Taiwan Port is the largest trade transit port on the southeast coast of China. Thanks to its geographical location and special political status, it is closer to the origin of silk, tea and other major export products than Guangzhou, Macao and other places. In addition, it does not belong to the Ming Dynasty It is under the jurisdiction of the North Korean government and is a free port that does not have to pay import and export taxes. Of course, due to the strong presence of China Company on the coast of Fujian, many merchant ships can buy a piece of China Company by paying a certain amount of silver if they want to sail safely on the southeast coast. Flag with Chinese characters on a blue background. Used as an amulet for escort.
Through this method of collecting "protection fees", the company's annual income is already considerable. Of course, the company promises that if a merchant ship flying the Chinese flag with a blue background is in danger and is robbed, no matter where it is in the world, the China United Company will stand up for it. There are already more than 300 such merchant ships and fishing boats. In addition to the more than 600 merchant ships invested and owned by the company itself, the number of civilian ships owned by China United Company will soon exceed the 1,000 mark.
The maritime trade season is coming. Before the spring, a large number of merchant ships have left Taiwan Port, making the large Taiwan Port now empty. There are several sea-going ships specializing in dredging sediment on the sandbank at the port of Taiwan Port (Damuan Port). They are dredging sand and dredging the channel. They use primitive barges to operate. They install net bags under the barges and use the buoyancy of the barges to dredge sand. They can only work when the port is not busy. Yin Feng has already sent people to Tainan in later generations. Survey the terrain of Anping, where the port is located, and see if a seaport can be built there to share the pressure on Taiwan Port.
More than 200 miles south of Taiwan Port, on the southwest coast of Taiwan, ten warships of the Second Fleet of the Chinese Navy are patrolling the sea near Langqiao.
The leader of the second war fleet is Fan Tao, the captain of the three-masted sailing ship "Haiyan". He was originally a fisherman from Zhangzhou. Later he went to Luzon Island to make a living. Unfortunately, he encountered the Manila Massacre just after arriving. He only escaped because of Yin Feng's rescue. Since then, he has been working in the war fleet. He is honest and willing to endure hardships. He is loyal to Yin Feng. He stayed at the old camp of Yinggang during the sailors' rebellion. He actively participated in Yin Feng's counter-rebellion battle. Therefore, he was promoted to the second war fleet. command.
The whole day's patrol has ended. Fan Tao is planning to command the fleet to rest on the shore of Langqiao for a night. When the third fleet to take over the patrol arrives tomorrow, they will complete their mission and return to port.
Under the sunset, on the green coastline, rows of coconut trees stretch on the beach. Several fishing boats are returning from fishing.
The sailors in the main mast mast suddenly rang the brass bell hanging in the mast. Years of training made all the crew members jump up as a conditioned reflex. They got into their positions and loaded the ammunition for the two cannons on the bow.
The sailor in charge of the lookout quickly slid down the mast. He held up a telescope and said to Fan Tao, who was rushing over: "Five miles southwest, there is a large Western-style ship coming north. It is estimated that it will reach the Langqiao coast before sunset. On board There are cannons and there are two small boats behind them. They can’t be seen clearly.”
At this time, the Chinese company could not make its own telescopes. Most of the telescopes owned by senior officers in the armed forces were bought from Western colonists in Macau, Octavia, Malacca and other places. However, for the flagship of the navy fleet Yin Feng, the sailor responsible for the lookout, equipped each of them with a pair of monocular telescopes at all costs. Therefore, Fan Tao had no doubts about the results of the sailor's lookout.
He quickly directed the sailors to hoist a red flag on the flagship to indicate the highest alert and prepare for battle.
Among the ten warships, except for the "Petrel", which was a warship with three guns, the rest were all brigs equipped with a six-pound cannon on the bow. The real warships owned by the entire Chinese company's navy
There are only two giant cannon ships, including the Feilong. The rest of the warships are reinforced and modified Chinese-style sailing ships... Fu Chuan.
The sailor on the lookout shouted loudly from the mast: "Dry the royal standard of the Greeks. Three miles of ground. Thirty cannons."
It is a Spanish battleship, a mortal enemy of the Chinese United Company, and a battleship related to the Latins.
This latest intelligence made Fan Tao's face become even more serious. He said to the officer in charge of weapons and combat matters: "Let a warship go to Taiwan Port to report the news. It needs to be fast."
