Chapter 563: Red Embedded City

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After repelling the attack of the Spanish fleet and sinking the opposing flagship, Captain Pete realized that he had entered the Spanish sphere of influence. In order to avoid www.biquge.info encirclement, he ordered the Delfzail to turn due south, far away from the north corner of the island of Taiwan. It wasn't until after sailing more than 100 miles that it suddenly turned due west and passed quickly through the route from Luzon to Taiwan.

In this way, the Taiwan Strait was naturally avoided. Originally, Zhu Youzhen still fantasized that the Dutch would walk through the strait, so that he might be able to meet Zheng Zhilong's fleet. But after thinking about it, with the combat effectiveness of Zheng Zhilong's water division, I am afraid that he will not be able to help the Dutch, and maybe he will not even dare to fight.

After another day, the Delfzail finally arrived at its destination: Chichicheng (present-day Tainan City) on the island of Taiwan. However, it has now been occupied by the Dutch, who renamed it Fort Provencha.

After the ship slowly anchored at the dock, Zhu Youzhen, Lee Jung-yeon, Charlie, and all the Ryukyuan people were driven off the ship and temporarily confined to a few small houses near the pier. Through the windows equipped with iron railings, Zhu Youzhen saw a bustling scene on the wharf.

The most striking thing is, of course, the Dutch warships anchored with the Delfzier, at least twenty or thirty of them. They are the same as the Delfzeir, all of them are strong and sharp, and Zhu You can't help but be secretly frightened when he sees it. I thought that one ship was already so powerful, if these twenty or so ships formed a huge fleet and set out together, what a devastating sea force it would be!

Charlie said disapprerovingly: "This is only a small part of the Dutch East India fleet, and the main force of the fleet is still stationed in Batavia, more than three times as many as here." If it had only been such a small number of battleships, the Dutch would have been completely wiped out by the Spanish fleet. ”

In addition to warships, there were also a large number of merchant ships leaving and entering the port, which was much larger than that of Phi Dao. Zhu Youjian carefully observed and saw that most of the sailors on board were Chinese, and thought that this must be a sea ship smuggled here from Zhejiang, Fujian, Guangdong, and other provinces. He couldn't help but sigh in his heart: it was clear that the Dutch were invaders, but these smugglers only proceeded from their own selfish interests, ignored the strict orders of the imperial court, and traded with the Dutch on a large scale, which was tantamount to the behavior of the enemy.

On the other hand, it is impossible for local officials not to know about such a large-scale smuggling trade. However, no one cares about this kind of behavior, on the one hand, it is related to the decline of the national strength and the inability of the imperial court to look south, on the other hand, I am afraid that those officials have not received the benefits of these smugglers, so turn a blind eye!

Looking further ashore, a large-scale European-style castle is under construction. Needless to say, the workers who work are also Chinese, and they all seem to be slaves. They braved the scorching sun and carried huge boulders, and if they moved slowly, they would be mercilessly beaten by the overseers. Not far away, Dutch soldiers with loaded guns patrolled back and forth.

And on the unfinished city wall, there are still many ropes hanging, and there are some round things on the ropes. Zhu Youzhen looked at it and couldn't help but turn pale. It turned out that the rope was tied with all the first ranks, most of them Chinese, and some had been weathered into skeletons. Maybe they refused to submit to the slavery of the Dutch, or maybe they were just slow to work and were so tortured!

It seems that the Dutch are on Chinese soil, using Chinese as labor, using Chinese materials, but they want to build a huge fortress belonging to the Dutch! This is not * naked aggression, and what is it!

In addition to the castle, there is also a shipyard near the docks, from which the sound of tinkling bells is constantly coming out. Charlie said: "The Dutch are world-famous for their shipbuilding skills, and a ship like the Delfzell can be built in about half a year. It would not be long before the Dutch overtook the Spaniards in battleships, and all of East and South Asia would be theirs. ”

Zhu You listened, and his mood became even heavier. In the distance, there are large fields of farmland, and the people who work in the fields are all Chinese slaves. The crops planted are mainly rice, but there are also some exotic species, and Zhu Youzhen recognized potatoes among them at a glance. It looks like it's harvest season, and the slaves are pulling whole potatoes out of the fields.

Zhu Youzhen couldn't help but feel moved in his heart, secretly thinking that this potato was native to the American continent, and it seems that it was also brought to Southeast Asia by Europeans. Potatoes are afraid of heat and cold, and Taiwan belongs to the tropics, so potatoes can be grown, so there is no problem in the mainland.

Moreover, potatoes are also high-yield crops, and it is not a problem to harvest two or three thousand catties per acre. If high-yielding crops such as potatoes, corn, and sweet potatoes could be introduced to China, wouldn't the famine that plagued the Ming Dynasty be greatly alleviated?

While they were thinking, suddenly the Dutch soldiers drove out all the captives, regardless of their age, and divided them into two piles, according to men and women.

Zhu Youzhen didn't know what he meant, and Charlie whispered in his ear: "You'd better pull the ladies back, they were sent to be slave girls!" ”

Needless to say, Charlie elaborates, Zhu Youzhen also knows the meaning of the word "female slave". He was in a hurry at that time, and grabbed Li Zhenyan to prevent the Dutch from dragging her away.

When the Dutch soldiers saw that he dared to disobey the order, they were furious, picked up the butt of their rifles and smashed them on Zhu Youzhen's hands. As the saying goes, ten fingers are connected to the heart, this time it really hurts to the bone marrow, Zhu Youzhen is so painful that even his facial features are displaced, but he still refuses to let go.

Li Zhenyan was even more distressed to protect Zhu Youzhen behind her, glaring angrily at the Dutch soldiers. The Dutch soldier was even more annoyed, and immediately put the muzzle of his gun on Li Zhenyan's head.

Seeing that the two of them were about to suffer a tragic fate, Charlie suddenly shouted in Dutch, and then muttered to the Dutch soldier. The soldier disregarded the soldier and turned and ran away.

A short time later, Captain Pete and a group of soldiers hurried in and surrounded the trio. But at this moment, he was full of smiles, and after talking to Charlie for a while, he escorted the three of them into the castle and found a house and locked them up. The interior of this house is not badly furnished, with all kinds of Western furniture, and it doesn't look like a prison cell. But there were more than a dozen soldiers guarding outside, and it was overwhelming to escape.

Zhu Youzhen couldn't help but wonder: "Charlie, what did you say to the Dutch just now?" How could they not kill the two of us? ”

"My Chinese friend," said Charlie, with a wry smile, "I have to make some sacrifices to save you." The Dutch didn't know who I was, but I told them about it. ”

"And who the hell are you?" Zhu Youzhen's heart suddenly moved.

"Now I don't need to hide it from you," said Charlie proudly, "I am Charlie, Prince of Wales of the United Kingdom of Great Britain, son of my King James, and first heir to the throne!" ”