Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 2323 Preparations for Southeast Asia

On May 1697, 5, the three-masted sailing ship "Antarctic Wolf" sailed into the port of Brunei in embarrassment.Didn't say, this "lord"

The "ship" needs to be repaired again. The old ships are like this, especially when crossing the rough ocean, the damage rate of the ship is very high. Correspondingly, the maintenance cost is also high.

The "Antarctic Wolf" was hit by severe weather in the waters south of Mindanao.At that time, they had just tossed around the equatorial windless area for about a month—sailboats were so depressed when they crossed the equator—but they encountered strong winds and waves not long after sailing out.Fortunately, Mindanao is not far from Brunei, their destination port. Therefore, after some emergency repairs, the ship barely sailed past without loss of personnel and ships. It is a blessing in misfortune.

The "Antarctic Wolf" carried some mechanical equipment on board.This was ordered by a Brunei businessman, mainly some wood drying equipment, and a few parts of the carriage.It can be seen that the owner of the goods is relatively rich, and at the same time lacks confidence in similar products manufactured by the Heishui Management Committee. He would rather pay a high price to order locally than buy cheap Heishui products.

Some local equipment manufacturers have ridiculed the quality of Heishui industrial products, and said that they can only pick up equipment and technologies that have been eliminated locally, and lack the ability to continue to innovate.But I have to admit that because of their close proximity to the market, they have made great progress over the past few decades and grabbed a lot of business from the local area.Those local businessmen made a mockery, and it was still a relationship of competing interests.

The "Antarctic Wolf" sailed into the dock immediately after unloading its cargo.The workers in the ship repair yard skillfully fixed the ship with ropes, and then slowly began to drain water, intending to carry out a thorough repair and maintenance of the ship.They are already very skilled at this kind of work, although some of them were farmers only a few years ago.

There are also more commercial facilities on the pier.People from Shandong opened restaurants, inns, and teahouses, and the business was booming, attracting many merchants who came here to trade.The popularity that was once lost due to the outbreak of war with the Sultan of Brunei is now slowly returning.Even, under the painstaking management of the people on the east coast, Brunei Port is now more prosperous than before.

However, in this series of good news, there are not without discordant factors, that is, the number of Malay and Arab merchant ships coming to Brunei Port for trade has decreased sharply, causing the port to lose a lot of tax revenue.The reason is that last year the people on the East Coast "blatantly" abolished the Sultan of Brunei and formally annexed Brunei Port.

The Sultan of Brunei is also aggrieved. He is a puppet erected in a hurry by the people of the East Bank. All major and minor matters are decided by the consultants of the East Bank. It is even difficult for him to think of a palace.As a result, he couldn't even be a puppet anymore, and the people from the east coast directly forged an order for him, officially announcing his abdication, and handing over the country to the China East Coast Republic for management.In other words, the Brunei Sultanate has perished!In addition, the order also announced the abolition of the Green Church as the state religion in Brunei, and the establishment of East Coast Taoism as the "orthodox faith" that people must believe in.

If abdication is considered normal, then deposing the Green Sect's special status can be said to have poked a hornet's nest in Southeast Asia.Although it is somewhat different from the Green Christians in the Arabian Peninsula, the monarchs in Southeast Asia promote Green Christianity for their own better rule-here, the royal power is higher than religious power, all priests must have the blood of royal family members, and the sultan personally appoints religious officials. Adjudicating religious disputes, claiming that he is "the king of the world, like Allah overlooking the earth, like the sun in the sky, hanging like the moon, and chosen by Allah, he is the shadow of Allah in the world" - but the behavior of the people on the east coast still shocked them , because even the Portuguese, Dutch, and Spaniards have not done such things that shake the legitimacy of their rule.Therefore, the various Malay sultans were angry and suspended trade with the East Bank one after another, not to mention the more devout Arabs.

But East Coasters seem unmoved by the furious opposition.They carried out various tasks step by step, ignored other accusations and abuse, concentrated on developing the newly acquired territory, and tried their best to immigrate.They firmly believe that with the increasing number of mainland immigrants, even if the local Malays in Brunei are not transported away, they will be assimilated in the future.Under the protection of political power and military power, the super assimilation ability of Chinese culture will complete all the work.

In addition to dethroning the Sultan of Brunei, the people on the east bank also quietly did something that many people did not notice, that is, they used sponsorship of weapons to persuade the Fujian Zheng family to send a ship to the later General Santos at the southern tip of Mindanao in the Philippines. Landed in the city area and established a solid stronghold.

The Zheng's armed forces that landed earlier had more than 50 boats, carrying more than 2000 people ashore.Although these 2000 people were selected by the Zheng family, such as local regiments and inspectors, etc. (the elite troops were not willing to take it out, and wanted to keep their hometown in Fujian), this team with a mixture of cold and hot weapons went through the initial stage of landing. After a small setback, the battle became more and more courageous, and finally expelled the local Moro indigenous people who believed in the Green religion, and built a rough city.

