The literary giants of the late Ming Dynasty began by copying books

Then merchants from Zhejiang, Nanzhi, and Fujian continued to mention the large-scale opening of the sea in the Changzhou Proclamation, hoping that the imperial court would open the sea as soon as possible, and it would be best to encourage these merchants to colonize foreign countries.

However, the originally useful appeal became ineffective in this matter. The expansion of sea expansion involves the essential interests of many merchants. Except for the lower-level merchants, the upper-level big businessmen will not participate in the call at all, and it cannot be promoted in a short time.

The influence spread further, and a few months later, a "heirloom" from Luzon came to Fujian to redress his grievances. He was not a foreigner, but a native of Jinjiang, Fujian.

In the third year of Yongle, the eunuch Sanbao appointed Xu Chailao, the leader of the overseas Chinese in Jinjiang, as the governor of Luzon in accordance with the imperial edict of Emperor Yongle. He was the legal owner of Luzon, and the leaders who followed him could only be called "chief".

The Xu family had lived in Luzon for generations and had long since been defeated. However, they once participated in Suleiman's army of the Rajya Kingdom to fight against the Spanish colonists and together they defended Manila.

At this time, it was discovered that the Ming Dynasty suddenly noticed Lu Song, so the Xu family hurriedly came to cry and asked the Ming Dynasty to help them "restore the country."

With the Xu family taking the lead, other colonized places could no longer sit still. At this time, there were more than one former Ming vassal state invaded by European colonists in Southeast Asia. Descendants from all countries came out and ran to Fujian together, and were invaded by Jin Xuezeng. Send it to the Ministry of Rites to complain.

The Ministry of Rites wants to take control of this group of "princes and grandsons" from Southeast Asia, but where can it be done? In the end, only some people's work problems could be solved. Some "princes" and "chiefs" who could speak foreign languages ​​were recruited to work as translators in the Fourth Guild Hall, and even some impostor Fujian maritime merchants became petty officials.

This group of Nanyang petty officials hung out in the capital, eating and seeing the world, which directly made the officials in the capital understand much more deeply about the situation in Southeast Asia at this time.

After hearing so many brutal behaviors of the Spaniards, the Ming court unanimously made a decision, condemned the Spanish ambitions, and immediately sent officials to inspect Luzon Island.

This is all that can be done for the time being, but it is enough to make the Spanish colonists deeply afraid. Originally, in the 31st year of Wanli in history, in order to inspect Jiyi Mountain, the Ming Dynasty sent several military attachés to Luzon to inquire about the news. Spain People were also afraid of offending Ming Dynasty, so they entertained him well, but they started to slaughter Hua after they returned.

In this time and space, most Spaniards would not dare to do this, because the Chinese also knew that the Ming Dynasty was going to be against Spain, and their vigilance was greatly increased. It would no longer be possible for them to hand over all the iron tools to the Spaniards, and then build one hospital after another. The gullible behavior of waiting for the other party to come to slaughter.

The imperial court's displeasure with Spain has been made public, and some maritime merchants have even begun planning to drive away the Spanish colonists and occupy Luzon.

The Spaniards, who had just lost the Armada in the Atlantic, were thrown into confusion for a while.

Representative of the Pattani Sultanate, Commander of the Dutch Fleet Wei Malang, looked at the translated "Xun Bao" and his hands trembled in surprise.

"How did the Ming Dynasty know that we robbed and killed British ships? Who is this Wang Wenlong!"

Wang Wenlong completely added fuel to his jealousy about the Dutch or Spanish kidnapping and killing of the British envoys, but he never imagined that it was really the Dutch who did it...

The attack on the British mission was not intentional by the Dutch East India Company. In fact, at this point in time, the establishment of the true Dutch East India Company was still under discussion.

This was an accident caused by Wei Malang and others.

With the dawn of the war of independence between the Netherlands and Spain, the Dutch also began to spontaneously explore colonies in Asia. From six years ago to now, the Netherlands has established fourteen companies focusing on East India trade.

Often many companies from the Netherlands arrived at the same port at the same time to purchase the same goods and compete viciously with each other. At the same time, they had to guard against attacks by the Spanish, Portuguese or British.

There is no law on the sea. Whoever has more cannons and bigger calibers on the ship has the right to speak. When merchant ships meet each other, if one party is stronger, it often happens that the other party is directly robbed.

In this matter, more than a dozen East India companies in the Netherlands competed with each other, and they all tensed up and often fired first.

It was under this circumstance that the unfortunate British merchant ship was sunk by Wei Malang. At that time, he was leading a fleet of eight ships and one hundred artillery pieces. He saw three British merchant ships and no other ships nearby. The ships are present, it would be a shame not to take advantage of the opportunity to get a vote.

After the British ship was shot, Wei Malang took a sampan to the enemy ship with the gang-hopping sailors and robbed it. He couldn't take away much of the items in the short time before the ship sank, but he could plunder the enemy's precious gold. Silver treasure. It was at this time that he accidentally found the coat of arms representing the British nobles from one of the deceased, and then he knew that he had attacked and killed an envoy.

