At this time, Sun Chuanting and Zheng Zhilong were making full preparations to capture the Dutch stronghold in Tainan. The sudden appearance of several Dutch warships in Keelung Port really caught them off guard.
However, there is a bastion on the island in the northern part of Keelung Port, equipped with a large number of 12-pound Hongyi cannons, forming a cross-fire network with the forts on both sides of the harbor.
These Dutch Galen ships are only 500 tons, and the number of naval guns on board is limited, making it difficult to effectively attack bastions and cement-cast forts.
The Dutch did not dare to go deep into the harbor, so the Keelung Shipyard was not hit. The Dutch only sank a few small fishing boats near the harbor.
But this really shocked Zheng Zhilong.
Because there are two docks in the Keelung Shipyard that are building 1,200-ton light ships, and two docks are building commercial ships.
It would be a big loss if the Dutch destroyed it.
In the end, Zheng Zhilong decided to lead the fleet back to Keelung first.
After all, the Dutch and Spanish fought two naval battles one after another, and there were still several warships in need of repair.
In addition, the Spanish 1,200-ton Santiago is indeed not easy to deal with.
He didn't expect that the Dutch actually asked their mortal enemies the Spanish for help, and now things became troublesome.
Because the Dutch do not have warships of more than 1,000 tons. On the contrary, they may have more armed merchant ships than the Spanish, Portuguese and their own Eastern Ryukyu fleet combined.
It's just that their main ships are all in Batavia in Southeast Asia, and those in Penghu and Taiwan are just one of their squadrons.
Zheng Zhilong had many dealings with these Westerners and knew that the Dutch would not give up the city of Relanja easily.
It won't be long before more powerful Dutch warships will arrive here.
If we fight with the Spaniards and lose both sides, we will be following the Dutch's path.
In the end, Sun Chuanting decided to rescue Li Xianzhong and asked the Liaodong Navy's battleships to go south.
At this time, the Spanish, who had driven away the Eastern Ryukyu Fleet, were waiting for the Dutch to fulfill their promise and transfer the city of Geranje to Spain.
Dutch merchants have always been known for their cunning, and Governor Songk had no intention of handing this place over to the Spanish.
He encouraged the Spanish to fight against the East Ryukyu Company, which actually killed two birds with one stone.
It would be best to let them fight to the detriment of both sides, so as to save Taiwan and maybe even win Manila.
Manila may have the gold mines that the Dutch East India Company longed for.
Song Ke said: "Dear Colonel Gonzalez, we agreed at the beginning that we would hand this place over to you after we evacuated safely. Now I have sent a letter asking Batavia to send a fleet to pick us up. Please also ask Protect us for a little longer."
"Of course, we can pay you 1,000 guilders (about 280 taels of silver) per day during this period."
Apparently the money could have gone into the pockets of Spanish commander González himself.
So he readily accepted.
Then Song Ke said, "I heard that the Eastern Ryukyu Company built two ports, Keelung and Tamsui, in northern Taiwan, where they hoarded a lot of wealth and food."
"If you take over this place, you will have a dispute with them sooner or later. It is better to take advantage of their current strength and take over the north directly. This way you can solve the Taiwan issue once and for all."
To be honest, Song Ke's proposal is still very tempting.
It is a pity that only the Santiago among the Spanish fleet currently has some advantages, and the other warships are not as good as the enemy's warships.
Moreover, in the previous naval battle, the Santiago also suffered a lot of shells and was damaged.
Moreover, Manila only prepared 200 Spanish soldiers and 600 local indigenous soldiers in Luzon this time.
This small amount of troops was only enough to accept the city of Jelanja, and in the end Gonzalez was still not too hot-headed.
Originally, Li Xianzhong didn't have much favorable impression of these Europeans.
The Spaniards and the Dutch were both robbers, and their hands were stained with a lot of Chinese blood.
Relatively speaking, the weak Portuguese were slightly better off. Although they took the opportunity to occupy Macau, they still paid taxes and conducted trade.
It is still a relatively reliable trading partner.
Currently, there are many Portuguese hired by Liaodong's shipyards and arsenals, and even the Liaodong Navy to work for them.
Nowadays, European warships with more than 1,000 tons are generally equipped with 18-pound Hongyi cannon.
