West of Manila, across the vast and deep South China Sea, thousands of miles away in the middle of Cochin China, there is a Hoi An city on the coast of the Zhongqi region. Not long ago, the king of Cochin China allowed the Chinese to choose a place in his land. A town was established specifically for trade; this was Hoi An, now in the center of Zhongqi. The town was actually divided into two districts. One belonged to the Chinese, and the other half belonged to the Japanese. Japanese towns, each ruled by a chief. The autonomous governor of the Chinese area has always been the storekeeper of the Zhonghua Company, the largest local trading company.
In just a few years, Hoi An has developed into an important trade center in Vietnam. Passenger and cargo terminals from various countries in Hoi An are distributed along the river. The straight street on the river bank is three to four miles long. It is called Tang Street and is densely distributed. Various shops and houses of various colors live side by side. Almost all the permanent residents are Fujianese. There are about 3,000 Chinese living in total. They are all wealthy businessmen. There are also many people who marry locals here. They pay an annual fee to the King of Cochin. Taxes are an important revenue source for this country.
In the lobby of the back hall of the Mazu Temple in Datang Street, there were fifty or sixty overseas Chinese gathered. Most of them were in their thirties or forties. There were many rich businessmen in luxurious clothes. Pan and Wu, who were wearing black short clothes, were in various Chinese costumes. The costume looks very abrupt and eye-catching. He killed the Spanish Governor Dasmarinas. After escaping from the Philippines, he lived in Cochin. He also made some achievements in Hoi An. After joining forces with the Chinese Company, he is now the Chinese Company in Hoi An. The shopkeeper of the business store. He is also the Chinese self-governing officer of Hoi An Chinatown.
Most of the middle-aged men and wealthy businessmen in front of him are old brothers who escaped from the Philippines with him.
"...Brothers, I have said it before. All the children of my family will join the Chinese expedition team. Brothers, you can decide for yourself whether you want to join. My whole family, except my younger brother, all died in Qianla. I have been waiting for more than ten years. I finally have the opportunity to take revenge. I will never let go of this opportunity. Some of your brothers’ family members also died on Luzon Island. I don’t know what you think.”
Pan Hewu, a short man with a capable appearance, was a straightforward and decisive fisherman's son. He was very decisive in doing things. Back then, he took the lead in revolting on the Spanish warship. He simply killed all the Spaniards from top to bottom, as well as the indigenous auxiliary soldiers. At this moment, he looked at those old brothers with sharp eyes. The ruthless look from back then filled his body: "Our Self-Defense Force has been training in secret for a year under the training of instructors sent by Captain Yin. It takes thousands of days to train troops. Now, our day of revenge is approaching, and it’s time for our Self-Defense Forces to use their hands and feet.”
"Brother Pan, we will follow you and chop off the heads of the related people like before." A few old brothers who still maintained their bloody spirit were the first to shout. The wealthy businessmen who had lost their fighting spirit in the comfortable and prosperous environment all looked at each other. After a while, he expressed his position one after another:
"Brother, provide people, effort, and money. You have your say. The whole Zhang family will listen to you."
"Brother Pan, I am willing to hand over my ship to you..."
"Shopkeeper Pan, you tell me the number. How much and how many ships. You have the final say."
Pan Hewu smiled faintly: "Okay, old brothers, let's escape from Luzon Island together. We will fight back together. Don't worry, we are just auxiliary soldiers. Oh, Captain Yin said; we are familiar with the mountains in southern Luzon. civilians and Muslims. We are only helping Captain Yin’s army fight. It is not our turn to fight a big war."
…
Go further south from Cochin China and cross the deep blue South China Sea. Here you come to the Indonesian Islands dotted in the Southeast Asia. The pirate gang of the Chinese Company has just occupied a port of the Aceh indigenous people. The burnt indigenous merchant ships on the beach are still popping up. Smoke. A group of Chinese pirates gathered on the beach under their pirate ship. They were "dividing the spoils" according to the rules determined by Yin Feng; the leader took one tenth. The remaining property was divided equally. The leader could still get this share. Everyone was happy. They were drinking wine, shouting and dancing.
A Chinese-style sailing ship with a blue flag appeared at the bay. The pirates looked up and looked back. They turned back casually and continued to listen to the steward on the ship calculating everyone's due share. Yes, this is also a Chinese company. The ship of the pirate gang had a blue flag and blue bow paint. So no one of the pirates paid attention to the new ship on the sea. The boss of the ship looked up and ordered one of his subordinates: "Ah Qi, go and see." It looks like they are from that group. Tell them they are late. We, the sixth team, have taken care of everything in this port."
After a moment, Ah Qi ran back crawling on the ground. He pushed away everyone and shouted in panic: "Boss, he is the herald of the ship owner."
