In the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse, envoys from various countries were arranged in a separate courtyard, and their respective entourages were arranged in the outer city.
The Dutch envoy Van der Laan sat in front of his desk and wrote a letter to the Dutch East India Company's headquarters in Batavia. He wrote for a long time and only wrote a few lines on the paper. Then he picked it up, crumpled it into a ball, and threw it on the ground.
There are seven or eight such balls of waste paper lying on the ground.
This letter is really difficult to write.
The legendary Governor Van Diemen died of illness. Batavia is not at peace now, and a new Governor has not yet been elected. He had previously led the fleet northward for reinforcements on Van Diemen's order, but after the defeat, he gave Van Diemen the favor in Japan.
According to the report, the reply he received was that he was allowed to give up Taiwan depending on the situation and exchange Taiwan for direct trade rights with Ming Dynasty.
But now that Van Diemen has died of illness and the new governor has not yet arrived, he is now a little hard to make up his mind. He is afraid that he will not be able to shoulder this responsibility, and he is even more worried about being held accountable afterwards.
Previously, Van Diemen sent troops to quell the indigenous uprising on Ambon Island. However, the senior businessman stationed there was tried in Batavia and sentenced to life imprisonment.
There was a knock on the door.
Vanderland stood up and opened the door. It was Kuichi who came, a former senior businessman in Batavia and commercial director in Japan. He was in his early thirties and came from Stockholm, Sweden.
He came in and looked at the waste paper on the floor, raised the wine bottle in his hand and smiled, "I knew you must have a headache, so I brought you something good."
"I can't get used to this oriental wine, it gives me a headache."
"This is not liquor, it is sweet wine, and it tastes good."
The wine made from mare's milk grapes in the Western Regions has a sweet taste. After taking a few sips, Van Derang couldn't help but admire that it tasted better than rum. "No wonder we have been trying to sell the wine to the Ming Dynasty, but these Ming Dynasty businessmen refused to take it."
"There are so many good things in Ming Dynasty." Kui raised his glass.
"Oh, yes."
"So we can't miss this opportunity. When we went north to the Far East, wasn't it just to trade with this rich Ming Empire? But because of the obstruction of those damn Portuguese, we have never been able to succeed. For this reason, we still have to fight with them.
Many battles were fought and all ended in failure.”
"But now such a good opportunity is before us. The emperor of Ming Dynasty was actually an enlightened monarch who understood the ocean and accepted trade. Why should we miss it? Is it because of the wild Taiwan Island?"
Kuiyi persuaded, "Besides, Taiwan can no longer be defended. Even if Batavia wants to defend Taiwan with all its strength, it will be impossible. It will still take time for them to send ships north. If there is no monsoon, it will be even slower. And wait.
When they arrived, it was too late."
"The only city left in Taiwan now is the city of Relancia, and it won't last long at all."
"We can't hesitate any longer, otherwise the opportunity may be missed forever. You know, although the damn Portuguese and Spanish are starting to fight among themselves now, they are very willing to join forces to deal with us."
Kuiyi followed him north from Batavia, first to Taiwan and then to Japan to take up his post. However, he knew very well that in order to consolidate this hard-won position as the head of the museum, it was not Japan that depended first, but the Ming Dynasty.
If Taiwan falls and cannot cooperate with the Ming Dynasty, the trade route from Batavia to Nagasaki will be cut off by the Ming Dynasty in conjunction with the Portuguese and Spanish.
Especially in the past, the Dutch's biggest profit in Japan actually came from re-export trade. Using Taiwan as a base, they obtained Chinese goods from the Zheng family in Fujian, especially raw silk, tea, and porcelain, and then re-exported them to Japan, making huge profits.
.
Much more profitable than the spices and cane sugar shipped from Batavia.
If the route is cut off, he, the owner, will naturally not be able to do what he does.
"But Governor Fan passed away." Fan Delang said bluntly.
Van Diemen was a legendary governor. In Batavia, he not only suppressed the Ambon Uprising, but also seized several colonial settlements in Ceylon from the Portuguese, and transferred Malacca, a very important port, from the Portuguese.
Take it from people's hands.
And drove the Spaniards away from Taiwan.
Even against the Javanese and other Southeast Asian natives, they were very tough and captured many strongholds.
He even once planned to capture Macau, which was occupied by the Portuguese.
As long as he is here, the seventeen-member board of directors of the East India Company also relies heavily on him. But if he is gone, Van Der Laang does not have that weight. If he decides to surrender Taiwan, he will probably be held accountable afterwards.
Kui kept saying, "Believe me, if you hesitate now and eventually miss the trade issue, and eventually Taiwan is captured by the Ming Dynasty, your consequences will be very tragic. You may not be able to escape life imprisonment, or at least you will not be able to escape."
You have to serve ten years in prison.
