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In the second year of the Long Han Dynasty, the Holy Emperor of the Han Empire was in Singapore, an overseas territory in the South Seas, on a small island north of the eastern end of the Straits of Malacca, which the Ming people call Temasek.

Three years ago, after the signing of the peace treaty between the five kingdoms of Ming, Dutch, Britain and Spain, this small island, which originally belonged to the Malacca dynasty and was later occupied by the Portuguese, became Liu Jun's private domain.

After three years, the Lion City of Sing Tao, which is held in the Straits of Malacca, has completely changed.

Today, it has become the stronghold of the Han Empire in the South Seas, and is both a trading station and a trading port. After three years of construction, great changes are taking place here every day.

A large number of merchants, craftsmen and local natives focused, especially after it became the empire's trading station in the South Seas, countless Han maritime merchants entered and exited the port here, and all kinds of Central Plains merchants were sent here, resold to European merchants, and then purchased spices, rice, cotton, silver and other commodities from the Nanyang Islands and shipped back to the Central Plains.

The lively transactions make this place change with each passing day and become more and more lively.

Ports, forts, the scale of the city with Chinese characteristics, the tall city walls, the deep moats, the suspension bridges, the bronze nail gates, and even the temples and Taoist temples in the city, the chessboard-like streets, and all kinds of shops with Chinese character signboards. But there are also bell towers with spires, as well as churches.

Not far from the castle, there are also many cultivated fields where rice and sugar cane are grown.

In three years, the overseas territory of the Han Empire now has a population of tens of thousands. There are several warships stationed throughout the year to defend the Lion City, as well as a thousand marines.

This power. In the empire itself, it is only a small garrison, but in the South Seas, it is already a force worthy of the attention of the Netherlands, Spain and other countries.

The Han East India Company played a vital role in the development of this Nanyang Star City, especially after the East India Company began to open up trade routes from the Han coast to the South Seas, and to India and the Persian Gulf. Star City became an extremely important supply port.

The rapid development of the new city made the Batavia Dutch in Java, the Spaniards in Manila in Luzon, and even the Portuguese in Malacca very envious and jealous.

They have been operating in Nanyang for decades, and they are only at the scale they have now, but Dahan has only been in Nanyang for three years, but he has quickly established such a large city in Star City. Now Star City has become the third largest port city after Manila and Batavia.

Countless merchants traded here, and the Great Han East India Company made a lot of money here. The envy of the Dutch, Spanish, Portuguese and even the British, Swedes, etc.

In the past, most of the Han merchants played the role of suppliers of Chinese goods to these European merchants, and they established entrepot trading ports in Macao, Dayuan and other places, purchased the goods organized by the Chinese merchants, traded them with silver or spices, and transported these goods back to Nanyang, and even sold them to Japan, North Korea and other places, making a lot of money.

Only a very small number of Han Chinese maritime merchants were able to transport Chinese goods directly to Manila and Batavia. But at most they were transported to the South Seas. The share of trade in Europe and the Americas is entirely their market. Even the markets of India, Bangladesh, Toungoo, Ayutthaya and other countries belong to them.

But now, the Great Han monopolized the trade of Japan and Korea, and their ships could not cross half a step at all. The Han Dynasty ostensibly opened the coastal ports to them, but they could no longer have the upper hand in trade as they had in the past, and now the Han East India Company. Not weaker than them in the slightest.

They have a richer supply of goods, more abundant funds, and are not even weaker than their large fleet. They are no longer satisfied with being just an upstream supplier, not only meddling in the entrepot trade, but even directly opening up routes to India and the Persian Gulf.

In the past, the most profitable ones were selling raw silk to Japan and cane sugar to Persia. Buying cotton cloth from India, spices from the South Seas, and rice from Vietnam, the Han Chinese seized more and more market share.

Nowadays, the Dutch, the Spanish, the British, the Portuguese, and so on, although the ships can only sail to the ports on the southeast coast of China, may buy less and less goods, and the cost is getting higher and higher.

The spices, cotton, rice, silver, and other materials they had trafficked from Nanyang and other places could no longer make several times the profits as easily as in the past, because they now had the Dahan Maritime Group headed by the Dahan East India Company.

Dahan's market is still there, but the profits are getting lower and lower.

Coupled with the sharp decline in silver production in the Americas and the expansion of the war in Europe, these European colonists in the South Seas became more and more difficult, and their cities were slowly becoming depressed, on the contrary, the trade of the Han maritime merchants became bigger and bigger, and it is said that the Han merchants were even coveting the Pacific silver route from Luzon to the Americas.

