"Xiamen has maintained a friendship with the staff for many years. Although they face each other across the sea, they respect each other and are close to each other, like relatives. In the future, I would like to maintain my friendship for a long time and never forget my past feelings.

Because I raised a large number of soldiers, in order to raise food and wages, I often sent sailing ships to trade overseas. Wherever our merchant ships went, they were treated with sincerity by their local subjects, just as our country treated our traders in China. Local officials often ask him to bring letters and gifts, and I also reply with gifts. You know this very well.

It is said that the people of the small country of Manila are unwilling to establish lasting and stable trade relations by dishonest means and to swallow up all goods in an instant...... Instead of treating the merchants with courtesy, they were ill-treated and robbed of their belongings.

Years ago, the Manilans killed my subjects and took our cargo, and now when my merchant ships come there, they still treat them as they want, and when they trade, they do whatever they want, or they rob the goods without paying for them, or they don't pay at will...... I do not remember the old evils of the past, and hope that they will change their ways, stop being overbearing, and restore the fair trade that has been there for a long time, but this has not worked, and they continue to do evil...... The ugliness of his intentions is like that of a dog foraging for food.

If I continue to send sailing ships to trade now, their hearts will be ......, and I have decided not to associate with them anymore for the sake of safety. To this day, I maintain friendly relations with other places. However, an order was issued to Manila prohibiting trade with Manila and ending its business etiquette. This order must be strictly enforced, and no merchant is allowed to transport any goods, not even small boats and plates, to Manila.

However, I am concerned that there are still some people who are in the middle of the country, or who have stepped out of the office, who have asked for permission to go to Manila, or to places near Manila, i.e., Tekenfu, Cokpo, Pengkit, Zealand, Begen, etc. In this regard, I would kindly ask you to refuse his application for the confiscation of his sailboat and cargo, and to consider imposing appropriate penalties for not violating the prohibition.

Because I am very angry with the people of Manila, I am sure that Your Excellency feels the same way...... Those who are kind to me can still be friendly. Your Excellency and I are of one heart and one mind, helping each other and being brothers and sisters. If you allow merchants to trade with the above-mentioned places, I will regard it as your failure to listen to advice, i.e., your unwillingness to maintain the same close friendship with each other. However, because of the close friendship we have built over the years, I do not believe that Your Excellency would allow merchants to trade.

I am sincere and frank in my comments and look forward to your reply. ”

The wording of the letter, which seems very intimate, is in fact full of diplomatic rhetoric. Zheng Chenggong only made one point to the Dutch authorities in Taiwan, that is, the Spaniards in Manila were too deceitful, so he wanted to give them a long memory. As for the Dutch, it was only hoped that the Dutch would agree with them to launch a ban on the Spaniards.

This letter is one of the correspondence between Zheng Chenggong and the United Dutch East India Company. Originally, it was sent to the case of the then Dutch governor of Taiwan on August 17, 1655, but due to the great actions of the Zheng group in the seventh and eighth years of Yongli, as well as the huge burden on the back of the recovery of Fujian Province in the second half of the eighth year of Yongli, Zheng Chenggong did not make up his mind as in history and put it into action.

Time dragged on to the eleventh year of Yongli, and as Fujian eased up, Zheng Chenggong immediately attacked the Spaniards. However, by this time, the Dutch governor of Taiwan was no longer a Kassa, but a Swede named Frederick Kuichi.

He was an aristocrat in Stockholm, the capital of Sweden, and later joined the United Dutch East India Company, where he worked through various ranks until 1645, the first year of Hiromitsu, the year after the first year of Koshin, was already promoted to the rank of senior merchant in Batavia, and two years later was appointed director of the Japan Dejima Merchant House, responsible for Japanese trade affairs for the Dutch United East India Company. By the end of this year, at the age of 37, he was already the governor of Taiwan in the Netherlands, and he was only four years older than Zheng Chenggong, who sent this letter.

"I heard that the country surnamed Ye has been canonized as the King of Min by the Ming Empire, and that is the title of the prince."

"That Ming Empire, now there are only a few provinces left, and when the country is gone, unlike our European continent, the nobles have a pedigree inheritance, and his prince title is not worth much."

"It can't be said that the Ming Empire is now more powerful than that Tatar country. What's more, there is a figure under the command of the national surname who is said to be comparable to the Count of Uxenchena, who knows what will happen in the end. ”

After receiving the letter, since the Zheng Group has always been a behemoth that cannot be ignored in China, such a letter is bound to be notified to the headquarters in Batavia, so after reading the letter, he immediately notified the Council of Ministers in charge of Taiwan's administration for consultation. This also has a lot to do with the fact that he has just taken over as governor of Taiwan and does not know as much about Taiwan and its surrounding situation as Japan, which has been in Japan for 10 years.

