Vice Admiral Xiahou Jun led the fleet to leave Malacca and headed west along the Strait of Malacca, arriving at a port in the Kingdom of Aceh for small-scale trade and material replenishment!
The city of Malacca was besieged by many parties, and it was unable to protect itself. There were not enough supplies for trade, and the fleet of the Dachu Empire was relatively large, and the various supplies and trade scale required were relatively large. Therefore, Malacca was Only partially satisfied.
They also need to go to the trading port of the Kingdom of Aceh to replenish their supplies and trade along the way.
Today's Aceh Kingdom is entrenched in the western area of Sumatra and the Malay Peninsula, an area west of Malacca City.
The Kingdom of Aceh, the Kingdom of Johor and the Portuguese have often fought wars in the past few decades. Today you fight me, tomorrow I will fight you, and they often unite or betray, which is a very typical triangle war.
But before, no one could do anything about it. Until the Dutch got involved, the Portuguese gradually became unlucky.
The wars and competitions between these four parties have also led to a complicated situation in the Malacca Strait area, which has affected maritime trade to a certain extent.
After replenishing supplies in the Kingdom of Aceh, the fleet once again set sail and left the Strait of Malacca.
However, it did not stupidly head all the way west and head straight into the depths of the Indian Ocean. Instead, after leaving the Strait of Malacca, it turned northwest and continued sailing along the coastline.
These days, navigation technology is limited and ships are generally small. Unless necessary, ships will not directly enter the depths of the ocean, but will sail along the coastline.
By sailing close to the coastline, the route is relatively clear and you will not get lost. At the same time, when encountering danger from wind and waves, you can also sail to nearby land to avoid wind and waves, make repairs, and replenish living supplies.
This voyage passed the west coast of the Malay Peninsula controlled by the Kingdom of Ayutthaya.
The Kingdom of Ayutthaya, also known as the Ayutthaya Dynasty in Thailand, has its capital in the city of Ayutthaya. Chinese merchants who sailed to Southeast Asia often called the city Ayutthaya, so the country was also called the Kingdom of Ayutthaya.
Today's Ayutthaya Kingdom is relatively strong in Southeast Asia. It is a powerful country in Southeast Asia. In recent decades, it has suppressed the Toungoo Dynasty of Myanmar.
Well, the Taungoo Dynasty of Myanmar and the Ayutthaya Kingdom of Thailand have been fighting for hegemony for hundreds of years, which is the Thai-Burmese War. In the 16th century, Myanmar had the upper hand, and after the 17th century, the Ayutthaya Kingdom had the upper hand. .
To this day, if there is really a hegemon in Southeast Asia, then it is the Ayutthaya Kingdom. Neither the Dutch nor the Portuguese have set their colonial goals on the Ayutthaya Kingdom... The reason is simple, it is small-scale The Western colonial armed forces cannot defeat the Ayutthaya Kingdom!
Furthermore, the colonial methods of the Dutch and Portuguese were mainly based on trade. Because they had a small native population and could not maintain large-scale overseas colonial rule, their overseas colonial actions were all for trade.
This is very different from Spain and the UK.
Because of their large native populations, the Spanish and British also pursued colonial rule in addition to trade.
Specifically, it is to expand the colonial area, establish colonial rule, and plunder colonial interests for a long time.
So you can see that the colonization of the Dutch and Portuguese often bullied the weak and feared the strong. When they encountered stronger indigenous countries, they often established colonial strongholds and then conducted trade. They would not be like the British, who would do it every three days. They launched colonial wars and then went to large colonial territories.
But the Da Chu Empire is different... The Da Chu Empire's overseas operations do not pursue the interests of trade itself, and for the time being, they don't have much interest in colonial territories. Well, at least not yet. We will talk about it later. .
The Da Chu Empire's series of overseas operations, whether it was naval escort, merchant fleet trade, opening up maritime trade, or welcoming merchant ships from other countries, all had the same purpose, which was to gain more markets.
The Chu Empire Navy is trying to enter the Indian Ocean and plans to establish a colony at Dagon at the entrance of the Yangon River in Myanmar. In addition to the trade itself, it is also to provide the navy with a naval base in the Indian Ocean and thereby protect the Chu Empire in the Indian Ocean region. market.