"I think the conditions of the Ming Emperor are okay. Opening so many ports to us at one time is equivalent to fully liberalizing trade. In the future, the Portuguese will no longer be able to monopolize Ming trade, and we don't need to deal with Zheng at all. This
How much profit do you have to bring? The board of directors will also regard you as a hero!"
Van Der Lang took a sip of wine and said, "The attitude of the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty is a bit too tough."
"He has the strength," Kui said.
"Then we ask Geranzi to surrender?"
"There is no other choice."
"All right."
Vanderlaan finally made up his mind.
The next day, Fan Delang asked Qing Honglu and expressed the hope of interviewing the emperor again. However, Qing Honglu said bluntly that during the New Year period, His Majesty the Emperor was very busy and had no time.
"Your Majesty's adopted son, General Zhu Chenggong, the commander-in-chief of the imperial camp in Fujian, will return to Taiwan after the New Year. When he sets foot in Taiwan, it will be the day of the final attack on Relanze."
Vanderlan panicked.
"It is for this matter that I want to meet with His Majesty. On behalf of the East India Company, I am willing to ask the defenders of Relanja City to surrender, hand over Taiwan, and conclude a friendly trade agreement with the Ming Dynasty!"
"Do you have the final say? Can you represent the East India Company?"
"Yes, I have obtained the authorization from the Governor before."
The minister of Honglu Temple was smiling.
"Then I'll report it to Your Majesty, and you can wait for arrangements."
······
In the palace.
The emperor drank tea with Zhu Chenggong and Zhu Shengli.
While drinking tea, I listened to Zhu Chenggong talk about the battle to attack Taiwan. Although in Zhu Yihai's opinion, the battle was a bit slow, but for the young Zhu Chenggong, this was the first time that he had truly commanded an army and brought the fierce Dutchman to his side.
He was defeated step by step, so he was very proud.
This battle lasted for a long time, but the difficulties encountered were not only the Dutch, but also the Zheng family's insubordination and lack of cooperation. There were also difficulties in reorganizing the troops of Fujian and Guangxi. He also integrated them while fighting.
The Lingnan army is not very effective, but the Guangxi wolf soldiers are quite strong, but very disciplined.
The Zheng family navy in Fujian was able to fight, but it did not work hard.
It all relied on the three provinces to provide financial and food support. It can be said that Zhu Chenggong was fighting all parties. In the end, he was able to integrate all parties and achieve such a victory. He was very satisfied.
Zhu Shengli also had a deep understanding of these things in Huguang, and he admired Zhu Chenggong's success.
It is quite rare that the Zheng family in Fujian did not cause a mutiny or anything. You must know that since Zhu Yihai started his army, he has been constantly exploiting the interests of the Zheng family in Fujian and even the entire official party.
In the past, the Zheng family had a monopoly on foreign trade in the southeast and signed an agreement with the Dutch. Even merchant ships going to sea had to fly their flag and pay flag fees.
Later, as the Zheng family became more powerful, they even began to get rid of the Dutch. They shipped goods directly to Japan and seized a lot of market share from the Dutch. The Dutch used to mainly rely on re-export trade in Taiwan, and Japan was their most important country in Taiwan.
In an important market, I took Chinese silk goods and other goods from the Zheng family, shipped them to Japan and traded them, made money, and then exchanged them for the Zheng family's goods.
As a result, the Zheng family traded directly with the Japanese, grabbing their share, and also reduced the supply of silk goods to them. At the same time, their ships back to Batavia were often not full.
But Zhu Yihai's rise has stolen the Zheng family's reputation again.
Zhu Yihai not only traded directly with North Korea, but also with Japan and Liuqiu, and even took the initiative to liberalize trade with Portugal and Spain. Together with the Dutch and the Zheng family, their trade share was shrinking rapidly.
In the past, the Ming Dynasty opened its foreign trade in Zhangzhou. After the rise of the Zheng family, the trade center has been transferred to Xiamen.
As a result, now under Zhu Yihai's strength, foreign trade ports are blooming everywhere. Not only Macau has come back to life, but also Guangzhou, Ningbo,
Ports such as Hangzhou are booming quickly.
In the past, many goods were shipped to Xiamen, Fujian, but now there is no need to go through such trouble at all. You can go to the sea directly at the nearest port.
The water here is very deep, but under the strong power of Emperor Shaotian, even Zheng Zhilong was forced to enter the court and gave in step by step. If he couldn't give in, Zheng Zhilong didn't have the courage to directly confront the Emperor of Heaven. Moreover, the Emperor of Heaven used it to fight with him.
The terms of his exchange weren't bad either.
The Zheng family has not contributed much to the fight against Taiwan, but they have not contributed much, and they dare not act too obviously. At most, they can report some news secretly, but they cannot withstand Zheng Chenggong's hard work, coupled with the full coordination and coordination of the imperial court, especially
The emperor’s determination.
