Chapter 936 Sunda Strait

For Zhang Yun, the strategic position of the Sunda Strait is not of great significance. He is more interested in the diversity of organisms living in this sea channel connecting the Pacific and Indian Oceans. And between the two

Java Island and Sumatra Island between the oceans, the special species bred in such an island environment are also an important research content during his trip south. Although these research projects did not have much impact on Haihan's expansion of territory.

However, the executive committee still gave Zhang Yun's department great support, allowing him to take a warship to these places for field inspections - in terms of treatment, he is no worse than Darwin. Darwin was following the British

The USS Beagle conducted a five-year global expedition and collected a large amount of first-hand information before establishing the theory of evolution.

However, Zhang Yun could only arrange his inspection plan according to the fleet's itinerary. For example, there was no arrangement to land on the volcanic island in the strait in the fleet's itinerary. This made Zhang Yun, who wanted to see the active volcano crater, a little disappointed.

On November 12, while Yan Chujie and Van Diemen were arguing endlessly on the island, Zhang Yun's fleet crossed the Sunda Strait and arrived at the coast of Sumatra Island.

The fleet arrived at a small fishing port called Bakau. This destination was guided by a guide sent by the Matalan people. The southeastern end of Sumatra Island is the territory of the Matalan country. There were guides to coordinate on their behalf, and the fleet started from the local area.

The difficulty of obtaining supplies has been greatly reduced.

However, the indigenous people here are not good at farming, and the supplies the fleet can get from here are mostly seafood, poultry, fruits and vegetables. When Zhang Yun saw these dark-skinned indigenous people who were ignorant of the world, he couldn't help but think of the crossing group in Port Victory.

When they first landed, the residents of the local fishing village looked at the group of outsiders on the beach with fearful and curious eyes.

Of course, this small fishing port does not have a natural harbor, and its conditions cannot be compared with the Victory Port that was decided after repeated selections by the organizing committee at that time. However, Roger was surprised to find that there was a large-scale fishing port nearby.

The production method used in this relatively large salt drying field is very similar to that of the official salt field in Danzhou. After asking the locals, Roger learned that this salt drying field was also organized and built by Han people who went to Nanyang in the early years.

In addition to the local indigenous people's own use of the sea salt, part of it is also sold to Bandar Lampung, the largest nearby town, which is also a major income for the small place of Bakau.

Roger inquired further and found out a few locals who could speak Chinese, all of whom were of Han descent. However, these people had been reproducing in the local area for several generations, and their bloodline was no longer pure. In addition to being able to speak a few words, Roger

Although he was not very fluent in Chinese, he was almost the same as the local aboriginals. Roger tried to show these people the books printed by Haihan himself, but no one could recognize the Chinese characters on them. He asked about their ancestral place of origin, but he could not

Couldn't get a clear answer.

"What a pity!" Roger put away the books and sighed with regret: "It is such a pity that the inheritance of Chinese culture was not preserved!"

Zhang Yun was quite surprised by Roger's reaction: "I didn't see that you actually admired Chinese culture so much, but these people do not have much opportunity to receive education in such a remote place, so it is reasonable for them to be illiterate."

Roger glanced at Zhang Yun, shook his head and said, "It's none of my business whether they can read or not!"

Zhang Yun said in astonishment: "Then what are you regretting?"

"As long as we can connect these Han descendants with Haihan and prove that they are relatives of the same race and clan as us, can't we settle here?" Roger explained: "Since ancient times, you have always used these four words.

Do you understand what it means?"

Although Zhang Yun is dedicated to studying, he is not the kind of nerd who is ignorant of what is happening outside the window. He naturally knows how useful these four words "since ancient times" are in the field of diplomacy and international relations. Haihan goes north

It is easy to find the roots of development. After all, most of these people are from China. They grew up under the influence of Han culture. Their language and values ​​are in line with the current Ming Dynasty. They have to forcibly establish some relationships in exchange for the opportunity to gain a foothold.

It's not difficult. But if you want to go south and occupy some overseas enclaves, but don't want to be as simple, crude and without any technical content as the Western colonists did, then you have to make good use of this "since ancient times" power.

