Liu Jian woke up slowly.

There was a knock at the door in the darkness, continuous and rhythmic, but soft.

He rubbed his forehead and sat up.

Barefoot in bed, he walked to the window and lifted the curtains, the bright light illuminated the room at once, he went to the bedside table again, picked up a self-made lighter, clicked a few times, the spark flashed, and the flames flickered. Liu Jian skillfully removed the glass cover on the kerosene lamp next to him with his other hand, put the flame on the kerosene lamp wick and nodded, and the kerosene lamp with a slight smell brightened.

Brightened by the room, it was a luxurious bedroom with European style, French furniture, handmade wall paintings, and a large four-poster mahogany bed.

Liu Jian sat back on the bed, rubbed his face, and remembered where this was. This is the Governor's Palace of the Dutch Viceroy Van Dimen, Batavia, Java.

This exotic mansion is now his temporary residence.

Not long ago, Batavia, which had been blockaded and besieged by the Han army for more than a year, finally couldn't hold on, especially when the two major natives of Java, Mataram and Banten, each sent tens of thousands of troops to surround them from the east and west sides of the land, Anthony Van Dimen, the governor of the Dutch East India Company, finally raised the white flag in the city in despair.

Liu Jian grabbed a silk robe and put it on his body, and answered to the door, "Who!" ”

"Uncle." A man's voice rang out, "Sorry to interrupt." ”

Liu Jian picked up the pocket watch from the bedside table with sleepy eyes, and it was 6:17 in the morning.

Normally he gets up at six o'clock, drank two more drinks last night, and slept today.

"What's the matter?"

"Uncle, I am the commander of the Marine Corps on duty stationed in the Governor's Palace, I'm sorry to disturb you, our commander wants to see you, he said it's an urgent matter."

Liu Jian was a little puzzled, he was only a guest of the Eighth Fleet, and his current official identity was the president of Nanyang Company, not an official person. This time he was able to take Batavia, and he did make some efforts, and contributed to the success of the alliance between Banten and Mataram, but after all, he was neither a civilian official nor a military general.

The commander of the Eighth Fleet is not ordinary, now that the major governors have withdrawn, and the imperial court is sending elite troops to prepare for the westward expedition, so places such as Zhongnan and Nanyang are basically filled with mercenaries and navies.

The Fourth Fleet is stationed in Korea, the Fifth Fleet is stationed in Japan, the Sixth Fleet is stationed in Annam, the Seventh Fleet is stationed in Luzon, the Eighth Fleet is stationed in Java, Singapore, and Malacca, and the Ninth Fleet is stationed in Yangon.

Of the nine fleets of the Han Dynasty, only three were stationed on the southeast coast of the mainland, and the other six were stationed in Zhongnan and the South Seas, among which the Eighth Fleet was stationed in the most important territory, and they were stationed in Java, Sumatra, the Malacca Peninsula, Borneo, the Spice Islands and other places.

Basically, the territory of the original Dutch East India Company was taken over by the Eighth Fleet, and even the territory of Portugal and England was also managed.

The Strait of Malacca, the Sunda Strait, the Lombok Strait, the Makassar Strait and other important straits are now controlled by the Eighth Fleet, especially the Maguru Spice Islands, which are very economical.

Without the Governor of Nanyang, the Commander of the Eighth Fleet is the supreme commander of this vast sea archipelago, and he not only has the Eighth Fleet, but also Banten and many other indigenous allies in the region, in addition, he also commands the newly established four indigenous mercenary associations of Java, Jinzhou, Borneo, and Malacca.

The commander of the Eighth Fleet, so to speak, is the emperor of the land here, and even the sultans of the indigenous countries of Banten and Mataram have to look up to them.

Liu Jian chuckled, Your Excellency the Commander of the Eighth Fleet, he is not a stranger, he was originally the Japanese governor, and he had just been transferred to the commander of the Eighth Fleet, commanding the Eighth Fleet and the four mercenary associations. This person is the royal family, Liu Jian's cousin Liu Yunzhen.

Liu Yunzhen has always been lucky, as soon as he arrived in Java, he immediately mobilized the coalition forces, and launched several waves of loud movements to Batavia one after another, but as a result, his brother Liu Yunwen began to blockade and besiege Batavia City, which had not been able to make a forced landing for more than a year, but let him be forced to surrender in a short time.

Although Liu Jian and Liu Yunzhen are cousins, they are not close.

