Fidel stood on the bow of the Hometown, his face full of happiness for the rest of his life, especially when he saw the coastline in the distance. Pen ~ fun ~ pavilion www.biquge.info

In the past two years, no, it should be since last year, Daming, an ancient oriental country, has undergone earth-shaking changes, and the changes in the inland field Field did not know, but the changes in China's coastal areas surprised the Netherlands, Portugal, and Spain, which colonized in the South Seas.

Somehow, Li Dan, a great pirate who lived in Japan and had been controlling the foreign trade of Japan and the mainland, was suddenly killed and replaced by a man named Wang Siyuan who ruled the Seven Seas.

At the end of the Ming Dynasty, the sea was ostensibly forbidden, but the profits from smuggling and foreign trade made the landlords and gentry on the southeast coast blush, and they did not hesitate to violate the ban of the imperial court to go to sea.

Perhaps, in the beginning, Zhu Yuanzhang forbade the sea because the coastal pirates were not easy to defend, but in the middle and late Ming Dynasty, the gentry who did taste the huge profits of maritime trade obstructed the opening of the sea. Opening the sea means taxation, and how can this be tolerated by the gentry who put all their profits in their pockets.

Or the frequent trade, which also brought about the rampant piracy, there has never been a dynasty like the Ming Dynasty, there have been such famous pirates in history. Wang Zhi, who is a little farther away, Li Dan who is closer, and Zheng Zhilong, who is later famous, are famous in history.

Pirates roamed the seas, controlled the sea routes, and made a living by collecting taxes on passing Chinese merchant ships or plundering them. However, the maritime merchants tolerated the existence of pirates, and there was no way, the profits were too big in the world.

According to the statistics of later generations, during the 100-year period from the late Ming Dynasty to its demise, it was estimated that tens of thousands of tons of silver flowed into the Ming Dynasty, one ton of silver was 20,000 taels, and 10,000 tons was 2 billion, such a terrifying silver reserve, accounting for one-third of the world at that time.

Of course, it is debatable whether the actual number is so much, but it is enough to see the wealth of the Ming Dynasty at this time. After having money, these gentry either bought land or stored it in cellars, and the government of the late Qing Dynasty had the spare money to support the reparations and various huge expenses of the major colonial powers around the world, and the accumulation of the Ming Dynasty contributed to it.

Of course, the Western colonizers are not good birds, the reason why they did not use the means of plundering like the Japanese is because the Ming Dynasty is too big, and the country has a certain sea power after all, and the second is because there are many pirates, they are like a protective layer, protecting their own interests and resisting the invasion of outsiders.

The huge profits have formed a symbiotic relationship between the pirates and the gentry, and I am responsible for the safety and ensure the smooth passage of the route, how can you worship me, and at the same time help me sell the stolen goods.

This relationship between the two sides made it impossible for outsiders who were eyeing and salivating at China, and the Dutch, Spain, and Portugal could only continue to induce Chinese merchant ships to trade.

The Spanish-occupied Manila became such a trading center, and the Dutch, after independence, began to expand wildly, and in one fell swoop they occupied almost all the valuable islands of the South Sea, the Spice Islands, New Zealand, Sumatra and other large islands.

The other Portugal, because its own territory was annexed by Spain, so its power declined greatly, the colonies were seized by the Netherlands and Britain, and there were only two territories in Southeast Asia, East Timor and Macao, and Macao still used tricky means to borrow from the hands of the Ming Dynasty. Here they received great restrictions. However, since Macau is located in Guangdong, they still gain a certain amount of convenience in trade.

The Netherlands occupies the southern part of the South Seas, Spain occupies the Philippines, and geographically speaking, it is closer to the mainland, so most of the Chinese merchant ships going to sea are trading in Manila.

Therefore, the Dutch always had a covetous heart for Chinese mainland, first wanting to forcibly occupy Macao, which was occupied by Portugal, and then after being unsuccessfully stopped by Daming, they took a fancy to Penghu and launched invasions in 1602 and 1622 respectively, but were repelled by Shen Yourong and Yu Zhigao respectively.

After their defeat in 1622, they retreated to Taiwan and established a stronghold there, only to be overthrown by Zheng Chenggong.

