.
The exotic customs are really unaccustomed.
The fusion of Chinese and Western things in Taiwan can only be regarded as childish.
At the same time, Batavia immediately became noisy because of the arrival of a group of legendary Ming envoys.
The narrow pier was filled with dense crowds of people, who eagerly stared at Akito in cross-dress, with curiosity and surprise in their eyes that they could not stop no matter what.
"Gentlemen, welcome to Batavia."
The Governor of Batavia made a welcoming gesture with a joyful face, and his fat body looked quite interesting.
Although there was an interpreter, Dong Ren could feel his enthusiasm: "This is my honor."
A group of people got on an open carriage and felt the difference of a Dutch-style carriage.
Even though the Governor's Mansion looks exotic, the luxury within it is immediately apparent.
The shiny floor, the rows of maids, the long table covered with white tablecloth, and the huge gemstone ring on the finger cannot be ignored at all.
Not to mention, the colorful clothes are worth a lot just for the dye.
"Tea, please."
the governor said kindly.
Black tea from Fujian was served, and it was an unexpected surprise with its fragrant aroma.
The food on the table is even more unexpected. It is stir-fried dishes that were popular in the Ming Dynasty. The style is good, and the dinner plates are from the best official kilns.
Several pairs of tachyons seemed to be made of ivory, which looked luxurious.
The Dutchmen, on the other hand, were carrying plates, eating baked apples, baked bananas, and the like, as well as a plate of fish seasoned with ginger, pepper, cinnamon, etc., and soft bread sprinkled with white sugar.
Roasted wild boar, mutton, etc. are also on the table.
Although he said nothing during eating and sleeping, Dong Ren wanted to break it.
At the same time, the Dutch do not want to abide by such rules.
Dong Ren used kuaizi to pick up a piece of meat. The sauce was made with various spices. The taste was extraordinary and weird. After taking two bites, he said:
"Your Majesty the Governor, I want to buy a piece of land."
In an instant, all movement disappeared.
The governor squinted his eyes with a strange expression: "With all due respect, it is said that your Ming Dynasty's territory is extremely vast. How could you still be interested in our colony?"
"A small area."
Dong Ren recalled the emperor's instructions, gritted his teeth and said: "The Jaffna region of Ceylon (Sri Lanka)."
"Our country needs a stronghold in India."
"Jaffna?" the Governor was confused.
He turned around and discussed with several Indian commissioners (six people in charge of Asian affairs), and finally learned that this place was in the north of Ceylon.
Just across from the Indian Peninsula, the narrowest point is only a few dozen miles.
Of course, a few years ago, this land belonged to Portugal. Now it has been taken over by the Dutch East India Company, and there is no intention to return it to the Kandy Dynasty (the country of Ceylon).
The Portuguese coastal colonial strongholds in India were almost completely annexed by the Dutch, with only a few remaining, such as Goa.
The Dutch controlled most of India's coastal strongholds, as well as the spice trade.
Therefore, Jaffna is not important for Indian trade.
At the same time, the most prosperous place in Ceylon is Colombo in the southwest, which is an important node in the Indian Ocean.
Therefore, this place is really useless to the Dutch.
Several people avoided the discussion, leaving Dong Ren and others to eat.
"Gentlemen, will this affect the company's trading in India?"
The governor looked up and asked.
"Hell, the silks and porcelain from the East, as well as the Batavia Governor's Palace spices, account for 80% of the company's profits, while India, Persia, Siam and other places account for less than 20%."
A well-dressed committee member said unceremoniously: "Even if we lose the whole of India, we cannot lose the trade with the Ming Dynasty."
"If I remember correctly, Akito's ship is at least 800 tons, and there are hundreds of gunmen under his command, which is enough for them to go to India to seize a stronghold."
A certain pot-bellied committee member said: "Even if we don't sell it, they can still find a stronghold. It just takes more time."
"No, we can't sell Jaffna."
At this time, another committee member raised his head and said: "Exchange, we want to exchange."
"If we can monopolize the Ming Dynasty's porcelain trade, gentlemen, this will double the company's profits and double its dividends."
"A mere Jaffna is no longer worth mentioning."
"Akito won't agree, right?"
"The Indian Ocean is our Dutch territory. If they don't agree, Ming's ships will never reach India."
"No, sir." The governor said hurriedly: "If Mingren's request is rejected, there will be setbacks in trade with the East, and the losses will be even greater."
"The Emperor of the Ming Dynasty was a sensitive and irritable person, we cannot try it lightly."
"Well, exchange is the best option, followed by selling it at a good price."
The committee member shuddered. If the Dutch Seventeen-member Conference knew that the dividend income was affected, they would never spare him.
After reaching a consensus, the governor came out.
"We need special trading rights for porcelain."
The governor said seriously: "We will give you a fair price for Ming Dynasty porcelain."
“What are special trade rights?”
"It is a monopoly on Ming porcelain."
"No." Dong Ren hurriedly shook his head and said coldly: "Please forgive me for not agreeing. The court will never allow it."
"If you really don't want to, forget it."
Hearing this, the governor became anxious.
Nowadays, it is a seller's market, and Ming Dynasty is unique in this. He really didn't dare to offend, so he hurriedly said: "Since you don't want to, then just spend money to buy it!"
"One hundred thousand guilders, Jaffna is yours."
Dong Ren frowned and began to calculate carefully.
At this time, in order to facilitate trade, Daming Customs established an exchange ratio.
After all, the imperial court does not allow the inflow of overseas currency, so tax collection and other matters naturally need to be converted into silver dollars in proportion.
