Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 2221 South China Sea ([-])

"In September 1693, thanks to God's blessing, our ship arrived near Macau safely. We have been wandering around for more than ten days, but we have not received permission from Ming officials to enter the port. We were forced to drop anchor near Lingding Island Anchor, Macau can be seen from here. Two Ming Dynasty navy sampans watched us, and their armaments were pitifully small, but Captain Rigoni reminded us not to do anything rude, so we just continued Waiting patiently. Luckily Farias helped us, he is a Macau businessman who supplies all the ships that anchor here with necessities such as meat, vegetables, bread, guava, bananas, lychees, etc. at a reasonable price Such services have been provided until September 9th, the day we were allowed to enter the port - we were forced to donate 9 lire to the nearby Ming officials for 'official repair fees' before we were allowed. Captain Rigoni used public funds to withdrawn them."

"On September 9, our ship 'Liguria Coast' passed Humen. This is a place name. I asked the guide, and he said that the river bend here is like a tiger's mouth. Behind the mouth is a narrow river. We moored here at noon, waiting for the wind to rise. After lunch, a steamboat puffing out black smoke came over and offered to provide tugboat service for us, but only for a certain fee. Captain Gony refused, because the public funds we carried were not sufficient, we had already spent a lot on the way, and the goods in the cabin did not know what the market prospect would be. So I boredly observed the scenery, and found that the scenery near Humen was quite good. On the right hand side, there are many traditional Chinese buildings surrounded by greenery. At both ends of the building complex, there is a small road leading to the fort on the mountain. There are two hills on the left and right, and there is a tall tower on one hill. It looks like a lighthouse, maybe used It is the famous gas lamp, and the other hill is the fort as usual. The flag of the east bank is flying on the fort, which makes us feel very friendly. Know how to deal with them."

"In the afternoon, two officials came. One was an official from the Ming Dynasty and the other was an official from the East Bank. They accompanied our boat up the river and arrived at Huangpu. The officials from the Ming Dynasty served the Duke of Guangzhou. He It was the customs guy who gave us the passes we needed to go to Canton or other places for trade purposes. The East Coast officer was a soldier, wearing the familiar sky blue navy uniform and the iconic barrel cap , his role is to negotiate with the forts along the way, and to stop the Chinese thieves who are driving the boats from approaching our ships. It can be seen that the people on the east bank have strict control over this waterway and adjudicate many things fairly. The Duke of Guangzhou Xia also accepts this wholeheartedly, and it seems that the influence of people from the East Coast in Guangzhou is greater than anyone imagined."

"Whampoa Port is a place where you can trade. The Chinese built a very good stone plinth here, so our large ship of more than 300 tons can also dock. However, the vicinity of Huangpu Port looks relatively desolate. There are A large low-growing rice field, rice is a fairly common food in this country. The part next to the rice field near the river is divided by a ditch, leading to a warehouse, which was prepared for us by the people on the east bank. The warehouse can be used to stack wood. , tools, asphalt and other essential things for ship repair, and can also store goods, raise chickens and ducks, and live in. There are also merchant ships from other countries berthing near the warehouse, but the number is not large, because the East Coast Navy’s permission to go to Canton trade is not easy—of course, these guys have their own warehouses."

"The security of the warehouse is in charge of the soldiers of the Duke of Guangzhou. These people patrol around the warehouse in groups, constantly scaring away some locals who intend to break in and steal things. They carry bright cold weapons and old-fashioned matchlocks guns, from warehouse to warehouse, day and night. These patrolling soldiers were divided into several teams, and every half hour they rang the gong, like the bells on our ships, at half-past twelve and at one o'clock. Twice, and so on, until eight at four, eight 12 minutes passed, and at half past four, they start a new round. These definitely remind me of Giuseppe, the young lad's The task is to tell the sailor next to the bell how many times to pull when the time is almost up."

"On September 9th, a merchant ship from the English East India Company slowly sailed in and docked next to us. We fired a salute, and the English responded with a salute. I guess they must be directly under the East India Company Otherwise, how lucky are private boats to be allowed to enter Huangpu Port when Guangzhou trading licenses are in short supply. After a not-so-great lunch made of Guangzhou carp, Captain Rigoni We were told that we could disembark, but before disembarking, everyone was forced to learn the rules, that is: all crew members are not allowed to bring back to Genoa * anything that exceeds the specified suitcase size, except sugar and tea necessary for the voyage and spirits."

The above is the diary of Manuel Stefano, first mate of the barque "Liguria Coast" from Genoa.After serving in the Genoese Navy for a period of time, this graduate of the East Coast Nautical School joined St. George's Firm in pursuit of high income and became the chief mate of an ocean-going merchant ship under it.St. George's firm has a good relationship with the East Coast and has a lot of cooperation, coupled with the help of the Genoese government, it is easy to obtain a permit to trade with the Ming Kingdom in the Far East - a permit issued by the East Coast Navy Department certificate.

