"Is this Xin'an Port? The port in Annan does not look as big as expected." After inspecting Lang Son Palace, Gao Heng followed the cavalry to Xin'an Port non-stop. In Gao Heng's mind, the importance of Xin'an Port It is bigger than Lang Son. It can be said that in the future, whether Xinghua Army can develop on a large scale will depend on this port.
Today's world is an era of great voyages and great discoveries. The reason why the Europeans will become extremely powerful in the future is precisely because of the huge dividends brought to them by the great voyages of discovery. Originally, China would definitely be able to get on this train. , Zheng He’s voyages to the West were a shining pearl in the Age of Discovery.
However, this great sport was forced to suspend, and the Ming Dynasty directly implemented a blockade policy. Coupled with Japanese pirate attacks and sea bans, the Ming Dynasty became closed and gradually fell behind Europe at the same time. It is now the seventeenth century, and the Age of Discovery refers to the period from the fifteenth century to the middle of the seventeenth century. If Gao Heng does not take action, even the end of the Great Discovery will be missed.
When the large group of cavalry rushed towards Xin'an Port, it was obvious that the sailors, merchants, and workers at the port were all shocked. A few days ago, they received a notice from the Annan court, saying that this place had been ceded to an organization called the Xinghua Army and that they should evacuate here as soon as possible, but no one took it seriously.
The main thing is that Xin'an Port is very different from the inland areas of Annam. Compared with Lang Son Palace, Lang Son Palace has a thousand garrison at least, which can ensure the implementation of the Annan court's decree, but the garrison of Xin'an Port only has one man. , only two hundred people, because it is a relatively remote port, and the Annan Navy is not stationed here. The number of troops stationed is small, which means that the court's control over the place is not very strong.
The second is that Xin'an Port is a port after all, so there are not many permanent residents. Basically, they are mainly people carried on ships from various countries. These people include sailors, adventurers, gold diggers, businessmen, and The workers at the dock are of all kinds and colors. Even the local Annan people living in Xin'an Port make a living by doing these people's business. They travel all over the country. Strictly speaking, they do not have a large fixed population.
The army retreated immediately after receiving the order. They could only drive away these foreigners or non-locals. But if they really didn't listen, they had no choice. There were also many locals who, based on the principle of doing business, also Ignore the army. The Annan garrison here has long been involved with the sailors and merchant ships, and they have collected a lot of benefits, so it is impossible to do anything to them.
The most important thing is that many merchant ships are armed merchant ships, traveling north and south, and have never encountered any dangers. Whose merchant ship is not equipped with a few artillery pieces? Sailors from all countries are very united. If there is a fight, the Annan garrison will still It's not necessarily their opponent.
As soon as the Annan garrison withdrew, this place became a real no-no-no zone. The caravans and sailors still felt that they were freer without the existence of the Annan army. But who would have thought that, as the Annan people's notice said, it was really There will be troops coming to receive them.
"General, look, Xin'an Port is ahead." Lu Tao led the sentry team to send a signal from the front.
Gao Heng raised his telescope and looked at it. He was a little disappointed. In his opinion, this place should be very prosperous, just like the ancient ports seen in TV series or movies in later generations. There are endless merchant ships like giant ships and people in the port. There are Chinese, Annamites, Flemish, Arabs, Persians and so on.
But now, what comes into view is a port that is not particularly big. It even looks like a town. There are dozens of ships of various colors moored at the port, but there are no giant merchant ships as imagined. The largest one looks like It’s about the same size as Captain Jack Sparrow’s pirate ship in the movie. However, there were quite a lot of people. At a glance, there were indeed many people gathering on the pier, on the boat, and in the market. It was roughly estimated that there were no less than several thousand people.
But with the appearance of the cavalry, they seemed to have stopped what they were doing, and stretched their heads to look this way.
"Let's go over there, Lu Tao. You stand in front of them and tell them not to panic. We don't mean any harm." Gao Heng said.