Even if he now lives in the Governor's Mansion as a guest of honor, it is only because he is now the president of Nanyang Company, not some cousin. Liu Jian is also a smart person, knowing that Liu Yunzhen is still a little shrewd to Liu Yunsheng, this person was a great contributor to helping the second brother usurp the throne and seize the dynasty back then, he deliberately kept a distance from himself, undoubtedly not wanting to pass on any other information.

These days, he lives here, except for talking about some Nanyang company's development here, Liu Yunzhen hardly meets with him, but now he is in a hurry to find himself early in the morning, and he doesn't know what it means.

"Is it really Master Hou who wants to see me?" Liu Jian asked with a smile.

"Yes, uncle." The officer outside the door hurriedly replied, "Master Hou also said that there is an important guest who also wants to see you." ”

There is no doubt that the person who can be called a noble guest in Nanyang is definitely not the indigenous sultan, prince or the like on the islands, nor is it the original merchant in the middle of the island, it must be an official figure, and it is very likely that a senior general at the level of a marquis, otherwise, Liu Yunzhen would not be so polite.

Liu Jian thought for a while, "Please tell the Hou Ye on my behalf, I'll be there later." ”

Outside the door came the sound of the officer's departing footsteps.

Liu Jian sat there, frowning and guessing the identity of the VIP.

He turned and stared at the large mirror opposite, in which was a somewhat strange person, with sun-tanned skin from the hot South Seas, short hair that was a little unkempt, and a scruffy beard.

He looked at the person in the mirror and was a little stunned, this face, whether it was the brother of the emperor, or the count of the Han Dynasty, or the governor of the Nanyang Company, was a little unworthy.

After staying in this corner of the South China Sea for a long time, I seem to have become as bad as an indigenous.

Fortunately, I have done a good job in Nanyang Company, this year Nanyang Company has been fully rolled out in Nanyang and Central and South China, expanding rapidly, opening the way in front of the army, and every time it is stationed on an island and a place, the team of Nanyang Company will immediately follow up. This year, Nanyang's business volume has doubled several times, and its profitability is even more amazing.

Now that the Eighth Fleet has finally taken Batavia, the Imperial Court is preparing to make Batavia the largest trading port in Java and in the Sunda Strait, so he also personally sits in Batavia and prepares to open a strong branch here.

Last year's blow in the officialdom was indeed very big, but fortunately, the success of Nanyang Company now has restored a lot of self-confidence.

After taking a cold shower, Liu Jian changed a set of clothes, and he specially changed a more formal set of robes and crown belts.

The front hall of the Governor's Mansion had become the headquarters of Liu Yunzhen, the commander of the Eighth Fleet.

"Uncle, I've been waiting for a long time." As soon as I reached the door, a voice sounded from inside the house, it was a familiar voice. Liu Jian followed the prestige, but was surprised to find that this distinguished guest was actually Feng Sheng, the imperial commander of the Jinyi Guard.

Liu Jian was stunned, Admiral Feng Sheng, how did he come here.

A few years ago, the empire had already removed the former military district-level local officials such as governors, admirals, governors, and governors. Even the celebrant supervisor, Dongchang, and the Internal Affairs Office did not have the post of commander, but only Jinyiwei retained the post of commander.

Admiral Feng Sheng, one of the emperor's sworn brothers, has been in charge of Jinyiwei, has won the trust of the emperor, and is an absolute confidant.

After a moment of surprise, Liu Jian put away the guess in his heart, showed a smile on his face, sped up a few steps under his feet, and walked forward.

"Oops, it turned out that Brother Feng was here. What kind of wind is blowing in the South China Sea, and it actually blows you, the former imperial protector, here? ”

"Official business." Feng Sheng smiled.

This royal celebrity, the dignified marquis of the empire, did not wear official uniforms, just an ordinary businessman's dress, and he was not conspicuous. Looking at his dress, Liu Jian felt more and more that things were unusual.

"What kind of official business is it, and you actually drive Brother Feng to go out in person? It is said that the agents of Jinyiwei are all over the world, and there are no less than a million eyes and ears, if there is anything, isn't it possible for Brother Feng to do it immediately after passing on a word? ”

"There is a very important matter, Your Majesty asked me to run it personally, and I need your help in this matter."

"It's so important that Your Majesty wants you, the admiral in brocade, to run a step personally, and you are dressed like this, and you still want me to help?" Liu Jian felt that things were getting stranger and stranger.

