Chapter 759： I want to be toast

The three ships left the port of Guangzhou, and after exiting the Pearl River estuary, they did not go south, but turned eastward ...

Originally, when leaving Guangzhou Port, the Malacca messenger Najib also asked Columbus to wait for them. Because, the craftsmen they want to explore and smelt tin ore have not yet arrived.

The craftsmen of the Ming Dynasty were really miserable, like a slave. After receiving the national credentials of the craftsmen of the Malacca Sultan Mahmoud who supported the exploration and smelting of tin mines, they did not have to wait for the approval of the Beijing division.

However, there is no such talent under the Guangdong Chief Secretary, nor is there a large-scale tin mine. However, the Pingle House in Guangxi (now the area of ​​Hezhou, Guangxi) next to Guangdong Province is Daming's most important tin-producing region.

The Guangdong Chief Secretary and the Guangxi Chief Secretary are not very familiar, but they are familiar with Chen Jin who is also the Governor of Guangdong and Guangxi and the Governor of Guangdong. As a result, Shen Rui, the governor of Zuobu in Guangdong, directly asked Chen Jin to get some artisans to explore and smelt tin mines in Pinglefu.

As the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, Chen Jin did not intervene in specific local government affairs. However, it is nominally the boss of officials from Guangdong and Guangxi. Therefore, it is no problem to get a few craftsmen to Pingle House. So, Chen Jin promised to come down. To this end, Najib also gave Chen Jin several large pearls. As a maritime country, there are not many other Malacca, and pearls are not lacking. The unlucky craftsman, who had no say, was directly sold by the masters. In the opinion of Daming civil servants, the craftsman is just a group of working slaves.

However, getting some craftsmen from Pingle House did not come so fast. It is estimated that it will take a long time for a set of processes to go down. Therefore, Najib has to wait for a while. At the same time, Najib also hoped that Columbus's fleet could wait for him and wait for him to return to Malacca.

However, the Columbus fleet has another mission. What is their task? It turned out that before departure, Marin asked the Columbus fleet to look for the East Island (also known as the Taiwan Island in later generations).

Why are you looking for Taiwan? Naturally, I want to set up a trade transfer station on the island!

At present, the island of Taiwan has not yet been developed, and it is desolate. The Daming Dynasty also did not pay attention to the interests of the sea, and actively gave up Dongfan Island and contracted its power to Penghu Island, mainly to monitor the Taiwan Sea Channel. Ignore Dongfan Island.

Marin has never been able to understand why the Ming Dynasty ignored the island of Dongfan. You said you don't pay much attention to island development. Qiongdao has been developed for a long time, and the Qiongzhou House was also established in the Ming Dynasty. Taiwan Island is larger than Qiong Island, and there are more plains on the southwest coast, which is very suitable for development. Therefore, Marin does not understand this.

However, this is also cheaper Marin. The location of Taiwan Island is very important. Facing Daming Hujian Province directly here is conducive to starting trade with Daming. In addition, from the northern part of Taiwan Island, along the Ryukyu Islands, you can also reach Japan. Moreover, it is very convenient to go to Southeast Asia from here.

Therefore, Dongfan Island is simply an excellent transit point for maritime trade. As a result, after the Dutch occupied Taiwan, they started a prosperous maritime trade with Daming and Japan, which prospered for a while. If it were not for the success of the powerful Zheng Chenggong, the Dutch's maritime trade might continue to flourish.

In fact, no matter whether it is the Ming Dynasty or the Qing Dynasty, they don't pay much attention to Dongfan Island, even ignorance. In the early years of the Ming Dynasty, Taiwan Island was called Little Ryukyu. In fact, this so-called little Ryukyu is 9 times larger than the real Ryukyu country ...

The Manchus did not pay much attention to the island. The reason why Shi Lang reunified Taiwan was because there were a large number of Ming dynasties on the island. Kang Mazi didn't worry, so Shi Lang took them back and took care of them.

After taking back the island, Manqing actually left the island directly there. This also led to that until the late 19th century, the island only developed the west coast and northern areas. As for the east coast, there is not much development.

Exactly, Marin needs an opportunity to trade with Daming. However, because there is no other Daming vassal state in Beihai to prove its existence, and Daming ’s civil servants will never be in danger.

Therefore, Marin's plan was to first occupy the island and establish a land state similar to the "Big Belly Kingdom". Then, in the name of the Tuban chief, he requested to be attached to Daming. If it can be sealed as a vassal state, it is best, if not, Marin intends to apply directly to become the chieftain of Daming, and directly incorporate Taiwan into the territory of Daming.

The toast system is a very special system, similar to later autonomous regions. However, it is more autonomous than the autonomous region. Because the official position of the chieftain is hereditary. In addition, the imperial court's management of the toast was particularly laissez-faire. Even the tax paid by the toast is very small, much lower than the tax paid in Hanmin. Even, at the very beginning, how much tax the toast had to pay was all declared by the toast. Let you report the tax amount yourself, can you overstate it? Therefore, the toast tax is very small. Of course, the toasts in the Shaomin area in the southwest, where most of the people are mountain people, live in villages, and they are indeed poor, with little money to pay taxes. It is not popular to travel to Shaomin Shanzhai this year, so the Southwest Zhaizi at that time was very poor. Even if the Ming Dynasty wanted to collect more taxes, it was impossible.

