Daming Military Empire

Chapter 177
It is of course the idea of ​​our Chongzheng Emperor Zhu Cijiong to send warships to Nanyang for drills, and to bring businessmen from Ming Dynasty to Goa to open up overseas markets.Some people want to ask, what kind of training and business are you going to do after all the warships have been built? Why don't you hurry to Baodao to clean up the Dutch!
Fighting is of course necessary, but wars between countries are not just a matter of thinking about it. Sun Tzu's art of war says: Soldiers are important matters for a country, the place of death and life, and the way of survival.

The war between countries can be said to be related to the life and death of a country. Of course, it must be thoughtful before starting a war. Not to mention anything else, there is one thing that must be clarified:
Zheng Zhilong had a strong army before he joined Daming, more than twice as strong as the one Zheng Chenggong inherited later. The Daming navy is no match for him, so he can only be appeased again and again. Why didn't he occupy Baodao as the local emperor, but ran back How about depending on Daming?

Also, Zheng Chenggong fought against the Qing Dynasty in Xiaojinmen in the fourth year of Shunzhi (1647 AD), why did he not go to recover Baodao until the 18th year of Shunzhi (1661 AD)?

Zhu Cijiong has always found this question very strange. He tried Zheng Zhilong during the Chinese New Year, but Zheng Zhilong was drunk, and when he was complacent, he only said: "Dutch people in the southeast coast are afraid of him. "

The meaning of this sentence depends on how you understand it. People with a hot head and extremely crazy will understand that the Dutch are a bird. Even Zheng Zhilong is afraid. Now that super battleships have been built, it is not easy to deal with them.

If a more thoughtful person thinks, Zheng Zhilong is bragging, and he only dares to say that the Dutch in the southeast coast are afraid of him. How much is a three-pointer? That is just a polite way of saying. Come to provoke him, but people are not afraid of him. This is the case on the southeast coast, so overseas, in Southeast Asia, how powerful are the Dutch!

The so-called know yourself, know your enemy, and win a hundred battles. Now that the Dutch don’t even know what’s going on, Zhu Cijiong naturally doesn’t dare to rush up to start a war with them. In fact, he sent the warship to Nanyang to practice this time, and it’s just incidental to bring businessmen from Ming Dynasty to open up overseas markets. , I mainly want to find out how powerful the Dutch are in the Nanyang region.

Just how strong were the Dutch during this period?It is not an exaggeration to say that they have tens of thousands of sea ships. To be precise, it should be: the Dutch now have more than 5000 warships and merchant ships!During the Chongzhen period of the Ming Dynasty, it was the time when the Dutch were at their strongest, and all the Spaniards, Portuguese, and even the British in the Nanyang area were beaten to the ground by him.

For some unknown reason, the Dutch, Spaniards, Portuguese, and British did not have detailed records of the Nanyang scramble battle during this period. It was simply a certain year and a certain year when the Netherlands defeated the Spanish navy and occupied a certain place; a certain year In a certain year, the Netherlands defeated the Portuguese navy and occupied a certain place; in a certain year, the Netherlands defeated the British navy and occupied a certain place.

It is understandable that the Spaniards, Portuguese, and British did not have detailed records. They were beaten to the ground, ugly!

However, it is a bit puzzling that the Dutch as the victor did not have detailed records. If you combine the Anglo-Dutch war and the French-Dutch war later, you can probably guess a little clue. Compared with those two wars, the small-scale battle here is simply It's not worth mentioning, maybe the Dutch think this little thing is not worth mentioning, so they don't bother to record it!
Why do you say this way?Because the Anglo-Dutch War and the French-Dutch War are the key battles that truly determine maritime hegemony. In Southeast Asia, it is the Netherlands that is bullying Spain, Portugal, and the United Kingdom!

Why was Zheng Chenggong able to recover Treasure Island in the 18th year of Shunzhi (AD 1661)?Because at that time almost all the warships in the Netherlands went back to compete with Britain and France for maritime supremacy.

From 1652 to 1780, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom fought for sea supremacy for more than 100 years. During this period, there were four Anglo-Dutch wars, and France also participated in the third Anglo-Dutch war. The Netherlands, but it was the Netherlands that won that time!
You must know that the UK had 1652 super battleships in 120, and other warships and armed merchant ships are even more insignificant. Therefore, the power of one country has resisted the two great powers for more than 100 years, which shows its strength.

The period from 1580 to 1670 is known as the golden age of the Netherlands, especially during the Chongzhen period of the Ming Dynasty (1627 to 1644 A.D.), when the Netherlands was recognized as the world's dominant maritime power. Just in time, if one is not good, it will attract the Dutch Armada. At that time, even if Ming wins the battle, it is estimated that the naval power will be almost exhausted. There is no need to think about overseas colonies, let alone maritime hegemony. The speed of its rise will definitely far exceed that of Daming.

In fact, Zhu Cijiong didn't know that the Netherlands was so fierce. He just acted cautiously with a cautious attitude. After all, he was definitely not an ordinary character who could be called the overlord of the sea. Behavior, as a normal-thinking person, Zhu Cijiong will naturally not make mistakes.

