Autumn of the 17th year of Chongzhen

Chapter 431
Yan Qiheng and Wu Jinxi took refuge with Wang Yan when they were in Hunan. They were both Jinshi, and they had been local officials for many years before. They were relatively senior officials in Wang Yan's faction.

Wang Yan originally kept the two of them in Hunan so that he could exert influence on Chu, but Du Yinxi's philosophy of running Hunan was the same as Wang Yan's, and there was no conflict between the two. It doesn't work.

After discussing with Zuo Maodi and Su Guansheng, Wang Yan took the opportunity to transfer them to the imperial court. One was placed in the household department as the left servant, and the other was placed in the ritual department as the right servant, which greatly strengthened his control over the court.

The household department is in charge of Su Guansheng, and the relationship between Wang Yan and him has always been relatively harmonious, but there are differences in their attitudes towards Guifan, but the two can be regarded as political allies anyway.

It seemed a little unkind for Wang Yan to put Yan Qiheng in the household department, but there was actually no other way.

The Guangzhou Shipping Department was an important tax source for the imperial court, but it was controlled by Wang Yan. Taxes first went to the account of the Governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, and then reported to the Ministry of Households.

A place where the Shibo Department is so rich and making money every day is naturally coveted. Some ministers in the court are already dissatisfied with Wang Yan's control of the Shibo Department, and many rumors spread.

Wang Yan's military salary, money and food mainly depended on the Shibo Department, but the imperial court definitely wanted to take back the power of the Shibo Department and make the Ministry of Households directly under the jurisdiction, but Wang Yan didn't want to be stuck in the neck of the money, so he had to reach an agreement with Su Guansheng in the end. Compromising, the Shibo Department was directly under the management of the household department, but Su Guansheng gave Wang Yan's people a position as the left servant of the household department.

After dealing with this matter, Wang Yan didn't stay in Guangzhou for a few days, and because Dutch ships intercepted merchant ships in the South China Sea, collected tariffs, and sailed near Qiongzhou to provoke, he had to go to Macau first, and then Qiongzhou.

The Dutch asked to monopolize Ming's foreign trade, and Long Wu was furious and furious. Wang Yan was also very angry, and decided to take a look at this arrogant Dutchman.

Although Wang Yan didn't know much about Xiyi, and he only had contact with the Portuguese, and he didn't know much about the Netherlands, but he was really puzzled by the rampantness of the Dutch, and he really couldn't figure it out. The loser, where did he get the confidence to force Da Ming to only trade with him.

The rudeness of the Dutch has completely angered the Longwu court, and Wang Yan hastened to make up the history of the fight between Ming and Xiyi.

The Ming Dynasty fought Xiyi for the first time in the 16th year of Zhengde (1521). The opponent was not the Dutch, but Wang Yan's current ally, the Portuguese.

At that time, the Portuguese fleet sailed into the Pearl River Estuary and was defeated by the navy led by Wang Hung, the deputy envoy of Guangdong Haidao. The unconvinced Portuguese came back the next year and launched a naval battle with the Daming navy in Xicaowan. However, the Daming navy won the victory, and the Portuguese had no choice but to lay down their arms and honestly trade with Daming.

Since then, the rise of the Dutch, after years of war, forced Spain to recognize its independence, and gradually became the maritime hegemony.

After defeating the Portuguese-Western coalition forces in Malacca, the Dutch gradually controlled the Nanyang waterway and began to harass the coast of Daming.

In the second year of Apocalypse, the Netherlands took advantage of the flood season, the Ming army withdrew its defenses, occupied Penghu, and began to build forts. After the completion of the Penghu fortress, another batch of reinforcements were sent from Batavia. The total force of the Dutch has reached [-]. warships and more than [-] soldiers.

An army of this size is not small in the history of European colonialism. The Spaniards conquered the Inca with almost this number of troops.

