From the end of Jiajing to the era of great pirates

Although Xiong Tingbi had doubts, he did not wait long. Seeing that winter was approaching, he left the warships injured in the previous naval battle in Penghu, and then Yang Fan headed south to Malacca.

The first one to go was the Kingdom of Siam. Although Wanli’s explanation was not very clear, but the emperor was secretly planning to kill him, Lao Xiong was not polite. He called the officials of the Kingdom of Siam and made a furious accusation. Scared half to death.Mainly, they had also seen Xiyi's ships and felt that they were not as big as the ships of the Ming Dynasty fleet. If they suddenly came to ask questions, they must have nodded and bowed and said what they said.

I heard that the Celestial Empire was going to station troops in Malacca to ward off the invasion of the Western Barbarians. The Siamese were even more eager to do so. At least it would be much more convenient to seek help.The Heavenly Soldiers of the Ming Dynasty are in Malacca, and if there is a Toungoo dynasty in Myanmar that is desperate for expansion, I don't have to almost destroy the country, just call the Heavenly Soldiers to beat him, and the same goes for those Western barbarians.

So, Lao Xiong was welcomed and sent off with gongs and drums here in Siam, and the moral issues in Malacca were resolved, and the journey to Malacca went smoothly.

In fact, Lao Xiong passed by here before when we visited Myanmar.At that time, there was still a melee between Portugal, Johor, and Aceh, so they didn't dare to stop him after seeing his formation.Now the combined forces of Portugal and Johor have the upper hand, but the Kingdom of Aceh is keeping a close eye on it. When they heard that the Ming Dynasty was coming to take over the place, the Portuguese were easy to talk to and gave in directly.

The Kingdom of Johor didn't really want to give in, but looking at the thousands of cannons on Lao Xiong's more than 40 warships, it still gave in. However, the Kingdom of Aceh was a little ready to make a move.

Both kingdoms were built by Arab sultans. Lao Xiong ignored them. He occupied the land and began to build fortresses. He used cement brought from the Zheng family. He built a fortress in Malacca and across the strait. There are ports where ships can berth.The 18-pound cannon on the ship was unloaded, and the two forts were transformed into forts, and construction began. Lao Xiong felt that this place seemed to be a good place to buy passage money, so he sent another letter to Wanli.

My brother-in-law is quite tired looking for money all day long. Isn’t it great to collect the money for traveling?And it’s a capitalless transaction.

It took a long time for Wanli to reply, but Old Bear would not be alone. The Dutch messenger arrived soon.

The governor-general of East India at the time was Peterson Queen. He was an ambitious guy. It was he who formulated the strategy against the Ming Dynasty at that time.But Lei Yeshan's fiasco shocked him. He never imagined that the Ming Dynasty actually had more advanced sea ships. From Lei Yeshan's description, they seemed to be superior to those of the Netherlands.

This had to be discussed in the long run, but before long, he received news that the Ming army had occupied Malacca, seemed to be building a fortress there, and seemed to have the idea of ​​​​stationing there for a long time, which surprised him even more.

He had long been determined to capture this gateway to Southeast Asia. The Netherlands had attacked once the year before last, but due to insufficient troops, he could not cope with the joint defense of the three parties for a while, so he had to look for another opportunity.Now that the Ming army came, he began to panic.This not only represents the bankruptcy of his entire East Asia strategy, but also puts the newly acquired Nanyang in danger.

He had just received Lei Yeshan's letter of defeat and request for help at that time. He had not yet thought of how to deal with it, so he could only send an inquiring letter first to test the general's tone.Later, he submitted a note, hoping to meet with Xiong Tingbi to discuss the future of East Asian trade and the future of Nanyang.

Xiong Tingbi received his test letter and ignored it at all. His mission was to wipe out the Western Barbarians in Nanyang. The Portuguese before were more sensible and just killed all the others. They had not seen them when they opened a shipping company in Macau before. He said, "You don't have to fight, you just need to pay a toll."All others were beaten to death and brought down.

When the Dutch submitted the formal documents, it would be hard for him to disappear. At least he had to let them know why he was beaten. This is the magnanimity of the heaven.

Lao Xiong decided to announce it in person.

Peterson came, but he never expected that General Ming would just announce the result to him.

"The captives can be returned to you, but you have to promise not to harass our Ming Dynasty waters again. Penghu, Wanwan, and Macau are among them. But it doesn't matter if you go again. If you go again, Malacca will ban your country's ships." Passing by, here, I'll show you the layout here. If you think you can conquer it, it's okay to give it a try." Old Bear directly took Peterson to the construction site and showed him the unfinished fortress. , and the fleet anchored in the port.

Peterson's eyes were fixed on Old Bear's fleet as if they were glued to it.

The current number of more than 40 ships has exceeded the total number of Dutch ships in Southeast Asia.Are all previous missionaries stupid?If the Ming Dynasty had such a fleet, how could they still be ignorant natives?Even if the Netherlands comes out in force, they may not be able to defeat them.And who can guarantee that this is the entire Ming fleet?

He felt there was nothing left to negotiate.The other party directly gave you an ultimatum, and Malacca won't give you a break no matter how much you tease, so now are you bargaining with the other party and asking for less tolls?

We were the ones who attacked this place first, but Ming Dynasty does not respect martial ethics!

He left here with all kinds of sorrow in his heart. Peterson had to go back quickly to summon his staff to discuss the matter.

Old Xiong became interested in this kind of show off in front of the Western barbarians, and then he invited the governors of Spain and Portugal to reiterate the toll issue again, which was very satisfying.

As for how the other party will respond, he doesn't care. At worst, they can just gang up and fight, which saves me having to go to various islands to catch them.

To guard Malacca, Lao Xiong thought for a long time and decided to let the Zheng family come.Mainly, this matter must be left to the court. Those civil servants can quarrel for a long time. The location of this gate is very important, and all parties want to grab it. If the court situation is really chaotic in the future, some civil servant with a cramped brain may be killed. Withdrawn.

Once the Ming Dynasty withdraws its troops, this position will definitely be taken by someone else. If they fight again, it won't be as easy as this time.It would be safer to ask the Zheng family to guard him. Anyway, the toll from the emperor's brother-in-law should not be reduced.

On the other side, Wanli also received the report from his brother-in-law and knew that he had another source of wealth. Of course, Longyan was very happy. He had been annoyed to death by the tax resistance incidents in various places recently. It was really not easy to finally get good news.He wrote back in a panic, asking Lao Xiong how to collect the money and whether he needed to send troops.

Recently, several halls in the palace are going to be renovated. These damn ministers refuse to pay for it. They should do it themselves. In the past few years, all the money has been spent on the navy, and there is no profit. My brother-in-law is considerate and gave it to me again. Got some change.When I come back this time, I must make him a marquis, and then lead my troops to destroy the barbarians in Liaodong for me. When those ministers mentioned this, they asked for money in various ways, which was annoying to death.