Although Duncan sounded alarmist, Yu Guozhen didn't believe even the slightest bit.
Not to mention how ridiculous it is to pull an army from Europe to fight in eastern Asia. Simply speaking, the difficulty of forming a coalition of European powers is no less difficult than building a high-speed railway in this era. With the Anglo-Saxons, who are inherently despicable and shameless, a perennial troublemaker, how can we unite Europe? Even at the cost of two world wars, European unity was not achieved!
¡°But Duncan cannot be completely empty-spoken. With his status, he has no access to news from the upper echelons of Europe. Therefore, some countries in Europe may be brewing an ¡°expedition¡± to compete for the rights and interests in East Asia.
For example, Anglo-Saxon Britain.
At this time, the British East India Company had been established for more than 40 years, and its tentacles had also reached Madras in the southeastern part of India in the past few years - India has always been a geographical term rather than a political term. Moreover, nine years ago, a British merchant ship arrived in Guangzhou, trying to extend its invasion tentacles to China.
Nine years ago was the tenth year of Chongzhen. At that time, Yu Guozhen had not yet established his status as the overlord of the South China Sea. He only received news about the British test after the fact.
"Well, although you are of far less use to me than you think, I am not short of money to support a few idle people. If you are willing, you can act as my trade representative and be stationed in"
When they heard that they could serve as the trade representative of such a prosperous country in the East, Duncan and others were extremely happy and their eyes widened. Yu Guozhen thought for a moment, then pointed to a world map behind him. He stood up and pointed to a spot above: "Here."
Colombo, Ceylon.
Duncan was very familiar with geography and had probably received sailing training. He stared at that place for a while: "This should be Colombo, the Portuguese occupy it!"
"Yes, since I regained Macau, the Portuguese have completely retreated here. If you are willing to work for me, the first job is to go to Colombo. Convince them to allow me to set up a trade agency here. From then on, my trade with Europe , they will all be transferred here." Yu Guozhen said with a smile: "This is a small thing. You should be able to do it."
Duncan swallowed hard.
He was stunned by the sudden happiness. Of course he knew that a wealthy country like Yu Guozhen's "empire" represented trade with Europe. What great benefits will there be!
¡°Moreover, as Yu Guozhen¡¯s envoy, he could use his power to force the Portuguese to give up more benefits when dealing with the Portuguese.
He is also a descendant of a declining noble from the Holy Roman Empire. Although he has become a mercenary, he still understands several European languages ??such as French and Spanish, and has no problem communicating with the Portuguese. More importantly, he also had some idea of ??the situation facing the Portuguese in Colombo, after the Dutch lost all their colonies in Southeast Asia. These sea coachmen did not give up their business in the East. They turned their targets to the Indian region. Among them, Ceylon was even more eyeing by them because of its superior geographical location.
Therefore, facing the pressure from the Dutch and the Eastern Chinese at the same time, the Portuguese must succumb to the Dutch. There is no benefit for them to succumb to the Chinese. They can also conduct re-export trade here, at least they can make a lot of money.
As for whether this will introduce Chinese power into the Indian Oceansuch a long-term issue is not something the Portuguese can think about.
"You have been in Xinxiang for more than a month, and you must have a good understanding of the price level here. I will pay you a salary of two gold dollars per month. This way you will have an annual salary of twenty-four gold dollars. Income." Yu Guozhen said slowly: "You and your companions have this basic salary. As for bonuses, it depends on the results of your work - what else do you need?"
"Fleet, Your Excellency, I only ask that a small squadron of yours send us to Colombo. We will make the Portuguese understand that there is only one master on the sea, and that is you!" Duncan said loudly.
Yu Guozhen nodded, very satisfied with this.
In a short period of time, his main energy is still concentrated at home, but this does not mean that he will give up his layout in the Indian Ocean or other places within his reach. The purpose of this idle move in Colombo is to make the eastern part of the Indian Ocean China's sphere of influence and gain a geopolitically superior strategic position for future generations like the United States in later generations.
If we can control the Eastern Indian Ocean and the Western Pacific, China will be strategically invincible in the future.
¡°You have two main tasks. The first is to negotiate with the Portuguese, if not in Colombo, then in the rest of Ceylon.Where suitable for establishing a port, we will establish our own port area. The second was to obtain as much detail as possible about the intelligence of India as a whole, and of the Mughal kingdom in particular. To make things easier for you, I will let the South China Sea Fleet escort you to Colombo. As for the rest, it is up to you. "
"Your Excellency, I hope to have the command of a small force"
"You don't have to be wishful thinking about this." Yu Guozhen flatly refused. These Europeans were just his chess pieces. If necessary, they would be "killed" by the Portuguese in Colombo, or in the Indian subcontinent. After being "killed" by the Mughal Kingdom, I could take the opportunity to send troops to these places. How could I allow them to have the command of the Chinese army? "Remember, you are not going to do the colonial massacres and plunders that you Europeans often do. , we are Chinese, and Chinese people value win-win results, not one party killing the other!"
