1. Zheng Zhilong - the leader of overseas trade
After several years of war and the imperial court's explicit prohibition of going abroad, the foreign trade activities that used to flourish in the past of the port of Yueyue have declined in silence.
In response to the changes in the times, Anhai in Quanzhou Province began to show new vitality. Became an important trading port in the late Ming Dynasty, which is obviously related to Zheng Zhilong, Zheng is the forty-three shijing people of Nan'an County, Quanzhou Province, Anhai is also known as Shijingjin, in the southern Weitou Bay of Quanzhou, the entrance has Shijing, Baisha and the two Australian east-west confrontation, here will be the Southern Song Dynasty when the sea ships entered Quanzhou, the official tax office, in fact, in this bay are hai'ao good port, such as Dongshi is Zheng's early follow Li Xi (Li Dan) to the sea trade office.
When Zheng Zhilong controlled the overall coastal situation, the imperial court's ban on the sea was still not lifted, and the scenery of Hai chengyue Port was no longer there, and An Hai was Zheng Zhilong's base. His mansion was built in Anping City, so the An bay area became the logistics base for Zheng Zhilong's maritime trade, and the Zheng family became the host of foreign trade.
In 1631, the Dutch tried to invade Anhai and Xiamen again to trade, which caused more trouble, and the merchants had to escape by Rongke ship, and because the merchant ship gang had been eliminated, the Ming Dynasty regained control of the coastal situation and imposed a sea ban. Of course, dutch ships could not be allowed to trade ashore, and the dutch fleet commander Pantmanns felt helpless and worried, and they could only wait for the Chinese Junker ships to trade in Taiwan. The company's goods such as pepper are difficult to sell at a price of 100 catties per 100 catties, which is of course not the way, they continue to ask Zheng Zhilong to perform the contract signed, and Zheng Zhilong revealed in a meeting with the Dutch chief commercial officer Traus that he has obtained six licenses from the military gate (that is, the inspector) to allow merchants to freely go to Taiwan to trade. Two of them have been handed over to merchants, and the other four will be distributed to Zhangzhou maritime merchants trusted by the Dutch.
However, there was a proviso that the goods brought by the merchants should be purchased at the price they requested, and the quality of the goods should be purchased together, otherwise they would no longer trade with the Dutch. Traunners complained about The Conditions imposed by Zheng Zhilong, arguing that such an approach would not only turn into a forced transaction, but would obviously cause the company to suffer a lot of losses as a result.
In fact, trade in Taiwan was still stagnant, and the Dutch often secretly traded near Xiamen in Junker boats, and at the end of 1631, notices prohibiting trade with the Dutch were posted in Xiamen. The Dutch governor, Putmans, decided to send "the chief commercial officer, Traus, with six thousand lilles (small Spanish silver coins) and a hundred lille gifts, to An Hai to see the mother of a first officer (Zheng Zhilong) to see if, by this method, there could be a trade there." ”
During this period, Traunes traveled back and forth between Taiwan and Anhai, maintaining trade relations between China and the Netherlands. In early 1632, the representative sent to Anhai met with Zheng Zhilong, who had returned from a foreign country, and Zheng Zhilong said excitedly:
"Why is it that a merchant does not bring goods to the big man, and it is the work of the Dutch? Since the Dutch bought only some of the goods and returned the rest to the merchants, the merchants did not like the big man and went to the enemy of the Dutch (the Spaniards), who bought all the goods and gave them greater benefits than the Dutch. ”
He also mentioned that in order for the Dutch to "come to China for free trade, it had been so suspicious of the high officials that it was necessary to give more than five thousand taels of silver to those people every year in order to maintain their friendship." In contrast, he did not get any benefit from the company. From 1632 to 1633, Chinese ships to trade in Taiwan did not appear; on the contrary, the chief merchant Traunnius stayed on the Fujian coast to buy Chinese goods, and the governor, Pantmanns, could not wait, and he would personally lead the Dutch ships to Kinmen and Quanzhou for trade.