In fact, the Dachu Empire had previously tried to obtain a colonial port in the Ayutthaya Kingdom. The Ayutthaya Kingdom controlled most of the northern part of the Malay Peninsula, and its west coast also faced the Indian Ocean, but they did not agree!
After all, the Da Chu Empire and the Dacheng Kingdom did not have a land border, and the Da Chu Empire could not threaten it even if it wanted to use its powerful army.
The Great Chu Empire was temporarily bordered by three countries in the Southeast Asian peninsula, namely the Houli Dynasty of Annan, the Nanzhang Kingdom, and the Toungoo Dynasty of Myanmar.
Although the Le Dynasty after Annan was considered a unified country, in fact, the two major families of Ruan and Zheng controlled the north and south respectively, and they were constantly attacking each other. They were in the middle of a civil war, which was the Zheng-Nguyen War.
The Zheng family, which controls the north, actively sent envoys to Guangzhou to contact the Dachu Empire after the Chu Empire seized the Guangdong and Guangxi regions. Later, they sent envoys to Jinling City to request canonization. Later, after the Ruan family in southern Annan learned the news, Envoys were also sent to Jinling City to carry out various lobbying.
At that time, the Chu Empire had not yet unified the country, and it did not understand the situation in Southeast Asia, and neither the north nor the south offered any practical benefits. Therefore, the Chu Empire was too lazy to pay attention to them, and both sides refused to grant the title. , I plan to put it off and watch it again.
However, the Chu Empire is located in the north of Annan, so the Zheng family in the north of Annan attaches great importance to the attitude of the Chu Empire. Even if they are not canonized, they still send envoys to stay in Jinling City for a long time, and their plans have not been extinguished. The thought of canonization.
To the west of Annan is the Nanzhang Kingdom, which is said to be a country, but in fact it is an alliance of many local chieftain princes. They are in a mess internally, and there is no conflict of interest with the Chu Empire for the time being.
Then there is the Toungoo Dynasty of Myanmar, which was also a country that fought with the Chu Empire. After being taught a lesson by the Fifth Division and other troops deployed by the Chu Empire in Yunnan last year, it became completely old-fashioned, requesting canonization and ceding territory. , and even opened Dagon at the mouth of the Sunshine River to the Chu Empire to serve as an outpost and military base in the Indian Ocean.
As for the Ayutthaya Kingdom, because it does not directly border the Dachu Empire, its relationship with the Dachu Empire is considered ordinary. However, when the Dachu Empire taught a lesson to the Toungoo Dynasty of Myanmar last year, the Ayutthaya Kingdom once sent people over to try to negotiate with the Dachu Empire. The Empire forms an alliance to take out Burma or something like that.
However, before the envoys they sent arrived at Jinling City, the border conflict between the Chu Empire and the Toungoo Dynasty of Myanmar had already ended. The Toungoo Dynasty simply surrendered and handed over the territory and port, and requested to be enshrined as a vassal.
This makes Ayutthaya Kingdom quite disappointed...
Therefore, so far, the diplomatic contacts between the Dachu Empire and the Dacheng Kingdom have been limited to ordinary maritime trade, and an ordinary trade agreement has been signed. There is no hostility or good relations between the two parties.
The Ayutthaya Kingdom wanted to embrace the Chu Empire and overthrow Burma together, but the Chu Empire ignored them... For the Chu Empire, the Toungoo Dynasty still had to exist, otherwise the Ayutthaya Kingdom would be alone. If it gets bigger, a hegemon will appear on the Southeast Asian peninsula.
And this is not a good thing for the Chu Empire.
Therefore, the Ayutthaya Kingdom's plan to kill the Toungoo Dynasty with the Dachu Empire is destined to not come true. Even if the Ayutthaya Kingdom's microcosm explodes, it will directly destroy the Toungoo Dynasty. Maybe the Dachu Empire wants to maintain The situation in Southeast Asia is balanced to avoid the emergence of a regional power. Instead, it will send troops to help the Toungoo dynasty.
However, there is no strategic alliance, but the trade relationship is relatively close.
Some trading companies in the Dachu Empire, such as the three major trading companies, have set up business offices in Pattani, the trading port opened by the Ayutthaya Kingdom, to conduct trade.
The Ayutthaya Kingdom also sends ships north to Guangzhou of the Chu Empire for trade every year. In recent years, trade has increased, and the Ayutthaya Kingdom will send fleets to the Chu Empire several times a year for trade.
