The messenger was a middle-aged man, although he was wearing traditional Chinese decent clothes, neatly holding the unique Chinese bun on his head, and wearing a graceful and luxurious gauze cover - this is only available to the rich among the Chinese. decoration. [Read the full text] However, the Governor still felt that he could smell the stench of sea water and rotten fish and shrimps on his body.
Apparently, the emissary felt very uncomfortable wearing these decent Chinese clothes. De Carpentier felt that he was tugging on his clothes from time to time, as if he was not comfortable wearing them.
Liu Xiang's envoy bowed deeply in front of him, while De Carpentier only nodded slightly. As the governor of the East India Company, he considered himself to represent the authority of the seventeen directors of the entire United Provinces and did not need to pay any attention to South China. The pirates on the sea treated him with courtesy.
"Well, what new suggestions have you brought?" asked the Governor.
What the envoy brought was Liu Xiang's proposal for support from the Dutch. To be precise, Liu Xiang hopes that the Dutch can dispatch warships from the main force to support the battle between him and Zheng Zhilong - he has recently prepared to launch a maritime operation against Zheng Zhilong, and if possible, completely destroy the center and left.
In addition to wanting the Dutch to directly participate in the battle, accompanying requirements also included asking the Dutch to provide cannon, matchlocks, gunpowder, and craftsmen and soldiers who could use and repair European guns. He can pay for all these. If the Dutch are willing, sell or lease to them several European-style "plywood ships", and of course they must bring with them sailors to operate them.
"This is quite a request," the Governor thought to himself. There are only two permanent ships, one of which is a speedboat. But he has always been cautious about directly joining the conflict between Liu Xiang and Zheng Zhilong - after all, most of the businessmen going to Damuan Port are from Fujian. If Zheng Zhilong is offended, he is likely to block this trade route. This is not worth the gain.
The relationship between the Dutch and Zheng Zhilong is subtle. In 1627, Zheng Zhilong defeated the Dutch's attempt to get involved in Fujian's ocean trade, forcing Natz, who was stationed in Danyuan Port, to sign a three-year trade agreement with Zheng Zhilong the next year. Although this trade agreement was not implemented, the Dutch were always wary of Zheng Zhilong's power. In 163o, Putmans, a representative of the East India Company, went to the mainland to conduct commercial negotiations with Zheng Zhilong and reached a trade agreement. Since then, the two sides have had a period of "friendly exchanges." The Dutch provided some assistance to Zheng Zhilong in quelling the warlords at sea, including allowing his ships to enter Damuan Port at will.
However, Zheng Zhilong's expansion of power made him eventually become the middleman of the Dutch trade in Zhangzhou Bay: the goods shipped by the Dutch to the ocean in Fujian could only be sold to the Zheng Zhilong Group, and Chinese goods could only be purchased from the Zheng Zhilong Group.
The East India Company was very dissatisfied with its trade monopoly. At the same time, the two sides also have frictions on the trade routes with Japan. The Dutch hope to monopolize trade with Japan, and the Zheng Zhilong Group also regards trade with Japan as a taboo.
Due to various factors, the Dutch have always hoped to support another force to attack and weaken Zheng Zhilong, so that the China Maritime Group on the Fujian and Guangdong oceans cannot monopolize coastal trade and open the door to free trade for the Dutch. .
Supporting the Liu Xiang Group was a reasonable choice for the East India Company. Of course, considering the fragile status of Da Yuan's trade, the Dutch's support for Liu Xianglao has always been relatively obscure. Secret assistance such as artillery and ammunition has been provided, but the task of providing ships is too big-not to mention that the Dutch do not have many ships in the East Indies.
Generally speaking, the East India Company did not want to see a decisive battle between Liu Xianglao and Zheng Yiguan. The final result of the decisive battle must be that the winner takes it all. By then, a group that has a monopoly on coastal trade in Guangdong and Fujian provinces will be a nightmare for the East India Company.
The message brought by the messenger complained that Zheng Zhilong was putting increasing pressure on him. After Zheng Zhilong defected to the court, his official status made his activities along the coast of Fujian and Guangdong fully convenient. He could easily obtain supplies from the shore, and even You can also get intelligence and weapons support from officers and soldiers. Even in the competition on the land, Zheng Zhilong has the upper hand: whether it is Zheng Zhilong or Liu Xiang, they all have the so-called "mountain master" allies on the shore as their nests. The "Mountain Lords" are half farmers and half bandits. They are not simple bandits. They were originally a community of exiled farmers who cut trees, burned charcoal, and opened up wasteland to plant cash crops in the mountainous areas. The mountain masters not only provide the pirate merchants with supplies and a safe nest after landing, they are also the main source of cash crops exported by the merchants, the largest commodity of which is indigo. Indigo was another cash crop that was exported in large quantities from China at that time and was a major source of profit for maritime merchants. After Zheng Zhilong became an official, the Fujian government made it clear that it supported Zheng Zhilong's activities. Under such double pressure, the attitude of the mountain owners changed significantly - Liu Xiang had fewer and fewer "friends" on the shore. This pair of His business and even his survival were threatened.
