Nanyang Province, Java Province, Longhan 3rd year in October.

The sea fog is deep, and the morning air is wet and cold. At dawn, Liu Jian's ship finally arrived at the port of Banten, west of the island of Java.

The port of Banten was called the port of Banten by the Han merchants who went down to the South Seas, and was owned by the Banten Sultanate, a ****** kingdom that ruled western Java for nearly a hundred years, and Banten was also its capital. More than 70 years ago, the ruler of Banten, Hasanuddin, took advantage of the turmoil in the country after the death of Sultan Trienkono of the Danmu Kingdom to declare independence, and since then he has been free from the control of Danmu and established the Kingdom of Banten.

After Banten, he married the princess of King Indra of Lampung, Sumatra, across the Sunda Strait, and acquired the pepper-rich Slebar region. Later, he conquered the kingdom of Payachalan, and then sent a powerful fleet to try to conquer Palembang in Sumatra, but without success.

By this time, Banten and Mataram had divided Java and were the two most powerful sultanates in Java, while many of the remaining smaller states were subject to both countries and were vassals of both countries.

However, now the balance of the two powers on the island of Java has been broken, Portugal, England, the Netherlands and other countries have arrived, and finally the Netherlands has established a foothold in Batavia, established the headquarters of the Dutch East India Company, and defeated Mataram several times, and its power in Java is getting stronger and stronger.

The port of Banten is extremely close to Batavia, which poses a serious threat to Banten. The Sultan of Banten was also trying to resist the Dutch invasion, and they built an elite sampan squadron, acting like a maritime guerrilla, threatening the activities of the Dutch at sea, especially in the Sunda Strait.

At the same time, they also built a number of European sailing ships, and sailed to India and the Philippines, Malacca and other places for trade.

At this time, the port of Banten was very prosperous, trade was developed, and there were European-style forts built on the port, making the port very strong. Compared with the port of Batavia in the Netherlands and India, the port of Banten is no worse than that of Batavia, and even now that Batavia has been blockaded for a long time, the Sultan of Banten has established commercial relations with the Han Dynasty and robbed a large number of Batavia's spice trade.

Now Banten Port has routes to Singapore, Malacca, Luzon, Hoi An, Guangzhou and other Han merchant ports, as well as a fixed merchant fleet, trade is becoming more and more prosperous, and countless ships enter and exit the port every day.

Liu Jian personally came to meet with the Sultan of Banten this time to discuss the strengthening of commercial and trade cooperation, as well as the joint attack on the Dutch East India Company.

Not long after the First Battle of Hue Huong River, the imperial court ordered the abolition of the thirteen military regions, and at the same time the removal of governors, admirals, governors, and governors. Liu Jian, who had just served as governor of Guangnan for less than three months, was recalled to Beijing. On the surface, the imperial court abolished all the governors, but in fact, even if there was no such thing, it was impossible for Liu Jian to continue to stay in the post of governor of Guangnan.

He himself was already prepared, and even took the initiative to resign.

After returning to Beijing, Liu Jun summoned Liu Jian into the palace and the two talked for a long time. What exactly they talked about, no third person knows. But after this conversation, Liu Jian joined Dahan Nanyang Company. Subsequently, Nanyang Company was reorganized and listed, and Liu Jian became the chairman and president of the company. Nanyang Company is also listed on the Tianjin Stock Exchange, Nanyang Company is originally developed from the earliest Han East India Company, because this company is the most profitable import and export sea trade, especially the company is still owned by the emperor most of the shares, so in recent years, Nanyang Company has become a company with more than 100,000 employees.

They engaged in entrepot trade from the Han coast to Japan and Korea, as well as the entrepot trade from the Han coast to the South Seas, and also did the ocean trade from the Han to India and the Persian Gulf.

With its strong royal background, the company has expanded very rapidly in recent years. Nanyang's profits are quite large, and the shareholders have extremely high dividends on their shares. Nanyang Company does not need to be listed for financing at all, but Liu Jun, as the largest shareholder and also occupies a controlling stake, asked to be listed, and the other shareholders could only agree.

The listing of Nanyang Company is not so much financing, but actually just the emperor is giving dividends to the people in disguise.

Nanyang Company was listed in Tianjin, issuing 100 million new shares at one yuan per share. At the same time, each person is limited to 100 shares. After the purchase restriction, 100 million new shares were still sold out in just one week, and Nanyang Company also added more than 1 million new shareholders.

