This time Columbus went to Daming, in fact, there was no difficulty. There are only two risks – one is piracy in the Strait of Malacca; The other is a typhoon in the South China Sea.

The problem of piracy was solved, and Marin equipped three ships with two hundred musketeers and one hundred gunners. In addition, they all use clockwork muskets that do not use arquebuses. No matter how good the martial arts are, you can knock it down with one shot. Even if you encounter a murderous pirate, 200 musketeers will go out, plus 100 gunners will control the artillery bombardment, and you can't believe that those pirates will be destroyed. After all, there are no pirate kings like Chen Zuyi and Zheng Zhilong now. Ordinary pirates, three ships are enough to level them.

It's a typhoon, it's terrifying, and it's beyond human resistance. If you encounter it, you can only GG ...... Fortunately, Columbus's fleet traveled along the land coast. As long as you don't encounter a typhoon in the middle of the sea, it's a big deal to take shelter from the shore......

Although Columbus went to Daming this time to open up trade routes, it certainly couldn't be said at first. Therefore, Ma Lin used Chinese to write a letter of state and prepared to hand it over to the Ming Emperor......

Of course, this is not an egalitarian greeting letter written by the King of Spain, but a kind of letter similar to "Worship the Boss". To put it bluntly, it is to invite himself to become a vassal of the Ming Dynasty.

It's just that Ma Lin's plan is not to make the Grand Duchy of Beihai a vassal state of the Ming Dynasty, but to occupy the island of Taiwan, establish a small regime on the island of Taiwan, and then ask the Ming to annex it.

In this way, it is not the Grand Duchy of Beihai that has taken refuge in the Ming Dynasty, but the small country on the island of Taiwan that has taken refuge in the Ming Dynasty.

Anyway, now the people living on the island of Taiwan are some Fanmin natives, and Ma Lin can build a small country by occupying a place casually. For example, there is a potbelly kingdom on the island of Taiwan, the land area is not large, but the people are a small country.

The Ming Dynasty was not a fool, and if it wanted to be attached, the imperial court had to send envoys to check the specific situation. This is because, in the Song Dynasty, there were cases of Arab merchants posing as envoys to pay tribute. At that time, an Arab merchant came to pay tribute posing as a Seljuk envoy and defrauded him of a large reward. However, the real Arab merchants told the Song court that the Seljuk Empire had fallen...... Then, it's embarrassing......

Therefore, the Ming Dynasty was very strict in screening tributary qualifications, just to prevent such embarrassing things. But later, there was an embarrassing incident in which the envoys of the Northern and Southern Dynasties of Japan came together to pay tribute, and there was also a fatality.

The Ming Dynasty was very strict in the screening of vassals, and it was first necessary to determine whether the state really existed. After it is confirmed, it will also be issued, and the time and place of tribute will be strictly stipulated. When paying tribute, you also need to check the proof of conformity, otherwise, no tribute is allowed.

Ma Lin's plan is to occupy the Keelung Harbor in the future of Taiwan Island and build a castle. Then, ask the Ming officials to go over and verify. Then, ask for "attached" Daming.

Therefore, when Columbus went to Daming for the first time, he had a very important task, which was to find Keelung Port on the island of Taiwan. Determine the location of the Sliao Island outside Keelung Harbor. Then, learn from the Spaniards and build a small castle on the island. Then, based on this, it gradually encroached on the Keelung area and built a small city and port in Keelung Port.

Why build a base in Keelung? Because, there is a gold mine near Keelung. Marin not only wants to obtain a stable supply base on the island of Taiwan, but also plans to send people to exploit this rich gold mine with reserves of several hundred tons. In this way, the cost of building Keelung City will be fully recovered, and there will be a lot of profit.

Of course, the Ming Empire also needs to be contacted. For example, try your luck in Guangyi Prefecture to see if you can qualify as a tributary and submit a request for a credential.

It's just that Marin doesn't have hope for it. With the cautious character of the Ming Dynasty, I am afraid that Columbus will be rejected. Because, the people of the Ming Dynasty could not determine the existence of the Grand Duchy of Beihai. After all, the Ming Dynasty generally used the method of directly sending people to verify or inquiring with other vassals to determine it.

However, the rest of Europe has not yet come to the Ming Dynasty, and it is unlikely that they will be willing to become vassals of the Ming Dynasty. The existing vassals of the Ming Dynasty are all from Southeast Asia, and they definitely don't know European countries. Therefore, no one can testify to the authenticity of Columbus.

Therefore, Marin was not optimistic about Columbus's initial contact with the Ming Dynasty's gang of corrupt Confucians.