It seems that I have to change my clothes quickly.
At present, the Liaodong Navy only has two newly launched 1,200-ton light galenic sailing ships equipped with 18-pound Hongyi cannons.
The other warships all had 12-pounder guns.
However, the war in Taiwan is currently tense, and Li Xianzhong finally decided to send all the warships of the Liaodong Navy over 800 tons to Taiwan.
Shipbuilding not only consumes money, but also consumes time. Although it currently owns five shipyards in Yingkou, Lushun, Incheon, Ryukyu, and Keelung.
However, the Liaodong Navy currently only has two 1,200-ton ships and four 800-ton light galenic sailing ships.
Although the maximum tonnage of the ships under construction has reached 1,680 tons, the 16-month construction period is really too long.
However, there is no way around this. Although the Spanish Armada had more than 130 warships of various types, there were only more than 20 Spanish galleons with strong combat effectiveness. The rest were armed merchant ships, round ships and other warships. The boats make up the numbers.
It only took Li Xianzhong just three or four years to build two fleets, the "Liaodong Navy" and the "East Ryukyu Company Fleet". This was the result of continuous investment of money and countless manpower.
Although the Dutch were clever, the round-trip distance from Batavia to Taiwan was much farther than Liaodong.
Just over ten days later, six battleships of the Liaodong Navy led by Deng Gang arrived at Keelung Port.
The soldiers and civilians of Keelung were even more delighted after seeing their main fleet.
Zheng Zhilong not only led two 800-ton main battleships to join Deng Gang.
Sun Chuanting even prepared a long-range army of 1,500 people to rush to Tainan and capture the city of Relanja in one fell swoop.
However, in order to kill the Spanish Santiago, Deng Gang finally decided to split the fleet into two.
He led a 1,200-ton and four 800-ton warships to storm the city of Relanja.
Zheng Zhilong led the remaining three main warships to ambush the Bashi Strait between Taiwan Island and Luzon Island, preparing to ambush the Santiago that might escape.
When the 1,200-ton Liaoyang appeared off the coast of Tainan, the Dutch and Spanish were dumbfounded.
They don't know why this sudden East Ryukyu Company owns so many Galenic sailing ships?
In particular, the performance of their light English galleons is far superior to that of the old Spanish galleons.
Originally, they also had the advantage of artillery. The 18-pounder cannon had a much farther range than the 12-pounder cannon.
But when the enemy ship opened fire on him from 5 miles away, Gonzalez knew that he was no match.
In fact, in terms of firepower alone, his Santiago has no advantage even against the 800-ton light Galen ship. Previously, he only relied on his range advantage to suppress his opponent.
Are you still trying to knit your hair now?
Gonzalez quickly ordered to flee and retreat toward Manila.
It's a pity that its speed is not as fast as the Liaoyang.
The Santiago was bombarded all the way while escaping, but fortunately the hull was still relatively strong. Although a fire broke out on the ship, it was finally extinguished.
They sailed away from Taiwan and entered the Bashi Strait.
Soon after, the Spanish sailors on the ship cheered because they spotted the outlines of three sailing ships in the direction of Manila.
The ships heading north from the south may be the support fleet sent by Manila.
Soon Gonzalez discovered something was wrong, because it was not a Spanish Galen ship.
Moreover, these ships are directly crossing its own route, obviously blocking itself.
Soon after, fierce shells poured directly on the Santiago.
As the distance between the two sides got closer, he was surprised to find that it was another 1,200-ton warship.
And he also saw a familiar face through the telescope in his hand - Zheng Zhilong!
At this time, the old San Diego was attacked from the front and rear by two 1,200-ton giant ships, the Liaoyang and the Shenyang. It was quickly hit by several cannons. The last shell directly passed through the hull and hit the ammunition compartment, causing a big explosion.
Facing the sinking warships, Spanish sailors jumped into the sea to survive.
At this time, Deng Gang said: "The Liao Kingdom has an order. These Spaniards have massacred the Ming Dynasty's exiled people in Manila several times. They are not allowed to rescue them and directly shoot them."
After defeating the Spaniards, all the warships arrived at the city of Geranje.
The forts surrounding the city had been destroyed during the previous attack.