Of course, this is a historical event, but at this point in time, due to Zhu Youxiao's persecution, an unexpected character was born - Wang Siyuan.

Forced into exile, he exerted his amazing perseverance and talent, and successively subdued Xu Xinsu with his overseas connections, and subdued the young Zheng Zhilong and Yan Siqi with his vertical and horizontal techniques, and sought to seize Li Dan's foundation and unify the pirates along the coast of China.

But it is a pity that Wang Siyuan has great ambitions, and his thoughts are very different from ordinary pirates, he did not limit his eyes to the sea, but invested on the land, wanting to follow Zhu Youxiao's persecution, connect with Nanzhili, and seek political ambitions, or revenge.

It's just that he died before he left the school, which made the hero cry. His plan had just begun, and he was given the head under Wei Zhongxian's advanced tactical thinking, a sudden appearance of decapitation tactics, and a unique special operation, which caused the entire rebel army to disintegrate, and Wang Siyuan also died under this explosion.

Because of the book, Wang Siyuan's perspective is different from that of ordinary pirates, he did not concentrate on collecting protection money, but after controlling the trade routes in Japan, he gathered his own forces to set off a rebellion, therefore, the trade routes were cut off, and no gentry still had the heart to do business in this situation. Later, after the rebellion was quelled, various political events, the introduction of various new policies and propaganda, so that the entire Ming Dynasty was disturbed, and under this implication, the merchant ships that went to sea were almost extinct.

Except for Portugal, which was able to travel goods by land because of Macao's land, all Western countries that came to Manila to sell goods suffered heavy losses. For these adventurers who think that a single run is a shipload of gold and silver, any delay in time is a loss.

After Wang Siyuan's death, Xu Xinsu, Yan Siqi, and Zheng Zhilong each inherited a part of the pirate power after a firefight, of course, the three of them together cannot be compared with the 30,000 warriors and 1,000 warships in Wang Siyuan's era, but it is not as good.

Hundreds of warships and seven or eight thousand elite soldiers fought against the Satsuma Domain and even the entire Japanese shogunate, discarding all sea power and having to let it control the trade.

With the financial support of Japan, the three of them have different choices, Yan Siqi is dedicated to developing Taiwan, immigrating from the mainland, and wants to occupy a place, Xu Xinsu is so, but he does not dare to get too close to the mainland, is that after the Ryukyu Kingdom settled, he was bent on competing with the Shimazu family of the Satsuma Domain for land territory, although the situation was quite difficult, but also occupied one or two cities. And Zheng Zhilong, after seeing the prosperity of the mainland and the prestige of officials, wanted to surrender to Zhao'an.

Therefore, his action is the largest, with Penghu as the center, constantly going south and north, crisscrossing the entire coastal waters of China, plundering and blocking shipping routes. His idea is very simple, since the current Ming Dynasty does not look down on himself, then strive to enhance his own value, when he has stationed other small pirates, after he can block the coast, he will carry out Zhao'an with no way to take it, just like what is written in the Water Margin, then his goal will be achieved.

The three of them moved frequently, and under the influence of Wang Siyuan, they only firmly controlled Japan's financial resources, and did not take pirates such as pumping water into account, but tightly blocked the entire sea area and prevented ships from Western countries from entering. Among them, Daming's offshore sea is already his own territory, how can he tolerate others coming over.

Thus, the Spanish fleet that probed the situation, and the Dutch fleet, which tried to occupy the coastal islands, were all repulsed by him one by one. In the face of the three people with a strong maritime power, Spain retreated, the Netherlands retreated, and only Portugal possessed Macao, which was in the Canton Sea, could sail along the waters of the Indochina Peninsula and still retain this certain amount of trade.

Under this blockade, China's various bulk goods soared, and the prices of cotton, raw silk, porcelain, tea, and silk rose one after another. In this case, Spain, which is looking at Manila's declining days, is extremely painful, and the Daming Sea is blocked, and they are the ones who suffer the most.

They didn't know what was going on in this magical and huge country, and they didn't know why Wang Siyuan, the leader of the big pirates, suddenly appeared, and why he blocked the sea area, but as a large number of missionaries came in and out of Macao, there was still news coming out.

