At the same time, far away on the other side of the Pacific Ocean, on the coastline of South America, three large ships were riding the wind and waves and continued sailing south.
On the deck of the flagship, there was a man with a sad face, looking towards the coastline.
Needless to say, the lucky ship that can get here is the fleet sent by Emperor Chongzhen last year. In fact, it is also the fleet of the Zheng family. The leader is Zheng Zhilong's fifth brother Zheng Zhibao.
Although he had made sufficient preparations before setting off, the three ships accompanying him were all large ships suitable for long voyages, and the sailors on board were very experienced. Even the routes along the way were from today's
The emperor received detailed information, including warm currents in the ocean, islands along the route, places where supplies could be docked, etc.
However, his trip was still several months later than originally planned. This was because he was lucky and did not encounter a hurricane.
There was not much food and water on the ship, although some were exchanged with the natives along the way. However, the voyage was far behind schedule, and too much was consumed on the way.
According to the information provided by the current emperor, not far ahead is the Spanish colonial capital, a place called Lima.
The original plan, because the relationship between the Ming Dynasty and Spain was not good, was to see if we could do business. If we could, we would stop for business; if not, we would continue sailing south to Brazil, where the Portuguese were.
there.
However, there is a problem with doing this.
Brazil is on the other side of South America, on the west coast of the Atlantic Ocean. It needs to go around, and the distance is a bit long. Another point is that at this time, Portugal and the Netherlands are competing for Brazil.
In fact, Brazil at this time was actually occupied by the Dutch, and the Portuguese were counterattacking. Most of the local manor owners were Portuguese, and they were also cooperating in the resistance against the Dutch. It would take many years before the place would be re-occupied by the Portuguese.
recapture.
Among the relations with the Ming Dynasty, the relationship between the Dutch and the Ming Dynasty is the worst.
Of course, the relationship between the Ming Dynasty and these three countries is mainly reflected in Nanyang and the coastal areas of the Ming Dynasty. As for South America, it is actually hard to say. After all, it is too far away, with inconvenient transportation and inconvenient communication. It is hard to say what it is like!
I have to say that this trip to South America was indeed very difficult.
Now, due to the delay in the voyage, Zheng Zhibao's fleet must dock in Lima for supplies and repairs.
While Zheng Zhibao was thinking about it, suddenly, the lookout post on the crane shouted in surprise: "Fifth Master, I think I saw that Lima!"
When Zheng Zhibao heard the sound, he immediately showed surprise and quickly picked up the telescope to take a look.
Sure enough, in the far distance of sight, faintly on the coastline, there seemed to be a building.
All the way along the coastline, there were basically no boats or buildings in sight. Now that we saw buildings in the place that was supposed to be Lima, it must be Lima.
After confirming this, Zheng Zhibao's mind immediately recalled the messages the emperor had given him before.
About a hundred years ago, the Spanish conquered this place. This process made him feel a bit weird.
The team led by Spanish Pizarro, with only 102 infantry and 62 cavalry, captured the king of the Inca Kingdom here.
The key issue is that the Inca Kingdom is not a small country, but a country with a population of more than four million. Even when Pizarro arrived, two brothers were fighting for the throne and fighting each other miserably, but the population base was there.
It’s on display!
In the final analysis, Zheng Zhibao can only say that the winning Inca King Atahualpa has shit in his head.
There was no alert at all for the arrival of the Spaniards. Even though the Spaniards had come once and burned, killed, and looted, they were still not alert. They took only ten thousand people with them, took off their weapons, and went to meet the Spaniards. As a result, they were arrested.
Captured.
To be honest, Zheng Zhibao looked down upon these indigenous Inca people.
For more than a hundred years, this place has been firmly controlled by a small group of Spaniards. The locals have lived a life worse than pigs and dogs. Isn't there a figure like Taizu who can rise up and shout out to expel the Tartars?
According to the information provided by the emperor, Zheng Zhibao naturally knows the situation here better than any other Ming people.
The Spanish established a governor here to rule, enslaving local indigenous people for mining, planting, etc.; their way of ruling was to implement the mita system.
This mita system is actually a special corvee system for local indigenous people, that is, Indians. It stipulates that Indians provide 4 to 14% of the total adult male residents to the colonial authorities every year to engage in forced labor.
Mainly engaged in mining, but also building roads, bridges or working on plantations. The labor intensity is extremely high, with working hours reaching 18-22 hours a day, and the mortality rate of workers is as high as four-fifths.
Basically, it can be said that as long as you are selected, it is synonymous with death, and you will never see your loved ones again.
