The three ships left the port of Guangzhou, and after leaving the mouth of the Pearl River, they did not go south, but turned east......

Originally, when leaving the port of Guangzhou, the Malacca envoy Najib asked Columbus to wait. Because, the craftsmen they want to explore and smelt tin ore have not yet arrived.

The craftsmen of the Ming Dynasty were really miserable, like slaves. After receiving a letter from the Sultan of Malacca, Mahmud, requesting support for several craftsmen who were exploring and smelting tin ore, there was no need to wait for the approval of the Beijing Division, and the Guangdong Cloth Political Secretary Yamen, who was in charge of the tributary trade of the Guangzhou Bosi, directly agreed.

However, there are no such talents under the Guangdong Political Secretary, and there is no large-scale tin mine. However, Pingle Mansion in Guangxi (now Hezhou City, Guangxi), which is next door to Guangdong Province, was the most important tin-producing area in the Ming Dynasty.

I am not very familiar with the political secretary of Guangdong and Guangxi, but I am familiar with Chen Jin, who is also the governor of Liangguang and the governor of Guangdong. As a result, Shen Rui, the political envoy of Guangdong Zuobu, directly asked Chen Jin to go to Pingle Mansion to get a few craftsmen to explore and smelt tin ore.

As the governor of Liangguang, Chen Jin did not interfere in specific local government affairs. However, he is still nominally the boss of the officials of the two Guangzhous. Therefore, it is no problem to go to Pingle Mansion and ask for a few craftsmen. So, Chen Jin agreed. For this purpose, Najib also gave Chen Kim several large pearls. As a maritime country, there is not much else in Malacca, and there is no shortage of pearls. And the unlucky craftsman, who had no right to speak, was directly sold by the masters. In the eyes of the Ming civil officials, craftsmen are just a group of slaves who work, and they will give them away......

However, it was not so quick to get a few craftsmen from Pingle Mansion. A set of processes has gone down, and it is estimated that it will take a long time. So, Najib has to wait a little longer. At the same time, Najib also hoped that Columbus's fleet would wait for him to return to Malacca with him.

However, Columbus's fleet had a different mission. What is their mission? It turned out that before setting off, Marin asked Columbus's fleet to go to find Dongfan Island (that is, Taiwan Island in later generations).

What are you looking for Taiwan? Naturally, I want to set up a trade transit station on the island!

At present, Taiwan Island has not yet been developed and is desolate. The Ming Dynasty also did not attach importance to maritime interests, and took the initiative to abandon Dongfan Island and shrink its power to Penghu Island, mainly to monitor the shipping lanes of the Taiwan Strait. For Dongfan Island, it was ignored.

Ma Lin has never been able to understand why the Ming court ignored such a large island as Dongfan Island. You say that you don't pay attention to the development of the island, Qiongdao has been developed a long time ago, and the Ming Dynasty also set up the Qiongzhou Mansion. Taiwan Island is larger than Qiong Island, and there are many plains on the southwest coast, which is very suitable for development. So, Marin is very incomprehensible about this.

However, this also cheapens Marlin. The location of Taiwan Island is quite important, and it is directly facing the Ming Hujian Province, which is conducive to trade with the Ming Dynasty. In addition, from the northern part of Taiwan Island, along the Ryukyu Islands, you can also reach Japan. Moreover, it is also very convenient to get to Southeast Asia from here.

As a result, Dongfan Island is an excellent transit point for maritime trade. Therefore, after the Dutch occupied Taiwan Island, they launched a prosperous maritime trade with the Ming Dynasty and Japan, and it was very prosperous for a while. If it weren't for the powerful Zheng Chenggong, the Dutch maritime trade might have continued to flourish.

In fact, neither the Ming Dynasty nor the Qing Dynasty paid attention to Dongfan Island, or even ignored it. In the early years of the Ming Dynasty, the people called Taiwan Island Xiaoliuqiu. In fact, this so-called small Ryukyu is 9 times larger than the real Ryukyu country......

The Manchu Qing Dynasty also did not attach much importance to Taiwan Island, and the reason why Shi Lang was sent to unify Taiwan Island was because there were a large number of Ming Dynasty clans on Taiwan Island. Kang Mazi was not at ease, so he asked Shi Lang to take them all back to take care of them.

And after recovering Taiwan Island, the Manchu Qing Dynasty actually directly left Taiwan Island there and didn't care much. As a result, until the late 19th century, Taiwan was only developed on the west coast and the northern part of the island. As for the East Coast, it hasn't been developed much.

It just so happened that Marin needed a chance to trade with the Ming Dynasty. However, because there is no other Ming vassal state in Beihai that can prove its existence, and the civil officials of the Ming Dynasty will never risk their lives and sail tens of thousands of miles to Europe to see what is going on.

Therefore, Marin's plan is to occupy Taiwan Island first and establish a princely state similar to the "Potbelly Kingdom". Then, in the name of the princely chieftain, he asked to be attached to the Ming Dynasty. If it is best to be made a vassal state, if not, Ma Lin plans to directly apply to become the Tusi of the Ming Dynasty and directly incorporate Taiwan Island into the territory of the Ming Dynasty.

The Tusi system is a very special system, similar to the autonomous regions of later generations. However, it is more autonomous than the autonomous region. Because, the official position of Tusi is hereditary. In addition, the imperial court was particularly laissez-faire in the management of the Tusi. Even the taxes paid by the Tusi are very small, much lower than those paid in the Hermes-Epitek area. Even, at the beginning, how much tax the toast had to pay was declared by the toast himself. Let you declare the amount of tax you pay yourself, can you report more? Therefore, the tax of toast is very small. Of course, the Tusi in the southwest of the Shaomin area, where most of the people are mountain people, live in the village, and they are indeed poor and have no money to pay taxes. In these years, it was not popular to travel to Shaomin cottages, so the southwest villages at that time were very poor. Even if the Ming Dynasty wanted to levy more taxes, it would be impossible.