One silver dollar can be exchanged for one and one-sixth Spanish real.
At the same time, one silver dollar was one quarter of a pound (gold coin).
One silver dollar is two and a half Dutch guilders.
Naturally, it can be seen from the silver content.
It changes with the amount of silver contained in the currency.
One hundred thousand guilders, that's 40,000 silver coins.
After thinking about this figure, Dong Ren flatly refused: "The price is too high, I can only give 10,000 Dutch guilders."
"No, that's too low."
The governor jumped up in fright, "Good guy, how much less will you make?"
Even if the land is not valuable, the old cannons and dilapidated houses on it were all taken from Portugal, so they cannot be sold cheaply.
Dong Ren said calmly: "Do you know about sweet wine (rum)?"
"You mean Taiwanese sweet wine?"
The governor said in surprise.
The Dutch, and even the whole of Europe, looked down upon Ming Dynasty drinks and were not used to them.
But the sweet wine that appeared in Taiwan last year immediately captured the hearts of sailors. It is not only cheap, tastes good, and lasts long, it is a must-have wine for long voyages.
The Dutch East India Company, which had hundreds of ships and tens of thousands of employees, was in great need of this.
In a short period of time, it became a necessity.
The key is it's cheap.
A barrel of sweet wine weighs twenty kilograms, and its price is only three silver coins. It can be said to be extremely cheap, and it can save lives in the era of voyages.
"That's right." Dong Ren said seriously: "The supply of this kind of sweet wine exceeds the demand, and His Majesty the Emperor is willing to provide a share of 100,000 barrels every year."
"Not enough, at least one million barrels."
The governor thought that the natives of Siam, India, and the Kingdom of Johor were also used to drinking. This was a huge market.
With hundreds of thousands of people alone, Batavia is a staggering market.
"One hundred and fifty thousand."
"Nine hundred thousand——"
…
In the end, the two parties settled the deal with 30% of the total annual sweet wine.
After Taiwan's sweet wine was released, every sailing ship would buy a few barrels of it, and some even sold it exclusively to the mainland.
Therefore, even if production is increased, demand exceeds supply.
After all, making wine with bagasse also requires a huge supply of sugar cane and a lot of manpower to make wine.
In the end, even wooden barrels were not in supply, which gave rise to hundreds of wooden barrel and bamboo barrel workshops.
Iron yards, lumber yards, cork yards, etc. are springing up like bamboo shoots.
Last year's production of 200,000 barrels of sweet wine was the limit.
The expansion of production this year will only reach 500,000 barrels.
Both parties were very happy.
"This?" Fan Zheng was puzzled.
"Your Majesty's intention." Dong Ren didn't say much.
The latter remained silent.
The next day, Dong Ren and others, accompanied by two Dutch merchant ships, walked through the Strait of Malacca and arrived in Myanmar with the land deed and transaction certificate.
Logically speaking, Myanmar is one of several countries that sends ambassadors, and it is not up to him, the minister, to announce decrees or anything like that.
But it happened that they had to pass through Myanmar, so with a mission, the group landed in Xinjing, the capital of the country.
At this time, King Sun Ke was getting old and his ambitions were low. Hearing that the imperial envoy from the Ming Dynasty was coming, he was shocked: "Hasn't he already been canonized?"
However, he did give him face and went out to greet him personally, with a nationalistic attitude on his face.
Dong Ren didn't say much. He only talked about trade matters, and then looked at the palace and other things, which was in line with etiquette.
Yiying's words and etiquette are not Yi Feng.
"The imperial court will establish an ambassador and send envoys to Beijing. Your country will also send envoys to Beijing to communicate with you if you have any needs..."
After describing the envoy's affairs and entrusting him with building an embassy, Dong Ren left.
After traveling for another ten days or so, we arrived in Ceylon at noon and then transferred to Jaffna in the north.
A wooden castle and a small port, both simple and crude.
Here, Dong Ren left Prince Zhu and his family and announced on the spot that the place had changed hands.
He directly announced the decree and granted Zhu Ci the title of King of Ceylon County and Commander-in-Chief of Ceylon City to guard matters in Ceylon and other places.
The others knew little about it and thought he was a branch of a certain clan. After all, there were too many clans in the old Zhu family.
Han Mi and Fan Zheng did not know the inside story and had only a partial understanding, but they did not ask any questions and directly carried out the plan.
"You guys get on the boat first!" Dong Ren said.
A group of people left first, leaving only Prince Zhu's family of about a hundred people.
What is surprising is that dozens of slaves serving in their home were also sent here, but they just stayed on the ground floor, living in hammocks, and several of them died of illness.
Dong Ren looked at the former prince, whose temples were gray and overly anxious.
"This is your fiefdom."
Dong Ren said in a deep voice: "Remember, don't reveal your identity. To the outside world, you are the king of the county."
As he spoke, he pointed to the grain, clothing, two boxes of silver coins, a hundred muskets, and several barrels of gunpowder on the ground:
"These are also the emperor's thoughts, which are enough for you to live in peace."
Finally, he handed the two imperial edicts to the incredulous Zhu Ci, and then took out the land deed and transaction certificate from his arms.
He took a deep look at the family before turning and leaving.
Zhu Ci grabbed the land deed and the imperial edict, turned his head and fell in love with his family.
The eyes of this group of men, women, and children who had been cooped up in the cabin for several months were full of confusion and relief.
He stamped his feet, the soft sand was very real.
"Pick up all the muskets."
Zhu Cixiang said in a deep voice: "From today on, we are the owners of this land."
"The survival of the family can only rely on the gun in your hand."