I

  Chapter 957 953 [Zhang Xianzhong became governor]

   Wandan City.

  Sultan Ah Geng received the news of the loss of the country, and collapsed on the throne speechless.

  Bandang Kingdom is no longer the previous Banten Kingdom. In the early days, facing the invasion of the Netherlands, they could send tens of thousands of troops to attack. But now, the territory of Sumatra Island is occupied, and the total population of Banten is only about 100,000.

  China is not the Netherlands. The Dutch have few people, so they can only occupy key cities, and the outside of the city has to be reclaimed by the Han.

  The current situation is that more and more Han Chinese are directly reclaiming land and expelling local aborigines. This led to the continuous shrinking of the land of Wandan, and it was impossible to fight and win, and it was impossible to cultivate the land, so it could only wait for death slowly.

  To be honest, Ah Geng is considered a wise sultan, not someone who is just waiting to die.

  Historically, he tried his best to resist the Netherlands, and relied on the profits of Banten Port to build an elite navy. The trade fleet sailed to India and the Philippines, and even fought back and forth with the Dutch fleet. It was not until his later years that his son competed with him for power, and the Netherlands supported his son, that Banten Kingdom fell into internal friction and became weak.

  At that time, a war broke out between father and son, and the Dutch army was dispatched. Ah Geng persisted in fighting for two full years. He even surrounded his son and the Dutch allied forces for a time, but was forced to retreat because of insufficient food and grass, and was eventually defeated and captured by the Netherlands. Since then, the King of Banten surrendered to the Netherlands and became something like a chieftain.

   With China occupying Coconut City (Batavia), the port is open to all countries.

  The Governor of Coconut City also offers preferential tariffs. A large number of Chinese goods are shipped to Coconut City, and rarely go to Banten Port. Merchants from Britain, France, India, and Persia opened shops in Yecheng one after another, and Banten Port gradually declined. Once a major international port, it has become a port for exporting local products, and spices can also attract merchants from all over the world.

  Trade declines, territory shrinks, population decreases, and Banten Kingdom's financial situation simply cannot support a large-scale army and navy.

  No matter how wise the monarch is, there is nothing he can do in this situation. If he wants to break the situation, he must first defeat the Datong Army.

   To fight, or not to fight?

Sultan Ageng looked exhausted, and called his son Hayi: "You personally led a team to China and questioned the emperor of China why he invaded the land of Banten. China is the suzerain, and Banten is a vassal state. The vassal state has no fault. Why did the suzerain Want to send troops? If the suzerain does this, wouldn’t it be chilling for so many subjects?”

   "Yes!" Ha Yi took the order.

  Hayi is the prince who defected to the Netherlands in history and fought a civil war with his father for two years.

  This guy has a strong desire for power, but his father has lived too long, so he uses the hands of Holland to kill his father. At the same time, he admires Qiang, and feels that the Netherlands is very powerful, so he acts as a puppet with peace of mind, constantly betraying the interests of the country, completely disregarding the life and death of the people.

   On the other side of Yecheng, Governor Liu Hanyi also received the news.

  He is so envious of Kuang Hong. The Han people in Palembang have multiplied for more than two hundred years, and the number is tens of thousands. They can open up a large area of ​​territory in one go. And there are fewer Han people under his rule. Even if the territory is conquered, it cannot be effectively cultivated, and it can only be eaten away bit by bit.

   Otherwise, he will directly send troops to destroy Wan Dan!

  To the east of Coconut City, the once powerful Matalan Kingdom split into five sultanates. After several years of melee, there are only four sultans left, which seem to be more unified, but in fact the population has dropped sharply and their strength is not as good as before.

   Of the remaining four sultans, one is a Han Chinese named Zheng Yongshou.

  He is called the Sudan internally, and the Governor of Semarang, China externally, and he has really been canonized by the emperor. But for several years in a row, he rejected the officials sent by the imperial court, clearly wanting to be the local emperor here.

