Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 785 For the King's Precursor ([-])

On November 1649, 11, there was a thunderstorm in Xinhua Port.

After two days of urgent consultations, Shi Qinjie, the top local official and captain of the New China Pioneering Team, made a final decision and decided to send some ships of the Second Fleet to Bandar Abbas in Persia. Together with the ship, they will conduct another "friendly visit".If possible—in fact, this is the most important purpose of their trip—they will renegotiate the business cooperation agreement between the two parties with the Persian Safavid Dynasty. Of course, the Persians have the right to refuse, but that may make the The mighty East Coast Fleet pushed to the side of their enemies, the Portuguese.Where to go, they should make a good choice.

However, Lieutenant Commander Guo Zili, who was recently transferred to command the Second Fleet, had a difficult time choosing which ships to head to Bandar Abbas.Gein's current Second Fleet of the Navy is really too shabby. The number of warships has not increased for many years, only one battleship, three fast cruisers, and one armed transport ship (this steam-powered ship is even being rebuilt. Huaxia round-the-island transport), with a total of five large and small ships, which is incomparable with the local First Fleet.

After thinking about it, Shi Qinjie and Guo Zili were really ashamed. They were ashamed to send only one flagship "Free Trade" to Persia, so they finally gritted their teeth and seized the "Traveler" from the Netherlands. The armed transport ship No. [-] was dispatched together, forming a four-ship formation with two expedition ships, and went to Bandar Abbas to show off its power and launch the first "gunboat diplomacy" in the history of the East Coast Republic.

It is said that ever since Guo Zili returned from the European escort and was promoted to a lieutenant commander, he rushed to Xinhua Port to take up the post as the commander of the Second Fleet.As for the former Commander of the Second Fleet, Lieutenant Wang Tiehammer, was transferred back to the mainland. It is rumored that he will soon be promoted to Lieutenant Commander of the Navy and take up the post of Commander of the upcoming Third Fleet. It will be transferred to the battle order of the Third Fleet (currently incorporated into the First Fleet temporarily) as the flagship of the fleet.

Lieutenant Commander Li Yi, one of the Big Three in the second-generation leadership of the East Coast Navy, is said to be likely to succeed Lu Ming, who will be the Minister of the Navy next year, as the most honorable Commander of the First Fleet. , above ten thousand people, the limelight is the same for a while, and at the same time, it also makes Wang Tiechui and Guo Zili envious and jealous.

After the flagship "Free Trade" and other two ships leave, the remaining three fast cruisers "Chaoyong", "Zhenwu" and "Jingwu" will be under the auspices of Han Dezhi, the captain of the navy and deputy commander of the Second Fleet. Under the leadership of the captain of the navy, guard the door and ensure the safety of the routes between the ports of Xinhua Island.

The situation in Xinhua Island is quite delicate now, so it is impossible to prevent it.

Since the relationship between the Dutch and the east coast has improved, they have basically given up the operation of the Tulare trading station-because there is no profit at all.At present, there are only a few dozen European mercenaries in the trading post, guarding a miniature masonry fortress (as a trading post and slave holding place) and a dozen Baroque-style stone houses.According to gossip circulating in the market, the Dutch East India Company is currently slashing non-profit projects, and they are likely to abandon the Tulare Trading Station on New China Island. That is to say, dozens of mercenaries in the trading station are in After the contract expires, it is likely to face the dilemma of unemployment as a whole.

However, they are not without retreat. At present, the New China Development Team of the East Coast Republic is actively contacting the Dutch East India Company to see if they can sell all the assets of the Dutch in Tulare - including a miniature fortress - at a low price. , 100 stone houses, hundreds of hectares of arable land, more than [-] livestock, and employment contracts for mercenaries——buy them.If the Dutch agree, it's almost a win-win for both parties.The Dutch dealt with the non-performing assets, and the people on the east coast obtained a preliminary developed colonial stronghold, and further consolidated their advantages on the west coast of Xinhuaxia Island (currently there are two strongholds on the west coast, Lobster Port and Mianhe Port).

Shi Qinjie has worked hard on the management of Xinhua Island to this day, and he has regarded the entire island as his own taboo, and hardly allows others to touch it.It's okay to say that the Dutch's trading station in Tulare is half dead, but the gradual expansion of the French on the island in recent years has made him feel a little restless.After all, this is a strong competitor!If they are willing, they can migrate a large number of French farmers to the fourth largest island in the world in minutes, and start all-round competition with the people on the east coast.

