The Chinese Merchant House also organized a Chinese Guard. They helped the King of Siam when the Burmese army invaded Siam. Therefore, they also gained the respect of the King of Siam. As a result, Siam also had three foreign mercenary troops. Serving the king: The first Portuguese guard to come to Ayutthaya, numbering about 300 people; the Japanese samurai mercenaries headed by Yamada Nagamasa, numbering about 800 to 1,000 people; the Chinese who were officially recruited by the King of Siam a few years ago The Guards, numbering about 700 men, are the best equipped. They have a large number of flintlock muskets and three bronze six-pound cannons.
1603 is the Buddhist calendar year 2156 used by Siam. After the death of the previous King of Siam in June of this year, the domestic situation became turbulent.
Before the arrival of Yamada Nagamasa, the leader of the Japanese mercenaries was Isekuzaemon. After Yamada Nagamasa arrived in Ojo, he entered the guard and held a post. Due to the appreciation of the king, Yamada rose to prominence and fought bravely. He was elected as the leader. He was in charge of the entire Japanese settlement area and almost monopolized the trade between Siam and Japan. After the rise of the Chinese Company, with its monopoly on sea routes, it took away most of the Siamese merchants and private traders from trade with Japan. However, The majority of Siam's overseas trade is monopolized by the royal family. Therefore, unless the Chinese company wants to go to war with Siam, most of the time the Chinese company has to let ships flying the flag of the Siamese royal family. Of course, due to the actual situation of some Siamese royal family merchant ships, It was contracted by the Chinese. The Chinese Company even had a hand in it. Therefore, most of Siam’s overseas trade was actually in the hands of the Chinese Company. However, the presence of Yamada Nagamasa and Japanese mercenaries in Siam still took up a lot of money. Less royal trading rights. This has always been a big problem for Chinese companies.
However, the death of the old king gave the Chinese Company an opportunity to seize the Japanese monopoly on royal trade.
This opportunity was created by the Japanese mercenaries themselves. The ruling class of Siam is a group of military nobles. This group of warriors has been involved in the chaos of fighting for royal succession since the death of the old king. Several princes have supporters. Some Japanese The mercenaries opposed the newly enthroned King Songtan and supported the third prince's ascension to the throne.
On a dark and stormy night, 280 Japanese warriors stormed the palace and forcibly expelled King Songtan. They also killed four civil servants on the spot. They thought they were avenging the Siamese minister who had treated them well before being assassinated. The Japanese suddenly The prince stirred a hornet's nest; the traditional Siamese military aristocracy was very dissatisfied with this group of outsiders intervening in the internal strife. Supporters of several rivals for the throne united and attacked the palace together.
In Southeast Asia, the bold acts of the Japanese have become notorious. In 1605, Japanese mercenaries attacked a British ship in the waters of Pattani. The leader was the former Japanese samurai leader Isekuzaemon. He had committed many crimes including murder and robbery. These incidents It left the impression on the Siamese people that "the Japanese are very cruel". In a letter sent to the Tokugawa shogunate in Edo, the Siamese minister ng asked the Edo shogunate to only allow those who trust and respect the laws of Siam. The Japanese sailed to Ayutthaya.
Now Japanese mercenaries pose a threat to the royal family. This reminds many Siamese people of the evil deeds of the Japanese. The contenders for the throne join forces to attack the palace. But the Japanese also have reinforcements; the army led by the third prince also arrived .
A huge melee broke out around the Royal Palace in Ayutthaya for three days.
Portuguese mercenaries and Chinese mercenaries have not joined the melee for the time being. They are both busy guarding the areas where their respective expatriates live.
On the fourth day, King Songtan, who was expelled by the Japanese, brought his army back from the south.
Immediately, the Portuguese and Chinese joined King Songtan's troops under the banner of supporting the orthodox royal family. The Portuguese used cannons to blast open the palace gate. The Chinese fought back the armies of other contenders who besieged the palace. Close to Nihonmachi.
Young Yamada Nagamasa and his men did not participate in the melee in the first three days.
Under the leadership of Lin Songtao, the shopkeeper of the Chinese Merchant Store, 700 Chinese Merchant Store Guards pushed three artillery guns towards Nihonmachi. At this time, Yamada Nagamasa had to make a choice. He led the troops under the banner of King Songtan. He came out and knelt down in front of the imperial envoy of King Songtan who was supervising the battle. He expressed his intention to fight for King Songtan.
Seeing that his long-time business rival had surrendered, Lin Songtao became anxious. He leaned in front of the imperial envoy and whispered: "The Japanese are ruthless and can't be trusted. They said they wanted to fight for the respected king. So, we should let them deal with us. compatriots. This way we can see whether they have sincerely surrendered."
The east gate of the palace was surrounded by King Songtan's army. Chinese mercenaries used cannons to destroy the palace gate. Yamada Nagamasa's Japanese soldiers were driven into the palace.
The third prince and his more than 100 guards were still fighting with other troops in the west area of the palace. There were only Japanese mercenaries and Chinese mercenaries in the east gate area, as well as a small number of King Songtan's troops.