Soon, a two-masted warship broke away from the group and sailed north.
The remaining nine warships formed a half-moon formation, facing the Spanish warships that could already be seen clearly with the naked eye.
…
A Portuguese mercenary who sailed with the Second Battle Fleet, Navy instructor Francisco served as an advisor. Yin Feng stipulated that he could voluntarily choose whether to participate in the battle with the Europeans. However, Francisco was very fond of the Spanish.
Like Courtre, he was also an opponent of King Philip of Spain. Therefore, he accompanied Fan Tao to prepare for the war, while constantly observing the opponent's situation.
"This is the Spanish battleship Maria. Your Excellency, Commander. This battleship has thirty cannons and more than 200 combat personnel. It is the flagship of the Spanish fleet in the Luzon colony." Francisco observed the enemy ships with a telescope.
Fan Tao likes telescopes very much, but now he has to let this Portuguese instructor use them. "I called you a name. What the hell is the name of the ship?" Fan Tao was very angry. He almost died at the gunpoint of the Spanish back then.
He hated the Spaniards far more than Francisco did.
Finally, after several years of training, Fan Tao has become a calm navy officer. He calmed down and asked: "Buddhist officer, the other party seems to have two ships."
Francisco already spoke Chinese very well. He looked at it carefully for a while: "It seems like it's a Portuguese ship. Oh, it's a Macau ship."
"What? What's going on with the Macau ship?" Fan Tao asked doubtfully.
Francisco was also full of questions. He shook his head and said: "I don't know. What's going on? We Portuguese will not cooperate with the Spanish. This may be a coincidence. Oh, strange. The Spanish warship stopped.
Yes. It seems that a liaison boat has been dispatched."
"What's the meaning."
"The Spanish want to contact us. They don't seem to be hostile."
…
The Spanish battleship Maria detoured to Macau and was led to Taiwan by a Portuguese guide from Macau.
Don Fernando, the governor of Pampanga in the Spanish colony of Luzon, was sent by Governor Acuna to go to Taiwan Island with Father Catalina of the Dominican Order for a diplomatic visit.
When Governor Acuna took office, he encountered the Great Psychological Rebellion. Although the Spaniards eventually won and almost massacred the Chinese, the entire Spanish Philippine colony fell into a profound economic crisis.
After the massacre, the Port of Manila became a dead port. All Chinese ships disappeared; all trade was limited to a standstill; all service industries basically stopped operating. Agricultural production also came to a standstill. The indigenous farmers were both diligent and hard-working.
Far inferior to Chinese farmers. Without the hard work of Chinese people and the trading ships of biological people, the economy of Manila and the entire Philippine colony has stagnated.
The Governorate of Manila basically relied on the money earned from the galleon trade to maintain the operation of the entire colony. The Spanish could not bear such heavy economic pressure. The Catholic Church with strong religious power began to oppose the rule of Governor Acuna in Manila. He believed that It was his failure to establish trade relations with China in time that led to the plight of the entire colony. Governor Acuna was furious when he heard the news: The Catholic Church had completely forgotten that it was Manila that initially instigated the Spaniards and natives to harass and attack the Chinese. Church people led by Archbishop Miguel de Benavides eventually revolted in self-defense, leading to the Manila Massacre.
Under pressure from all sides, Governor Aguna sent envoys to Macau in an attempt to contact the Fujian government and strive to resume trade with China. The first group of envoys were assassinated by sharpshooters Luo Aquan and others led by Yin Feng. They died inexplicably in Macau. .
The Spaniards also suspected the cause of death of these envoys. However, they suffered from the lack of any relevant evidence. Moreover, the Portuguese municipal authorities in Macau were very uncooperative in this matter and completely refused to send personnel from Manila to investigate the cause of death of the envoys.
The past two years have been very difficult for Governor Aguna; the post of Governor of Manila was originally a lucrative job, but now it has become a thankless drudgery. After the violent death of the first group of envoys, Governor Aguna decided to continue Send an envoy directly to the coast of Fujian to deal with the Fujian officials of the Ming Dynasty. The problem is that no one is willing to go to China to die. No one, whether it is the church or the army, is willing to take the initiative to sign up to be an envoy to China.