  A few months ago, Zhang Xianzhong, a town mayor in Taiwan, was suddenly summoned by the prefect: "Do you want to be promoted?"

  Zhang Xianzhong replied: "I think so."

  The magistrate said: "The governor of Semarang is disobedient. He accepted the canonization of the court, but refused to send officials from the court. Your Majesty intends to let you be the governor of Semarang. Would you like to take this job?"

  Zhang Xianzhong asked: "How many soldiers will you give me?"

   "There are only five hundred Datong troops." The magistrate said.

  Zhang Xianzhong thought for a while, gritted his teeth and grinned: "I'm done with this deal!"

  Prince Hayi of Wandan Kingdom, when he sailed to Nanjing, Zhang Xianzhong had already arrived in Semarang.

   A fleet of six ships escorted Zhang Xianzhong to his post, accompanied by more than ten officials and five hundred troops.

  The governor of Semarang, Zheng Yongshou, was quite terrified, and went to the port to greet him in person: "My minister, Zheng Yongshou, meet the angel!"

  Zhang Xianzhong smiled and said: "My name is Zhang Xianzhong, I don't know if you have heard my name before."

  Zheng Yongshou quickly said: "It's like thunder."

"It's astounding as thunder," Zhang Xianzhong scolded with a smile, "If you know who I am, you won't react like this. To tell you the truth, I was born as a bandit. He has been emperor for a few years!"

   "Huh?" Zheng Yongshou was dumbfounded.

  Zhang Xianzhong said: "When I was emperor, I had 200,000 soldiers. How many thousands of soldiers do you have?"

  Zheng Yongshou felt guilty, subconsciously bent down and replied: "Not many, not as good as an angel."

  Zhang Xianzhong said: "I'm too lazy to tell you this, let's go into the city."

   "Angel, please." Zheng Yongshou led the way himself.

  Zhang Xianzhong led 500 Datong troops into the city, and the next day he summoned the officials of Semarang, saying that there was an imperial edict to be announced.

  A group of local Han officials came to receive the order honestly.

  In fact, there is no imperial decree at all, only a letter of transfer. More than a dozen of Zheng Yongshou and his subordinate officials were promoted and transferred, some went to the Northeast, and some went to Myanmar. Although they were remote and poor, they were really promoted.

  Overseas governors also have ranks, and the governor of Luzon has the highest rank, which is probably equivalent to the right servant.

  As for the governor of Semarang, that is, the prefect level, there are plenty of official positions in Xuantu Province.

  Five hundred Datong troops surrounded the scene. Zhang Xianzhong personally read out a letter of transfer, and then said to those guys: "Let's go, everyone, leave early and arrive early, you don't worry, and I don't worry too."

  A local man named Wang Hongwen said: "This... We have lived overseas for a long time, and we are really not familiar with Chinese customs. I am afraid that we will not be able to do the job after we go there."

   "Come here." Zhang Xianzhong said.

  Wang Hongwen walked anxiously, only two or three steps away from Zhang Xianzhong.

   Clang!

  Zhang Xianzhong is a murderer, who is willing to talk nonsense, draws his sword and steps forward, and his head falls to the ground.

   What a fast knife!

  Good knife skills!

  Zhang Xianzhong looked around the crowd: "Anyone else want to say something?"

  All were frightened, never seen anything like this.

   Zheng Yongshou really wanted to speak, but he stopped talking, his eyes fell on the bleeding blade.

   "Since we have nothing to say, let's hurry up!" Zhang Xianzhong raised his left foot and wiped the blood on the blade with the sole of his shoe.

   More than a dozen Semarang officials, under the **** of the Datong Army, boarded and left quickly. The seats they vacated were filled by officials brought by Zhang Xianzhong.

   Immediately, Zhang Xianzhong moved into the Governor's Mansion, sealed up the documents, account books and treasury, and asked the Datong Army to take over the city defense.