"It won't be the emperor who wants you to take me back to Beijing, or give me a cup of poisonous wine or something, right?" Liu Jian smiled a little strangely. This is also a possibility that he suddenly realized, what kind of thing does it take for Admiral Jinyi to come to this Nanyang in person, or come quietly and ask him for help?

"Hahaha." Feng Sheng burst out laughing, "Uncle, this joke is not funny. Don't make this kind of joke anymore, ordinary people have to be scared to death if they can't laugh. ”

"Oh." Liu Jian felt relieved.

"Nanyang Company is the Han Dynasty in foreign trade, especially in Nanyang, it is a well-deserved leader, the businessmen who eat this line of food, regardless of Hanyi, have to please you, right?" Feng Sheng put away his smile and asked very formally.

Liu Jian felt puzzled, although he was the chairman and president of Nanyang Company, but in fact he had very few shares in this huge company, and he could achieve this position, because the largest shareholder of the company was his brother, and he was just a representative of the emperor's equity. No matter how big the company's business is, no matter how much it occupies a monopoly position in foreign trade, it has little to do with him.

And he hasn't been in charge of the company for a long time, and he hasn't done anything like corruption.

"Uncle, have you ever heard of the Southern Continent?"

"Southern Continent?" Liu Jian became more and more surprised, "I've heard of it, who in the South Seas hasn't heard of the Southern Continent." It is said that long ago, Europeans circulated rumors about a southern continent. They believed that there must be a continent south of the South Sea, so that the northern continent could form a balance, and they called this continent south of the South Ocean the Southern Continent. However, this southern continent has always been just a guess, and no one has actually reached this southern continent. ”

Feng Sheng nodded, "In the past, Europeans did think like this, but later when Europeans came to the East, they called the South Sea Islands the East Indies, and they colonized and expanded here, and they did not give up looking for this southern continent. ”

Liu Jian was really strange, "Could it be that Your Majesty believes that there is this Southern Continent?" ”

"Yes, Your Majesty believes that there is a Southern Continent to the south of the South Seas, and this Southern Continent is at least as big as the Central Plains of the Han Dynasty."

Hearing that the emperor believes in this southern continent, Liu Jian also began to believe a little bit in the rumors of this southern continent, the emperor can sometimes suddenly know some magical things, this magical ability is very magical, but after seeing more, he began to believe and no longer doubt and explore.

"Regarding the affairs of the Southern Continent, we have also investigated for a long time, and we also entrusted Liu Shuai to help before. Finally got some useful information. ”

Liu Yunzhen smiled and nodded, "It was also very strange when I received this commission at first, but after careful investigation, I found out that there was indeed something in the Southern Continent. ”

"At the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, the Sanbao eunuch went to the South Seas three times, and he landed in the north of the Southern Continent, and there were written records, but the records were relatively simple, and it was not confirmed that it was a new continent. After careful investigation, we found that in fact, the indigenous fishermen in the Java Islands often landed on the northern coast of the New World, collected sea cucumbers on the seashore and processed them and sold them to the Tang, Song and Han merchants who went to the South Seas. ”

"In fact, we in China knew about a southern continent earlier than Europeans, and even the reason why Europeans have rumors about this southern continent is said to be because Marco Polo brought this information to Europe when he returned to Italy from the Central Plains more than 300 years ago in the Yuan Dynasty. The Europeans were very excited to hear the news, because it was in line with the speculation of the ancient Greek thinkers: there must be a southern continent to balance the northern continent, otherwise the earth beneath their feet will fall into a bottomless abyss. ”

Liu Jian said in surprise, "Is there really this southern continent, a continent as big as the Central Plains in the sea south of the South Seas?" It's amazing. ”

Liu Yunzhen said with a smile, "In fact, many natives of Java in the South Seas have been to the southern continent for a long time, but they are mostly fishing along the northern coast of the mainland, and they have always thought that it is a desolate island, and they don't know that it is actually a huge continent. ”

"Decades ago, the Spaniards, the Portuguese, the Dutch and others from Europe came to the South Seas. According to the information we have gathered, as early as more than 30 years ago, the Portuguese led three ships through the strait on the northern edge of the southern continent, and they saw the southern continent at that time, but they did not realize that it was the southern continent. ”