Of course, the tribal leaders and their children among the Indians do not have to perform this kind of corvee, and the Spaniards will even give them some benefits, so that they can rule and manage ordinary Indians and work for the Spaniards!
In other words, in this territory, the Spaniards were at the top of the pyramid, and below the Spaniards were the tribal leaders of the Indians. Together they enslaved the ordinary Indians with the largest population and made them live a life worse than pigs and dogs.
day.
While he was thinking about these things, the fleet was getting closer and closer to the buildings he saw. He could already see it with the naked eye. There was indeed a town on the coast, and there were several ships parked at the port.
When they can be seen here, they can obviously be seen on the shore, and they seem to be panicking and entering a state of martial law.
When Zheng Zhibao saw it, he ordered his men: "Sign up and say we are here to do business!"
The Zheng family controlled the southeastern coast of the Ming Dynasty. Although they had no special contacts with the Spanish in Luzon, they were near their sphere of influence after all, so they had some understanding of them.
I have made preparations for this voyage in advance, and of course I will also know some things about the Spaniards.
Therefore, the Spanish side also understood the semaphore of the Zheng family fleet, so they immediately issued a simple semaphore, which meant that the merchant ship was here to do business.
At this time, there were actually a lot of pirates in North and South America. Many pirates even targeted Spanish treasure ships to rob. Of course, these pirates were mainly concentrated on the west coast of the Atlantic Ocean, that is, on the east side of North and South America.
.
However, this does not mean that there will be no pirates in the Pacific. Therefore, the Spaniards are still very vigilant. But they are also very strange, because the three ships on the sea in the distance look so weird, they are different from anything they have ever seen.
Same.
Finally, a small boat was sent out to negotiate, and naturally it was to check on the situation of these three strange ships.
Several people in Zheng Zhibao's fleet escaped from the massacre in Luzon. They knew Spanish, so Zheng Zhibao chose one of them who was eloquent, named Jiang Shouxing, to negotiate.
Needless to say, the oriental appearance and different ship types all indicate that these are not those European pirates.
Therefore, Zheng Zhibao and others were still waiting where they were, while Jiang Shouxing was taken ashore to see the Spanish Governor Evgeny Cabezas.
At this time, Avgeni was in the coastal defense fort. When he saw a man who looked a bit like an Indian being brought over, he seemed a little surprised and curious.
"Dear Governor, I am from the Zheng family's fleet on the southeast coast of the Ming Empire. Our master brought three ships of oriental specialties and came here for no reason to do business with you." Jiang Shouxing said in Spanish without being arrogant or humble.
"Of course, to show our sincerity, we have also prepared a gift for the Governor."
While speaking, he presented an exquisite gift list with already written contents in his hands.
Avgeni never expected that this Oriental could actually speak Spanish, which made him even more curious.
However, he did not speak, and first looked down at the gift list handed over by the attendant.
When he saw the gift list, Avgeni was a little surprised. It was really exquisite!
On the cover, it's definitely not a quill, it should be the legendary Eastern brush writing in Spanish, and it's for him.
I opened it curiously and found a piece of exquisite rice paper folded inside, with many gifts also written on it with a brush. They were all oriental specialties, such as silk, raw silk, tea, porcelain, etc., and there were quite a lot of them. Just this one
If you can take the gift back to Spain and sell it, it will be a big fortune.
Such a great gift made Evgeni smile immediately and asked kindly: "Are you really from the distant Ming Empire?"
As soon as Jiang Shouxing saw his expression, he knew something was going on.
According to the information that the Fifth Master told him, the Spanish governor's term was only three years, and he had to return to the country after five years at most. Therefore, each of these Spanish governors was greedy. As soon as they took office, they went on a mission to collect money so that they could live a better life after returning to the country.
Live a prosperous life.
Therefore, a heavy gift had been prepared here to bribe the Spanish governor. Now at first glance, the effect looks really good. These Western barbarians all have this kind of face!
With this in mind, he still maintained a respectful attitude on the surface and replied: "Our Zheng family fleet is the largest fleet in the Ming Empire. Our business is spread all over the world, whether it is Nanyang or Japan. As long as there is business, we can
If you do, we will have our fleet! Even though this place is far away, it is no exception!"
After hearing this, Avgeni couldn't help but be surprised by the size of the Zheng family's fleet.
In fact, there were already traces of Ming people on the American continent at this time.
Not to mention other places, in the Gulf of Mexico, which is also a Spanish colony, there are already many Ming people. They are engaged in handicrafts, including barbers, and even have patrols serving the Spanish colonists.