The biggest difference between the chieftain system and later autonomous regions is probably "autonomy of their soldiers." In other words, as a toast, you have actual military power. Therefore, the toast's rights are larger than those of the princes. Of course, this cannot be compared. Because the lords of the Ming Dynasty were raised as pigs, and they had no rights at all.

With military power and autonomy, the chieftain is basically equivalent to an independent kingdom. However, compared with North Korea, Ryukyu and other vassals, the rank of the chieftain is much lower. The king of North Korea is the prince, the king of Ryukyu is the king of the county, and they are all kings of superb quality. Those chieftains were generally hereditary officials and other official positions, much lower than the king.

In addition, the difference between the toast and the vassal state is to pay tribute while paying a small amount of tax. Those overseas vassals, in addition to being closer, can pay tribute once every two to three years or even five years. However, because the toast belongs to the Daming Territory, it is required to pay tribute once a year or every two years.

The reason for this is that the court loves face, fearing that the tributary's vassals will come in too few numbers to get the "Wang Banglai Zhao" stance. For the feudal dynasty, this is very embarrassing. Therefore, it is the best way to let those low-level toasts come together.

Even some leaders of the Shaomin who occupy only a few villages can be called toasts. If you bring these toasts with soy sauce to the Beijing Normal University Conference, you can really have a big one. So many people are bustling, together with the fancy dress, it can really bring out the illusion of "coming from all countries". For this reason, the Ming Dynasty urged these toasts who paid tribute very diligently. Of course, these toasts will never be disadvantaged. Often these poor toasts bring mountain goods to Beijing, but when they go back, they are full of satin satin ...

However, the biggest advantage of the toast is that they can freely trade with Daming. Because, legally speaking, the toast is Daming's territory. Daming businessmen go to the jurisdiction of the toast, or people of the toast go to the Hanmin area to trade, and they are more free without going abroad. At most, some protection fees were blackmailed by those officials. Unlike those vassals, fixed-point trade is generally allowed only when they come to pay tribute. However, the tribute is at most once a year, how can this satisfy Marin's appetite?

Therefore, Marin's plan is to occupy Taiwan Island and apply for the toast of Daming as much as possible. As long as it became Daming's toast, then Taiwan Island is considered domestic. At that time, there will be no restrictions on trade.

Therefore, the purpose of Columbus's trip is to "discover" Taiwan Island. Then, record the latitude and longitude coordinates. When the Panamanian road is repaired and Panama City is built, you can use Panama City as a starting point to reach Taiwan and occupy Taiwan through the historical route used by the "Manila Sailing Trade". Then, with the entire island of Taiwan, he requested to be attached to Daming and become a toast. Once you become an "own person", it is very convenient to buy materials. After all, the opposite bank is Quanzhou ...

Even, the destination of Columbus's trip, Marin has already arranged-Sheliao Island of Keelung (that is, part of the Peace Island in later generations).

The reason for being here is that there are many considerations. First, Marin contacted Daming in the future and planned to use the Pacific route. Keelung faces the Pacific Ocean and is a very suitable port.

In addition, Marin also intends to send troops to control Japan in the future, at least to occupy Ishigami Silver Mountain. Therefore, it is most appropriate to use Keelung as a springboard.

In addition to these two factors, there are two other factors that are also very important. First, there is a super-large gold mine "Jinguashi Gold Mine" in Jinguashi, east of Keelung. Generally, gold mines with reserves of dozens of tons of gold can be regarded as extra-large gold mines. The gold reserves of Jinguashi Gold Mine are estimated to be more than 500 tons, and the taste is very high.

The second point is also very important-that is, Sheliao Island, north of Keelung, is separate from this island. The establishment of the first stronghold here can avoid attacks by indigenous people on this island ...

You know, the indigenous people on Taiwan Island are very fierce ~ www.novelhall.com ~ Especially the Gaoshan tribes (compared to the Pingpu tribes) are the best at jungle warfare.

If you land directly on the island, it is easy to be disturbed by the indigenous people day and night. The Dutch colonized Taiwan and almost suffered a big loss from the beginning. Later, the Dutch colonists saw that the indigenous people were too fierce, and still used deception to "buy" a large area before building a strong castle in Tainan as a stronghold. Only then did he gain a firm foothold on Taiwan Island.

Later, the Spanish also colonized Taiwan Island. They are also smarter: they directly occupied the pirate Sheliao Island at the mouth of the Keelung River, and built a castle on Sheliao Island. Sheliao Island is not connected to the land, and directly faces the Keelung River, there is no shortage of fresh water. Therefore, the choice of Spaniards is also very good.

In addition, Marin needs to consider factors such as the Pacific route, the occupation of Japan, and the development of the gold mine. Therefore, Marin decided to learn Spanish and build a castle directly on Sheliao Island. Then, when the strength is enough, then conquer the island.

After conquering the island, then apply to become the master of the toast ...

Therefore, when Columbus came to Taiwan this time, the main purpose was to find Sheliao Island. After finding it, record the latitude and longitude coordinates, so that the fleet departing from Panama City can find this island ... With the coordinates, even if it deviates from the route, it can be corrected ...