Lin Songtao ordered his troops to load bullets and artillery shells and wait strictly to prevent the Japanese from rushing out.
What he didn't expect was that Yamada Nagamasa's troops rushed into the palace and mercilessly chopped down his compatriots with Japanese swords. The actions were so fast and so cruel that Lin Songtao didn't even have time to explain and react. East Gate More than 200 rebellious Japanese soldiers nearby had all been killed by their own people.
The civil strife in Siam ended. King Songtan officially ascended the throne. Several princes were either executed or exiled. Yamada Nagamasa’s last act saved the situation for his mercenary team and the Japanese town. King Songtan still allowed Japan to The presence of mercenary guards.
The Chinese Company received some benefits. Yamada Nagamasa had to hand over more than half of Siam's trade rights with Japan to Lin Songtao every year.
The news reached Yin Feng, who had just landed in Luzon. He sighed with regret: Yamada Nagamasa is a tyrant. This time, he failed to uproot Nihonmachi and Yamada Nagamasa mercenaries. The Chinese Company will still have to fight with Japan in Siam in the future. People compete with each other with wits and courage.
…
In July 1613, news that the Spanish were about to counterattack Luzon had spread throughout the European colonies in Southeast Asia.
In 1609, the Spanish had signed a 12-year truce treaty with the British and the Dutch. Spain originally hoped to calm the disputes with the British and the Dutch, because these two countries were the most dangerous to its overseas possessions. But the truce with the Dutch It was only ancillary to the agreement under the Armistice Treaty against Britain. It was not clearly determined in the text of the peace treaty. Therefore, outside Europe, the Dutch and Spanish agreement on the truce could not be respected at all. The Netherlands continued to expand its power and influence in the Spice Islands. As a result. The hostility between Spain and the Netherlands continued to intensify.
In this year, the Netherlands sent a fleet of six ships, under the command of Admiral Joris Spielbergen, from the Americas to the East Indies for trade. This fleet passed through the Strait of Magellan. In July 1613, he arrived at the "Thieves Islands" --- Guam.
Unknown to the Dutch, Guam and surrounding islands had fallen into Chinese hands the previous year.
They crossed the Pacific and planned to stay in Guam for two days to exchange some fruits, poultry, fish and other food with the residents of the islands. When the Dutch just entered the harbor, they were surprised by more than ten large three-masted ships in the harbor.
Admiral Joris Spielbergen held a telescope and looked at it for a long time. Then he asked the first mate Leighton who stood upright next to him: "Isn't this the territory of the Spanish anymore?"
First Mate Leighton was Leighton, the deputy commander of the Batavia garrison of the East India Company. He was also the younger brother of Van Leighton, the leader of the first batch of foreign mercenaries of the Chinese Company. Jacques Leighton.
The young first mate looked at the direction of the port and said calmly: "That's right. This is already the territory of the China United Company."
Joris Spielbergen continued to look with the telescope for a while and said: "So, the Chinese have occupied Guam. It seems that there are quite a few troops stationed there. God, they are moving very fast. Chief Officer Leiden .Look: they have built a fortress on the west side of Agana. I remember that the Spaniards didn’t seem to have built any castle here.”
Jacques Leighton nodded and said lazily: "My brother has worked in their company. He believes that the Chinese Company has more power than our East India Company. They occupy Guam. I am not surprised at all."
"What about this fort? The design style is very similar to the modern French fortress facilities."
"According to my brother, Yin Feng, the founder of Zhonghua Company, is a strange genius. This fortress design principle was dreamed up out of thin air by his mind; you know, this kind of firearm-based weapon has not appeared anywhere else in Asia. A fortress built on the principles of war.”
The admiral nodded: "It seems that I underestimated these Chinese. However, our trip was not for fighting. Look, their ship is coming."
The person stationed in Guam is Zhang Hai, a professional defender transferred from Ryukyu.
However, here he is both the top leader of the garrison and the emperor of the entire Guam region.
The Agana West Fort was completed in just half a year thanks to thousands of Japanese laborers. These people were the residents of the Satsuma domain captured by Yin Feng before leaving Japan. The local residents, the Chamorro people, hated the Spaniards. The Spaniards brought Catholicism and insisted on changing the civilization and traditions of the Chamorro people.
The Chinese have never been very interested in spreading religious beliefs. Therefore, Chinese companies in Guam basically get along well with the local indigenous people. They temporarily allow the Chamorro indigenous autonomy to be autonomous. Since they cannot get help from the local labor force, Zhang Hai arrived in Guam. I desperately sent a message to the company headquarters asking for more manpower.
So, 3,000 Japanese workers and 300 Chinese craftsmen came to Guam. After the fort was quickly built, most of the Japanese workers stayed in Guam to cultivate land and open up wasteland. Zhang Hai already had ten 36-pound cannons and ten 24-pound cannons. Bronze howitzers. In addition, there are ten small field guns, 600 soldiers stationed in the infantry garrison; at the same time, there are fifteen three-masted gunboats around the harbor. A fast sailing ship - the quasi-clipper Sea Spirit, and 1,500 sailors.
The Chinese Company's eastern outposts were ready.