Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

The Ming Dynasty's change in strategy toward Southeast Asia also reached the ears of Li Guozhu and others.

After learning that the imperial court was planning to recapture Malacca and establish a feudal domain on Sumatra, Li Guozhu quickly realized that this was an opportunity.

According to the previous discussion between him and Zheng Zhilong and others, Java Island was to be developed by him, while Borneo belonged to the Zheng family.

Putting aside the current situation in Borneo, after Li Guozhu sent people to Java Island, he soon discovered that both the Mataram Kingdom formed by the indigenous people and the Dutch in Batavia were far stronger than himself.

The Mataram Kingdom was established on the ruins of the Majapahit Kingdom and is now in its heyday. It occupies East Java and Central Java, and has also intervened in Sumatra and Borneo.

Although the Dutch were small in number, they had strong ships, powerful guns and excellent weapons. Relying on the city of Batavia, they repelled the attack of the Kingdom of Matram.

Moreover, they also control the sea power and can attack from all directions in the South China Sea. The strongholds on various islands can support each other.

Li Guozhu could not compare to either of the two sides in terms of strength. In the just-concluded Battle of Batavia, Li Guozhu did not find a place to intervene.

This made him very depressed, and he planned to change his target, first go to a place where the Dutch and the natives were not strong, and open up his own fiefdom.

However, before he could choose a new place, the imperial court's strategy towards Southeast Asia changed significantly:

The imperial court planned to establish a governor's office in Malacca and open up the Tang and Qin vassal states on Sumatra.

Li Guozhu was overjoyed, realizing that he could use the power of the court to intervene in the situation in Java:
"My power is not enough, but the power of the court is enough!"

"If the imperial court can really immigrate 200,000 people to establish the Nanyang Guard, I can use the power of the imperial court to intervene in the affairs of Java Island."

"Whether they are the Matram people or the Dutch, they must face us squarely."

Two hundred thousand people are not worth mentioning to the Ming Dynasty, but in Southeast Asia, it is enough to change the situation in many places.

The total population of the Dutch in Southeast Asia was only tens of thousands at most. A powerful indigenous nation like Mataram could recruit an army of about 100,000 people.

In the case of Dongningwei, there are about 40,000 to 50,000 households among 200,000 people. If one man is drawn from each household, at least 40,000 people can be recruited.

Li Guozhu, who had seen the soldiers of Dongning Guard, had great confidence in the soldiers of Ming Dynasty. He believed that as long as these 200,000 people migrated here, they would have sufficient confidence in Nanyang.

So he quickly decided to continue to develop Java Island, and at the same time contact the Matram people and the Dutch in the name of the Ming Baron.

It can be said that although the diplomatic strategy proposed by Zhu Youjian had not yet been passed on, Li Guozhu in Southeast Asia was planning to implement it, relying on the strength of the Ming Dynasty to intervene in the war on Java Island.

Both the Kingdom of Matram and the city of Batavia welcomed Li Guozhu's envoys to mediate the disputes between the two sides.

When the Kingdom of Matram was established, the Ming Dynasty had already withdrawn from Southeast Asia. Although the king had heard of the Ming Dynasty's reputation, he did not take it seriously.

The Dutch in Batavia took this very seriously, because just a few months ago, the people they sent to develop Dongning were expelled by the Ming Dynasty.

Although the Ming Dynasty's measures were very gentle and there was no major war with the Netherlands, almost all the Dutch in Fort Zeelandia were sent to the Hong Kong Free Trade Zone and were not in danger of death.

However, the senior executives of the Dutch East India Company were still very angry. They believed that the Ming Dynasty did not respect their interests and were ready to teach the Ming Dynasty a lesson.

If it weren't for the attack of the Kingdom of Matram on Batavia, which tied up the East India Company's energy, their warships might have reached Xiangjiang Island long ago and started another war with the Ming Dynasty.

As a commercial organization, the East India Company had almost no concept of exchanges between countries and had always relied on its strength to conquer cities and territories in Southeast Asia.

In order to monopolize the trade in Southeast Asia, they fought with the Spaniards, invaded Xiangshan Bay controlled by the Portuguese, massacred the English who colluded with the natives, and even went to war with the Ming Dynasty.

Even though these people knew that the Ming Dynasty was a powerful country, they were not afraid at all, because the Ming Dynasty's warships could only threaten them near the coast.

Under this attitude, the fate of the envoys sent by Li Guozhu can be imagined. Cohen, the then Governor-General of East India, severely humiliated them.

This Governor-General of East India, who pursued genocide and carried out several massacres in Southeast Asia, did not believe that the Ming Dynasty had the power to mediate disputes in Southeast Asia, and believed that their dispute with the Kingdom of Matram did not require mediation by the Ming Dynasty.