When he saw two 1,200-ton giant ships, Song Ke, the Dutch governor in Taiwan, knew it was over.
According to the time calculation, it will take at least ten days for Batavia's fleet to arrive.
I am afraid that even Governor Kun, who smashed Batavia, would not have thought that such a powerful opponent would appear in East Asia.
This unfinished bastion could not withstand the Ming army's terrifying naval guns.
Finally, after a volley from the Ming army, Sigg decisively raised the white flag.
Originally, he thought that he would receive preferential treatment if he surrendered voluntarily.
Unexpectedly, this group of barbaric East Ryukyu Company actually executed 571 Dutch soldiers who had withdrawn from Penghu in front of everyone.
The reason is that the Dutch enslaved the people of the Ming Dynasty in Penghu, directly causing the death of 571 people.
Although Sigg didn't know where the number of 571 people came from, he still wrote to Batavia honestly, asking the Dutch East India Company to come and redeem people.
A month later, the Dutch exchanged 3,000 Ming people from the Nanyang region, plus an indemnity of 200,000 taels of silver, in exchange for more than 400 prisoners including Sigg!
The Dutch East India Company and the East Ryukyu Company reached a ceasefire agreement, and the merchant ships of both parties no longer attacked each other and could do business freely.
The Dutch can go to Japan, and Zheng Zhilong can also go to Nanyang.
At the same time, the Netherlands must ensure that Ming people in Nanyang are not killed wantonly.
The East India Company originally didn't have many Dutch people in the Nanyang region. Zheng Zhilong killed 571 people at once, which really made them a little exhausted.
Therefore, they had to make a promise not to kill Akito indiscriminately.
As for whether the promise is useful, it still depends on the strength of both parties.
For now, the failure of the attack on Penghu and Taiwan has really caused heavy losses to the Dutch!
The East Ryukyu Company finally made the Dutch make concessions with its powerful force.
Of course, for now, it is difficult for Zheng Zhilong to make a big difference in Nanyang, just like the Dutch trade routes in Japan have been greatly narrowed!
However, he did admire the foresight of Duke Liao. The 3,000 people exchanged for him would not only help develop Taiwan, but they would also be familiar with everything in Nanyang. In the future, if the Eastern Ryukyu Company expanded its sphere of influence to the Nanyang region, these people would All are valuable assets.
The Dutch were also very realistic. Although they suffered heavy losses, Manila was even weaker after losing the Santiago.
Instead of going to Taiwan to fight against the powerful Toryukyu Company, it would be easier to plot the Spanish Manila!
Afterwards, Sun Chuanting led his army to invade the Dadu Kingdom and captured the Dadu vassal king alive.
He chose to control the fat-bellied feudal king into a puppet in his own hands, and took the opportunity to annex the Taichung area.
These tribes were also divided into two parts, and some followed King Dadu and accepted the rule of Sun Chuanting.
There are still some people who are unwilling to give in, and finally choose to retreat to the Alishan area where conditions are more difficult, and continue to resist!
Nowadays, a large area of land in Taichung and Tainan has been recovered. Sun Chuanting is busy organizing people to open up wasteland and build a constructive port, so naturally he has no time to completely clear out these indigenous people.
Tainan has significantly more plains and the land conditions are more fertile than those in the north.
Li Xianzhong ordered Zheng Zhilong to transfer 500,000 taels of silver from the East Ryukyu Company to Sun Chuanting, and ordered the Intelligence Department to assist Zheng Zhilong in continuing to immigrate to Taiwan from Fujian.
I believe that in another 1-2 years, Taiwan will have millions of acres of fertile farmland, and Li Xianzhong will finally no longer have to worry about food.
Considering that the East Ryukyu Company needed giant ships more, Deng Gang left the 1,200-ton Shenyang to Zheng Zhilong, and then led the rest of the Liaodong navy back.
Nan Juyi, governor of Fujian, received a commendation from Emperor Tianqi after recovering Penghu.
However, although the Ming army was lucky enough to drive away the Dutch and regain Penghu in this battle, the Ming army lacked large warships, which also made Nan Juyi see the shortcomings of the Ming Dynasty.
So Nan Juyi petitioned the imperial court to establish a new shipyard in Fujian and build new warships to resist threats from the sea.