At present, the French have basically greatly expanded the scope of the Dofanburg (later Tauranalu) colony. When the French first arrived in 1643, they just built a stone fortress on the cliffs of the promontory as a base for the expedition.From then on, the French began their own colonization on Xinhua Island: they built coastal defense forts on the promontory, they opened up arable land in the interior of the port, and they built piers on the shore.Not to mention, they later lured some French immigrant technicians in the towns on the east coast to defect, and brought many drawings of hydraulic machinery to Fort Dofan.Although there was no evidence from the people on the east coast, Shi Qinjie and others unanimously determined that the French did it, and this was the beginning of the deterioration of relations between the East and France on Xinhua Island.

In 1645 and 1646, the pirates of St. Mary's Island who were recruited by the East Bank twice attacked the French colony of Fort Dofan, but they were all repelled. This undoubtedly further deteriorated the relationship between the two countries.Stimulated by this, the French government not only sent a lot of army troops from the country, but also moved a considerable number of landless farmers here to cultivate.Later, the Mazaran government sent more than [-] Protestants who were excluded in France twice in a row to the west of Dovanburg for reclamation.

It is located near the Mananni Passi River in later generations, on the north bank of the Andreabe Lagoon, backed by mountains, and is a rare coastal plain or low hilly area.The side facing the sea is open and has a typical subtropical monsoon climate. Compared with the northern core area occupied by people on the east coast, the climate is much milder: the temperature is lower, cooler, and the rainfall is less (but still not less than 1500 mm per year) , is indeed a very good base - at least there are fewer mosquitoes here than in the north, and the chances of people getting malaria will be greatly reduced.

The French built a lot of construction in this place named the town of St. Louis. They enslaved a large number of natives to mine rocks and built fortresses and houses for them. At the same time, they also used the seeds bought from the Portuguese to plant rice along the river. and corn, and some tropical fruit.It seems that they want to combine these two strongholds (Saint-Louis Town, Fort Doufan) into a supply base for French ships.

At present, a considerable number of French businessmen are planning to go to the East for "adventure". They are extremely jealous of the trade profits obtained by the Dutch, British, Portuguese and even the Danes in the East. They have been clamoring for the Mazaran government to grant merchants charters and monopoly Trade rights, so that they have sufficient motivation to sail to the East.From this background, the strongholds of Fort Dovan and Saint-Louis can just provide shelter and supplies for these French ships in the middle, and their strategic positions are still very important.

Shi Qingjie was well aware of the French's thinking, but he had long regarded the entire island as the property of the east coast, and he couldn't tolerate all the colonial activities of the French here.After secretly instigating the incorporated pirates to attack the French and failed, Shi Chinger first ordered to cut off the trade ties with the two French colonial strongholds, and then wooed the Portuguese to join the trade embargo alliance against the French. It's a pity that the Portuguese didn't cooperate very much, which annoyed Shi Qinjie.

The further intensification of the conflicts between the two sides came a few months ago, when Schinger received a report that two French ships suddenly sailed into Antungil Bay and landed near the city of Maruantetra, opposite the later Mangabe Island, to meet with The local natives had exchanges, and it is said that some kind of trade agreement was signed.According to this agreement, French ships can dock at this port at will, which undoubtedly poses a serious threat to the rule of the people on the east coast in Xinhua Island. provocative signal.

In response to the provocations of the French, Shi Qinjie recently wondered whether he should also push the strongholds of the people on the east coast under the noses of the French, retaliate with an eye, and let the French have a taste of this.He even chose the location, which is not far to the northeast of the French Fort Doufan, near the mouth of Lake Mananivo in later generations, and the straight-line distance from Fort Doufan is only a few tens of kilometers.It happened that the coffee trees introduced by the people on the east coast did not grow very well in the north. Experts from the Ministry of Agriculture also suggested that the planting site be transferred to the mountainous area in the southeast of Xinhuaxia Island (the main coffee-producing area of ​​Madagascar in later generations is here, here The altitude, climate, and soil are all suitable for the growth of coffee trees), which made Schinger immediately determined to kill two birds with one stone.

He plans to move hundreds of Ming immigrants to this place for reclamation at the end of next year, and then drive a large number of island Eight Banner tribes to build piers, castles and forts.After all this is done, he will continue to migrate a group of new immigrants to the inland mountainous area here, open up coffee plantations, develop the economy, and take root here thoroughly, confronting the French.

He couldn't believe it anymore. Given how much the people on the east coast attached to Xinhua Island, and the steady supply of fresh people every year, they couldn't settle the two ruined French colonial strongholds!In his opinion, when the international situation changes in the future, these two French colonies will fall into his hands sooner or later.The French are now making great efforts to develop cities, farmland, and ports. In the future, they will only make wedding dresses for people on the east coast.

(End of this chapter)