"This battle was fought successfully, showing the strength of the famous general." Zhu Yihai affirmed Zhu Chenggong's achievements, "The Dutch are finally willing to surrender. This is a good thing. The next step is to continue to develop Taiwan Island."
"If you succeed, wait for the trade wind to rise, lead the battalion and take the fleet to Guangdong first, and surround Macau."
"Siege Macau?" Zhu Chenggong was stunned for a moment.
Didn’t the imperial court always have a good relationship with the Portuguese in Macau?
"The Portuguese have stayed in Macau for a long time. They bribed local officials in Guangdong and obtained some powers that they should not have, such as building forts, supporting troops, and even autonomy in Macau. The Portuguese Governor of India also sent a governor to Macau.
They built their own city council, set up their own courts, privately owned the army, and could even collect taxes. Although Macau is still owned by the Ming Dynasty, in fact, Macau now has the flavor of a country within a country. For a long time, this was still
Come on?"
Of course, Zhu Yihai is also willing to make more friends, but only if the boundaries are maintained.
The Portuguese have seriously crossed the line in Macau.
"Courtesy first, then troops. You lead the troops to surround Macau first, and then come and have a good talk with them. If they cooperate, the imperial court will take over the fortress, castle, fort, port, wharf, etc., and will also set up government offices there, station troops to guard them, etc.
The Portuguese can continue to live there, but they must fully accept our management.
If they don’t know what’s going on, they will directly send troops to take back Macau.”
"Trade is trade, but some things cannot be exceeded even a little bit."
Portugal has occupied Macau for many years, secretly developed here, and established colonial autonomy. On the surface, it was under the control of Xiangshan County in the Ming Dynasty. In fact, it had a governor, not to mention a fort, a private army, and its own judges and courts.
Tax authorities collect taxes, etc.
In the early years when Macao's trade was booming, they could bring back more than four million taels of silver from their trade with Japan alone each year, and their trade with Manila, Luzon, could also bring back more than two million taels of silver a year.
In addition, they also have routes from Macau to Malacca, to Lisbon via Goa in India, and routes to Annan, Hue, Brunei, Ambon, etc. These are the four major trade routes, and the trade volume is very amazing.
But they only gave Ming 22,000 taels of silver every year.
After Zhu Yihai cooperated with them, they did not change this. They bought guns and cannons from them and hired mercenaries, which was even more embarrassing.
Now that Zhu Yihai has negotiated trade terms with the Spaniards and the Dutch, has settled the Zheng family in Fujian, and has even established direct trade relations with North Korea, Japan, etc., he will naturally no longer manipulate the Portuguese.
In fact, the Portuguese have not been having a hard time in recent years. What was once the earliest maritime empire has now been completely weakened.
A few years ago, the Portuguese finally no longer had the King of Spain as their king. They got rid of the Spanish, but their decline has been irreversible. From Africa to India, to Malacca, and Southeast Asia, they are losing colonies every year.
Robbed by the French, the British, and the Dutch.
For example, the loss of Malacca two years ago has forced them to pay protection fees for merchant ships between Macau and Goa. Even if they pay the money, merchant ships are often robbed.
Because of the breakup with Spain, Portuguese merchants refused to recognize the King of Spain as their king, so Manila cut off trade with the Portuguese in Macao, which made the Portuguese in Macao even worse.
But because of the expansion of Catholicism, they offended their important trading partner Japan and lost their trade qualifications with Japan. Although they later sent people to apologize, the little Japanese did not tolerate them and directly killed four of their envoys.
Yes, I refuse to accept it.
They once occupied Macau and had a monopoly on trade with China.
But in recent years, the situation has deteriorated, the Dutch and Spanish have blocked and attacked them, and Japan has banned Portuguese merchants from trading with Japan.
By bribing officials in Guangdong during the Ming Dynasty and relying on the influence of the Jesuits on the upper echelons of the Ming Dynasty, they could continue to survive by sucking blood from the Ming Dynasty.
Zhu Yihai had previously sent officials to talk to the Governor of Macau about the current situation and proposed to take back the powers they had illegally obtained. However, the Portuguese were confused about the current situation and actually refused the Ming Dynasty's request.
Therefore, Zhu Yihai planned to directly mobilize Zhu Chenggong's troops to besiege Macau.
If you don’t understand the good words, then come with the harsh words.
With a land rent of 500 taels a year and a tariff of 22,000 taels, how could Zhu Yihai give Macau to the Portuguese?
Dream on.
We must seize the opportunity to take him back. If we want to continue trading and making money in the Ming Dynasty, we must follow the rules of the Ming Dynasty.
If you still want to establish colonies and exercise extra-legal power on the land of the Ming Dynasty, don’t even think about it!