Although the Ming Dynasty was repeatedly harassed by Japanese pirates before, the Ming Dynasty did not suffer any losses on the warships.
This time the Dutch actually blockaded Zhangzhou and once landed and burned down the villages, which was a wake-up call to the Ming Dynasty.
Both Emperor Tianqi and several cabinet bachelors believed that Nan Juyi's suggestion was very reasonable.
Ming Dynasty must guard against threats from the sea.
But now that the imperial court has no money, even if the shipyard is repaired, it will not be able to build warships.
So they settled for the next best thing and ordered Nan Juyi to use the captured Dutch artillery to build forts in Penghu and Zhangzhou to resist threats from the sea.
It has to be said that the Ming craftsmen's imitation ability is still very strong. The Hongyi cannon shipped to the capital last year has been successfully imitated.
In addition, Liaodong has continuously supplied copper ore to the imperial court over the years, and has now produced 30 12-pound Hongyi cannons.
In the end, the Ministry of War gritted its teeth and sent 18 more Hongyi cannons to Fujian to help Nan Juyi build the fort.
Originally, Zhu Youxiao did carpentry work every day and was not interested in money.
Although he knew that the court was short of money, this was just an abstract concept.
But since he ordered the formation of the Yulin Camp, he has truly realized the difficulty of lack of money.
The recruitment of the 30,000 Yulin camp was completed very quickly.
But apart from the monthly salary and food salary, horses, equipment, and firearms don't cost money? The target of your Majesty's army is the Liaodong Army of Duke Liao, not the Beijing camp composed of a ragtag group of people.
Although the resources and reserved equipment of the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Household Affairs were given to this army.
But it’s simply not enough.
According to Zhu Youxiao's plan, the 30,000 Yulin battalion is composed of 10,000 infantry, 10,000 cavalry and 10,000 firearms.
However, the current financial resources of the imperial court simply cannot equip so many cavalry.
His Majesty the Firearms Battalion also requested to be equipped with the Liaodong Army's Rumi Guns. If the battle situation lasts for a month, only 500 of these can be produced.
Finally, under Sun Chengzong's re-planning, it became 20,000 infantry, 5,000 cavalry, and 5,000 firearms.
But you don’t know how to do this at the moment and can’t do it all.
In the end, Zhu Youxiao had to allocate 500,000 taels of silver from his own funds to ask the Imperial Horse Supervisor and the Military War Bureau to purchase war horses, muskets, artillery and armor for his Yulin camp.
Now after nearly half a year of training, these Yulin Guards have achieved some success.
On the school grounds of the Jingying camp, a group of young soldiers wearing green armor were seen waving wooden sticks in their hands, beating the Jingying camp opposite until their noses were black and their eyes were swollen.
With only half the number of its opponents, the Yulin camp defeated the British Duke Zhang Weixian's fifth military camp in only half a stick of incense.
And Duke Zhu Chunchen's Shenji Battalion was also completely blown away by them in terms of target hit rate, shooting speed, etc.
To be honest, the two Jingying camps have been the worst since the Yulin camp was established.
Not only had the equipment stopped being replenished, but only half of the monthly salary had been paid. The most unbearable thing was being called by the Yulin Camp to be a sparring partner every three days.
Zhu Youxiao said: "Both of you, Duke Yingying and Duke Cheng, went south with Duke Liao to annihilate the White Lotus Sect. How does my Yulin camp compare with the Liaodong Army?"
Zhang Weixian and Zhu Chunchen looked at each other, thinking that you, the new recruits, are just bullying the old and weak in my hands, and if you meet the Liaodong cavalry, you will be "cut off melons and vegetables".
However, they did not dare to say this. His Majesty was in high spirits. If this basin of cold water was poured out, they might lose their hereditary prince.
Zhu Chunchen laughed and said: "His Majesty's Yulin Camp is indeed a newborn calf that is not afraid of tigers and is full of energy. I think the current situation is no longer inferior to the Liaodong Army. If given time, it will definitely be better!"
Although he knew this was a compliment, Zhu Youxiao was still very happy.
He said to Sun Chengzong: "Sen Ge Lao leads the troops well. I just made a set of furniture and rewarded him with it!"