"What's the herald? The ship owner's order? Hurry, brothers, go and greet the ship owner's herald." The guys hurriedly dropped off the piles of belongings and swarmed around to greet the visitors.
Yin Feng's herald was a brother of the original pirate gang. He was not an outsider. He had just been following Yin Feng since Luzon Island. He did not participate in the Yingang sailor rebellion. Therefore, he was recommended by Lu Shitou, and Yin Feng was recommended by Lu Shitou. With Feng's trust, he became the deputy commander of the fifth warship team of the Chinese navy.
The ship boss of the sixth team of the Pirate Gang burst out laughing when he saw the visitor. Then he raised his hands and saluted and said, "Ah, it turns out that Boss Qi is here for the grand prize. It's time to call you the commander-in-chief."
Boss Qi smiled reservedly and jumped off the ship. Behind him came a young man who was taciturn and looked around coldly. Boss Qi returned the favor and said: "Brother Lin, you are always kind. I brought your wife here for me. The sachet and the rosary and other things are handed over. Take a look for yourself." He handed a bag of things to the surprised and grateful boss of the sixth team.
"The ship owner also asked your son to enter the military academy's enlightenment class to study and learn literacy. He can also work in the company's escort team in the future." Boss Qi looked at him and smiled slightly. He turned to look at the silent young man.
Boss Lin suddenly knelt down, holding a small gift sent by his family, and kowtowed three times towards the south: "The shipowner is a great kindness. Mr. Lin will remember it in his heart. I will never forget it in this life."
"That's right. If you can complete the task assigned by the ship owner this time well, maybe the ship owner will allow you to return to Taiwan because of your contribution."
The silent young man suddenly said: "Are all the brothers here our own?"
Boss Qi quickly introduced: "Brother Lin. This is Zeng Jianjun of the newly established military supervision department of the Navy."
Everyone suddenly became nervous and lowered the tone of their discussion by more than ten decibels. The people overseeing the military department were all selected from the orphans Yin Feng rescued from Luzon Island and the orphans who died in Luzon after returning to Taiwan. It is said that he is selfless to the point of perversion. In his eyes, except Yin Feng and military discipline, everything is a target of suspicion. The captain of the sixth team quickly saluted the young man. He did not dare to say anything more. He just nodded repeatedly: "Yes. Yes, yes. They are all our own brothers. Some of them are children of local Tang people. They are also reliable members of our own family."
Zeng Jianjun nodded and said: "That's good. Captain Qi, please give the order."
In the evening, the order ship did not stay even for a moment. It hurriedly lifted anchor and sail and left. Dozens of Chinese pirate pioneer teams scattered across thousands of miles of Southeast Asia were waiting for them to convey the order.
Watching the sail shadow disappear into the darkness of the night sky, Ah Qi couldn't help but ask the boss: "What does the captain's order mean? Why do we need to harass..."
The captain of the ship interrupted him sharply: "Shut your mouth. The captain wants to attack Luzon Island. Of course he has his own clever plan. We just need to listen to him and follow suit. From now on, we are not allowed to talk about the captain's orders."
…
From the port of Aceh to the northwest, across the sea and the Malay Peninsula, Ayutthaya, the capital of Siam: the trade wharf of the great Ayutthaya city. Chinatown Autonomous Officer. Lin Songtao, the shopkeeper of the China United Company. At the dock, he was directing his men to transport cargo to the Xinxing ship. This cargo was not ordinary cargo. It was Siamese-made firearms personally escorted by Colonel Coutrey's friend Andre.
Lin Songtao, a Chinese from Guangdong, had been doing business in Siam for a long time. He was rescued by Yin Feng from Dutch pirates in the year when the Dutch first arrived in Penghu. As a result, he became a shareholder of the Chinese Company and the shopkeeper of the Siamese Business Store. At the same time, he was also the business agent of King Naresuan of Siam. Naturally, he became the director of Ayutthaya Chinatown.
Ayutthaya City was built in 1350 by King Uthong. It was the capital of the Kingdom of Ayutthaya (the Ayutthaya Dynasty of Siam). In history, in 1767, in another time and space, the city was captured and burned by Burma. The Chinese Zheng Xin restored the name of the country. The queen moved the capital south to Thonburi, established the Thonburi Dynasty, and rebuilt the new city to the east of the old city. The ruins of the old city became the location of the Ayutthaya Historical Park, a world cultural heritage.
Today, the city of Ayutthaya is in a period of prosperity. It has a large population and frequent business contacts from various countries. It is an important international trade center in Southeast Asia.
