Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 2521 Goa ([-])

"This ship is still not fast enough! If you can relax the purchase restrictions and buy a steam ship, it will be exciting." On August 1704, 8, Man Xiaofeng, who had just landed on the pier of Diu Island, said with emotion.

To be honest, he moves pretty fast.It took less than a month to meet in Da'an City, then take over the post at Tacheng Port, load the goods, and then arrive at Diu Island via Bahrain Island, which can be regarded as a model of extremely high efficiency.

But this is also thanks to the southwest monsoon.Strong southwesterly winds and clockwise currents made the ship sail like a rocket. They brought enough food and drink before setting off, so there was no need to stop too much on the way.Except for unloading some people and goods in Bahrain Island, they traveled smoothly and quickly arrived in Diu County, the capital city of the Diu Management Committee.

The original area of ​​Diu County was very small, with only one Diu Island.But after the exhibition, the current total area has reached more than 2000 square kilometers, the total population has exceeded [-], the economy is developed, and the social order is stable. It is the best safe haven in the increasingly chaotic Indian subcontinent.

In comparison, the population of Qiandao County is much smaller, less than half that of Diu, and the area is almost half.The economy is much worse, and the per capita income is far below that of Diu. If we can't find another way in the future, I'm afraid it will only fall further and further.

"Didn't it mean that all the Indians here have been transported to the Arabian Peninsula? Why are there so many?" After entering a main commercial street near the pier, Man Xiaofeng saw many Indians and was very surprised, so he asked .

"Maybe they are Indian-Portuguese, my boss. Indians and Portuguese are mixed. To be honest, it is not difficult for me to distinguish the difference between them and ordinary Indians." A guard said.

"No, the few people who walked past just now were either Indo-Portuguese or serious Indians. You know, the Indians in the Rajput region have more or less Caucasian blood, which makes them look They look a bit like Indo-Portuguese, but I can tell them apart.” An official of the New China Pioneering Team who followed Man Xiaofeng off the ship said: “I used to be an instructor in Salalah Port, and I had contact with those Rajputs. Two full years. Later, in the Rajput area, I taught pro-Eastern armed forces how to collect intelligence, so I am very familiar with them. These are Indians, authentic Indians! In fact, the original Indians in Diu County were indeed transported Gone, but now many new residents have come, and the management committee has issued them long-term residence permits. The total number of these people is currently around 3000, not counted in the local population, but they do exist, and some are in Lived here for several years."

"Their sources are not complicated." The official added: "Some are the upper-level family members, relatives and friends of the pro-East armed forces in northwest India. They live here, not only as a security guarantee, but also as hostages. The management committee On the one hand, they are issued long-term residence permits for free. Some of them are officials and rich people who have fled from Northwest India. These people need to pay a large amount of cash to obtain a residence permit. The finance of Diu County has provided a lot of income. The last part is Indian businessmen from other places. They have business contacts with us, so they bought residence permits, often live here, and sometimes return to their hometowns to buy goods and deal with various issues. a human relationship."

Man Xiaofeng understood as soon as he heard it.Indeed, if the Management Committee of Diu wants to intervene deeply in the situation in Northwest India, it must have more contact with the Indians, military conquest, support for the separatist regime, trade plunder, and so on.After a long time, there will inevitably be a large number of obedient puppet warlords, compradors, and politicians serving.You always want to give these people some benefits, right?Financial incentives are part of it, as is granting asylum to their families.

For example, those Indian businessmen living in Diu County today, to put it bluntly, which one is not a comprador who sells India's interests to pave the way for commercial invasion on the East Coast?They transported cloth, raw silk, dried fruit, leather, spices, gemstones and other commodities from the inland of India, and then handed them over to various commercial firms run by people from the east coast in Diu—such as the famous East African Transportation Company, Lihe Commercial Firm, etc. After that, it is transported to various places to earn profits.

Among them, the East African Transportation Company specializes in the export business of New China and South Africa; Lihe Commercial Bank has a strong influence in Southeast Asia. They cooperate with the Bank of Taiwan to import Indian goods to Sumatra and other places in exchange for local pepper, sandalwood, gold.Then, through the channels of Bank of Taiwan, East Coast Japan Company, and East Coast Korea Company, Southeast Asian goods were imported to China, Japan, and North Korea in exchange for local specialty products, and finally transported to Cape Town Freeport for delivery.

Needless to say, their buying and selling goods in Southeast Asia violated the interests of the Dutch.The Dutch East India Company did not dare to obstruct it by force. After repeated protests failed, they could only find ways to set up obstacles, strengthen patrols, and drive away any possible ships.But the official channels are not good, and smuggling activities are difficult to prohibit. Both the local natives and the Dutch residents have a strong urge to smuggle with people on the east coast.What's more, patrol boats can also be bribed, so this kind of behavior cannot be prohibited at all, and it has become a huge industry. Even the Dutch East India Company does not know how many corrupt elements are involved in it.

Relying on these foreign trades, the Management Committee of Diu has a lot of money. Now it not only spends money like water in the area under its jurisdiction, building up a large number of buildings, but also has enough money to subsidize local funds such as Bahrain and Djibouti. The annual amount is as high as 60 yuan. huge.

"I learned a lot from Section Chief Sun." Man Xiaofeng laughed, then pointed to a restaurant flag hanging high on the side of the road, and said: "It's almost noon, why don't you go there to have a meal first, and then Let's talk about something else."

