Chapter 950 Changes in Situation
However, Xiong Xin's worries are actually a bit overblown. The Haihan Executive Committee really has no plans to attack Guangzhou at the moment. In recent years, Haihan has invested most of its energy and resources on Qiongzhou Island. Various large-scale infrastructure projects have been carried out one after another. If the base is to be moved to the mainland, it will be very time-consuming and costly, and the existing investment will also be Most of them have lost their function because the governing bodies have moved away. Moreover, the mass base in the mainland is far inferior to that of Qiongzhou Island, which has been operating for several years. After moving there, many tasks, including the grassroots civil affairs management system, will have to be started from scratch. This is not a situation the executive committee wants to see.
Haihan's current main expansion method is to occupy large islands in coastal areas in a leapfrog manner. The relatively closed social environment of the islands can greatly reduce the difficulty of Haihan's local governance, and the close distance to the mainland allows for more convenient access to population. and resources, and by the way, the industrial and agricultural commodities produced by Haihan are sold to the mainland market. Based on islands rather than occupying mainland cities, this clear development idea basically eliminated the possibility of large-scale armed conflicts between Haihan and Ming Dynasty, and also left more buffer space in the diplomatic relations between the two sides.
Of course, Yan Chujie and Schneider would not explain these highly strategic decisions in detail to the Ming representatives, and even if they did, they might not be able to understand Haihan's intentions.
"We have prepared a handwritten letter to Xiong and Xu. The letter contains detailed instructions. Please take the letter back with you. I believe the adults will feel at ease after reading it." Schneider didn't want to waste too much. He drooled, took out the letter he had prepared, and finally sent away the two official representatives of the Ming Dynasty.
"I'm so tired. I'm going to take a vacation for myself after returning to Sanya this time." After seeing the two of them off, Schneider slumped down on his seat and complained feebly: "For such a big project, at least one or two We have to negotiate slowly over the years, and the executive committee has to rush to finish the matter in a month or two, which is really killing me!”
"There is nothing we can do about it." Yan Chujie consoled him: "If we want to hold the founding ceremony in early April, we can only hurry up and complete the trade alliance. Then we can sign formal agreements with various countries. Fortunately, this task It's basically completed. You can rest peacefully for two days when you go back. I'm really miserable. I've been out for a few months and I can't go back for a while. I have to wait until the base on Xingdao is formed. Only then can you let go.”
Yan Chujie left Sanya in September last year and led the fleet south for military exercises. Three or four months have passed in a blink of an eye, most of which was spent floating on the sea. Naturally, the life was far less comfortable than staying in Sanya. Now Roger is at Xingdao, and Musabai is at Cam Ranh Port. The two generals are one in the south and the other in the north. The island of Amborna is empty and he can only take charge of it personally. A large number of infrastructure projects on Star Island and Ambona Island will almost be carried out simultaneously in the next few months. No one can be separated from either side, and Yan Chujie will inevitably be tied here for a long time.
But thinking that the founding of the People's Republic of China is imminent and the great cause they dreamed of will be achieved, even if they are a little bit tired and tired, they are gritting their teeth and preparing to survive this period of time. After all, the day when the Haihan Kingdom was established was the time when the founding fathers of the country were remembered in history. It is still worthwhile to pay a little more now. What's more, even on this isolated island in the South China Sea, the standard of living they enjoy is far incomparable to other people. There are special standards for food, accommodation, and transportation. All are good things specially provided in-house. What they want to do can be done with just one sentence.
After the framework agreement of the South China Sea Trade Alliance was signed, representatives from all parties began to leave Amborna Island and return home. Regarding the implementation details of the trade alliance, there are still a lot of articles and written materials that need to be digested slowly after they return. There are many specific measures that will take a long time to implement. Some specific bilateral and multilateral cooperation agreements, Since they need to submit approval to their respective domestic superiors, they have to wait until early April to attend the ceremony in Sanya before signing.
