Shanghai, outside Wusongkou.
The bow of the Brooke Haven, an armed merchant ship from Batavia, plowed through a stream of snow-white waves and headed straight towards the entrance of the Wusong River. The deck was filled with sailors of all colors. They were either climbing up or down the mast, furling part of the sails amidst Doctor Basten’s loud shouts, or leaning on the ship’s side deck and looking at the scenery not far away. Land—that’s where silk, porcelain, and tea are produced, and it’s also the richest region in East Asia.
It is said that a commercial city is being built near the mouth of the river. In the future, this commercial city will become the operational center of the United East India Company in East Asia.
Maybe in the future we won't have to live in Batavia where it's so hot and it's so easy to contract deadly malaria or other tropical diseases. Instead, you can move to this land with a cool climate and very rich products...
Therefore, the sailors on the ship were in high spirits at this time. Some sailors who were not on duty were waving their arms vigorously at the fort in the distance and cheering loudly.
Governor Van Diemen of Batavia and Hans Putsmann, who had just resigned from the post of admiral of the United East India Company's squadron, stood on the stern deck, each with a monocular telescope, observing the fort at Wusongkou.
There are two forts in Wusongkou. One is located on the west bank of Wusong River, which is known as "Puxi" in later generations, and is called Wusong Fort. The other one is located on the east bank of Wusong River, which is what later generations call "Pudong", and is called Baoshan Fort - Baoshan in the Ming Dynasty was in Pudong, because Baoshan Thousand Households was located in Pudong, in the area of Gaoqiao Town in later generations.
In addition, Baoshan in the Ming Dynasty did not belong to Shanghai County, or even to Songjiang Prefecture, but to Suzhou Prefecture. So in the Ming Dynasty, there were people from Baoshan, Suzhou and Pudong, Suzhou.
However, the current Suzhou Baoshan Institute and Suzhou Wusongjiang Institute (opposite to Baoshan Institute) are not under the jurisdiction of Suzhou Prefecture, nor are they under the jurisdiction of Zhenhaiwei (located in Suzhou Prefecture). Instead, they are allocated to the north of Wusongjiang River together with the part of Shanghai County. The Imperial Navy Admiral Yamen and the Shanghai Shipping Department Yamen became part of Shanghai's commercial port.
Later, Zheng Zhilong obtained the design drawings of Wusong Fort and Baoshan Fort from Zhu Youjian - both of them are coastal defense bastions, impregnable!
"Your Majesty the Governor," Hans Putsmann had put down his telescope and said to Van Diemen with a smile: "No need to look... Those must be two coastal defense bastions, leaning against the Yangtze River and The part of the Wusong River is integrated with the embankment. The other two sides are star-shaped bastion structures, with one or two trenches on the outside. The artillery installed on the two forts should include 12-pound and 24-pound cannons and The 24-pound mortar has very powerful firepower! It is impossible for the Spanish fleet to break through their defense."
Anthony Van Diemen, the newly appointed governor of the United East India Company in Batavia, also put away his telescope and took a look at the German who was ordered to attack the Ming Dynasty, but when he came back he became the Count of the Ming Dynasty.
"Count," Van Diemen suppressed his dissatisfaction with Hans Putsmann, "perhaps the Spaniards who landed from the sea can use siege to force the surrender of these two fortresses. Once these two fortresses are obtained, Spain will People may be able to force them to sign a treaty by occupying these two fortresses.”
"Hahaha..." Hans Putsmann seemed to have heard a particularly funny joke, "This is impossible, even if Philip IV no longer participates in the German war or attacks Nepal. The United Provincial Republic of Deland sent all his troops to China, and it was impossible for him to defeat the Ming Emperor's army."
Van Diemen frowned and asked: "Do you think the army of the Ming Empire is more powerful than the army of the Spanish Empire?"
Prince Condé has not yet knocked the Spanish Army of Flanders to the ground, so the Spanish army is a formidable force even in Europe where wars are fought every day.
