"Mr. Governor, Governor Wei would like to ask you to go to the Governor's Yamen."
Matt Solko, who was working anxiously, suddenly heard the voice of his secretary in his ears. He then realized that his secretary had entered the office at some point and brought a post from Temasek City Governor Wei Qingmu.
Wei Qingmu was elected as the city governor by the 37-member Council of Temasek City after returning from Europe a year ago. He was officially appointed by the Ming Emperor six months ago and took office as the second governor of Temasek City. Because Wei Jiaben was an overseas Chinese in Batavia and had a very good relationship with the Dutch East India Company, Matsolko felt that he could happily serve the rest of his term as governor of Temasek.
Unexpectedly, soon after Wei Qingmu took office, news came from the West that made Matt Solko very worried!
France and the Netherlands are going to form a group to go to the Indian Ocean to contain the Ming Empire... This doesn't count, but they also colluded with the Dashun Empire, which had just been defeated in Sichuan.
It would be enough to contain the Ming Dynasty in the Indian Ocean. After all, the expansion of the Ming Dynasty seems to have reached its limit, and it may not necessarily expand westward in large strides. Moreover, it is not easy to travel southward to the west. In the past three or four years, at least one-third of the northern warriors who settled in the "Twelve Principalities of Renyi" died of illness! If we include their losses in pacifying the Twelve Principalities (mainly those who died of illness), half of the northerners have already buried their bones in Malacca.
Such shocking losses, coupled with the fact that these northern warriors' land requirements have almost been met, so this group of people has lost their former vigor, and everyone just wants to live the rest of their lives safely... Therefore, even if the Emperor of China wants to expand westward, he may not be able to find many people to fight for him for a while.
Therefore, the containment of the Ming Dynasty by France and the Netherlands may be a joke in the eyes of the Chinese emperor.
But France and the Netherlands colluded with the Dashun Empire to create hatred... The Dashun Empire was the mortal enemy of the Ming Empire! The Emperor of China had just conquered Sichuan, which had been occupied by Dashun for 20 years, and France and the Netherlands jointly fled to Dashun in Burma. Didn't this make it clear that they were at odds with the Celestial Empire?
The Chinese Empire may not launch a large-scale expedition into the Indian Ocean, but it may strangle the Dutch East India Company to death!
And the damn Puritan lunatics (referring to the British) and Catholics (referring to the Portuguese) are still holding back their energy at this time and want to stab the Dutch East India Company in the back with a knife... The British East India Company In recent years, we have continuously increased our investment in the Pacific market. We have also cooperated with Zheng Zhilong’s Yiguandang Trading Company to establish Temasek Trading Company, using Temasek Island as a transit point to conduct east-west trade. Now we have seized a lot of Dutch East Indies. The company's share of trade.
The Portuguese, who had long been knocked to the ground by the Dutch and British, have begun to make a comeback in recent years!
After the original Portuguese Governor-General of Macau lost the power to manage the Portuguese people in Macau, it accepted investment from the Mancini Tea House and began to transform into a joint-stock chartered trading company similar to the Dutch East India Company, called the Australia-New Zealand Chamber of Commerce. , the main business is also East-West trade and trans-Pacific trade.
With the presence of the British East India Company and the Australia and New Zealand Company, the Dutch East India Company's position in the foreign trade of the Chinese Empire no longer seems to be irreplaceable...
With a lot of thoughts on his mind, the elderly Dutch businessman left the headquarters of the Dutch East India Company, got into a luxury carriage, and went straight to the Governor's House near Temasek Port.
The Governor's House in Temasek City is not a traditional Chinese-style government building, but a three-story brick-wood structure that combines Chinese and Western styles. It is located on the banks of the Temasek River. From the reception room dedicated to Governor Wei Qingmu, you can see through the glass windows , you can see the busy Temasek Port.
When Matsolko arrived, Wei Qingmu was chatting with two Westerners, still speaking in English!
When he saw his secretary leading Matt Solko in, Wei Qingmu introduced him with a smile.
