In mid-April, a Spanish fleet arrived at Guangzhou Port. They were surprised to find that this place did not exclude Europeans like them, and they could freely go ashore to do business. Although after landing, their scope of activities was only limited.
They have a port area outside the city, but this is enough for them to do business.
After they sold out all the goods they brought, they bought the goods they desired most without any hindrance: porcelain and silk.
The business was so smooth that the Spaniards were pleasantly surprised. At the same time, after learning that the Tang Dynasty did not reject foreigners like them and even wanted to establish normalized relations with them, this fleet, which still had a strong official background, was sent
He formed a mission and began to contact officials from the Tang Dynasty's Ministry of Foreign Affairs stationed in Guangzhou.
And requested to enter Zhaoqing to meet the Emperor of Tang Dynasty!
However, this request was rejected by officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The request was simple. These Spaniards were not of sufficient rank. They were just businessmen with official backgrounds and could not represent the Spanish government. Naturally, they could not conduct formal diplomacy.
meeting or negotiating.
Although they are disappointed, what are these Spaniards who came all the way to the Far East for? It is not to make money.
They could do business normally, and it didn't matter if they couldn't see the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty, so they were still very satisfied and set sail to sea with many Chinese specialty goods, ready to return to Europe.
As long as they can return to Europe, the value of the porcelain, silk and other Chinese specialty goods they carry can increase ten or even dozens of times.
Of course, the return journey is also extremely risky. First of all, they have to carefully avoid the Folangji people. These days, the Folangji people are the overlords who control Malacca and even the entire South Ocean and the Indian Ocean. They have no control over these waters.
Merchant ships from other countries will conduct brutal interceptions.
In addition to the threat from the Folangji people, the ubiquitous wind and waves on the sea are also a serious threat to them. During this journey of thousands of miles, there is no telling how many people will die and how many ships will be sunk.
But it is precisely because of these risks that the value of their goods can increase dozens of times when shipped back to Europe.
If just any person can return safely from the Far East with a ship of goods, the goods in the Far East will not be sold at such a high price, so why are they going to the Far East after all the hard work!
Risks and returns always coexist!
The Spaniards left with satisfaction, but Franco found himself in a very embarrassing situation!
First, they were driven out of Haojing by the Tang Dynasty. Later, the Folangji people were naturally unconvinced and did not dare to carry out such a large-scale landing. However, they sent a fleet to try to blockade and attack the coast of Guangdong.
area.
What then? Then something funny happened. They fought a battle with the Ming Navy off the Pearl River Estuary.
As for why they started fighting with the Ming Navy, it’s not the fault of both sides. It’s all just a misunderstanding!
That was a war that was so embarrassing that it would break one's balls!
Because the navy of the Ming Army likes to go to the Pearl River Estuary to attack the Tang Navy when they have nothing to do, and the Fo Langji sent a fleet north to retaliate, and also ran to the Pearl River Estuary, and then the two fleets met at the Pearl River Estuary!
From the perspective of Fo Langji, there is no difference between the navy of the Ming Dynasty and the navy of the Tang Dynasty. They are all fleets composed of Fu ships, Guang ships, and sand ships, and the people above them all look the same, so
The fleet of Hufo Lang's robots began to intercept the fleet of the Ming Navy.
The navy of the Ming army couldn't bear it. They thought that the Folangji people were helpers invited by the puppet Tang thief army. Moreover, the Guangdong coast is still the world of the Ming Dynasty, and our Dameng Dynasty has never tolerated these things.
Barbarians, they fought the Tuen Mun naval battle with these Folangji people decades ago, and now they don't even need a reason to fight again.
As for communicating with each other to resolve misunderstandings, communication is nothing. I, the Ming Dynasty, will naturally fight these barbarians whenever I want.
As a result, they fought a fierce battle off the Pearl River Estuary under the eyes of the Tang Dynasty Navy. The fight was so chaotic that both sides suffered heavy losses. When the news reached Li Xuan's ears,
When they arrived, Li Xuan and his friends were almost stunned.
Can this be fought? How painful it is for you!
I, the Navy of the Tang Dynasty, am your enemy, okay?
At that time, when the Ming Navy and the Fo Langji were engaged in a large-scale naval battle off the Pearl River Estuary, the Tang Navy, as the common enemy of both sides and weak at the same time, was watching the show leisurely, fighting.
Later, out of humanitarianism, a group of small boats were sent to salvage the drowned people on both sides.
However, the Folangji and the Ming Navy were not stupid. Although they fought for a while, they soon discovered that they had beaten the wrong person. The Ming Navy discovered that these Folangji were not invited by the puppet Tang thief army.