But Wei Malang really didn't know that this envoy also brought credentials to the Ming Dynasty, and this matter was discovered.

He was really guilty, because the place where the mission ship sank and the characteristics of the ship mentioned in the article were exactly the same as in his memory. It must be the fleet he captured.

"This matter must not be leaked!" Wei Malang made up his mind immediately. The time now is really critical. It is now the end of 1601 AD. Fourteen companies focusing on East India trade in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, have begun to discuss mergers in order to avoid commercial competition and plan to establish a joint Dutch East India Company. Indian company.

The company is expected to be established next year, and the Dutch East India Company will be granted by the country's parliament a monopoly on trade from the Cape of Good Hope in the east to the Southern Strait of Magellan in South America.

As a commander who has traveled many East India routes for various Dutch companies, Wei Malang, who is now serving the rank of lieutenant general in the Dutch Navy, has the right to compete for the high position of the East India Company's headquarters in Batavia, Java.

The trade policy determined by the Dutch East India Company was to cooperate with local forces. The company's army and local forces would work together to form colonies and protect trade routes.

The Dutch did not want to start a dispute with the Ming Dynasty.

And what should Wei Malang do if it is discovered that his company attacked the British mission at this time?

If he offends the British and the Ming Dynasty at the same time, not to mention that he will not be able to become a high-level executive of the Dutch East India Company in the future, he will even be kicked out of the fourteen companies.

When the Dutch colonized, they liked to cooperate with the local indigenous people just because they could get the best benefits, which did not mean that they were soft-hearted.

Judging from what was written in the "Xun Bao", Wang Wenlong must have known the specific circumstances of the ship's sinking. It could only be that someone in his team leaked the secret at that time. Wei Malang immediately went to find the captain who was part of the team. , start looking for the leaker.

He is now the top representative of several Dutch companies in Asia that have not yet been merged, and the power in his hands is not ordinary. In addition to the Dutch, there were also a large number of Spanish and Portuguese in his fleet at that time. Wei Ma Lang felt that these people were most likely to leak secrets. After asking, he found that everyone said that they were extremely tight-lipped.

Wei Malang inquired to no avail and directly transferred these people to Johor.

The Dutch were preparing to go to war with the Spanish there, and small-scale harassment and attacks were endless. As long as Wei Malang delayed supplies to the colony, these employees who were transferred to Johor had basically no chance of coming back.

The Ming Dynasty's pursuit of the British mission will definitely escalate. Even if these people have not betrayed themselves now, the Dutch have fundamental conflicts with the Spanish and Portuguese. The Dutch believe in Protestantism, while Spain and Portugal believe in Catholicism. Under great pressure Next, Wei Malang knew that these people would rebel one day, and he could not bear such a risk.

These employees found out that they had been tricked by Wei Malang, and they didn't know why. Many of them were lucky, thinking that they could come back after a few years, but they didn't know that they had already been on Wei Malang's death list. If within a few years, They are not dead yet, Wei Malang will find another way to get rid of them one by one.

Half a month later, in the Pattani Sultanate, Wei Malang's boss Linschoten took a sip of wine, shook his head and said to Wei Malang: "I have tried my best to help you check, but there is still no news. No one knows about Wang Wenlong. Where did the information come from? Even many Chinese people on Luzon Island first learned the news from the Ming Dynasty and then learned about it."

Wei Malang shook his head and said: "I know these Chinese very well. These Chinese are prone to lying. What they tell us and what they tell the Ming people themselves are definitely two different things. I'm afraid we have to continue to inquire."

The most common local people used by European colonists when they came to Southeast Asia for colonization were Indians and Chinese. There were many outstanding talents on both sides. The Indians had their own selfish motives and would often implement half of the Europeans' demands and leave the other half behind. Europeans may be able to tolerate this if they reap their own benefits.

The Chinese are more powerful and can better implement the Europeans' demands. However, not only do they have their own selfish motives, they implement half and leave half. What is even more troublesome for the Europeans is that the Chinese have a strong clan concept. At least in this era, they are willing to There are still very few Chinese who sincerely work as slaves for the Europeans. They not only make profits for themselves, but also continuously transfer the profits to the Ming Dynasty.

This is the difference between the Chinese motherland being a unified Ming Dynasty and the Indian motherland being a bunch of small states.

Europeans often find that after Indians have made profits, they are often unwilling to return to their hometowns. Instead, they prefer to live a luxurious life locally and work for Europeans from generation to generation.

The Chinese are different. One day they were working and suddenly ran away. The next time I heard about them, it was that they used the money they earned in their hometown in Fujian to "live like an emperor."

It is often more difficult for Europeans to trust these Chinese who are unwilling to take root in Southeast Asia.

Linschoten shook his head and said: "No matter how cunning the Chinese are, we must still use them. For example, in this case, it seems necessary for us to send people into Ming Dynasty to investigate."

Linschoten is not a small figure, his status in the Netherlands is higher than Wei Malang.

Linschoten was a businessman. He had already learned Spanish and came to India to work before the Netherlands was independent from Spain.

(End of this chapter)