On March 25, 1684, several ships belonging to the Bank of Taiwan suddenly sailed into the vicinity of the mouth of the Min River. A Fujian sailor warship, a Yaksa-class armed transport ship without a steam propulsion system, immediately approached and cautiously inquired about their intentions.

Although the total of six ships in front of them (two "Star" class light cruisers and four "Yaksa" class armed transport ships) made them feel a little uneasy, but the Fujian Sailors gave them great confidence over the years, and resolutely stepped forward to inquire - even after years of so-called "regularization construction", the Fujian Sailors still did not abandon their heirlooms, that is, a large number of small boats.

Most of these small boats are common types in China's coastal waters, with small tonnage and large numbers, and they are a very large force in the shallow waters off Fujian. At the end of the Ming Dynasty, Zheng Zhilong organized these small boats that were either fishermen, or maritime merchants, or pirates, and once crisscrossed the South China Sea, rarely encountering opponents. Even the Dutch East India Company, which was in full swing, was reluctant to fight in the shallow waters off the coast of Fujian (a bit like the Anglo-Dutch naval battle in which British ships did not dare to fight Dutch boats in shallow waters), which shows its strength.

Zheng Zhilong defeated the competitor Liu Xiang with this huge fleet and monopolized the trade in the South China Sea, whether it was the Dutch or the British, if they didn't want to completely offend the Zheng group and cause them to be unable to get the goods, it was more cost-effective to pay taxes honestly to them. Undoubtedly, this monopoly of trade, in turn, greatly nourished the Zheng group, making it even more powerful, and even extended from the sea to the land, becoming the de facto overlord of Fujian.

The first major setback for the Fujian Navy was Zheng Zhilong's surrender to the Qing Dynasty. After going to Beijing, the sailors had no leader, and the pirates and fishermen who were raised on weekdays dispersed a lot because no one paid them, and many people were dissatisfied with their surrender, so the Fujian sailors who were originally gathered together were suddenly scattered everywhere and no longer became large-scale. This can be seen from the fact that his son Zheng Chenggong later returned to Fujian to recruit the old department, and there were not many people who came to defect, far less than the scale of the heyday of the day. This is of course due to Zheng Chenggong's lack of financial resources at that time, and at the same time, many people have returned to seclusion and dispersed.

Fortunately, Zheng Chenggong has worked hard for many years, coupled with the halo bonus brought to him by the anti-Qing banner, the strength of the Fujian Navy Division has slowly recovered, but it is also different from the beginning. Among them, the biggest difference is that the number has decreased a lot, that is, the original Zheng Zhilong period, a large number of fishing boats, cargo ships and other things have been eliminated from the sailor team, and the Zheng group no longer gives them rewards or allowances, and the separation of military and civilian is very resolute.

In place of these ships were professional warships imitated by Zheng Chenggong's shipyard in Mawei (it seems that the gradual separation of professional warships and armed merchant ships is the general trend in both the East and the West). To be honest, the technology of these warships is not very advanced, but it can be seen that they have tried to absorb the technical characteristics of many Western sailing ships, and the tonnage is average, and the firepower is so-so, but professional warships are professional warships, not comparable to those messy miscellaneous boats in his Laozi period. The only drawback is probably that the cost of raising ships and soldiers is relatively high, after all, this is a regular army, and it is necessary to train and pay on weekdays, unlike the period of his Laozi Zheng Zhilong, except for a few core ships with salaries and silver on weekdays, most of the sailors on small ships are living by fishing and transporting goods, and only when they are called up will there be some rewards, and the maintenance costs of the two are not the same thing at all.

Of course, Zheng also knows that his shipbuilding level is very limited, the Chinese style ships have a flat bottom, shallow draft, and inconvenient style operation, which is not conducive to deep-sea navigation, so Zheng Chenggong and Zheng Jing father and son have also been trying to recruit Western technicians to help them build ships for many years, and absorb their shipbuilding ideas, some of these people are from the two East India companies, and some of them are from the East Portuguese War from Macau, the level is quite good, effectively improving the shipbuilding level of the Zheng Group.

In addition, Zheng also used several rare opportunities to import a number of "Yaxa"-class armed transport ships from the East Coast. This classic ship designed by the Blackwater Shipyard is very suitable for the sea conditions of the Far East, and the speed is also relatively fast, which can be used as a warship or a merchant ship, and has a wide range of uses.

From here, it can be seen that the strength of the Fujian Navy Division is actually quite not weak, and it can be continuously replenished, which is very alarming. Based on the information at hand, the Southern Security Command carefully assessed the combat effectiveness of the Fujian Naval Division, and finally concluded that its overall strength may be higher than that of the Okhotsk Sea Detachment of the Third Fleet of the East Coast, because of its large number of ships and more than ten times the number of sailors of the East Coast. However, the naval staff officers of the Security Command also believed that if the two armies fought with real guns, the Fujian Naval Division, which had the superior strength on paper, should not be able to gain the upper hand and would suffer huge losses in the confrontation with the naval detachment on the east coast.