The Dutch regarded themselves as sea coachmen, and did not look down on the maritime power of the Ming Dynasty, even if they were driven out of Penghu by the Ming army several times before, and the defeat of Luowan did not change.

During this period, the Council circulated the letter, and Zheng Chenggong's request was clearly understood. Among them, the so-called long-term friendship was diplomatic rhetoric for Zheng Chenggong, and for them it was nothing more than a contract and trade between the Zheng Group and the United Dutch East India Company in the Zheng Zhilong era - because Zheng Zhilong did not intend to be controlled by the Dutch, but backed by the Ming Empire, but to curb the colonial ambitions of the Dutch, which was really not pleasant for them.

Speaking of which, Zheng Zhilong was able to successfully become the leader of Yan Siqi Group back then, and many of them had Dutch connections. Subsequently, the Dutch used Zheng Zhilong to attack the Ming court, and in the name of pirates, they attacked the coastal areas of Fujian in order to force the Ming court to trade with them.

This kind of means is a helpless move that they have personally ended up several times but have not reaped any benefits, and Zheng Zhilong has already done an excellent job, ousting Zhu Yifeng, the governor of the main battle, and Yu Zhigao, the chief military officer of the Minhai Barrier, from power. According to this trend, the next officials should start to think about trade, but Zheng Zhilong is a big player, and he was directly attached to the Ming Court.

In the days that followed, the Dutch confronted Zheng Zhilong several times, either personally or supporting other pirates, and even once detained Zheng Zhilong and forced him to sign a trade treaty that was unilaterally beneficial to the Dutch. However, in the past few years, Zheng Zhilong not only used the power of the Dutch to eradicate competitors like Xu Xinsu, but also used the power of the Ming Dynasty to kill the pirates along the coast of Fujian and Guangdong such as Li Kuiqi, Zhong Bin, and Liu Xiang, and finally defeated the Dutch in Liuluo Bay.

According to the assessment of the United Dutch East India Company, in 1640 AD alone, due to the monopoly of trade by the Zheng group, their losses were as high as 300,000 guilders. Three years later, in 1643, the United East India Company of the Netherlands, whose interests had been damaged, protested to Zheng Zhilong, but Zheng Zhilong not only did not re-sign a trade agreement with him, but also threatened to use ships to load stones, scuttle Taiwan's ports, block Taiwan's trade, and even send troops to attack Taiwan. During this period, Zheng Zhilong told his men that if they encountered a threat from the Dutch at sea, they could surrender directly, and he had a way to get the people and ships back from the Dutch!

With such self-confidence, the Dutch are still helpless. However, the strength of the Zheng Group in the Zheng Zhilong period quickly came to an end with the collapse of the Ming Dynasty, Zheng Zhilong was exiled to the capital, the Zheng Group fell apart, and the Dutch breathed a sigh of relief. However, with the reunification of the Zheng group and its growing strength, the sword always hung over their heads.

"According to our intelligence, the Spaniards do not give face to the man, and in Manila, as well as in other areas under their control, they are extremely harsh on the subordinates of the man and the Chinese merchants. This is not a matter of a year or two, as if it has been since the capture of the Tatars by the Captain Nikolai. ”

"Every time I think of the savage Tatars who took the hated Nicholas, I can't help but praise God, it's better to be locked up for the rest of my life and never come back. However, his son's temper seems to be tougher than his, which is not a good thing. ”

"Now it's Spaniards, maybe we'll be next. The East India Company was not his subordinate, and he could not let that country master do whatever he wanted. To let him know that the sea is different from the land, he has expanded from the territory of one island to the current two or three provinces, but when he reaches the sea, he can't help but have the final say. ”

The Dutch want free trade, while the Zheng group is a monopoly trade, and the two sides have always been chicken and duck. It's just that trade has always existed in these years, and today, when China is in decline in the war, the Zheng Group provides raw silk, silk, porcelain and other goods to the United Dutch East India Company every year that are difficult for them to obtain from other places, or even nowhere to be found.

The power of the Council was enormous, especially for a new governor like him, who had just taken over. Here, the Council's recommendations were in place, and he knew what to do. However, he did not want to be overwhelmed by Zheng Zhilong during his tenure like his predecessors, Natz and Puttmans.

"When I was in Japan, I heard that there was a staff member named Chen Kai under the surname of the country, and many victories of the surname of the country were controlled by him behind his back. This person seems to be the administrator of the Ming Empire in Guangdong now. ”

………………

sneezed inexplicably, and the two options of "someone misses me" and "am I having a fever" appeared in Chen Kai's mind in an instant, and they were all thrown aside.

