Just before the European fleet sent by Yin Feng arrived in Malacca, a small Dutch fleet failed to attack Salian. The Dutch trade in the Bay of Bengal could not compete with Portugal, so they also sent people to contact Ye Hua's fleet to encourage them to attack Salian. .
At this moment, Anabilon, the fourth king of the Toungoo dynasty who was determined to reunify all of Myanmar, was attacking Salian in the Irrawaddy River Delta.
During the same period, there was a paradise for Portuguese adventurers on the coast of Myanmar, which was established by Sebastian Gonsalves Thibault, a Portuguese mercenary leader like De Brito. Thibault was in 16 In the 1990s, he courted the ruler of Arakan, one of the Burmese vassals (like De Brito), and began to gain control of Sundipur Island off the coast of the Bay of Bengal. Therefore, Daibo himself negotiated many issues with the Arakan court. , directly launched a trade competition with De Brito. In addition, he also imposed tariffs on Mesulit's trade with Burma, and used his small fleet to attack Mesulipotan ships, which angered the people in this country. The Persian merchants who were doing business in the port were powerful and had close relationships with influential figures, and they had great influence in Arakan and Burei.
Several generations of the Toungoo dynasty of Myanmar were militant figures. Anabilong (reigned 1606-1628), the grandson of the overlord Mang Yinglong, once again completed the unification of Myanmar, and Sha Lian became controlled by the resurgent Toungoo dynasty. In an area controlled by Westerners in the unified political area, two Portuguese adventurers ran rampant along the coast of Myanmar. Naturally, the brave kings of the Toungoo Dynasty could not tolerate this kind of behavior.
The old Portuguese mercenary De Brito took advantage of the dissatisfaction of the Mon people in the Delta against the Toungoo Dynasty, forced them to believe in Catholicism, and organized an indigenous army. The rulers of the Toungoo Dynasty in Myanmar finally couldn't bear it anymore and did not want to see themselves anymore. There was a European stronghold on the country. In early 1608, King Anabilon set out from Bago and led about 100,000 people, about 150 light warships and 3,000 Malay sailing ships to besiege the Santiago Castle on Salian Island. , Felipe de Brito led about three to four hundred Portuguese, as well as hundreds of Eurasian mixed race people called Mestizos by the Portuguese, and about five to six hundred Mon people from Pegu. over there.
The Portuguese in Salim desperately asked for help from Goa and Malacca. The problem was that it was the northeast monsoon period and it would take too long to transport troops from Goa. However, the Portuguese soldiers in Malacca only had 120 soldiers, plus more than 100 auxiliary soldiers composed of Japanese expatriates. , so the Portuguese Governor of Malacca came up with an idea to let the Chinese fleet rescue Salian and let them leave Malacca at will, which would also eliminate the threat of the Chinese fleet to Malacca.
Ye Hua's fleet also received a secret envoy from the Dutch East India Company on this day.
The Dutch envoys came from Batavia, which had just become the headquarters of the East India Company.
Ye Hua's fleet issued a notice in Malacca to recruit sailors who were familiar with the European and Asian navigation routes, and then stayed in Malacca for several months. During this period, the fleet was not idle, and sent several ships to various places in Southeast Asia to do business. A batch of weapons was also delivered to the Chinese Company base in West Borneo.
Except for Li Dan who had gone ashore when he first arrived in Malacca, he had been staying on the Feilong ship ever since. At this time, Ye Hua took the initiative to call him over because the Dutch envoy was Li Jin, who had known Li Dan a long time ago. Jin once helped the Dutch to come to Penghu, and the Dutch had a big fight with the newly established China Company. Li Jin also got acquainted with Yin Feng, and after the Dutch were defeated in the Battle of Penghu, he and Yin Feng had a long talk all night. Returned to the Dutch again.
Therefore, at this moment, he came on behalf of the Dutch East India Company and looked like an agent of Dutch interests.
Ye Hua is not good at this kind of commercial diplomacy negotiation, while Li Dan and Bernardo are experts at it.
After a day and night of negotiations, Li Dan rubbed his eyes and came outside the cabin and said to Ye Hua, who had been on duty: "Captain Ye, the Dutch are willing to provide weapons, as well as guides and sailors who know the routes, on the condition that we unite with the Dutch. After Sallyem is captured, Sallyem must be handed over to the control of the Dutch,"
Ye Hua smiled: "Brother Li, who do you think we should help, the red-haired man or the Fo Lang Ji Yi?"
Li Dan sighed and said: "In my personal opinion, no matter who we help, it will not be of much benefit to our Chinese company. We only get a few guides and sailors, and these Westerners get real benefits. "
Ye Hua sneered and said: "They all regard us as being taken advantage of. In my opinion, we should simply capture this place. That would be the real benefit."
Ye Hua raised his hand and pointed to the city of Malacca not far away. Large ships from all over the world were docked in the Malacca harbor area, with masts and masts standing in great numbers. Small boats from the nearby coast were shuttled back and forth on the Malacca River, showing a vibrant scene. In the Malacca International Market, there is a dazzling array of products; there are silks, raw silks, ceramics, pearls, jade, bronzes, waist knives and other items from the Far East; there are various handicrafts and textiles from the vast area west of India, such as cotton, Glassware, dyes and medicines, etc.; there are spices, cardamom, tobacco leaves, ivory and various agricultural and seafood products from all over Southeast Asia...
