In mid-August of the thirty-fourth year of Wanli, the Portuguese in Macau suffered the biggest disaster since they settled here. The conflicts between the Portuguese in various East Asian colonies and the Spanish royal family suddenly became acute; the Portuguese in Macau believed that the Spanish royal family was The war disaster caused by the actions of the officials and the Inquisition was precisely instigated by the Spanish officials in the Philippine colony. The royal magistrate Diaz detained the Spanish naturalized citizen Elizabeth Titus in order to trace Andri, a Manila prisoner. Titus, the whereabouts of Li Dan's property; the Goa Inquisition intervened due to Elizabeth's relationship with the new Christians, which led to the final armed conflict. The royal official was immediately driven away, and the Macau Municipal Council resolved , never welcomed the posting of royal officers, and requested the King of Spain to appoint Portuguese officers locally.
When the two countries merged, at the Tomar Conference, the Portuguese Congress and King Felipe of Spain reached an agreement. The king had no right to interfere in the internal affairs of the Portuguese Free City. (three days, ten days in total), intensifying the conflict between the Portuguese colonies in Asia and the Spanish royal family.
When the annual Portuguese-Sino-Japanese trade fleet returned to Macau, everyone suddenly discovered that the China United Company's garrison in Macau had become a fait accompli. The Portuguese in Macau did not have the courage to confront the China Company with force, but secretly began to rearm their weapons; on the one hand, it was political , requiring the Governor of the Portuguese-Portuguese and Indian Colonies to establish the post of Governor of Macau in Macau, and at the same time requiring Macau to garrison the Portuguese standing army; on the other hand, it was military. The Portuguese in Macau began to build coastal forts, but the Chinese United Company's commercial hall was opening Located near the City Hall, it invisibly put pressure on the Macau Municipal Council. In Macau thereafter, the Chinese Company became another political center for local Chinese besides the Xiangshan County Government Office of the imperial court. It also served as a place for local Chinese to resolve various economic disputes. and center for business dealings.
The secret activities of the Macau Portuguese people in re-armament fell into the eyes of the China United Company. The company had a large number of Portuguese shareholders and employees of various nationalities, so the secret activities of the Macau Portuguese people had no right to be kept secret.
Although the entire Portuguese Asian colonies came together to support Macau and wanted to keep this outpost of trade with China, Macau had already lost too much blood, and the main goal of the Portuguese was commercial profits, and Chinese companies were Macau's largest trading partners. Yin Feng is very confident: the Portuguese will not be a threat for the time being.
When Li Lihua was rescued from the church basement by Courtre and Chen Zhongji, she had been starved for three days. Due to the siege of Yin Feng's fleet and the shortage of food in Macau, the cruel Inquisition personnel simply forgot about her. If she had been discovered two days later, , this woman who is less than 20 years old may lose her beauty.
Fortunately, Li Lihua had been lively and active since she was a child, had a well-off family, good nutrition, and a very good physique, so she recovered quickly. The whip marks of the Inquisition were permanently left on her back. Fortunately, her beauty was not damaged at all. About those The psychopathic Inquisition personnel could not bear to destroy such a beautiful masterpiece of God.
When the fleet returned to Taiwan Port, the forts and forts in the Anping area south of Taiyuan Port had been completed. When the fleet entered Taiwan Port, the forts on both sides of the fleet fired rumbles of cannons to show their welcome.
Zeng Jingshan, Han Ping, Lu Shitou, An Heping, Li Yue, Mai Dahai, Mai De and Lin Xiao all came to the pier to greet them. Even Xu Xinsu, who had been exploring the market in the mainland, also came. This was probably the collective appearance of senior executives of China Company. In the most comprehensive public event, the China Company, a trading company united by coastal merchants, actually defeated the Francois who once roamed the southeastern coast. This made people from all over the coastal areas of Zhejiang, Fujian and Guangdong look at the China Company with admiration again.
Although among the company's top executives, they are 80% sure of defeating the Macau Portuguese, ordinary people along the coast do not know the inside story. They just think that if the Chinese Company can defeat the Franco-French people who even the imperial court has no power to drive away, then it is indeed a good thing. It has very strong strength.
Therefore, there were tens of thousands of people near the dock to welcome the fleet's triumphant return; countless coastal fishermen, businessmen, thousands of craftsmen from the company's shipyard, family members of craftsmen in the factory area, foreign merchants and hawkers stationed in Hong Kong, labor coolies, and even those who People working on the farms and plantations, as well as refugees recently recruited from famine-stricken provinces, also came after hearing the news.