According to the Diary of Zeelandia on 6 September 1632, Zheng Zhilong warned the Dutch:
In order to avoid the suspicion of the high officials and cause disaster, please do not send the Junker ship to Ishii, nor do we take a speedboat to anchor along the Kinmen coast, but we must trade in The Island of Da dandi, but it is better to go back to the big staff and wait for the merchants to transport goods to trade, so that it is better for the company.
Most of the merchants who traded with the Dutch at sea at that time came from Anhai or were related to Zheng Zhilong. It can be seen that at that time, Anhai gradually replaced the trade status of Haichengyue Port.
2. Liu Xiang - the new maritime challenger
However, An Hai's trade activities were illegal and could be tacitly allowed to be carried out when Governor Xiong Wencan was in charge, and he seemed to be suspected of collecting benefits. The Biography of Ming Shi Xiong Wencan says that he was "an official, a long-lived official, a large number of goods, and a treasure to bind Chinese and foreign powers." In March of the fifth year of Chongzhen (1632), Zou Weilian was appointed as the governor of Fujian, and he entered Fujian on the third day of the first month of June (July 19) of the same year.
For him, Fujian is a revisit in the old land, and he will serve as the Governor of Yanping during the Wanli Calendar, so he has some understanding of the local folk customs, Yiqing and coastal defense. When Zou Weilian arrived in Fujian, Zheng Zhilong had just completed a task of suppressing mountain thieves, and it turned out that in the first month of the fourth year of Chongzhen, Kou Chen Wan of Guangdong Mountain was based on Jiulian Mountain, and Zhong Lingxiu was based on the copper drum ridge as a nest, all of which were cliffs and cliffs, leaning on each other's horns, tens of thousands of party disciples, and a group of rebellions, and the imperial court ordered the three provinces of Guangdong, Fujian, and Jiangxi to join forces to suppress them.
In August of this year, Minfu Xiong Wencan led zheng zhilong to lead two thousand troops to support Zheng Zhihu, and in the first month of the fifth year of Chongzhen, Chen Wan and Zhong Lingxiu were successively captured and scattered, and when they attacked the mountain thieves this time, the Zheng Zhilong brothers performed well, the so-called "water master on the sea, exploring the tiger's den in the mountains, driving straight to the ground, like the courage of Lu Liang, and the indignation of the Shu gods." Zheng Zhilong was also promoted to guerrilla general because of this, and around May, Zhong Lingxiu's party again used warships to cause chaos in Haicheng, Taihe and other places, and the coastal emergency, Zheng Zhilong withdrew to defeat them.
At this time, Jiangxi Liukou became increasingly fierce, and the new inspector Zou Weilian once again transferred Zheng Zhilong to lead 1,500 troops into Jiangxi to support. In September of the same year, the newly rising Haikou Liu Xiang, with thousands of thieves and 170 ships, directly attacked the town of Min'an, burning and robbing. The provincial city was shaken by this, and Zou Weilian did not dare to hesitate, and immediately left Zheng Zhilong, who had not yet set out, to break the door.
Liu Xiang was a newly assembled maritime force after Li Kuiqi and Zhong Bin, and it was reported that more than 10,000 party members and more than 200 warships were running rampant in the three provinces of Guangdong, Fujian, and Zhejiang, becoming a major worry in the southeast. In June of the fifth year of Chongzhen (1632), he began to invade the pavilion of Wenzhou Prefecture in Zhejiang Province, when Zou Weilian, the new governor of Fujian, had just arrived, and immediately asked Zheng Zhilong to be the main general in charge of suppressing pirates. After three months, the Fujian army built a total of 40 warships, recruited 2,000 elite soldiers from the sea, and produced armaments such as gunpowder, more than 10,000 pieces of armaments, and 500 guns. When the Fujian Marine Division was preparing to go to Zhejiang to suppress Haikou, Liu Xiang suddenly attacked Fuzhou on the tenth day of October, surrounded Xiaocheng and attacked Dinghai, declaring a decisive battle with Zheng Zhilong.