"That's good." Section Chief Sun also got to know Man Xiaofeng well during this time, so he didn't see him, nodded and said: "Then bother."

"Not to mention, we hit it off immediately, we are all friends." After instructing his subordinates to arrange the unloading of the ship, Man Xiaofeng took everyone to a restaurant more than ten meters away.

"Goa is one of the most beautiful scenic spots in the world, with abundant rainfall, with an annual rainfall of more than 2500 millimeters, concentrated in the monsoon season from June to September. Goa's vegetation is dense and lush, matching the red color of the land and the silver color of the estuary. It is very charming against each other. The continuous peaks of the Western Ghats are gradually thinning out, stretching and merging into the sea. However, the residents are unhappy and do not enjoy the happiness that this idyllic scenery should bring.” Just as everyone was sitting At the next table, a man with an Indian-Portuguese face was talking loudly at the next table.His Chinese accent is very heavy, and I don't know where he learned it, but if you listen carefully, you can still understand it.

The city of Goa is actually very coveted by people on the east coast.In particular, Director Yao Tong Yao, who is based in Diu, has sent various economic and cultural exchange missions to Goa many times. While doing superficial exchange activities, they are also collecting information and developing informants. thought.However, considering the relatively friendly relationship between the east coast and Portugal, there are still many obstacles in order to win Goa, a colony with an area of ​​nearly [-] square kilometers.Yao Tong was a little worried about this, and didn't know what to do.

But this time it is clear that the Portuguese sent a good opportunity to come over.The cause of the incident was that last summer, the Dutch East India Company stated that it was "intolerable" because the Portuguese violated their commercial interests in the Bay of Bengal and the Banda Sea. The smuggling trade in the Banda Sea was also very rampant, but they chose to ignore it-so they mobilized a large number of ships and soldiers and began to attack the Portuguese colonies in India and Southeast Asia.

As soon as the war started, the Portuguese suffered a crushing defeat. First, their last two strongholds in the East Indies were captured by the Dutch, and then the Pinto family’s trading base in the Bay of Bengal was captured. If Timor Island did not have an east coast If the Chinese squadron is patrolling and protecting, I am afraid that the Dutch army will also be ushered in.

The Portuguese quickly asked for help from the east coast, but the East Coast Navy, which holds the command of the East-Portuguese United Fleet, was in the shipyard for repair and maintenance, unable to go to battle, and rejected the Portuguese request.Fortunately, the monsoon also changed at this time, which was unfavorable for the Dutch fleet to fight, so the two sides suspended the exchange of fire at the end of the year and went back to their respective homes.

By the middle of this year, the Dutch once again assembled a large fleet and began to besiege the two important ports of Cochin and Goa.The Portuguese fought back desperately, but they were extremely passive due to the disparity in strength, so they had to ask for help again.

At this time, the East-Portuguese United Fleet had no excuse, and finally set off from the port of Diu, sailed to Goa, and expelled the ten Dutch warships that blocked the port here.Later, Director Yao and Director Yao went out in person and led more than 1000 Diu garrison troops to land in Goa. Under the banner of "protecting allies", they stationed in a dignified place outside the city of Goa.

Objectively speaking, the existence of the Diu garrison group has indeed effectively guaranteed the safety of Goa City on land.After all, in the last battle, the Portuguese suffered heavy losses. Nearly a thousand soldiers were killed successively, most of them were Portuguese or Indo-Portuguese. The defense force had dropped to a very dangerous level.And just at this time, perhaps because of the Portuguese expropriation and forced conversion of beliefs for many years, the Indians in Goa staged a large-scale riot, and even many Indian-Portuguese people were involved. The Portuguese army was caught off guard. There were many losses during the battle, so they knew that the people on the east bank had ulterior motives, but at this time they couldn't do without the help of the Diu garrison, so they could only pinch their noses and acquiesce in their existence.

As expected, Director Yao Tong Yao is from the army. After testing the bottom line of the Goa authorities, he immediately proposed to help the city of Goa to strengthen the defense force by recruiting "volunteers" in various colonies on the east coast of Asia to help the Portuguese rebuild their coastal defenses. Forts—whose hands the repaired forts belong to can be imagined—and raise a militia.Later, no matter how entangled the Portuguese governor was, he implemented the plan on his own, that is, contacted the Denglai pioneer team in the Far East, intending to recruit a group of eliminated military children.At the same time, the New China Development Team was requested to support a group of gunners and heavy artillery to restore the Goa Fort, which was mostly destroyed by the Dutch.

Man Xiaofeng's ship this time carried nearly a hundred gunners and dozens of cannons.They will only stay in Diu for a few days, and then under the leadership of a group of officers, they will cross the sea to Goa to rebuild the fort.

"Director Yao's plan is really bold. He even dares to touch the territory of his allies, and he is not afraid of the Portuguese royal family going to the mainland to sue. And this Indo-Portuguese who talked loudly in the restaurant seems to have escaped from Goa, but how can I Do you always think it’s a trick? Diu spreads news about how difficult life in Goa is, how cruel the Dutch are, and how incompetent the Portuguese colonial authorities are, adding legitimacy and rationality to our troop actions. Hehe, this manipulator of public opinion It’s really a trick.” After looking at the Indian-Portuguese man who was filled with righteous indignation, Man Xiaofeng smiled, and looked at Section Chief Chen who was sitting opposite him, and everything was kept silent.

Goa, which is located in the center of the two economic regions of South India and Northwest India, seems to be unable to escape the palm of Director Yao.

(End of this chapter)