Chapter 711: What you want is technology, not cleverness

"John Widdle?"

Zhang Zhun felt that he had a little impression of this name.

After trying hard to recall, Zhang Zhun remembered that this Widdle was the first British captain to China. At that time, Britain was also ambitious and wanted to seek more benefits from all over the world. When other Western powers came to East Asia one after another, the British also followed. Saiviara's father, John Widdle, with the support of the British royal family, came to Guangzhou with a fleet of four warships, and demanded to trade with the Ming Kingdom.

Unfortunately, the Portuguese in Macau believed that the British had violated their interests. From the first day of the appearance of the British, they strongly demanded that the Ming government should not interact with the British. Zhang Jingxin, the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, was forced to prohibit British warships from entering the port under the pressure of the Portuguese. The Humen Fort once had a confrontation with the British warships.

In the end, the Portuguese transferred their own warships and forced the British to retreat. The British, who could not gain a foothold in East Asia, had to find a small island to live in and play pirates again. They relied on merchant ships attacking other countries to make a living. Because they did not complete the mission, they all felt that they had no face to go back to Britain.

"This is the slander of the Portuguese! We are here to steal their business! The Ming Dynasty is so big, with so many goods and so many ports, can the Portuguese occupy them all? We just want to do business properly."

Saveala said in a scream of anger.

slander?

Is it really slander?

Zhang Zhun sneered slightly in his heart, but he was silent on the surface.

The British came to East Asia for the sake of huge trade profits. Spices, porcelain, silk, tea, etc. from East Asia have always been the mainstay of maritime trade between China and the West, and the British were of course very jealous. It might be right to say that Widdle wants to do business properly. Because the profits of these goods are already quite high, not much worse than being a pirate, and there is no risk of being a pirate, so anyone is willing to do it.

Unfortunately, the British came one step late. The East Asian market has been occupied by Portugal, the Netherlands, Spain, France, etc., and there is no place here. Without a good stronghold, they will certainly be unable to start a legitimate business. This stronghold cannot be used as a casual place to find a place where ships can be stopped. It must meet certain commercial trade conditions. Simply put, it must be a commercial trade port.

At that time, basically all the ports with interest were basically occupied by other great powers first. It was very difficult to use force to seize a stronghold. Because Weidell had only four warships, with a maximum displacement of only about 800 tons, and the armed sailors had less than 1,300. It was very difficult to seize a port with such a few people and such a few ships.

For example, the Portuguese who drove away the British had relatively powerful power in East Asia. Malacca was the base camp of the Portuguese, with tens of thousands of Portuguese troops stationed. There were also thousands of Portuguese soldiers stationed in the port of Manila in the Philippines. There were also hundreds of Portuguese soldiers in Macau in Ming Dynasty. The Portuguese warships in East Asia were also quite large, with at least ten large warships with displacement of more than 1,000 tons. This is something that Weidel's British fleet could not compare.

Other Spanish, French, etc. were also British people at that time and could not be shaken by the time being. There was no way, Widdle had to change his career as a pirate and relied on secretly looting merchant ships from other countries to make a living. In fact, it was not a change. It was very likely that he was a pirate. Those who could come from Britain to the sea of ​​East Asia were basically pirates, and they were very adventurous.

At that time, especially long-distance sea routes, were still very dangerous. Scurvy alone, I didn’t know how many sailors’ lives would be scrapped. If I were not a desperate person, I would not have come to East Asia with extreme desire for wealth. Of course, there were many people who made money and many people who died of misfortune. This was a game of betting on life. If I succeeded, I would have made a fortune and a house full of gold and silver. If I failed, I would have thrown into the sea and disappeared from then on.

Zhang Zhun stared at Seviara with a look of indifference and said bluntly: "You, or your father, have you washed many merchant ships passing by the Dutch?"

Seviara refused to answer.

Zhang Zhun said slowly: "You'd better answer honestly. The Dutch are waiting to negotiate with us. I don't mind handing you all over to the Dutch. I believe the Dutch will also give me a good price. Are you willing to answer my questions honestly, or are you willing to be handed over to the Dutch by me?"

Seviara's face changed and she had to grit her teeth and whisper: "Eight ships!"

Zhang Zhun asked suspiciously: "There are only eight ships?"

Seviara said affirmatively: "There are only eight ships!"

Seeing Zhang Zhun's suspicious gaze, Seviara felt a little guilty. The young man in front of him not only knew Charles I, but also Cromwell, and the Dutch. Only the ghost knew where he learned the news, and only the ghost knew whether he knew more. After a slight pause, Seviara had to continue saying: "Including the Oak Heart."

Zhang Zhun said slowly: "Is this ship special?"