Boom boom, the elephant soldiers were left behind in Lang Son Palace. Gao Heng only took 800 cavalry to take over Xin'an Port. But even so, the momentum was huge. Thousands of horse hooves beat on the ground, making a huge noise.
"Cavalry! The cavalry is coming!" The people at the port finally reacted. It seemed that these cavalry were approaching menacingly. Although they were several miles apart, they could clearly see the cold light reflected by the armor on these cavalry. Some experienced The businessman immediately judged that this was not an ordinary cavalry, but a heavily armored cavalry team.
"Run!" I don't know who shouted. Everyone dropped the things in their hands and ran towards the dock like flying. What is the best way to deal with the cavalry? Not to turn around and fight with them, but to hide. Go to places where cavalry cannot reach, such as on the sea.
But the pier at the pier is only so wide, and with so many people running across it, it suddenly became extremely crowded.
"Ah! Ah!" Several screams came, and someone was squeezed out of the bridge and fell into the water.
"Don't be afraid! Don't run away! We don't have any ill intentions!" Lu Tao led dozens of cavalrymen from the sentinel team and rushed over. While sprinting, he shouted to the crowd in Chinese and Annan. The horses they were equipped with were all high-quality. Heng asked Lu Tao to carefully select the strong horses from the captured war horses. They were taller and stronger than ordinary war horses, and naturally faster. The sentinel team often had to perform very dangerous tasks, and it was impossible to do without a good mount. .
Lu Tao and others rushed up and shouted. Many people in the crowd could understand Chinese and Annan dialect. After Lu Tao and others shouted, the mood of everyone became more stable, and many people stopped. , turned back and looked in the direction of Lu Tao.
Lu Tao rushed forward, raised his hands and said to the people in front of him: "Don't be afraid, everyone. We are here to take over the Xinghua Army at the port. I believe you have heard of our name. We have no ill intentions. You should do whatever you want. ,please believe us."
A red-haired and blue-eyed foreigner stood up and said, "Hey, dear Mr. Jianjun, can you swear by something to say about Nigerian food? Will the people in Nigeria reward us?"
The foreigner's accent sounded very awkward, but Lu Tao basically understood it. He said to the foreigner: "Your Chinese is pretty good. Since you can understand what I'm talking about, please take a look. Let's continue." You haven't even drawn your saber, does it look like it's hurting you?"
Just as he was talking, Gao Heng came with a large army on horseback. Eight hundred cavalry were lined up. An invisible pressure spread immediately, causing the people at the dock to take a few steps back unconsciously. The foreigner saw Gao Heng. , couldn't help but his throat squirmed. It was obvious that this tall and mighty general, whose whole body was wrapped in iron armor, was their leader. For a moment, he didn't know what to say.
Gao Heng rode his horse past Lu Tao's position, clasped his fists at the crowd and said, "Everyone, my name is Gao Heng, and he is the chief general of the Xinghua Army. Maybe you don't know us well, but it doesn't matter. The days are long and we still have a lot of time to come. Understand each other. I came here in person today just to explain to you that you will continue to transport the goods you should transport and continue to do the business you should do. We, the Xinghua Army, will not interfere with your various activities. There is only one thing. Before, you were How much tax is paid to the Annan people here, our Xinghua Army does not add a penny, and you still pay according to this standard, the port officials will be appointed in a few days, I don’t know what I said, do you understand?"
Everyone was still a little doubtful. Gao Heng jumped off his horse and came to the front of a shop. This shop sold rice cakes. Annan is rich in rice, so it is different from the flour in the Central Plains. Rice flour is mostly used to make cakes here, which is very similar to the rice cakes in the south. Like, fried or grilled, it tastes very sweet.
Gao Heng fumbled in his arms for a while, took out an ingot of gold and placed it in front of the stall owner, and then said: "This is one tael of gold, at least ten taels of silver. I have 800 people under my command. Please start baking it now." I want each of my men to have a piece of rice cake."