In the trade between the two countries, the Ayutthaya Kingdom purchased silk, porcelain, cloth, iron products and other commodities that were very popular in the international trade market from the Chu Empire.
The Chu Empire purchased some Southeast Asian specialties such as agarwood, ivory, rhino horn, etc. from the Ayutthaya Kingdom, and also purchased large quantities of local rice.
The scale of the rice trade here has gradually increased in the past two years. The unit price of this thing seems not high, but the Dachu Empire does not reject food like this, and it is free of tariffs, so large-tonnage ships have to return. Sometimes, it is good to bring some even as ballast.
Generally speaking, the relationship between the Dachu Empire and the Dacheng Kingdom is an ordinary trade relationship, neither good nor bad.
When the fleet of the Dachu Empire sailed along the west coast of the Malay Peninsula under the control of the Ayutthaya Kingdom, it was not obstructed by the Ayutthaya Kingdom. Instead, it received some supplies from them.
After crossing the coastline of the Ayutthaya Kingdom without any danger, the fleet of the Chu Empire successfully entered the coastal area of the Toungoo Dynasty in Myanmar, and it did not take long to reach the entrance of the Yangon River.
Under the watchful eyes of the Burmese people in Salim Port, a large number of ships began to anchor in the coastal waters of Dagon at the mouth of the Yangon River. However, because Dagon was only a small town port before, there were not a large number of piers for large ships to berth. facilities, because only a few ships with relatively small tonnage are anchored at the shore, and those large ships with thousands of tons are still anchored offshore.
Vice Admiral Xiahou Jun, along with some naval officers and senior executives of the Nanyang Trading Company, arrived on a frigate and landed on Dagon's land.
When they arrived, many officials from the Domain Affairs Department of the Ministry of Ethnic Education who had arrived several months in advance finally breathed a sigh of relief.
These officials had set out from Yunnan with hundreds of people a few months ago, passed the dangerous and difficult land route, and successfully arrived in Dagon under the escort or supervision of the army of the Toungoo Dynasty in Myanmar to preside over the ceremony. Construction matters in Dagon.
But the work unfolded with great difficulty.
Due to the military threat from the Da Chu Empire, the Toungoo Dynasty successfully relocated all the people in the Dagon area, leaving an empty coastal town for the Da Chu Empire... but they also refused to cooperate. And supported the construction of the Dachu Empire in the port area.
Even in order to avoid further trouble, their Toungoo dynasty directly surrounded the Dagon Port that was ceded to the Dachu Empire and prohibited their own people from entering it.
This was very embarrassing. After the delegation from the Dachu Empire arrived, they couldn't find anyone to carry out some infrastructure construction, and it was difficult to purchase various materials needed to build the port.
In fact, the Toungoo Dynasty did not stop this delegation from the Da Chu Empire from doing anything... They just prohibited people from their own country from entering Dagon, and they also claimed to respect the control of the Da Chu Empire in Dagon, and Prevent gangsters from entering.
As a result, the construction of the port has become empty talk, and even the delegation's basic life has become more troublesome. Without daily necessities, they can only go to the Salim Port on the other side of the river to purchase.
Now that the fleet has finally arrived, they are relieved, at least they have manpower.
However, after Vice Admiral Xiahou Jun heard about the embarrassing experience of the delegation, his face was not very good: "These Burmese barbarians are simply trying to save face. The same goes for the army, which did not finish things well."
"Since we've already beaten it, let's beat it completely. Otherwise, this kind of bastard thing won't happen. How can we build a base now that we don't even have any workers?"
"It's a joke to ask our soldiers and sailors to open a construction base!"
After Xiahou Jun complained, he did not take any immediate action. Instead, he let the fleet rest for a few days and purchased a batch of living supplies from Sha Lian.
After everything was prepared, he asked the Nanyang Company's merchant fleet to sail to the open sea for a few days, while he himself took many warships of the fleet to the Sunshine River Estuary. Even the Burmese people lowered their eyes and held a ceremony. A large-scale live-fire exercise was carried out, and a Dodong house on the outskirts of Port Salim was accidentally hit...