Sun Chengzong knew very well that these new recruits, who had never seen blood, had only improved a little bit, and they could not possibly be the opponents of the elite group of veterans under Liao Guogong.
But how could he bear to ruin His Majesty's interest at this time?
Finally he said: "I would like to thank Your Majesty for your kindness!"
At this time, Zhu Youxiao picked up a Rumi gun with great interest and said: "I heard that the Liao Dynasty was able to defeat the Tartars completely with the range of this Rumi gun. The Rumi gun of the Yulin camp and the Liaodong army Who can shoot farther?"
When Zhu Youxiao asked this question, the three of them fell silent.
Because they have all seen the powerful Rumi gun of the Liaodong Army, and its power is much greater than that of the military battle.
Sun Chengzong said: "The Liaodong Army's Lumi gun was fired by Sui, while the Yulin camp's gun was fired by match rope. The range should be about the same."
Speaking of the Suifa gun, Zhu Youxiao remembered that the captured Dutch firecracker presented by Nan Juyi, the governor of Fujian, was the Suifa gun.
Soon after, I conducted a test firing with great interest, and found that although the range of the Dutch's fire gun was slightly closer than that of the Lumi gun, it only seemed to be about 90 steps.
But both the power and the shooting speed are even better.
Zhu Youxiao sighed: "If a worker wants to do his job well, he must first sharpen his weapons. It would be great if the Yulin camp could be equipped with these guns!"
Sun Chengzong said: "Recently, the cabinet received a report from Fujian. After these Dutch were defeated by the Ming Dynasty, they begged the Ming Dynasty to allow them to trade."
"The imperial court can ask them to provide drawings of flintlock muskets. In this way, we can not only quickly equip flintlock muskets. We can also increase the imperial court's income through trade. It can be said to kill two birds with one stone."
Sun Chengzong's words made Zhu Youxiao's eyes light up. He said: "This flintlock gun alone is not enough. I also need the drawings of the Western sailing ship. Let the cabinet authorize Nan Juyi, the governor of Fujian, to conduct trade negotiations with the Dutch. As long as the Dutch are willing By transferring the drawings and technology of these two things, I will set Yuegang in Zhangzhou, Fujian Province as a separate trading port for the Netherlands, and allow them to trade with the Ming Dynasty here!"
Although the imperial court temporarily shelved the plan to build a new type of warship because of lack of money, Zhu Youxiao still took him to heart!
Sun Chengzong said: "Your Majesty, I believe that soon the imperial court will have its own warships and flintlock guns!"
The Ming Dynasty was willing to turn Yuegang into its own independent trading port, and the Dutch were ecstatic.
Anyway, they are not prepared to rely on force to deal with Ming Dynasty for the time being, and flintlock guns don't matter at all!
As for the Galenic sailing ship, in fact, the difference between ships of different tonnage is still very big. It doesn't matter if the drawings of the medium-sized Galenic sailing ship of about 500 tons are given to the Ming Dynasty.
Soon the Dutch handed over the drawings of the flintlock gun and the medium-sized Galenic sailing ship to the Ming Dynasty, and sent several technical instructors to assist the Ming Dynasty in manufacturing.
Emperor Tianqi decreed that Yuegang in Zhangzhou, Fujian Province, be established as a trading point for the Dutch and resume trade with the Netherlands. Led by the Fujian Governor's Yamen, the Ministry of Household Affairs sent people to supervise the establishment of a special trading department responsible for purchasing the Ming Dynasty specialties that the Dutch needed to earn profits.
The Dutch were also allowed to start businesses in Yuegang to sell their products, but only in a limited number of shops. They could not directly rent large areas of land like the Portuguese in Macau.
A shipyard was built in Fujian to prepare for the construction of Western Galenic sailing ships.
Now that Zhu Youxiao's problems with soldiers, ships, guns, and cannons have been basically solved, his self-confidence has begun to increase.
He felt it was time to adjust the territory of Liaodong Town.
However, this plan cannot be decided by him, otherwise the taste will change, and he must also take due care of Li Xianzhong's feelings.
Later, Sun Chengzong formally proposed the idea of establishing "Liaoxi Town" to the cabinet.
This was like a thunderbolt, and soon the news spread to Liaodong.
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(End of chapter)