The news of the establishment of the South China Sea Trade Alliance began to spread to various countries half a month later, and businessmen from various countries also had mixed feelings. Countries with close trade relations with Haihan, such as Ming Dynasty, Annan, and Portugal, naturally welcomed this, because The previously signed framework agreement includes many reciprocal contents among member countries. In the future, cross-border ordering, transportation, sales, settlement, warehousing and other trade links will enjoy more convenient conditions, which will undoubtedly greatly promote these Significant growth in trade volume between countries.
But for alliance members like the East India Company, it is not yet easy to judge whether the effects of the trade alliance will be good or bad. Although the East India Company was reluctant to accept it, Haihan still forcibly stipulated the scope of activities of Dutch merchant ships and designated the trading ports that Dutch merchants could enter in Northeast Asia as Sanya, Hong Kong, Kaohsiung Port, and Zhoushan Dinghai Port. place. Ryukyu, Japan, North Korea and other places that could still be traded were all restricted areas by Haihan. Of course the Dutch know that Haihan intends to gradually monopolize foreign trade transactions in these areas, but the existing maritime armed forces are far from Haihan's opponent, and there is no other way to think of except swallowing his anger.
Of course, the East India Company can also violate these contents that have not been written into the alliance framework agreement and continue to quietly do what it wants to do, but the risks of doing so are also obvious - the Haihan people have made their attitude clear and will not do anything to the Netherlands again. Instead of warning merchant ships for possible violations, they would deal with them directly once discovered, seizing all people and ships, while retaining the power to expel the Dutch from Tai Muang Port. Such a huge risk is indeed not worth the gain compared to the dozens or twenty ships of goods shipped back from Northeast Asia every year.
Of course, in addition to the disadvantage of being restricted in the scope of commercial activities, the Dutch do not get no benefits at all. For example, they can get a larger supply of silk, porcelain, tea and other oriental specialties that they yearn to purchase from Daming every year through Haihan - but the purchase price will also increase by two to three cents because of this. After all, Haihan people can We are not doing public welfare for free. Monopoly operation must have corresponding benefits to be reasonable.
But it is better to have something to buy than not to be able to buy it. Because they were at odds with the Ming Dynasty officials, the Dutch used to entrust comprador merchants like Xu Xinsu and Zheng Zhilong to make purchases. However, Xu Xinsu later defected to Haihan, and Shibazhi was expelled. Having to hide in Tibet, it is impossible to trade with the mainland, and these valuable goods are becoming increasingly difficult to buy. After the Haihan people settled in Penghu and Kaohsiung, all the smugglers who originally shipped goods to Taiyuan Port stopped under Haihan's warning. If Heihan did not open this channel for the East India Company, sooner or later the Dutch smuggling trade would be completely blocked.
In addition, on the voyage from Batavia to the distant Ming Dynasty, there were several more supply ports under the control of Haihan, which also greatly reduced the burden that Dutch merchant ships endured during the journey to and from. risk. In the Far East of this era, a supply port with complete resources and good operation like the one controlled by Haihan's name is simply a life-saving straw in critical moments for Western maritime merchants who are unfamiliar with the place. When the East India Company did not hesitate to send armed forces to Ampurna Island to fight against the Haihan people, it was not because there was so much wealth on the island that it could not be abandoned, but purely because of the role of this place as a supply port during the long voyage. And now the Haihan people are willing to provide several ports where Dutch merchant ships can dock for supplies. This is really a no-brainer. The conditions and requirements put forward by Haihan had pros and cons. The East India Company weighed them again and again, and finally had no choice but to accept them. For the time being, it wanted to maintain its trade share in Northeast Asia. It could not let the Portuguese take over everything. As for what to do in the future, we can only take it one step at a time.
However, among the many countries in the Far East, the most negatively affected by the establishment of the South China Sea Trade Alliance was not the Dutch, but the Spanish, who were excluded from the whole thing from beginning to end.
Since the Spanish Legaspi led his troops to invade the Philippines in April 1565, the colonists have maintained their rule in the Philippine Islands centered on Luzon Island for nearly seventy years. During this period, the colonial authorities in Manila The main trading partner is the Ming Dynasty across the sea.
For two and a half centuries starting in 1565, the Spanish colonial authorities in America would send several large sailing ships to and from the port of Acapulco in Mexico and Manila every year. Each year, millions of pesos of American silver would arrive in Manila. , and about half of it flowed into China, where it was used to purchase raw silk, cotton, satin, porcelain and other commodities.