Behind Lin Songtao stood the Portuguese mercenary Andre and some Portuguese people from the Portuguese residential area of Ayutthaya City. They were discussing something. Andre seemed to hesitate and stepped forward to say hello: "Shopkeeper Lin." He said. The words were spoken in authentic Chinese. Lin Songtao quickly raised his hands and saluted: "Mr. An, have your friends decided yet?"
Andre handed it over in the Chinese way: "We plan to set aside some of the weapons and sell them to the Japanese. After all, they are also a big customer of the Portuguese."
"Mr. An, you are one of the shareholders of the company. You should be clear about the company's interests. This batch of weapons is urgently needed by the company. It may also be the last batch of Siamese firearms shipped to Taiwan. His Majesty the King has exported a large number of firearms to A Chinese trading company has become suspicious. Your Majesty does not want to offend the Ming Empire. These firearms produced by Portuguese craftsmen must all be shipped on board."
Andre's face was blushing. He sighed: "I understand. It's not that I don't think about the company. It's just that recently the Yamadas of Nihon Town have become more and more influential in front of His Majesty the King. My friends don't want to Just offend them."
Lin Songtao looked to the west where Nippon Town was. He shook his head and said, "Are you talking about Yamada Nagamasa? Do they also want to buy this batch of firearms? This young man is indeed not simple. He actually created a Japanese guard. Don't worry. .I am His Majesty the King's commercial agent. I am responsible for all trade with China. The goods shipped to Taiwan this time also belong to the Wang family. I personally obtained the permission in front of the King. Ignore the Japanese pirates in Japan Town. Our Chinatown and Portugal District Together, we will definitely make those people in Nihonmachi speechless."
Andre nodded: "Yes. I don't think the Japanese can do anything to us. After all, the king's bodyguards are composed of us Portuguese. We are the king's most trusted foreigners. My friend probably just wants to improve Let me know the price of firearms. I will negotiate with them."
The next day, the Xingxing was fully loaded with 1,000 matchlock guns, 15 bronze 6-pound cannons, 5 24-pound bronze heavy cannons, and a large number of gunpowder bullets. It pulled anchor and set sail. The Xingxing passed by the Japanese town along the river. In front of the jealous Japanese, he sailed towards Taiwan with great arrogance.
The arms factory in Taiwan Port went all out to produce flintlock muskets and newly developed cast-iron cannons. Siam is rich in copper mines. Therefore, the Chinese company has stopped producing copper cannons and purchased all of them from Siam.
…
Beginning in the second half of 1606, a mercenary recruitment order was circulated everywhere in the East-West trade bases in Asia and the Indian Ocean, as well as in the colonies occupied by Westerners: It is said that a great general and businessman in Eastern China wanted to recruit soldiers for his relatives. Revenge. The target of revenge is unknown. But he paid a very high salary to recruit mercenaries from all over the world. The source of the information seems to be those "new Christians"...Jewish merchants traveling throughout Europe and Asia.
From the Portuguese-occupied Mozambique in East Africa to Hormuz, the east-west strategic point. In the ports of the Portuguese colonies Goa and Cochin. In the Portuguese settlements in coastal ports of Myanmar such as Mataban, Bago and Yangon. In the Irrawaddy River Delta The Portuguese colonies on Salian Island and Malacca and other places, plus the Dutch Spice Islands, Batavia and other places. Adventurers and mercenaries from various countries used various means to take ships to the mysterious Eastern China.
After the Chinese and Dutch businessmen joined forces to conquer Macau last year, the Portuguese trade was greatly affected. It was all thanks to the Chinese companies' generosity in giving up a lot of profits regardless of past grudges. The Portuguese were able to live a more relaxed life. Many unemployed Portuguese adventurers therefore I also took a fancy to the opportunities in Taiwan Island. I desperately wanted to go to the area controlled by the China United Company to find opportunities to make a fortune. Due to the economic difficulties in Macau, the lives of a large number of black slaves were also affected. When white people had a better life, they would not be harsh on black slaves; but now Macau was recovering. The white masters' harsh treatment of the black slaves increased sharply. As a result, officials at the Xiangshan County Yamen received many reports of escaped black slaves entering the mainland. Some black slaves also secretly escaped onto merchant ships and arrived at Taiwan Port.
These black slaves are mainly Magaro's East African compatriots. Magaro has a lot of contact with them in Macau. Therefore, everyone knows that there is no black slavery on Taiwan Island. Everyone can freely choose to work. Moreover, Magaro is the master of Taiwan Island. As a result, dozens of black slaves secretly ran to Taiwan to defect to Magalo.
Because Chen Zhongji was sent overseas, he became the director of overseas intelligence. Yan Siqi, who didn't like studying, was sent to the military academy for training by Yin Feng. Lin Yue and Magaro are now in charge of Yin Feng's personal guard.