Zhao Dahe asked: "Big shopkeeper, can you give me that Yoshida Shichiro, he knows some of the language of the Kaida Gran people, and he has some use." ”

"Yes, but if he does any more business while he's there, I'll authorize you to chop off three of his fingers." Li Zhaoji thought for a while and gave an order to Zhao Dahe.

Five days later, Tamsui open to sea.

The waves crash against the beach, rolling the sand and marine life back and forth, never stopping.

Tax Commissioner Carl stood on the beach, feeling the ankle-high water and observing his surroundings.

This is a land full of greenery, the river flows out of the woods, you can see the animals in the various green plants, if you look at it, you can also see the endless mountains and hills, the dense forest shows a deep green, and occasionally a white smoke appears, I think it is also a native village.

This land is so rich that perhaps he could build a city here and save the ignorant natives with the teachings of Christ, or he could become a new satrapy, or he could replace that foolish Paul.

"Set up the big umbrella here, go over there and find a high ground, and set up my tent." Karl instructed his Moorish slaves as he sat under an umbrella and enjoyed the sand and the sea breeze.

Just as he was picking up a glass of lemon juice, a cannon boom came from a distance, and the frightened Carl's hand shook, and the lemon juice sprinkled all over his linen shirt.

Karl frowned, threw away the cup, and muttered, "Savage fellow, a fool who only uses artillery and guns, and has a head full of muscles and gunpowder." ”

Apparently, the person Carl complained about was his boss, Paul.

The fleet arrived in the morning, and as soon as Carl saw this beautiful land, he couldn't wait to get ashore and enjoy the early morning sand, but Paul refused, and he insisted on sending a small boat deep into the Tamsui River to investigate first, and the fleet did not try to enter until an hour after the boat was dispatched.

The river is a test for a sailboat to enter the river during the high water season, sometimes taking a day, so Carl chose to get ashore first and enjoy the scenery on the beach.

Of course, Paul's experienced crew had penetrated deep into the Tamsui River with great skill in manoeuvring the boat, and Carl thought that he would go back to the city built by the Spaniards in the evening, for he had already heard from the soldiers who had come last year that it was an ugly and shabby city, built of clay, reeds, and wood, for complete military use, completely unaesthetically unscathed, and leaking everywhere.

The only thing Karl looked forward to was a barbecue in the city in the evening, after all, he hadn't eaten fresh meat in four days since he left the city.

In this anticipation, caressed by the sea breeze, Carl quickly fell asleep, and the occasional sound of gunfire was far away, and torn apart by the sea breeze, which was a special lullaby for him who had become accustomed to colonial life.

"Master, Lord Governor, please come aboard the ship at once." The sound of a Moorish slave woke Karl and disturbed his sweet dreams.

"Get out!" Karl was furious, but he didn't even open his eyes, he just patted his right thigh.

This was enough to frighten the Moorish servant, because in normal times, a cowhide whip would be hung there, and it was an important tool for Cal to discipline the people around him, and this slave had been subjected to countless devastation and had a psychological shadow.

Karl felt like he could sleep again, but the anxious voice of the Moorish slave came: "Master, hurry up." Slow down and we won't be able to catch up. ”

Karl opened his eyes, ready to teach the slave a lesson, his eyes fell on the slave's anxious black face, but he was soon attracted by what was happening in the distance.

At the mouth of the Tamsui River, the armed merchant ships of the Dutch East India Company were rapidly returning to the sea, the ships were busy, the guns of their guns had been opened, and in the distance, three three-masted battleships had lined up in a battle line, heading south, closing in on their own fleet.

The speed of the Dutch fleet was faster, and the two transport boats were thrown down directly, and the lower and upper sails began to be retracted, which was the state of entering the battle.

"Hey, wait for me, I haven't gotten on board yet." Carl jumped up directly, didn't even have time to put on his boots, and ran as he shouted.

It's one thing to enjoy the view here, it's another to be abandoned by friendly forces.

The situation in front of us is already clear, the Dutch fleet that is entering the Tamsui River has been attacked by an unknown fleet, and it is likely to enter a naval battle, and the naval battle in the Age of Sail is normal for a few days, and Karl, who only brought parasols, fine wine and pastries, could not survive here for a few days with a Moorish slave.

"Get into combat readiness, distribute ammunition, and everyone goes to combat positions." On board the Hague, the flagship of the Dutch fleet, Paul had already given the order, and he walked briskly around the deck, showing his nervous heart.

He made a mistake by sending a team to explore the river without returning, so he hurriedly let the fleet go deep into the river, and apparently fell into the enemy's plan, the team did not go deep, but could be ambushed by the enemy, and the opponent's fleet had the upper hand at the beginning, and listed the battle line, obviously prepared.

They should have known I was coming, damn it!

Paul scolded viciously, but he did not know who to scold, for he had observed that the enemy fleet was not flying the Spanish flag, but a large flag that had never been seen before.

This banner has a blue background and is embroidered with an oriental dragon with a golden head and a blue body, which is a banner he has never seen before, and he doesn't know where it belongs.

However, the Dutch fleet was still too slow to react, after all, it was very difficult to complete the turn in the middle of the river, only the flagships The Hague and Malacca entered the ocean, while the two small Yahat ships, Zeeland and Shiratori, were left behind, and the most unfortunate was the Shiratori, which ran aground directly on the sandbar out of the mouth of the river in a hurry.

