Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 2152 Taiwan Island

"The King of Yanping, how have you always been?" On July 1691, 7, in the county office of Taipei County, Taipei Prefecture, Cai Shengguo, general manager of the Bank of Taiwan, sat with Zheng Kezang, drinking tea and chatting.

Zheng Kezang succeeded to the throne last year (1690).At that time, Zheng Jing died suddenly, and Zheng Kezang succeeded to the throne in a hurry, and his position was a little unstable for a while.Zheng Jing’s civil and military generals Liu Guoxuan and Feng Xifan conspired to abolish him. At the critical moment, Zheng Kezang, with the help of his confidant guards, fled to the east coast warship "Famhaut" which was moored in the port for a friendly visit. , Dodging the killer moves of Feng Xifan and others.

Major Lu Xiaozhong, commander of the Southeast Asia Squadron of the Third Fleet who was on the battleship, made a decisive decision and protected Zheng Kezang.After a secret discussion between the two parties, Zheng Kezang, who was in a panic, fully agreed to several conditions put forward by the Dong'an people, and got the promise of the Dong'an people to help him take the position.

The battleship Fomalhaut left Mawei Harbor on the same day, and then set off for Taipei County, Taipei Prefecture.Zheng Kezang, as the eldest son of Zheng Jing, went to Taipei to preside over the reclamation a few years ago, accumulated rich experience in the local area, and at the same time cultivated a group of his own party members.

Zheng Kezang also has connections with many people on the east coast.Many of the tools and materials needed by the Zheng family to reclaim Taipei were purchased from Sakhalin Island because of their low prices and high quality.Even Zheng Kezang, as the special envoy of Yanping County King Zheng Jing, visited Ningbo and Denglai, made friends with officials from the east coast, and was fascinated by all kinds of new things on the east coast For this reason, it was even questioned by some conservative intellectuals in Fujian.

Therefore, no matter from what angle you look at it, people from the East Bank appreciate Zheng Kezang and are more willing to deal with him.Similarly, if Zheng Jing’s successor is him—fortunately, Zheng Jingding’s successor is him—the East Coast people think that the two sides can deepen cooperation in many ways.

It's a pity that Zheng Jing is a man of great ambition and talent, and he didn't arrange his affairs well, so that Feng Xifan and Liu Guoxuan, two important civil and military officials, joined hands to depose Zheng Kezang and help Zheng Kezang take over.Zheng Kezang's roots were all in Taipei, and he was so anxious for a while that he had nowhere to go, so he had to take refuge on a warship on the east coast.

After the East Coast people protected Zheng Kezang, they immediately sent him to Taipei.Here, Zheng Kezang has governed for several years and has a certain foundation, so he quickly summoned thousands of people, armed with guns sold on the east bank, to cross the sea to regain power.Fortunately, the matter did not develop to this point in the end. Zheng Jing established Zheng Kezang as the heir before his death. Officials in all prefectures and counties in Fujian knew that he had the status of "monarch and minister". If Feng and Liu quickly killed Zheng Ke Zang, if Zheng Keshuang succeeds, they may also admit the fait accompli.Reluctantly, Zheng Kezang was clever enough, and under the protection of the people from the east coast, he ran to Taipei Prefecture, which had been cultivated for several years, so that no one could hurt him.

And once the mess cannot be cut quickly, local officials in various parts of Fujian can no longer play dumb, and must stand in line immediately.Zheng Kezang was not stupid. At this time, he continued to woo Xu Nuo, and with the help of the people from the east coast, he quickly gained the support of most people.Even some of Liu Guoxuan's sailors fled to Penghu with boats to welcome Zheng Kezang back to Fuzhou.

So far, the situation has basically become irreversible.Zheng Kezang set off with [-] soldiers and horses from the Taipei government, and then used his righteous name to land in Xiamen. The local navy surrendered without firing a single shot.What happened next was a matter of course. Tens of thousands of people came from all over the country to rush into Fuzhou City. Feng Xifan committed suicide in despair. Liu Guoxuan was tied up and offered by his subordinates. throne.

What was originally a deadly game was turned around with the help and connection of the people from the East Bank. Zheng Kezang was fortunate, but also shocked by the potential influence of the people from the East Bank in Fujian's local prefectures and naval forces. .But he also understands that now is not the time to think about these things. The naval officers who went to Heishui to learn modern warship driving and gun handling skills are now the backbone of Zheng's water force. Lord, I will find a way to digest it slowly later.

Besides, now is the time when people from the east coast are needed, how can they offend them?Therefore, after Zheng Kezang spent several months stabilizing the situation, he immediately fulfilled his promise and formed a comprehensive strategic partnership with the people on the east coast, promising to integrate Fujian into the trade system dominated by the people on the east coast. Also in line with the policy of the East Bank, the posture is still very low.

Today, Zheng Kezang came to Taipei again after a lapse of one year. First, he wanted to see the foundation of his business for many years. Second, he was invited by the East Coast people to cooperate in the development of various industries in Taipei.

Today's Taipei Prefecture is no longer just Taipei and Zhuchi counties.Although the Zheng family has its roots in the mainland, it has not let go of the reclamation of Taipei Prefecture. On the basis of the original foundation, two new counties were established, namely Keelung County (formerly Jilonggang, changed due to indecent name) Hepingnan County.The former is a military port with a small place and a small population. The latter is roughly within the scope of the later Miaoli County, where natives live, but Zheng Kezang sent troops to conquer it when he was Fuzheng in Taipei, so it was named "Pingnan". The name.

