1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 3670

The request made by Fernandez was also based on the lessons learned from the Strait of Malacca, an attempt to prevent problems before they occur.

When Roger led his troops to Sing Tao Island, the Portuguese believed that it would be difficult for them to take root in the resource-scarce area and did not drive them away immediately. As a result, more than 20 years later, Malacca's trading status was replaced by Sing Tao Island.

If Hai Han were allowed to establish a colony on the coast of the Indian peninsula, there was a chance that a second Star Island would appear in the future and replace the Goa colony.

Fernandez intends to open the port in exchange for Hai Han's promise not to settle in the area. There are gains and losses, but it can also help him reach a delicate balance with Hai Han.

After a little thought, Qian Tiandun nodded and agreed to the other party's request.

He had already decided to concentrate his resources on the construction and development of Hamban Port and had no intention of establishing more colonies on the Indian Peninsula, so there was no loss in agreeing to the Portuguese conditions.

Qian Tiandun's statement also made Fernandez secretly relieved. He could see that Hai Han's westward momentum was unstoppable, so as long as he could protect Portugal's interests in the Indian Ocean region from being infringed during his term, he would be able to report back to his country.

After completing a brief five-day visit to the port of Goa, the Special Operations Division continued northward along the coastline. In order to prevent the Hai Han fleet from causing misunderstandings to the Mughal Empire, the Portuguese also specially dispatched a ship to accompany the fleet so that the Hai Han fleet could stop at ports along the way.

Of course, the Portuguese did this with the intention of tracking and monitoring, but Qian Tiandun did not care about it and readily accepted the help offered by the other party.

He had arranged this tour with the intention of showing off military power, and he was eager to let all the countries along the way witness the power of the Hai Han fleet. Of course, it was inevitable that he would have to stop along the way and hold more foreign affairs exchange activities.

On the way, Dong Shangyi asked Qian Tiandun a question that had troubled him for a long time: "It is said that Spain was the sovereign of Portugal for many years, and its national strength was even higher than that of Portugal, but why are there no Spanish people in this vast area of ​​the Indian Ocean?"

Qian Tiandun asked in return: "Have you noticed that the Spanish territory is limited to the east side of the South China Sea? They have never even attempted to get involved in a key maritime pass like the Strait of Malacca."

Dong Shangyi said: "That's right, I am also very confused, please enlighten me, General!"

Qian Tiandun said: "This is actually a long story. In short, these two countries once had an agreement on dividing the world."

Spain and Portugal were both maritime colonial powers of the era. In order to avoid conflicts in the struggle for power overseas, Pope Alexander VI made a decision in 1493, ordering the two countries to use the meridian as the boundary, with the east belonging to Portugal and the west to Spain.

However, due to the limitations of the understanding of the world at that time, the parties to the agreement did not know the true geographical features of the earth. After that, the two countries completed the circumnavigation of the world and both broke into each other's "jurisdiction" to establish colonies.

Portugal entered South America, which was under Spanish rule, and occupied parts of the east coast, while Spain crossed the Pacific Ocean and entered the Philippine Islands in the South China Sea, where it established a colony centered on the city of Manila on Luzon Island.

Parts of Taiwan Island that were once ruled by Spain were also the result of its invasion of Portugal's sphere of influence.

At this point, more than 30 years after the signing of the agreement, the two countries had to adjust the demarcation line agreement originally drawn up by the Pope, and mutually recognized the areas that the other side had occupied, and then continued to use this as a reference for the scope of overseas colonization. "This is why Spain, which is obviously a maritime power, has stopped in the South China Sea for many years and has not had a direct conflict with the Portuguese in the South China Sea. It's not that they don't want to grab territory in the South China Sea, but they are restricted by the agreement."

After listening to Qian Tiandun's explanation, Dong Shangyi suddenly realized.

This time he visited various overseas regions, and after visiting Luzon, this question was deeply rooted in his heart, and now it has finally been satisfactorily answered.

However, this also gave rise to a new question. He asked Qian Tiandun: "Will a country like Portugal also propose another plan to divide the world to my country in the future?"

Qian Tiandun said: "You are right. In fact, they have already tried it, but the Executive Committee is not very interested in this proposal."

Portugal had long been aware of Hai Han’s potential and ambition in expanding its maritime power, and had made several requests to the Executive Committee, hoping to discuss the division of the two countries’ spheres of influence at sea.

But the people in the Executive Committee had insights and ideas that were ahead of their time. They were well aware of the importance of controlling sea power in the future and that Portugal's long-term development prospects were not bright. Naturally, they would not set limits for themselves and sign agreements such as the "Papal Meridian" with the other party.

In other words, Portugal today is not qualified to negotiate such a big deal with Hai Han, it’s just that Qian Tiandun’s statement was more implicit.

Dong Shangyi understood Qian Tiandun's hidden meaning and did not ask any more questions. He knew that Hai Han and Portugal still had a lot of cooperation, and Qian Tiandun probably did not want to make the relationship too awkward. He led the army to visit Portugal to deter them from having some unrealistic ideas, which was a relatively gentle method.

More than 800 miles north of Goa Port, the fleet arrived at another destination, Mumbai Port.

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Although this place is not as prosperous as Goa, Portugal has also been operating here for more than a hundred years and owns seven coastal islands including Mumbai Island.

After taking a general look at the infrastructure level here, Qian Tiandun decided not to stay here for too long, because there was really nothing to inspect in detail. But before the fleet left Mumbai, something strange happened.

Some people in the fleet had symptoms such as chills, high fever, and headaches. The military doctor diagnosed it as malaria caused by mosquito bites. Judging from the time, it is very likely that they were infected during their stay in Mumbai.

In just two or three days, the disease broke out in the fleet, with hundreds of people sick, including some officers in important positions, which has affected the normal operation of the fleet.

Qian Tiandun had to suspend the trip and chose to let the fleet continue to dock in Mumbai to treat the patients. He also ordered two troop transport ships to be vacated to concentrate on treating these patients.

Unfortunately, Dong Shangyi also became one of the patients and was carried onto the troop transport ship along with his bed.

Fortunately, the army had medicinal herbs such as bupleurum, cinnamon twig, dried ginger, and licorice that were specifically used to treat malaria. After several days of treatment, the condition of most of the patients had improved significantly.