But Marin did not expect Columbus to succeed once, but it was necessary to find a foothold on the island of Taiwan. As for why they chose Sheliao Island (now called Peace Island), a small island outside Keelung Harbor, for the same reason as the Spaniards - the locals were too fierce to land rashly, and they could be killed by the local natives like Magellan......

So, establish a foothold on the small island outside the harbor first. Then, send an army over and try to land and defeat the natives......

Columbus's task was to find the island of Taiwan first, and then, according to the rough map given by Marin, find Keelung in the north of the island, as well as Heping Island on the edge of Keelung, and record the detailed latitude and longitude coordinates.

Then, the next time America leads the fleet to Taiwan Island on the Pacific route, it will go straight to Heping Island according to this coordinate. Moreover, cement will be brought to build a fortress directly on the island of peace.

Next time, because the route has been explored, Marin will send a large fleet to Keelung and Heping Island and station. In particular, this time, a force of trained Black Forest hunters will be sent to attack the local natives, take control of the land, and then establish a city on the Keelung land.

The reason why he chose to build a city in Keelung is not only because of the nearby Jinguashi gold mine, but also because of the coal mines near Keelung, which is also a target for Marin.

After all, the steam engine has now been made, and it will not be a problem to put it into service in the future and become the power of ships. Only by developing a coal mine near Keelung could coal be supplied to sailing ships powered by steam engines.

Therefore, Ma Lin gave up the idea of going to the Great Plains in the southwest of Taiwan Island first, and prepared to gain a firm foothold in Keelung now. Then, go to the southwest plain region.

In any case, the island of Taiwan is actually a trade transit point for Marin. The local area also has gold mines and coal mines in Marin's eyes. As for arable land, Marin didn't really care too much. He has an American colony, will he still care about Taiwan's arable land? Here, trade with the Ming Dynasty is the most important thing......

……

In addition to contacting the Ming Empire and finding the coordinates of the island of Taiwan, Columbus actually had a very important mission, that is, to contact the Kingdom of Malacca, which controlled the Strait of Malacca......

Of course, Marin didn't want to conquer the country. His intention was actually to dig a big hole for the Portuguese......

Marin, who had studied world history, knew that once the Portuguese had gained a foothold in India, they would set their sights on Southeast Asia and the Ming Empire. So, they will use Goa, India, as a base and move towards Southeast Asia. Then, he directly set his sights on the Kingdom of Malacca, which controlled the Strait of Malacca, a small country on the main transportation route, and captured the capital of the Kingdom of Malacca in 1511, destroying the country.

At that time, the Portuguese sent only 1200 Portuguese soldiers and 200 Indian mercenaries, as well as 18 ships and a large number of artillery. The Kingdom of Malacca, on the other hand, sent an indigenous army of 30,000 Malays and Javanese.

Unable to withstand the muskets and artillery of the Portuguese, the Sultan of Malacca had to abandon the city of Malacca and flee inland to continue his resistance.

This time, Columbus's fleet needed to pass through the Strait of Malacca. Although they will not stay in the area for a long time, they can dig a hole for the future Portuguese.

How to dig a hole for the Portuguese? It's actually quite simple. It was for Columbus to find a way to provide the Kingdom of Malacca with a batch of muskets and cannons, and teach them how to operate them.

When the Portuguese sent more than 1,000 troops to attack, and the Malacca also took out muskets and artillery, the Portuguese were dumbfounded......

Although, the Malacca were certainly not as skilled as the Portuguese in the use of musket artillery. However, the Malacca people are the side defending the city, so they naturally have an advantage. As long as you have enough muskets and artillery, you will not have to worry about defeating the Portuguese invading army.

In this way, Portugal's plans to move eastward would be thwarted. Even if you take the palace kingdom of Malacca, you will be greatly damaged. And Marin, when the Portuguese were in a hurry, happened to enjoy the benefits of the Ming trade alone......

To this end, Marin asked Columbus to bring an Arabic translator to communicate with the Kingdom of Malacca. The Kingdom of Malacca has a background in the Green Religion, so it is natural that there will be people who understand Arabic. Then, as soon as he was contacted, Columbus would find a way to sell or simply give a batch of arquebuses and artillery to the Malacca. At the same time, they will be taught how to use it, how to collect and boil it to make nitrate, as well as the recipe for gunpowder.

When the Portuguese rushed to conquer a few years later, they would be beaten stupid by the guns of the Malacca. If you want to conquer this country, don't do it without paying a heavy price.

Moreover, the Portuguese could not blame Marin yet. After all, in order to make friends with the Kingdom of Malacca a few years ago, Marin sent a batch of guns to others, is there anything wrong? No! After all, according to common sense, no one knew that Portugal would attack the Kingdom of Malacca in a few years......

Revised