In September of the twenty-fifth year of Yongli, Chengtian Mansion and Anping City.
Anping City was originally the Relanja City built by the Dutch. It was a very strong fortress. After being besieged by Zheng Chenggong for nine months, it became the property of the Zheng family and was renamed Anping City.
The name of Anping City is taken from Anping City, the original home of the Zheng family in Quanzhou, Fujian. It naturally reflects Zheng Chenggong's homesickness and infinite longing for the future. Unfortunately, in the summer of the second year after Zheng Chenggong regained Taiwan, which was the eighth day of May in the sixteenth year of Yongli, the last pillar of the Ming Dynasty suddenly collapsed and passed away in the Anping Imperial City on the island of Taiwan.
It was only a few months from the time Zheng Chenggong captured the city of Relanja to the time he passed away in the royal city of Anping. After the death of Zheng Chenggong, the Zheng Group experienced internal strife between the uncles and nephews Zheng Xi and Zheng Jing and the defeat of Xia and Jin. After losing their bases in Xiamen and Jin Dynasty, Zheng Jing, the second generation king of Yanping, crossed the sea and entered the imperial city of Anping. With the assistance of Chen Yonghua, Feng Xifan, Liu Guoxuan and other important ministers, he began to painstakingly manage the wild land of Taiwan.
And after seven or eight years of hard work... the streets of Anping Commercial Port outside Anping City have finally gained some popularity. On the only two streets of Anping Commercial Port, there were not only business and civilian officials with buns and Ming Dynasty-style clothes coming and going, but also many white-skinned and dark-skinned foreigners.
At the crossroads of Anping Commercial Port, there is a three-story small foreign-style building, and the "East India Company Commercial Building" sign is hanging on the door of the foreign-style building!
This is of course not the property of the Dutch East India Company, but the trading house of the British East India Company.
After Zheng Chenggong regained Taiwan, the Dutch East India Company became the sworn enemy of the Zheng regime in the Ming Dynasty. It was also won over by the Qing court and participated in the Battle of Xiamen and Jin Dynasty in the 17th year of Yongli reign (the second year of Kangxi reign), helping the Qing court defeat the newly defeated The Ming-Zheng Group experienced internal strife and was severely weakened. Zheng Jing, who had just seized power, lost Xiamen and Kinmen, which were more important strongholds than Taiwan!
At that time, the Han population on the island of Taiwan was too small. Xiamen and Kinmen had a larger population because they had been developed for a long time and were close to the mainland, making it easy for them to receive Ming Dynasty survivors. Therefore, losing Xia and Jin was an extremely painful defeat for Ming and Zheng!
Although the two islands of Xiamen and Jin were recovered by Qiu Hui and Jiang Sheng in the 20th year of Yongli (the fifth year of Kangxi), the original population on the islands could not come back - they were either massacred by the Qing army or They were moved to the hinterland of Fujian and starved. Therefore, what Qiu Hui and Jiang Sheng recovered were actually two empty islands.
The Qing court's efforts to win over the Dutch East India Company to oppose Ming and Zheng would of course cause the British East India Company to choose sides to support Ming and Zheng.
Not only because of the conflict between the Netherlands and England (the Anglo-Dutch War is still going on! The second war just ended, and we are still preparing for the third war), but also because the Western colonists in this era believed in "monopoly" based on strength. "Free trade rules" - that is, this free trade can only be free for me, and others cannot be free, otherwise it will violate the rules of free trade!
Therefore, the Netherlands now "free trade" with the Qing court, and Britain can only "free trade" with the Ming and Zheng Dynasties.
The Portuguese in Macau were relatively weak and were forced to move inland by Emperors Obai and Kangxi, so they were not qualified to engage in exclusive free trade with the Qing Dynasty. But there is free trade between Shang Kexi and Macau - Shang Kexi feels very free! While others are banned from overseas, he can freely earn millions a year. How happy he is!
Of course, in this East Asian free trade system based on strength and rules, there is now an "unfree" trading port, which is Dahao Port under the rule of Qiu Hui.
This Qiu Hui was a force dependent on Ming and Zheng, and supposedly he should only engage in free trade with the British East India Company. However, Dahao Port, Haimen Port and Chenghai Port are three "unfree" trading ports that anyone can enter by paying a protection fee!
Whether it is the Dutch East India Company, the British East India Company, the Portuguese in Macau, or the Spanish in the Philippines, they can enter and exit these three ports "without freedom".
The Dutch, Portuguese, and Spaniards all tolerate this kind of "lack of freedom" - they make money, not shabby.