In order to reward Zheng Kezang for sending troops into Mindanao, the people on the east coast not only sent [-] brand-new muskets and [-] pieces of artillery to Fuzhou, but also changed the outfits of those who had already landed, and sent consultants to help Overall, it took a lot to train the troops and improve their combat effectiveness.

By the way, the newly occupied place was ordered to be Shijing Port, which was ordered from a place in Zheng’s hometown. It is said that Zheng Kezang also personally wrote a three-character plaque with the words “Shijingwei” in a brush and sent it to the local area, which was hung by the occupying army. Walled upstairs.Subsequently, the Ming Empire, which was also almost a puppet of the East Coast people, also officially issued an edict to ratify Ishiiwei as the territory of the Ming Dynasty, and appointed the local commander Zheng Sandao as the commander of Ishiiwei.

Now that Ishii Guard is established, according to the Ming Dynasty's ancestral system, this land will naturally be distributed to officers and soldiers at all levels, and at the same time, the immigration of military members must also be put on the agenda.To be honest, Zheng Kezang is actually reluctant to spend this money. Now he wants to build various counties in Fujian and colonize Taiwan. He really doesn't want to invest resources in the remote place of Mindanao.But there was no way, the people on the east bank forced him to pay for it, and in the end he could only hold his nose and agree, saying that he would start to deal with it when the northeast monsoon blows at the end of this year.But before that, they will have to rely on the care of the people from the east coast.

Of course, the people on the east coast are also very happy to take care of it, because this is an excellent way to increase their influence.Think about it, the ammunition, food, medicine, and other daily necessities needed by the 2000 people who landed in advance were provided by people from the east bank (in fact, they were paid by a loan of 20 yuan in French currency provided by the Bank of Taiwan to Zheng Kezang), and there were people from the east coast outside the sea Several warships are patrolling non-stop, even if Zheng Sandao is a member of the Zheng clan facing Zheng Kezang, but what about the people below?What will they think?Not to mention the strong influence exerted by the 30-member military advisory group that has been dispatched in advance.Wei Ishii, he can't get out of the hands of the people on the east coast!

Here is one thing that makes people speechless.Although most of Mindanao is still controlled by the Green Cultists, the Manila Procuratorate District established by the Spaniards, at least in name, owns the entire Philippine archipelago, and the East Coasters also recognized their right many years ago.As a result, this time Zheng's armed forces crossed the sea to attack, and it has been almost half a year since Ishiiwei was captured. The Spaniards in Manila still don't know about it. People have to wonder what they have been doing for so many years, and how much control they have over the entire archipelago. so bad.

And since the Spaniards are so incompetent, the people on the east coast will naturally not be polite.After a new wave of immigrants arrived at Ishiiwei at the end of this year and gained a firm foothold there, according to the plan of the people on the east coast, they still have to expand.The level of civilization of the local Green believers is a bit low, and they don't have a few muskets, and they just have the bloody courage unique to barbarians.But what's the use of this, is it better than muskets and cannons?As long as Zheng Kezang is not concerned about money and is willing to invest here, some people from Fujian, which is relatively overpopulated, have immigrated here.

The East Coast government has foreseen that a war with the Kingdom of Spain is likely to break out in the future, and has made careful plans for it.There is no doubt that this is another global war!People on the east coast will not hesitate to launch forces around the world, win over allies, and launch attacks on all Spanish colonies, whether in the American continent or Asia. Whoever controls Madrid—be it the Bourbons or the Habsburgs—is as disgusting as eating a fly.

As the only colony of the Kingdom of Spain in Asia, the Manila Procuratorate District must be taken.And considering that the population on the east coast is seriously underpopulated today, and I don't have the strength to directly eat the huge Philippine Islands, it is inevitable to win over allies and go south to capture them.Fujian has many mountains and little land, and is overpopulated. It has always had a tradition of emigrating abroad. Now that there is such a large colony, it is enough for them to come over ecstatically. People need living space, and millions of people are crowded in a group. The mountainous provinces will only lead to the involution of society in the end. Telling the truth to the immigrants of the Philippine Islands can ease the internal contradictions of Zheng's group. As long as Zheng Kezang is not stupid, he will eventually realize this.

With the all-round support of the people on the east coast, as long as the international situation does not undergo drastic changes, it will eventually control the entire archipelago and assimilate the local natives.In the future, even if the two major powers in mainland China decide the outcome and absorb and annex each other's land, then the Zheng family in Fujian will still have a way out.Compared with Taiwan and Qiongzhou, which are only across the sea from the mainland, the Philippine Islands seem to be a better place to live in exile, and Guozuo of the Ming Dynasty can continue to survive.

On June 1697, 6, the "Antarctic Wolf", which had been spent heavily on maintenance, slowly left the Port of Brunei, carrying 1 tons of rice (purchased from the Dutch) and a large number of machinery and equipment to Ningbo Dinghai Port. its final destination.

(End of this chapter)