The old emperor died, and the new emperor, through a coup d'état, defeated the conspiracy to collude with the ministers, tried to embrace his younger brother's empress, ascended the throne in blood.

The new emperor is very powerful, as soon as he ascended the throne, he defeated the barbarians in the north, this is a great war, there are more than 100,000 people participating in the war alone, this station, the new emperor killed the leader of the barbarians, and then led a large army, ready to destroy the entire barbarians.

It's just a pity that under the leadership of some opponents in China, a huge rebellion was launched, and this war was even bigger, almost a territory as big as France launched a rebellion, and the rebels were hundreds of thousands, and Wang Siyuan, who made several colonial countries gnash their teeth and hated but feared, was only one of the rebels, and he was not the leader.

And Wang Siyuan has died in the counterinsurgency war, and now it is only his three subordinates who continue to blockade the sea area.

The following year, the new emperor ascended the throne again, and he proposed a new policy that was constantly attacking the nobility of the country and fighting for the rights of the peasants. He also announced that from this year all taxes on the peasants would be exempted, what a merciful emperor.

Even more mercifully, he also built a church for Catholics in the capital of the Ming Empire, allowing them to wear clothes in the country. And the conditions of this exchange are nothing more than to serve the emperor and train students for him, what a mercy, thank the Lord!

At the time of the Chinese New Year, the Mongols of the north, oh this group of damned Mongols, this group of nightmarish beings, invaded the new emperor again, oh no, the territory of His Majesty the Great Emperor, His Majesty the Great Emperor was very angry and gathered hundreds of thousands of troops, ready to go to the government of this group of Mongols who had conquered the world.

It is said that the ancestors of the Great Emperor became the emperors of this ancient country by expelling this group of nightmarish Mongols, inheriting the great glory and tradition. Now, His Majesty the Great Emperor will reproduce the glory of his ancestors and sow fear on this group of Mongols.

What an enviable act, bringing fear to the Mongols, something we have always wanted to do and could not do.

The Emperor's military campaign went smoothly and in one fell swoop he crushed the Mongol Emperor, oh, here they are called the Great Khan, half of the Mongol Empire's army was routed, and hundreds of thousands of people were captured by the Emperor. The Great Khan of the Mongol Empire fled in a hurry, shivering in a corner where he was hiding, praying that His Majesty the Great Emperor would forget about him.

Praise His Majesty the Great Emperor, praise the great God Haotian, I hope that under your glory, the customs of the Ming Empire can receive taxes smoothly, so that my friend Hong Chengchou will not be so distressed again.

What the? What do you say is customs? It was set up by His Majesty the Emperor to collect taxes from fleets that traded in and out of the port.

Oh, you said port, it seems that His Majesty the Great Emperor opened three ports for trade, and my friend Hong Chengchou is the governor of one of them, but he seems to be in Guangzhou.

By the way, Lord Governor, I heard that you don't have any Chinese ships here for a long time, so why don't you go to those three ports and have a look, there are many Chinese merchants trading there themselves.

Hey, Lord Governor, Lord Governor, why did you run away, I haven't introduced my friend Hong Chengchou to you yet, he recently wants to organize a fleet to Thailand, if you can help him, he will definitely give you tax incentives.

Governor, slow down..........

So, in such a situation, the Governor of Manila, who had not had any additional income for several months, organized a group of armed merchant ships and hurried towards the port of Shanghai, which should be called that.

Fidel, as a merchant with three armed merchant ships of about 500 tons, was also in the ranks of this group, and was the most powerful of them, although he only had three merchant ships. Well, our Governor, though he was anxious to exchange Chinese goods for a large amount of gold and silver, could not command the big merchants with his energy, and in the end it was the small merchants like Field who were unlucky.

As a result, more than 10 armed merchant ships, the largest of which were no more than 600 tons, set off from Manila and headed for the nearest port of Shanghai. At first, it was calm, but not long after they left, they were discovered by Xu Xinsu, who was looking for islands like Taiwan at sea.

