As soon as he landed, several people came to greet him with a very respectful attitude. [Read the full text] But no one spoke, and the strong man remained silent. Only when someone lowered his head and said something to him did he nod.
Someone was guiding them in front, and the strong man and his followers walked on the path opened in the dense jungle. After walking about half a mile, he stopped. In front of him is a simple village, no different from the villages of the so-called aboriginal people living in similar environments around the world. What's different about this village is that there are many wooden poles standing on it, and a dead human head is stuck on each pole."
The strong man was unfazed by this horrific scene. At the entrance of the village, there were many armed men on guard. Although these people were all in ragged clothes, their strong bodies and sophisticated weapons showed that they were by no means ordinary fishermen at sea.
The group of people was taken into the stockade. The ground in the stockade was stained with blood. Apparently, the "aboriginals" here had been "cleared out" and the place was left to the owner.
In the open space in front of a large thatched house, a fire was burning in the fire pit. A young man was sitting on a high chair, holding a skewer of grilled fish and feasting on it. When he saw the strong man arriving, he smiled at him and pointed to another high chair next to the fire pit - signaling "Please sit down." ".
"Hello, Mr. Paul," the young man said in Japanese, leaning back on the backrest with a casual look as if he was at home, "It seems that you have a good trip."
"Everything went well," the strong man replied in a low tone, also speaking in Japanese. "When will my reward be paid?"
"Hey!" the young man exclaimed, pretending to be surprised, "You are really a cold person with no emotions. You only talk about business! You are also a devout Christian. Can't you be like brothers in the face of a common belief? "
"A devout Christian would not go to mass and burn incense to idols at the same time." The strong man known as Mr. Paul said disdainfully, "I have done everything you asked me to do. Now you You have to pay me as promised."
"You are such a cool man, you can say what you want without being wordy at all!" The young man hid his dissatisfaction, "Let's talk about something serious! In addition to the remuneration issue, I still have a few important things to discuss with you!"
"Give me the reward first." Mr. Paul said unambiguously. His eyes were almost gray, which meant he was cold and calm.
The young man motioned to his entourage. Someone immediately brought a box. It was filled to the brim with Spanish pesos.
"This is the promised reward."
Paul reached into the box, took out a few silver coins from his pocket, looked at them carefully, threw them back and nodded. Immediately someone came over, closed the lid and took the box away.
"The ship. I will leave it to you. As for the sailors who drive the ship and how to use the cannons on it, I will also teach you how to choose them."
The young man said: "Now let's talk about the second thing. You said that you can make cannons that are as good as the Australians."
"Yes." Paul nodded, "As long as you can pay. And you have the patience to wait."
"I have money, but not enough patience."
"Then you have to have a lot of money."
"You are such a good businessman, not like a pirate!" the young man said with a smile.
"Being a pirate is also a business. It's a good business. Let's put it this way, Mr. Feng, as long as the price is right, everything is easy to negotiate."
"You are really a special person." The person called Mr. Feng is Zheng Zhilong's younger brother Zheng Zhifeng. After the failed attempt to mediate relations between the Dutch and the Australians. Not only did they lose a lot of money, but their relationship with the Dutch also declined significantly. The Dutch seem to believe that they are behind this.
The Zheng brothers racked their brains and couldn't understand what kind of magic the Australians used to make the Dutch believe that they were the real murderers. It is not difficult to surmise that they were up to no good. What's rare is how they were able to find clues and evidence in this "seamless and ironclad" state.
However, neither the Australians nor the Dutch seem willing to publicize this matter. Economic and trade exchanges between the three parties continue. Ships from the Netherlands and Australia still enter and leave the center normally in accordance with the trade agreement. The brothers of the Zheng family can easily imagine that the silence of the Australians is by no means a matter of swallowing their anger. They must be secretly plotting revenge against the Zheng family.
Now Zheng Jiazheng and Liu Xiang are competing for control of foreign trade along the coast of Fujian. It is unbearable for them to prepare for such an enemy who is more powerful and dangerous than Liu Xiang at the same time.
The rise of the Australians in the Taiwan Strait in recent years has been witnessed by all. Their huge sailing ships, black ships that can sail against the wind and current with black smoke spitting out, are as heavy as stones on their hearts.
Although the Australians have not shown any ambitions for overseas trade for the time being, and are only satisfied with trading with Europeans along the coast, they do not maintain such a large fleet just to show off their prestige in the Taiwan Strait.