The main reason for this is that the performance of the ships on the east coast is relatively good: the ships are fast, the firepower is fierce, there is a steam power bonus, the level of personnel training is also high, and the adaptability of the ships is good.

Of course, the two sides have not yet come to the point of fighting each other, and there is not even a sign of this. The top commanders of both sides were not crazy, Zheng Jing knew that the fleet of the people on the east coast could easily cut off their trade routes to Japan, and the southern pioneer team also knew that the Fujian sailors could disrupt the trade system they had operated for many years in Taiwan, Guangzhou Bay, and even Zhejiang.

It is precisely on this background that when these ships of the people on the east coast suddenly appear in the waters off the Minjiang River, the cruising Fujian Navy Division warship will calmly turn its course and go forward to intercept and inspect. Because the Fujian sailors on the ship knew very well that what the people on the east coast brought was not war, but something else. However, in view of the high sensitivity of the Minjiang estuary, they still politely lured these ships on the east coast to anchor near Langqi Island, and the Fujian sailors built a fort on this island, with a total of more than 30 cannons, all of which were new cannons imported from the Goa cannon foundry in India, to block the waterway of the Minjiang estuary and protect the safety of the capital city of Fuzhou.

Han Jin, a senior manager of the Bank of Taiwan who led the team, understood this, and An Zhiruo went to the island to rest, and before leaving, he also handed over a superstitious letter signed by Shao Shuguang, general manager of the Bank of Taiwan, and Tang Moyu, the head of the Haizhu Island Commercial Station, to the other party, and asked him to send it to Fujian to Wang Zheng Guomu of Yanping County.

The content of the letter is not very complicated, and there are only three core contents: first, exhort Zheng Jing not to go to the troubled waters of Guangdong, take advantage of the fact that he has not yet sent troops to rein in the precipice, and collect his troops and return to the camp; 2. It is suggested that the king of Yanping increase investment in the colonization of Taiwan Island, and for this reason, the Bank of Taiwan can provide certain assistance, such as the supply of medicines and the teaching of health and epidemic prevention knowledge; 3. Invite the Fujian side to join the "Southern Common Market" plan to be launched by the people on the east coast, so that Fujian and Guangdong provinces will be included in one common market, so as to unify foreign trade and import commodities, so as to increase bargaining power, and at the same time, to allow the free circulation of goods in the two provinces and prosper the local economy.

As for these conditions, to be honest, there is also the meaning of throwing stones to ask for directions in the past. Tang Moyu once communicated with Shao Shuguang and felt that the second point should be relatively easy to achieve, and the Zheng family of Fujian Province has always been interested in colonizing the island of Taiwan, but due to the harsh natural environment on the island, they have never been able to achieve much good results. And if the people on the east coast are willing to provide a lot of medicine for this and help them establish a correct health and epidemic prevention system, they should not hesitate to increase their investment in the colonization of the island of Taiwan. Who cares about the unease that the Dutch East India Company might generate? The East Coast and the Zheng clan joined forces, could it be that the East India Company would dare to fight a war for this?

Inviting Fujian to join the so-called "Mercosur" was actually a stone-throwing move by the people on the east coast to ask for directions, and I didn't have much hope that the other party would agree. In this plan, the common market of Fujian and Guangdong will have two customs offices responsible for import and export trade, namely Guangzhou and Xiamen, of which the Guangzhou City Shipping Division has basically fallen into the hands of the people on the east coast, and the Xiamen City Shipping Division will be jointly controlled by the East Coast and Fujian in the future.

As for the first one, hehe, it all depends on how the Zheng family chooses. Anyway, the East Coast people have already arrived, and if you are willing to strike in time, then we will support you in expanding your interests on the island of Taiwan, and even if you launch a war against the Dutch and occupy the whole island in the future, we will also provide necessary assistance. In addition, there is another advantage of not getting involved in the war in Chaozhou, that is, the people on the east coast can sell some ordnance or ships to the Fujian side to strengthen their naval and army strength, of course, this is a good thing after they and Li Yuanyin formally signed a non-aggression pact.

In short, the people on the east coast also fought hard to mediate the war in Guangdong. Not only did they brazenly dispatch a large army all the way to Foshan, across the river from Guangzhou City, but also coerced and lured Zheng Jing, the king of Yanping County, to ask him not to interfere in the war for the throne of Guangdong Erli. Of course, we can't forget the influence exerted by the Southern Pioneer Team government on Guo Shi'an, the envoy of the Dashun Jiangxi Festival, otherwise do you think that Shunguo would not have sent troops from Ganzhou and attacked Shaozhou Mansion? It's all hard to say.

