Dragon Sea Empire

In mid-August of the 34th year of Wanli, the Portuguese in Macao suffered the greatest catastrophe since they settled here, and the conflicts between the Portuguese in the East Asian colonies and the Spanish royal family suddenly became acute; The disaster caused by the actions of the Inquisition was precisely at the instigation of Spanish officials in the Philippine colony. The royal magistrate Dias detained Elizabeth Titis, a naturalized citizen of Spain, in order to track down a Manila prisoner, Andrew Titis Tis, the whereabouts of Li Dan's property; the Goa Inquisition intervened because of the relationship between Elizabeth and the new Christians, which led to the outbreak of the final armed conflict, and the royal magistrate was immediately driven away. Never welcome the presence of the royal magistrates again, and ask the King of Spain to appoint a Portuguese magistrate locally.

When the two countries merged, at the Tomar Conference, the Portuguese Congress and King Philip of Spain reached an agreement that the king had no right to interfere in the internal affairs of the Free City of Portugal. The three days, a total of ten days), intensified the conflict between the Portuguese colonies in Asia and the Spanish royal family.

When the annual Portuguese Sino-Japanese trade fleet returned to Macau, everyone suddenly found that the Chinese United Company stationed in Macau had already become a fait accompli, and the Portuguese in Macau did not have the courage to fight against the Chinese company by force, but secretly began to rearm their arms; on the one hand, it was political , requiring the governor of Portugal’s Portuguese-Indian colony to establish the post of Governor of Macao in Macao, and at the same time requesting Macao to garrison the Portuguese standing army; on the other hand, in terms of military affairs, the Portuguese in Macao began to build fortifications along the coast. In the vicinity of the city hall, there was virtually pressure on the Macau Municipal Council. In Macau, the Chinese company became another political center for the local Chinese besides the government’s Xiangshan County Government Office, and it was also the place for the local Chinese to resolve various economic disputes. and business center.

The sneaky re-arming work of the Portuguese in Macau actually fell into the eyes of the China United Company. The company has a large number of Portuguese shareholders and employees of various nationalities, and the secret activities of the Portuguese in Macau cannot be kept secret at all.

Although the entire Portuguese Asian colony came together to support Macau and wanted to keep this outpost for trade with China, but Macau has lost too much blood, and the main goal of the Portuguese is commercial profit, and the Chinese company is Macau's largest trading partner, so Yin Feng is very confident: the Portuguese will not become a threat for the time being.

When Li Lihua was rescued from the basement of the church by Kutley and Chen Zhongji, she had been starving for three days. Due to the siege of Yin Feng's fleet and the shortage of food in Macau, the cruel Inquisition staff simply forgot her. If she was found two days later , this woman who is less than 20 years old may disappear.

Fortunately, Li Lihua was lively and active since she was a child, her family was well-off, she was well-nourished, and her physique was good, so she recovered quickly. She has permanently left the whip marks of the Inquisition on her back. Fortunately, her beauty has not been damaged at all. About those The psychopathic Inquisition personnel couldn't bear to destroy such a beautiful masterpiece of God.

When the fleet returned to Taiwan Port, the fort fortifications in the Anping area in the south of Dayuan Port had been completed. When the fleet entered Taiwan Port, the forts on both sides of the north and south fired rumbling guns to show their welcome.

Zeng Jingshan, Han Ping, Lu Shitou, An Heping, Li Yue, Mai Dahai, Mai De, and Lin Xiao all came to greet them at the pier, and even Xu Xinsu, who has been developing the market in the mainland, also came. It was the most comprehensive time in public. With a trading company united by coastal merchants, Zhonghua Company actually defeated the Franc Robots that once ran rampant along the southeast coast.

Although among the company's top executives, it is [-]% sure to defeat the Portuguese in Macau, but the ordinary people in the coastal areas don't know the inside story. It has a very strong strength.

Therefore, tens of thousands of people greeted the triumphant return of the fleet near the wharf; countless coastal fishermen and businessmen, thousands of craftsmen in the company's shipyard, the families of craftsmen in the factory area, foreign merchants and hawkers stationed in Hong Kong, labor coolies, and even those The refugees who had just been recruited from the famine provinces and worked in the farms and plantations also came after hearing the news.

Amidst the roar of the cannon, the crowd cheered thunderously, and the guards stationed at the pier tried their best to open a way among the crowd, allowing Yin Feng and others to disembark and pass.

