Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 1900 Diu Island and India ([-])

"Colonel Li Zemin is now the commander of our Second Fleet. He is a powerful man with a great background." On June 1684, 6, the southwest wind in the Indian Ocean only blew for less than a month. The armed merchant ships from Xinhua Port braved the wind and waves, passed through the islands, Mombasa, Mogadishu, and Djibouti-Mombasa and Mogadishu were under the control of the Portuguese, and the people on the east coast used to trade and went to the islands and Djibouti for the purpose of transporting supplies and rotating personnel-then entered the Arabian Sea, and after a routine deterrence off the coast of Oman, after sinking two hapless small Arab fishing boats, the 10-gun Armed merchant ships finally reached Diu in early June.

This ship not only brought all kinds of supplies and commodities to Diu Island, but also had a total of about [-] management talents, business talents, diplomatic talents and medical talents, including those who came from Captain Axito. Zhou Hesheng, a deputy director-level cadre who took over all civil affairs.

Zhou Hesheng was born in a financial family. His father, Zhou Dahe, was a professional financial talent trained earlier in the local area. He was born as an immigrant from the Ming Dynasty. He was very smart. He quickly completed his advanced studies under the guidance of a special Italian financial teacher on the East Bank and then entered the Northwest. The reclamation banking system has been experienced.Later, Zhou Dahe, who had a small achievement, was transferred to work in the Far East Sakhalin Island. There were many talents from all walks of life who went with him. The most famous of them should be Bogdan, the commander of the Second Division of the Zhejiang New Army. .

Zhou Hesheng was born in the Far East, the youngest son of Zhou's father. At the age of 10, he was sent back to the local Bingtuanbao to study.After graduating from school, he successively worked in La Plata Bank (one of the predecessors of the Popular Savings Bank), Union Industrial Credit Bank, and East Coast Insurance Company, responsible for businesses related to enterprises and trade.And after experiencing these financial companies, Zhou Hesheng was supported by nobles again, and entered a commercial clearing bank that is responsible for foreign trade settlement and currency exchange. The positive impact is very significant.

Now, as expected!Thanks to the active activities of many parties—both the care of his father’s old relationship and the efforts of his wife and mother’s family—Zhou Hesheng, who is now in his 30s, defeated many competitors and became the head of the Diu Island Commercial Station. throne.Although the power of this station master is not as great as imagined, it needs to be discussed with the responsible captain of the military, Captain Echto, but to be honest, he doesn't know military affairs at all, and he doesn't want to intervene in these things. Everyone is responsible for their own scope That's enough, at most, we can discuss diplomacy and some places to spend money.

Zhou Hesheng had already figured out the above things on the boat he came from.He was the one who spoke on the pier just now, and the person he was speaking to was Captain Echto of the Navy, who is currently in charge of the Diu Island Trading Station—well, maybe he is still the [-] member of the entire Diu Island. The supreme ruler of the military and civilians of all ethnic groups, because the Portuguese on the island can hardly say anything at present, but fortunately, the people on the east coast did not bother them, everyone lived in peace, and the people on the east coast took care of everything.

In fact, Zhou Hesheng's thinking is no different from that of Captain Axito.Before coming here, Captain Shao Yaoguang had already talked with him, to the effect that after going to Diu Island, "don't be too polite with the Portuguese". Portugal and Portugal share it. In fact, both the court of Lisbon and the Governor of Tavola in Goa have already acquiesced that this small island with a very good location is a "gift from the Kingdom of Portugal to the Republic of China on the East Coast".After Zhou Hesheng and Axito worked together, he just had to be careful not to persecute the Portuguese or Indo-Portuguese at will, and not to deprive them of their property and religious belief at will.No one cares too much about other random things. The Portuguese are still waiting eagerly for the people on the east coast to form a joint fleet with them.

