1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 3666

"General, I see there are not many warships in Cochin Harbor, and the castle is just a small ordinary fortress with very few gun positions. If we launch an all-out attack, I'm afraid the Dutch won't be able to survive even a day, right?"

Hearing Dong Shangyi's question, Qian Tiandun smiled and said, "This place doesn't mean much to us. There's no need to quarrel with the Dutch over it."

Dong Shangyi recalled what he had seen during his previous visit to Xingdao, and asked tentatively, "Is the general concerned about Xingdao's business dealings with the Dutch?"

Qian Tiandun said: "What you said is only one of the reasons. In fact, the Dutch also have a lot of territory in the western Indian Ocean. When we set up routes across the Indian Ocean in the future, we will inevitably have many dealings with the Dutch. We should leave some space for them so that we can meet again later."

According to the jurisdiction authorized by the Dutch Parliament to the East India Company at the beginning of this century, it was from the Cape of Good Hope at the southern tip of Africa in the east to the Strait of Magellan at the southern tip of South America in the west, and it enjoyed a monopoly on trade in this area. Therefore, there were still many territories belonging to the East India Company in the area from the coast of East Africa to the Middle East and the west coast of the Indian Peninsula.

Taking down a small port of Cochin is certainly not a difficult task for the special operations division, but if it causes complications and affects future long-term operations in the western Indian Ocean, it would be a loss.

After leaving Cochin Port, the fleet continued to move north along the coastline. It took only one day to reach the next destination, Calicut Port, 300 miles north of Cochin Port.

Although this place has no natural bay and the coastline is very flat, it is not a prosperous large port, but for the special warfare division coming from afar, it is a must-stop for a visit.

"More than two hundred years ago, in the seventh year of Xuande in the Ming Dynasty, Zheng He led his fleet to the Western Ocean for the last time and came here. He brought the Ming Dynasty's imperial edict and silver seal to the King of Guli, who ruled this area at the time. It is said that this place was also Zheng He's last stop, and he died in Guli. As descendants, we should go and pay homage to this pioneer of navigation!"

Although Dong Shangyi is a Han Chinese, he did not know much about this period of history. It was only after listening to Qian Tiandun's introduction that he learned that the famous eunuch Zheng He in history actually died here. He couldn't help but sigh at the power of his predecessors, who had set foot here more than two hundred years ago.

So to speak, from that time onwards for the past two hundred years, the Ming Dynasty's navigation had indeed been on a downward spiral, and it was not until this time that the second group of Han people representing the official came here again.

In fact, there is no clear record in official history about how long Zheng He stayed in Guli and whether he died there. However, based on the folk documents such as "Shangjiang and Jiangnan County Records", "Zheng He's Genealogy Preface", "Feihuan Temple Incense and Holy Image Records", and "Jiangning County Records", it can be roughly inferred that Zheng He died in Guli.

The Record of the Holy Statue of Feihuan Temple records that "Unexpectedly, in the Gengxu year of Xuande, he accepted the order of the emperor and went to the West. In the Guichou year, he died in the country of Guli."

The Records of Shangjiang and Jiangnan Counties recorded that "there is a tomb of eunuch Zheng He, who was ordered to sail to the West during the Yongle reign and returned at the beginning of the Xuande reign. He died in Guli and was buried at the foot of the mountain."

However, the foothill where Zheng He was buried was not in Guli, but in Niu Shou Mountain in the southern suburbs of Nanjing. The only remnant of Zheng He left in Calicut Port is a stone pavilion built at that time. The inscription on the stele records Zheng He's experience of visiting this place and the content of the two countries' negotiation to establish friendly relations.

The establishment of the Kingdom of Calicut has long since disappeared, and now this place is the sphere of influence of the Portuguese. Therefore, the arrival of the Hai Han fleet encountered no obstacles and was allowed to dock here for supplies.

Qian Tiandun and his men went ashore, went to the place where the stone pavilion was located, and held a small worship ceremony.

This inevitably aroused the Portuguese's vigilance, and they were worried that the Hai Han people wanted to use history as an excuse to get involved. However, Qian Tiandun was not overly interested in this place. If it weren't for the relics left by Zheng He, he wouldn't even have ordered the fleet to dock at this small port.

Before leaving, Qian Tiandun generously paid a sum of money to the Portuguese government here and asked them to hire special personnel to maintain the stone pavilion.

Dong Shangyi was quite indignant: "It is obvious that our ancestors came here earlier than the Portuguese, but this place has become their territory, and they are so petty as if they are afraid that we will come to take their territory!"

This time, Li Yuande's position finally agreed with him: "I specially read the local chronicles written by the Portuguese. They came here more than 60 years after Zheng He's death! In terms of who came first, we must have come first!"

Since the topic was coming up, Qian Tiandun took the opportunity to give them some basic information about the history of the Portuguese coming here.

The first Portuguese to land here at the end of the 15th century was the famous navigator Vasco da Gama, and this was also his preferred landing place on the Indian Peninsula.

But Da Gama's purpose was very different from Zheng He's. His fleet was composed of slaves, death row prisoners, soldiers and priests. They came here not for peaceful and fair trade, but to plunder spices and wealth.

It was on the red carpet paved with the blood of the natives of Calicut that Vasco da Gama became a count appointed by the Portuguese royal family, and more than 20 years later he was appointed Governor-General of India.

However, in the same year that Da Gama took office as the Governor-General of India, he died in the city of Calicut, and was not brought back to the country for burial until more than ten years later.

It is a coincidence that these two famous navigators both chose Calicut as the place to first land in India and eventually died in this place.

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"But one difference between our ancestors and the Portuguese is that Zheng He brought friendly trade here, while the Portuguese brought war and oppression."

"Westerners are more concerned with short-term gains, while we value long-term influence. Now it seems that we are at a disadvantage, but if we extend the time span to hundreds of years or several generations, we will know who the real winner is then."

Li Yuande seemed to be thinking deeply, and Dong Shangyi could not help asking: "General, how can we know what will happen in the next few hundred years?"

Qian Tiandun said in a deep voice: "We really cannot know what will happen in the next few hundred years, but what we are doing now is to pave the way for future generations, so that they will not take detours and be bullied again!"

"Although these Europeans seem to have been operating here for a long time and have achieved some results, their development speed is far slower than our country. Within one or two generations, the world situation will inevitably change dramatically. Our country will become an unrivaled superpower, and the colonies operated by these European countries in the East will gradually disintegrate and fall apart."

"Li Yuande, Dong Shangyi, if you live long enough, you will also have a chance to see this day!"