Liu Jian has changed from the original feudal official to the CEO of this listed company, and his identity has changed greatly. However, after that summons in the palace, Liu Jian did not show any dissatisfaction, but actively devoted himself to his new work.

After taking office, Liu Jian's first three axes were to make every effort to develop the market, especially the Nanyang and Indian markets.

Today, Britain, Spain, and Portugal have all compromised with the Han and conceded defeat, signed the Nanyang Treaty with the Han Dynasty, recognized the exclusive rights and interests of the Han to the Nanyang, and all three countries withdrew from the Nanyang. At the same time, all three countries fully opened up their mainland trade with overseas colonies and Han Chinese.

This is the golden time for Nanyang Company, a trading company mainly engaged in import and export business. Spain evacuated Luzon, Portugal evacuated Malacca, Timor and other Nanyang colonies, the imperial court sent troops to station, sent officials to take over, at the same time, Nanyang Company also began to build commercial stations in Manila, Malacca and other places, set up branches.

At the same time, the imperial court and the natives of Nanyang are now also pursuing the principle of cooperation, and under the favorable conditions of sufficient sincerity such as trade and reciprocity opened by the Han Dynasty, the indigenous sultanates such as Banten and Mataram in Java, Aceh and Lampung in Sumatra, Johor, Matanian, and Perak on the Malay Peninsula have traded with the Han Dynasty, and Liu Jian also entered the important cities of the indigenous countries for the first time and opened branches.

The current strategy of the imperial court for the entire Nanyang region is to accept and seize the colonies of the former European colonists on the one hand, and at the same time establish friendly relations with the indigenous countries first, focusing on trade and trade, and strengthen the influence of the imperial court in the Nanyang region, but it is not in a hurry to clash with the natives and seize territory.

At present, the focus of the imperial court is still on the Indochina Peninsula, and strive to sweep away the entire Indochina Peninsula as soon as possible. Prior to this, moderate measures were used in the South Seas.

It was under this strategic adjustment that the imperial court incorporated the whole of Nanyang into Nanyang Province, and then established six provinces in Nanyang Province: Luzon, Borneo, Java, Sumatra, Malacca, and Makassar.

In reality, however, with the exception of Luzon Island, which has most of its de facto control over the island, there are only a few colonial strongholds that have taken over from Xiyi in the rest of the South Sea Islands. The vast majority of the South Seas are controlled by many indigenous countries, large and small.

Under the banner of the Han Dynasty, the Nanyang Company expanded rapidly in various parts of the Nanyang, and while receiving the strongholds of the former Xiyi colony, it also leased or purchased some ports suitable for building ports and cities on the coasts of some important straits of the islands on the grounds of trade and trade, and then built wharves to build castles and set up trading stations, so as to contribute to the further strengthening of the Han Dynasty's control over the Nanyang.

At the same time, the imperial court also entrusted the Nanyang Company with an important task, that is, to allow them to take advantage of the opportunity of trade with the Nanyang natives, strengthen relations with the indigenous countries, and guide the Nanyang natives to accept the Han as the suzerain, so that the countries become vassals of the Han Dynasty. At the right time, at the right opportunity, you can also win over the natives who divide the Nanyang and let them fight, and then the Han will mediate in order to compete for the greatest interests.

However, now Spain and Portugal have withdrawn from the South Seas, and England has already withdrawn, but the Dutch East India Company insists on refusing to surrender and refuses to give up its colonial stronghold in the South Seas.

Dahan negotiated with the Dutch East India Company several times, but could not get along. The bottom line of the Dutch East India Company was to keep its colonial stronghold in the South Seas, and it was only willing to reopen trade with the Han and allow the Han to get involved in the spice trade in the South Seas. Of course, Dahan did not agree to such conditions.

The two sides talked about it like this, and more than half a year passed.

Although the Dutch in Batavia were not as numerous as the Spaniards in Manila, Batavia had sufficient food, ammunition, and a resolute attitude, so the Han were reluctant to storm the port of Batavia.

As a result, the Han continued to blockade the port of Batavia, and Batavia had no ships to enter and leave the port, and at the same time, the Han marines also landed and surrounded the city of Batavia.

The Han Dynasty has surrounded and blockaded Batavia for a long time, and the Dutch just won't surrender, even if Batavia has now become a dead city, it still won't surrender.

They have lost their colonial strongholds in Maluku, Borneo and other places, but they still do not surrender and vow to fight to the end.

The Great Han didn't seem to have much interest in attacking Batavia, which had a strong defense, so he kept surrounding it.