Li Guozhu was very angry and found the Governor-General of Nanyang, who was previously responsible for coordinating the development of Nanyang, and proposed:

"The Dutch are unreasonable. If the Ming Dynasty wants to control Southeast Asia, they must be driven out."

"The Ming Dynasty should support Mataram and Banten and let them besiege the Dutch."

Guo Shangyou was still in Dongning at this time, worrying about how to move to Malacca.

The emperor's decisions in court are simple, but their implementation is extremely difficult.

Apart from other things, the number of immigrants needed by the Nanyang Guards was not enough. The number of disaster victims who migrated to Cangzhou via the post road in winter was far greater than that in autumn.

This was not only because the court was not organized, but also because the winter was cold and not suitable for the migration of disaster victims.

If they were forced to relocate, they would freeze to death or starve to death on the road. Many disaster victims who relocated spontaneously never made it to Cangzhou, but died on the road.

Therefore, the Cangzhou Immigration Camp cannot gather the 50,000 households needed by the Nanyang Guards for the time being. They can only organize the migration of disaster victims when it is warm next year.

However, there are frequent storms in Nanyang, and typhoons often occur in summer and autumn. The risk of immigration is very high, much higher than immigrating to Dongning.

As far as Guo Shangyou knows, some of the ships carrying immigrants to Dongning this year were damaged by storms.

Fortunately, the Ming Dynasty established many supply stations and stopovers along the coast, and most ships took shelter when the wind and waves came.

But it is different in the South Seas. It is impossible for the Ming Dynasty to set up many stopovers, and the danger of sailing in the South Seas is much higher than that in the near sea.

Therefore, he did not dare to organize immigration in summer and autumn, believing that winter and spring were more suitable for the migration of disaster victims.

However, the north was very cold in winter and spring, and the disaster victims in the inland areas could not be relocated to the coastal immigration camps.

So he is worrying about how to gather 50,000 households and move there this winter.

He also had to worry about the ships needed for 50,000 immigrant households.

These considerations led Guo Shangyou to meet Li Guozhu. He knew that this son of Li Dan was very powerful in Southeast Asia.

When the Nanyang Governor-General's Office relocates in the future, this person's help will be indispensable.

After hearing Li Guozhu's suggestion, Guo Shangyou was confused and asked:
"What's going on in Java?"

"Madaram and Banten are not vassal states of the Ming Dynasty, so why should we support them?"

Li Guozhu told the story of how he sent someone there, and replied:

"The Ming Dynasty has withdrawn from Southeast Asia for nearly two hundred years, and the countries in Southeast Asia are far less submissive than before."

"But their strength is limited and it is difficult for them to cross the island."

"The Dutch are different. They control the seas and their fleets travel everywhere."

"If the Dutch are not expelled, the Ming Dynasty will not be stable in Southeast Asia."

These words were meant to flatter the Dutch, but they also clarified the current situation in Southeast Asia.

The Ming Dynasty wanted to control the South Seas, so it had to expel the Dutch. Otherwise, they, who controlled the sea power, could put the Ming Dynasty's development in the South Seas in danger at any time.

Guo Shangyou, who understood the court decision-making better than Li Guozhu, knew that the emperor's strategy was to win over the Portuguese and Spanish and expel the Dutch.

But he knew better that this was a long-term strategy. The Ming Dynasty today did not have the strength to expel the Dutch, and could not even show hostility towards them.

Otherwise, the Dutch might send out a fleet to stop the Ming disaster victims from migrating. So Guo Shangyou said:
"The court has already ordered that we should not conflict with the Dutch for the time being."

"The most urgent task now is to relocate 50,000 households and establish the Nanyang Guard in the Malacca area."

Let Li Guozhu be patient for the time being and wait until the Nanyang Guard is established.

Li Guozhu had intended to do the same thing before, but he just couldn't swallow this anger. He continued:

"According to some Chinese in Batavia, the Dutch intend to use military force against the Ming Dynasty, but are being held back by the Kingdom of Matalan, and are now unable to do anything."

"This year they fought a war with the Kingdom of Matalan and won the battle with the help of the city of Batavia."

“Madaram is not convinced now, but if they lose again next year, they may make peace with the Dutch.”

"When the Dutch have time, they will definitely target Ming immigrants."

This news made Guo Shangyou take it seriously immediately.

Because at this time, he had already prepared for the possibility that 50,000 households would not be relocated this year.

This will create a lot of pressure for migration next year. If the Dutch have time, it will pose a great threat to Ming Dynasty immigrants.

So after thinking about it, he asked:

"How strong are Madalan and Wandan?"