Amidst the roar of cannons and thunderous cheers from the people, the escort stationed at the dock tried their best to open a path through the crowd, allowing Yin Feng and others to disembark and pass through.
"Ship owner, ship owner, the ship owner is mighty and invincible," the escapees from Manila shouted. Some desperately knelt down and kowtowed in Yin Feng's direction, and some shouted "Ship owner," with tears in their eyes.
On the island of Taiwan, in the entire Zhonghua Company, no matter who he is, as long as he mentions the word "ship owner" without any surname prefix, everyone will know that he refers to Yin Feng without any explanation. There will never be a second person who can. It's called this.
"Dadong family, Yin Dadong family is powerful in the sea and spreads all over the world." Those businessmen and shareholders who invested in Zhonghua Company bowed to Yin Feng and saluted him, which made Yin Feng overwhelmed.
"Wish you all the best, my great boss." Those company employees and family members of servants saluted Yin Feng one after another. Some retired craftsmen and workers also saluted Yin Feng in the crowd. If the crowd hadn't been too crowded, they would have saluted Yin Feng. Many people want to perform a prostration ceremony.
Farther away, farmers fleeing famine from various places knelt down in the direction of Yin Feng regardless. Of course, among the crowd were merchants and sailors from the Netherlands, Portugal and other European countries, as well as from Jiaozhi, Champa, Siam, Hagang, and Kaliu. Businessmen and sailors from Cambodia, Dadi, Old Port, Malacca, Aceh, Pahang, Johor, Dinggiyi, Siji Port and other places, as well as Brunei, Ryukyu and other places gathered at the Taiwan Port pier, and people from China and foreign countries gathered in commotion. Gathered together, there were a dazzling array of people of all colors, yellow, white, and black, speaking in a variety of languages and talking incessantly...
Han Ping smiled and said to Han Jing beside him: "Jing'er, have you seen this? We overseas prodigals have never seen such a formation. Captain Yin is really a strange man sent from heaven. The company's great situation is all thanks to him." ah,"
Han Jing smiled faintly: "I am quite interested in what kind of situation Captain Yin can create in the end. Father, the uncle of the Zeng family came to Taiwan yesterday. It is probably because the negotiations with the government have concluded."
Han Ping frowned: "Keep your voice down, now Lin Xiao's security department spies are flying all over the place, searching for spies everywhere, and making enemies everywhere. No matter what official position Captain Yin can get in the court, it should be beneficial and harmless to the China Company." thing,"
Han Jing shook his head and said: "In my opinion, Captain Yin is different from us. The businessmen of the Ming Dynasty all adhere to the tenet of 'starting from the bottom and sticking to the foundation'. The purpose of doing business is just to sell land and buy real estate, and then farm, study, and pass the imperial examination." …But I think Captain Yin’s vision is definitely more than that, he sees further…”
Han Ping turned his head and looked at his son in confusion: "Boy, do you mean... Captain Yin wants to seal the territory and split the land, and become the king and hegemony?"
Han Jing smiled faintly: "Why not, but I also feel that Captain Yin is thinking about something more and further, and I don't quite understand it."
Among the people who warmly welcomed Yin Feng, there was a person who looked at these scenes with complicated eyes. His expression was somewhat incompatible with the scene. Soon the tall scholar in Confucian robes squeezed out of the crowd, left the pier with his head lowered, and ran on the street. A group of students from the junior class of the military academy who had just finished class came. They stopped to greet the scholars, bent down and bowed to say hello: "How are you, Mr. Chen?"
The tall scholar nodded quickly to them: "Okay, everyone, where are you going?"
"Go meet the boat owner," a group of teenagers shouted and quickly rushed towards the dock.
The tall Confucian scholar was the commander-in-chief of Wuyu Water Village. The spy Chen Dong, named Xuri, was stationed in Taiwan by Shen Yourong, the governor of Fujian. In fact, his espionage career did not have much achievements, except for the invasion of Hongmao barbarians a few years ago. He sent the message in time in Penghu. Since then, because Yin Feng and Zhonghua Company have developed very quickly and tried their best to avoid direct conflicts with the government, he has no valuable information to send at all, and the remuneration Shen Yourong gives him every year is pitiful. of ten taels of silver.
He had just received a report from Brother Guo Yi, who was traveling across the Taiwan Strait. Zeng Qi had already negotiated with Fujian Governor Xu Xueju about the conditions for Yin Feng and Zhonghua Company to recruit him.