The Han army did not attack, and the Dutch did not dare to come out, so the siege had been going on for more than half a year, and the city of Batavia became a dead city.

This time, Liu Jian personally came to Banten to prepare for tripartite talks with Banten and Mataram.

The Han did not want to storm Batavia, believing that the siege would besiege the Dutch, and there was no need to pay additional casualties. However, the Dutch's stubborn attitude also surprised the imperial court.

The Nanyang Company wanted to enter Batavia as soon as possible to set up a branch, so they were more active than the imperial court. Now Liu Jian came in person, hoping to persuade Banten and Mataram to send troops to attack Batavia.

To put it bluntly, Liu Jian is here to find cannon fodder.

When Liu Jian arrived, there were already many people at the port of Banten to greet him. Prince Ah Geng personally led the crowd to greet him, and Prince Ah Geng opened his arms, grinned, and said in a very standard Mandarin, "Lord Earl, welcome to Banten." ”

Liu Jian was the first time to come to Banten, but before that, Nanyang Company had already set up a trading station and a branch in Banten. For this meeting, the people of the branch have also met with the Banten side many times.

Banten is a sultanate, most of the people believe in ****** religion, in the early days, the South Sea Islands mostly practiced the Hinduism introduced from India, but later with the introduction of ****** religion by Arab merchants, especially in the era when the Sultanate of Malacca became the hegemon of the South Sea Islands, ****** religion spread rapidly, and finally made the vast majority of people in the South Seas believe in ****** religion, traditional primitive religion and Hinduism, only some small islands and some primitive jungles remain preserved.

However, in these large and small Sudanese in the South Sea Islands, although most of the people believe in ****** religion, it is different from the ****** religion in the Middle East.

This is somewhat like Buddhism in India and Buddhism in China, although Buddhism in China was introduced from India, but it absorbed many elements of the Chinese tradition, so it is considered a variant.

The ****** religion of the South Seas is the same, it came from the Middle East, but it attracted some elements of the original religion of the Malays and Hinduism, and because the ****** religion of the South Seas was spread through commerce rather than through military conquest, although the ****** religion was practiced in the South Seas, the Arabic language and Arabic customs were not also spread.

Even most Malays ****** parishioners, who do not even know how to read the Qur'an.

Religion is not as strict in the South Seas as it is in the Middle East, nor does it have the same great political influence as in the Middle East.

For example, in Banten, although it is a sultanate, most of the people believe in ****** religion, but other religions, whether it is Catholicism or Christianity in Europe, Buddhism in India, Taoism in China, etc., spread and believe as you like. Merchants from all over the world gather here, people of all faiths, all kinds of clothes, and people of all languages walk freely.

Liu Jian feels that Banten Port is somewhat similar to Dahan in this regard, which is very open and inclusive, full of freedom and vitality.

Prince Ah Geng wears a small hat embroidered on a white background and a white robe, he is not tall, a little dark, but his eyes are very shrewd. Liu Jian already had the intelligence of this prince, and knew that this prince was the eldest son of the current sultan, and he was extremely trusted and relied on by the sultan.

The current sultan is sick, and the affairs of the country have gradually been transferred to Prince Ageng. Now the trade cooperation between Banten and Dahan is promoted by Prince Ah Geng.

Many Banten nobles opposed Banten's trade cooperation with the Han Dynasty, believing that the Dutch were wolves, but the Han were tigers. To cooperate with the Han is to seek the skin of the tiger, and what the Han want is to drive out the Dutch and then occupy Batavia themselves.

They did not want any more outsiders to occupy Batavia.

But Prince Ah Geng is a pragmatist, and he has long seen the strong strength of the Han Dynasty. Banten and Mataram can't even beat the Dutch, how can they beat the big guys? Moreover, many of the actions of the Han are very friendly, and the cooperation proposed is also a win-win way for both sides, rather than a barbaric robbery like the Dutch. When the Dutch first arrived in Java, they robbed them of two merchant ships, and since then they have been abducted in various ways.

To cooperate, not to confront, this is the attitude of Prince Ageng.

"Your Excellency the Earl, His Highness the Sultan has set up a banquet in the palace and is ready to wash the dust for you."

"I am very grateful to the Sultan and the Prince for their hospitality." Liu Jian smiled and stepped forward to hug Prince Ah Geng.

Seeing Prince Geng's kind attitude, Liu Jian knew that this cooperation would definitely go very smoothly. (To be continued.) )