"Your Excellency, what you said is too profound, we don't understand it."
"It doesn't matter. If you understand what I mean and pass the assessment, then I can send you a red card, and you can change your surname to a Chinese one and become a member of our Chinese family." Yu Guozhen Smile.
After sending away Duncan and the Europeans, Yu Guozhen did not rest because a report sent by his secretary Zheng Sheng made him very angry.
His former secretary, Hua Youzhi, had long been sent to the local area to serve as the head of a township. Now, after three years, he has been promoted to the head of the industrial and commercial team of a county in Da Yuan Island - according to the level set by the Chinese Military Strategy Commission, this He is the deputy county magistrate in charge of the industrial and commercial affairs of a county. Even his second secretary had been working at the grassroots level for a year, and the current Zheng Sheng was only sent to him last year.
This report comes from Zhang Chi, and its content is a prediction of the intention of skilled workers in Shandong and Guangdong to return home, as well as concerns about Yu Guozhen's criticism in "Southern Weekend" that he is responsible for these years of war and famine.
Yu Guozhen had not seen the second issue of "Nandu Weekend" before. He originally thought that "Nando Weekend" would still dwell on the assassination of Shi Kefa. He never thought that the core content of the second issue would be an analysis of Xinxiang's military strategy. The committee's own demographic statistics released by the committee concluded that Yu Guozhen was just sitting back and watching the world collapse in order to absorb cheap labor. The reason why Yu Guozhen was angry was not because their analysis was a complete lie. In fact, "Nandu Weekend" was right on at least one point. In the twelfth year of Chongzhen, Yu Guozhen had the strength to invade the capital, and It is fully capable of stopping Li Zicheng and Jianlu from wreaking havoc in the Central Plains and the capital. At that time, Yu Guozhen ignored the persuasion of his subordinates and did not move his troops. He only carried out small-scale attacks. He indeed had the intention of absorbing the population through the war.
However, Cheng Xiazhen deduced from this that Yu Guozhen was enriching the country's wealth, absorbing the population to create wealth for himself to squander. He also had a vague suspicion that Yu Guozhen's original so-called war against Zhili in the south and the capital was just a matter of wandering around without attacking. Come to pick up the fruits of victory on time. All the achievements and achievements are the result of the blood and sweat of the Ming Dynasty officers and soldiers, but all the reputation and benefits were gained by Yu Guo. Finally, he also used the incident when Yu Guozhen provided food to Li Chuangjun in Xuzhou as an example, and suspected that Yu Guozhen was secretly colluding with the rogue bandits and Jianlu.
It must be admitted that Cheng Xiazhen's writing is very good, and he is good at inspiring words. The newspaper wrote articles around this theme, going deep and step by step, making Yu Guozhen really indefensible. After all, Yu Guozhen is doing practical things and there is no way to compete with such specialized rhetoric.
The easiest way, of course, is to catch and kill him, but after Yu Guozhen's anger subsided, he felt that this was too wasteful.
This kind of thing can still be recycled.
When Zheng Sheng saw him, he was angry at first, but then his anger turned into a sneer, which was a little strange. He has been following Yu Guozhen for a little longer now, and he dares to express some of his thoughts and ask: "Commander, why are you not angry anymore?"
"Every summer, there are so many flies and mosquitoes buzzing in my ears. If I am angry with every one of them, can I still do practical things?"
"It's just a matter of shooting him to death."
"Swatting them to death is the simplest solution, but have you ever thought that flies and mosquitoes still have their uses? As long as you master them well, you can use them let's let them go for a while."
"They are so noisy, I'm afraid it will really affect our workers."
"It's only a matter of time before workers want to go home, and in a few years, even if they don't want to go back, I will still find ways to let them go back and start their own businesses. If not, how can we spread the fire of China everywhere? As for now, we are just moving this issue forward. Well, we can also make plans in advance, I think this can be done"
There is a way to resolve Yu GuozhenZheng Sheng had no doubt that it would at least reduce the influence of Cheng Xinzhen and others. However, Zheng Sheng was still a little confused about not wiping out Cheng Xinzhen and others immediately: "Then let them make such nonsense?"
"Of course not. Soon they won't have time to scold me." Yu Guozhen smiled deeply: "These scholarly scum, beasts with human facesof course there will be professionals to fight with them!"
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