Ming Zhengzhi, I am Zheng Kezang

Calcutta (utta), there are two sources of its name, one is derived from a village called Kalikata (Kalikata) around the city; the other is derived from kali (Bengali, meaning canal) and The two roots of kata (Bengali, meaning lime) together mean the place where shell lime is produced by the canal.

In the 44th year of Yongli in the Ming Dynasty, in the 30th year of Kangxi in the Qing Dynasty, and in 1690 AD, Job Charnock, an agent of the British East India Company, established a trading post here.Prior to this, Charnock had established a trading post at the mouth of the Hooghly River, but had to leave due to conflicts with Mughal officials, and then he tried unsuccessfully to gain a foothold elsewhere in the lower reaches of the Hooghly River.Fortunately, officials of the Mughal dynasty had to allow Charnock to return to the original place to rebuild the trading post because they did not want to lose the benefits they had gained from the trade with the British East India Company. Charnock chose Calcutta as the base of his activities. center.

Charnock's choice of Calcutta was a careful choice. Calcutta is protected on three sides by the Hooghly River to the west, the bay to the north, and the salt lake to the east.The bases of hostile French, Dutch and other colonial powers were on the west bank of the Hooghly River, so the passage of the British East India Company's merchant fleet into Calcutta by sea was not threatened.Moreover, the Hooghly River has a wide surface and deep water when it flows through Calcutta. The only disadvantage is that there are depressions and swamps in this area. Malaria and jaundice are rampant, and the health of the colonists is greatly affected.However, before the arrival of the British, the Indian businessmen who moved from the silted-up Sudgaon Port on the upper reaches of the Hooghly River had chosen to settle in three local villages. Chanok, who planned to use these Indian businessmen to quickly open up the Indian market In the end, Calcutta was chosen as the base camp of the British East India Company in East India.

In the fourth year of Wuding in the former Ming Dynasty, the 36th year of Kangxi in the Qing Dynasty, and 1696 AD, due to the rebellion in the Budwan area near Calcutta, the Bengal Najib (provincial governor) of the Mughal Dynasty agreed to the British East India Company to build a fort in Calcutta. , although the rebels were quickly suppressed by the Mughals, the brick and earth fortifications of the British survived, later called Fort William (Old Fort William).Two years later, the British bought the rights to Qaidaminger in three villages near Calcutta (note: taxpayers can have judicial, administrative, and military powers in the territory). The trade in eastern India such as Hal is booming day by day, gradually gaining the upper hand in the trade between European countries and India.

However, recently, Sir Denver, the commercial representative of the British East India Company in Calcutta, was not delighted by the growing Anglo-Indian trade. On the contrary, he showed an undecided look.

There are three reasons that made Lord Denver frown: First, he just learned from the British business representative in Vizagapatnam that two military galleons carrying a Chinese mission to Europe were on board a French merchant ship. Under the guidance of the French Royal East India Company, he sailed into Yanan, an important trading port in the central part of the west coast of India; secondly, he learned from the Indian businessmen who came and went that about fifteen days ago, a group of Chinese pirates captured Jida Hong Kong, and forced the local lord to agree to sell Chittagong and four surrounding villages to the Chinese government for five thousand Chinese silver coins to build a commercial port; None of the British merchant ships that traded with the mud returned to Calcutta.

Lord Denver hated the French's practice of opening the door and stealing, because he knew that once Huaxia figured out the direct flight route to Europe, it is conceivable that the huge profits of Eastern trade will be diluted to a terrible extent in the future.However, Britain and France have always been hostile. Sir Denver could not stop the French's stupidity at all. He could only send a clipper to inform the African side, asking them to find a way to eliminate the French and the so-called Chinese mission on the way.It's just that the two military Galen ships armed to the teeth are obviously not easy to deal with. Jazz Denver can only hope that the Portuguese and the Dutch can also clearly recognize the threat and cooperate with the actions of the British side to kill this trip in front of the sea. superior.

Compared with the future threat of opening up the sea route, China's opening of a commercial station in Chittagong is obviously a greater real threat to the British East India Company.Sir Denver felt like the sky was falling when he thought of the flood of exquisite Chinese goods flooding into Eastern India and driving all the poor British goods out of the market.However, India is too close to China, and Jazz Denver cannot use the pirate model to destroy this potential threat. After all, the experience of the Dutch in Seilan is a lesson for him.

As for the third question that made him extremely anxious, he soon had an answer. A Danish ship from Xiamen sent everything he wanted to know: the Chinese government had ordered all sailors to be detained for planning to participate in hostile actions against China. British merchant ships entering the area east of the Strait of Malacca until the British East India Company apologized to its commercial representatives in Xiamen and promised that similar behavior would not happen again, otherwise British merchants would be banned from participating in trade with China forever.

Everything is clear, the crux of the problem lies in this rising and aggressive Chinese Empire.