If he doesn't make a second, will the Dutchman make a second?

There are more than 500 large ships shuttling in the Nanyang area, and the Dutch naturally cannot see them, but they also don't want to lightly start a war with Ming. Even if there was a disagreement, before there was no direct conflict of interest, they just waited and watched, and did not take any action.

Under such circumstances, all the ocean-going ships of the Ming Nanyang Fleet arrived in Goa smoothly, and Hou Shilu and Luo Siwei were naturally overjoyed. Even Kong Dede and Shi Weila also ran to Goa in person to greet them.

Why are Kunde and Shivela so active?Shi Weila was positive and said a little bit more, after all, his family still represents Daming's luxury goods trade, as long as he is a high-ranking official of Ming Dynasty, he wants to curry favor.

It's a little strange that Conded is so active. He is the dignified governor of India, and now the colony under his rule has reached nearly 100 million square kilometers. It can be said that he is already one of the largest officials in Portugal. A fleet of allies is here. Does he have to be so aggressive?

In fact, he has no choice. The land he occupies is large, but it is basically backward aborigines and feudal dynasties that have just started. The industry can be said to be blank. His main source of income is farming and mining.

There is nothing to say about mining. Gold mines are mined directly, and there is no need to sell them. It is already money;

Therefore, the only thing that can be sold in his colony is grain and spices. Spices are easy to say, just sell them directly to Europe, and they are in short supply.Food is troublesome. The European powers have colonies everywhere. Who will be short of food? No one wants to transport it to Europe. What should I do?
He seems to have heard that the Ming Empire is relatively short of food, and now that the Ming fleet is coming, he naturally rushes over to see if there is a chance to sell the mountains of food.

Although Shivira is not the governor of India and has no ownership over the land he laid down, but after all, he has contributed more than half of his efforts, so the income of this colony is also half of his. He is naturally more active.

Shivela personally acted as the translator and the person in charge of the reception. After communicating with the merchants of Daming for a while, he finally understood that these merchants are not mainly here to buy things, but to sell things, but the things they sell are good. , are the daily necessities that are lacking here, and the price is very cheap, as long as the order is sold, there is no need to worry about not making money.

They are all good things. You must know that a piece of cloth here can be sold for nearly a tael of silver, and it is the coarse cloth produced here. Daming’s cloth is soft and smooth, and it can definitely sell for a higher price. Price, even he can organize a caravan to sell to the Mughal Empire, so the profit will be even higher.

There are also things like porcelain and knives that are in short supply here, and there is no need to worry about sales.But the problem is that the amount of money required is too much. That is nearly [-] ships of goods. Even if each large ship holds dozens of tons of goods, it is tens of thousands of tons. At least a few million taels of silver is needed. It is naturally impossible to spend more money, and he believes that Kong Dede is also reluctant to spend so much money to stock up.

How to do it?He tentatively put forward the suggestion of exchanging grain for commodities, but he did not expect that most of the merchants readily agreed. Daming was really short of grain, like rice. In the capital, it was stipulated that one tael of silver was one stone, but a little further to the west, in Shanxi It has risen to two taels, and the price is even higher going west, as long as they are not afraid of death.

The deal was concluded in this way, almost a piece of cloth was exchanged for a stone of rice. Kong Dede and Shiweila couldn’t stop laughing from ear to ear, and the businessman from Ming Dynasty also couldn’t close their mouths from ear to ear. I don’t know who earns more. Anyway, the profit is more than doubled.

Hu Xianzong is quite knowledgeable. He did not expect that Ming Dynasty still has such great prestige overseas. As soon as the ship docked, the governors of the two allied countries came to greet him in person. That is the governor. In Daming, the governor is a super high-ranking official. , I believe that the position of the governor of this allied country is not much lower.

The more exaggerated thing is yet to come. One of the governors of the two allied countries can speak Chinese, and he speaks it like a thief, and even came over to discuss business with them in person.Negotiating business with the governor, this kind of thing is really, really... very face-saving.

He originally thought that he would have to find buyers everywhere for [-] bolts of cloth, and it would be good if he could sell them in a month, but the governor-general bought all the goods for everyone in one go. The profit is actually double that of exchanging with cash!
Seeing the cartloads of grain being loaded onto the boat, he felt very excited. In Daming, he could only sell goods for 500 taels of silver, but if he changed hands here, it would directly become 1 shi of grain. [-] taels of silver, his old father has never made so much money after being busy all his life, he made it in one go!
The business in Nanyang is really easy to do. Hu Xianzong decided to come here often in the future. When he is familiar with it, he will come here to open a factory. As long as he earns ten years, his old Hu's family will be prosperous!
This time can be said to be the starting point for the Ming Dynasty to monopolize the Nanyang trade. The Nanyang Ming merchants gradually developed from this time. After decades, there have been countless wealthy and powerful people among them. The reason why Ming Dynasty can become the richest and most powerful in the world country, they have made great contributions.Of course, these are things for later, so I won’t talk about them here for the time being.

(End of this chapter)