He was not a helper, but came to fight the puppet Tang traitor army just like them.
The Folangji people also discovered that they had attacked the wrong people. These enemies were not the Tang navy, but the Ming navy.
It's just that although everyone knew about the misunderstanding, the war had been fought and the losses to each other were not small. Naturally, it was impossible to shake hands and make peace immediately.
Especially for the navy of the Ming Army, they were the navy of the heavenly kingdom, but they were beaten and slapped hard by the Folangji people. It was simply intolerable.
As a result, the two sides are still in a state of hostility, and small-scale naval battles have been fought several times, but there has never been another large-scale naval battle.
The French people who made an mistake recently heard that the Spaniards went to Guangzhou Sea Trade and gained a lot of profits. They immediately became jealous and immediately sent a fleet to intercept the Spanish fleet.
, just grab a Spanish sailing ship loaded with porcelain and silk, it will be a bumper harvest, more profitable than sea trade!
It was a pity that the Spaniards were allowed to escape without being caught, which made the Francois very angry.
Now, the Franji people are facing a rather embarrassing situation. On the one hand, their sea trade with the Tang Dynasty has been greatly reduced, but the Spanish have appeared and plundered part of the sea trade that originally belonged to them.
profit.
Secondly, they found that they could not force the Tang Dynasty to surrender!
Even if the blockade is implemented, it is actually just a show. Why?
Because most of the ships departing from the coast of the Tang Dynasty went to Southeast Asia for trade, and this trade also included the Folangji people.
Although the Fo Langji people clamored for revenge, they did not say a complete blockade of maritime trade. This was all wasted money. If you throw away the wasted money and make no profit, wouldn't you be a fool?
Secondly, even if the Folangji want to completely blockade it, they can't block it. The boss of Nanyang is not the Folangji, but the numerous pirates.
Those large-scale pirates rely on sea trade to make a living. You, the Folangji people, have blocked the Nanyang sea trade. How do you ask them to collect tolls? How do you engage in sea trade?
Well, sometimes pirates these days are actually maritime merchants. They are usually well-behaved, especially after entering the port. They are serious merchants, but when they go out to sea and encounter other merchant ships on the sea,
, Well, a weak merchant ship will turn into a pirate in minutes.
Therefore, many of the many small and medium-sized pirates in the Nanyang region are part-time maritime merchants, which can be seen from their ships.
All of them are armed merchant ships. Without a few cannons on board, you would be embarrassed to go out to sea. Even if you go out to sea for a few minutes, you will be intercepted by pirates transformed from other merchants.
Even private shipping companies under the rule of the Tang Dynasty, such as "Wang's Maritime Trading Company", several of their subordinate sea-going ships were also armed merchant ships.
Moreover, the cannons, swords and other weapons attached to their ships are officially recognized and registered. When the largest ship in the Wang family fleet, which is more than 300 tons, was registered, it was clearly registered: equipped with five
One pound cannon, four three-pound cannon, a number of muskets, and a number of swords.
There is nothing that can be done about this. If they are not equipped with artillery, there is a great possibility that these merchant ships will be swallowed up by other pirates as soon as they go to sea.
In response to this, Datang's response policy was to temporarily allow ships to be equipped with weapons, but they must strictly register and strictly follow the entry guidance when entering the port. No entry is allowed without permission.
If you want to enter the port, you must not keep gunpowder on the ship before entering the port, push the artillery back to the cabin, and do not keep swords, guns and other light weapons. These gunpowder and light weapons will be temporarily handed over to the Datang Navy for safekeeping, and will be returned after leaving the port.
At the same time, the warships of the Tang Dynasty Navy will be watching the whole process, and will fire at the slightest movement!
Of course, you can also choose not to enter the port, just anchor in the open sea, and then use small boats to transport goods back and forth. The Tang Dynasty did not prohibit it, and even encouraged them to do so for the sake of port security.
Therefore, in the taverns in the port area of Guangzhou, you can often see the shipowners recruiting gunners and how long they will be paid.
Another very important point is that the same is true for the large-scale pirates in the Nanyang region. They not only collect tolls from passing merchant ships, then extract profits and rob the ships, but they are also engaged in maritime trade themselves.
Therefore, in such a complex and chaotic Far Eastern sea area, the Francois are nothing. Even Spain, the empire that the sun never sets in these days, has to behave with its tail between its legs.
The masters of the Far East waters these days are not the Ming Navy, nor the Tang Dynasty Navy, nor the Francois or the Spaniards, but numerous merchants or pirates!
Under such circumstances, the Folangji people could not completely block the Guangdong coast, and they could not bring any actual damage to the Tang Dynasty. This made the Folangji people quite embarrassed.