"Captain, Captain, Captain Wuwei, invincible," those Manila fugitives shouted loudly, some knelt and kowtowed in Yin Feng's direction desperately, and some shouted "Captain," with tears in their eyes.

On Taiwan Island, in the entire Zhonghua Company, no matter who it is, as long as the word "ship owner" is mentioned without any surname prefix, everyone will know that it refers to Yin Feng without any explanation, and there will never be another person who can do it. so called.

"Big Boss, Big Boss Yin's family is so powerful on the seas and across the world," those businessmen and shareholders who invested in Zhonghua Company bowed to Yin Feng one after another, making Yin Feng overwhelmed.

"Wanfu, the big boss, Wanan, the big boss," the family members of the company's employees and helpers saluted Yin Feng one after another, and some craftsmen and workers who were retired also bowed their hands to Yin Feng in the crowd. If the crowd was not too crowded, Many people have to prostrate.

Farther away, the peasants fleeing from famine all over the place knelt down in Yin Feng's direction regardless. Of course, merchants and sailors from the Netherlands, Portugal, and European countries were indispensable in the crowd, as well as Cochin, Champa, Siam, Xiagang, and Jialiu. Merchants and sailors from Bar, Cambodia, Dani, Old Port, Malacca, Aceh, Pahang, Johor, Dingjiyi, Siji Port, etc., as well as Brunei, Ryukyu and other places gathered at the Taiwan Port Wharf. Gathering together, there is a dazzling array of people of all colors, yellow, white and black, all kinds of languages ​​are chaotic, talking non-stop...

Han Ping smiled and said to Han Jing beside him: "Jing'er, have you seen it? We overseas prodigal sons have never seen such a formation. Captain Yin is really a man from heaven. The company's great situation is all thanks to him." ah,"

Han Jing smiled lightly: "I'm quite interested in what kind of situation Captain Yin can create in the end, father, the uncle of the Zeng family came to Taiwan yesterday, probably the negotiation with the government has come to fruition."

Han Ping frowned: "Keep your voice down, now Lin Xiao's security department has spies flying all over the sky, looking for spies everywhere, making everything a mess, no matter what official position Captain Yin can get in the court, it should be beneficial to Zhonghua Company thing,"

Han Jing shook his head and said, "In my opinion, Captain Yin is different from us. The merchants in Ming Dynasty all adhere to the principle of 'starting from the bottom and keeping the foundation'. The purpose of doing business is to sell land and buy properties, and then cultivate and study for family heirlooms and take the imperial examination. ...But I think Captain Yin's vision is definitely more than that, he sees farther..."

Han Ping turned his head and looked at his son suspiciously: "Boy, do you mean...Captain Yin wants to seal the border and crack the land, and become the king and hegemony,"

Han Jing smiled lightly: "Why not, but I still feel that Captain Yin thinks more and farther, and I don't quite understand,"

Among the crowd who warmly welcomed Yin Feng, there was a man who looked at these scenes with complicated eyes, and his expression was somewhat out of tune with the scene. Soon this tall scholar in a Confucian robe squeezed out of the crowd, left the pier with his head down, and ran on the street. A group of students from the junior class of the military academy who had just finished class stopped to meet the scholars, bowed and said hello: "Mr. Chen is well."

The tall scholar quickly nodded to them: "Okay, everyone, where are you going?"

"Go to meet the captain," a group of teenagers shouted, and quickly rushed towards the pier.

The tall Confucian scholar is the general manager of Wuyu Shuizhai, Shen Yourong, the capital of Fujian Province, and Chen Dong, a spy in Taiwan who was placed in Taiwan. He sent the letter in time, and since then, because Yin Feng and the Zhonghua Company have developed very fast and tried their best to avoid confrontation with the government, he has no valuable information to send at all, and the annual salary Shen Yourong gives him is only a pitiful ten taels of silver .

He had just received a report from Brother Guo Yi who shuttled between the two places in the Taiwan Strait that Zeng Qi had already negotiated with Fujian Governor Xu Xueju about the conditions for Yin Feng and Zhonghua Company to recruit.