Speaking of this so-called East-Portuguese joint fleet, it was actually formed once not long ago when the people on the east coast first colonized New China Island.At that time, the two sides dispatched several warships and armed merchant ships to form a fleet (commanded by the commanders of both sides to jointly discuss), cruise the entire surrounding area of ​​Xinhuaxia Island and the Mozambique Strait, which not only promoted the economic and trade relations between the two countries, but also greatly It cleared up the order along the southwestern Indian Ocean coast and created an excellent business environment: At that time, there was an endless stream of merchant ships from the east coast, Europe, India, and Arabia, bringing a large amount of foreign goods and buying them at the same time. A large amount of goods from the two countries were taken away, and even the trade between the Portuguese Mozambique colony and the Eastern New China Island was promoted, and everyone benefited greatly.

The destruction of the Combined Fleet began in the East-Portuguese War in the 40s.In that war, which lasted several years and cost a lot, the Portuguese fleet suffered a heavy blow, and the Mozambique colony was also attacked by the East Coasters on land, causing heavy losses.And this war also meant that the relationship between the two countries had fallen to a trough, and it has not been effectively improved for many years since then, and naturally there is no talk of rebuilding the combined fleet in the Mozambique Strait.

And as two generations have passed since that war, the past animosity between the two countries has faded, bilateral relations are showing signs of recovery, and trade is continuing to recover. In 1682, after many trials in the previous years and received relatively positive responses, the Duke of Albuquerque, a veteran Portuguese aristocrat and famous navigator, led a huge mission to the east coast, opening the ice-breaking relationship between the two countries. journey of.

During the Albuquerque Mission's visit to East Asia, the two sides put aside their prejudices and looked forward to the future. They had fruitful talks and signed a series of cooperation agreements in the capital of the East Bank.Among them, there is a package plan that includes the people from the east coast to enter India, and the establishment of a trading station on Diu Island and the reconstruction of the East-Portuguese combined fleet are naturally the top priorities.

After the major adjustment of the commanders of the three major fleets a while ago, the first thing that Colonel Li Zemin, the new officer of the Second Fleet took office, was to handle the East-Portuguese joint fleet.He first took an inventory of the belongings in the hands of the Second Fleet, and at the same time referred to the type and quantity of warships that the Ministry of the Navy will allocate to them in the next few years, and finally determined that the Second Fleet's organization sequence will be of more complex types and ships. A total of 6 older ships (mostly refitted ships) will be treated for life extension, and then incorporated into the combined fleet to be formed.

This time, the people on the east coast have negotiated with Portugal that the commander of the joint fleet will be a senior naval officer on the east coast, but they will also try their best to protect the interests of the Kingdom of Portugal in the western half of the Indian Ocean.According to the estimates of both parties, the future joint fleet should have 10-12 warships. Although the models may be a bit mixed, in terms of quantity and tonnage, they are already a sea force that cannot be underestimated.You must know that these are professional warships that do not participate in commercial operations, and the cruise and training time can be guaranteed, which is still very deterrent.

Colonel Li Zemin believes that if this fleet is stationed in India, it will definitely change the balance of sea power in this region greatly.The fleet of the Dutch East India Company used to dominate the coast of India - stationed in Galle Fort, stable at 6-8 warships all year round, and will recruit more armed merchant ships when necessary - the impact on the Portuguese Deterrence will be greatly weakened.Correspondingly, the company's erosion of the Portuguese colony and inherent commercial routes on the west coast of India will also be greatly curbed.

For this alone, it is worthwhile for the Portuguese to send Diu Island to the east coast!If it weren't for the East Coast Republic itself that just wanted to enter India and lacked a reliable springboard, the Portuguese might not have this luck.But no matter what, now that the plan has been decided to form a joint fleet, the people on the east coast will definitely carry it out!It’s just that due to various reasons, the procedures that should be followed have not been completed in time, and the funds have not been in place, so the Portuguese still have to wait. That’s why Zhou Hesheng said that the Portuguese were anxious before.