The small island of Singapore, in the hands of the Portuguese, is only a thousand people. But now, it is home to tens of thousands of people, and countless ships come and go from the port every day.

There were strong fortifications, ample garrisons, forts in the harbor, and warships in the harbor. The city is clean and tidy, all kinds of supplies are abundant, and the island has many native slaves of the South Seas, so that the products on the island can even meet the needs of the city, and it also has a continuous supply of ships for the fleet.

Especially because this port is still a special ******, merchant ships from all countries can enter the port to trade in the city, and even are exempted from customs duties, which attracts many merchants who originally went to Manila and Batavia to trade and supply here.

There is also a shipyard that can make three-masted merchant ships, repair ships, and even a military factory on the island that can make muskets and artillery.

Several sail warships with dozens of cannons cruised in the sea near Starport, and even often cruised the Strait of Malacca to escort passing ships to fight pirates.

Many maritime merchants entering and leaving the Strait of Malacca like to go to Star Port first to replenish supplies or even rest. There are churches, hospitals, and schools on the island. There are many restaurants, tea shops, inns, and some maritime merchants who run Nanyang all the year round like to buy a house on the island, hire a Han housekeeper, and a group of Nanyang indigenous servants.

There are also some of the most lively casinos and green houses in the city, where you can spend your money. You can get the safest guarantee. The police station in the city will protect the rights and interests of the guests to the greatest extent, and beggars, thieves, and robbers are rarely seen in the city.

This up-and-coming Nanyang port city is now well-known by more and more maritime merchants.

"God, when I passed through here five years ago, it was still Portuguese territory. At that time, it was just a desolate island, and the small town on the island was dirty and messy. Oh, my God. Is it a miracle of the East that it has become such a beautiful city in just five years? ”

A captain from France stood on deck, his ship slowly approaching the harbor under the guidance of the harbor pilot ship.

"The Han people have a saying, called Shibei three days should be impressive. The change here is indeed very big, this Eastern Empire after the change of emperor, like a sick lion finally stood up, and his majesty made the entire East Indies under its majesty. "It was also a Frenchman who spoke. He spent several years in the East Indies, sourcing goods from the East for Europe.

"I believe that both the Dutch and the Spaniards regret it now. When they betrayed the Portuguese and let the Han people seize this gem, no one thought that a desert island at that time would now become a brilliant gem. The speed at which the Han Chinese built the island was astonishing, and it took the Dutch and Spaniards decades to reach the scale in the East Indies. The Han people only completed it in three years, and even had a tendency to surpass them. ”

The French captain Leon was more concerned about something else.

"You said in your letter that this is a completely ******, completely tariff-free?"

"That's right."

"And the goods here are very cheap?"

Alain nodded, "In the past, the Spaniards and Dutch monopolized the goods of the Han and Japanese, especially those goods such as silk, porcelain, tea, and sugar. We could only buy it from the Spaniards in Manila or the Dutch in Batavia, but the prices were very high. But now, there are a large number of Han goods in Star City, which are the commercial goods of the Great Han East India Company under the name of the Han emperor, and the same price is much cheaper than that of the Spaniards and the Dutch, and it is not more expensive than us going directly to the port of the Han Dynasty to purchase goods. ”

"How is this possible?"

Alan smiled, "This Han East India Company is the industry of the Han Emperor, the scale is quite large, they have an excellent supply of goods, production, transportation and marketing one-stop, so the cost is extremely low." ”

Leon pondered, "But in this way, how can the Spaniards and the Dutch be willing, and the Portuguese and the English, who are only afraid and unhappy with this result?" ”

"This is indeed the case, the Han East India Company, but the British and Dutch and other countries are very dissatisfied. It is even rumored that the Dutch and the Spaniards, led by the British, have secretly negotiated to join forces to fight the challenge of the Han East India Company in the East Indian Ocean. ”

"The Dutch are joining forces with the Spaniards? This is really rare, they have been fighting for so many years, what about the enemies of life and death, they will actually join forces, and seeing that this Great Han East India Company is indeed a serious threat to their interests in the East India Company. ”

Alain looked left and right, and then lowered his speed of speech, "I got the news that this time Britain, the Netherlands, and Spain have reached an agreement, and it is said that they will first take the Portuguese and prepare to divide the interests of the Portuguese in the East Indies." ”

"Portuguese? Isn't the King of Spain now also the King of Portugal? ”

"But Portugal hasn't become Spain."

