Chapter 1409 The Datang Dragon Flag flying in Malacca
Datang Western Company purchases domestic goods at Bandan Port, then transports them to India, West Asia, Africa and other places for trade. At the same time, it transports specialty goods from the above places back here and sells them to domestic merchants.
The Datang Western Trading Company is huge, and it is possible to maintain the prosperity of Bandan Port just by relying on one Datang Western Trading Company.
Not to mention, basically every year a group of Spanish global fleets arrive at the port for trade. Since the Tang Empire and the Spanish reached a certain cooperation agreement, the Spanish global treasure fleets will set sail from Europe every year.
America, and then across the Pacific to the Port of Luzon, and then the Port of Bandan, and conducted almost astronomical trade with the merchants of the Tang Dynasty in these two ports.
Then their global fleet will enter the Indian Ocean, borrow some ports under the control of Datang Western Company for supplies, and fight all the way back to Europe, thereby completing an entire global voyage!
Nowadays, only the Spaniards can carry out such a round-the-world voyage. There is no way, who has allowed them to have a large number of colonies and supply ports around the world. In their vacuum zone of power in Asia and the Indian Ocean, the Tang Empire also provides supplies.
port.
At the same time, although they also had conflicts with the Portuguese, the conflicts were controlled within a certain range. They sailed in the waters controlled by the Portuguese, and as long as they did not stir up trouble, the Portuguese pretended not to see them.
Well, after all, the Portuguese homeland is right next to Spain. If the Spaniards are offended, they can directly wipe out the Portuguese homeland!
However, the Tang Empire was too far away from the Portuguese mainland and could not pose a threat to the Portuguese mainland.
Moreover, the two sides are now fighting for control of the Indian Ocean. Therefore, even if the merchant ships of the Tang Empire can borrow supplies from Spanish-controlled ports, it will be difficult for them to pass through the Cape of Good Hope and the Cape of Good Hope in southern Africa under Portuguese control.
West Coast of Africa.
The Spanish were also happy to see the Portuguese continue to block the Tang Empire's routes to Europe, because this way their global fleet could make more money.
The countries currently running European routes include Portugal and Spain. If the Tang Empire were to join in, the profits would not be shared equally. Therefore, although the Spaniards provided supply ports in accordance with the agreement, they actually did not want to see it in their hearts.
The merchant ships of the Tang Empire broke through the Portuguese blockade and entered the western coast of Africa and even the coast of Europe.
This situation is also the reason why the Tang Empire is currently unable to completely open up European routes. It can only continue to rely on the Portuguese and Spanish to export the empire's goods to Europe.
If you want to break this blockade, it is easy to say that you just need to knock down the Portuguese. However, it is easy to knock down the Portuguese. But without the Portuguese, at least half of the overseas trade will be cut off. The resulting
The loss is not small.
Otherwise, the empire would have captured Malacca many years ago!
The reason for not attacking Malacca is not because we cannot defeat it, but because if we defeat it, it means that we will completely fall out with the Portuguese!
It’s not a fight, it’s not a fight, it’s just the empire’s current embarrassment to the Portuguese!
But now, Li Xuan is ready to break this embarrassment!
How could the vast Chinese Empire, a great empire destined to unify the world, be suppressed by a small country like the Portuguese? In the past, we did not fight because steamship technology was immature, and it was extremely difficult to independently open global routes.
But now that steamships are available, sea navigation has become easier, and this also means that the opportunity for the Tang Empire to get rid of the Portuguese and even the Spanish and control global trade on its own has come.
Therefore, while the middle and upper classes in the country were still arguing about whether to march westward, cross eastward, or go south, the Military Intelligence Department of the Privy Council had already received a secret instruction from Li Xuan: to lay the groundwork for the military to attack Malacca.
Base!
This oral instruction may seem a bit cryptic at first, but the change was to let the Military Intelligence Department find an excuse, or simply create an excuse to start a war with the Portuguese and attack Malacca.
Why do you need an excuse?
Because the Tang Empire was considered a ceremonial state founded by Ren Xiao, and the Portuguese and Spanish were the only two countries in the world that had established formal diplomatic relations with the Tang Empire.
Both parties have also signed a series of various trade and cooperation agreements.
If this means directly tearing up many agreements and starting a war, although it won't have much practical impact, it won't save face.
In addition, and more importantly, Li Xuan could not let the imperial officials or the military bear the burden of starting a war with Malacca, which would lead to the severance of trade with the Portuguese and the negative public opinion impact of causing heavy economic losses.
No matter what era, people are short-sighted. They only see that the current cooperation between the empire and the Portuguese has brought huge economic benefits to the empire, allowing many of the empire's products to be continuously sold to India, West Asia, Africa and Europe.
But few people can see that in the past ten years or so, the Portuguese have relied on trade with the Tang Empire, and they have also been full of food. If compared with the Portuguese of the same period in the original time and space, Portugal in this time and space
People have gained more, even multiple times, benefits from trade in Asia.
The Portuguese, who have gained many benefits, are more powerful than in the original time and space, and they have deployed more troops in Asia and Africa.
The Portuguese in this time and space are actually a completely different group from the Portuguese in the original time and space.
First of all, the Portuguese also imitated the Tang Empire and established the Portuguese East India Trading Company for colonization and trade in Asia. Its model was basically similar to that of the Tang Western Trading Company, or they simply copied it directly from the Tang Dynasty.
Tang Xiyang Trading Co., Ltd.
So now when we talk about the official power of the Portuguese in Asia, it is more accurate to say that it should be the Portuguese East India Trading Company!