  In the days that followed, I summoned the local chiefs and merchants, and repeated those two sentences: "Listen to me, the food is delicious. If you don't listen to me, I will send him to have a drink with the King of Hades."

  The local Han people are all dissatisfied, but they dare not resist.

  Because Zhang Xianzhong killed again!

  The officials he brought began to work, but some local officials were obedient and obedient. Some jobs couldn't be carried out at all, Zhang Xianzhong didn't bother to waste his time, he asked the officials to report their names, pick the three most disobedient ones, **** them to the gate of the governor's mansion and behead them immediately.

  Administrative efficiency has improved rapidly. Although it is still obedient and obedient, at least it is really taking orders.

  Stopped these guys, Zhang Xianzhong no longer took care of the paperwork, and handed over all the tedious work to the deputy governor. He called up the local army, issued some matchlock guns, and practiced with the five hundred troops. Moreover, the military pay is sufficient and the food is sufficient.

  After only three months of training, they started fighting.

   This guy led 500 Datong troops and 1,000 local Han soldiers, and went south without warning. Hundreds of years later, it belonged to the Belgas district of Semarang, Indonesia, and is now just a mountain town. Not only is there a large area of ​​river valleys locally, but it is also the only place where the inland of Central Java leads to the sea.

   Today, it belongs to the territory of the Sultan of Yogyakarta.

  The goods within the Sultanate of Yogyakarta are transported to this town every month, and then transported along the river to Semarang for sea. Not only that, if the Sultan of Yogyakarta wants to attack Semarang, the army must pass through here.

  In a word, it is a strategic location, an important commercial location, and it is also an important agricultural area.

  Zheng Yongshou, the local emperor, closed his door to be the governor, and did not expand at all, not even taking down such an important door.

   Now it's Zhang Xianzhong's turn to make the decision. He will not be idle, let alone expand the territory, at least occupy the door to avoid future military threats.

  The total distance is only 20 kilometers. Zhang Xianzhong only asked the soldiers to bring dry food, and he didn't even bother to collect ships to prevent the leakage of military information. Starting at night, marching all the way in a hurry, the local soldiers left behind and arrived at the outskirts of the town at dawn.

  This is an important commercial town. A small earthen fortress was built between the two mountains, and dozens of Javanese soldiers were stationed there.

  The attack began before dawn.

  The small bunker is so short that it can be climbed by a ladder, and the defenders are defenseless. Zhang Xianzhong took the lead by climbing up the earthen castle first, and he would kill any living people when he saw them.

   After occupying the earth fortress, Zhang Xianzhong said to the soldiers: "I repeat, rush into the town and kill anyone who can't speak Chinese. All the things you grab will be handed over, and you are not allowed to keep them privately!"

  The small town encountered a killing star and ushered in an unwarranted disaster.

  Soldiers rushed into the houses and shops in the small town, and asked everyone they saw, "Are they Han Chinese?"

   Those who couldn't answer, were hacked to death.

   A lot of goods were robbed, and Zhang Xianzhong made a profit, but the Han businessmen in Semarang complained endlessly.

  As a port city, Semarang needs to go to this small town for inland goods. With Zhang Xianzhong killing so indiscriminately, who would dare to transport the goods to Semarang among the native merchants in the interior?

  Zhang Xianzhong didn't care, the important land, a matter of life and death, must be in his own hands.

  Moreover, the foreign race had to be killed, and then the Han people in Semarang were moved here.

   As for the business, it needs to recover slowly. As far as this trade route is concerned, is it true that the Han merchants are in a hurry, but the indigenous merchants are not?

  Just over three months after Zhang Xianzhong took office, the area under the governorship of Semarang has doubled directly, and it is no longer purely a commercial city.

  The Sultan of Yogyakarta was not a vegetarian either. When he was attacked for no reason, he immediately ordered the mobilization of troops and gathered 20,000 troops to kill Zhang Xianzhong.

  (end of this chapter)