Naturally, Alvin and his group of pirates are not the only ones in the South African port. In fact, no one knows that there are at least seven or eight groups of pirates staying in the South African port at this moment.
Unfortunately, the target that Alvin and the others were targeting, the Italian merchant ship Allen, appeared to be just a heavy carat merchant ship with little protection. It was advertised as saving navigation costs and did not carry a large number of sailors, but no one
Knowing that the ship actually carried twice as many sailors as the merchant ship seeking to fill it.
When they returned, they did not carry a large amount of cargo at all, because they were poorer than Alvin and the others. They came empty and were destined to return empty too.
This time they came to the South African port, and the only way to make money was to rob.
As for the captain and others preaching about money for many but less in the South Africa Port Trade Zone, they are simply disguising themselves to reduce others' defenses against them. In fact, they are operating in the trade zone for the same purpose as Baier and others.
It's just to find a big fat sheep.
In addition to the two pirate ships, the Alvin and the Allen, there are actually at least five groups of pirates active in South African ports, and they all basically have the same characteristics.
That is, they have a lot of manpower, but they don’t have the money to purchase too many Datang goods in the South African port. At most, they can only buy a few Datang products.
In addition, some ships have also been specially modified, or they are simply schooners commonly used by pirates.
The activity of these pirates in South Africa Port naturally attracted the attention of the official Yamen of South Africa Port in Tang Xiyu. People from the South Africa City Police Department had actually mastered these pirates for a long time.
However, these pirates stayed in the South African port honestly, and each one of them was generous, contributing a lot of income to South Africa.
In addition, these pirates did not rob in South African waters, and they were not pirates active in the Yangtze River. They were generally pirates active in the Atlantic Ocean, and they robbed merchant ships in Europe and North Africa, so the people of the Tang Dynasty were too lazy to take care of them.
Woolen cloth.
The South African Police Department only monitored them secretly, and then reported the situation to the African Squadron and ignored them.
As for the Foxes, they obviously have no interest in helping the Portuguese eliminate pirates along the western coast of Africa.
Anyway, Datang's goods were sold in South Africa. Whether they can be successfully transported back to Europe for sale is a matter for European merchants. Anyway, Datang's goods have been sold and the money has been received. As for these goods
Whether it ends up flowing into the European market through the hands of traders or pirates is none of their business.
According to the armistice agreement reached between the Tang Dynasty and Portugal, the Portuguese recognized the special rights and interests of the Tang Empire on the coast of Yuanyang, and promised not to colonize the eastern coast of Africa, Yuanyang Islands and other areas.
Similarly, the Tang Empire also recognized the special rights of the Portuguese on the west coast of Africa to a certain extent, and promised not to cross the Cape of Good Hope and colonize the west coast of Africa.
Of course, with the urinal nature of the Tang Empire, so-called contracts and agreements were just pieces of paper in their eyes. They could wipe their butts with them when needed, and throw them away after wiping them.
The Tang Empire recognized the special rights of the Portuguese on the west coast of Africa, but that was just because the Tang Empire would not be able to colonize the west coast of Africa for a while.
This has just swallowed up the entire Southeast Asia and especially the eastern coast of Africa. This is a huge area. No matter how great the Tang Empire is, it must first consolidate its rule in the above-mentioned areas before colonization can be discussed elsewhere.
Therefore, among the senior officials of the empire, the overseas work in the next few years will mainly focus on the localization of Fuso and Nanyang. They will continue to expand their influence and colonial scale in Yu, West Asia, and the east coast of Africa, and strive to cover all coastal areas of the entire Yu Yang.
Become a colony of the empire.
In addition, there is another important task, which is the colonization of North America.
In recent years, with the spread of colonial activities in Xinjin Mountain, many rich products have been discovered in many areas of North America. In particular, the many gold and silver mines there have made a group of powerful people in the Tang Empire jealous.
very.
The powerful people behind many trading companies have begun to encourage the empire to launch large-scale immigration to North America to lay the foundation for the future localization of the Americas.
In this general environment, the upper echelons of the empire currently have little interest in controlling the western coast of Africa. As long as the European trade lines can be opened, the empire's goods can continuously pass through the transit station in South Africa, and then trade directly with many European merchants.
Finally, it was imported into the European market. In fact, the Tang Empire did not mind letting the Portuguese take care of the west coast of Africa for the time being.
Why escrow?
Because sooner or later the western coast of Africa belongs to the empire, there is no doubt about this.
The Tang Empire's desire for territory was greater than the polar bears of later generations!
For the Holy Emperor Li Xuan, the expansion of territories around the world regardless of costs and casualties was to satisfy the evil taste in his heart, and at the same time make himself famous forever and become the number one person in China and even the world.
However, for all classes of the empire, global expansion is also a feast.
