The messenger was a middle-aged man. Although he was wearing traditional Chinese decent clothes, neatly holding his hair in a bun unique to Chinese people, and wearing a graceful gauze cover - this is a wealthy Chinese person.
There were some decorations. However, the Governor still felt that he could smell the stench of sea water and rotten fish and shrimps on his body.
Apparently, the emissary felt very uncomfortable wearing the decent Chinese clothes. De Carpentier noticed that he was tugging at the clothes on his waist from time to time, as if he was not comfortable wearing them.
Liu Xiang's envoy bowed deeply in front of him, and De Carpentier just nodded slightly. As the governor of the East India Company, he considered himself to represent the authority of the seventeen directors of the entire United Provinces, and there was no need for South China to
The pirates of the sea treated me with courtesy.
"Well, what new suggestions have you brought?" asked the Governor.
What the envoy brought was Liu Xiang's request for support from the Dutch. To be precise, Liu Xiang hoped that the Dutch would dispatch warships to support the battle between him and Zheng Zhilong - he had recently planned to launch a naval attack against Zheng Zhilong.
Commercial action, if possible, to completely destroy the center left.
In addition to hoping that the Dutch would directly participate in the battle, the accompanying requirements also included asking the Dutch to provide cannons, matchlocks, gunpowder, and craftsmen and soldiers who could use and repair European guns. He could pay for these. If the Dutch were willing, they could sell or rent them.
Give him a few European-style "plywood ships", and of course he must have sailors to operate them.
"This is really a big request." The governor thought to himself. The governor only has two permanent ships, one of which is a speedboat. But he has always been cautious about directly joining the conflict between Liu Xiang and Zheng Zhilong - after all, now
Most of the merchants going to Damuan Port are from Fujian. If Zheng Zhilong is offended, he is likely to block this trade route. This would not be worth the gain.
The relationship between the Dutch and Zheng Zhilong was subtle. First of all, Zheng Zhilong defeated the Dutch's attempt to get involved in Fujian's ocean trade in 1627, forcing Natz, who was stationed in Danyuan Port, to sign a three-year agreement with Zheng Zhilong the next year.
Trade Agreement. Although this trade agreement was not implemented later, the Dutch were always wary of Zheng Zhilong's power. In 1630, Putmans, a representative of the East India Company, went to the mainland to conduct commercial negotiations with Zheng Zhilong and reached a trade agreement.
Since then, the two sides have had a period of "friendly exchanges." The Dutch provided certain assistance to Zheng Zhilong in quelling the warlords at sea, including allowing his ships to enter Damuan Port at will.
However, the expansion of Zheng Zhilong's power made him eventually become the middleman of the Dutch trade in Zhangzhou Bay: the goods shipped by the Dutch to the ocean in Fujian could only be sold to the Zheng Zhilong Group, and Chinese goods could only be purchased from the Zheng Zhilong Group.
The East India Company was very dissatisfied with its trade monopoly. At the same time, the two sides also had frictions on the trade routes with Japan. The Dutch hoped to monopolize trade with Japan, and the Zheng Zhilong Group also regarded trade with Japan as a taboo.
Due to various factors, the Dutch have always hoped to support another force to attack and weaken Zheng Zhilong, so that the China Maritime Group on the Fujian and Guangdong oceans cannot monopolize coastal trade and open the door to free trade for the Dutch.
.
Supporting the Liu Xiang Group is a reasonable choice for the East India Company. Of course, considering the fragile status of the trade, the Dutch's support for Liu Xiang has always been relatively obscure. They have always secretly provided assistance such as artillery and ammunition.
It can be carried out, but providing ships is too big a task - not to mention that the Dutch do not have many ships in the East Indies.
Generally speaking, the East India Company did not want to see a decisive battle between Liu Xianglao and Zheng Yiguan. The final result of the decisive battle must be that the winner takes it all. By that time, a group that has a monopoly on coastal trade in Guangdong and Fujian provinces
It would be a nightmare for the East India Company.
The message brought by the messenger complained that Zheng Zhilong was putting increasing pressure on him. After Zheng Zhilong defected to the imperial court, his official status made his activities along the coast of Fujian and Guangdong fully convenient. He could easily obtain supplies from the shore, and even
They can also get intelligence and weapons support from the officers and soldiers. Even in the competition on land, Zheng Zhilong has the upper hand: whether it is Zheng Zhilong or Liu Xiang, they have the so-called "mountain master" allies on the shore as their nests. "Mountain Lord"
"Lords" are half farmers and half bandits. They are not simple bandits. They were originally a community of independent farmers who cut trees, burned charcoal, and opened up wasteland to plant cash crops in the mountainous areas. The mountain owners not only provided supplies and supplies to the pirates and merchants
The safe nest after landing was also the main source of cash crops exported by maritime merchants. The largest commodity was indigo. Indigo was another large-scale exported cash crop from China at that time and was a major source of profit for maritime merchants.