The Strait of Malacca is an important channel for east-west maritime traffic and is located at the throat of Malacca on the Malay Peninsula.
In the early 15th century, with the support of Zheng He's voyages to the West, the Kingdom of Malacca began to rise. By the middle and late 15th century, the Kingdom of Malacca had become one of the most powerful countries in Southeast Asia. The Kingdom of Malacca's continued strength and its Its unique geographical location made the Port of Malacca a trading center for various commodities in the world. Tomi, who worked in Portuguese Malacca as secretary of the merchant house from 1512 to 1515.
Tomé Pires said in his famous book "Suma Orintal": "As a merchant's city, Malacca is more suitable than any other city in the world;... Malacca is located at the center of the world, Countries separated by thousands of miles must come to Malacca for trade... Whoever dominates Malacca will have Venice by the throat."
The Arabs called this place Moragado, which means the market where merchants gather, because merchants of all kinds often come here, and local officials are also active in promoting justice.
On May 2, 1511, Afonsod'Albuquerque, the Governor of Goa in Portuguese India, led a colonial army composed of 800 Portuguese soldiers and 600 Indian mercenaries, and arrived in Malacca on 19 ships. The city of Malacca was captured on August 15, and Malacca became a Portuguese colony. The Portuguese finally got their wish and took control of Malacca, blocking the key point of the east-west waterway for the next 130 years.
During the 130 years from 1511 to 1641 when it changed hands to the Dutch, Malacca was an important stronghold of the Portuguese colonial empire in the East. It was also an important link in the Portuguese's control of the long Eastern Sea Route and a base for expansion and trade into Southeast Asia. It has close ties with Macau. Interdependent relationships play an indispensable and important role.
Malacca became a city where businessmen from all over the world gathered. Pierce told us in "Records of the Eastern Kingdoms" that in the Malacca market at the end of the 15th century and the beginning of the 16th century, people used about 84 dialects. The "Malay Annals" recorded that the population at that time was There were 190,000 people, most of whom were merchants from various countries. There were still 100,000 people when Abulque captured Malacca. Abulquoi recalled: "I do believe that if there is another world, or there is another world beyond what we know, If there is a route, then they will definitely find Malacca, because here, they can find any kind of medicinal materials and spices that can be said in the world."
Li Dan looked at the prosperous port and the AFamosa fortress standing on the southeast coast of Malacca. His eyes couldn't help but show envy: "Flangji is a small country with few people, but it is... They are very discerning, and such a superior location has been taken over by them. However, before we set off from Taiwan, Captain Yin warned us that it is not the time to fight against the Folangji people yet, and we cannot touch this place yet,"
The Portuguese were able to persist in Malacca for more than 100 years under the constant siege of Johor and Aceh. In addition to the fact that the Portuguese colonists adopted a divide-and-rule policy in Malacca and were good at provoking and exploiting the conflicts between Johor and Aceh, to a large extent It also relied on the well-known strong AFamosa fortress. This fortress was built after Aburqi occupied Malacca. At that time, Abulqi ordered the Javanese to go to the countryside to search for "fugitives" and chain them to the construction site. , forced the construction of forts, and put 1,500 slaves of the former Sudanese royal family into hard labor to build the fortress. The walls of this fortress were 8 feet thick, and there were a total of 7 forts built around it. The seaside side was surrounded by the rolling sea. Every month On the fifteenth day, the water level was so high that a 200-ton ship could enter along the edge of the fort, and the other three sides were surrounded by the Malacca River.
The fortress became the core of Portuguese Malacca: the castle contained the Governor's Palace, the Bishop's Palace, the National Council Hall, the Charity Brothers Hall, five churches and two hospitals. The fortress was called "the first modern European-style building in Southeast Asia" 's castle".
The usual garrison of Malacca Fortress is 300 people, and it rarely exceeds 500 people. When the Netherlands and Johor jointly attacked Malacca in 1606, there were only 80 Portuguese and a few Japanese mercenaries. Even in the early days, it dropped to 29 people in one month. The average number of Portuguese soldiers guarding the fortress was less than 200. When they were besieged, they relied on this fortress with advanced design and more advanced and powerful firearms than those of surrounding countries to survive the difficult period of siege and persisted until With the arrival of reinforcements from Goa, Malacca is also one of the main naval bases of the Portuguese. It has its own permanent fleet to maintain control of the Malacca Straits. In order to attack enemy ships or merchant ships, the Portuguese established the "Lima Fleet" (Armadada Rima), it was light and fast and played a major role in the Portuguese's effective control of the strait. However, at this time, due to harassment by the Dutch, the Malacca fleet was cruising in Sumatra in the south.
The fleet dispatched by the Chinese Company to Europe this time includes the powerful European-style battleship Feilong and the Chinese-Western combination Xinxing, plus auxiliary ships, carrying a total of more than 200 cannons and more than 1,000 combat personnel to assist in operations. There are also 300-400 sailors. If we combine the personnel of the local Chinese merchants to launch a surprise attack on the Portuguese's Afusha Castle, it may be successful.