Seviara said slowly: "It is a large Dutch merchant ship with a displacement of more than 2,300 tons. There is an important figure of the Dutch East India Company on the ship. He is a brigade general and was killed by my father."

Zhang Zhun looked deep and asked suspiciously: "Did you kill a brigadier general?"

Seviara said helplessly: "At the beginning, we didn't know. We were also confused at that time and did not recognize that the merchant ship was the heart of the oak. He was not wearing a uniform, but was killed by our guns. We didn't understand why he left quietly, not even the warships to guard. We speculated that it might be that there was something inside the Dutch East India Company that caused the brigade general to leave quietly."

"But all this has nothing to do with us. We don't care about the internal affairs of the Dutch. There were a lot of goods on his ship, worth at least 300,000 pounds. However, we didn't dare to ask for it, and they all poured into the sea. The Oak Heart was also sunk by us and sank to the bottom of the sea. We thought the Dutch wouldn't know, but later the Dutch knew it."

Zhang Zhun nodded thoughtfully.

This Saveyara's father is really a desperate person. He actually dared to kill a Dutch brigade general. Pirates baptized merchant ships and killed people and robbed people. However, killing a brigade general in the regular army has a completely different nature. This behavior is basically equivalent to a silent declaration of war. If the Dutch could swallow this, their title of maritime overlord would be a little shaky.

Therefore, it can be imagined that what followed Seviara and his father must have been desperately hunted by Dutch warships. No wonder these two Dutch warships had to chase here from Nanyang. They must have accepted the death orders of the senior executives of the Dutch East India Company, and in any case, they must completely eliminate these British people.

Sure enough, Seviara said bitterly: "We have suffered terrible pursuits from the Dutch, from South Asia to Formosa, from Formosa to Ryukyu, from Ryukyu to Japan, and from Japan to here. My father... and many others are already with the sea."

Zhang Zhun's eyes sank slightly. In this way, the Dutch's counterattack was still very fierce! Seviara's father and other sailors had been eliminated by the Dutch. It can be seen that the Dutch's combat effectiveness was still very strong. No wonder Seviara asked for her help. At this time, the only one who could provide her with shelter was the huge Ming Empire.

Yes, Seviara can only avoid the Dutch's pursuit if she comes up to land and leaves the ocean temporarily. Otherwise, although the sea in East Asia is large, she really has no place to escape. Compared with the Portuguese, the Dutch's power is indeed much greater. Their control over the sea is much stronger than that of the Portuguese.

Zhang Zhun didn't want to ask who is right and wrong among the Western powers. The matter between them was always the same dirty. The only thing Zhang Zhun was concerned about was what benefits he could get from this matter. Obviously, he would not get too much benefit from the Dutch, because at this time the Dutch were at its peak, and they would not take themselves seriously at all. Even if he put his hot butt on, the Dutch would not pay attention to it.

As Seviara said before, the wisdom of the Dutch was fully revealed on their unique big-bellied boats. They designed the deck of the cargo ship very small and the warehouses very large. Since most of the ports in the world were taxed according to the size of the deck at that time, the Dutch's trick greatly reduced the freight costs, allowing them to obtain a lot of business, and thus earn a lot of business.

However, the Dutch's design was clever after all, and could not maintain their long-term dominance. The nickname of the sea coachman, although it was a praising the Dutch's intelligence and hard work, was also a satirizing that the Dutch could only make some hard money by making a little bit of hard money, and in other places, it was useless. In fact, the Dutch's glory declined in less than a hundred years.

Of course, the Dutch at this moment were still very powerful, and no one could see any sign of their decline. As the national strength continued to grow, the Dutch's maritime hegemony gradually formed. Its claws gradually extended to the East Asian sea. While the Dutch came east, they set up a large number of strongholds in the coastal areas. From the distant Persia, Bangladesh, Malacca, Siam (Xianluo, Thailand), it stretched to Guangdong in the Ming Dynasty, and finally Formosa (Taiwan) and Japan.

In the 30th year of Wanli (1602 AD), the Dutch integrated colonial companies scattered across the country and established the headquarters of the East India Company in Jakarta. This East India Company is a bit like a semi-independent country. It can issue its own currency, have its own army, and start wars freely. In short, as long as it can transfer profits to the Netherlands, you can do anything.

In various parts of the Southeast Asian region, the Dutch East India Company has established a large number of strongholds. Each stronghold has an average of 25,000 Dutch people, of which at least 10,000 are sailors. They are the main force of the sea coachman. The number of troops is also more than 1,000. In the whole of Asia, the power of the Dutch is very powerful.