On October 19, Zheng led the water division north, and on the 26th, a battle broke out with Liu Xiang in Xiaocheng, and it was said that Liu Xiang was burned to death, and Zheng Zhilong was the hero of this battle. In fact, Liu Xiang is still not dead. When the Fujian marine division attacked Xiaocheng, Liu Immediate sailed straight to the Jinpan area of Wenzhou, Zhejiang, and began to attack Wenzhou, Taizhou, Ningbo and other places in November. Inspector Xiao Yifu of Zhejiang reported: "The drama thief Liu Xiang has corrected nearly 10,000 people and joined more than 200 criminals. Inspector Su Song also reported that "the coastal area was very badly damaged." It can be seen from this that Liu Xiang's strength has not collapsed, and he is still plundering along the coast of Zhejiang, Fujian and Guangdong provinces.
3. The fuse of the Battle of Luo Bay
The Dutch in Taiwan are well aware of military activities along the Fujian coast. In May 1632, the Diary of batavia City recorded the pirate Liu Xiang's attack on Xiamen, killing and burning houses. In November of the same year, it was mentioned that the pirate Liu Xiang had retreated to the north, and Zheng Zhilong expanded his forces to pursue fuzhou.
From 1630 to 1632, Zheng Zhilong's main efforts were to fight against the betrayers Zhong Bin, mountain thief Zhong Lingxiu, and Haikou Liu Xiang, and the trade contract signed with the Dutch governor Pantmanns could be said to be unfulfillable, and most of the Sino-Dutch trade in this period was carried out by barges on the coast of Zhangzhou and Quanzhou.
Of course, this is all abnormal trade activities, and most of them are monopoly trade controlled by the Zheng family. It was dangerous for Dutch ships to dock for trade, but there were indeed Dutch shore activities, and the Diary of Theranjay City recorded that the chief merchant Trauns frequented Anhai and could be said to be the Dutch commercial representative in Anhai.
The fact that the Dutch dared to appear in Anhai was obviously the result of Zheng Zhilong's protection and the connivance of Inspector Xiong Wencan, and the new Inspector Zou Weilian could not tolerate such collusion. He once impeached Zheng Zhilong for indulging in the crime, and strictly ordered Zheng Zhilong to break off relations with the Dutch.
In April 1633, when the governor Putmans returned to Batavia to report on his duties, he stated:
"Due to the strict prohibition and close surveillance, it is no longer possible to trade in Quanzhou (Zhangzhou). An official completely refused to trade. So, Putmans suggests, "Free trade must begin with force ... If the coast is forced by artillery fire and swords, it should be able to obtain free trade under good conditions. ”
Apparently, Putmans had forgotten the lesson of the Dutch being forced to destroy the city and leave Penghu, and tried to exert military pressure to force China to open up trade while China was dealing with Liu Xiang. After returning to Taiwan, Putmans appeared in the coastal area of Fujian, apparently inspecting and deploying.
On July 7, 1633, Putmans ordered "to fight against China with the fiercest and with the least amount of bloodshed." The Dutch also contacted Liu Xiang and Li Guosuke (known as Li Dashe), the son of Li Dan, who was active in Japan, to jointly attack China.
4. Dutch raids
In fact, the Dutch fleet had already begun to invade South Australia on the first day of June of the sixth year of Chongzhen (July 6, 1633), and then attacked the Central Left Institute (Xiamen). At that time, Zheng Zhilong had just returned from Guangdong, shelved the ship to wash and prepare for the Northern Expedition to Liu Xiang. Quannan guerrilla Zhang Yongchan suppressed the ship in Quanzhou cuisine. Due to the surprise attack of the Dutch, which caught the Ming army by surprise, most of the warships under Zheng Zhang'er's command were destroyed.
Zheng Zhilong seemed reluctant to go to war with the Dutch, and merchants from An Hai and representatives of the Zheng clan shuttled back and forth in an attempt to resolve the conflict.
The Dutch, while threatening by force, offered conditions for reconciliation, including:
Our only purpose is to succeed in Zhangzhouhe, Anhai, Dayuan, Batavia, and to trade freely with all people, as we have promised before;
For this purpose, we will be able to build a very strong building on Gulangyu Island, where we can trade and secure our goods;
Therefore, we must also have eight or ten people who can freely trade in Haicheng, Zhangzhou, Anhai, Quanzhou, and other neighboring areas at the same time, without hindrance;
At that time, our ships will also be able to moor without interference at Gulangyu Island, Xiamen, Lieyu Island, Huanyu Island and other excellent mooring places;
As for China being attacked by us at war, that is entirely the punishment they deserve, and they are to blame themselves. Year after year, they deceive us with lies, prevaricate us, prevent us from enjoying free trade, but instead subject us to heavy burdens and huge expenses.