When Haihan seized the Ambuna Islands from the Dutch, he used this as a reason. He believed that the area had been settled by Han people in ancient times and should belong to the territory of the Han people. Since it had been the territory of the Han people before, it was natural that it should be the territory of the Han people.

The property must be returned to its original owner and returned to the rule of the Han people. Of course, whether the Han people who rule this place now refer to the Ming Dynasty or the Haihan people, no one has delved into this issue. Only when the teacher is famous can he explain the movement in a grand manner both internally and externally.

The reason for the war. However, the Dutch could not figure out these relationships, and the Ming Dynasty was not interested in meddling in such nosy matters. The Haihan people who had taken advantage would naturally not take the initiative to explain anything.

Later, Haihan used similar reasons when he settled in Taiwan and drove away the Spanish. There is no doubt that this is a good reason that has been tried and tested. As long as the banner of "since ancient times" is used, corresponding military actions will be taken.

It seems to be a legitimate name. Although the proportion of Han people in the Haihan Army is only about 60 to 70%, this will not affect the participants' understanding of the purpose of the war. The absolute trust and obedience to the Executive Committee will drive these soldiers

Carry out the commander's orders without hesitation.

Zhang Yun wanted to understand the mystery and couldn't help but smile: "Actually, Westerners don't care about the reasons for taking action as much as we do. The history of Europe as a whole is one of constant conquest and division. In order to occupy more places, any excuse may become

The reason for the war. Greece and Troy fought for ten years over a beautiful woman. Louis VII of France was abandoned because he shaved his beard, and his wife was passed on to King Henry II of England. Later, it even triggered a protracted war between Britain and France.

Are these reasons for starting a war ridiculous enough? In fact, to put it bluntly, they are just excuses to start a war to conquer other countries. As long as you want to fight, there is no reason."

Roger muttered: "Only we are civilized enough to consider these trivial matters so carefully. If it were a country like the Netherlands and Portugal, I'm afraid they would have just robbed it."

Zhang Yun nodded in response: "That's actually true. When these European colonists came to the Far East, they were robbing people along the way. Not only did they steal money and land, but they also didn't spare people. You see, they sold

The slaves on Ampur Island were people of all colors and races from the three continents of Europe, Asia and Africa, and the plantation on the island is simply an ethnographic museum."

During the Age of Discovery, European colonists basically used predatory methods to develop Asia, Africa and Latin America. Early contacts were mainly based on robbing, and they would only try to establish trade relations when encountering large countries that could not be defeated. This method helped colonization

In the early days, they quickly accumulated wealth and expanded their business scale. If Haihan hadn't appeared in this time and space, disrupting the original historical development trajectory, the Far East would have been dominated by Western colonists in the next three centuries.

.

Haihan's current expansion model is somewhat based on the practices of his Western counterparts. However, compared with these foreign devils who come from thousands of miles away, Haihan has a unique advantage in race. The majority of this team is composed of Han people in the Far East.

It was much easier for Europeans to settle down than for Europeans, and at this time, the power of the Celestial Kingdom was still there. Countries surrounding the Ming Dynasty were more sympathetic to the influence of the Han people, and there would not be as many barriers as when European colonists came to the local area.

The joint fleet stayed at the Bakau fishing port for a day for a short rest, and then set off to continue sailing westward along the coastline. After half a day's journey, the fleet arrived at Bandar Lampung, the largest port town in the Sunda Strait region.

Bandar Lampung means "floating port" in the local dialect. This place is the first stop when entering Sumatra from Java Island. It is only 40 nautical miles away from the narrowest point of the Sunda Strait. Even the maritime armed forces are not strong.

The Matalan Kingdom also deployed a fleet here. However, the combat effectiveness of this fleet was obviously very worrying. It was not until the combined fleet sailed into the sight of the shore that the warships docked on the shore finally responded.

The officers hurriedly concentrated their efforts to get the warship away from the coast as soon as possible.

Fortunately, the United Fleet also anticipated the possible chaos, so they prepared the Malta blue flag in advance and hung it on the bow. After a period of chaos in the port, someone finally discovered that this fleet was flying under its own flag.