Wei Qingmu continued to speak English: "Mr. Matt Solko, this is Rear Admiral Blake, the commander of the British Eastern Fleet, and this is Mr. Beckett, the chief executive of the British East India Company... This Dutch East Mr. Matt Salko, Governor General of India Corporation.”
Mr. Matsolko nodded at the two British people, showed an elegant smile, sat down on an armchair, and then smiled: "Welcome to Temasek Island... I think you just need to Spend a few days here and you’ll fall in love with this charming tropical city.”
Rear Admiral Blake smiled and said: "Mr. Governor, I am very sorry. Mr. Beckett and I will leave Temasek tomorrow and go north...because we have been invited to go to Yingtianfu to meet the Emperor of China."
"Really?" Matsolko still smiled, "I can write a letter to the East India Company's chief executive in Shanghai and ask him to entertain you two."
The Dutch East India Company's office in Shanghai is very luxurious. It is a four-story European-style building located on the Bund Street.
Wei Qingmu smiled: "Mr. Matsolko, I think you can go to Yingtian Mansion with Rear Admiral Black and Chief Beckett, because His Majesty the Emperor has summoned you to come and have an audience!"
As he spoke, Wei Qingmu took Zhu Cixi's manuscript from one of his masters, and then handed it to Matsolko with both hands.
Matsolko stood up quickly, bowed to the edict, then took it with both hands respectfully, and unfolded the Emperor's Edict while standing.
It is said to be a hand-written edict from the emperor, but in fact it was not written by Zhu Cihong himself. It only used a seal of "Invincible in the World" at the signature - this was Zhu Cihong's special seal when signing the hand-written edict.
The edict was in French, and you could tell from the handwriting that it was written by Mary Mancini for Zhu Cihong. The content is very simple, just ask him to go north to Yingtian Mansion immediately!
Wei Qingmu smiled and said: "It happens to be early summer now, and there is a favorable wind heading north. Mr. Matsolko, you'd better set off immediately, and don't keep His Majesty the Emperor waiting!"
Matt Solko immediately agreed: "Okay, I'll leave right away... I'll leave tomorrow!"
These are extraordinary times. The Dutch East India Company does not know when it will be kicked out of the Pacific Ocean... He does not dare to delay for a moment.
He wished he could spread his wings and fly to Yingtian Mansion so that he could find a way to save his life!
Of course there are connections... Marie Mancini, the royal mistress of the Ming Emperor, has taken advantage of the Dutch East India Company over the years! At critical moments, it should be of some use, right?
However, the news from Wuhan Mansion still made Matsolko very worried, because Princess Nissa seemed to have become the new favorite of the Emperor of China, and Mary Mancini had gradually lost the favor of His Majesty the Emperor.
And that Princess Nisha is someone that the Dutch East India Company cannot bribe at all!
Because her father Aurangzeb has always hated the Dutch... The Timurid dynasty of India has always been pro-British!
...
When the British Blake and Beckett, and the Dutch Matt Solko, each with their own thoughts, boarded the sailboat heading north, the great emperor Zhu Cixiang was riding the river boat, going down the river and returning eastward to Yingtian.
His personal expedition this time was finally a complete victory! In addition to the Sichuan Xingdu Division territory south of the Snowy Mountains, there are also half of Mahu Prefecture, half of Wumeng Prefecture, half of Zhenxiong Prefecture, and the entire Dongchuan Prefecture and Wusa Prefecture. The entire Sichuan has It was recaptured by the Great Tomorrow Soldiers.
However, the organizational structure of Sichuan Province was not restored. Instead, three Jiedushi bureaus emerged, namely Xichuan, Dongchuan and Beichuan. They rule the east, north, and west (south) parts of Sichuan Province respectively. However, the degree of autonomy of these three festivals is not high and cannot be compared with border military towns such as Anxi and Beiting, and they will not last long. It will only exist for four or five years at most. When the ground in Sichuan is completely calm, it will be time to withdraw the vassal and establish a province.
By that time, the rule of the rogue bandits in Yunnan will almost come to an end... The resurgence of the Ming Empire will be completely completed!
However, the Ming Dynasty’s resurgence is not the end, but a new beginning!