On the contrary, two junk boats loaded with supplies fell behind at the beginning, and did not enter the Tamsui River, but were unharmed.

"Open fire, order the Hague and Malacca to fire." Paul said in a loud voice to the guards beside him.

After a while, the captain of the Hague came running and said: "Your Excellency, our artillery cannot be aimed at each other at all, and the opening of the cannon is completely air. ”

"Shoot now, Captain, we need to draw the enemy in, so that the Shiratori and Zeeland have a chance to get out and the two junks can leave." Paul said.

"On board, the enemy ship is moving, the sails are being retracted, the gun door is closed, God, I see the enemy ship at the head of the ship drop anchor." The lookout on the mainmast let out an exclamation.

Paul and the captain immediately ran to the top of the stern and observed the enemy fleet behind them, and in full view of the fleet, which stopped at the mouth of the Tamsui River and blocked the Zeeland and the White Bird in the river, Paul put down his binoculars and asked, "Captain, what are our enemies doing?" ”

The captain shook his head: "This is not right, Lord Governor, if it were me, I would catch up and sink the two junk ships first, and then come to confront us, anyway, the White Bird has run aground, and now it is three against three, and they still occupy the upper wind direction." ”

Paul frowned, and the captain said, "Unless...... No, how is this possible, how could the enemy give up such a big advantage, they have been planning for so long, ambushing the fleet, isn't it just for victory? ”

"What are you talking about, unless what?" Paul asked dissatisfied.

"Unless they are not our enemies, they do not want to be hostile to us," said the captain. ”

Paul fell into deep thought, and suddenly slammed his fist on the stern relief, and said in an unquestionable tone: "You are right, here no one wants to be our enemy, except the stupid Spanish bacon." Just because we are the great Dutch East India company, the master of this sea. ”

This is the self-confidence that the executives of the East India and Du Company should have, as Paul said, in the waters east of the Cape of Good Hope, the Dutch East India, the Du Company is the strongest maritime power, except for the Spanish fleet in Manila that has repeatedly frustrated them, on the high seas and oceans, the East India, the Du Company has no opponent.

Of course, the local forces have defeated the Dutch, such as the Zheng family across the strait, but that is not the only defeat of the East India and Du Company, even Quang Nam, with a population of 600,000, has defeated the East India and Du Company. But all the defeats were in the coastal waters that were not conducive to the navigation of sailboats.

The Dongyin and Du companies have at least 40 returned galleons, which have a displacement of more than 1,000 tons, some even 2,000 tons, and are generally equipped with more than 30 naval guns, which can be 50 or even 70 with a slight improvement.

This is because the repatriation fleet of the East Indian Company had to force its way through the Strait of Dover and defeat the Spanish or British fleets before it could return home.

In the previous Anglo-Dutch naval battles, the ships of the East India and Du companies were the main force, and they could even exist as flagships.

This is the Dutch East India, the confidence of the company to dominate the East, far away from the mainland, they are invincible.

Paul is well aware of this, and Lee understands that this is why he chose to show a friendly gesture after taking advantage.

In the eastern waters, developed far from the mainland, when the strength was insufficient, it could not be the enemy of the Dutch. So his original plan was to give the Dutch a dismount and then negotiate.

"Turn back, I want to see, this is not a Spaniard, and who is it?" Paul said through gritted teeth.

When the two Dutch ships returned to the mouth of the Tamsui River, they found that there were not only three armed merchant ships, but also dense canoes, circling around the three armed merchant ships, walking back and forth, walking on the river and the sea, which made Paul stunned for a moment, and did not know what the situation was.

"There's a canoe approaching, Master Paul." The captain shouted.

A canoe came, a canoe made by hollowing out a whole thick tree, and was the main means of transportation for the natives, with only two dark-skinned natives rowing on the canoe, with something covered with banana leaves in the middle.

The Dutch, of course, were not afraid of a canoe, so let it come over, and the natives on board screamed and said something that the Dutch could not understand.

"Call the Lucky Guy Leader." Paul said.

Soon, the Hague sent a signal to the Junk ship, and a middle-aged man came in a small boat, he had a resolute face, and two men with sabers were followed behind him, his name was Guo Huaiyi, and he was one of the many Chinese leaders in the left and close to the big man.

On this expedition to the chicken coop, Paul did his best, and one of the two junk ships belonged to Guo Huaiyi.

"Can you understand his language, Guo?" Paul asked, pointing to the natives in the canoe.

Guo Huai nodded, which surprised Paul: "Could it be that the natives in the south and north of this island speak the same language?" ”

"No, he's speaking Chinese." Guo Huaiyi said.

Paul asked, "What is he talking about?" ”

"He said that there was a great treasurer of the trading house, that is, three sea forts, oh, the master of this fleet, who had been approved by the wizard of Cada Granta, and owned the city of the northern hill of Tamsui River, which was the city of Santo Domingo of the Spaniards.

That shopkeeper Li is the master of this body of water and the city, and wants to negotiate with you. Ask you to send someone to approach, or write a letter. Guo Huaiyi said.

Paul's face was shocked: "Is this fleet your Ming country's sailors?" ”

"It shouldn't be, if it's a Ming State Water Master, his official title shouldn't be the shopkeeper, it seems to belong to someone. If my guess is correct, it should belong to a trading company named Oriental Trading Company in Guangdong, and the big shopkeeper of the trading company is called Li Zhaoji. ”