These four counties, with a combined population of more than 5, are all people who have survived years of hard cultivation.At present, they have basically taken root in the local area and started to prosper. The environment in Taipei Prefecture has also improved little by little under the transformation of their hands.

This time, the project discussed by the people from the East Bank and Zheng Kezang basically involved the three counties of Keelung, Taipei, and Zhuqian. Pingnan was temporarily put on hold because of insufficient development.The port construction project in Keelung County is not a small piece of fat. In the future, it will basically be handed over to the East Coast people for construction, and the East Coast Navy can also enter the port for replenishment and maintenance after declaration.Originally, Keelung County also discovered a coal mine with large reserves, but people on the east coast looked down upon it. Their coal in Sakhalin Island is of good quality, shallow buried, and it is right by the sea. It is not very rare for Taiwanese coal, let alone North Korea. Coal was also its competitor, so the coal mine was abandoned, too lazy to work.However, Zheng Kezang was a little interested and planned to order a batch of modern coal mining machines from the east bank to start trial mining of the Keelung coal mine.

People on the east coast really care about the gold mines in the mountains east of Keelung County.These gold mines are of high grade and large reserves, and their mining value is quite high.At present, the Dong'an people have transferred backbone technicians from Huma Gold Mine and Zhaoyuan Gold Mine to Keelung County, planning to start mining after thorough exploration.

Zheng Kezang has agreed that in the future all the gold mines in Taipei will be mined by people from the east coast, provided that he is paid a fee every year, the amount is not large, about [-] yuan.In addition, the people from the east bank will also help train a group of gold exploration, mining and smelting talents, which can be regarded as another compensation for Zheng.

In addition to mineral resources, the Dongan people also asked Zheng to reclaim wasteland in Taipei Prefecture and plant their designated cash crops, mainly in Taipei and Zhuchi counties.The cash crops are mainly spices, tobacco and sugar cane, but the people on the east bank also made a strange request, which is to ask them to expand the planting area of ​​camphor trees and provide camphor to the Bank of Taiwan at a low and fixed price.Zheng Kezang was a little surprised by this, but agreed anyway.

Of course, considering the water and heat conditions in Taipei and other counties, this kind of food cultivation is inevitable.After all, the Ningshao area has a lot of people and little land, and food has to be imported every year. It is not always a good idea to rely on the North Koreans and the Dutch. It is better to find ways to open up more sources.Now that the Okushiyu area in northeastern Japan is basically settled, it would be great if Taipei Prefecture joins in.

In fact, we can also see from this that the people on the east coast completely regard Taiwan as an economic colony.Moreover, it is better to let others come to mine first, and after transforming the environment with their lives, they can buy all kinds of commodities they produce at a low price in order to earn excess economic profits.Zheng Kezang is not a fool, of course he knows how much advantage the people on the east bank have taken advantage of, but this is the necessary price he paid in exchange for his own wealth and power, and he cannot easily go back on his word, so he didn't say anything in the end, completely Agree with the views of the East Coast people.

"President Cai, please worry about it. The four counties in Taipei are all my darlings. I will be at ease when I cooperate with your company to develop them in the future." Zheng Kezang said insincere words, But there was nothing strange on his face, and he continued to say: "It's just that the medicines such as Cinchona Cream promised by your country can be delivered as soon as possible? Don't worry, you won't be short of money."

"It seems that the king of Yanping County wants to expand the scale of reclamation in Taiwan. This is a great thing for us. But because of the Li Shun incident in Changsha?" Cai Shengguo and Zheng Kezang found a stone table and sat down opposite each other. asked.

What he meant was actually very clear, that is, the Shun army occupied the three southwestern provinces and destroyed the central authority of Nanming. Ming officials like them basically felt threatened. Did they want to develop Taiwan and engage in the Three Caves of the Rabbit?

"Li Laiheng is insane, how can we not guard against him." Zheng Kezang said in a dispirited manner.In fact, in his heart, although Li Shun cannibals, Dongan also cannibals, the difference is that one eats poorly and the other eats better.The people on the east bank are just asking for money, even though they have signed a lot of treaties that "forfeit power and humiliate the country", but compared to Feng Xifan, Liu Guoxuan, Li Laiheng and others who want their own heads, the people on the east bank are much cuter.

"Hey, Taiwan is a treasure island. It's right to develop more. It may be a bit difficult at the beginning, but once everything is done, it will definitely add an important financial income to Yanping County King in the future." Cai Shengguo said with a smile.

Zheng Kezang's mood improved slightly after hearing this.Now Li Shun's regime is attacking cities and territories on the mainland, so that everyone from all walks of life is in danger. His Fujian regime is indeed inseparable from the protection of the people on the east coast.In the future, if the economic crop planting area of ​​Taiwan Island is successful, it will indeed greatly improve the financial situation of the Zheng family, which will undoubtedly greatly enhance the strength of their separatist forces.

It's just that the bond with the Dongguo people is getting tighter and tighter, and I don't know what will happen in the future!Zheng Kezang thought with some melancholy.

When I came back from dinner in the evening, I started typing, and finally finished writing a chapter. I felt that my neck was almost crooked, and the third and fourth cervical vertebrae protruded even more, so I hurried to sleep. . .

(End of this chapter)