These problems came together and finally forced Liu Xiang's gang to make the decision to showdown with Zheng Zhilong - in comparison, Zheng Zhilong's power is not too strong now, and the decisive battle is at least 50% sure at this time.
The 50% certainty is really not a good opportunity for a decisive battle, but as time goes by, Zheng Zhilong is constantly getting stronger. In the past, he was just a force on the surface of Fujian and Guangdong. Now, with the support of Xiong Wencan, he has become a foreigner. The strongest force in the world. Moreover, this most powerful force has no intention of "sharing wealth and honor" at all, and has made it clear that it wants to monopolize everything.
"Does Mr. Xiang really want to fight to the death with an official?" The governor raised his eyelids and looked at the envoy standing in front of him.
"Sir, your official Mingjian is getting more and more powerful now. This old ghost Xiong Wencan gave him many big ships and many red barbarian cannons. He can recruit as many people as he wants in Fujian. When fighting a war, he is not afraid of killing people and destroying ships." . If this continues, our gang will be dragged to death sooner or later."
The envoy said that Zheng Zhilong's fleet has recently approached Liu Xianglao's core area in the Chaoshan area many times. In order to protect their core territory, Liu Xianglao's gang had to urgently retreat from the vicinity of the Pearl River Estuary, and the entire division returned to the Chaoshan area to prepare for the attack. Meet Zheng Zhilong’s challenge.
Losing the territory near the Pearl River Estuary is a very serious problem for Liu Xiang - this is his main source of income. Although the foreign goods trade has Portuguese maritime patrols, he cannot monopolize the route, but various other coastal trade ships entering and leaving Guangzhou pay The "toll" income is equally generous. Although Zheng Zhilong's actions did not provoke a direct sea battle between the two sides, they made Liu Xiang very passive. He could not take the risk of losing the basic territory near Chaoshan and letting Zheng Zhilong steal his hometown and continue to stay in the Pearl River Estuary to generate income and do business; but now he was forced to return to the Chaoshan area and gradually conquer the Pearl River Estuary territory since the end of Tianqi. It will be slowly taken away by others taking advantage of it. Without territory, there is no money, and without money, there is nothing.
For Liu Xiang's gang, fighting may not be possible at the moment, but if they don't fight, they will definitely die. The gang cannot survive by relying solely on Chaoshan's resources.
De Carpentier certainly understands Liu Xiang’s current predicament. But he has no intention of sending any ships to support Liu Xiang - since Liu Xiang is not sure of victory, it is unwise to put all his bets on it now. Even if Liu Xiang is lucky enough to defeat his opponent, with Zheng Zhilong's current strength, he may not necessarily decline. He will definitely retaliate by blocking the general's route. Giving support in terms of weapons and personnel can be considered. The company had two sailing ships in Batavia Harbor that were in poor condition: the "Alert" and the "Enthusiasm." The two three-hundred-ton brigs had to be pumped with water throughout the voyage due to serious water leaks. We cannot sail far without trained sailors. But the rigging and armament were complete, one had 12 cannon, and the other 18. Selling it to Liu Xiang together is a good choice. The Chinese will fix them, they have enough shipbuilders and ship materials.
But this is not the main problem. The governor had to consider another possibility after Liu Zheng opened the station: What if Liu Xiang failed in the decisive battle? There is no doubt that Zheng Zhilong will go straight to the ocean in Guangdong. By then, the company's negotiating conditions with him will become even smaller. In the end, it will definitely be reduced to the original trade between Xu Xinsu and Danyuan Port - the company's businessman stationed in Danyuan at that time had to buy the goods shipped by Xu Xinsu at a price 50% higher than the market price.
The governor suddenly remembered the Australians in Lingao, and he asked: "What kind of people are the Australians in Lingao?"
The envoy was stunned for a moment, probably not expecting that the Governor would suddenly ask about the Australians.
"They won't be able to survive for long," the messenger said.
"Oh?" The governor suddenly became interested.
"The imperial court has sent troops to Lingao to exterminate the Australians. They only have a few thousand people in total and they don't have many boats. How can they be the opponent of the imperial court?" The story of the failure of his subordinates' attack on Lingao was explained in detail. He also talked about the recent gathering of the Ming army near Guangzhou, preparing for a large-scale cross-sea attack - Liu Xiang withdrew from the vicinity of the Pearl River Estuary in order to avoid a head-on conflict with the officers and soldiers. Another important factor why he thought of a decisive battle with Zheng Zhilong was that the army was about to attack Lingao, and the Australians would never be able to deal with him. Relieved of worries.
"... At that time, the big shopkeeper didn't know how powerful their firearms were, and made a miscalculation." The messenger said nonchalantly, "In the end, thousands of people were killed." ..