This is not good news for Chen Dong, who has always wanted to bring down Zhonghua Company. Once Yin Feng's embarrassing identity is recognized by the government, Zhonghua Company can basically be regarded as a legitimate existence. Therefore, Chen Dong is in a bad mood today. , but did not dare to show it too much: after a series of incidents such as the sailors' rebellion, Yin Feng's assassination, and the Portuguese spies blowing up the powder magazine, the company's security department became very strict in rectifying and cleaning up internal personnel. Lin Xiao was like a Ming Dynasty Jinyiwei. Spies are generally distributed everywhere. Once they find anyone who has complained about the company, talked about Yin Feng in private, slandered Yin Feng's character, etc., they will all be arrested. Although the company's basis for exercising power is mostly based on the "Da Ming Law", but generally The punishments include the death penalty and exile to the mines for mining, as well as being exiled to overseas merchant ships to work as coolies. Most of those who were convicted in Lin Xiao's hands were imprisoned to work in coal mines, sulfur mines and other mines in northern Taiwan to work as coolies.
Yin Feng didn't know much about Lin Xiao's actions. During this period, besides dealing with the Spanish and Portuguese, he spent time in the weapons research department and firearms workshop, trying hard to improve his troops to a higher level in terms of weapons and equipment. , after returning from Macau, he bought a courtyard near his home, where Li Lihua could recuperate and recuperate, so that he could take care of her nearby. Xu Xinsu asked people to buy several girls and maids in Haicheng, Quanzhou and other places and gave them to Li Lihua. Yin Feng also asked several experienced servants of the Zeng family to work in Li Lihua's yard. People secretly called Li Lihua's residence "West Palace" and Yin Feng's own house was called "East Palace".
Now, all the daily work of the Chinese Company is aimed at one goal: to counterattack Manila.
Zeng Jingshan and people from the Ministry of Commerce purchased large quantities of grain in Zhejiang and other areas south of the Yangtze River. The Ministry of Agriculture and Reclamation sent all the victims and refugees recruited from the mainland to grow grain and hoard large quantities of grain. Taiwan's agricultural production has been greatly reduced due to the large number of contacts with Western colonists. Important food crops such as corn, sweet potatoes, and potatoes began to be planted; through Portuguese merchant ships, Chinese companies also had oil crops such as peanuts and sunflowers, and even vegetables and fruits such as tomatoes, peppers, beans, plantains, and custard apples began to be grown on a small scale in Taiwan. Planted, Yin Feng's slogan is "It is better to have an overabundance of grain reserves rather than a shortage of them," so a large number of crops that could have been sold to the inland provinces, such as corn, peanuts, and rice, have stopped being exported.
On the other hand, the musket workshop of the weapons manufacturing plant is working day and night, working overtime to manufacture flintlocks and ammunition; the cannon workshop affiliated to the weapons research department is producing one cannon per day. However, the biggest problem now is The source of raw materials for copper cannons has almost been cut off. The Ming Dynasty government controlled most of the copper mines in Yunnan and other places. Due to the need to cast copper coins and cannons for the imperial army, the copper materials shipped to Taiwan have been out of stock recently.
A Dutch craftsman in the Ordnance Research Department came up with the idea of a cast iron cannon. In the 16th century, European cannons were in excellent condition in terms of their solidity, the accuracy of the ballistic trajectory after the cannonballs were fired, and the performance of the ammunition adapted to the cannons. , and, with the advancement of iron smelting technology, Europeans began to use blast furnaces to cast iron cannons. After casting, the cannon barrel had to be "bored", that is, a special machine was used to drive the drill bit to pull the hole, so that the inner bore surface It is more consistent and smooth, thus improving the firing capacity. This is another key technology for Europeans to manufacture modern artillery. Experts such as Needham believe that this may be the beginning of their artillery making technology surpassing that of the Chinese. At that time, China had very few iron cannons. , even if there is one, it is not as good as Europe in terms of technology.
Britain was the first country to produce cast-iron guns. From the 1640s to the end of the century, the British almost monopolized cast-iron gun technology, thereby protecting British and other northern merchant ships in their trade in the Mediterranean, East India, and West India. After 1600, the Dutch also had the ability to produce cast iron cannons. As Dutch capital penetrated the Swedish iron mining industry, a large number of cast iron cannons were produced in Sweden and exported to various parts of Europe. Historically, it was not until the 1720s that Spain only began to manufacture cast iron cannons. After 1650, cast iron cannons became the most important weapons and equipment of European navies.
This Dutch blacksmith was Van Leyden's hometown friend. He was recruited by Van Leyden to come to Taiwan from Batavia. He had participated in iron cannon casting in the Netherlands, but because he was one of the few Catholics in the United Provinces, , had never been promoted in his own factory, so he went to Asia for adventure. He had no idea about running cast iron for the pagans, and completely exposed the entire cast iron running process in front of the waste of money.