There are still a lot of official affairs in hand, but fortunately, those complicated work, the civil affairs were lost to Wang Jiang, and the judicial affairs were lost to Cao Conglong, and he only needed to do a good job of overall management. He reviewed and reviewed the documents every day, jumped out of some new ideas to share at every turn, and tried not to interfere in specific work as much as possible, because if this was not the case, coupled with the affairs of the Military Affairs, the Consultative Bureau, and the Guangdong Business Alliance, he was afraid that it would not be enough for him to sleep all day.

In the eleventh year of Yongli, after rest and mobilization, the Ming army's defense lines in western Guangdong and southern Jiangxi were all stable. Chen Kai corresponded with Zheng Chenggong, and it was very clear that Zheng Chenggong was preparing to take advantage of the advantages of the naval division at this stage, and the mobile land division was blooming everywhere along the coast of Jiangsu and Zhejiang. The Ming army in Fujian regained its operational strength, which was a huge threat to the Qing army in Jiangsu and Zhejiang. On the Guangdong side, Chen Kai is still focusing on maintaining the battle line, while accumulating military reserves and waiting for the opportunity.

There is Huangshan in southern Jiangxi, Ke Chenshu in western Guangdong, and Chen Kai also completed the adaptation and training of Ma Bao, Wang Han, Li Guangen and other departments during this time. Of these three troops, Ma Bao's department was independently organized, and Chen Kai asked for the military number of Xuanyi Zuozhen from Zheng Chenggong. The other two have all expanded to the scale of 1,000 people, and he is ready to set them up as independent associations, which are directly subordinate to them, just like Fubiao in Guangdong.

This is a new combat unit, which, in conjunction with the garrisons of the counties in the north of Zhaoqing, can better ensure the security of the Guangzhou area, which is the connecting center of western Guangdong and southern Jiangxi.

For the time being, Chen Kai has no desire to continue attacking. This is related to his embarrassing position in the Zheng Group, and it is also due to the drastic changes taking place in Guangdong, which is the most taboo and turbulent process, and Chen Kai must pay attention to the whole process. This is true for both the Council and the Guangdong Business Alliance.

After a few months of harmony, the Council has been arguing more and more recently, and almost every time Chen Kai passes, he can hear the members of the council shouting. In this regard, he only explained the sentence "vote to solve", and said nothing, let them continue to quarrel, as long as they don't get off the line, they can say anything.

It was a mess over there, but the work was already on track, and the councillors in Guangzhou and the alternate councillors in the prefectures and counties took action to build momentum for the Consultative Bureau, and at the same time they were also giving feedback to the Consultative Bureau on the local situation. Proposals are being made all the time, but most of them are painless, and they involve neither administrative nor legal matters, let alone military affairs. On the contrary, there have never been fewer proposals for the establishment of a school, the construction of bridges and paved roads, and the erection of monuments, which seems very pleasing.

"They're still tempting."

All the people who can enter the Advisory Bureau are elites, and Chen Kai still has the wisdom to ask himself. In the same way, none of those guys in the Guangdong Business Alliance are idle, and now the three prefectures of Guangzhou, Chaozhou and Qiongzhou have become the three good horses of Guangdong's economic rejuvenation, pulling this carriage forward in great strides.

However, Zheng Chenggong's trade embargo policy against the Spaniards had already been issued, and the order had reached Guangzhou, and Chen Kai had immediately sent it to all the prefectures and counties, and now all Guangdong provinces had banned trade with Manila and its surrounding areas, except for the areas controlled by the generals in western Guangdong. For the Spaniards there, winter came early.

The decree was issued, but this was the first time for the Guangdong authorities, and many things had to be reworked while the ban was implemented. Chen Kai's busiest recent work is related to the ban, and it is also a new experience for him.

In the afternoon, before the official business was completed, a prayer message was delivered. Chen Kai made an appointment with the other party to meet the next day, and the next day, the Dutch, who wore tuxedos, leggings, high noses, deep eyes, three-dimensional facial features, and flaxen-colored hair, but were called red hairs by the Chinese and Japanese, stepped into the second hall of the Guangdong Governor Yamen.

"On behalf of the Governor of the United Dutch East India Company and the Governor-General of the United Dutch East India Company, Mr. Frederick Governor and the Council of Governors, I would like to extend our most sincere greetings to Governor Chen."

The name is a little familiar, but I didn't remember the source for a while. However, this did not prevent Chen Kai from doing the slightest: "I have a heart for the chief and the gentlemen." It's just that the gentlemen come from all afar, and it won't be as simple as greetings, right? ”

"Yes, on behalf of the Governor of the United Dutch East India Company in Taiwan, Friedrich Governor and the Council of Governors, we hope to reach a trade agreement with Governor Chen that will be more beneficial to both sides, in order to deal with the turmoil caused by the trade dispute between the Governor of the Netherlands and the Spaniards."

"Oh, then I want to thank you.