Seeing these armored cavalry, the stall owner was afraid to return, but money can make all the difference. The golden ingots are right in front of him. You know, a rice cake only costs a few copper coins, and one tael of silver can bake two or three rice cakes. One hundred rice cakes, eight hundred rice cakes, no less than three or four taels at most, but this general can get one tael of gold at a time. You know, in many places, gold is not equivalent to ten times the amount of silver, and is even worth more than Ten times as much silver.
The stall owner immediately reached out and took the gold ingot, put it in his mouth and took a bite. He said with great joy: "Really, you see, this is real gold!" He raised his hands in the air and cheered, "Sir, just look at it. , give me some time, I will ensure that every one of your men can taste the freshest and warmest rice cakes."
After saying that, the stall owner immediately spread out the rice cakes. Only then did people believe that the general in front of them was not only not here to kill them, but also here to bring them wealth.
The essence of a businessman is to pursue profits. Wherever there is profit, businessmen will appear. Dozens of businessmen immediately surrounded him. This was the first time they had seen such a generous general.
Someone shouted in Chinese: "General, general, look at our tea. This is the tea we shipped from the Ming Dynasty. It is top quality."
"Porcelain, general, this is the porcelain we brought from the Ming Dynasty. Take a look, it may be useful."
"General, this is a spice from Arabia."
The voices were getting louder and louder, and everyone was afraid that they would be late and others would take the lead. When the red-haired and blue-eyed foreigner saw everyone rushing in front of him, he had an idea and shouted: "General, weapons, I have weapons, weapons from the Netherlands! There is no general who doesn't like weapons!"
Gao Heng's ears were very sensitive. He heard the Dutchman's voice. Gao Heng's guards immediately separated the crowd, protected Gao Heng and came to this man. Gao Heng immediately asked: "Weapon, what kind of weapon?"
The Dutchman came to Gao Heng, put his hands on his chest, bent down and bowed to Gao Heng: "Dear General, I am Pudman from the Netherlands. It is a great honor to meet you. Although I don't know where you are from, But it can be seen that you should be a great ruler."
This Dutchman named Pudman flattered Gao Heng as soon as he came on. Gao Heng looked Bodeman up and down. The Sea Coachman was indeed well-deserved. These Dutch people can be said to be the earliest enlighteners in the Age of Discovery. People in later generations will know that the British Empire is known as the Empire on which the sun never sets.
In fact, before the 18th century, there was only one empire that was truly called the empire on which the sun never sets, and that was the Netherlands. The famous East India Company was a product of the Dutch. The reason why they are so powerful is not only because the Dutch have a pioneering and adventurous spirit, but most importantly, the Dutch are very good at doing business.
The aspect of the Dutch doing business is not just about the Dutch's courage to open up new commercial routes and new sea routes, but also because the Dutch dare to sell everything, from arms and opium to population. Whatever they dare to do, as long as it is money-making work, they will do anything. This is precisely because the Dutch fleet rose up in a short period of time and replaced Spain and Portugal as the maritime hegemon. A small European country with a population of only a few million, Being able to become powerful in a short period of time has its merits.
"Mr. Pudman, your Chinese is very good." Gao Heng praised.
"Thank you for your compliment, General. There are many Ming people in Southeast Asia, Java and Lusong. I learned Chinese there." Pudman said with a smile.
This information was captured very keenly by Gao Heng. He just said that there were many Ming people in the Nanyang area. Gao Heng knew about the coastal residents of the Ming Dynasty who went to Nanyang, but these people did not live well. It was not the local natives. People bring disaster to them. It was precisely these Westerners, such as the Dutch, Francois and later the English, that brought disaster to them.
They were oppressed and sold by these Westerners. If they resisted, they would even be massacred. Their property would be robbed, their manors confiscated, and they would become slaves of the Westerners.
Now that I have obtained the port, can I get in touch with these Chinese one day in the future and save them from dire straits?
"General, general." Gao Heng's thoughts were pulled back by Pudman's shout.
Gao Heng was a little embarrassed and said: "Ah, Mr. Pudman, I'm sorry, I was a little distracted. Just now you said selling weapons. I heard that the weapons of the Dutch are good. I don't know what you are referring to?"
Pudman said: "Of course it's a good thing."