"Hearing of the Triple Agreement, preparations were made to divide the Portuguese territory in East Indies, and the Spaniards would get the Spice Islands, while the Dutch would get Malacca, and the British would get Goa and Ceylon in India. At that time, the trade route occupied by the Portuguese in the East Indies would be divided among the three kingdoms. ”

Leon smiled, "Are they going to carve up Portugal first, and then deal with the Han Chinese?" But I'm still a little strange, anyway, the king of Spain is also the king of Portugal, why did the Spaniards agree to divide Portugal with the British and Dutch, and the Dutch are still their mortal enemies? ”

"It is estimated that it is still related to the Han Chinese, the Spaniards lost their colony of Taiwan a few years ago, and in these years they have been caught in the European war, and in the East Indies, they have been blocked and suppressed by the British and Dutch. Manila's trade was very difficult, and now that the Great Han East India Company was rising, their lives were even more difficult. If they continue like this, they will surely be doomed. ”

Although Leon returned to the East Indies after a five-year hiatus, he quickly saw a problem.

"Can the Han agree to the division of the Portuguese colonies in the East between the three kingdoms?"

"Who knows, maybe a war is about to start. Oh. There is another thing I forgot to tell you, I heard that the Emperor of the Han Dynasty has recently been conquering Japan, Japan has been defeated and retreated, and the Han army has won victories one after another, and it has already occupied most of Japan, maybe it will not be long before the Han Dynasty can completely annex Japan. ”

"Oh my God, Japan is a country of more than 20 million people, the land of gold and silver in the East. Actually swallowed up most of it by the Han Empire? ”

In the eyes of many Europeans, Japan is a big country and a great power. At this time, the population of the Netherlands was only more than 2 million, Portugal was only more than 1 million, the British were slightly more, only about 4 million people, and Spain, which was still the world's maritime hegemon, had a population of only about 7 million. Even the population of Spain itself, including all its colonies, was less than 30 million.

The population of the Ottoman Empire was just over 20 million at this time. France, which has been hiding on the side in the European war and making a lot of money, has a population of only 20 million.

Therefore, a Japan with a population of more than 20 million is enough to amaze these Europeans.

As for the population of more than 100 million in the Han Empire, it has completely made European countries look up to it infinitely.

In the early years of the Ming Empire, these Europeans dared to take a few boats to fool around, and they went to the trap and abduction. But since Liu Jun, who was not yet the emperor of the Han Dynasty a few years ago, led a backward fleet and beat Japan, Spain, the Netherlands, Portugal, and the British all the way, countries no longer dared to despise this ancient Eastern empire.

"I also think that sooner or later the Han Empire and the countries of the East Indies will have a point, and now the relationship between the East India Company of the Han Dynasty and the East India Companies of several other countries is very tense and fiercely competitive. And the Great Han is the overlord of the East. Now that their strength is getting stronger and stronger, I heard that they are frantically expanding their navy, building warships, and the standing army is more than one million, and the navy is more than 200,000 people, it is terrible to think about, and the spices and entrepot trade in the East Indies are so profitable, how can they sit idly by? ”

"Let them fight well, anyway, we France have never had a chance to enter this East Indies."

Captain Leon smiled, if there was a big war in the East Indies, maybe it would be a chance for France.

At this time, the 14th Squadron of the South China Sea Fleet of the Han Dynasty and the 15th Fleet of the West Sea Fleet of the Royal Navy of the Han Dynasty, the battleship group composed of the two fleets were heading towards the South China Sea.

On the flagship of the 15th Fleet, Liu Yunsheng looked at the vast waves, full of ambition in his heart.

As soon as he triumphed from Japan's eastward expedition, Liu Yunsheng asked the emperor to go to Nanyang to preside over the situation in Nanyang. This request was agreed to by the emperor, and after Liu Yunsheng stepped down from his post as general of the expedition, he was given 10,000 taels of gold and the title of junior protector. The emperor conferred the title of Governor of Nanyang on Liu Yun, who was fully responsible for the affairs of the empire in Nanyang.

After Liu Yunsheng got his new position, he took office non-stop and led two fleets to the South Seas. At this time, their battleship group had three first-class battleships, four second-class battleships, nearly 30 third- and fourth-class cruisers, dozens of fifth- and sixth-class destroyers and transport ships, plus a group of armed merchant ships that went to Star City together, this was a huge fleet, with nearly 100 large and small warships, and 10,000 marines.

This is a big move south by the Imperial Royal Navy.

Looking at the extraordinary fleet group, Liu Yunsheng smiled proudly, Spain, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom, even if they want to make trouble in the South Seas, that is death!

Not to mention anything else, those seven sail battleships alone are enough to smash the fleet of any Xiyi ghost in the South Seas, not to mention that they still have nearly thirty cruisers, as well as dozens of destroyers and frigates, what do they use to fight with the sea.

"Malacca, that's from the Han Empire, no one wants to rob it!"

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