Smuggling Daming

The first batch of Portuguese craftsmen had already been sent to Tianjin, but Wang Shouren took a boat and left Malacca, where he had been staying for more than half a year, and then crossed the Strait of Malacca all the way west, passing through the lion country rich in gemstones, and finally arrived at Goa on the west coast of India .

As the governor of the world, Wang Shouren is involved in government affairs every day, but during this time he is most concerned about Shenzhou's actions in India. After all, this is the westward expansion of one of the three major expansion directions of the Daming Sea formulated by Zhou Zhong. The road to expansion is the most complicated and difficult. It is related to Ming's interests in India, Africa, and Europe. It is also the most important interest of Ming in the near future, so there must be no mistakes.

Originally, after destroying the invading Portuguese fleet, Wang Shouren wanted to send Qu Lie to attack Goa. After all, compared to the young Shenzhou, Qu Lie, who was rewarded, prestigious, and calmer, was more reassuring. Unexpectedly, Shenzhou led people to directly chase after the fleeing Da Gama, and finally chased them all the way to the Lion Kingdom, which is not far from Goa. Rather than ordering them to come back, it is better to let them attack directly Goa, this can also play a surprise effect.

Speaking of which, Wang Shouren was the first supervisor of the Naval Academy, and Shenzhou was also his student, but he still didn't dare to use Shenzhou, the students who graduated from the first military academy, so he chose Qu Lie at the beginning. , it’s just that the current situation forced Shenzhou to attack Goa in the end. Unexpectedly, the effect was surprisingly good. Even the veterans Qu Lie and Chang Xiao were full of praise for Shenzhou’s achievements in Goa. The old admiral Shenying was even more happy and dragged people around to drink for several days in a row.

Originally, when Goa was just captured, Wang Shouren wanted to go there by boat to handle local affairs in person.But as the saying goes, good things take time.Just when Wang Shouren was about to leave.There was another war between Champa and the Hou Le Dynasty of Vietnam. As a result, the people of Champa asked for help from the Governor-General of Daming. For Ming, Vietnam has always been a reactionary. The so-called enemy of the enemy is a friend. Wang Shouren couldn't ignore it either, so he had to stay and deal with matters supporting Champa.As a result, the delay lasted for more than half a year, and now I finally got away.

More than half a year has passed, and Goa is no longer what it looked like when it was just occupied, and the whole city was emptied. With the arrival of the Ming garrison, the safety of Goa has also been guaranteed. Idle, led the fleet to sweep all of Portugal's ports on the west coast of India, making Portugal's forces on the coast of India and the Arabian Sea empty.The Ming Dynasty replaced the Portuguese as the true overlord of the sea, while the Portuguese retreated to the vicinity of Mozambique in southern Africa.Temporarily unable to regain control of the Indian coast.

It was also because Daming had firmly established its dominance in the waters around India, and the businessmen of Daming finally became bolder. In the past, only a small number of bold businessmen dared to cross the Strait of Malacca to transport to India and other places, but now more and more The more people pass through Malacca and transport their goods to farther places, after all, the farther these goods are transported, the more profits they can make, such as the same quality of silk, the price in Malacca is the same as in India The price difference is often more than ten times. Thinking about the profits makes people greedy. In the past, the waters west of Malacca were too dangerous, so only some courageous or powerful businessmen dared to go, but now this route is taken by Ming Dynasty. If they don't seize the opportunity, they can only watch others make money.

Merchants have always been the most energetic group of people. As these people flooded into Goa, the empty streets quickly became full. Buying land from the government, anyway, the land price is cheap now, and it doesn't cost much at all, but if it becomes popular in the future, the land price will double and rise.

It was also the arrival of the merchants that brought Goa back to life very quickly. When Wang Shouren arrived in Goa, what he saw before him was a thriving scene, especially in the port of Goa, where a large number of merchant ships kept flowing. Compared with big ports like Malacca and Shanghai, it has also restored its former prosperity.

It is especially worth mentioning that in the past, the Portuguese had always suppressed Muslim merchants because of their religion. As long as they were Muslim merchant ships, they had to pay heavy taxes in Goa. Although this practice effectively suppressed Muslim merchants The development of businessmen also brought resentment from local Muslims.