The booming commerce in the southeastern Ming Dynasty in the 16th and 17th centuries was stimulated to a certain extent by the huge amount of silver capital injected into the market from Spain. This trade line across the Pacific brought huge profits to both sides during this period. It is also one of the most important trade relations in the Far East.
However, this route, which was supposed to gradually decline in the 19th century, began to decline nearly two hundred years earlier. This was because the Haihan people suddenly attacked two Spanish strongholds in the northern part of Taiwan Island in early 1633 and drove away the garrisoned ones. The Spanish colonists in the area, and the trade relations with the Ming Dynasty were also greatly affected. Just a few months later, even the number of Ming Dynasty merchants going to Manila for transactions dropped sharply, which led to the size of the fleet departing from Manila Port for America in June to be halved.
Large sailing ships bound for America must set out in June to catch the "Kurotide" at 45° north latitude all the way east. Despite the help of natural ocean currents, this journey still exceeds tens of thousands of nautical miles and takes nearly six months. It takes months to complete. Every year, the Spanish colonial areas in the Americas basically relied on the annual shipment of goods by the Manila fleet, so that locally produced silver coins, silver ingots, cocoa, wool and other local specialties could have the opportunity to be exported. This year's decline in cargo carrying volume will directly affect the other side of the ocean and even distant Europe. At the most recent level, the Governor of the Philippines and his staff will have to bear the corresponding responsibility for this. If the Spanish royal family comes to hold them accountable, all these people will have to go back to Madrid to face trial.
The Spaniards were caught off guard and suffered a big loss. Gesman and Alcarazo, who were serving in Jilong and Danshui at the time, were imprisoned immediately after returning to Manila because the battle process they described was so ridiculous. , how could the majestic Spanish army be attacked by a group of armed merchants in just a few days? You must know that even if the Dutch raised troops to attack the Taipei stronghold, they did not gain anything. The Spanish Governor in the Philippines believed that they had committed serious dereliction of duty and fear of war, and must be held accountable for this.
In addition, the Manila authorities are not prepared to just swallow their anger and let the Haihan people occupy the stronghold they have worked so hard to manage in vain, and are also preparing to launch a counterattack on the local area. However, out of caution, they still collected information about Haihan through various means so that they could more specifically attack this group of maritime merchants who knew nothing about the sky and the earth. But when all the information was gathered together, the Spaniards suddenly discovered that the situation mentioned by the imprisoned Tamsui Chief and Chicken Coop Chief might not be completely fabricated to shirk responsibility, but a situation that had actually happened. .
The main purpose of the Spanish coming to the Far East was trade and colonization. The main competitors who also came with these two purposes were undoubtedly the Portuguese and the Dutch. Although Portugal was still one of the vassal states of Spain at this time, the Portuguese and the Spaniards overseas had always been distinct from each other, each doing its own thing, and the competitive relationship was very obvious. The Netherlands was Spain's deathbed on the European battlefield at this time. The number of people on both sides who died in the war in the past few years was probably several times more than the colonists in the Far East. As long as they met, it would be a fight to the death.
However, both opponents were defeated by the Haihan people one after another, and it is said that the Portuguese simply surrendered to Haihan and became one of his accomplices. The authorities in Manila were quite suspicious that the Portuguese played a disgraceful role during Haihan's attack on the Taipei stronghold, because according to the subsequent descriptions of two local officials, the artillery unit of the Haihan Army was extremely powerful and was definitely not what the Far East Army should have. The level, even on the European battlefield, should be considered superior. The only explanation that seems more reasonable is that the Portuguese sent troops to participate in the war in Taipei and assisted Haihan in breaking through the local Spanish stronghold.
As for the Dutch, they didn't seem to be doing much better. It is said that the Dutch were blocked by the Haihan fleet at the local stronghold of Damuan Port, and their agent Zheng Zhilong in the Ming Dynasty was expelled to an overseas island for refuge. If the Haihan people had not been merciful out of some considerations, the Dutch East India Company's local stronghold would have probably changed hands.
(End of chapter)