The various armed conflicts between the Tang Empire and Portugal were actually armed conflicts between the Tang Western Trading Company and the Portuguese Indian Ocean Trading Company.
At least, that's what it seems on the surface!
Of course, these two trading companies are not pure trading companies. They both have strong official backgrounds, or simply put, they represent their respective officials in certain regions.
However, the competition and conflicts between the two companies mentioned above are currently basically limited to the Indian Ocean and some coastal areas.
In the Nanyang Sea, the Portuguese do business honestly, and even in order to maintain the surface peace, the Portuguese often make certain concessions.
For example, it fully recognizes the special interests of the Tang Empire in the Nanyang Peninsula, and acquiesces that the Tang Empire provoked and gradually encroached on Annan, Myanmar and other places, not to mention other Nanyang islands.
They simply admitted that the many islands in Nanyang belonged to the territory of the Tang Empire.
Of course, they also adhere to some of their own principles, such as the colonial ports they had previously established on various islands in Southeast Asia, and they are determined not to withdraw.
They admit that these islands are the territory of the Tang Empire, but they also believe that the colonial ports they established before are land acquired through legal channels. The sovereignty can be given to you, but they must continue to actually control the ports and trading stations.
This is also a tacit understanding achieved by both parties in the Nanyang region!
This tacit understanding is all based on the fact that the trade volume between the two parties is too huge, which will profoundly affect the economies of the two countries!
Under this situation, if the officials of the empire take the initiative to break various agreements, then attack Malacca, and completely break up with Portugal, many people in the country may be affected, and then accuse the empire of causing trouble and attacking friendly countries.
In order to avoid this kind of trouble, the empire needs an excuse, an excuse that can make the empire legal and reasonable, and that the people also support.
Even those businessmen whose interests have been harmed by the cutoff of trade must keep their mouths shut and support the war like everyone else!
Li Xuan left this kind of matter to the Military Intelligence Department for peace of mind. Although the Military Intelligence Department has many messy departments and occasionally does miscellaneous and even non-professional things, they are still very proficient in their own business.
Carrying out assassinations overseas and instigating civil war have always been the specialty of the Military Intelligence Department.
The current situation in Annan, Burma and Fuso is the proud work of the Military Intelligence Department. Even with the Tatars, the Military Intelligence Department is doing things every day, but the Tatars are relatively large and occupy a large territory.
A few conspiracies can at most cause some minor harm to them, but it is unlikely to have a big effect.
Now it is not easy for the Military Intelligence Department to come up with an excuse to start a war!
However, although the matter was simple, the Military Intelligence Department still attached great importance to it. In the Military Intelligence Department, a deputy director who mainly assisted the director in charge of European affairs soon boarded an official fast communication ship and secretly arrived at the location near dawn one day.
In an ordinary small port dozens of kilometers north of Malacca, and then quickly returned north!
Nowadays, the fast communication ships of the Tang Empire have also been steamed early with the development of the steam plan process. They are a combination of flying shear ship type, multi-mast stern sails, and high-power steam engines.
It is enough to make the current fast communication ship of the Tang Empire, which has a tonnage of only more than 200 tons, become the fastest average speed ship on the planet!
The deputy director of the Military Intelligence Department in charge of European affairs, the fast communication ship he rode along maintained an average speed of up to twenty knots on the road!
After arriving at this ordinary small port only a few dozen kilometers away from Malacca, the deputy director was already out of shape. He was not seasick at first, and he vomited all the way on this fast communication ship. By the time this unknown little man arrived, he
At the port, I almost died of seasickness.
This kind of ultra-high-speed fast communication ship is not meant for people to sit on it. The navy sailors serving on it are all carefully selected. There is only one most important criterion, and that is to be able to adapt to the violent turbulence of such high-speed navigation.
To put it simply, you have to be able to avoid seasickness, and it’s not enough to avoid seasickness in general. You have to be able to not get sick at all.
On weekdays, this kind of ship is basically used to transport letters!
It occasionally transports passengers, but unless there is an emergency, few people are willing to take this kind of ship, because if you take a trip, half of your life will basically be lost.
But people in the Military Intelligence Department have always taken unconventional routes. In order to quickly arrive at the deployment work, it is normal for them to lose half their lives on the road.
What was even more unusual was that the deputy director just had a quick rest for one night, and the next day he dressed up as an ordinary crew member, and then took his two elite men on a small merchant ship bound for Malacca.
On the same day, they arrived at the port of Malacca, and then made contact with the secret site of the Military Intelligence Division!
Just at dusk of the third day after the people from the Military Intelligence Department arrived at the port of Malacca, as night fell, a merchant ship without a flag entered Malacca, closed its gun doors and lowered part of its sails in accordance with relevant regulations!
But suddenly, the merchant ship suddenly raised its sails, opened the gun jackets of the guns on the deck, and quickly rushed towards the port!
When the Portuguese warships on guard duty nearby saw this, they naturally issued a warning immediately!
But the merchant ship did not stop, but continued to move forward. Someone on their deck could be seen loading artillery and taking the lead in firing. At the same time, someone began to fly the pirate's skull and crossbones flag.
When the Portuguese warship on duty saw this, its officer immediately determined that it was a pirate ship and wanted to rush into the port for some reason. However, as a soldier, and the enemy had already opened fire first, he did not hesitate to order fire to intercept it!
After the Portuguese opened fire, many crew members of the ship began to jump into the sea to escape. Immediately afterwards, several fireballs were heard from the ship, and then the ship sank quickly and finally sank in the port, leaving only
The next lone mainmast stands on the sea!
As the smoke dissipates, it can be seen that a Tang dragon flag is fluttering in the wind on the mast!