The biggest difference between the Tusi system and the autonomous region in later generations is probably the "autonomy of its soldiers". In other words, as a toast, he has actual military power. Therefore, the rights of the toast, speaking of which, are much greater than those vassal kings. Of course, it can't be compared. Because, the vassal kings of the Ming Dynasty were raised as pigs, and they had no rights at all.

With military power and autonomy, Tusi is basically equivalent to an independent kingdom. It's just that, compared to the vassal states of Korea and the Ryukyus, the official rank of the Tusi is much lower. The king of Joseon is a prince, and the king of Ryukyu is a prince of the county, and they are all super-grade princes. And those toasts are generally hereditary prefects and other official positions, which are much lower than those of the princes.

In addition, the difference between a toast and a vassal state is that a small amount of tax is paid at the same time as a tribute. Those overseas vassal states, in addition to those that are close, can pay tribute once in two or three years or even five years. However, because Tusi belongs to the territory of the Ming Dynasty, he requires a tribute once a year or two years.

The reason why this is so is actually that the imperial court loves face, and is afraid that the number of tributary vassal states will be too small to make a formation of "all nations coming to court". For a feudal dynasty, it was humiliating. Therefore, it is the best way to let those low-level toasts make up the numbers.

Even, some of the leaders of the young people who only occupied a few villages could be named Tusi. If you bring these soy sauce toasts to the Beijing Dynasty Meeting, you will indeed have a big lump. With so many people bustling, coupled with strange costumes, it can indeed bring out the illusion of "all nations are coming". For this reason, the Ming Dynasty was very diligent in supervising these Tusi who came to pay tribute. Of course, these toasts will never be disadvantaged. Often, these poor Tusi came to the capital with mountain goods, but when they returned, they brought with them the silk and satin rewarded by the imperial court......

However, the biggest advantage of the toasts is that they can trade freely with the Ming. Because, legally speaking, Tusi is the territory of the Ming Dynasty. The merchants of the Ming Dynasty went to the jurisdiction of the Tusi, or the people of the Tusi went to the Hermes-Epitek area to trade, which was not considered to go abroad, and it was relatively free. At most, some protection money was extorted by those officials. Unlike those vassal states, fixed-point trade was generally only allowed when they came to pay tribute. However, the tribute is at most once a year, how can this satisfy Marin's appetite?

Therefore, Ma Lin's plan is to occupy Taiwan Island, and then try to apply to become the Tusi of the Ming Dynasty. As long as it becomes the toast of the Ming Dynasty, then Taiwan Island will be considered domestic. When the time comes, there will be no restrictions on trade or anything.

Therefore, the purpose of Columbus's trip was to "discover" Taiwan Island. Then, record the latitude and longitude coordinates. When the road on the Panamanian side is repaired and Panama City is built, you can use Panama City as a starting point to reach and occupy Taiwan Island through the route used by the historical "Manila Sailing Trade". Then, with the entire island of Taiwan, he asked to belong to the Ming Dynasty and become a toast. Once you become "your own person", it is very convenient to buy materials. After all, the other side of the river is Quanzhou Mansion......

Even, the destination of Columbus's trip, Marin had already arranged - Sheliao Island in Keelung (that is, part of the Peace Island in later generations).

The reason why we are here is because of many considerations. First of all, Marin later contacted Daming and planned to use the Pacific route. Keelung faces the Pacific Ocean and is a very suitable port.

In addition, Marin also planned to send troops to control Japan in the future, at least to occupy Iwami Ginzan. Therefore, using Keelung as a springboard is the most suitable.

In addition to these two factors, there are two other factors that are also very important - first, there is a huge gold mine "Jinguashi Gold Mine" in the east of Keelung. Generally, a gold mine with a reserve of dozens of tons of gold can be regarded as a huge gold mine. The gold reserves of the Jinguashi gold mine are estimated to be more than 500 tons, and the taste is very high.

The second point is also very important - that is, Sheliao Island in the north of Keelung is separated from the main island. By establishing your first stronghold here, you will be protected from attacks by the natives of the island......

You must know that the aborigines on Taiwan Island are very fierce. In particular, the Gaoshan people (as opposed to the Pingpu people) are the best at jungle warfare.

If you land directly on the island, you can easily be harassed by the natives day and night. The Dutch colonized Taiwan and almost suffered a big loss at the beginning. Later, the Dutch colonists saw that the natives were too fierce, so they still used deception to "buy" a large piece of land, and only then built a strong castle in Tainan as a stronghold. Then, he gained a firm foothold on Taiwan Island.

Later, the Spaniards also colonized Taiwan. They were also smarter - they directly occupied the pirate Shrine Island at the mouth of the Keelung River and built a castle on the island. Sheliao Island is not connected to the mainland, and it faces the Keelung River, so there is no shortage of fresh water. Therefore, the choice of Spaniards is also very good.

In addition, Marin needs to consider the Pacific route, the occupation of Japan, and the development of the Jinguashi gold mine. Therefore, Marin decided to learn from the Spaniards and build a castle directly on the island of Sheliao. Then, when the strength is enough, go and conquer the main island.

After conquering the island, I will apply to be the master of the Ming Dynasty......

Therefore, the main purpose of Columbus's visit to Taiwan Island this time was to find Sheliao Island. Once found, write down the latitude and longitude coordinates so that the fleet from Panama City can find the island...... With coordinates, even if you deviate from the course, you can correct it back......