However, Charles Gough, the first class member, and Nicholas Dabao, the second class member of the British Trading Company in Anping Town, who firmly believed in the principle of free trade based on strength, were very dissatisfied with Chaozhou's "non-free trade".
He also protested and negotiated with King Zheng Jing of Yanping more than once!
In the early morning of the next day when the important ministers of the Yanping Palace proposed to join the army, Chen Yonghua took a fast boat from Dahao to return to Anping. The two men once again got into a four-wheeled carriage and went to Anping Castle to meet Zheng Jing and Chen Yonghua. Negotiated.
Before the two people left the store, an informant placed next to Chen Yonghua by Nicholas Dabao from the second shift hurriedly delivered an envelope.
Nicholas Dabao, who was born in the Philippines but has 100% Chinese ancestry, opened the envelope on the carriage and read it. After a few glances, a look of surprise appeared on his fair and handsome face.
Charlie Goff, who was holding a pipe and was a bit pudgy with flowing golden hair, had already seen the change in Ji Dabao's expression and called him by his Chinese name, "Ji Dabao, what happened?"
"Your Excellency, Consul, the Yanping Palace is very likely to start a war against the Qing Dynasty!" Ji Dabao called Gao Fu "consul", but this "consul" was not appointed by King Charles II, but recommended by the British East India Company and the British expatriates. - There are many such "consuls" in this era. They are not representatives of the king or a country's government, but representatives of the diaspora.
Therefore, the "free trade" agreement signed by Charles Gough and the Ming and Zheng authorities was only the "freedom" of the British East India Company, not the "freedom" of the entire Kingdom of England.
"Are we going to start a war again? They are so weak that they dare to go to war with the Qing Dynasty. Do they want to destroy themselves?" Charlie Gough looked out the window, it was really very depressed!
This is the most prosperous place on the island of Taiwan, but compared to the Dahao Commercial Port under the rule of that big boss Hui, it is still far behind!
Although the population under the rule of Da Laohui is not necessarily larger than that of Zheng Jing, Dahao Commercial Port is an "unfree trade port" and relies on the two major industries of salt and sugar, so it has a large floating population.
Anping City in Taiwan is simply incomparable!
Ji Dabao shook his head and said with a smile: "Consul, it seems that this war was not started by the Yanping Palace, but by a dangerous rebel who appeared under the Qing Dynasty!"
"who is he?"
Ji Dabao said: "He is the son of Emperor Chongzhen of the previous dynasty, and he is known as the third prince Zhu Cijiong! He has raised troops in Chaozhou and has the support of Chen Yonghua... Consul, I think this is our An opportunity to include Teochew Prefecture in our free trade system!”
"What to do?" Charlie Gough asked.
Ji Dabao smiled and said: "We can sell them the few old cannons in stock and the batch of matchlock guns that have been used by seven or eight hands. Those are all big gunpowder owners... and then when the war continues Cut off the supply of gunpowder and saltpeter at the most critical moment!"
Charlie Gough laughed, "Is it just a cut off of supply? We can also sell gunpowder and saltpeter to His Highness King Pingnan... Our gunpowder and saltpeter are much better than what the Portuguese can provide!"
Ji Dabao complimented: "Your Excellency, Consul, you are so wise!"
Charlie Goff unceremoniously admitted this advantage of his, "Hahaha, I think so too!"
...
"Military advisor, are you kidding me? Can you really make gunpowder from sugar and blow it up into a big piece?"
"That's right. How can you make sugar water and explode it?"
"How could this candy be lit? Military advisor, were you deceived by Cannon Zhu?"
"Your Majesty, Guard Feng and General Liu, let's try it and find out if this sugar can explode..."
At this moment, in a pavilion in the backyard of the palace in Anping Fort, Chen Yonghua, who had rushed back to Taiwan after a long journey, was grinding powdered sugar with a stone mill.
There were three people surrounding him. One of them was wearing a Taoist uniform (a kind of Confucian uniform). He was thin, with bulging cheekbones, small eyes, and a few moustache. He didn't look like a king. , but calls himself a "lonely family". Needless to say, it must be Zheng Jing, King of Yanping.
The other two were both quite tall warriors, both wearing narrow-sleeved military uniforms. One of them had a sword on his waist, and it was Zheng Jing's most trusted captain of the bodyguard, Feng Xifan. The other was a dark-faced man with an unkempt beard that was not trimmed properly and looked thick. He was Liu Guoxuan, the general Zheng Jing relied on most.