The Putmans did not understand China at all, thinking that in this way they could intimidate the Ming Dynasty and monopolize China's foreign trade as they pleased, and as a result, the conditions they set out did not receive a positive response from Zheng Zhilong and the Fujian inspectors, and in fact the Fujian authorities could not accept such an agreement under the threat of war.
Earlier, when the imperial court discussed the "opening of the foreign world and the mutual market" proposed by the "Hongyi City", Ming Sizong was dissatisfied with the minister of the DPRK and the Central Government that "whether the opening of the ocean should be opened or not, and there was no definite discussion", especially some people said that "it is advisable to Luzon, not Taiwan" which made him even more puzzled, and ordered a detailed investigation of the interests and harms of the opening of the ban. The opening of ships to Trade in Taiwan was almost a foregone conclusion, but unfortunately, the idea of opening the ocean had not been implemented, and the Dutch had already launched a war, and everything was too late to recover. The imperial court was very concerned about Hongyi's attack on the Center Left Institute, and rebuked the inspector Zou Weilian for "playing with the difference, as well as Zheng Zhilong, Zhang Yongchan and others who neglected to prevent and fail." As a result, Zheng Zhang and Zheng Zhang were each demoted one level and atone for their sins.
In order to ease the tense situation and deal with the criticism of the imperial court. From August 22 to September 10, the officers stationed in Haicheng sent representatives to negotiate with the Dutch, demanding that all Dutch ships leave the coast and go to Taiwan, waiting for the emperor's instructions. The Dutch, on the other hand, demanded free trade on the terms set out above.
Zou Weilian arrived in Zhangzhou on August 12 (September 14), first communicating with Zheng Zhilong and knowing his righteousness, because he understood that Zheng Zhilong's relationship with the Dutch was not shallow, and without Zheng's cooperation, it would be impossible to deal with Hongyi.
He pushed Zheng Zhilong's heart to push Xu Zhilong is a generous man, making Zheng Zhilong determined to fight. On September 13, Inspector Zou Weilian personally went to Haicheng to prepare for a decisive battle with the Netherlands.
Due to the revival of morale, in the Battle of Cherola Bay, the Ming army had shaken off the decline of several years ago, so that the Dutch policy of forcing merchants by war failed again.
5. Battle of Luo Bay
On September 15, the sixth year of Chongzhen (1633), Zheng Zhilong learned in Ushatou that nine Hongyi splint ships and more than fifty Liu Xiang thief ships had migrated from the north to the south, so he made a battle book about the Dutch decisive battle. On September 20 (October 22), the Dutch ships arrived at Luo from Weitou, and the Ming Dynasty sailors appeared and began to attack the Dutch ships.
The Diary of Zeelandia records the war:
Fifteen minutes before dawn... The Chinese fleet appeared, divided into two teams. Its strength is about 140-150 Junker ships, of which about 50 are particularly large warships... They looked, equipped with quite cannons and soldiers, and were highly motivated and eager to try, convincing us that they were all combat Junker ships...
At this moment they leaned toward us separately, and three of them simultaneously hooked the speedboat Brouckerhaven, and one of them immediately set fire to their own people without any consideration, and as frantically, fiercely, absurdly, furiously, without fear of the cannons, rifles and flames, they immediately burned the stern of the speedboat... The speedboat Slooterdijck was caught by four of their largest Junker boats, jumped into the boat, and twice knocked the Chinese out of the boat, but was finally broken by the large number of Chinese who jumped in and was taken away by them...
We led several other warships, took the trouble to get rid of the very many fire ships, and fled outside... By this defeat, our strength has weakened to the point where nothing can be done on the coast of China.
According to the Diary of batavia, about a hundred Dutch were captured. This time, the Dutch plan to force the merchants to fight was completely defeated, which can be said to be a heavy loss.