The day will come when we will fight to the death with the Australians for maritime supremacy. Zheng Zhilong has no doubt about this.
The longer it goes on, the worse it will be for him. The strength of the Australians is growing every moment. Guo Huaiyi's report mentioned that the towns they established in Dagou and the refugees they sent were much more effective than their many years of colonization starting from the Yan Siqi era.
Although the size of his fleet was at an advantage, the intelligence gathered from all aspects, especially the intelligence obtained from Li Siya, gave Zheng Zhilong a fairly clear estimate of the strength of the Australians. If they fight face to face, his huge "fleet" will be vulnerable. The Dutch's few armed merchant ships were able to suppress his superior fleet in naval battles. He would not have been able to defeat the Dutch if they had not been weak and later managed to launch an attack in the bay, which was advantageous for launching a fire attack.
Zheng Zhilong understands the advantages of European maritime power on the coast of China better than anyone else, not to mention the Australians who have better ships and more powerful cannons than the Dutch and Spanish.
To win, you have to catch the unexpected. Launch a surprise attack to block the Australian fleet in the harbor, and use fireships to attack just like they did against the Dutch.
But the Australians had too great an advantage in ship guns. This became a nightmare that the Zheng brothers could not let go of.
Fortunately, at this time, the ship returning from Manila brought them news. A Japanese Chechitan believer came to Manila. He seemed to have mastered a lot of magic and created many strange firearms. The Spaniards obtained the firearms he designed and made, and they have won many victories against the natives. For this reason, this Chechidan believer won the trust of the governor.
This news and the firearm he created made Zheng Zhilong feel something keenly. He immediately sent Zheng Zhifeng to Manila to find this Chechidan.
The relationship between the Zheng family and the Spanish is not very harmonious, but it is not hostile either. The Spanish colonial government was extremely dependent on the Nanyang routes controlled by the Zheng family, so Zheng Zhifeng's request was easily met - he met the legendary Chichitan - Paul Takayama. In the subsequent confidential talks, the two parties reached the first cooperation agreement.
During this meeting, Zheng Zhifeng felt that Mr. Paul was very interested in Australians and knew much more than them. But he seemed to be hiding something, his eyes flickering as he was unwilling to tell the truth.
Mr. Paul happily agreed to the suggestion that he help deal with the Australians.
"As long as Mr. Feng can pay according to the price, anything can be said."
Of course the Zheng family has plenty of money. But when it comes to how to effectively deal with the Australians, none of the Zheng brothers have a clear plan. It was Mr. Paul who suggested that since they were so in awe of the Australian cannons, they might as well seize an Australian ship first. You can have the most intuitive understanding of Australian ships and cannons. So there was a battle to seize Harbor Patrol No. 64.
This ship-seizing operation was planned from beginning to end by Mr. Paul. He brought the manpower and weapons for the operation from Manila. Even the establishment of a secret camp on Xiaoliuqiu Island was based on his suggestion. The Zheng family provided support with ships and intelligence.
Seeing that the other party had so neatly captured a boat belonging to the Australians, who were known to be tough and undefeated at sea, Zheng Zhifeng couldn't help but be convinced - Mr. Paul was indeed not a big talker. Not only can he make firearms, he is also a good fighter! I couldn't help but feel the desire to recruit him.
"...Can you make for us the kind of Australian blunderbuss?" Zheng Zhifeng asked, "The kind on the ship you captured."
"Okay." Paul nodded without hesitation, "It's not difficult."
Zheng Zhifeng took a deep breath when she saw that the other party actually talked about the production of the "Australian Gunslinger", which was known as an "artifact", in such an understatement. Is this bragging or does he really possess special skills?
"Is this true?!"
"Of course it's true," Mr. Paul said, "But I have to make a point first: I won't be as flexible and light as them, and I'm afraid it won't be able to shoot continuously for a long time. But there is no problem with making a weapon with the same effect. "
"As long as it can be cultivated, it's good." Zheng Zhifeng couldn't contain the excitement in his heart. In his opinion, the "Australian Gunslinger" is simply an artifact. It is an important help for the Australians to dominate the sea and land. If his own side can also obtain this artifact, plus Of the other cannons that Paul promised to make for them, the Zheng family took up two of them.
As for "Chunjian", they have obtained several European sailing ships from various channels, and are also building large sailing ships themselves. Although these sailing ships are of Chinese style, they are not much smaller than European ships in terms of size and tonnage. As long as you can equip enough Western or Australian artillery, you can challenge any enemy. To be continued...)