After more than five months of long-distance voyage, the "Liguria Coast" finally arrived at Guangzhou, the largest trading port in southern China, exhausted—yes, you haven't seen it. Horsetail was a far more prosperous trading port - and eventually entered their own warehouse anchorage.

The Genoese have wanted to go to the east for trade for some years, but because their strength did not allow them, they could only keep a low profile as much as possible.However, after years of in-depth economic cooperation with the East Coast Republic, their wealth has been greatly accumulated, and their wealth has gradually recovered to the peak before they were cheated by lending to the Kingdom of Spain.Therefore, after several negotiations with the East Coast government, they finally obtained the approval of the Admiralty to go to Canton for trade-another ironic thing, isn't it?European countries have to get the approval of the East Coast Navy to go to Guangzhou for trade, and the Li family in Guangdong has no say in this matter, and there is no one else.

After the "Liguria Coast" arrived at Huangpu Port, the people on the east coast bought all the large quantities of lead on board. As for other woolen fabrics, Nanyang specialties, African ivory, coral, etc., or commodities purchased during departure or along the way, Then it was eaten by several compradors in Guangzhou.These compradors are basically the spokespersons of the Li regime in Guangdong, with strong financial strength and sufficient supply of goods, so they are the first choice for foreign businessmen to come to trade.

Of course, the money they earned through foreign trade cannot be enjoyed by themselves. In fact, they have to provide more than half of the profits to the big shots. At the same time, they have to contribute to military supplies from time to time to support Li Yuanhao in building his own new army. The burden is still relatively heavy. of.Of course, even so, what they gained was still huge enough to make them the richest families in Guangdong, although they were no different from fat pigs in the eyes of the Li warlords.

To be honest, Li Yuanhao's life in Guangdong is not easy now.Although they have secretly communicated with Shunguo and got a promise that they will not attack Guangdong, but anyone with a normal IQ knows that this so-called promise is bullshit.The reason why Guangdong can still maintain a general peace at present is that apart from Shunguo being overwhelmed with self-care, the main reason is that the Lianwu Management Committee established by the people on the east coast is the first to block the few convenient ways to attack Guangdong from the direction of Guangxi. This route forced the Shun army in Guangxi to either march across the Wuling Mountains, or face the densely packed fortresses around Nanxiong Mansion when heading south from Jiangxi, neither of which they could accept.

However, it was difficult for Shunguo to march across the mountains and ridges, but it did not mean that the Li family in Guangdong could rest easy. In fact, Li Yuanhao still invested heavily in the military, focusing on supporting the Lianzhou new army system he formed.As for the source of these military expenses, in addition to the normal Huiguo government expenditure, businessmen's service is naturally one of the important ways.May I ask who are the richest people in Guangdong?The answer is naturally obvious, Haishang!

Compared with Li Yuanhao, his cheap elder brother Li Yuanyin will be much harder.He controls the Chaozhou prefecture, not without traditional foreign trade, but very little, and his income is very limited.Therefore, in the end, Li Yuanyin could only choose to integrate Chaozhou Prefecture into the economic circle dominated by the people on the east coast, and use his own advantages to develop some industries to earn foreign exchange through export, which greatly subsidized Chaozhou Prefecture's financial and military expenditures. .

Oh, by the way, another regime that will develop industry and commerce is the Lu Wang family of the Daming royal family, the nominal suzerain of the Erli in Guangdong and the Zheng family in Fujian.Because of the collapse of the Kunming court and the relationship between Emperor Yongli's life and death, under the active supervision and supervision of the people on the east coast, the three only warlords under the banner of Nanming recognized the legitimacy of King Lu's rule one after another. Under the urging of the Anren people, the King of Lu even saved the hypocritical supervision of the country, and directly proclaimed himself emperor in Taizhou on the grounds that "the country cannot be left without a master for a day".

After proclaiming himself emperor, King Lu sent the prince to Qiongzhou Mansion, where he was under the protection of the navy on the east coast, which could be regarded as a backup.The three mansions of Qiong, Gao, and Lei have always been outside the jurisdiction of the Nanming central court, and were not under the jurisdiction of the Li family in Guangdong, but were controlled by local warlords.Among them, Qiongzhou Mansion is better. It was almost re-controlled by the civil service system at the end of Li Chengdong's period. Therefore, it is not difficult to send the heir of Nanming there, with the protection of the army on the east bank, and slowly calm people's hearts.And once they gain a firm foothold in Qiongzhou Prefecture, it will probably not be so difficult to slowly gather Lei and Gao, the two state capitals that have just been dealt with by the East Coast Army and are now in constant panic.

And if these three prefectures want to really develop, they still have to rely on the economic system dominated by the people on the east coast. In this case, it is expected that the government will be deeply controlled by the people on the east coast.What is the difference between controlling it in the hands of King Lu's family and controlling it in the hands of people from the east coast?The cost may be much lower, isn't it?

Happy New Years to all our readers!

(End of this chapter)