It's just that Britain's water power, like the Netherlands and France, is concentrated on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean. In this far east, the British East India Company can only make up a hundred armed merchant ships with all their efforts. The Chinese navy is fighting against each other, and the privateering tactics commonly used by the British cannot be used in South China. Yes, even the Strait of Malacca cannot pass, so how can they go deep into the South China Sea to plunder?

And robbing Huaxia's merchant ships in the East Indian Ocean is even more of a joke. You must know that the trade between Huaxia and various parts of India is not too frequent. There are less than two hundred ships a year, scattered throughout the year. How can British merchants and pirates give up normal trade and wait for the rabbit.What's more, the Chinese businessmen who are now appearing in the East Indian Ocean are themselves part-time pirates, all of them are well-equipped, and it is not certain who will rob them when the time comes.

Can it put pressure on China through the Mughal Empire?This is also a way, but on the one hand, there is no diplomatic and trade relationship between China and the Mughal Empire, and the Mughal Empire can't find anyone to put pressure on; on the other hand, Chittagong is not within the scope of Bengal Province. If Najib in Bangladesh recklessly puts pressure on the small eastern countries, he may instead push them into the arms of the Chinese Empire.

No left, no right, no wonder Jazz Denver's hair is getting thinner and his temper is getting more and more irritable.

After thinking for a long time, Lord Denver wrote to two commercial representatives of the Bombay jurisdiction of the British East India Company and Vizagapatnam and Madras on the west coast of India, hoping that they would support him in organizing a joint venture with the Portuguese and the Dutch. The proposition of the Grand Fleet, and then reached an agreement with the two countries to use force to force the Chinese Empire to give up its expansion in India and terminate the direct trade between China and Europe.

After the letter was sent, the anxious Lord Denver did not wait for the reply from the business representatives of Bombay and the two places, so he contacted the Dutch in Pulicat and the Portuguese in Mairapur on his own.

Lord Denver has considered it very carefully. He believes that since France is willing to guide the Chinese delegation to visit Europe, the two countries must have reached an ulterior agreement. As for the Spaniards, China seems to have never violated its interests, and they will never merge with Britain, the Netherlands and Portugal. Only Britain, the Netherlands and Portugal, which also suffer from exchanges with China, are the best alliance partners. .

Regarding the olive branch thrown by the British East India Company, the Dutch, who were worried about further losing Java and the Spice Islands, hit it off, but Sir Denver did not expect that Huaxia was already negotiating privately with the Portuguese.Although Portugal did not disclose the possible plans of the British to China due to the constraints of the Anglo-Portuguese Alliance Treaty in 1373, the Portuguese were unwilling to participate in a risky expedition under the prospect of being rewarded without force.

Sir Denver's courier, after being stunned at Myrapur, did not give up, and went straight to Goa.

While the courier was still on the road, two business representatives from Vizagapatnam and Madras made a decision to support the Denver Jazz.Mumbai also agreed, just to get back the merchant ships detained by Huaxia. Mumbai asked to be false and submissive, and after the cargo was taken back from Huaxia, it would not be too late to turn around.

According to the proposal of the Mumbai jurisdiction, on the seventh day of December in the 15th year of Huaxia Wucheng, the envoy of Lord Denver was allowed to sail into the Strait of Malacca after identifying himself to the Huaxia patrol boat.

The British consciously kept it secret, but since they contacted the Netherlands and Portugal successively, the so-called secrecy was actually empty talk. Soon, various rumors appeared in various trading posts along the coast of India.Rumors inevitably spread to the ears of Chinese merchants, and then spread back to the township mansions along the coast, and further spread to the ears of Du Geng, the new Lingya Gate Chief Protector. Neglect, immediately reported the news to the center, requesting to continue to seize the British ships until the main director of the East India Company in the British mainland came to convey his sincerity.

In order to prevent the imperial court from releasing the British merchant ships before his news was delivered, Du Geng also asked the East Tianzhu Navy to continue to arrest the British ships passing through Malacca and south of Wuyu Island.In view of the fact that Du Geng had obtained the axe and had the right to be arbitrary, Chang Tianyuan, the admiral of the East Tianzhu Navy, immediately expressed his obedience. In this way, the joint attempt between the British East India Company and the Dutch United East India Company to start a war with China has not yet been realized. declared bankruptcy.However, the news that the United Kingdom and the Netherlands are preparing to join forces also shattered the last ray of hope for peace between Xia and He.

On the seventh day of February in the 16th year of Huaxia Wucheng, Zheng Kezang issued an order to dispatch a brigade of Longxiang Army from the Zhenxi and Zhennan naval divisions, and one brigade of reinforcements from Annan, Vietnam, and Champa to prepare for the battle at Lingyamen.Since then, Zheng Kezang has deployed the second, third, fourth, and fifth cruise fleets to enrich the Sulu and Dongtianzhu naval forces.

At this point, the Xiahe war was on the verge of breaking out.