The Dutch only thought that Ming was another Inca, and they didn’t believe the numbers about the Chinese army mentioned in various travel notes. They overestimated their capabilities and proposed: “Without the permission of the Dutch, Chinese ships are not allowed to trade anywhere.” In other words, they want to monopolize China's foreign trade.

To Da Ming, the request of the Dutch was obviously absurd, and the rudeness and constant harassment from the Netherlands finally angered Da Ming.

In the third year of the Apocalypse, Nan Juyi, an official of the Ming Dynasty's main battle group, became the governor of Fujian, and immediately landed on the island to fight. Liuliu raised the sails and receded.

According to the records of the Ming Dynasty, after the agreement was reached, the Dutch deputy general Gao Wenlu and other 12 people refused to obey the order and "defended themselves according to the high-rise building". They were all captured in the end.

Nine years later, the Dutch, whose scars healed and forgot the pain, made a comeback again, and this time, it was even more rampant than last time. The Dutch made a request that as long as the foreign trade after the Ming Dynasty, it can only be exported to the Netherlands. If you don't agree, then fight until you take it.

In the sixth year of Chongzhen in the Ming Dynasty (1633), thirteen Dutch warships were led by the governor of the Dutch Navy, Putmans, to provoke the war again by means of a surprise attack. One and more than 50 pirate ships recruited by the Netherlands were wiped out by Zheng Zhilong's entire army.

The Dutch claimed to conquer the Ming Dynasty, but they were completely annihilated. This is undoubtedly a shame for the European maritime hegemony.

Since then, Zheng's navy has become the overlord of the East China Sea and the South China Sea. The Dutch had to succumb. Not only did they have to pay taxes to Zheng Zhilong every year, but they also had to spend money to buy Zheng's command flag to ensure safety in the Far East waters.

Since then, Zheng Zhilong has been called the "King of Minhai". Since then, Zheng Zhilong has been the only follower in the southeast sea, and businessmen at home and abroad all use Zheng's banner. According to historical records: "Each ship earns three thousand gold, and the annual income is tens of millions, and the city is built in Anping. .”

The several fights between Daming and the Netherlands ended in the defeat of the Dutch. Now that Zheng Zhilong surrendered, the Dutch felt that the opportunity had come again, so they came out to make trouble again. This kind of behavior over and over again made Wang Yan The thought of completely eradicating the Dutch was born.

The outlying islands are only separated by a narrow strait from today's Yuen Long, Hong Kong, just blocking the exit of the Pearl River. It was originally a pirate's lair. After being wiped out by Wang Yan, it was rebuilt on the basis of the pirate water village and became the headquarters of the Guangdong Navy. a base.

The outlying island has a radius of more than ten miles. There are not only mountains, but also a large area of ​​arable land, forests and a small town. It is not a problem to live for thousands of people.Wang Yan arrived at the pier in the bay on the north side of the outlying island by a large boat. Shi Lang and Yu Fangqi who were waiting on the pier immediately stepped forward to salute, "The last general will see the Duke!" "You two generals have worked hard!" Wang Yan looked around and asked with a smile Said: "The naval division is stationed here, how is the training?" "Don't worry, my lord, the naval division has been trained for more than a year, and it is good enough to deal with pirates and Qing soldiers." Shi Lang clasped his fists and said.

Wang Yan nodded, and suddenly asked: "What if the imperial court goes to war with the Dutch? What chance does General Shi think there is?"

Hearing the words, Shi Lang exchanged a glance with Yu Fangqi, then clasped his fists in salute and said, "The general dare not lie to the duke of the state, with the strength of the Guangdong Navy, the chance of winning is probably less than [-]%."

Wang Yan was taken aback for a moment. He checked the record of Zha Daming's war with Holland, and he felt that Holland was not difficult to deal with. After all, he had won the previous two times, but Shi Lang would not be aimless. His heart sank, and he said coldly: " Tell me your reason~"

(End of this chapter)