Chapter 401 The Other Side of the World: Under Ceylon
"I am the greatest person who has trampled the earth under my feet.
I am wealthy and possess unlimited power;
I am the scepter, crown and throne.
Can make the earth and ocean tremble.
My reputation spreads far and wide. I am known to every household.
I am Portugal.
I am bigger than the whole world."
This is a famous poem by the Portuguese poet Rope de Vega. It fully reveals the mentality of the Portuguese world hegemon in their heyday.
Portugal. Latin means "warm harbor". It is located in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula in Western Europe. It borders Spain to the east and north. It faces the Atlantic Ocean to the west and south. It has plateaus in the north, mountains in the center, hills in the south, and hills in the west. Coastal plain. The climate is warm and humid in winter and relatively dry in summer. It is suitable for the growth of crops. It is rich in corn and wheat.
Zengshan, who came to Europe with the first European fleet, landed at the port of Lisbon. At first, he did not believe that the small country in front of him was the hometown of the Franco pirates who were rampant along the coast of China. In the eyes of traditional Eastern strategists From the perspective of Portugal, Portugal does not have any capital to achieve hegemony: it has few resources and a long and narrow land. There is almost no inland to speak of. The entire country covers an area of less than 100,000 square kilometers. The population is less than one million. The scale is not comparable to the Fujian Chief Executive District in the Ming Dynasty. Who can believe that this small country, which is inconspicuous even in Western Europe, rose rapidly in the 15th and 16th centuries and became a global hegemon. It was also able to dominate the Ming Dynasty thousands of miles away on the coast of China. It was a headache. It just took away a large part of China's overseas trade share in the Ming Dynasty.
Nowadays, Portugal has weakened. Even the mother country has been annexed by the Spanish Empire. The current Spanish King Philip III’s policy towards Portugal is to gradually bring Portugal’s highest administrative level under the control of the Spanish; in 1617, he ignored the Portuguese Objected to the appointment of the Spanish Count Salinas as governor of Portugal. The King of Spain did not care at all about the fate of the Portuguese colonies.
The Portuguese Jews who fled to Taiwan once commented in front of Yin Feng on the Spanish attitude towards Portugal. They pointed out very harshly: The King of Spain regards Asia, where Portugal belongs, as "his concubine. If necessary, she can make a living for herself" However, he did not care about protecting Spain's America at any cost, because he regarded America as his legal wife. He cherished her in every possible way and was determined to defend her resolutely and protect her from infringement."
Over the years, Portuguese officials in financially troubled Portuguese Asia have been thinking hard about the issue of "making a living for themselves". The Portuguese adopted the method used by Spain in their own America, namely auctioning public offices. At the same time, officials in the Portuguese Indian Provinces Wanting to pass on the financial crisis to the unlucky Jews. In the past two decades, the Jews in the Portuguese Asian territories have been persecuted many times by the Portuguese colonial authorities.
The collective immigration of the Bernardo family and Macau Jewish merchants to Taiwan was the result of the persecution of Jewish New Christians by the Goa authorities in the Portuguese Indian province. In the two decades starting from 1600, the shrewd Portuguese New Christians had only two choices. :Either stay in Portuguese India, but stay as far away from Goa as possible (such as Macau), or leave Portuguese India completely. Many Jewish business families, like Bernardo, joined Yin Feng's Chinese company.
Andrew pointed to the Port of Colombo ahead and said: "The Franciscan missionaries here hate us Jews very much. I won't go ashore in a moment."
Han Jing nodded: "It doesn't matter. We have Portuguese businessmen with us who can act as translators for us."
The sailor came to report: "Master Han, there are two warships ahead. They are heading towards our ship."
Han Jing quickly walked to the bow of the ship. Before he could see the warship on the opposite side clearly in the dusk, he heard a loud noise: "Boom." He felt as if he had received a heavy punch in the face, and his forehead felt violent. Painful, he fell backwards on the deck. As he fell into coma, his ears were filled with the sounds of chaotic footsteps and the sailors' exclamations: "They are firing at us."
"Business Manager Han is in trouble. Help people quickly..."
"The foremast cable is broken. The canvas has fallen. Someone come quickly."
"Turn the rudder. Turn the rudder. Move quickly!"
…
It was getting dark. A westerly wind blew on the sea. The Portuguese warships did not want to and did not dare to engage in naval battles with the enemy at night. They fired artillery to drive away the unidentified ships and then returned to Colombo Port. They did not know yet that their own warships fired cannons. What was blown away was the ship of the China Company.
The Chinese fleet, which was unaware of the enemy's situation, only had one schooner off the coast of Colombo. Worried that the enemy would hijack the ship, they escorted the ship overnight to escape to the sea in the direction of the Indian subcontinent. This fleet released signal fireworks and rockets all night long. On the next morning, we finally met a schooner and clipper from the European convoy convoy that had seen the signal.
The fleet soon anchored off the coast of the Jaffna Peninsula near the Palk Strait. All the company's top managers and convoy officers gathered in the captain's cabin of the Flying Tiger to discuss how to respond to the bombardment.