Amid the roar of artillery, Lieutenant General Xiahoujun sent an envoy to Salian to explain the "accidental attack" to the local Burmese officials. At the same time, he requested the local officials to release a series of restrictions on laborers entering Dagon to work and bringing goods into Dagon for business.
This is said to be a request... But looking at the many warships outside the port that have opened their gun doors, and looking at the battered houses next to them... the local Burmese officials' legs are weak...
Being bombarded was actually nothing. What they were afraid of was that something would happen again, which would offend the Chu Empire and trigger a war between the two sides... Then things would get serious.
The Toungoo Dynasty has no confidence at all to resist the attack of the Chu Empire Army!
Therefore, in the face of Lieutenant General Xiahoujun's request, the local officials only persisted for three seconds before readily agreeing to a series of requests made by Xiahoujun.
After learning that the other party had agreed to his series of requests, Xiahoujun looked at the local indigenous people in the direction of Sha Lian and showed a trace of disdain: "A bunch of guys who need to be dealt with!"
After finishing this, Xiahou Jun took the warship out to sea to meet up with the Nanyang Trading Company, and continued to sail westward to continue their voyage.
But not all the ships and people were taken away!
Instead, a frigate, a merchant ship and hundreds of people were left behind.
Nanyang Trading Company has sold some goods during many trades along the way, and at the same time purchased a large amount of goods from the Nanyang Peninsula. These goods also need to be transported back to the country by ship.
In addition, many people fell ill during the voyage, and these people also needed to stay in Dagonli to recuperate.
The most important thing is to leave some marines to garrison Dagon to prevent Dagon from being attacked by other forces or the Burmese themselves. When the fleet set off before, more marines were assigned to it. These additional attachments The marines were prepared for the Dagon colony, with a total of more than 300 people.
In fact, Xiahoujun was very dissatisfied with this point, and he couldn't help complaining about the feudal affairs department of the Ministry of Ethnic Affairs and the Army. How could the peace agreement be signed... He didn't even have the right of armed passage.
If there is an armed right of passage, there will be no need to go to such trouble, and troops will need to be shipped all the way from the country... You can completely mobilize troops directly from the direction of Yunnan into Dagon, let alone hundreds of people, even if you send one It's been a simple thing for eighteen thousand years.
Unfortunately, no relevant agreement was reached.
Lieutenant General Xiahou Jun thought that he would still push this matter forward after returning to China. Not to mention other things, but the military right of passage must be available, so only the route of the right of passage is fixed, and he must have it if he can only go to Dagon.
This will have a huge positive effect on the Chu Empire's military control in the Burma region and subsequent maritime control in the Indian Ocean.
Xia Houjun has this idea, but he also knows that it is still difficult to make the trip. The details will depend on the attitude of domestic high-level officials towards Southeast Asia.
If it is still the same as now, and I feel that Southeast Asia is a mess, and I am not even willing to expand in this direction... I have the attitude that the natives of Southeast Asia will not mess with me, and I am too lazy to go to Southeast Asia, then I want to build a military pass The right thing is quite annoying.
Not to mention, there are many people with this attitude in China nowadays. Many people think that even the bitter cold land in the north is much better than the tropical jungle in the south.
Although the north is bitterly cold, there are not many people there, and they can graze and raise horses, which in turn eliminates the threat of nomads, which has many benefits.
And the south... is full of tropical jungles, mosquitoes, venomous snakes, and extremely populous Southeast Asian indigenous people. It is difficult to rule, and even if you capture these places, there will be no practical benefits.
At that time, the Ming Dynasty invaded Annan and captured and ruled the area for some time. However, as a result, they were not forced to retreat. Because of the language barrier, barbaric and frequent resistance occurred. The most critical non-combat losses were huge and military expenditures were huge. Come on, it’s no good!
What a loss!
Furthermore, many people in the country still believe that the main threat to the empire is in the northwest, from Jungar and Tsarist Russia. As for the barbarian indigenous people in the south... they have not seen any actual threat from them for thousands of years.
This common idea among most people in the country has also led to a certain extent in the country's foreign expansion policy, which is biased toward the northwest rather than the Southeast Asian peninsula in the south.
In this regard, Xiahou Jun was also very helpless. He alone could not change the minds of most people in the country, let alone the minds of the empire's top officials.
But he didn't know that although most people in the empire did not support going south, they did not include the ruler of the empire, Emperor Luo Zhixue!