According to Zou Weilian's reporting achievements:
"One hundred and eighteen of the family planners, twenty of the Yi class, five giant ships of the Burning Yi Clip Edition, one Giant Ship of the Yi Clipper Edition, and more than fifty of the Yi Thief Boats." Armor, swords, compasses, charts, etc. are all preserved. And the corpses of the dead before and after were dragged away, and those who failed to cut the grade were tired and difficult to count, and did not dare to tell. ”
The Chinese record should include pirates who cooperated with the Dutch. That is to say, after the Battle of Luo, the strength of the Dutch and Liu Xiang has been weakened. On March 15, 1634, Liu Xiang reappeared at Zhangzhou River and engaged the Ming army, and then turned to Penghu in an attempt to join forces with the Dutch against Zheng Zhilong; the Dutch were wary of him and wanted him to leave Penghu, while Liu Xiang once attacked Taiwan and failed to leave.
Subsequently, Liu Xiangchuan's gang appeared in the Fujian-Guanghai Sea, but its power gradually declined.
6. Obviously, is it the Great Victory that the Inspector was deposed?
After the Battle of Luoluo, Zheng Zhilong was restored to his original post, and the inspector Zou Weilian was dismissed from his post and returned home, and Zou Weilian confirmed that he had been dismissed on the eleventh day of November 1633 of the sixth year of Chongzhen. As for the reasons for Zou Weilian's dismissal, the History of Ming clearly says:
"When the country's gentle and benevolent generations were jealous of Wei Lian, while the Min people's eunuchs and eunuchs slandered Yu Chao, they actually sat down and dismissed officials."
Some scholars believe that it is the result of Zheng Zhilong's "multi-party discord", but from a historical point of view, this is related to the vitriolic character of Ming Sizong, who is very unforgiving to the Dutch who suddenly invaded South Australia and the Central Left Institute in June this year, causing the Boat Division to be frustrated.
He accused Zou Weilian of:
"As a feudal lord, the power is very heavy, and He Yunren is slightly indifferent? And since we are aware of the events, that is, we should strictly supervise the generals and prepare for the imperial court, will they be able to guard against mistakes and adorn their words, so that they can be relieved of their responsibilities?"
Ming Sizong was an authoritative emperor, and he did not understand the complicated situation along the coast at all, and certainly could not understand the powerlessness of a foreign inspector. The Chongzhen Emperor had already decided that Zou Weilian was "playing with the difference" and was deliberating on the affairs of the officials, so when the Luo Jie newspaper reached the imperial court, Ming Sizong did not have any joy, and was not pleased with Zou Weilian's words in the song Jie's draft, saying that "the subject goes to the sea, the january is completed, the teacher is not old and the wealth is not poor, and the speakers all know: Fujian and Guangdong have their own Hongyi, and for decades, this Jiechuang has heard the saying that he is not pleased." ”
What Ming Sizong wanted to see was the responsibility of Hongyi's intrusion into the Center Left Office earlier, and inspector Yushi Lu Zhenfei, the inspector of Fujian, was responsible for this investigation:
In his report, he mentioned that Cheng Yinglin, the deputy commander-in-chief of Dai Sin, had no merit to stand up for, but "Fuyuan saw that he could lead the masses to fight, so he listed his name among the meritorious deeds"; Tang Rizhao captured sixteen foreign yi, and the more fuyuan was a hundred miles away, it was reported that they were reported to be reported, and it was not clear that these sixteen foreign yi were originally Xiangshan Aoyi (Portuguese) who had drifted into fujian because of the wind; it was also said that Cheng Yinglin covered up his crime and risked merit, and "Fuchen Zou Weilian rewarded those who were confident from time to time, and when they saw the report, they were reported to be rewarded with 2,000 gold and scattered rewards." If it were not for the Daoist Shi Bangyao's strength to stop it, he would have been deceived by his bare hands. ”
None of the things stated in this investigation report were important events, but in the eyes of Ming Sizong, it was determined that Zou Weilian lacked the ability to serve as an inspector, and he was stingy about his contribution to the country, which was also the root of the lack of strength in the late Ming Dynasty.
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