"How can the court support them so that they can contain the Dutch?"

Li Guozhu was delighted when he heard this:

"Madala can recruit an army of 100,000 and is one of the strongest countries in Southeast Asia."

"Banten is now in decline, and Batavia, which is now occupied by the Dutch, became independent from Banten."

"Both countries have grudges against the Dutch. If they have the support of the Ming Dynasty, they will definitely fight the Dutch."

"We don't need them to win. We just need to provide them with weapons so that they can continue to besiege Batavia and keep the Dutch busy."

"It would be great if we could send the generals from the garrison."

When Guo Shangyou heard that Li Guozhu only needed weapons and generals' support, he nodded slowly:
"If that's all, I can make the decision and let you do what you want."

"Weapons can be obtained from Dongning Guard, and generals can also be selected from there."

"I will appoint you as the Java Envoy to pacify this area."

Li Guozhu was overjoyed when he heard this, knowing that he had obtained the support and authorization of the court.

With this name, he could gather more people and go to Java together.

Just as he was about to leave, he suddenly remembered something and asked:
"The Dutch have occupied Anbuna Island. How will the court deal with it?"

Guo Shangyou had no idea about this matter. It was only when Li Guozhu mentioned it that he realized that Anbon Island had been occupied by the Dutch.

This made him suddenly change color and ask:
"when did it happen?"

"When did the Dutch take possession of Anbuna Island?"

As the Governor-General of Nanyang, he had learned a lot about Nanyang these days. He knew that the name of Anbuna Island was given to Wansheng Shitang Island by Emperor Xuanzong, which meant that the people of the island would never pay taxes.

Before the Ming Dynasty withdrew from the South Seas, it naturally did not care about Anbuna Island. As a result, Guo Shangyou, the governor of the South Seas, only now knew that it was occupied by the Dutch.

If this incident happened during his tenure as Governor-General of Nanyang, he would obviously be responsible for the loss of territory.

How could Guo Shangyou not change color, and he kept asking Li Guozhu questions.

Although Li Guozhu didn't understand why Guo Shangyou was so nervous, he knew that the Governor-General of Nanyang was so powerful that he could not afford to offend him.

In the future, he would need the support of the Nanyang Governor-General's Office for his development of Java Island.

So he hurriedly told what he knew:
"About twenty years ago, the Dutch sent a team to Anbuna Island."

"The people on the island have less ships and weapons than them, so they can only surrender temporarily."

"The Dutch renamed the island Ambona and suppressed the Han Chinese on the island."

"I think this island is safe for docking and the court should take it back!"

Guo Shangyou heaved a sigh of relief when he heard this, knowing that Anbuna Island was lost more than 20 years ago, and it was not his responsibility.

However, he had served as the Governor and Viceroy of Nanyang for such a long time without knowing about this matter. Some people thought that this was dereliction of duty and they might impeach him.

So in order to make amends, he ignored the court's advice not to conflict with the Dutch for the time being and decided to send people to take back Anbonne Island as soon as possible.

However, the imperial court's orders must also be taken seriously, and the Dutch must not be alerted, so he asked Li Guozhu:
"How many troops do we need to send to take back Anbuna Island?"

Li Guozhu had sent people to Anbuna Island to inquire about it, and he also planned to use this island as a base for his development of Java Island. Upon hearing this, he immediately replied:

"We don't need to send many soldiers, just a few hundred will be enough."

"The Dutch didn't build a fort there, nor did they send many men there."

"It's just that the people on the island were afraid that the Dutch warships would lead troops over, so they didn't dare to resist."

"It would be effortless for the Ming Dynasty to recover it."

It would be very simple to recover with just a few hundred soldiers.

However, Guo Shangyou needed to consider whether Ming Dynasty sending troops to retake Anbona Island would anger the Dutch.

With the strength of the Dutch, they could cut off the Ming Dynasty's shipping routes and prevent Ming Dynasty immigrants from migrating to Malacca.

So after thinking about it, he asked Li Guozhu:
"Can you provide weapons to the Han people on the island so that they can drive out the Dutch?"

Li Guozhu was not optimistic about this and said:

"The people on the island were frightened by the Dutch and probably didn't dare to resist."

"At least we need to move a hundred households there to recruit the people on the island."

Guo Shangyou shook his head and said:

"The Ming Dynasty wants to settle in Malacca, so it is not appropriate to clash with the Dutch for the time being."

"We can only support the natives in expelling the Dutch, as you said."

Li Guozhu was also scratching his head in the face of this situation. He suddenly thought of what he had done before and tried to propose to Guo Shangyou:
"How about recruiting pirates in the South Seas and letting them recapture Anbuna?" (End of this chapter)