For Chen Dong, who has always wanted to bring down the Zhonghua Company, this is not good news. Once Yin Feng's embarrassing identity is recognized by the government, the Zhonghua Company can basically be regarded as a joint venture. Therefore, Chen Dong is in a bad mood today. , but dare not show it too much: After a series of incidents such as the sailor's rebellion, Yin Feng's assassination, and the Portuguese spies blowing up the gunpowder depot, the company's security department has become very strict in rectifying and cleaning up internal personnel. Generally, spies are distributed everywhere, and once it is discovered that anyone who complains about the company, talks about Yin Feng privately, or slanders Yin Feng's character, etc., they will all be arrested. The punishment is the death penalty, exile to mines, and exile to overseas merchant ships as coolies. Those who committed crimes in Lin Xiao's hands were mostly imprisoned in coal mines, sulfur mines and other mines in northern Taiwan to work as coolies.

Yin Feng didn't know much about Lin Xiao's actions. Apart from dealing with the Spaniards and Portuguese, he spent time in the weapons research department and firearms workshop, trying to improve his troops to a higher level in terms of weapons and equipment. After returning from Macau, he bought a yard near his home, allowing Li Lihua to recuperate in it, and it was also convenient for him to take care of him nearby. Xu Xinsu entrusted someone to buy a few girls and maids in Haicheng, Quanzhou and other places for Li Lihua, Yin Feng also sent several seasoned servants of Zeng's family to work in Li Lihua's yard. People secretly called Li Lihua's residence "West Palace", and Yin Feng's own house was called "East Palace".

Now, all the daily work of the Chinese company is for one goal: to counterattack Manila.

Zeng Jingshan and the people from the Ministry of Commerce bought a large amount of grain in Zhejiang and other Jiangnan areas. The Ministry of Land and Reclamation sent all the disaster victims and refugees recruited from the mainland to plant grain and hoarded a large amount of grain. It began to plant important food crops such as corn, sweet potatoes, and potatoes; through Portuguese merchant ships, the Chinese company also had oil crops such as peanuts and sunflowers, and even vegetables and fruits such as tomatoes, peppers, kidney beans, plantains, and custard apples also began to grow on a small scale in Taiwan. After planting, Yin Feng's slogan is "It is better not to lack food reserves than excess", so a large number of crops that could have been sold to inland provinces such as corn, peanuts, and rice have stopped exporting.

On the other hand, the musket workshop of the weapon manufacturing factory is rushing to work day and night, working overtime to manufacture flintlock guns and ammunition, etc.; the cannon workshop affiliated to the weapons research department is producing at a rate of one cannon per day. The source of raw materials for copper cannons was almost cut off. The Ming government controlled most of the copper mines in Yunnan. Due to the need to cast copper coins and the cannons of the imperial army, the copper materials shipped to Taiwan were out of stock recently.

A Dutch craftsman in the weapons research department proposed the idea of ​​cast iron cannons. In the 16th century, European cannons were in excellent condition regardless of their solidity, the accuracy of the ballistics after the cannonballs were fired, and the performance of the ammunition adapted to the cannons. , Moreover, with the advancement of iron smelting technology, Europeans began to use blast furnaces to cast iron cannons. After casting, the cannon barrel had to be "bored", that is, a special machine was used to drive the drill to pull the hole, so that the inner surface It is relatively consistent and smooth, so as to improve the firing ability. This is another key technology for the Europeans to manufacture modern artillery. Experts such as Needham believe that this may be the beginning of their artillery craftsmanship surpassing that of the Chinese. At that time, there were few iron cannons in China. , even if it is technically inferior to European ones.

Britain was the first country to produce cast-iron guns. From the 16s to the end of the century, the British almost monopolized the technology of cast-iron guns, thus protecting the British and other northern merchant ships in the Mediterranean Sea, East India, and West India. Trading activities. After 40, the Dutch also had the ability to produce cast iron cannons. As Dutch capital penetrated the Swedish iron mining industry, a large number of cast iron cannons were produced in Sweden and exported to various parts of Europe. Historically, it took until the 1600s , Spain began to manufacture cast iron guns. After 17, cast iron guns became the most important weapons and equipment for European navies.

This Dutch blacksmith is a friend of Van Layden's hometown. He was recruited by Van Layden from Batavia to Taiwan and Hong Kong. He participated in the casting of iron cannons in the Netherlands, but because he is a rare Catholic He has never been promoted in his own factory, so he went to Asia for adventures. He was unaware of the cast-iron run for the heretics, and told the whole process of the cast-iron run in front of the white money.