Therefore, the people on the east coast have paid too much for this war, and if they can't achieve their goals, I'm afraid it will be difficult to accept. Now, they had taken care of the Jiangxi side, at least for a short time, and had succeeded in shaking the will to war of the new Huiguo Duke Li Yuanhao, who realized that if the people on the east coast wanted to, they could make him unable to secure the throne in the city of Guangzhou. Now, there is only one last persuasion object, Zheng Jing! If he agreed to give up the opportunity to march into the Teochew capital, then of course everyone would be happy, and the people of the East Coast would form a closer relationship with them in order to put pressure on the Dutch East India Company; And if Zheng Jing does not agree and insists on marching into Chaozhou Mansion, then the east coast has no choice but to help Li Yuanyin strengthen his armament and fight a defensive battle with Zheng. In addition, the Lu Wang regime in southern Zhejiang has also been under the protection of the people on the east coast for so many years, and it is time to make some contributions: sending tens of thousands of horses south to attack Jianning Mansion and Funing Mansion under Zheng Jing's rule should not be a big problem.

On March 31, 1684, the news of Fuzhou, which was close at hand, did not come, but the news of Guangzhou and Chaozhou came one after another, and it turned out that Li Chengdong's two sons, Li Yuanhao, the Duke of Huiguo, and Li Yuanyin, the general soldier of Chaozhou, had officially stopped the war, and quickly divided their respective spheres of strength under the witness of the people on the east coast. Li Yuanhao was a little unhappy about this, but he was helpless, because he couldn't afford the bad situation of being exposed to the enemy on his back, not to mention that the people on the east coast promised to give him a batch of cheap weapons for the Lianzhou New Army as compensation. The English and Portuguese officers' advisory bodies were also retained, and it really can't be counted as a thank you.

The Guangzhou Bosi was handed over to the East Coast people as they wished, and all its large and small institutions were moved to Haizhu Island and managed by the East Coast people. Li Yuanhao also won a little concession from the people on the east coast here, that is, the customs revenue was settled with him as soon as the cash was settled, and the cash was no longer deposited in the exclusive users of the Bank of Taiwan, and he promised to urge all merchants of all sizes in the country to go to Guangzhou for trade, although this so-called guarantee was completely nonsense.

After all, Xiangshan County was not clearly handed over to the people on the east coast, because Li Yuanhao still had to save face. However, on the surface, it is almost the same, but in private, the people on the east coast have planned to take over the county government in full and connect it with Macao, so that people, goods, and currency can circulate freely between the two places, which should be beneficial to both places.

After escaping this catastrophe, Li Yuanyin, the chief soldier of Chaozhou, was extremely grateful to the people on the east coast, and had already planned to let the east bank forces fully enter the jurisdiction. The import and export trade of Chaozhou was also entrusted to the Bank of Taiwan, and the formulation of various local economic policies would also refer to the advice of the East Coast advisers, and he even agreed to allow a group of officials from Ningshao to serve as deputy and second-in-command in some key departments of the Chaozhou government, so as to help his small independent kingdom to carry out modernization and reform more quickly in order to improve its own strength.

There is no doubt that Li Yuanyin is fully surrendered, because he knows that the Chaozhou Mansion sandwiched between Li Yuanhao and Zheng Jing, two hungry wolves, if he can't find a very thick thigh to hug, he is afraid that he will be eaten up soon. It is reported that Lieutenant Colonel Lan Fei will soon lead his troops into Chaozhou to help them dispel the covetousness of outsiders, which shows the close relationship between the two sides.

The Fujian side has been operating in Chaozhou Mansion for many years and is very well-informed, so after the dust settles in Guangdong and Li Yuanyin quickly takes refuge, whether they want to admit it or not, the matter of going south to seize Chaozhou Mansion has become more tricky, because they have to face the joint attack of 15,000 officers and soldiers under Li Yuanyin's command who have experience in war and the world-famous blue-clothed army, and the outcome is really unpredictable. Therefore, on April 5, 1684, Han Jin, who had been waiting in Langqiyu for a long time, finally received a letter from Zheng Jing brought by Feng Xifan, the envoy of Fuzhou, and a possible war was eliminated. At the same time, this also meant that the Zheng group, which had abandoned its southward expansion, began to temporarily shift the focus of its expansion to the island of Taiwan, which undoubtedly meant that the relationship between the East Coasters and the Dutch East India Company had entered a delicate period, especially when they were also repeatedly expanding their influence in northwestern India.