Xu Xinsu, who had defeated such a ship several times, was not afraid at all, and he obviously regarded the place as a punching bag. Hundreds of warships surrounded the fleet, which frightened the people of the fleet, and after a bloody battle, and after losing half of its men, the remaining team of eight ships finally broke out of the encirclement and fled.

In this breakout, Fidel lost a ship, but before he had time to feel distressed, the fleet that was struggling to survive encountered a wave of powerful pirates - Zheng Zhilong.

He was playing a game of big fish eating small fish on the sea, and he didn't pay any attention to these remnants of the defeated generals, but just handed over the task to his subordinates domineeringly, and then took people back by himself. However, even though it was only a bias of Zheng Zhilong, the exhausted fleet could not deal with it.

In another fierce battle, all the ships were captured or destroyed, and in one case, only Fidel escaped. Luckily, the next moment he ushered in the good fortune, he saw land, and according to the calculation of the instruments on the ship, this happened to be his destination - Shanghai Port.

The sailors on board cheered and shouted, and then they sailed lightly towards the harbor, and the towering white lighthouse, like a naked blonde Persian cat, kept scratching its head.

Well, it's just, what do these ribbons mean floating on the sea, and these ribbons also form a route, are they welcoming us?

Ordinary sailors can only rely on their own eyes to observe the harbor or the sea, but as the captain of the ship, Fidel has a monocular, holding the telescope, he carefully observes the harbor.

Well, there are very few people, there are very few ships, only a few, and what impresses Fidel the most is the large number of floating buoys and streamers on the sea, these are made of silk, it's really extravagant, but what are these ribbons for?

Turning the binoculars, Fidel saw that the streamers led to docks and some of the buoys were attached, revealing the brown shadows below. Yes, this is a planned safe shipping lane. It's just that some of these ribbons and buoys broke and fell off?

Uh, haha, it looks like my own ship was broken, and I don't seem to be on the right course!

Hey, there seems to be someone stationed on the tower over there, what are they doing, waving flags all the time? Is it a welcoming ceremony here, but why does the way the flag is waving sound so familiar?

As a Spaniard who had traveled most of the world, he had been to trade in South America, and he looked down on the natives of the region, feeling that he came from a civilized society and that the other party was just a rude barbarian, and this perception was not only with Fidel, but also with the whole white world, from east to west, without exception.

It is only in the Ming Dynasty that they have hit a wall, and they have encountered a country whose civilization is not inferior to their own, or even more prosperous. It was this experience of being invincible in the world that created the natural sense of superiority of the white people later, and this feeling has not been eliminated until later generations.

Fidel also has it, although he knows that Daming is an ancient country with a level of civilization not inferior to his motherland, but Fidel, who has not seen it with his own eyes, is still a little light, he does not think deeply about this sense of familiarity, but thinks that it is the feeling that he has seen too much primitive civilization hula.

Even, he watched with great interest as several of these towers waved flags, and his own hand didn't care whether the other party could see it or not, and made a gesture to welcome him.

And what greeted him was a rumbling, five thick columns of water.

Click!

The telescope fell to the ground, and the glass inside was of good quality, and it was not broken, but it was rolling around with the shaking of the hull, as it was with Mr. Captain Fidel.

The sudden attack, as well as the visual effect of the near-miss, directly shocked Fidel's heart, and he rolled to the ground in fright, being shaken by the violent waves, like a leather ball.

What's going on!

Captain Fidel shouted in his heart, as an old captain, he could tell from the column of water just now that a cannon that could become such a column of water would definitely have a projectile of forty pounds.

In fact, the same is true, a thirty-six pound cannon, one pound is about nine taels, and in other words, it is exactly forty pounds.

Fidel fell in fright, as did the sailors and gunners on the ship, who immediately panicked and kept shouting, and some of them directly opened the gun window, revealing the muzzles, but the few muzzles and the narrow caliber of the armed merchant ships overshadowed them in front of the huge column of water, not to mention, on the empty sea, even the enemy did not know where he was.

"Idiots, idiots, who told you to pull the cannon open!" When Fidel got up, he saw the sailor's busy appearance, and immediately scolded angrily.

"Fools, hang a white flag for me, hang a white flag!"