"Commander Li is indeed a powerful person. He has come to serve as the commander of the Second Fleet. I'm afraid the Admiralty has other ideas." Captain Axito took a glass of freshly squeezed juice handed over by the Indian servant, and said while drinking: " The Dutch East India Company has had enough these years. Without high-end competitors, it is simply unscrupulous. Look, there are fewer and fewer natives in the East Indies who can question and resist them now, even if there are Englishmen It’s not okay to be a secret supporter with the Portuguese. Let’s not talk about Ceylon Island. It has directly slapped Portugal and England. At present, they have captured Trincomalee, the last stronghold of the two on the island, and officially occupy the entire island. Rich What about the Coromandel and Malabar coasts, hehe, they were even ruined under the impact of the Dutch East India Company. The commercial routes that originally belonged to Portugal were seized by the Dutch, and the benefits continued to be lost. It is no wonder that Goa will be short of money, and there will be no business, so where will the money come from!"

"That's why we made the Dutch very unhappy when we forcefully inserted into India." Zhou Hesheng, who had already said that his throat was a little dry, also asked the Indian servant for a glass of juice in his hand, and then said : "Didn't the Dutch East India Company send a ship to Xinhua Port to ask Captain Shao before? They have long been a little uneasy about our frequent activities in India. After all these days, they should have touched Knowing our intentions may prompt them to change their policy."

The so-called "consistent policy" mentioned by Zhou Hesheng is actually very easy to understand, that is, there may have been some kind of embarrassment between the Dutch East India Company and the people on the East Bank before, but if the common interests of both parties are counted, this It can still be maintained on the surface.However, when people from the east coast suddenly inserted into India this time, although the commercial interests of the Coromandel coast and the Malabar coast, which are most valued by the Dutch, have not yet been divided, there will definitely be conflicts in the future, unless the east coast Man no longer develops, stays in the same place, and is confined to a corner of northwestern India.But how big could that be?The Dutch are not fools. They will evaluate it themselves. With the enthusiasm of the East Coast and Portugal today, if there is a dispute between the Dutch East India Company and the Portuguese in the future, it is self-evident what the combined fleet will do?

Therefore, now Zhou Hesheng and Captain Eichto are more interested in the possible reaction of the Dutch.Commander Li of the Second Fleet is a fearless character, and the Dutch East India Company is used to rampaging in the Indian Ocean. I don't know if their bodies are soft enough and if they understand the art of compromise, otherwise a spark will hit the earth. Conflicts are very likely to occur.

"The Dutch East India Company's stall is too big. You see, they have recently tried to re-enter the Persian market, which has annoyed the Xinhua Port. And they also control Ceylon, the East Indies, Malacca China, Taiwan Island and many other key nodes, and the hands in Vietnam, Japan, Siam, Myanmar, China and other places are getting longer and longer, which is really outrageous.” Captain Echto said: “Think about how much power they have? There are only more than 90 large merchant ships under his name, half of which travel between Europe and Asia, one third travel between Asia, and only one sixth stay in Hong Kong for a long time. Even if these ships are transformed into armed merchant ships (Dutch East The Indian company has the right to confiscate ships in Hong Kong at any time), plus their two small fleets stationed in Ceylon and Batavia, there are only more than 30 ships that can be used for battle. This is still too many It is estimated that the maximum number of ships that they can actually draw will not exceed 25, but the sea area that needs to be defended is extremely vast, and the number of ships that can be allocated to India is about half of the 25 ships. The Dutch It's fine if you don't come, but if you come, it will be a good show if you run into our joint fleet. And this kind of conflict, with Commander Li's character, will find its way regardless of victory or defeat. Wait Let's go, maybe there will be a good show to watch in the future."

Zhou Hesheng nodded when he heard the words. The Dutch East India Company had never had any serious competitors before.Now that people from the east coast have come out, they will definitely feel uncomfortable, and they may even feel a little "grievance": Didn't it be agreed before that you control the western Indian Ocean, and I play in the eastern Indian Ocean?Why is it suddenly inserted into such a key node in India now?Isn't this a violation of the unspoken rules set by everyone?

Of course, the people on the east coast will not pay too much attention to the grievances of the Dutch.In modern times, the second generation has begun to become the backbone of the political arena, and the third generation has begun to experience a lot at the grassroots level. The old old calendar naturally needs to be changed a little bit.Therefore, the Dutch East India Company needed to adapt to the changing situation, and their style was naturally very different from before.

(End of this chapter)