The official of the Dutch East India Company who went with the ship to Taiwan first said: "Before I came to Asia, I had learned about the company's development plan in recent years. We have no plans to capture Colombo in the near future. I can guarantee that we will expand our business in Colombo Port." The ones you fired at were definitely not us Dutch."
The system of the Dutch East India Company is very similar to that of the Chinese Company. A director-level figure of the Chinese Company was injured in the bombardment. The Dutch have already felt the seriousness of this incident, so they must quickly clear the relationship.
Li Jin said: "Mr. Frith, we believe you. Our captain reported that because night fell, it was impossible to clearly determine what flag the warship that attacked our cargo ship was flying. Although it obviously looked like a European warship, it did not look like it. It is the flag of the Orange family. And it is unlikely that there is a Spanish fleet in this area. So..."
A voice came from among the convoy officers: "It's the Portuguese. It must be them." The speaker was Zheng Zhilong. At this moment, his eyes were shining and his face was full of excitement.
The fleet treasurer, Andrew Ku, also immediately said: "It must be the Portuguese. Last year we passed through here on our way to Europe. They dispatched a fleet to besiege Colombo."
The captain of the escort fleet Flying Tiger shouted loudly: "The straight mother-in-law and the foreign barbarians dare to fire on us. We cannot let them go lightly. Let my Flying Tiger destroy Colombo."
All the military personnel suggested that they should attack immediately, bombard Colombo, and drive the Portuguese away from the island of Ceylon...
Zheng Zhilong stood up. The officers immediately fell silent. The young Zheng Zhilong declared war on the British at the Cape of Good Hope. He commanded the convoy to destroy the British army. He also advocated that the land captured be distributed to meritorious officers. He had been trained in the convoy. It gained a high prestige.
He nodded to Li Jin and other company executives and said slowly: "Why did the Portuguese fire on my ship? There is something fishy about this matter. As far as I know, Fu Zi No. 3 did not fly the flag of our company at that time. Moreover, China Company and The Portuguese have signed a peace agreement in Macau. Of course, it is also possible that we went to Europe and the situation has changed. So, I think this shelling must be retaliated. But the situation must be investigated first. I think now The situation on Ceylon Island is unknown. The Xinxing and other cargo ships should not stay for a long time. They should leave first..."
Li Jin was amused: Zheng Zhilong claimed to investigate the situation, but he had already decided to take revenge without explanation. It was obvious that the so-called investigation was just a formality. He interrupted Zheng Zhilong and said: "Manager Zheng, we have many ships in the storm. Damaged. It must be repaired before it can go on the road."
After all, Zheng Zhilong was young. He didn't think about this problem for a moment. He blushed slightly and immediately said seriously: "Shopkeeper Li is right. We really need to dock at the port to repair the ships. Then, let the whole team go south and attack Colombo Port. All ships. They are all ready for battle. The cargo ship must also install gun emplacements on the deck. I have already learned about it from Dutch friends and the Portuguese. The personnel on board the ship from the Ministry of Military Intelligence have also confirmed that the Portuguese have only five or six warships in the Portuguese Indian Province. None of them can compete with our Flying Tiger. If the Portuguese are in Colombo Port, they will have no more than three warships. The Portuguese Indian warships are fighting against the Dutch fleet in Goa. Therefore, its It is impossible for the main force to appear here."
He looked around at the crowd. A cold smile appeared on his still childish face. "Of course. We will bow first and then fight. No matter what, we must seek justice for the brothers who were killed and injured in the bombardment. Let these Francois repay this blood debt twice as much." .”
Van Frith, an envoy of the Dutch East India Company who was on a diplomatic mission, could understand Chinese. Hearing Zheng Zhilong say "double repayment" and so on, he couldn't help but smile secretly: it was this young man who took advantage of the fire to rob the Cape of Good Hope colony of the Dutch. This time, I wonder what the fate of the Portuguese will be.
…
The battleship Flying Tiger and two three-masted cruisers suddenly appeared in broad daylight off the coast of Colombo. They hoisted the flag of the China Company. All the muzzles were pushed out of the gun windows. They sailed into the port in a tense manner. They approached the port at a distance of 400 steps. At the same time, two small boats carrying several Portuguese businessmen and envoys from the China Company slowly docked at the Colombo pier. When the Portuguese saw that it was the ship of the China Company, they did not take any hostile action.
Soon, Colombo garrison commander Pedro Fernandez Navarrete personally ran to the fleet commander's flagship and yelled at him: "... God will punish you, stupid pig. Why. Why do you want to Fire at the Chinese ships."
The fleet commander replied aggrievedly: "It was too dark at the time. We thought it was the Dutch fleet. So..."
"Stupid donkeys. The Dutch rarely move at night. Don't you know? It's better now. The Chinese asked us to leave Colombo and hand over the city and port to them as compensation for the shelling."
"We can't agree to them. This is blackmail."
Pedro, the commander of the garrison, smiled bitterly and pointed to the sea: "Don't you see the strength of the Chinese fleet? Can you defeat them? They gave us until dark to respond."
At this time, the rumbling sound of artillery came from the sea. The two people rushed to the window and looked out. They were both shocked: the Chinese fleet did not say hello. Before it got dark, they could not wait to start firing at the Portuguese.