After Zheng Zhilong became an official, the Fujian government made clear its support for Zheng Zhilong's activities. Under such double pressure, the attitude of the mountain owners changed significantly - Liu Xiang had fewer and fewer "friends" on the shore.
It posed a threat to his business and even his survival.
These problems came together and finally forced Liu Xiang's gang to make the decision to showdown with Zheng Zhilong - in comparison, Zheng Zhilong's power is not too strong now, and it is at least 50% sure to launch a decisive battle at this time.
The 50% certainty is really not a good opportunity to launch a decisive battle, but as time goes by, Zheng Zhilong is constantly getting stronger. In the past, he was just a force in Fujian and Guangdong, but now he has become a foreigner with the support of Xiong Wencan.
It is the strongest force in the world. And this strongest force has no intention of "sharing wealth and honor" at all. It has made it clear that it wants to monopolize everything.
"Does Mr. Xiang really want to fight to the death with an official?" The governor raised his eyelids and looked at the envoy standing in front of him.
"Master, you are wise! The first officer is getting more and more powerful now! This old ghost Xiong Wencan gave him many big ships and many red barbarian cannons. He can recruit as many people as he wants in Fujian, and he is not afraid of death at all in a war.
Destroy the ship. If this continues, our gang will be dragged to death sooner or later."
The envoy said that Zheng Zhilong's fleet has recently approached Liu Xianglao's core area in the Chaoshan area many times. In order to defend their core territory, Liu Xianglao's gang had to urgently retreat from the Pearl River Estuary, and the entire division returned to the Chaoshan area to prepare for the attack.
Respond to Zheng Zhilong’s challenge.
Losing the territory near the Pearl River Estuary is a very serious problem for Liu Xiang - this is his main source of income. Although the foreign goods trade has Portuguese maritime patrols, he cannot monopolize the route, but various other coastal trade ships entering and leaving Guangzhou pay
Liu Xiang's "toll" income was equally generous. Although Zheng Zhilong's actions did not provoke a direct sea battle between the two sides, they made Liu Xiang very passive. He could not risk losing his basic territory near Chaoshan and letting Zheng Zhilong steal his hometown.
If you continue to stay in the Pearl River Estuary to generate income and do business; but now that the entire division is forced to return to the Chaoshan area, the territory in the Pearl River Estuary that has been gradually acquired since the end of Tianqi will slowly be taken away by others. Without territory, there is no money.
Without money, there is nothing.
For Liu Xiang's gang, fighting may not guarantee survival at the moment, but without fighting, death is certain. The gang cannot survive by relying solely on Chaoshan's resources.
Of course, De Carpentier understood Liu Xiang's current predicament. But he had no intention of sending any ships to support Liu Xiang - since Liu Xiang was not sure of victory, it would be unwise to put all his bets on it now.
Even if Liu Xiang is lucky enough to defeat his opponent, with Zheng Zhilong's current strength, he may not necessarily decline. He will definitely take the *** route as revenge. Support in terms of weapons and personnel can be considered. The company is in Bada
There are two sailing ships in poor condition in the Port of Via: the "Alert" and the "Enthusiasm". These two 300-ton brigs had to be pumped out during the voyage due to serious water leaks. If there were no supernumerary sailors,
It cannot sail far. But the sails and armaments on it are complete. One has 12 cannons and the other has 18. It is a good choice to sell them to Liu Xiang together. The Chinese will repair them and they have enough shipbuilding
Craftsmen and shipbuilders.
But this is not the main problem. The governor had to consider another possibility after Liu Zheng opened the station: What if Liu Xiang failed in the decisive battle? Zheng Zhilong will undoubtedly go straight to the ocean in Guangdong, and by then the company will negotiate with him
The conditions are getting smaller and smaller. In the end, it will definitely be reduced to the original trade between Danyuan Port and Xu Xinsu - when the company's businessman in Danyuan had to buy Xu Xinsu Yunlai at a price 50% higher than the market price.
goods.
The Governor suddenly remembered the Australians in Lingao, and he asked: "What kind of people are the Australians in Lingao?"
The envoy was stunned for a moment, probably not expecting that the Governor would suddenly ask about the Australians.
"They won't be able to escape for long," the messenger said.
"Oh?" The governor suddenly became interested.
"The imperial court has sent a large number of troops to Lingao to annihilate the Australians. They only have a few thousand people in total and they don't have many boats. How can they be the opponent of the imperial court?"
He told his subordinates about the failure of the attack on Lingao in detail. He also talked about the recent gathering of Ming troops near Guangzhou in preparation for a large-scale cross-sea attack. Liu Xiang withdrew from the vicinity of the Pearl River Estuary in order to avoid a war.
There was a head-on conflict between the officers and soldiers. Another important factor why he thought of a decisive battle with Zheng Zhilong was that the officers and soldiers were about to attack Lingao, and the Australians would never be able to take action against him. This relieved his worries.
"...At that time, the big shopkeeper didn't know how powerful their firearms were, and made a miscalculation." The messenger said nonchalantly, "In the end, thousands of people were killed."