The military can continuously perform military exploits, obtain titles, and then obtain fiefdoms, becoming a real feudal noble that is very rare in China. Even if it only has tax and dividend rights and no government or military power, it is still a large fiefdom.
For civil servants, they are not just officials, they are also capitalists.
Because 90% of the civil servants are gentry, and in today's Tang Empire, the gentry not only hold a large amount of land, they actually also control a large number of industrial and commercial assets.
For the capital behind many officials, external expansion to plunder raw materials and obtain product markets is a time to make large profits.
For ordinary people, practitioners in most industries can benefit from the development of industry. For workers, their wages are slowly rising, their incomes are getting higher, and their lives are getting better.
For farmers, as people's incomes generally increase, the prices of grain and other agricultural products are also gradually rising. Datang's Grain Corporation has continuously raised the guidance price of grains in recent years, and farmers' income has been improved to a certain extent.
increase.
In addition, the cultivation of many cash crops has also increased farmers' income.
Finally, large-scale overseas immigration allows farmers to obtain land that belongs to them permanently and can be passed down from generation to generation. It is no longer a dream, but something that can be realized by simply immigrating overseas.
At present, the empire still maintains an encouraging attitude towards overseas immigration. As long as they are willing to immigrate overseas, they will allocate land for free.
When immigrating to some areas, they will even provide the most basic production and living materials for free.
The grand finale on a global scale is almost a feast for the entire empire from top to bottom!
Therefore, the empire is extremely keen on expansion. Although there are no plans to attack the west coast of Africa for the time being, that is only temporary.
Once the empire has established a stable and effective rule in the coastal areas of the Yangtze River and established a firm foothold in North America, it will naturally turn its attention to the western coast of Africa and even Europe.
But that is for the future. Now, the empire recognizes the special rights of the Portuguese on the west coast of Africa. The Tang Dynasty has obtained the African Squadron, and its usual patrols are limited to the waters of southern Africa, and will not go deep into the Atlantic Ocean.
, especially the sea areas controlled by the Portuguese.
Similarly, although Datang did not reach any formal agreement with the Spanish on the division of spheres of influence, a certain tacit understanding was formed based on the exchanges between the two countries over the years.
The Spanish recognized the special rights and interests of the Tang Empire in the Central Pacific, the Western Pacific, the Ocean and other waters, and also tacitly allowed the Tang Empire to establish colonies on the western coast of North America.
In exchange, the Tang Empire also recognized the scope of Spanish power in Mexico, South America and other regions.
This tacit understanding has not been stated explicitly by both parties, but it has been done in these years. Datang has successively established many other colonial strongholds in North America relying on Xinjin Mountain, but it has not entered Mexico.
The Spanish also tacitly stopped their expansion on the western coast of North America, and instead expanded to the eastern coast of North America and the western coast of South America, and tried to penetrate deep into the interior of South America.
Looking at the contemporary colonial pattern, it is basically the three kingdoms: the Tang Empire, Spain, and the Portuguese.
The Tang Empire controlled all areas along the coast of Youyang, including Myanmar, the Youyang Peninsula, West Asia, the east coast of Africa, southern Africa and all islands in Youyang.
The central and western coastal areas and islands of the Pacific, including the Nanyang Islands, Fuso Islands, Australia, and almost all islands in the Pacific, even those that have not yet been discovered, theoretically belong to the Tang Dynasty's sphere of influence.
Parts of North America, mainly the western part of North America along the Kettle Territory and north of Mexico.
As for the Spaniards, they controlled the southern region of North America and parts of the eastern part along the Kettle Territory, Central America, the northern region of South America, and the central and northern regions of the western coast of South America.
The Portuguese controlled most of the western coast of Africa, the central area of the eastern coast of South America, which was later known as Brazil, and almost all the islands in the Atlantic Ocean were basically controlled by the Portuguese.
As for England, the Dutch and even France and other European countries, this country has basically no overseas colonies. What they have are at most one or two colonial ports, which are generally located on the west coast of Africa and the east coast of North America.
Of course, this is only talking about overseas colonization dominated by maritime power, and does not talk about comprehensive national integrity.
If you really want to compete in terms of overall strength, there is naturally no controversy over the monster that is the Tang Empire.
But Spain and Portugal?
The Tatars said that they would let Spain and Portugal come together. Not only that, but the Tatars could also give them another hand. Even so, the Tatars were confident that they would be beaten into scum!
Of course the premise is to get the Tatars to Europe!
But are the Tatars still far from Europe?
It’s actually not that far away!
In October of the 26th year of Xuanping, an army of 50,000 Tatars arrived in Moscow!
The news that the Tatars had arrived in Moscow spread like wings to the whole of Europe, causing panic throughout Europe!