At that time, the Dutch East India Company was definitely the richest company in the world ever. It had a total of more than 150 large merchant ships with displacements of more than 1,000 tons and at least 40 large warships with displacements of more than 1,000 tons. There were countless other small and medium-sized merchant ships and warships. On the route between the South and the Atlantic Ocean, one of the three merchant ships must be flying the Dutch flag.

The most conservative estimate is that the entire Dutch East India Company has more than 50,000 employees and 10,000 private armed forces, and the company's investment yields is 40%. Apart from selling opium, nothing is higher than the investment yield of 40%. Later, the British East India Company went through all his might and could not surpass the glory of the Dutch.

When it comes to the Dutch, we have to talk about Taiwan. The reason why the red-haired ghosts, that is, the Dutch, were most familiar with the Ming people was that they had frequent disputes on the issue of Taiwan. Since the Apocalypse period, there have been many conflicts between the Ming and the Dutch on the issue of Taiwan. However, the Dutch eventually built a stronghold in southern Taiwan.

The purpose of the Dutch occupying Taiwan was to establish a trade hub for China, Japan, South Korea and Southeast Asian strongholds, and monopolize the trade between Manila (Spanish colony). The main export trade contents include sugar, deer skin, venison, antlers, vine, rice, and transportation trade contents include Dutch metals, medicinal materials, Batavian spices, pepper, amber, linen, cotton, opium, tin, lead, Chinese silk fabrics, pottery, gold, etc.

Taking deer skin as an example, in just four years from 1634 to 1638, the number of pieces exported from Taiwan to Japan increased from 110,000 to 150,000. By 1658, the output of Taiwan's sugar was enough to supply Japan and Persia's needs, and Batavia was added as the export object.

The Dutch East India Company has about 35 strongholds in Asia, and the Japanese strongholds made a profit of 38.8%, ranking first. The second place is Taiwan, which makes a profit of 25.6%. However, the Dutch East India Company’s profit in these places is mainly distributed to shareholders in the Netherlands, rather than giving back to local people or using local construction.

Even compared to a behemoth like the Ming Dynasty, the maritime power of the Dutch East India Company is still intimidating. Obviously, for Zhang Zhun, the Dutch were also a behemoth. What kind of concept is that more than 40 large warships with displacement of more than 1,000 tons have not been seen with their own eyes. It is really hard to imagine that for the North Koreans, the Great White Fleet of Twelve Sword Tooth Ships is enough to deter them.

Zheng Chenggong's successful recovery of Taiwan was closely related to the international situation at that time. Due to the continuous war between Britain and the Netherlands and the continuous defeat of the Netherlands, the warships and personnel of the Dutch East India Company had to be transferred some of them to Europe to participate in the war, and their strength was greatly weakened. For this reason, the Dutch had to give up many overseas colonies, including Taiwan.

Otherwise, with the peak strength of the Dutch East India Company, even if Zheng Chenggong successfully recovers Taiwan, the Dutch would make a comeback. Zheng Chenggong's fleet did not have warships with a displacement of more than 1,000 tons at all. It would be strange if he could hold on to the crazy counterattack of the Dutch fleet.

Zhang Zhun glanced at Seviara and said meaningfully: "The Dutch refused to let you go. You are one of their brigadier generals!"

Seviara understood what Zhang Zhun meant and hurriedly said, "As long as you can drive away the Dutch, we will repay you."

Zhang Zhun said indifferently: "How to repay me?"

Seviara said calmly: "What do you want?"

Zhang Zhun thought for a moment and said slowly: "Do you understand the technology of cannon?"

Seviara immediately said, "Brother General, you just talk about our strengths. You want to talk about other things. We British may not be as good as the cunning Dutch vendors, but when it comes to the casting of cannons, we British are definitely ranked first. Don't look at the Dutch people who are very powerful. They just rely on a little bit of cunning to win huge profits. Their cannons are not as good as ours."

In order to prove his judgment, Seviara said quickly: "Look, my father's warship has a displacement of only 800 tons and only twenty-four twelve-pound cannons. The Oak Heart has more than ten 18-pound cannons, but their combat effectiveness is not as good as ours. In less than two hours of the battle, we successfully climbed onto the deck of the Oak Heart."

Zhang Zhun nodded and said slowly: "You swear to the Virgin Mary that you will tell us everything you know. If you violate your oath, you will never be able to go back to England."

He believed in Seviara's statement. The British at that time were indeed ahead in terms of machinery, especially in cannon casting. In order to compete for the position of maritime overlord, the British did spare no effort to improve the power of cannons and study the combat methods of naval battles. The Dutch eventually failed under the fierce artillery fire of the British and under the linear queue.
Chapter completed!