However, Ming had a tolerant attitude towards most religions, especially Muslims had many believers in Daming, the most famous being Zheng He.Shenzhou's father, Shenying, doesn't like Muslims, and Shenzhou doesn't like Muslims either, but the court's laws cannot be violated, so after he occupied Goa, he didn't squeeze Muslim businessmen, but paid them equally. Taxes, in this way, are naturally welcomed by those Muslims, which is also one of the reasons why Ming was able to quickly secure its maritime hegemony on the coast of India.

In the port of Goa that Wang Shouren saw, Ming’s merchant ships accounted for one-third, and the remaining two-thirds were merchant ships from nearby Muslims. The route of India, after they bought Ming’s goods from Goa, they will ship the goods to Europe along that route. Although their Muslim identity is not popular in Europe, the goods on their ship are enough to make people forget their religious identity.

Shenzhou also welcomed Wang Shouren's arrival very much, because this time Wang Shouren did not come alone, and there was also a fleet led by Qu Lie. This fleet was to replace Shenzhou and the others to defend the coast of India. After the handover is completed, Shenzhou, who has been away from home for more than half a year, can take the fleet back to reunite with his family.

Just like Zhou Zhong in Tianjin, Wang Shouren also met with the reception banquet. Now Goa is no longer managed by Shenzhou alone. Wang Shouren could not come before, but he sent many officials to come. After all, generals only fight wars. They cannot and should not intervene in the management of local affairs. This kind of concept does not need to be instilled in them. Scholars have formed this concept since the Song Dynasty, and they even went crazy and completely overwhelmed the generals. Turn over.

After finishing the welcome banquet, Wang Shouren had the opportunity to inspect the whole city. With the influx of a large number of merchants, the already empty Goa city was full of people again. Muslims, but because Goa has just experienced war not long ago, there are not many permanent residents in the city. At most, some merchants from Ming Dynasty come to do business. I usually feel a little lonely, so I bought some orchids and raised them in the city as outhouses. , they are the first permanent residents of Goa.

Walking on the streets of Goa, Wang Shouren felt that the city in front of him was completely different from Shanghai and Malacca. There were not many residents here, and everyone on the street was for business purposes. There were also many shops and warehouses on both sides of the street. People are bargaining, and it’s fine at first, but after a long time, it will definitely feel a little boring.

However, not everything in Goa is so boring. For example, there is a famous place in the city, which is the Portuguese Governor's Palace surrounded by gods. Now they have besieged this Governor's Palace for more than half a year. From time to time, he sent people to stand outside the Governor's Mansion and shout, urging the people in the mansion to surrender, but after shouting for several days without effect, Shenzhou didn't want to waste the lives of his subordinates, so he simply ignored the siege in the Governor's Mansion The Grape Man intends to surround the people inside until the day when there is no food to come out and ask for surrender.

There is a city within the city, and there are actually a group of Portuguese who refused to surrender in the Governor's Palace. In addition, Shenzhou built a wall along the Governor's Palace. As a result, this completely isolated the Governor's Palace, making the outer city of Goa also More security is guaranteed. Over time, even the most timid businessmen have begun to ignore the Portuguese in the Governor's Palace. Whenever they meet acquaintances who came to Goa for the first time, these people He will lead people to the Governor's Palace, point to the Governor's Palace and tell anecdotes about the fall of Goa, and by the way, guess what the Portuguese in the Governor's Palace are usually doing, whether they can eat enough, etc.?

Over time, it has become a habit for people who come to Goa for the first time to visit the Governor's Palace. Some people even say that if you come to Goa and don't visit the Governor's Palace, it means you have never been to Goa at all. The transformation of Goa into what it is now, that is, the Governor's Palace in Goa has become a local scenic spot, and no matter who comes, he must first pay a visit.

Wang Shouren was no exception. When he stood on the fence that Shenzhou built to isolate the Governor's Mansion, he held a telescope and carefully looked at the Governor's Mansion not far away. When he saw the tall city wall opposite and the densely packed city wall Wang Shouren couldn't help but sigh when he used his defensive weapons. With such a fortified city, it's no wonder that Shenzhou would surround it and not attack it. Otherwise, if it were to attack by force, how many lives would be lost?

However, when Wang Shouren's eyes turned from the weapons on the city wall to the Portuguese soldiers still standing, a smile could not help but appear on the corner of his mouth. Although the city within the city was built very solidly, and the weapons were arranged very tightly, no matter how strong it was, The defense of the city needs people to defend it, but based on what he sees now, I am afraid that the governor's mansion will not last long. (To be continued..)