, and did not enter the port rashly. The port quickly sent a small boat over to inquire, and found out that this was a joint fleet composed of the three countries of Haihan, Champa, and Annam, and they had received the endorsement of senior officials of the country, allowing them to enter the country of Matalan.

Port docking for supplies.

After a false alarm, the fleet successfully sailed into the port and docked. Based on the written materials provided by Apondu, the fleet was allowed to resupply here and conduct a three-day goodwill visit.

Although Banda Lampung is known as the first port in southern Sumatra, the scale of this port is actually relatively limited. According to Mu Xiabai, it is almost the same as the Hoi An Port in Annan before it was destroyed. Due to Ma

During the war between the Blue Kingdom and the East India Company, there were no sailing ships from Western countries here, but there were many merchant ships from the Middle East buying locally produced spices and selling cotton cloth and other handicrafts.

Although these Persian merchants do not like to open up colonies everywhere like Western colonists, their scope of activities in the Far East is not much worse than that of Western maritime powers such as the Netherlands. As long as there are slightly larger trading ports in the Far East, they are not ugly.

Even the ports under the control of Haihan were no exception to these Persian merchants wearing turbans and robes. In terms of their ability to do business, these Arab merchants were not inferior to Haihan.

Although there is no living space for wild animals here, Zhang Yun still took his two apprentices to the market, intending to see the local customs and gain some knowledge. But this trip was really not in vain, they went

Not long after arriving at the market, I discovered something good.

Zhang Yun saw a group of people pointing and talking around a corner, so he squeezed into the crowd to watch the excitement. Unexpectedly, there was a large iron cage inside, and there was a tiger lying in the cage.

"Sumatran tiger!" Zhang Yun yelled out immediately, but the people around him didn't understand his language, so they didn't know what he was calling.

The Sumatran tiger is the smallest group of tigers. Its body including the tail is only about two meters long and weighs about 120 kilograms. Female tigers are even smaller. In addition to their dark orange fur and dense

The stripes make it easily distinguishable from other tiger species.

Zhang Yun quickly seized the time to teach his two apprentices about the Sumatran tiger: "...This kind of tiger is the same animal as the tiger on the mainland. However, more than 10,000 years ago, rising sea levels caused the Sumatran area to be separated from the mainland.

Isolated, the ancestors of this tiger were left on this island. Remember, this is the only tiger in the world that survives on the island."

The businessman next to him quickly noticed Zhang Yun's presence, because in addition to two neatly dressed teenagers, he was also followed by about a dozen young and strong men. These people were guarding him, and they looked like high-ranking officials.

The businessman hurriedly came over and had a chat. The Han translator hired from the dock explained to Zhang Yun: "Mr. Zhang, he wants to ask you if you are interested in buying this tiger."

Zhang Yun was also curious and said smoothly: "Then ask him how much he is willing to sell it for."

The businessman was not ambiguous, and immediately quoted a price, which was almost equivalent to one hundred taels of silver. Zhang Yun thought that the price was not very expensive, but if he spent money to buy a tiger back, it might not be too bad to ask Roger.

Explain. Every inch of space on this ship is precious. We have to make a special place to put this tiger. In addition, it is not easy to buy the meat that this thing eats every day. Look at the listless look of this tiger in the cage.

, Zhang Yun estimated that the businessman had not fed it much since he caught it.

"Tell him it's too expensive, forget it." Zhang Yun waved his hand to indicate no.

Seeing his refusal, the businessman thought that his bid might be too high, so he decisively lowered the price a little bit. Zhang Yun originally just planned to take a look, and had no intention of buying the tiger. At the moment, he still didn't respond and just continued to ask the two apprentices.

Tell us about Sumatran tigers.

The businessman probably thought that since this guy was neither counter-offering nor leaving, there should be a turning point, so he also used his trump card and asked someone to bring a bamboo basket out. Not to mention Zhang Yun, even his two apprentices

His attention was all drawn to it. There were two tiger cubs about one foot long in the bamboo basket. They were shaking their heads in a very cute way.

"Master, he said that as long as he buys this tigress, he will give these two cubs as gifts." The translator said a transaction condition that made Zhang Yun very excited.
Chapter completed!