"The following year, the Dutch landed in the northeastern part of the southern continent and led their men up the river in small boats, only to be confronted by the natives, who attacked them and several of the crew were stabbed to death with javelins, this time in disarray. But they finally realized that this might be the Southern Continent, and they went to the Southern Continent several times, and they figured out the coastline of most of the Southern Continent, drew an accurate chart, and named the continent New Netherland. ”

Liu Jian was surprised, "But I've never heard of New Holland?" ”

Feng Sheng smiled, "The Dutch have always regarded this as a top secret, and they don't reveal it to the outside world at all, so over the years, the Dutch have been secretly exploring New Netherland, looking for routes, drawing charts, and they already have a lot of information about the New World. ”

Feng Sheng took out a drawing from his arms, on which was a relatively simple map. Marking all the countries of the world, the Han is the center of the world, Siberia in the north, the sea in the north, Korea and Japan in the east, and the vast sea in the east, but there is a strait at the eastern end of Siberia in the north, which is another continent, that is, the American continent discovered by Europeans.

To the southwest of Dahan is the Indochina Peninsula, and to the southeast is the Nanyang Islands.

To the east of the Java archipelago, where the sea was originally just a vast expanse, there is a huge island and many surrounding islands.

"This is a big island, bigger than Borneo, there is a relatively primitive island, there are many tribes on the island, very backward, the natives of the South Seas know this big island, and the Dutch in Europe have long known about this archipelago, but they have not reached out for the time being."

Liu Jian looked at this big island, and then looked at the south of this big island, which is a bigger island.

"This is the Southern Continent?"

"Yes, a new continent, equivalent to a new continent the size of the thirteen provinces of the Central Plains. The northeastern tip of the New World is close to the south of this wild island east of Java, separated only by a strait that is not wide. In the eastern sea of the New World, there are also two large islands close together, and those two large islands are very large, estimated to be the size of five or six Taiwan islands. ”

Liu Jian was shocked when he heard this, there were still so many continents and islands that had been developed.

"Is the Imperial Court intending to take possession of these places?"

For today's countries, the sultanates on the Nanyang Islands can barely be regarded as members of a civilized society, but those natives who have no writing, no country, and are still in the tribal stage do not recognize that they are also members of a civilized society, nor do they recognize that their land has owners, but only those who are considered ownerless, and whoever discovers it first declares possession has sovereignty.

With so many borderlands, even the big Han wouldn't give up easily. In Nanyang, the Han only took over some of the strongholds of the Spaniards, the Dutch, the Portuguese, and the English, and most of the places in the South Seas were still in the hands of those indigenous countries. The Han Dynasty now wants to conquer Indochina with all its might, and at the same time to conquer the west, and at the same time develop trade, so it is unable to wage war with the natives of the entire South Seas, so it can only implement the current cooperation strategy.

But the Southern Continent and the few big islands next to it can be regarded as borderlands, and it is much easier to occupy.

"Now that we know so clearly, what are the imperial courts waiting for, just send a ship over?" Liu Jian was puzzled.

"Of course, things are not so simple, a whole new continent, there are no ready-made shipping routes, and there is no understanding of the hydroclimate of the coast. According to our information, the northern part of the southern continent is a wasteland and quite arid, and the central part is still a desert. As long as the southern coastal zone, the environment and climate are good. There is a severe shortage in the north, there is a severe drought, there are few rivers there, and the coast is full of reefs. Feng Sheng revealed to Liu Jian an important reason for his visit this time, "We only know the approximate location of the Southern Continent and those big islands, but the rest is not clear, and if you explore it from scratch, it will take a lot of time." But the Dutch have been exploring the New World for decades, and they have detailed information about charts, routes, and coasts of the continent, and if we can get them, we can save a lot of time. ”

Feng Sheng's purpose was very simple, that is, to obtain the top-secret information in the hands of the Dutch, and then immediately appoint the Nanyang Company to send a fleet to be escorted by some soldiers of the military fleet sent by the Eighth Fleet, sail to the New World and these surrounding islands, find a suitable settlement there, and then erect the dragon flag of the Han there, build the fortress port of the Han, and declare the sovereignty of the Han.

"And did you get the information about New Holland?" Liu Jian asked.

Feng Sheng shook his head, "We were a step late, someone took the lead and snatched these materials before us." ”

"Who?"

"Wu Sangui!" Liu Yunzhen said on the side.

"Wu Sangui, you can't be talking about Ningyuan Wu Sangui, right?"

"That's him."

"How did he get involved in this?" Liu Jian said in surprise.

(To be continued.) )