Dragon Sea Empire

Zheng Zhilong dispatched all the personnel of the European fleet in the Fort of Good Hope, and announced that the Colonial Area of ​​the Cape of Good Hope was under the jurisdiction of the Chinese Company. Therefore, the executives, financial and security personnel stationed in the company would stay there. He also announced that Cape Town would be renamed as The City of Good Hope, and all the surrounding land, including the original Dutch land, is allocated to those who are willing to stay in the local area.

Han Jing whispered to Li Jin from the side, "Does Huang Cheng's nephew have the right to divide the ownership of the land?"

Li Jin shrugged his shoulders helplessly like a European, and replied: "It's all right, as long as he reports this matter to the owner of the ship, he will definitely get approval."

After the fleet annihilated the British fleet, it moored at the Cape of Good Hope for nearly half a month. It not only completely wiped out the British fleet, but also captured more than 100 British sailors. After the defeat and escape, the British who were captured by the black tribe as slaves bought them and collected them all in the dungeon of Fort Good Hope. These more than 100 British prisoners will be brought back with the fleet as hostages for negotiations with the British East India Company.

Because the British were caught off guard, the Chinese army suffered very little losses in the battle. There were more than 200 sailors and soldiers in the fleet who were willing to stay and station at the Cape of Good Hope, and several company employees were appointed as the company's financial director and security director at the Cape of Good Hope. , the general manager of the Colonial Area of ​​the Cape of Good Hope, whether it was the earlier immigrants or the Chinese who voluntarily stayed this time, everyone unanimously recommended Li Dan, and many domestic merchants who accompanied the fleet to Europe, as well as Jewish and Portuguese merchants The dispatched personnel stayed in the Cape of Good Hope, and they all discovered the vast grassland and jungle in the Colonial Area of ​​the Cape of Good Hope. In the eyes of the Chinese, it is almost uninhabited land. Although it is dry, it is the best place for grazing, and , In the book "Journey to the West" by Yin Feng, the company's chief director, it is recorded that this place is rich in gold, and many people want to make a fortune in gold, so some old sailors who were pirates in the fleet also stayed.

Zheng Zhilong left Li Dan with 400 flintlock muskets and a large amount of ammunition, as well as 6 cannons dismantled from the Xinxing ship, plus the arsenal of Fort Good Hope left by the Dutch and the captured British munitions. Wangbao and Chinatown can already arm an army of 1000 people, and there are nearly 30 cannons on the fort.

When the fleet left Fort Good Hope, which was flying the Chinese company's blue-bottomed Chinese flag, Yin Zi big flag, and Li Zi big flag, the escort fleet and the cannons on the Fort Good Hope Fort all fired salutes and set off fireworks to honor the good hope of the Chinese people. Pray for hope.

……

After departing from the southernmost corner of Africa, the Chinese company's fleet to Europe adopted the route discovered by the Dutch in 1611, using the westerly wind and southwest monsoon to go directly to the Indian Ocean's Sand Strait.

Half a month later, the European convoy that was supposed to arrive in Sumatra or Java was unlucky enough to encounter a sudden storm on the way and had to change course and sail north. The fleet suddenly appeared in the evening of a certain day In the south of the Palk Strait between the island of Ceylon and the Indian subcontinent, the Gulf of Mannar in the west of the island of Ceylon.

Days of heavy wind and rain made it impossible for the fleet's needlemen and sailors to see the sky clearly, and the fleet sent to Europe lost its way here.

As soon as the wind and rain stopped, the sea breeze blew away the water vapor, and the visibility on the sea was restored immediately. The experienced sailors and needle masters on the Flying Tiger immediately discovered that the fleet had arrived at what the Chinese call the Lion Country, which is Ceylon Island. Sri Lanka in later generations, moreover, the convoy had been lost in the storm, three of the four barques were no longer in the convoy, and the two schooners of the convoy were also missing.

Li Jin on the Xinxing was very anxious, and Zheng Zhilong was also very anxious on the Feihu. He hurriedly ordered the fleet to head south to Colombo Port, and at the same time sent two cruisers to the southwest and southeast to search for the lost Karak. These ships are loaded with gold, silver and jewelry earned from Europe, as well as a large amount of European goods, carrying dozens of businessmen from various European countries, as well as scholars and craftsmen recruited from the Netherlands and other countries. Han Jing, the commercial manager of the fleet, was also on board one of the cargo sailing ships, "Fu Zi No. [-]".

The Xinxing broke a mast and was traveling very slowly, and the whole fleet had to sail slowly towards Colombo.

Colombo is now a Portuguese colony and is under the jurisdiction of the Portuguese Colonial Province of Goa. Colombo was captured by the Portuguese army three years ago.

At this time, the Portuguese maritime empire had begun its decline process. The three shipping routes in Portuguese Asia were originally operated by the royal transport fleet: they were from Goa to Mozambique, Sri Lanka (Colombo) and the Moluccas. Lines run by royal fleets, now these have become a system called chartered lines, which can be run by private individuals.

The Goa-Malacca-Macau-Japan route, perhaps the most profitable route in Portuguese Asia, estimates that the Portuguese carried away from Japan every year from 1560 to 1600, according to the estimates of those original Portuguese Jews who helped Yin Feng issue currency 22500 to 37500 kilograms of Japanese silver, while during the same period, Chinese and Japanese ships transported 11000 kilograms of silver, which was less than half of what the Portuguese earned in Japan. This was also one of the consequences of the Ming Dynasty’s maritime embargo policy.