This situation lasted until the beginning of the thirty-fourth year of Wanli (1606). At this time, a Portuguese smuggling merchant ship arrived at the Manila port. Although Spain and Portugal were merged under one king, the Spanish king and the Portuguese nobles There was an agreement at the meeting that commercial competition between the two countries should be avoided as much as possible. Therefore, merchant ships of the Portuguese Macau authorities are not allowed to trade with Spanish colonies in Asia. However, this regulation cannot stop the smuggling trade between merchants from the two countries.
The Spanish received the Portuguese smuggling ship with extraordinary enthusiasm. The Portuguese merchants on the ship were also very enthusiastic about the Spanish because they sold the goods at good prices. During the conversation with the Spanish tax officials at the port, they revealed a piece of news: from Lu The Chinese who escaped from Song Island gathered on Formosa (Portuguese) and established a large trading house. They also tried their best to hinder the official restoration of trade in Manila.
Formosa means "beautiful island". It was first named by the Portuguese in 1544 during the Jiajing period of the Ming Dynasty. As early as 1593-96, it was under the rule of Luis Pérez Dasmarinas, the interim governor of the Philippines. During this period, the Spaniards were already seriously considering a plan to conquer Taiwan Island.
At the same time, Governor Acuna also knew that the Ming Dynasty government had opened up foreign trade to Manila. Just as the Portuguese smuggler ship left Manila, two Fujian merchant ships cautiously entered the Manila port. It was the "ship pilot" that had been obtained The boats of the Wang family in Nanmen, Fujian and the wealthy merchants in Anhai.
While excited, the Spaniards thought that in order to continue the Manila trade, they must negotiate with the fugitives from Luzon Island and get in touch with the Fujian government. At the same time, the Wang family from Nanmen, Fujian, brought along the ship Xu Xueju, the governor of Fujian. The "Edict to Lu Song" issued on behalf of the Ming Dynasty publicly stated that there would be no war with the Spanish. Since the Chinese government promised that there would be no war or hostilities, this emboldened the Spanish. Many people started to He actively requested to be sent to China as an envoy in the hope that he could make some money by lending it to China.
Therefore, Pampanga Governor Don Fernando, a good friend of Governor Acuna, was appointed by the envoy.
The Spanish did not think that the Chinese United Company had the strength to dare to go to war with the Spanish Empire. The entire Chinese Empire was unwilling to fight the Spanish. How could a trading company composed of a group of escapees go against the Spanish.
The Spanish envoy Don Fernando never thought about the existence of any armed forces in the Chinese Company. Therefore, when he saw the second fleet of warships, he was still a little surprised.
"Father Catalina, they actually have cannons on the ship. This is very strange." Fernando said to his deputy.
Father Catalina is a slow-tempered and kind man. The reason why he became one of the envoys to Formosa Island is entirely because he understands Chinese. At least he is proficient in the Fujian dialect. Father Catalina is encouraging Luzon When the overseas Chinese joined the church, they learned the language of the overseas Chinese. They even taught themselves Chinese cultural classics such as the Four Books and the Five Classics. With the help of a failed Chinese scholar who joined the Catholic Church, he learned several books such as "The Great Learning" and "The Doctrine of the Mean". Confucian classics translated into Latin.
Almost all the Chinese in Manila have been slaughtered. Almost all the Chinese in Luzon Island are dead. Except for Li Dan in the underground dungeon of Fort Santiago and a few Chinese under the protection of the indigenous tribes in the northern mountains. In addition, there is only the Jesuit Monastery in Manila. A Chinese monk inside is still alive. This Chinese monk cannot translate for the mission because he cannot return to the country; he is a wanted criminal of the Ming Dynasty...a pirate who participated in the rebellion. He may be arrested by the government as soon as he returns to the country. Behead.
As a result, Father Catalina had to reluctantly become the Chinese translator for the mission.
At this moment, he observed the formation of the opponent's warships and said slowly: "They seem to be very organized. Like an army."
"Are you kidding? An army organized by a group of Chinese businessmen? Do you think this is possible?" Don Fernando kept shaking his head.
The priest didn't want to argue. He said calmly: "Sir, I'm just stating the facts I saw."
Fernando thought for a while: "We are here for trade and peace. There is no need to tangle with them here. Send a liaison boat. Dear priest, please go there. Tell them that we are the messengers of peace and ask them to guide us. Go to Taiwan. God bless. These pagan barbarians should know how to treat diplomatic envoys."