Therefore, Van Diemen was very worried that the Ming army's adventure in Luzon Island would suffer a disastrous defeat, which would then lead to full retaliation from the Spanish Empire. He was even more worried that after thousands of Spanish expeditionary troops landed in Shanghai or elsewhere, they would force the Ming Empire to sign a treaty against Spain. Treaty unfavorable to the Republic of Teresa.
"No, no," Hans Putsmann shook his head, "The Spanish Army is certainly better than the Ming Empire's army... The quality of the Ming Empire's horses is very poor, so it is impossible to form a powerful shock cavalry. But now the Ming Dynasty His Majesty the Emperor of the Empire was a great military strategist. Philip IV was just a fool and could not be compared with the Ming Emperor... Moreover, no one in the entire Spanish Empire could be compared with the Ming Empire. If Don Juan was still alive, he might be able to lead the Spanish expeditionary force to compete with the Ming Emperor. Unfortunately, he is no longer alive. Therefore, if the Spanish army dares to invade the territory of the Ming Dynasty, it will suffer a disastrous defeat! "
Van Diemen was of course doubtful of the words of Hans Putsmann, Count of the Ming Dynasty.
This guy is now the "new Ming man" and has made up his mind to be loyal to the Ming Emperor. When he was in Batavia, he also poached the East India Company and hired more than 100 Western sailors for the Ming Emperor. Now he is following Behind the Brookhaven is an armed Galen ship of similar tonnage, the Pingheber, which is a training ship purchased by Hans Putsmann for the Ming Dynasty Navy. The sailor on board is Hans Putsmann. People poached by Siman from the East India Company!
If the cooperation conditions brought by this "new Ming Dynasty man" to Batavia were not so attractive, Van Diemen would have locked up Hans Putsmann long ago.
While Van Diemen and Hans Putsmann were talking, the Brookhaven they were riding on had already passed Wusongkou and entered the Wusong River. So Van Diemen also saw the Wusong Fort and Baoshan Fort facing the land - they were indeed two bastions, which looked very strong. A storming attack seemed impossible!
Within the mouth of the Wusong River, located near the Wusong Fort, is the Jianghaiguan Terminal managed by the Shanghai Shipping Department. All incoming merchant ships must go there to measure the hull, pay ship tax, and check the trade license. There is no customs tax in the Ming Dynasty, but merchant ships with a trade license must turn in a batch of rice (about 150 tons) every year.
Every time a merchant ship from various countries enters a commercial port, the Municipal Shipping Department can collect a ship tax based on the hull. How to collect the shipping tax was decided by each municipal shipping department. The court did not care, and the income did not have to be turned over to the court. Instead, it was used to maintain the costs of the municipal shipping department and several fleets of the Royal Navy.
In addition, merchant ships of the Ming Dynasty can enter and exit the commercial ports of the Ming Dynasty without a trade license, but in theory they cannot conduct ocean-going trade. At the same time, there are strict restrictions on the size of the ships, and they are not allowed to trade with Japan and the west of Malacca. .
When the Brookhaven docked at the dock of the Shipping Company, Hans Putsmann, the Count of the Ming Dynasty, took his official certificate and iron scroll, and led a few followers off the ship to negotiate with the officials of the Shipping Company. .
Not long after he arrived, this guy rushed onto the ship with excitement on his face, and ran into the cabin where Van Diemen was: "Your Excellency Governor, good news! The Ming Empire has formed a common monarch with the Mongol Kingdom. Alliance! The Emperor of the Ming Dynasty is now also the Great Khan of Mongolia... The Great Emperor conquered Mongolia! Now you should believe in the military capabilities of His Majesty the Emperor, right? "
The popularity of the Mongol Khan in Europe cannot be compared to that of the Ming Emperor - his ancestors were awesome! It caused great harm to Eastern Europe and the Middle East, and broke the backbone of the Christians’ arch-rivals, the Tianfang believers. Europeans even called them the Scourge of God.
Now, the person who will be negotiating with Governor Van Diemen is no longer the gentle Ming Emperor, but a Mongol Khan holding the whip of God... Van Diemen must be careful to avoid being beaten. !