After 1603, Chinese companies gradually occupied the commercial trade route from Macau to Japan, and by the previous year, this route had been completely cut off by Chinese companies.

Since the Portuguese were taken away from Shalian by the Burmese, Malacca and almost all their colonies in Southeast Asia by the Chinese, in order to keep the only remaining Asian territories, the Portuguese have turned all the power of Portuguese Asia to the Indian Ocean. Strengthened guards in Hormuz, Goa, Maldives, Muscat and other places.

As early as 1505, the Portuguese landed on Ceylon Island. In the 1520s, especially after 1524, the Portuguese official and the Mapilal people (who controlled the land from Vedara, Gayelbadnam, and Kayale in southern India) Yankulan and Calicut ports all the way to the west coast of Sri Lanka) broke out in a series of fierce bloody conflicts, the results of which nearly ended the cinnamon trade in Sri Lanka and the grain trade through the Gulf of Mannar, the Portuguese in 1530 Winning the war in the 1540s forced the surrender of the Sinhalese and Tamil kingdoms on the island of Ceylon, which had fought each other for hundreds of years, and forced the Mapila representative Chenna Kuti Ali to request peace with Goa in [-].

The Portuguese then occupied Batticaloa and Trincomalee and set up a business house in Colombo. However, the Portuguese did not go deep into the interior of Ceylon, but only controlled the inland villages through coastal strongholds. In 1590, the Portuguese began In Sri Lanka, the fiefdom system was adopted, and the owner of the fiefdom also obtained the fiefdom through a process called a lease contract. The Portuguese colonists controlled the land of the natives and collected the income from the land.

Subsequently, after 1619, the Portuguese retreated in large numbers from the area east of Malacca to Portuguese India, and many of them moved to Ceylon Island. Since the existing fiefdoms could not meet the needs of the Portuguese, the Portuguese began to pay attention to the unconquered parts of the island. The locals launched an offensive, and the army dispatched from Portuguese India captured Jaffna. When the European fleet was sent to Europe for the third time, the Portuguese captured Colombo.

At this time, the Dutch who retreated from Java and the Spice Islands came. After they retreated from the east of Malacca, they also turned their attention to the Indian Ocean. The Dutch East India Company, based on Mauritius, occupied a colony in Madagascar and began to intervene Portuguese territory of India.

Just a few days ago, a fleet of the Dutch East India Company attacked Colombo, which had just been occupied by the Portuguese. rebellion.

These days, the Portuguese Colombo Garrison Commander Pedro Fernandez Navarrete has been busy strengthening Colombo's port fortifications, and a large number of Sinhalese natives were driven by him to reinforce the forts overnight.

In the twilight, the sea surface of Colombo Port reflected the last ray of sunset in the sky, and several Indian triangular fishing boats were entering the port.

Suddenly, a cannon was fired from the port lighthouse. This was an enemy attack alarm. The Portuguese, who had been resisting the attack of the Dutch fleet these days, were highly nervous. They immediately ordered the port to be fully alert and ready for battle. Two Portuguese warships sailed port, ready to meet the Dutch.

……

The Fuzi No. [-] where Han Jing was located broke a mast in the storm, and even the Chinese flag of the Zhonghua Company on a blue background was blown off.

After the weather calmed down, Han Jing found that there were only two cargo ships and a schooner left on the boat with him. The captain of the fast ship sent a semaphore signal, suggesting to enter the nearest port to repair the ship first, and then go to search for the lost ship.

Han Jing turned his head to look at Andrew, the Jewish businessman on the same boat and the treasurer of the fleet, Bernardo's nephew, and asked with a frown, "Andrew, which port is near here?"

"The sailors said that we are off the coast of Colombo. This port may belong to the Mapila people. However, when we passed by last year, the Portuguese were besieging it. Now, it may have been occupied by the Portuguese," said the lanky, high-nosed man. Andrew said: "However, we are in a state of peace with the Portuguese, and it should be no problem to go to the port to repair the ship,"

Han Jing sighed: "I didn't expect to encounter such a big storm. Now I can only repair the boat first."

He ordered three freighters and a schooner to sail eastward towards the island of Ceylon, where the green horizon was already visible.

When approaching the port of Colombo, Han Jing, who is cautious and careful by nature, ordered the other ships in the fleet to anchor and berth, and took the Fuzi No. [-] to enter the port first to inquire about the situation.

Looking at the lighted port in the distance, he sighed and said, "Francois is just a small country in Europe, who would have thought that they could occupy so many territories so far away?"

Andrew sneered at the side and said: "The Portuguese will not stay here for a long time. When I listened to the class of the ship owner at the Taiwan Harbor Military Academy, I said that Ceylon Island is the crossroads of the Indian Ocean. Sooner or later, our Chinese company will have to occupy it." ,"

Hearing what he said, Han Jing couldn't help laughing. This chestnut-haired Jewish youth immigrated from Goa to Macau with his family, and then joined Yin Feng's banner in Taiwan. He started working in a Taiwanese company when he was a teenager. The elementary schools and military schools that have been established, speak Chinese exactly like Chinese people, and say "our Chinese company", which can be said to be completely assimilated by Yin Feng's national military education based on military schools.